De Payns placed two copies of his briefing on the desk, the result of an early-morning meeting with Templar. ‘The email and phone intercepts suggest Raven’s protective of me, so I think we’re safe on that front. The test comes when she’s in Islamabad, organises a dinner with her brother and acknowledges me as a guest. That’s when Timberwolf and the ISI will respond.’

There was silence. The three of them knew that attending such a dinner date—under the noses of the ISI, in Pakistan—was very dangerous, not only for de Payns but for the rest of the mission team.

Briffaut cleared his throat and grabbed his copy of de Payns’ mission briefing. ‘You’re aware we have to speed up this operation, but this better show me how you’re dealing with the risks.’

De Payns walked them through it. A recon team from the Company was flying into Islamabad that morning, to spend a week setting up the équipement de ville, that included ISs, tourniquets, support plans, hotels, exfiltration plans and the dating games—the jeux de rendez-vous. Once the recon team had set up the équipement, the mission team would spend a week learning and practising it. Then the mission team—consisting of Templar, Danny, Jerome, Paulin and Simon—would go in to Islamabad, and two days later de Payns would arrive for his dinner date with Raven and Timberwolf.

De Payns took them through the basics—the support team would number only five, but they would be in and around the environment, which was largely Raven’s flat and de Payns’ hotel, as well as travel routes to and from the international airport. Special attention would be paid to Raven’s flat—de Payns would not be wired, so the team would have to be close enough to give assistance to de Payns while staying inconspicuous. Templar had suggested wireless mics placed around the flat and its approaches—his thinking was that the ISI would sweep inside the flat for listening devices but probably not the exterior. The hotels would consist of tourist three-stars for the support team and de Payns would stay at the Marriott, chosen because it was a fit with the Duboscq legend and because it had several entry/exit points. Hotels with multiple exits were chosen for DGSE operations because it gave the team options for the exfil, which was also designed before de Payns arrived in-country.

‘What about the car?’ asked Briffaut. ‘You probably don’t want to use the Hertz contact again.’

‘Templar will buy something from a backpacker hostel. The cars are not a problem; the main issue is the flat itself and the assumption that Timberwolf will be accompanied by ISI minders. The team loses sight of me at six o’clock or thereabouts, and then I’m in a flat with Dr Death and his ISI bodyguards.’