‘Actually you were only half right. I talked to him twice, the first time before you got up this morning, the second time at Newark like you guessed. My guy has a source inside the GIGN and tells me they have a lead on one of the dead shooters from the Montparnasse attack.’

Ben knew all about the GIGN, the elite counterterror division of France’s National Gendarmerie. He’d taught advanced close-quarter combat classes to some of them at Le Val, and was on first-name terms with one or two of their commanders. But they didn’t exactly keep him abreast of all their latest black ops missions. He said, ‘I’m listening.’

‘The asshole in question is the one they found bled out in his car near the scene of the attack,’ Roth said. ‘You wouldn’t know anything about that, of course, but his name was Sarfaraz Baqri and he was on their terror watchlist, along with a bunch of known associates that they’ve been waiting for the right moment to spring a surprise raid on. The shooting makes it the right time.’

Roth brought up an image on his phone and held it up for Ben to see. It showed a scowling African man in his late twenties, with a scrappy growth of beard.

‘This here little bundle of sweetness and light is Hasan Jafari, emigrated to Europe from the dear old Republic of Sudan eight years ago, currently resident here in Paris, suspected of various involvements with al-Qaeda, Daesh and terror cells in France, never caught, but the good guys reckon they’ve got sufficient probable cause to greenlight the snatch. It’s happening today. You never know what juicy titbits of information might come our way, after they squeeze the fucker like a tomato. It could help lead us to al-Kassar.’

‘Today when?’ Ben asked.

‘There was some logistical delay, or it would already have happened by now,’ Roth said. ‘It was originally planned for dawn this morning. When I talked to my guy the second time, I found out they’d rescheduled the raid for tonight.’

‘Hence the reason you went from acting so jumpy to suddenly as cool as a cucumber.’

‘I was anxious to find out how the raid had gone and whether they’d got him. Now it turns out we have some clock to burn before they make their move.’

‘I take it we’re not officially invited to this party?’ Ben said.

‘No, but we’re gonna be ringside when it happens. Should be fun to watch. So I suggest we hole up here in your cosy little apartment, grab some food and sleep, and prepare for the evening’s entertainment.’

Ben couldn’t believe Roth had managed to find all this out with two phone calls. ‘Not bad contacts for a reclusive army veteran.’

Roth chuckled. ‘Just keeping a toe in the water, bro.’

Chapter 37