Krasic reached round to the small of his back where a subcompact Glock G27 nestled in a padded leather holster. He drew the gun and handed it to Tadeusz. ‘Nine in the magazine,’ he said abruptly.

‘I don’t plan on using it. At least, not yet,’ Tadeusz said coldly, putting the gun in his raincoat pocket. He got out of the car and walked briskly over to the man Krasic had pointed out. As he came up behind Tony, he closed his hand round the comforting grip of the pistol. Drawing level, he jammed the muzzle of the gun into Tony’s ribs. ‘Don’t move, Dr Hill,’ he said, his voice brutal, his free hand gripping Tony’s arm. To a distant observer, it would have looked like two friends meeting and greeting. ‘That’s a gun.’

Tony froze. ‘Who are you?’ he croaked, unable to see his assailant.

‘My name is Tadeusz Radecki.’

Tony couldn’t help the spasm of shock that gripped his muscles. He twitched violently in Tadeusz’s grip. ‘I don’t understand,’ he said. ‘Who are you?’

Tadeusz jabbed the gun viciously against Tony’s ribcage. ‘Don’t act stupid.’ He heard the purr of the Mercedes engine as it came up behind him. The car stopped and Krasic got out. ‘Get the back door, Darko.’

Krasic opened the door and Tadeusz pushed Tony inside, taking the gun out of his pocket as he did so. He climbed in beside him, holding the gun pointed at his stomach. ‘A gut shot is the worst way to die,’ he said conversationally.

‘Look, there’s been some mistake,’ Tony protested feebly. ‘I have no idea who you guys are and you’re obviously mistaking me for someone else. Just let me go and we can forget all about this.’ Pathetic, he thought. Where’s your training now? Where’s that famous empathy now?

‘Bullshit,’ Tadeusz said, his tone curt. ‘You’re not only fucking Carol Jordan, you’re working with her. Darko, find us somewhere we can talk.’

Tony’s brain raced into overdrive. They knew who Carol was. Her cover was blown. They knew who he was, and they wrongly assumed he was here because of them. What were they doing here though? How could someone have followed him? He must surely have noticed, so haphazard had his travels been. But then, he hadn’t been looking for a tail.

He pushed that thought to one side. Nothing could be more irrelevant than how Radecki came to be here. What mattered now was finding a way to protect Carol. He was under no illusions about what he was dealing with here. These men were killers. If he had to buy Carol’s life at the expense of his own, so be it. Saving her was what mattered. If ever he had needed all his ingenuity, he needed it now. He made himself hold Radecki’s stare without flinching.