Holt replied, ‘Through a guy called Hassan Baghdadi who’s one of the NEO’s charitable contacts at the forward operating base in Abu. He’s known Francine for years. Couldn’t say enough good things about her. She’s tough as a pair of old boots, won’t back down from anyone. Death doesn’t scare her, and you can be sure the Taliban don’t scare her none either. She’s always known that this shit would happen one day, but she’ll hold out whatever it takes.’

Holt paused to spread the map out under the dim light. Ben got up and walked over to take a look. Wolf and the others joined them.

‘This is our current location right here,’ Holt said, prodding at the map. It was small-scale and highly detailed, though the area he was pointing out was bare of any place names or features. He slid his finger a few inches towards the north-west. ‘And over here, a couple of days’ travel across country assuming we don’t run into too much resistance, is the orphanage. It’s in a pretty remote location, as you can imagine it’d have to be. There’s a village nearby, down in a river valley where they grow a few crops and raise some animals. Everything they need.’

‘Or needed,’ said Baldacci. The concerned looks on the men’s faces told Ben he was missing something.

‘Needed? Did something happen?’

Wolf nodded, frowning, ‘You might say that. Twelve days ago, Francine Blanchet was able to make a call to our guy in Abu Dhabi. She reported that the orphanage had come under heavy bombardment from Taliban troops who’d got wind of what they were doing up there. They basically flattened the place, before they went storming into the ruins looking for survivors to kill and capture. Francine’s brother Patrick died in the attack. Thankfully, as far as we know, none of the children was hurt.’

Scraggs muttered, ‘Fuckers. What kind of person would shell a building full of little kids?’

‘But Francine was able to make it out alive?’ Ben said.

‘Just in time,’ Wolf replied. ‘Though if the Taliban get their hands on them, they might wish they’d all been blown up instead.’

‘And where are they now?’

‘That’s the problem,’ Holt said. ‘Up until three days ago we were staying in contact with our guy in Abu Dhabi via satellite phone and there’d been no further word from Francine since her call nine days earlier.’

Ben asked, ‘Why up until three days ago?’

Holt replied, ‘Because as of three days ago we don’t have a sat phone any longer.’

‘Or at least not a working one,’ Wolf said. ‘It took a bullet during the last little run-in we had with a patrol. Only casualty we’ve taken so far.’

‘It can’t be repaired?’