‘How did they know you’d be here, when the visit was only briefed to you guys yesterday? Good question. I’ll have to leave that one with you though. It’s time we weren’t here.’

A pair of Defence Force Land Rovers pulled up at the kerb a few feet away. Two pairs of obviously British soldiers jumping out and setting to dealing with the dead Chinese soldiers. Zipping each of them into a body bag, weapons and kit included. Then pitching each one into the rear of the vehicle. Spraying the grass where the corpses had lain with the enzyme mix.

‘What will you do with them?’

‘Not my need to know. Dump them in the jungle, probably, without their kit. That’ll go back to Hereford for analysis. The bodies will be unrecognisable inside a week, bare bones within a month. Just another unexplained disappearance. But the other side will be in no doubt what happened. Right, we’re off. Alpha team, embark front vehicle.’

‘But…’

‘We’ll see you on the flight back. You can buy me a beer and see if I can answer the other nine hundred and ninety-nine questions, eh?’

26

Mickey relieved his colleague Franklin, standing guard on the hotel’s balcony. Unable to sleep as the full realisation of what had just happened sank in. Just how close he and Wade had come to a violent death.

‘Skip…’ Wade had been equally bemused, his tone that of a man who wasn’t quite sure if what had just taken place had really happened. ‘Those two Chinese guys were after killing us, right?’

‘Looked that way to me.’

‘And those contractors had our radio freqs.’

Pronounced like freaks.

‘Yeah.’

‘So I guess the major was in on the whole thing.’

‘That’s what I’m thinking.’

He sent Wade off to at least try to get some sleep. And took a seat on the room’s terrace. Joined shortly before dawn by Cavendish. Who, freshly shaved and with his uniform pressed, had clearly been briefed in the meantime. Raising a hand to forestall Mickey’s comment.

‘I couldn’t have told you even if I’d known. The first rule of sneaky-beaky being…’

‘You do not talk about sneaky-beaky?’

‘In one. Sounds like they saved your bacon though.’

‘But you knew there was a Chinese hit team coming after us?’

The major shook his head patiently. ‘No, Michael. I did not. I wouldn’t have allowed you to go wandering around the hotel grounds if I had. I did know that there were MI6 intelligence operatives tasked to oversight the visit. But until I was briefed on how close you and Constable Harris came to being killed I had no idea that there was any sort of threat. It does rather seem as if they intended to get their retaliation in first though, rather than waiting for Sir Patrick’s speech. Doesn’t it?’

‘And what now?’