The next morning, The Ghost got up early and jumped in a taxi that took him straight to the Federal Courthouse for Crime and Correction. Being a Sunday, it was closed, and he was the only person standing at the top of the ten stone steps that led to the front entrance. He made his way to the spot on the pavement where he expected the police van to drop García off and then timed how long it would take to climb to the entrance. He made the same journey three times, all at slightly different speeds, until he was happy that he had the correct range of timings. He calculated that, from leaving the van, García would reach the top step in somewhere between twelve and fifteen seconds.

Next, he took a leisurely ten-minute walk through the local neighbourhood that led him directly to the hospital. He paused outside the Emergency Department entrance and reached inside his jacket to retrieve the lanyard that gave him the status of a heart consultant. He then entered the building through the automatic glass doors. As soon as he was inside, he headed for a bank of lifts that he knew included a service elevator that would take him directly to the fifteenth floor.

Two minutes later, he walked up a small set of winding metal steps that gave direct access to the roof. He made his way across to the west aspect and removed a small telescopic gunsight from the inside pocket of his jacket. He adjusted the focus and zoomed into the top step at the front of the courthouse, then waited patiently for something to happen. After about ten minutes, he spotted a teenager casually walk up the steps and make his way to the front doors, where he stopped to read the signage giving the weekly opening times of the court. As the young man turned and walked away, he had no idea a gunsight was tracking his every step.

* * *

Twenty four hours later, Pedro battled his way through a paltry breakfast of cold scrambled eggs mixed with chilli peppers and a sausage that he was sure had never been anywhere near a real pig. At least the coffee was hot, and it helped wake up his senses. He’d only slept intermittently and was feeling physically and mentally exhausted. He’d had plenty of time to think and yet couldn’t work out how this unknown enemy had tracked down Gonzales and Ramos.

While Pedro sat and contemplated what the hell was going on, The Ghost was already set up on the hospital roof, having checked out of his hotel at dawn. His aluminium precision rifle was resting on a titanium bipod, which kept the weapon totally stable. Pedro’s court appearance was still two hours away and that gave him plenty of time to practise, as he lined up dozens of unsuspecting bystanders in his telescopic sight.