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in the window. There was no sign of his contact, or anyone else – the street was deserted.
    Then she heard footsteps on the pavement behind the car. Two sets. She grabbed her bag and rummaged through it, keeping her head down in case she was noticed sitting alone in a parked car and someone got the wrong idea. The footsteps had reached the car now, but thankfully they didn’t slow down, just went on past. Slowly she lifted her head and saw two men wearing short leather jackets, jeans and trainers. They looked young and fit. She wondered if they were plainclothes policemen – but these two weren’t Purvis and Cardew, and McManus hadn’t mentioned any other backup.
    A car came up towards her from down the hill, and as its headlights swept across the pavement she saw the two men suddenly stop and tuck themselves into some bushes growing at the front of someone’s garden. The car went past and the two men continued down the hill. They didn’t want to be seen; Liz wondered why. Unless they weren’t police at all.
    The two men stopped again and exchanged a few words. They were still only about forty yards ahead of Liz, and she watched as one of them crossed the street. The other one waited for a moment; he was out of the direct light of the street lamp but she could see him clearly enough. He had his hand behind his back and as he brought it round something glinted momentarily, and she caught on: it was a handgun. He held it for a moment then tucked it away under his jacket.
    She hesitated. Was it a gun? Could they be plain-clothes police? If it was and they weren’t, there was no time to waste. The two men were now halfway between her and McManus, still outside the wine bar. They would reach him in a couple of minutes.
    Liz slid over behind the wheel and turned the keys in the ignition. The engine responded right away. She turned on the side lights and pulled out into the street, coasting down the hill. As she passed the two men, one on each side of the street, she tensed, half expecting them to fire at her. They were striding quickly now and the one on the right-hand pavement had pulled his gun and was carrying it in his hand openly.
    As she passed them she suddenly switched on the headlights full beam, blinding a van coming up the other way, and as she picked up speed she began hitting the horn so it sounded loudly in short warning beeps.
    When she reached the wine bar she braked hard, coming to a sudden halt just in front of the entrance. She reckoned she was seventy or eighty yards in front of the men. McManus was looking startled. She pushed the button and the window on the passenger side came down. She yelled, ‘Get in quick.’
    ‘What the hell—?’ he said.
    ‘There’s a couple of gunmen just behind me. For God’s sake, get in.’
    McManus looked over the top of the car back up the hill. The two men had stopped; they must have been uncertain what was happening. By now Purvis and Cardew had seen the commotion and came roaring up from the other direction.
    ‘What’s going on, Guv?’
    McManus was shouting into the car radio, calling out an armed team. He broke off to yell at the two men, ‘Up the hill. Two of them. Get up there now. See if you can follow them but hang back – one of them’s got a gun, possibly both. Armed response is on the way. Keep in touch.’
    ‘Park up there,’ he said to Liz, pointing to a space in front of the line of shops.
    ‘Shouldn’t we help go after them?’
    He shook his head. ‘No. A gun fight’s no place for you. Anyway, odds are they’ll be gone. I need to wait here in case chummy shows. Though that seems a bit unlikely now.’
    ‘You think he set you up?’
    He nodded. ‘Must have. Unless he’s blown and they were after him. If he doesn’t turn up we’ll know which it is. Either way, he’s not going to be any more use. I’d give you odds he’s safely back in Ireland by now, thinking he’s helped assassinate a Special Branch officer.’
    They sat in