‘Glasgow, mostly, but a fair bit all over. I started with boxing back in the homeland and wrestled at school in Sarajevo. I’ve always loved fighting sports. I also spent some time in Thailand at Muay Thai camps.’

‘I’ve never been to Glasgow, or Scotland, for that matter. It’s funny, I never met a Serb with a Scottish accent,’ said Aleks.

Tom smiled and the tension dropped a notch. He had kept his normal accent for the deployment, but with just a touch more Slav. He knew from experience that it was too easy to slip back into his normal brogue after just a few hours undercover; Tom’s usual accent was light Scottish with a trace of something else underneath.

‘I like your T-shirt, man,’ Aleks said, reaching across to feel the fabric of Tom’s shirt. Tom tried his best to look comfortable in the gaudy Emporio Armani T-shirt, overly-designed stone-washed jeans and huge, glittering Brietling watch.

‘Thanks. Armani is classy stuff,’ Tom said.

‘Where do you live now?’ Luka asked.

‘I got a place in Dalston. It’s okay. Area’s a bit of a shit-hole, though.’

SC&O35 had a small quantity of flats furnished and ready to go for undercover operatives to use while deployed. A very creative member of the team could very quickly personalise each flat to each individual officer with post and bills in the cover name and some personal effects to give the impression that the operative was living there. They would also stock the cupboards and fridge to reflect who was living there. In Tom’s case that meant lots of beer and a few Pot Noodles. The whole place screamed ‘Single Man’. It was fairly basic; Tom had stayed there a few times to make sure he was seen by the neighbours.

The three of them chatted amiably enough, mostly about MMA and fighting sports. Tom had no intention to raise the issue of trafficking or anything criminal: it was far too soon and would have to happen organically if he wasn’t to arouse suspicion. But he was also determined to not forget that, in spite of the fairly friendly banter between them, he was dealing with violent, sadistic criminals.

After about half-an-hour, Tom stood and said, ‘I have to go, guys. Good to meet you both and maybe we can roll again soon, Luka. I’ll kick your butt next time.’

Luka snorted. ‘In your dreams, skinny man. Sure, let’s roll soon.’

They exchanged phone numbers and shook hands.