He brought the other three team members up to speed with the development. Thanked them for the sympathy offered. Knew it was bad when none of the usual jokes got wheeled out. Then left his men to get some sleep. Wandering down the length of the plane until he found the contractors in the rear cabin. One of them stood up, plucking a pair of bottles from a cool box. Then walked down the aisle to meet him. Gesturing to the seats beside them and passing Mickey the chilled bottle.

‘Here you go, get that down your neck. Let’s sit here, eh? Best if you don’t get too much of an eyeful of the others. We tend to be a bit jealous of our privacy.’ An inch or so below six feet, he had sandy hair and a knowing expression. Blue eyes set in a narrow, watchful face and a nose that had seen better days. Held out a hand to shake, the grip firm but not crushing.

‘Ian Shaw. Ex-Regiment. Now what Tom Clancy used to call a shadow warrior. The prick. I hear you had a bit of unscheduled nastiness on the way out to the airport.’

‘I’m Mickey Bale. Michael when I’m on duty. And yeah, you could call it that. Hence the scramble take-off.’

Mickey told him the bald facts of the car bombing. And the minister’s reaction.

‘Well, Mickey called Michael when you’re on duty, I guess the coneheads running this mission ought to have seen that coming. The Chinese have never been famous for their subtlety when it comes to the close-in stuff. And they have a big enough embassy in Belize City for there to be a good few intelligence officers on the premises. Someone’s going to get their arse kicked in for that. But it won’t be you.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because you, Mickey, were bright enough to let the principal ride in the back of the vehicle least likely to be targeted. Which, I’ll point out to you, is obviously the only reason he’s still alive. You’ll be fine. In fact I’ll bet you a pint on it. You can call me on this number when you want to pay up.’

The card was plain white, with a single phone number.

‘You don’t overdo it with the details, do you?’

Shaw shrugged. ‘You try doing what we do for a living, neither would you. The Chinese are probably trying to find out who slotted their hit team even as we speak. And were they to do so, I reckon our life expectancy would be measurable in days. So, no, we don’t exactly throw names and addresses around.’

‘So why give me this?’

Shaw shrugged, getting up to go back to his team. ‘You seem like a decent guy. And probably good value for a beer. Whoever’s paying.’

28