‘It’s a normal response,’ the SAS man said, his voice muffled by his respirator mask. ‘In his head, he’s just lost a battle.’

‘But he’s still alive.’

‘And maybe, at some point in the future, he’ll be grateful for that. But right now, you’re his enemy. You need to get used to that.’

‘To having enemies?’

‘Right. In this line of work, we collect them like other people collect stamps.’

The SAS man was called away by one of his colleagues. Max and Sami looked around the hall. The dust had settled. More EOD men were swarming over the IEDs around the room. All the hostages had left. Medics had arrived and had surrounded Jack. The decoys were being helped up by armed police and military personnel. Max averted his eyes from the dead bodies on the floor.

The SAS team roughly pulled T7 from the ground, cuffed his hands behind his back and hustled him to the exit. The recruits gathered in a group, with Lili standing slightly apart, looking unsure what to do. Hector, Woody and Angel hurried up to them. If Hector was pleased with the outcome, he didn’t show it. Over the comms he’d been calm, even helpful. Now he looked like he was back to his old self.

‘You!’ He pointed at Sami. ‘Next time a four-man SAS unit are pointing their weapons in your direction, my advice is to drop your gun.’

Sami drew himself up to his full height. ‘Next time you want to kill a man who doesn’t need to be killed, my advice is to make sure I’m not in the way.’

‘I warned you about Stockholm Syndrome. You were weak.’

‘No, I was strong. I’ve seen too many people die.’

Hector looked like he was thinking of a reply. None came. He turned to Woody and Angel. ‘Get this lot back to Valley House,’ he said. ‘Now.’ He turned and strode out of the hall.

Woody winked at them. ‘You heard the man,’ he said. ‘Let’s go.’

Woody and Angel followed Hector to the exit. But the recruits lagged behind. They had all turned to Lili. Max guessed that they were thinking the same as him. Without her, they’d likely all be dead.

An armed policeman approached. ‘We need to get you out of here, missie,’ he told Lili.

Lili blinked at him. ‘Missie?’ she said incredulously. She rolled her eyes. The policeman looked embarrassed. Lili turned her back on him and awkwardly raised one hand at the recruits. ‘Er … bye then.’ The recruits nodded a farewell and watched as she was led in the direction of the door. But before she exited, she turned back to look at them. ‘Who are you?’ she said.

The recruits looked at each other. None of them knew what to say. In the end, it was Max who spoke. ‘We’re nobody,’ he said.