A descending flight of steps came out at the left-hand end of the platform, near the mouth of the westbound tunnel. There were a few people scattered along the near-empty platform, waiting for the next train with the wee-small-hours look of tired urbanites who weren’t much interested in the activities of their fellow subway travellers. Jafari glanced across at them to make sure nobody was watching, then turned to Ben and Roth. ‘This way,’ he hissed, pointing past the warning signs into the mouth of the tunnel. ‘Hurry. Another train will be along soon.’

Following his lead, they quickly slipped off the end of the platform and jumped down onto a narrow walkway, about eighteen inches wide, that ran along the narrow space between the left tunnel wall and the tracks. Jafari set off at a jog, with Ben and Roth close behind. In stark contrast to the gleaming white brightness of the station the tunnel was dark and murky, lit every few yards by a wall light. The arched ceiling was streaked and crumbly. The curved walls were ancient brick, caked in the soot and dirt of over a hundred years and covered in new and old graffiti from where generations of street artists had sneaked into the tunnel to leave their signature. Snakes of wiring ran here and there, daisy-chained together by prehistoric electrical connection boxes. The ground between the tracks was gravel, dark with soot. They moved fast, in case a train came.

There was no turning back now, as Ben and Roth ventured into the unknown after their guide. Three men were going in. But not all of them would be coming out again.

Chapter 40

After a few dozen yards the walkway widened out into an arched opening in the side wall to their left, connecting with a parallel tunnel and more tracks. They paused there to open the bag and take out the MP5s. Jafari hovered uncertainly nearby while Ben and Roth spent a moment loading and checking. Ben flipped his fire selector to three-shot bursts. That would give him ten trigger squeezes before his thirty-round magazine was depleted. He slipped four extra loaded mags into his pockets. Enough firepower for most situations, barring the need for artillery and air support.

Roth said, ‘I’m good.’

Ben slung his bag, much lighter now, over his shoulder and told Jafari, ‘Lead on. We’re right behind you.’