Andy McNab - Meltdown

Dudley sighed. 'They're young brothers – twins by the name of Headingham.'

'So, if you've got a name, why don't you just go in and bust them?'

'Because it's not the right way, I'm certain of that now. There are no new clues to the location of the DMP – we had a task force go into a warehouse we suspected was manufacturing drugs, but it was absolutely empty; we don't understand where and how they're making Meltdown. And the distribution network is also a complete mystery. I'm absolutely sure there's at least one much bigger fish somewhere in Europe who we need to identify and net. I'm convinced that the only way to get everything we want is by infiltrating the twins' setup. But it must be done quickly.'

Danny was still by the door. He leaned back against the wall. 'We?' He nodded towards his grandfather but continued speaking to Dudley. 'I can see why you want him, but where do I fit in?'

Fergus answered the question before Dudley could reply. 'We're a team, Danny. I'm not going anywhere without you.'

'We'll mention in the newspaper reports that you also played an important part in Operation Black Star,' said Dudley quickly. 'You could be very useful.'

Danny laughed cynically. 'Useful? What you really mean is, if you want my granddad, you have to take me too. Yeah, that's really useful. And there's something else you haven't mentioned, isn't there?'

Dudley knew what was coming but he waited for Danny to continue.

'What about Deveraux? Is she part of this?'

Dudley sighed. 'You know, I really am truly sorry about your friend, Miss-'

'Yeah, right,' snapped Danny. He didn't want to discuss Elena with Dudley. After all, he had played his part in her death, even if he hadn't pulled the trigger. 'Deveraux… is she part of it?'

'Not at all. Miss Deveraux is no longer with the Security Service.'

'So where is she?'

'I think she was expecting to take over my job. When that didn't happen, she returned to the Secret Intelligence Service, concentrating on overseas operations rather than our problems at home. I'm told she's doing extremely well. This is my initiative, and if you take the job, you'll be working directly under my control. When it's over, if you want to, you can walk away, your names finally and completely cleared. You'll be free to do whatever you want and go wherever you want to go. No more looking over your shoulder to see who might be following.'

Fergus put down the coffee mug he had been nursing and looked at Dudley. 'Danny and me need to have a few words alone.' He nodded towards the coffee pot that was still bubbling on the stove. 'Help yourself.' It was cold outside the cabin and the shadows were already beginning to lengthen. They walked towards the lake and Fergus said nothing until they were well out of earshot of the cabin.

'It gives us a chance, Danny. To get this done and then make a new start.'

'Because we're a team?' said Danny sarcastically, echoing the words his grandfather had used in the cabin. 'Well, that's what I thought until you let me and Elena down in New York. If you'd told us you knew that Deveraux had killed Elena's dad, then Elena would never have been there. We'd have got out, and Elena would still be alive.'

'All right!' said Fergus angrily. 'I did what I thought was right at the time! Op sec! That's the way it works. And if you can't get that into your head, then you might as well get a job stacking shelves in a supermarket.'

Danny was ready to fight back as his own anger boiled over. 'Yeah, well maybe that'd be better than being stuck here with you! I'm only here because of you! Doing nothing. Walking up and down this poxy lake until I know every rock and every tree!'

He picked up a stone and hurled it as hard as he could, far out into the lake. They saw the splash as it landed and the ripples that went spilling out in every direction.

'So this is a way out of here,' Fergus suggested mildly. 'Let's do it.'

Danny kept his eyes on the water as he spoke again, more quietly now. 'Why should we trust Dudley, after everything that's happened before?'

'Because he's here. Once they found out where we were, they could have taken us, Danny; sent a full team to eliminate us. Dudley's here because he needs us.'

'He needs you,' said Danny, turning to look at his grandfather. 'I'm not important.'

'You are to me.' Fergus looked closely at his grandson. 'We have to move on, Danny. It's no good living in the past. Like Dudley said, we do this job and then get out.'

'And what about Deveraux? Do you really believe she's out of the picture?'

Fergus nodded. 'I don't think even Dudley would ever consider putting us back together with Deveraux.'

When they went back into the cabin, Dudley was still sitting exactly where they'd left him, staring morosely into an empty coffee mug.

They sat at the table and Fergus got straight down to business. 'So after all this "hero" stuff in the newspapers, what then?'

Dudley nodded and then smiled. 'We reveal, in a follow-up story, that you are setting up your own independent security consultancy. That will most certainly attract the twins' interest when phase two of the operation begins.'

Before they went into the details of the operation, Fergus wanted to get a couple more things straight. 'I choose the rest of the team.'

It was nothing less than Dudley had expected. 'Agreed.'

'And Danny's not ready. He's never worked in a team. He needs a build-up.'

Dudley stood up and brushed down his overcoat. 'We have little time; the Meltdown crisis is like a ticking time bomb. Ten days maximum, but I need you on the ground as soon as possible.'

Fergus looked at his grandson, and when he spoke, there was a hint of pride in his voice. 'Danny's a quick learner.'

SAS training area near Hereford, England They used to call them the 'killing houses', but back in the 1990s, when the press picked up on the term, the Regiment had decided to become politically correct. Now they were known simply by the official name, CQB houses.

At first sight the training area looked like a bizarre cross between a small but deserted town and a war zone. There were houses and blocks of red-brick flats alongside parked aircraft and a variety of vehicles. It all appeared bleak, abandoned and haphazard, but everything had a very specific purpose.

Fergus had wanted Danny to get specialist training and he was getting it. Like a non-swimmer thrown in at the deep end, Danny's only options were to sink or swim, and he was swimming – or at least keeping his head above water. It was tough, but it was meant to be. The Regiment had a saying: Train hard; fight easy. Train easy; fight hard – and die.

Danny's eighteenth birthday had come and gone while they were in Canada, and as far as Fergus was concerned, as his grandson was now part of a professional team, his build-up had to be as hard and tough as any SAS trooper's.

So the instructors were taking little heed of Danny's age and inexperience. They had a job to do and they were doing it. If Danny didn't come up to the mark, it wouldn't be down to them.

Fergus wasn't even around to oversee Danny's progress. He was up in Manchester working on phase two of Operation Meltdown; the phase one newspaper campaign had already taken place, with the predicted mass-media interest.

Meanwhile, Danny was at Hereford with the two other members of the task force. Their cover story was that they were working for Fergus's security consultancy company, and Fergus had insisted that at least one member of the team must have genuine experience of working for such a set-up.

Phil Reddington was ex-Regiment. He was ten years younger than Fergus but their paths had crossed many times. Fergus rated him, and that was a good enough reference for Dudley. He had not been difficult to poach from his employers, a private military company, once Fergus had mentioned the fee for the one-off job. He could always go back when it was over; the best guys were always in demand.