Tom noted the admission – or as close to one as Rolt had got – of his complicity in the carnage Vestey had arranged. He carried on listening as if he was hanging on his every word.

‘There may have to be others but this is a fact of war, and we are waging a war we are going to win. Not in some far-off desert but right here in British towns and cities. Invicta needs to be ready – it has support, in the Army, the police, from friends all the way up the Establishment – ready to rid the country of the cancer that’s eating us from within. We’ve started a fire and we need to let it burn just a little longer before we put it out for good.’

‘More “gestures”, you mean.’

‘To bring things to the boil.’

‘And where do I fit into this?’

‘We need to be more visible. We need to look the part.’

‘And what’s in it for me, exactly?’

‘You’re the model, Tom. You have the skills, the experience, you’ve proved your worth, and you’re as comfortable in the gentlemen’s clubs of Pall Mall as on the battlefield. But your story will also resonate with the servicemen and -women who’ve risked their lives for their country in unwinnable wars overseas, only to be dumped back on the high street with barely a thank-you. I need your help to mobilize them.’

Tom said nothing. Rolt was in his stride: he didn’t need encouraging.

‘We don’t need to deploy the rhetoric of racism, we don’t need to scare off law-abiding people of other faiths and backgrounds, if they accept the rule of law. We don’t need paramilitary paraphernalia. We want to look – aspirational. And promote ourselves as the only sane alternative to chaos.’

Rolt came back towards him and sat down, his face close to Tom’s. ‘So, to cut to the chase, Tom, I want you to be my number two, by my side, speaking for us and planning our future with me, handling operations, setting an example.’

Rolt outlined the ‘package’: triple what he’d been getting in the Regiment, plus allowances, car and accommodation. ‘Well?’

‘I’m very flattered. I need to think about it.’

Rolt looked put out. He’d clearly been expecting an instant yes. Tom stood up.

‘Tomorrow, okay?’

Chapter 87

87

Winfield House, Regent’s Park
Residence of the US Ambassador to the Court of St James