‘I’m not kidding myself,’ Ben said. ‘Best case scenario, they take one look at the body with the gold teeth and go away satisfied that it’s you. Worst case, they’re going to get serious about establishing a cast-iron ID, and take the remains away for DNA testing against samples from your apartment. In which case we’re not off the hook—’

‘So to speak.’

‘—but we’ve bought ourselves a little time. A few days, maybe, before they realise they’ve been tricked.’

‘A few days isn’t what you’d call a large window of opportunity,’ Wolf said.

‘That’s where you come in,’ Ben told him. ‘While they’re looking the other way, you’ll be leading us straight to them.’

Wolf looked doubtful. ‘It’s a tight one, Ben. What about your girlfriend? Just takes one call, the instant the jig is up. They won’t hesitate.’

Ben’s jaw clenched tight. ‘We hit them hard enough, fast enough, they won’t have time to make that call.’

‘And if they do?’

‘It’s not an option.’

‘That all you got?’

‘It’s what I’ve got,’ Ben said. ‘So let’s make it work.’

By Wolf’s count, he had taken out five of the attackers who’d come for him that night. With the hook-handed would-be killer Ben had shot making up the half dozen, it seemed that they’d got them all. There’d been no sign of the Peugeot van taking off. Ben could only presume it was still down there.

The bodies were scattered across the escarpment and it took some time to gather them all together and lay them out in a row on the edge of a deep, dark, wooded ravine. Ben and Wolf stood over them and sized up all six to decide which was the best candidate for a decoy.

‘That one there,’ Wolf said, pointing, and Ben nodded in agreement. The dead Spaniard was about quarter of an inch shorter than Wolf, just a little heavier, but the best of the bunch.

The remainder of the bodies, they dumped into the ravine along with their various rifles and shotguns. It was unlikely they’d be found for a long time. Ben frisked their chosen decoy for ID. The dead guy was carrying a wallet that contained some cash and a driver’s licence that identified him as Alejandro Morales. He was also carrying a handy little stiletto knife in a boot sheath, which Ben appropriated for himself as spoils of war.