Dempsey almost raised his left hand. To indicate a countdown. He caught himself just in time. Shaking his head at the impracticality of his injury, he instead communicated wordlessly with his companions.

A nod to the right told Shah where he wanted him to go when they entered the first room. A nudge to the left did the same for Grace. Both nodded their understanding.

Dempsey returned their confirmation, tightened his grip on his Glock and – for the first time in his career – he mouthed the countdown.

Three.

Two.

One.

Dempsey was gone instantly. Through the open door of the building, he scanned the central room in an instant. Shah and Grace did the same, to the right and left rooms respectively.

Both of which were empty.

The central room was not.

Dempsey waited for Grace and Shah to return from their own inspections before he approached Aryo’s body. What they needed to know – if anything – they would find out together.

‘He is dead.’ Shah’s statement was unnecessary. The sight of Aryo’s throat and the resulting pool of blood in which his chair now sat ruled out any other conclusion. ‘We’re too late.’

‘Any idea how long he’s been dead?’ Grace asked.

‘Doesn’t matter,’ Dempsey answered. He took a single step back as he spoke. ‘The Blackspear unit won’t be far. They must have known we were coming. We need to move carefully.’

The words were barely out of his mouth when Dempsey spotted a small red spot on Shah’s chest. A spot which, he realised, must have been on his own back just an instant before.

‘JANGI! DOWN!!’

The shouted words came out as quickly as Dempsey’s brain could make the connection, but still they were too late. A single round ripped into Shah’s chest. He was falling before Dempsey had even shouted his name.

The sound of the gunshot told Dempsey the calibre, while the placement of the round told him the damage. From the combination of the two, Shah would not be getting back up.

Dempsey knew that immediately and so he made no move to check for a pulse. Instead his eyes scanned the room for Grace.

He found her in an instant, exactly where she should be. Grace was well trained for action under fire – it was the very purpose of her role in the Presidential Protective Division – and she had reacted as she should at the sound of the first round.

She had dived for cover.

Dempsey had done the same, and so both were already on the ground when the full assault of gunfire started. In just seconds the air in the room was filled with the acrid smell of red-hot metal and burning gunpowder, as bullets were fired at every possible angle through the windows of Aryo’s home.

‘What do we do?’ Grace called out as she crawled towards Dempsey.

‘Stay down,’ Dempsey replied. ‘And stay exactly where you are!’

Grace did as instructed, while Dempsey pulled himself close to the front wall of the building. Once there, he placed his back firmly against it. Then he closed his eyes.