Slowly, silently, Ben cracked open the wardrobe door. An inch, then two, then six more. He peeked out. Frank was standing just a few feet away across the room, with his back turned to Ben as he dragged the mattress off Abbott’s bed, hoping to find the missing laptop or a set of data drives hidden underneath. Ben could see the butt of a Glock 19 sticking out of the back of Frank’s jeans waistband.

If it had to be done, it needed to be done fast. Ben took a deep breath and felt his heartbeat settle into that state of calm stillness that he always entered before battle.

And then he launched himself from the wardrobe door and was on the man in two steps.

Chapter 33

Ben hit him hard behind the ear with the steel of the Browning. A blow intended to stun and disorientate, not to kill. Ben had other uses for Frank before things got to that stage.

Frank was a hard nut and not about to be taken out of action so easily. As he toppled sideways to the bedroom floor with a grunt of pain and shock he tried to claw out his pistol, but Ben captured his hand, bent his arm tight up behind his back and rode him down to the carpet with the muzzle of the Browning jammed tight against the base of his skull. Before he could cry out Ben hit him two more sharp blows and clamped the guy’s mouth shut, using a knee to keep the trapped arm pinned at breaking point behind his back.

Wolf had emerged from the wardrobe right behind Ben. He deftly plucked the Glock from Frank’s waistband and danced back two steps, speed-checking the loaded chamber and then training the gun towards the doorway in case the two men downstairs might have become alerted to what was happening.

They hadn’t. The sounds of vandalism and fake burglary continued as before.

Frank was dazed but still struggling against Ben’s iron grip, snorting and breathing like a trapped pig and trying to bite the hand Ben had clasped over his mouth. Ben held him down tighter and pressed the gun harder against the back of his head, angled so that a through-and-through gunshot wouldn’t blow off his own fingers if he had to pull the trigger. He didn’t want to, but Frank didn’t know that.

In a soft, calm voice close to Frank’s ear Ben said, ‘Listen very carefully and make no mistake. Resist me, and I will kill you. Any tricks, I will kill you. I’m going to loosen my grip a little, so you can nod to tell me that you understand, Frank.’