Andy McNab - Zero hour

'No! Please!' He was almost hyperventilating.

'Calm down, for fuck's sake. Or it means keeping you with me all the time, making sure you can't tell anyone what's just happened.'

If I was right about him, he was in as much shit as I was. He just didn't know it.

'Take deep breaths. Come on, that's better.' I took the knife away and held it up between us. 'But don't go mistaking kindness for weakness, all right? You tell me what you know and do what I say and you'll get out of this car alive.' I pointed the blade at his face. 'OK, a couple more deep breaths and then you're going to drive us both to Fulham.'

Kleinmann was a good prisoner.

We sat at a window table in TGI Friday's. A far too cheerful waitress bounced over and announced she'd be looking after us tonight. Kleinmann was happy for me to do the ordering, as long as it was chicken.

My eyes never left the restaurant front on the other side of Fulham Broadway. Getting something to eat and keeping out of the rain were secondary. We were here for the stakeout on the Vietnamese.

Passing buses obscured the target for a couple of seconds now and again. The junction was busy. High-sided vans sometimes got stuck at the lights. Most of the footfall had their heads down, collars or brollies up, orange Sainsbury carrier bags alongside them, en route to a ready-meal for one and a bottle of wine in front of the telly.

Our food turned up, with another round of Diet Cokes. I knew Kleinmann was scared, but he probably felt secure. If people have control, you feel safer. You're being held for a reason, and they're not going to do anything rash.

So far he'd done exactly what I'd told him to do. He'd shut up, driven us here, parked up, and even offered to buy dinner, which was good of him considering I had his wallet.

'The shadow on the scan, the big red Smarties… It's all bullshit, isn't it?'

He nodded miserably.

I dunked a chip in the dish of tomato sauce. 'Why are you mixed up with all this shit? What have you been doing to get so fucked up?'

He wiped his forehead with the paper napkin. His liquid brown eyes glistened with anguish. 'These guys came in. They made me do it. I had no choice. I don't know who they were. I don't know why they wanted me to do what I did, and I don't know why I'm sitting here. I just know I'm scared…'

He stared at his untouched food. I picked up another chip and poked it at him.

'What is it they've got on you? Or did they simply come in and say they were going to kill you?'

His hands came up. 'Please, I'm doing everything you say. Please don't use those words.' He rubbed his beard and took a shuddering breath. 'Well, it's kind of-'

I dropped my chip on the plate. 'Look over there. See that restaurant – the Vietnamese? Do you know him? The black guy at the door, going in? Was he one of them? The guy now inside, taking his coat off, waiting for a seat. You see him? '

Kleinmann adjusted his glasses. 'Who?'

'The black guy. Talking with the waiter now. You see him?'

'No…'

'The suit. The smart guy.'

'Yes, I see him – but it wasn't him. They were both white. Sounded like you – that London thing.'

Jules was shown to a table and sat with his back to the door. A waiter appeared. He didn't bother with a menu. He was a regular. He knew what he wanted.

Kleinmann fidgeted. 'Can I go now? I promise I won't-'

I picked up my burger and nodded at his. 'Better start getting that down you. We'll be leaving soon.'

He sat there and played with a couple of chips as I cleared my plate. I asked for the bill and watched the top of Jules's head tilt back as he helped himself to a beer.

I paid with cash from Kleinmann's wallet, then stood up and pulled on my parka. 'Remember, don't mistake kindness for friendship or weakness. Just do what I say, when I say, and all will be well. OK?'

He nodded and stood up.

We turned left towards the tube station, walked about thirty metres and ducked into the doorway of a boarded-up bookshop. It was near a bus stop and a natural place to wait, especially in this weather.

I got hold of Kleinmann. I needed his full attention. 'When he comes out, he's going to head for the tube. We're going to follow him. Then I'm going to make sure he comes with us to your car.'

'Then what?'

'Don't worry about that. All you have to remember is that if you fuck me about I'm going to have to do you. You know that, yeah?'

He nodded.

We waited twenty or so minutes. People got on and off buses. Others huddled in doorways like us. My eyes never left the restaurant door.

I nudged Kleinmann. 'Here we go, stand by.'

I reached into my parka pocket and grabbed the pliers. Julian was going to come with me whether he liked it or not. And then he was going to tell me what the fuck was going on.

He stood on the pavement, pulling up his collar and looking up at the rain. He turned towards the Underground, and then double-checked behind him, further down the road, away from us. As I followed his eye line, I could see a cab approaching, its bright yellow sign a beacon in the gloom.

He stuck his hand out. Minutes later he was gone.

Kleinmann took it all in but didn't say a word. He was waiting for my reaction.

'Back to the car. You should have eaten that burger. Like I said, it's going to be a long night.'

Rain pounded on the Volvo roof. The windows were steamed up and the car stank of my farts. The burger was taking its toll. We were parked in a sixties housing estate somewhere near Baron's Court. I didn't know exactly where it was, but I'd seen the name on road signs. All that mattered was that it was near Fulham, and it was out of the way of mainstream roads.

I'd tied Kleinmann's right hand to the steering-wheel with his belt. He couldn't get his seat to recline because his arm wasn't long enough. He'd assumed the position he had in the Cavendish Square car park, head on the wheel, but this time because he was knackered.

I was stretched out on the fully extended passenger seat. There was a slight risk in using the car. It was a known location if someone phoned the police to say Kleinmann hadn't turned up somewhere tonight, but it was a chance I had to take. It was better for me to control him here. It was better for both of us than having a night out in this shit. He'd probably never slept rough. He'd be more of a drama out there than he was in here, and we wouldn't look like vagrants when I moved in on Jules tomorrow.

I turned the electrics on to lower my window A couple of inches. Kleinmann was in a world of his own. Sometimes he mumbled.

I wouldn't sleep with him moaning to himself and the rain hammering on the roof, but I turned my back to him, trying to get comfortable.

He stirred. 'Can't we just go back to my apartment? I've got food – a shower.'

'No.'

'Who are you guys? Drug-dealers? Mafia? What is it?'

He waited for an answer. He didn't get one.

'It's drugs, isn't it? You guys fighting over drugs?'

I shook my head. 'Tell you what, you tell me how they got you to work and I'll tell you what's happening.'

He looked out of the window and rubbed his hair. 'I had a practice. Cosmetic surgery. Fat asses, droopy chins. Marlene was cool. Ten years younger than me, but I had everything she wanted.

'Then three years ago, when she was about to turn thirty-five, she had an affair with a twenty-year-old cowboy.' He shook his head like he still couldn't believe it. 'She went to an all-woman, arm-and-a-leg fancy dude-ranch retreat – on my dime. I say all women – except the young cowboys who were there to run the place. She spreads them for this kid and decides he's her soul-mate.

'The affair went on for a few months. Marlene started "volunteering" at this ranch and then she told me, immediately after our tenth wedding anniversary, she wanted out. Know why the tenth anniversary is significant? Because in fucking sunny California, without a pre-nup, a spouse gets half of everything for life if the couple are married ten years.