‘I doubt it. They won’t want to rush this thing. Too risky.’

‘And if you’re wrong?’

‘I’m Scottish. We’re always right. Part of our DNA,’ said Mallet. ‘Proving you English bastards wrong.’ He chucked a stick of nicotine gum into his mouth. ‘Worst-case scenario, we might have to hold out for a few hours before the cavalry shows up.’

‘Has Six reached out to Mike yet?’

‘They’re liaising with him now.’

‘And?’

‘He’s confirmed that the family is currently at the palace. We’ve given him orders. No one is to move until we get there.’

Seguma stared apprehensively at him. ‘Is there trouble?’

‘Nothing too serious, sir. Just a few protestors.’

‘I see.’ He stared anxiously out of the window at the tarmac. He doesn’t look thrilled to be returning home, thought Bowman.

‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘As long as Mike is with your family, they’ll be safe. He won’t let you down, sir.’

‘How many guards has Mike got with him?’ asked Loader.

‘About forty. Plus our gang, and Mike, that will give us forty-six bodies.’

Casey said, ‘We should be checking all the social media accounts in Karatandu. Someone might post a picture or a message about gunfire they’ve heard, helicopters or aircraft coming in. Give us an early warning of trouble.’

‘I’ll get Six on it,’ Mallet said.

‘Tell them to check the local airline traffic, too. Look for any non-commercial planes coming in from Russia. Any planes circling over an area and turning back round again. That way we’ll pick up any teams deploying via HALO.’

‘Unless they’re already on the ground,’ said Bowman.

Mallet’s phone trilled. He nodded at Casey. ‘Get the laptop out. There’s a packet of information coming through from Six. We’ll go through everything in a few minutes.’

He moved away. Seguma flicked through a glossy magazine on wealth management. Webb sat and practised the art of silence. Casey worked on the laptop, her fingers moving across the keyboard at lightning speed. Bowman made coffee. Loader switched on the TV and flipped over to one of the 24-hour news networks. A French station, with English subtitles. There was nothing yet about a coup d’état in Karatandu, just two short segments about the continuing violence tacked on to the end of the main bulletins.

Mallet finished his call, the team gathered around the coffee table on the other side of the lounge from Seguma. They spent the next two hours running through the plan.