‘How do you plan on finding him in the first place?’ Shelton asked. ‘MPs don’t make their home addresses public, for obvious reasons.’

‘By following him home from his daughter’s funeral,’ Ben replied. He’d already checked out the Worcestershire village of Hanbury and the Anglican parish church where the service for Annie Dudley was due to be held tomorrow afternoon. It was a quiet semi-rural location in the heart of the West Midlands, yet close to the M5 and just half an hour’s commute from Birmingham Airport. The perfect convenient country hideaway for a hard-driving A-list future political leader. ‘Once we know where he lives, we wait until nightfall and then make our move.’

‘Simple as that,’ Wolf said. ‘And what about taking care of the armed security detail?’

‘It’s what we do,’ Ben replied.

‘Will it be dangerous?’ Shelton asked, his eyes glittering with excitement.

‘More for them than for us, as long as things go to plan.’

‘Which they often don’t,’ Wolf interjected.

‘Can I come with you? I mean, I’d really love to be there.’

Ben stared at him. ‘I don’t think that’s necessary. You’ve already done plenty for us.’

Wolf wasn’t so diplomatic. ‘And a big fat-arse like you will only slow us down,’ he added.

‘Oh, thanks so much for that,’ Shelton grunted sourly.

‘Besides,’ Ben said, ‘I thought you hated leaving your hi-tech fortress retreat.’

‘For this, I’d have been willing to break my own rule.’

‘And get yourself shot into the bargain,’ Wolf said. ‘How could they miss?’

Shelton slumped deeper into his chair and pulled a face. ‘Fine, fine. Why did I even ask?’

‘Don’t feel too bad,’ Ben consoled him. ‘You have plenty to keep you busy here at home. Like a four-hundred-page book to read. The full lowdown. Nothing left out. Enough material for a year’s worth of blogging.’

That brightened Shelton up. ‘You’re leaving me Abbott’s laptop?’

‘I like to travel light,’ Ben said. ‘But I’ll need a copy of the manuscript for myself.’

Shelton nodded, fast becoming resigned to being left behind. ‘I can easily load that onto your phone.’ He drained the last of his beer, then yawned and stretched. ‘And with that, gentlemen, it’s been a long evening and I’m going to hit the sack.’