Max had never before seen the man who was holding him firmly by the arm. He was only a little taller than Max, but his shoulders were broad. He gave the impression of being immensely strong. It occurred to Max that it would take several men to move him, so there was certainly no point in him struggling. The man wore black jeans, a black polo-neck top and a black waterproof coat. He had a black beard, quite bushy, flecked here and there with grey. His wet wavy black hair blew in the downdraught from the helicopter. His eyebrows were heavy and his tanned forehead lined. If Max had to guess his age, he’d say fifty, but his was the kind of face that could be ten years older or younger. His eyes were dark and penetrating. He had a stare that made Max feel uncomfortable.

‘You’re coming with me,’ he said.

‘No way,’ Max said. He realised he was slightly scared of this man. ‘I’m going with my friends.’

‘Friends? From what I heard, you don’t have any.’

His words hurt. Max stopped struggling.

‘Anyway, let me make this easy for you.’ With his free hand the man opened his storm coat to reveal a handgun holstered to his body. ‘You’re coming with me,’ he repeated.

The mountain-rescue guy approached them. He had removed his hard hat and his ginger hair was bedraggled – the rain was still heavy. ‘What’s going on?’ he said.

The man in black flashed an ID card. It seemed to satisfy the mountain-rescue guy, who quickly moved away to attend to the others.

The man in black steered Max away from the helicopter. He looked over his shoulder. The others had congregated around one of the ambulances. Paramedics were handing them blankets, but all their attention was on Max. They stared as the man in black ushered him towards the police vehicles at the entrance to the car park. Two police officers stood there, watching Max sternly. Max didn’t understand. Was he in some kind of trouble? But as he and the man in black approached, the policemen stepped aside, allowing them out of the car park. They crossed the road and stood on the edge of a soggy-looking field. The man took a mobile phone from his pocket with his free hand and made a call. ‘I’ve got him,’ he said. ‘RV in one minute.’

‘Where are we going?’ Max demanded. ‘I need some dry clothes.’ He was soaked through.

‘Be patient. You sound like a baby.’

‘You’re a real charmer, you know that?’ Max was tired, cold, wet and scared. And he didn’t like this guy’s attitude. Who did he think he was?