‘Is that your way of telling me you’d like to drive?’ Got that enthusiastic grin that Wade wore much of the time. ‘All right then, you can drive. And I won’t even sit in the back. I’ll just check the crash bag.’

Mickey checked that the medical kit was all present and correct. Then hung his jacket on the hook behind the passenger seat and climbed in. Waited while Wade programmed the satnav. Grimaced at the expected travel time to Beaconsfield, then looked soberly at himself in the extra-length rear-view mirror. He’d killed a man. Avenged his dead sister and got away with it. No shadow of a doubt, the right moment to step back into the shadows. Live his life and consign that revenge to the past. Limiting the damage to his own psyche to that one moment of catharsis.

Instead of which he was going to strike again.

Soon.

6

‘Hello, Michael.’

‘Tony.’ The two skippers shook hands, Wade passing them as he carried his and Mickey’s bags into the Hall. The minister’s country house. Thirty-five rooms set in six hundred of the most expensive acres in the country. The spoils of his business career in Hong Kong and the UK. Sir Patrick having spent twenty years amassing a significant personal fortune before deciding to serve his country.

‘Quiet tour?’

His fellow sergeant gave him a meaningful look.

‘Let’s do a quick handover. I’ve got a pot of coffee.’

Mickey followed him to the repurposed anteroom that was now the protection officers’ office. Once inside the small room, the other man shut the door to give them some privacy. Picked up one of the coffee mugs and took a sip before speaking.

‘Quiet as the bloody grave. The most exciting thing that’s happened has been the new private secretary arriving this morning.’

Mickey raised an eyebrow.

‘What happened to the old one?’

‘No idea, officially. We were called over to Chequers yesterday for a meeting with the PM. A meeting without biscuits, apparently, from the look on the minister’s face when he came out. After which it was announced that a new private secretary would be joining his team.’ The other sergeant sat back, sipping at his coffee with a look of contentment. ‘Probably there to make sure he doesn’t try to do anything stupid before the PM is ready to drop the axe on him. The press are chipping away at him like fucking woodpeckers. And who’s to say he doesn’t deserve it?’

‘Not our concern.’

The other man shrugged.

‘I hear that, Michael. But I’ve been reading around the subject. Everything from the Times to the Clarion. All of whom seem to think he’s a dead man walking come the next reshuffle. And that if the rumours about him get any worse that’ll be sooner rather than later.’

Mickey shook his head dismissively.