Once again, all three of them hugged.

Within forty minutes, all the bodies were on board the helicopter, together with Mike’s clear-up team and the sniper. Tom had not exchanged so much as a word with any of them and it was clear by their actions and body language that they wanted no interaction at all. He imagined that staying as invisible as possible was essential in their line of business.

Tom sat in the kitchen with Cameron and Shona, all of them clutching mugs of tea but no one speaking. A mixture of exhaustion and the stress of the previous hours were clearly taking their toll and Tom wondered what effects this would have on them. Cameron was an old campaigner who had seen his own share of violence and combat, but he was not getting any younger. Shona was tougher than she looked, but no one needed to see and experience the things she’d had forced upon her by evil men with evil intents. Her quiet, Highland life had been shattered, albeit temporarily, and Tom hoped she’d get over it in time.

The satellite phone buzzed in Tom’s pocket.

‘You guys okay?’ Mike said.

‘We’ll be grand, Mike. I want to thank you for everything. We’d all be dead if it wasn’t for you,’ Tom said.

‘You know something. You once did the biggest favour a man can do many years ago, so me being here right now is all thanks to you.’

‘I think we can call it even now,’ Tom said.

‘My friend, I now have twin daughters and a beautiful wife, and we live in a vineyard in Southern California. None of that would have happened if it wasn’t for what you did in Basra when you risked your hide to save mine. I’ll never repay the favour as far as I’m concerned.’ Mike paused and there was a brief silence before he continued.

‘My guys have left the keys in the BMW, if you can deal with that. The Brankos drove up from London in it so it’s your ride back down. It’s on false plates. You may want to leave them on and avoid all the cameras you can. Maybe you could park it up near Heathrow somewhere. We will lay a trail of computer breadcrumbs suggesting they’ve all gone back to Serbia, so it should kill off any missing person enquiries. One of my guys is doing the same with Arken’s Mercedes and he’s on his way to Glasgow with it now. The only trace of anything untoward here will be gone once the crows have finished their meals.’

Tom could hear the Black Hawk’s engines warming up outside.

‘No problem. And thanks once again. I have some things to sort in London, but I reckon I can handle it from now on, maybe with a little help from Pet,’ said Tom.