The same ‘pop’ was repeated almost immediately. This time taking out one of the four Secret Service agents.

And then again. And again. Nine times in all, in less than two seconds. Long enough for those who were last to have realised what was about to happen. But much too quick for them to escape it.

Unlike Grace, not one of them survived the drop. A bullet to the gut might cause a long, painful death. A bullet to the head guarantees that last part.

Only Romeo was still standing, his pistol thrown to the floor as he realised what was happening to the men around him.

As soon as the final shot was fired – as soon as it was safe to move – Dempsey was back at Grace’s side, ripping off the top half of his body suit and using it to press down on her wounds.

‘What the hell . . . who the hell . . .’

Romeo seemed to be trying to rationalise what had happened around him. Not that Dempsey cared. His full focus was on Grace. He raised his cuff to his lips again.

‘How long for the medic, Elizabeth?’

‘Dai has just reached the clearing,’ Kirk answered. ‘Southwest.’

Dempsey looked up and saw exactly what Kirk had promised. Shui Dai was racing towards him with what he assumed was a medical kit on her back.

I knew it’d be Dai who got the message.

He watched as Dai passed Romeo. The size difference between the two was so great that they could have been a different species to one another, and yet it was Romeo who seemed nervous at the arrival of the much smaller ISB agent.

If Dempsey had had any residual doubts about the man’s character, that reaction would have dispelled them.

Dai reached Grace a moment later, and within seconds she was working on the agent’s wounds.

‘What do you think?’ Dempsey asked, stepping back to give Dai room.

Dai didn’t immediately answer. Methodical as always, she first examined both injuries. Only then did she look up to Dempsey.

‘She will live,’ she answered. ‘It will be a long recovery, but she will live.’

Dempsey stepped back. It was all he needed to hear. Grace would not die there in the dirt and the snow. Not now that she had Shui Dai beside her. There was nothing more that Dempsey could do for her.

Which meant he could now turn his attention elsewhere . . .

Romeo was still in the same spot. He had made no effort to move away, or even to edge towards the weapon he had dropped as his teammates fell.

Even now, as Dempsey began to walk towards him, he seemed frozen in time.

Dempsey indicated to the fallen men around him.

‘You want to know why you got to live?’

Romeo didn’t seem to understand. Dempsey was not even sure the man had heard him. He seemed to be in shock.

‘Did you hear me, Meyer?’ He spoke more loudly. This time, it at least made Romeo look towards him. ‘Why are you alive?’