Ben was about to reply when a third figure appeared silently in the semi-darkness of the temple chamber. There was just enough light to flash a golden glimmer from Wolf’s teeth as he said, ‘There you are. I was looking for you.’

‘This is my friend and associate Jaden Wolf,’ Ben said. ‘Jaden, this is Captain Warner.’

Wolf nodded at him. ‘Captain.’

‘What the hell, why don’t you tell him?’ the prince said. ‘He’ll find out the truth soon enough anyway, come daylight when he sees me.’

‘Find out what?’ Wolf asked.

‘Fair enough,’ Ben said. ‘Jaden, our friend the captain is slightly better known to the world as Prince Richard. It appears he’s managed to drop off the radar of HM Forces, making him the reason for all this fuss.’

Jaden Wolf was quite possibly the most unflappable person Ben had ever known. He didn’t disappoint now. ‘Oh, right,’ he said with barely a blink. ‘Well, there you go. Richard the Lionheart, eh?’

‘Oh for God’s sake, not that old chestnut again,’ the prince complained. ‘Do you honestly think I haven’t heard it before?’

Wolf shot him a careless grin, then his face became more serious. ‘Anyhow, Ben, your Princeliness, excuse me for butting into your conversation, but we’d better get moving. Nielsen and Baldacci just reported from their lookout posts that there’s some troop movement to the south, heading our way fast. Looks like our sweet little pals might be coming back, with about a million of their friends.’

Chapter 37

‘We can hold this place, dude,’ Baldacci was insisting as he and Holt argued outside.

‘Sure, like Travis, Bowie and Crockett held the Alamo,’ Holt replied. ‘It’s a freakin’ death-trap and I’m not waiting around to get my lily-white ass drilled full of holes. We’re out of here, right now.’

Which was another of those rare moments when Ben found himself in agreement with him. And there wasn’t a lot of time to get moving, certainly not enough to bury the dead before the team piled into the Humvee along with the captain and his ten half-starved and weary soldiers, some of them so weak with hunger that they had to be virtually carried aboard. A vehicle designed to transport fewer than a dozen personnel in something less than comfort was crammed so tight with bodies there was barely enough space to pack the platoon’s empty weapons and the remnants of what kit they’d been able to carry on their death march through the mountains.

‘Get ready for a hell of a rough ride, people,’ Wolf said, jumping into the front passenger seat.