‘How do you know that’s where the two birds are headed?’

‘Intelligence.’

Carr raised his eyebrows.

‘That, I really can’t discuss,’ said Nicholls. ‘You know that. Trust me, that’s where they’re going.’

‘But you don’t know precisely where.’

‘Not yet. We’re watching overhead, but they know that, so they’re being very careful.’

‘Who are they?’

‘Chechens.’

Carr winced. ‘Nasty bastards,’ he said.

‘Yes,’ said Nicholls. ‘Their nom de guerre is The Warriors of Jihad.’

‘What a surprise,’ said Carr. ‘I’d have gone for Jihadis R Us.’

Nicholls smiled. ‘It is a bit off-the-shelf.’

‘But they’re not fucking idiots,’ said Carr. ‘This was a serious operation. Money, weapons, safe houses, vehicles…’

Nicholls nodded. ‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘We know quite a bit about one of them. They released a short film of the third girl being executed, not long after they arrived back in Morocco. You may have seen it? Edited versions have been on the news.’

‘Yeah,’ said Carr. ‘I saw it.’

‘The shooter was a chap called Khasmohmad Kadyrov. Massive guy, early fifties, a Chechen mountain-man of the old school. He’s been everywhere, done everything. Last seen in Lybia with ISIS. Now this.’

‘Obviously he wasn’t alone.’

‘No. We think your chap with the dark eyes from the beach was also involved at a leadership level. They were well-funded – as you say, a safe house somewhere in Marbella and another in Málaga, two teams of men, weapons, a boatman. Reception committee and vehicles in Morocco. Some means of transferring the two women to Libya, and a safe house there, too. Various people paid off here and there, presumably. They’re also whacking their own as they outlive their usefulness, to make it harder for us.’

‘Ruthless,’ said Carr, rubbing the large, crescent moon scar on his chin. ‘I like that.’

‘They obviously had inside information,’ said Nicholls. ‘It wasn’t a coincidence that they hit the beach at Puerto Banús at the moment they did. They had a fair bit of luck, too, but this would have taken time to plan.’

John Carr nodded.

‘The kidnappers have been in touch,’ said the MI6 man. ‘Between you and me, they’re offering to release Charlotte Morgan and the other girl in return for a ransom.’

‘Cash?’ said Carr, surprised.

‘Yes. Unusual, but you know that these people have funding needs the same as anyone else.’

‘How much?’

‘Twenty-five million US. Five million hand-delivered in used, non-sequential notes, various currencies, as readies. The balance by wire transfer. Once that’s confirmed, they’re released.’

Carr raised his eyebrows.

‘Have they got that kind of money?’ he said.

‘The Prime Minister’s husband heads up a multi-billion-dollar investment fund. I won’t say he wouldn’t notice it, but he could pull it together.’

‘So they’re thinking of paying?’