Andy McNab - Dark winter

I shifted my passport into my left hand, still holding the bag, and pulled out a bottle with my right. Suzy watched me without saying anything. I looked back at the woman as she checked the slowly moving line. When it was nearly our turn, a whole bunch of us got waved through; she didn't look at either of us as we passed the desk.

We carried on walking, joining the others heading for the luggage carousels. 'What's the matter, Nick? What's happening?'

I kept looking around. There had to be a lift team somewhere. 'Fucking bitch! You know very well what's happening.'

' What? '

I moved away from her, gripping the bottle by the neck as if I was about to throw it. She had an expression of complete incredulity on her face as she started looking around the hall, trying to see what I was searching for. 'What's happening, Nick? I need to know, tell me.'

I nodded towards the carousels. I could see them, Sundance and Trainers, still in sweatshirts and jeans, but now under three-quarter-length coats. They also had small shoulder-bags, carried across one shoulder and down the other side so they could run or fight and still hang on to their respirators.

She followed my gaze. 'This isn't me, Nick. Believe.'

I walked straight past the carousels, like most of the suits from our plane who had only briefcases and laptops.

Sundance and Trainers were about thirty metres to my right as I headed for Customs. We had eye to eye: all three of us knew what was going on. They weren't going to risk calling my bluff with all these people around. They'd bide their time: they had no choice.

'There's another two up there.' Suzy's voice came from just behind me.

I picked them out, hovering around the Customs channels, making a meal of putting bags over their shoulders as they kept their eyes constantly on target.

I stopped in my tracks and turned on Suzy. 'I'm getting out of here with all five bottles of this shit. If you, or these boys, try to stop me, I'll throw them. Got that? You'd better go and tell them.'

'I haven't told anyone anything. I don't know how they know.'

Sundance and Trainers shadowed me, and the other two moved out of the way, as I lifted the bottle to reinforce the threat. 'You called it in while I was getting this shit, didn't you?'

She came up level with me. 'No. It was just a dead spot. Why would I call this in?'

I could think of plenty of reasons. The words 'permanent' and 'cadre' topped the list. We joined the stream of trolleys overloaded with suitcases and duty-free bags aiming for the blue EU channel.

'He could have had the tickets flagged up to him or tracked the plastic – who knows?'

We got to the chicane and were caught in the bottleneck. I wanted to push through and run, then just keep running, but I couldn't risk attracting any of the overt security, who probably had no idea this was happening. Running would turn the whole thing into even more of a gang fuck. I just had to act normal, while feeling the pulses in my neck doing their best to burst out of my skin.

I fell in behind a group of four women in their forties, all pushing trolleys. They looked like four mums who'd been away by themselves, all tanned up in shorts and T-shirts, laughing and joking as they clung to the holiday mood, but pissed off that they had to be back in the office tomorrow morning.

I turned round. Suzy was about three paces back, with Sundance and Trainers another twenty behind. I hoped they weren't going to try it here. What could I do? Break a bottle over one of the women's heads? Throw this shit on to the floor? I stayed just a pace or two behind the girls, the bottle slightly raised in one hand and the bag in the other.

The sliding doors parted and we came out into the terminal, only to be channelled immediately by steel barriers past rows of seats with people bent over laptops or drinking coffee from the nearby Costa franchise. My eyes were drawn to the coffee shop. The other two guys were already waiting this side for me.

I kept close to the four mums as they wandered across the busy glass, steel and concrete concourse, giggling about how lucky their husbands were going to be tonight after two weeks without. 'Of course, that's not two weeks for all of us, though, is it, Kate?' The other two burst out laughing.

Kate didn't like it. 'I don't know what you're talking about, Andreas and I only-' I lost the rest as a family hurried between us, on their way to Departures.

Kate and her friends wove their way through the foot traffic heading for the lifts that would take us down to the car park and railway station directly under the terminal.

My head spun as I worked through the options. I wanted to stay near these four, but if they got out at the car park, the first floor down, I'd have to carry on to the station level and latch on to someone else. No way was I going to get myself isolated in the car park, or get into the Micra and drive. I'd be on my own. They could control me when I got out on the road.

I could see both teams, flanking me about thirty behind. Suzy was still following me, and we had eye to eye.

'I'm staying.' She pointed behind her. 'You're wrong.'

I ignored her. We got to the lifts, and as soon as they could see what I had in mind, Sundance and Trainers took to the stairs, leaving the other two to keep eyes on target.

The large steel doors shuddered apart and the women added to the scrapes on the sides as they wedged in their trolleys. I squeezed in behind them. Kate pressed the button for the station. 'What do you want, love?'

'The same as you.' Her friends had another fit of giggles.

I felt an elbow in my back: Suzy had pushed in just as the doors closed. I kept my hand clenched round the neck of the bottle, making sure she saw it. 'Don't fuck me about.'

When the doors opened again the women gave us both a bit of a sideways look. They understood: they'd had plenty of rows of their own. I stepped out and to one side to let them pass, then kept right behind them as they pushed their trolleys into the station cavern. No doubt Suzy was behind me somewhere. I couldn't be arsed to look.

Sundance and Trainers were waiting, gulping in oxygen, as their two mates came down the stairs three at a time. I lifted the bottle and got eye to eye with the shorter one. He made a calming motion with his hands.

By now the girls had got to the touch-screen ticket machines and were buying singles to London. I got out my card and bought one too, then followed them towards the waiting train. The platform was alive with the buzz of Italian and German voices. The tannoy announced the imminent departure of the train for London Liverpool Street in three languages, to the relieved nods of the tourists. Trolleys rumbled, kids shrieked. I watched the four-man lift team staking me, but caught a glimpse of Suzy, ticket in hand.

The women dumped their trolleys and heaved their far-too-big suitcases into the blue interior of the worn-out train. As I followed them, Sundance and Trainers boarded the next carriage. Sure enough, the other two ran past me and got into one further along.

Our carriage was packed with bags, people, and even a rat dog being carried in its own shoulder-bag by a doting Frenchwoman. All the foreigners had their travel guides out, and some were already dozing off. I stood near the public credit-card phone, next to the toilet. Suzy worked her way past some cases and a three-wheeled baby buggy to the opposite side of the train.

There was a tannoy announcement in English that the train was going direct to London, stopping at Tottenham Hale. Translations followed as the buzzer went, the doors closed and we started to move.

Suzy came within a few paces of me.

'Just keep your distance, OK?'

'Nick, I didn't-'

We were plunged into darkness for a second or two before the lights came back on. I couldn't hear the rest of what she said as we went through the tunnel: there was too much noise. I just leant back against the telephone, bottle in hand. I wasn't going to throw it, but I had to look as if I was ready to.