Todd sent the three Paras off to collect their kit and then turned back to Khan. ‘You won’t let me down, will you?’ he said. ‘I’ve staked my own reputation, such as it is, on this.’
‘I have my own reasons – and, with respect, they are far more powerful than yours – for wanting this to succeed. My daughter’s future, perhaps even her life, depends on it.’ He held Todd’s gaze and the Englishman was the first to look away.
The Paras loaded their gear into a Land Rover with a General Purpose Machine Gun mounted on the bonnet. Each of the three men was also armed with an M16 rifle. Khan’s AK-74 and his magazines and ammunition were given back to him and he cradled the weapon in his lap as he sat in the back alongside one of the Paras. As they drove out of the compound, Khan saw Spider and Geordie standing off to one side, watching him. The expressions on their faces showed that they did not trust him an inch.
‘It’s him,’ said McIntyre. ‘It’s definitely him. No question.’ Shepherd, McIntyre and Harper were sitting in Shepherd’s X5 in the street opposite the house occupied by the man they used to know as Ahmad Khan. McIntyre was in the back of the car, directly behind Shepherd.
‘What do you think, Lex?’ asked Shepherd, moving to the side to give him a better view.
‘The eye’s the giveaway,’ said Harper. ‘The beard’s shorter and he’s older but then we’re all getting older, aren’t we?’
‘I’d be happier seeing him in Afghan dress,’ said Shepherd. ‘The Western clothing is throwing me off.’ Khan was wearing baggy brown corduroy trousers and what appeared to be carpet slippers, and a green quilted jerkin over a dark brown pullover. On his head was a knitted skullcap. ‘But the way he moves, the way he carries himself, it all feels right.’ Khan had left a terraced house in the Hammersmith street and was walking purposefully away from them, his arms swinging freely at his sides.
‘Yeah, if he had an AK-74 slung over his shoulder then we’d know for sure,’ said Harper. ‘Can we get closer?’
‘If he recognises any of us then we’ll blow it,’ said Shepherd.
‘Why would he recognise us?’ asked Harper. ‘It’s been more than ten years and we probably all look the same to him.’
‘He got up close and personal with me,’ said Shepherd. ‘And you tend to remember the people you’ve shot. I know I do.’
‘I don’t know why we’re even discussing this,’ said McIntyre. ‘It’s him. Even without the eye I’d know him anywhere.’
‘Yeah, I think you’re right,’ said Shepherd. He shook his head. ‘No, I don’t think. I know. It’s him.’
‘Yeah, that milky eye nails it,’ said Harper.
‘So what do we do?’ asked McIntyre.
‘We take it one step at a time,’ said Shepherd.
‘Sod that,’ said Harper. ‘Let’s just slot the bastard. He’s due, Spider. He’s overdue. After what he did to you and the captain.’
‘Have you got a gun on you, Lex?’ asked Shepherd. ‘This isn’t Afghanistan. Everything we do from now on has be planned out in advance and executed flawlessly otherwise we’ll all end up behind bars.’
The man disappeared around a corner. ‘So what do you want to do?’ asked Harper.
‘We need intel,’ said Shepherd. ‘We need to see who he’s living with.’ He gestured at the house. ‘That’s one house, it’s not been subdivided into flats. So he probably lives with someone. His family maybe. We need to find out where he works. What his movements are.’
‘Here’s what I don’t get,’ said Jock. ‘The last time we saw him he was taking pot shots at us in Pakistan. How does he end up here?’
‘That’s a good question,’ said Shepherd. ‘He was involved in that money-clearing house that was channelling funds for al-Qaeda. Maybe he pocketed some of the cash himself and used it to buy his way into the country.’
Harper nodded in agreement. ‘Ten grand will buy you a genuine UK passport,’ he said.
‘A fake, you mean?’ said McIntyre.
‘No, the real thing,’ said Harper. ‘There’s a whole industry geared up for it. They use genuine citizens who don’t need a passport. They effectively buy up the identity and apply for a passport using a different photograph.’
‘Sounds like the voice of experience,’ said Shepherd.
‘I’ve got three, under different names,’ said Harper. ‘A British one, an Irish one and a German one. All kosher. The only drawback is facial recognition. If you’re on two different databases under different names then facial recognition will catch you out. But if Khan’s new identity is the only one in the system then he can stay here for ever without being found out.’
‘What do you need three passports for?’ asked McIntyre.
‘It’s a long story,’ said Harper. He sat back in his seat and pulled out his cigarettes. He showed the pack to Shepherd. ‘OK if I smoke?’
‘Sure, it’s not my car,’ said Shepherd. ‘Just crack the window open.’
Harper opened the window a few inches and lit a cigarette. He offered the pack to McIntyre but he shook his head.
‘Assuming it is him, what then?’ asked Harper.
‘We slot him,’ said McIntyre quickly. ‘Maybe kick the shit out of him first.’
‘Spider?’
Shepherd sighed. In his heart he knew that he had already decided what he was going to do, but he was finding it difficult to say the words out loud. Ahmad Khan deserved to die for what he had done back in Afghanistan, but deserving to die and committing a cold-blooded murder were two very different things.
‘Spider?’ repeated Harper.
Images flashed through Shepherd’s mind. The gaping wound in Captain Todd’s throat and the frothy blood that oozed from between his lips. The splintered skull and the mangled brain tissue beneath it. The look of panic in the young captain’s eyes before the life had drained from them. ‘Yeah, it has to be done,’ said Shepherd quietly.
‘Then how?’ asked Harper.
‘How?’ repeated Shepherd.
‘Ways and means,’ said Harper. ‘We’re going to need guns, right? Unless you’re planning something more creative.’ He laughed. ‘I’m sure you MI5 guys have all sorts of tricks up your sleeves.’
‘MI5 doesn’t kill people,’ said Shepherd. ‘We don’t have a licence to kill. It’s not like the movies.’
‘Just because you don’t have a licence to kill doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen,’ said Harper. ‘It’ll be handled by a department you’ll never hear about. Remember that scientist, the one involved in the weapons of mass destruction nonsense. Are you telling me that MI5 didn’t top him and try to make it look like suicide? And that guy who fastened himself up in a kitbag in the bath?’
‘Don’t tell me you’re one of those conspiracy theory nutters,’ said Shepherd.
‘I’m just saying, governments have people killed, it happens all the time. You know that the Libyans used to do it, and the Russians, right? And Saddam Hussein used to kill off his enemies all around the world.’
‘We’re not Libya, Russia or Iraq,’ said Shepherd. ‘Our government wouldn’t get away with killing people.’
‘Israel, then,’ said Harper. ‘Are you saying that you don’t think Mossad knocks off enemies of Israel?’
‘Israel’s different,’ said Shepherd. ‘They’re a law unto themselves.’
‘America, then? What was the killing of Bin Laden if it wasn’t state-sponsored assassination?’
‘That’s different,’ said Shepherd. ‘That was a military operation.’
‘Because the assassins wore uniforms and flew in army choppers?’ said Harper. ‘They broke into a guy’s house and shot him in front of his family. How is that not an assassination?’
Shepherd threw up his hands. He could feel that he was losing the argument though he had no idea why he was suddenly trying to defend MI5. ‘You’re comparing apples and oranges,’ he said. ‘I’m just saying that MI5 doesn’t have a department that kills people.’