Ben looked kindly at Ramin, sorry to have to burst his optimism. ‘I wish I could say you were right. But a kid from a travelling community of Kochi nomads would be highly unlikely to venture very far from his people alone. And if he did he’d have been carrying a few basic essentials with him for the journey. A water canteen, a knapsack, maybe some kind of battered old rifle like a lot of them carry. This kid had none of that. Plus the Kochi people tend to be very colourful and make all their own clothes. They don’t generally run around wearing US military fatigues. I’m pretty sure this kid was. An ACU combat jacket a few sizes too big for him.’

‘Sounds like a boy soldier to me,’ Scraggs agreed. ‘God knows we’ve seen enough of the poor little suckers, all over the bloody world.’

‘Then I guess you’re probably right,’ Holt said resignedly. ‘Which means the rest of them won’t be far behind.’

‘But why would they bother with us?’ Aziz asked, looking perplexed. ‘They have already destroyed the orphanage, and far as they’re concerned their work here is done. It makes no sense that they would come back.’

‘Don’t you get it? They’re not interested in the orphans, not any more,’ Baldacci explained impatiently. He jabbed an accusing finger in the direction of the prince, who was sitting across the circle from him and had so far not spoken a word. ‘They’re looking for him. Our very own “Captain Warner” here. Who knows how the word got out who he really is, but it must have. They’ve got their spies everywhere, and for all we know some of our own spooks have been feeding intel to the wrong people.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Francine said, peering confusedly at the handsome young officer she’d assumed was just another member of the group. ‘What does he mean, “who he really is”?’

‘He’s kind of a special case,’ Madison whispered to her.

Colvin, the Pathfinder corporal, sitting next to his captain, replied to Baldacci, ‘You don’t know that.’

‘Only way this works, my friend,’ Baldacci said. ‘He’s been the magnet drawing them all along. They probably think that’s what our outfit came here for too, sent in like the SAS boys who managed to get themselves rubbed out trying to rescue his royal ass. They found the temple hideout and the two dead guys, and they’ve been tracking us ever since, split up into small units to cover as much ground as they could. Now thanks to good ol’ Hank they know exactly where we are. And they’re comin’ for us, make no mistake.’

Francine said, ‘Royal?’

‘Now you’re in on the secret,’ Madison said to her. ‘Welcome to the club.’