Two of the soldiers left the room to load and check over their vehicle, a Land Rover Defender, while Steven and the remaining two, including Nick, went over every possible scenario they could imagine and how they would deal with it should it arise. Coffee and Benzedrine kept tiredness at bay.

Steven showered and changed into the suit he’d brought with him. He removed the memory card he was going to use from his briefcase and slipped it into the inside pocket of his jacket, pausing briefly to reflect on the enormity of the bluff he was planning. It had been decided that they would all leave at the same time, the soldiers heading directly to Scotland and he to Birmingham Airport. He would arrive there early but would use the time call Tally and tell her what was going on. He deliberately kept his speed down on the motorway in order to concentrate on what he was going to say but, as he entered the car park at the airport, he still wasn’t sure.

There was no escaping the fact that the next few hours were going to change everything in his life regardless of the outcome. If the worst should happen to Jenny and he should survive, he knew that he would slip all the anchors he had in society. He would walk away from his job, his relationship, his friends and single-mindedly hunt down Khan and kill him... or die in the attempt. There would be no waiting for the wheels of justice to turn. He wasn’t civilised to the degree required to lift him above seeking revenge. That’s just the way it was.

If, please God, Jenny were to come out of this unscathed in the physical sense he couldn’t see how she could achieve this mentally. True, she was a child and children were remarkably resilient but the question must be how deep would the scars run? Sue and Richard too would be traumatised and it was impossible to think that things could ever be the same again between them all. As for Tally... he was just about to find out whether their relationship could possibly survive the latest challenge.

Thirty

Steven bought a ticket on the Edinburgh flight, politely declining the offer of a seat on an earlier flight as there was still time as the smiling girl behind the desk pointed out. He bought black coffee and found a quiet spot in the airport lounge where he settled by a window to look out at the grey morning light before calling Tally.

Steven? I expected you to call last night. I was worried.’

‘I’m sorry... rather a lot’s been happening.’

‘Something’s the matter,’ said Tally, alarmed at the nuance she was picking up in Steven’s voice.

‘I don’t know how Khan found out about Jenny and where she lived but he did. He’s kidnapped her and wants to trade her for the memory card Simone enclosed with her letter. Right now I’m at Birmingham Airport waiting to go up to Edinburgh... to await his instructions.’

‘Oh my God, Steven... Oh, Steven this is awful... poor little love... Oh God, is there anything I can do? Anything at all?’

‘No, it’s all up to me right now,’ said Steven. ‘I... just thought you should know what’s going on...’

There was a pause before Tally said quietly, ‘Of course I should know what’s going on; we love each other, don’t we? Jenny’s part of us, as in the two of us, isn’t she?’

‘Sorry, I put it badly. I’m not thinking straight. Of course, she is. It’s just that... I suppose I’ve suddenly become very aware of just how much my job affects the people around me, the people I love. You were much more aware of it than me. You spelt it out for me more than once and I kept pushing it to the back of my mind.’

‘Stop it, Steven,’ said Tally but not unkindly. ‘What I said in the past was based on my own selfishness. I thought I had a right to demand a safe and secure life and you should comply with that and fall into line but I was wrong and I remember all the unhappiness you went through for me before I insisted you return. You’re a special person doing a special job, a job that needs doing and it’s the rest of us who should fall into line. Every wife of every soldier serving in Afghanistan has to do this. I’ve come to realise there’s a great army of unsung heroines out there who go through hell every day but accept it without complaint. I’m now one of them. I love you; I’ll always be there for you and so will all the people you love so stop talking nonsense and go get Jenny back.’

Steven managed a smile for the first time in a while. ‘Will do.’

The flight north only served to increase Steven’s anxiety. He’d never been fond of the enforced proximity to strangers that air travel imposed but today it was the sheer normality of his fellow passengers’ behaviour that seemed to get to him; the very things that would normally confer anonymity on people were today doing the opposite. Filling in crossword puzzles, tapping laptop keys, reading newspapers, even the sipping of coffee seemed to imply a complete disregard for the personal agony he was going through.