She closed the door. ‘No need to rush,’ she said. ‘We can have a chat first.’
There was a small kitchen to the right, and a door to the left that he assumed led to the bedroom. There was a two-seater sofa in green leather facing a flatscreen TV on the wall. He took off his jacket and sat down on the sofa. ‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Chatting is one of my favourite things.’
The bedroom door opened and a man walked out. He was Asian, wearing a Chelsea football shirt and holding a gun. Malik started to get up but the man moved quickly and pushed him back down, prodding him in the chest with the barrel of the gun.
‘What is this?’ asked Malik, his voice a frightened squeak. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Like I said, Harvey, we’re going to have a chat. You, me and my two friends.’
A second man came out of the bedroom. Another Asian. This one was holding a knife and a coil of wire.
Malik looked at Nadia fearfully. ‘I haven’t done anything,’ he said.
‘I hope that’s true,’ said Nadia.
Chaudhry’s alarm woke him at six-thirty, which gave him plenty of time to shower and eat breakfast before heading to the mosque for Fajr, the first prayers of the day. He went to the mosque for Fajr most days. Malik tended to oversleep and more often than not performed his prayers on a mat in the bedroom, positioned so that it pointed to Mecca.
After he’d showered and pulled on a clean shirt and jeans, Chaudhry popped two slices of bread into the toaster and then knocked on Malik’s door before pushing it open. ‘Rise and shine, Harvey,’ he said. He flicked on the light. Malik’s bed was empty. Chaudhry grinned. ‘You naughty, naughty boy,’ he whispered to himself.
His mobile phone began to ring and he hurried back into the kitchen. He picked it up, expecting to talk to his friend, but it was a number he didn’t recognise. It was Khalid.
‘Good morning, brother,’ said Khalid. ‘Today is a joyous day because today is the day we carry out Allah’s work.’
‘That’s great news, brother,’ said Chaudhry. His heart began to pound and he took a deep breath to steady himself.
‘I need you and Harveer to be ready to go at five o’clock, brother,’ said Khalid. ‘The same place as last time. You will be collected.’
‘We will be there,’ said Chaudhry.
‘Today we shall teach the kaffir a lesson they will never forget,’ said Khalid. ‘Inshallah.’
‘Inshallah,’ repeated Chaudhry. God willing.
Shepherd was dragged from a dreamless sleep by his ringing BlackBerry. He rolled over in his bed and grabbed for the phone. It was Chaudhry. ‘Hey, Raj, what’s up?’
‘It’s today,’ said Chaudhry. ‘We’re to be picked up at five o’clock.’
Shepherd sat up, suddenly wide awake. ‘What happened?’
‘Khalid just phoned. Pretty much the same as last time. We’re to be picked up outside the restaurant again.’
‘And no indication of what they’re planning?’
‘Same as before,’ said Chaudhry. ‘But there’s a problem. Harvey’s not here.’
‘Where is he?’
‘He went to see some girl last night and didn’t come back.’
‘Have you called him?’
‘His mobile’s off. It goes straight through to voicemail.’
‘Hell’s bells. Does he often do that?’
‘It’s a first. I don’t know what’s going on.’
‘What about Khalid?’ asked Shepherd. ‘Did you tell him that Harvey was AWOL?’
‘I couldn’t,’ said Chaudhry. ‘He’d hit the roof. Look, can you get access to text messages?’
‘Why?’
‘She phoned him last night. Then she sent him a text with her address.’
Shepherd already had Malik’s number. ‘What company does he use?’ he asked.
‘T-Mobile, I think.’
‘All right, Raj, I’m on it. This girl, do you know anything about her?’
‘Just that she’s called Nadia and that she’s fit. What do I do?’
‘We’ve got your back, Raj. Just turn up and we’ll follow you, same as before.’
‘But this time it’s for real, right?’
‘I guess so. It’s very unlikely they’d test you twice.’
‘Can’t you just arrest them now?’
‘We need to get everybody in the act,’ said Shepherd. ‘I’ll let you know about Harvey. But if he gets in touch with you first, let me know.’
Shepherd ended the call. He went into his kitchen and switched on the kettle, then phoned Charlotte Button. He relayed what Chaudhry had told him.
‘I’ll get everyone in gear,’ said Button.
‘I need to access a phone,’ said Shepherd. ‘Malik is AWOL.’
‘Is that a problem?’
‘He’s away with a girl. I just need to talk to him and get him back on track.’
‘The best person to talk to is Rob Waterman. He’s our go-to guy with the phone companies. Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll text you his home number. I’ll see you in Thames House.’
The line went dead. The kettle still hadn’t boiled so Shepherd left the phone by the sink and went through to the bathroom and showered and shaved. When he got back to the kitchen with a towel wrapped round his waist there was a text message on his office mobile phone. He made himself a coffee with a splash of milk and then phoned Rob Waterman, who was surprisingly cheerful despite the early hour.