The annexe door was unlocked. Ben and Wolf slipped through it into a narrow, dimly lit hallway. If they’d made the slightest sound it would have been covered by the sound of the TV, but they were better than that. And far better than anything Dudley’s highly-paid professional protection team could possibly handle. In fact these guys were amateurs, and the evidence of it was clearly visible right there in the hallway. The soldier’s Rule Number One: keep your weapon close to hand at all times. Four shoulder holster rigs with chunky black semiautomatic pistols, spare magazines and detached silencers were hanging from coat hooks near the door, along with a pair of MPX submachine guns dangling by their slings. A collection of walkie-talkie handsets lay piled on a side table. Whoops.

Ben and Wolf pocketed the pistols they’d taken from the guards outside and silently took down the MPXs. Full-auto configuration models, capable of 850 rounds a minute, each one fully bombed up with integral sound suppressors, thirty-round magazines, tactical lights and lasers. If anything could be called an improvement on the old Heckler & Kochs that they’d cut their teeth on in the regiment, this was it. Wolf flashed Ben a golden grin.

Ben pointed at the living room door and counted off with his fingers, three – two – one. Then he swung the door open and they stepped into the room. The two guys watching TV turned to gape at them as though they were apparitions. Ben clubbed the nearest one hard over the head with the forend of his MPX and trained the weapon on the other, while Wolf stormed through to the kitchen. The man Ben had hit fell to his knees and then tried to scramble to his feet, so Ben put him down harder with a kick to the throat. The other one had the sense to remain perfectly still. Ben put a finger to his lips. ‘Shhh.’

Wolf had little trouble with the other two, once he’d slammed one of them into a wall and broken the other one’s nose with his weapon. Seconds later all four were prostrated on the living room floor and Wolf was tearing strips off his roll of tape while Ben held them at gunpoint. Wolf started with their wrists and ankles, then bound their knees together, taped their arms to their sides and wrapped a length around each man’s face to gag him.

‘Sweet dreams, boys,’ Wolf said with a leer as they turned out the living room light.