The only reason ‘Saunders’ could think of as to why Hope might have deliberately started the fire after killing the driver of the van was because the burned body now lying in the morgue in Zaragoza was in fact not that of Jaden Wolf at all, and that Hope was attempting to pull a fast one. ‘Saunders’ considered how such a hypothetical deception would play out. Assuming that the gold denture that Vaughn was bringing back to London was the genuine article, there was indeed only one place Hope could have got such a bespoke, custom-made item from: Wolf himself. In which case, whether Wolf was now dead or alive, Hope had succeeded in locating his target with great speed and efficiency. Perhaps too much, even for a man of his undisputable talents. ‘Saunders’ now wondered whether perhaps Hope had known Wolf’s location all along. Maybe the two had been in contact from the start.

Whatever the case, ‘Saunders’ reasoned, if Wolf was still alive, there were two possible options. One: the pair had conspired to fake the assassination so that Hope could get himself and the Kirk woman off the hook and Wolf could disappear forever into some hidden recess of the world, never to be seen again. Wolf most certainly had the knowhow to do so, and probably the financial means as well. Hope had taken the risk to feed a lifeline to his former SAS comrade, and would presently be returning home to France in the belief that he’d pulled the trick off successfully.

Or Two: after joining Wolf in Spain, Hope had convinced him that they should team up together, with the intention of somehow turning the tables on their mutual adversaries. That possibility was of greater concern to ‘Saunders’, but was it feasible? Did these men have the sheer bloody balls to attempt such a strategy? And if attack was Hope’s plan, where might he strike first? It was a bold move. Also a foolish one, if Hope had any genuine affection for the Kirk woman. He must surely realise that he’d be signing her death warrant. Could it be that they had underestimated the man’s ruthlessness?

Or perhaps Hope had other intentions. At this stage it was too early to know for certain. Everything hinged on the outcome of the DNA test on the tissue sample currently en route back to London. For the first time, ‘Saunders’ experienced a fleeting moment of nervousness. His suspicions might come to nothing, but he had no intention of letting Hope get the jump on him. He reached out across his desk and picked the phone back up to make a call to another of his people, a man named Turnbull. Turnbull was his second-in-command overseeing the surveillance team in Scotland, as well as the various other operations they had in play.

When Turnbull’s voice came on the line, ‘Saunders’ said, ‘Give me a situation report on Kirk.’