“Treat him the same as anyone else who gets in the way.”

“Fine,” Thorsson said. He signalled for Six to get up and pointed to the drone. “Let’s go and take a look.”

80

Björn parked their van a mile away from the target property. The white Renault Master had been sourced for them by the quartermaster. It was old and looked as if it must have rolled out of the factory in the early nineties. It had a two-litre engine, a couple of hundred thousand miles on the clock, and bodywork that had been nicked and dented by innumerable collisions throughout its working life. It was big, though, with a deep cargo space and a cabin that was separated by a panel with a viewing hatch. It fitted in with the other vehicles on the street and was perfect for what Björn had in mind.

There was an expanse of scrubby wasteland to the west of Las Violetas, on the other side of the road to what looked like an abandoned prison. It was surrounded by a fence with a pair of wire mesh gates fastened with a padlock; he picked the lock, opened the gates and drove through. Their vantage point was on a plateau that offered a broad vista of the city below. It was quiet, shielded from the road by a brick wall and mature trees, and there was no one else around. It was ideal for their purposes.

Björn and Six got out of the van. He wiped his cuff across his forehead to mop up the sweat.

“You need any help?” he asked her.

“I think I can manage.”

It was a privilege of being Number One that he had a little input into the composition of the team that was deployed. Björn had flicked through Six’s file and knew that she had been one of the first three female soldiers to be admitted into the SAS. Hester had served in Afghanistan with the Special Reconnaissance Regiment and had made a name for herself with a series of daring and successful covert operations. She had developed a specialism in reconnaissance and had honed it during her time at Hereford. She was confident and very competent; she had a temper on her, too, and Björn reminded himself not to get onto her bad side. He didn’t think that would be a particularly pleasant place to be.