But another part of him simply couldn’t bring himself to walk away from the others, just like that, without a word. Yes, Goffin was a pumped-up prima donna and quite possibly a liability to the success of the mission; its commander was almost certainly not up to the job, and Cale was a fool as well. But Bob Meadows was a good man, and Ben had no complaints about Dixon, Mackay, Simms or Yates either. Even fools deserved better than to be abandoned like that. If he simply failed to return to base, they’d most likely assume that he’d been stupid or unlucky enough to be caught by the enemy. In which case they’d have to hope he’d been killed outright, because few captives would have let themselves be tortured to death without giving up their comrades. Either way his loss to the mission would severely compromise the task force and weaken their morale, making them more prone to bad decisions and errors that could end up fatal to them all.

Then again, he’d said to himself as he drove away from the Institute, every hour, every minute that went by Madison could be in terrible danger – if she wasn’t dead already.

Ben was sure he’d faced worse dilemmas in his life, but he couldn’t remember when. He decided that his options boiled down to two choices: if he was going to quit the mission, he was going to tell Buchanan to his face. Alternatively, if they could wrap up their present business quickly enough – though it would have to be pretty damn quick – he might even be able to persuade some of the more capable team members to come with him in search of Madison. Saleem and his gang would likely come in useful, too. If they thought teaming up with Ben on this new mission gave them a chance of killing some Taliban, they’d jump at the opportunity.

Those were the conflicted thoughts swarming in his mind as he walked into the safehouse. He hadn’t expected too much of a rosy reception after being away for so long, but the instant he stepped inside and saw the anxious, impatient frown on Buchanan’s face, he knew that something urgent had come up during his absence.

Before Buchanan could say what, Goffin stepped in, eyeing Ben with evident dislike and looking pointedly at his watch. ‘Enjoy your jolly little stroll in the park, did you?’

‘Very refreshing,’ Ben replied. ‘I’d have brought you back an ice cream, Goffin, but I didn’t know what flavour you liked.’

‘So glad to hear you enjoyed yourself. Meanwhile, there’s been a development. We’re going to be on the move again in exactly sixteen minutes from now. If you hadn’t deigned to make your appearance when you did, we were going to leave you behind. Now I suggest you get your skates on.’