They left the chamber, walked back past the cells and up the spiral staircase to the atrium. They stepped outside, into the sweltering midday heat. Mallet spotted the team and beat a quick path over from the guest house. Behind him, the tractor dumped another bucketload of bodies into the agricultural trailer. The trailer was almost full, but the battlefield was still thick with enemy dead. Torn limbs and glistening entrails putrifying beneath the burning sun.

‘Where the fuck have you lot been?’ Mallet snapped. ‘Where’s Mike?’

‘He’s busy,’ Webb said. ‘Tied up in the basement.’

‘Grab your kit. We’ve just been given clearance. We’re leaving on the Herc. We’re out of here now.’

He marched off in the direction of the Land Cruiser. Bowman paused and looked briefly back at the mansion, Gregory’s warning about Mallet ringing in his ears. John’s a great soldier, but he’s slippery.

None of the guys in the Regiment ever trusted him.

He wondered about that. He wondered about the lies Mallet had told him. He wondered what the future held for him in the Cell. He wondered if he could keep his promise to Loader and stay clean.

Casey gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

‘Come on,’ she said. ‘Let’s go. We’ve got a friend to take home.’

THE END

Chris Ryan Readers’ Club?

Letter from Author

Hello!

Thank you for picking up Manhunter.

I’ve always wanted to write a thriller set in the murky world of organised crime. Mobsters are everywhere these days: in some places, they’ve become more like professional corporations than traditional gangs. In Russia and elsewhere, the lines between government and the criminal underworld have become completely blurred, leading to the term ‘mafia state’. It seemed to me that the SAS would be perfectly suited to tackling this emerging new threat, working hand-in-glove with the security services and the police. So when I first sat down to think about Manhunter, I knew straight away what kind of story I wanted to tell.