‘Taher?’ Saabiq. Right in his face like an annoying little insect that needed to be swatted.

‘What?’ Taher blinked, pushed Saabiq away and climbed out of the minibus. He wanted to find somewhere to pray, have something to eat and get his head down.

‘I was wondering…’ Saabiq gestured across to the low brick building. He looked more nervous now than he had before the job. ‘Do you think Kadri would be offended if we skip the pussy?’

Taher didn’t care one way or another. Offending Kadri was the least of his worries, but now the man was turning from his brother.

‘My brother’s farm,’ he said, boasting. He indicated the building with the heavy doors. ‘You like it? You want? Don’t worry, English boys, these girls are clean. And you no pay. Gratuit. Free.’

‘No.’ Taher waved Kadri off. ‘We’ll pray and eat and sleep.’

Taher shepherded Latif and Saabiq away to their quarters, thankful they were in a small byre separate from the main dwelling.

Hours later Taher woke in the darkness. A desert chill had descended and he was about to pull another blanket over himself when he heard the cries of a child. Saabiq and Latif lay alongside him, both fast asleep. Taher pushed himself up from the hard floor and made his way outside. A clear sky blazed with a million stars, and a dim light filtered through the ragged curtain that served as a door to the main building. He walked across and pulled aside the curtain. An oil lamp hanging from a roof truss illuminated the living space. Kadri sat slumped on a chair, his trousers by his ankles, a young girl with her face in his lap, Kadri’s paw of a hand on the back of her head.

‘So you do want, yes?’ Kadri said, looking up as Taher entered. The Tunisian laughed. ‘You can have this one when she’s finished or my brother will sort you out. Mansour?’

Kadri shouted into the night as Taher strode across the room. He looked down at the girl. She was twelve or thirteen. No more. In one swift movement he reached for the Glock he’d stuffed in the back of his belt. He brought the gun round and jammed it in Kadri’s mouth. Kadri grabbed for the gun with both hands, the skin on his knuckles whitening as he gripped the barrel. Taher shook his head.

‘Don’t move,’ he said. The girl looked up and Taher said to her gently: ‘No one is going to hurt you.’

The girl wiped the back of her hand across her mouth and rose to her feet. She looked up at Kadri for a moment and then ran from the room.

‘Mmmm,’ Kadri mumbled as Taher forced the barrel deeper. ‘You… can’t…’