‘I was on an undercover op against some Serbs and a Nigerian lawyer,’ Tom said, getting straight down to business. ‘I’ve been compromised and there’s at least one highly-placed dirty cop feeding back on me. I’ve just had a serious attempt on my life that probably came from my phone being intercepted. I’ve gone dark and I’m laying low until I can figure this out.’ He spoke calmly but his words were tinged with rage.

‘Okay, man, that’s a bad situation. What do you need? I’ll do anything I can, but I can’t give you boots on the ground. It’s very touchy politically at the moment between the UK and US.’

‘I need some IT capability to try to figure out who is working against me. It’s at least one but probably two corrupt individuals. I need access to systems to find out who’s bugging me, who’s tracking me, and who wants to kill me. I’ll also need someone with the kit to interrogate the phone I liberated from the guy who tried to take me out. I could also do with some tactical gear, surveillance, and maybe some weaponry. I’ve liberated a Sig from the hit man, but it’s a dirty gun so I don’t want to use it.’ Tom knew he was asking a lot, but he had to try.

‘Okay, Tom, I’m going to send someone to see you who’s already in London. They work for us as a consultant, of sorts. They are awesome at hacking and anything you need on that front. Tactical kit I’ll have to think about. I’m in Paris at a conference right now. I’d be over there myself but I’m section chief at Brussels now, so I gotta tread carefully or this could be a major diplomatic incident. Where are you staying?’ Mike’s calm control was comforting.

‘Nowhere yet. I can’t go home as I’m compromised. I’ll get a hotel nearby; I can be anonymous as I still have my alternate ID driving licence from my SRR days, and I have a safe credit card.’

Tom could hear the tapping of a keyboard over the phone line.

‘Okay, get yourself to the Ramada in South Ruislip. Get a burner phone on the way and send me a text with your room number and name you’re using. My contact, Pet, will be with you early evening. Stay safe, man; I’ll never forget what you did for me and I will be as good as my word.’ With that, he rang off.

*

Tom found a mini-cab by Hillingdon Station, driven by an elderly Pakistani man only too glad of a fare. He was a pleasant enough guy who engaged in small talk with Tom on the short journey to South Ruislip, dropping him off by a small parade of shops.