‘Would passenger Ian Wood please make himself known to the cabin crew,’ said the captain. Woody didn’t realise at first that it was his name that had been called, but he heard it when the message was repeated. The plane had gone into a steep descent and the stewardesses were briskly moving down the aisles checking that seats were upright and passengers strapped in. Woody could also see that they were scanning the passengers to see if anyone was reacting to the final announcement. He waved to a pretty blonde stewardess. She came over, eyebrows raised.

‘I’m Ian Wood,’ he said. The woman in the seat next to him was openly listening, curious to know what he’d done.

‘Mr Wood, do you have any baggage in the hold?’ the stewardess asked briskly. Woody could tell from her tone that something was very badly wrong, so he answered immediately, suppressing his first instinct to make a joke.

‘No,’ he said. There was a cold feeling of dread in his stomach.

‘Could you give me all the cabin baggage you have, please,’ she said. She was smiling but he could tell that it was an act to put him at his ease and get his cooperation, the girl was frightened shitless. So was Woody.

‘Oh God,’ he moaned, and reached between his legs to pick up his bag.

The bomb exploded.

Joker and Ginge kept Maggie covered as they waited for instructions from the Colonel. They had made her lie face down on the bloodstained carpet next to Fisher, with her hands clasped behind her neck. She had a good body, thought Joker. Good legs, firm arse, just the way he liked a woman to be. He looked at his watch.

The Colonel’s voice spoke in his left ear. ‘The plane has gone down. We assume with all lives lost. Operation is discontinued. No loose ends. I repeat, no loose ends.’

Joker looked across at Ginge to see if he had heard. Ginge nodded and made a small motion with his MP5, his way of saying that Joker could do the honours. Joker fired once into her back, just over where her heart was.