Andy McNab - Meltdown

'Did he tell you why?' asked Will.

'No,' Teddy replied. 'I don't like it. He sounded just as jovial as usual, but there was something I can't quite put my finger on… He's never done anything like this before.'

'There's no need to over-react,' said Will reassuringly. 'Maybe he wants to increase production, or extend the network. Have you thought of that?'

Teddy clearly wasn't convinced. He turned to Fergus. 'I want you to be there.'

'Oh, I'll be there. Out of sight, but I'll be there. If you like, I can put a wire on you so I can hear everything he says.'

Will and Teddy exchanged glances. Danny caught the tiny shake of Will's head and Teddy's nod.

'I think you're making too much of this, Teddy,' Will said. 'I really do. Our problems were back home, not here.'

Teddy thought about it, then agreed. 'Just be there, Watts. No wire,' he said.

He was clutching two small pieces of paper from the note pad. He gave one of them to Fergus. 'That's the address of the restaurant. I have to make another call, to our drivers. They need to know where the transfer is taking place.'

Danny knew that Fergus had to be itching to get a closer look at the second piece of paper. But he couldn't. Tracking the Meltdown transfer and seeing what new information it brought would be down to Danny now, while Fergus got to check out the twins' European contact.

The Olympic Games of 1992 had transformed the city of Barcelona, especially the waterfront. Whole new sections of beach had been opened up, giving a new lease of life to a district that had been run down and neglected.

Now it was a vibrant and popular area. The beaches were packed by day and by night; on long floodlit stretches of sand, young people gathered to play beach volleyball. Many more would stand and watch before strolling on to one of the expensive restaurants lining the walkways.

The twins' contact had chosen a restaurant set slightly back from the waterfront for the meeting. There was a subtly lit, wide terrace, where tables were set with pristine white tablecloths and gleaming cutlery.

The road was lined with restaurants and bars, and Fergus was sitting on the terrace of the bar immediately next to the restaurant where the twins were dining with their mystery man.

It was a mild evening, so the twins and the target were eating at a table on the restaurant terrace, which was warmed by outdoor heaters.

The moment he set eyes on the twins' contact, Fergus recognized the type. The clothes – black polo neck, black trousers, black leather jacket; Fergus had seen Bosnian thugs many times before.

The man was built like the proverbial brick shit-house – five feet ten and solid, with hands like shovels and legs so thick that his thighs rubbed together as he walked.

He was carrying a bit of weight now – Fergus guessed he was in his late forties – no doubt accustomed to dining on fine food, but he was still in good nick; he didn't wobble. His black hair had just a few flecks of grey but remained thick and wavy and his fingernails were perfectly manicured.

The guy was obviously a big-time player: confidence oozed from every pore. When he arrived at the restaurant, he embraced both Teddy and Will like they were long-lost sons and seemed genuinely concerned at the state of Teddy's face – he made him take off his sunglasses so that he could inspect the damage.

As they sat down at the table, Fergus was thinking hard. Will and Teddy clearly had no idea what they were dealing with. Fergus had guessed as much from the conversation on the ferry; now he'd seen the contact, he knew they were in deep shit – way, way over their heads. He also knew that there was no way this guy would have come alone. Keeping third party aware, his face and body relaxed, he allowed his eyes to travel round the crowded terrace, looking for the big guy's backup. Danny was definitely not feeling relaxed. He was crawling through the rocky hills way above the city. Thorns dug into his flesh as he moved towards his target.

He'd done well with the Corsa hire car, particularly as he'd had to quickly adapt to a steering wheel on the other side of the vehicle. But following the coaches out of the city and up into the winding hillside roads had been fairly trouble-free. He didn't know exactly where he was but that didn't matter. Being on target did.

Eventually the coaches had pulled into one of the many huge landscaped parking and picnicking areas which gave a panoramic view over the city. They were designed for tourists and sightseers. But at that time of night, there were no tourists, just international drug dealers.

The main part of Operation Meltdown was seeking out and destroying the DMP and everyone involved, but finding out how the drug was distributed in Europe was also part of the mission. Dudley needed to know who picked up the drugs and where they headed after that. He would pass on that information to his European counterparts so that they could identify and take out the rest of the Meltdown network in their own countries.

As he drove past, Danny watched the coaches pull well away from the road towards the cover of tall trees. He continued for about 400 metres and found a side track where he could hide the Corsa. He grabbed the handycam and headed back cross country towards the car park.

As he got closer to the dead ground that was the target, he dropped to a crawl, stopping every few minutes to listen for any signs of activity ahead of him. Fergus watched as the big guy ate as though it was his last ever meal. Plate after plate of food was delivered to the table; Fergus guessed that he'd often gone hungry in the old days, during the Bosnian war. There had been so little to eat in that ravaged country. He was certainly making up for it now.

Teddy and Will soon gave up trying to keep up with the big man's appetite and just picked at their food. From what Fergus could see, it looked as through their contact was doing most of the talking, with big, expansive hand-gestures and an occasional deep belly laugh which rang around the terrace, causing a number of diners to glance over at their table.

Finally, as the Bosnian paused to savour something delicious, Fergus saw Teddy get in with a question.

The big man finished his mouthful, chewing slowly.

He swallowed and then smiled broadly before replying.

The twins exchanged a look before Teddy continued, and the conversation proceeded more quietly, with all three heads close together across the table. Then the waiter came up to clear the plates and the Bosnian leaned back in his chair, laughed out loud, reached for the menu and started talking to the waiter again.

Fergus could tell from the twins' body language that they weren't finished with the conversation, but it was also clear that they weren't going to get any more from their contact until he'd finished ordering yet another course. Teddy was looking anxious; Will had a restraining hand on his arm.

Fergus just hoped that the twins would hold it together enough not to look in his direction and give his position away. Danny could hear engines coming up the hill. He had just a few metres to go before the dead ground came into view and he pushed himself forward more quickly, the sweat on his face now covered with dust.

Four sets of headlights entered the car park and illuminated the coaches. It was difficult for Danny to see if the twins' crew were outside the coaches as the headlights swept through the darkness.

Powering up the handycam and the little PC, Danny pushed the nightspot button on the camera forward. He avoided using the LCD screen, as the light it generated could give away his position, and looked through the viewfinder. The light from the infra-red torch on the handycam was invisible to the human eye but illuminated the area enough for the darkened coaches and the men to be clearly visible through the nightspot lens. The images fed straight to the PC and via the Bluetooth connection to the G3 mobile.