'So where does that leave us?' Billy demanded.

'Let's see.'

Dillon got his coded mobile out and started to search his pockets. 'Damn! I don't have Villiers's number with me.' He thought a moment. 'All right.' And called Ferguson in London. He got an almost instant reply. 'Charles, it's me. We're in trouble.'

After the explanation, Ferguson said, 'Don't worry, I'll get hold of Villiers. I'll give him your number. He'll handle it. He's as bad as you when he gets stuck in.'

'I'm glad to hear it.' Dillon switched off and said to the others. 'We wait.'

It was only twenty minutes later when his phone rang, and Villiers said, 'Are you all in one piece, Dillon?'

'Absolutely. Myself and the Salters. They were waiting for us.'

'Well, what could you expect? In a place the size of Hazar, they had to know you were coming.'

'So what do we do? They'll find us again before long.'

'I'm forty miles east with the Scouts. I'll leave Bronsby with half of them and come myself with the others, but I'd suggest you move. Check your GPS and let me know your whereabouts.'

'Give me a minute.' Dillon went to the plane and got the required information.

Villiers said, 'Good. Now get the hell out of there. There's an old fort not that far from you that'll be better cover than the plane. Trek northeast. We'll push hard, but they'll be close, Dillon, damn close. Take my mobile number and keep in touch. Good luck.'

Dillon turned to the Salters and told them what Villiers had said. 'Get water, food, an AK each and spare ammunition, then we're out of it.' He grinned at Harry. 'You'll be able to cancel your subscription at the gym, Harry. You'll lose a stone in two days out here.'

It was two hours later that George Rashid and ten Bedu in two Land Rovers found the 310. His chief tracker went sniffing around, came back and pointed northeast.

'That way, Effendi, they are on foot.' 'Then run them down,' George said.

The Salters and Dillon walked abreast, wearing headcloths against the intense heat. The problem was finding a way through the dunes. Dillon led, but it was heavy going in the soft sand. They came out into a level plain, and there was the oasis and the remains of a fort.

Billy said, 'Is that a mirage?'

It was Harry who called out, 'Behind you, Dillon.'

They turned and found George Rashid and the two Land Rovers appearing over a sand dune.

'Run for it,' Dillon cried. 'And I mean run. If they catch us in the open, we're finished,' and he stumbled down the hillside.

They dashed past a well, a line of palm trees, and then through what was left of the gateway in the crumbling wall. Dillon led the way up steps to the large wall, where they looked out and saw George Rashid and his ten Bedu arrive.

The Land Rovers came to a halt and the Bedu got out, with George Rashid leading. On the wall, Dillon peered through one of the openings, Billy and Harry on either side clutching their AK-47S.

Harry said, 'What are we doing here? It's like this movie I saw as a kid. Ray Milland, Gary Cooper – Beau Geste, that was it.'

'I saw that one,' Billy said. 'When the men were killed, the sergeant put them on the wall to make it look busy.'

'Well, there's only three of us,' Dillon said. 'And we'd better make it good, because these guys really do cut your balls off.'

They took positions and the Arabs spread out from the Land Rovers. Harry Salter said, 'What in the hell am I doing here, Dillon?'

'Having a good time, Harry. Trust me and you'll get back to Wapping.' He took careful aim and fired, and a Bedu went down. 'There you go. We've got plenty of ammunition. Spray the bastards.'

The Rashid retreated behind the Land Rovers and opened fire heavily on the wall. Dillon and the Salters returned fire.

'Take your time, Billy,' Dillon said. 'Single shot. Let Harry loose off, but you and I take individual targets. That's your strength.'

Billy squeezed off a single round as asked, and a Bedu fell to one side from the shelter of one of the Land Rovers.

'There you go, Billy, that's the way,' Dillon said. 'We hold them back until Villiers gets here.' He took out a pair of Zeiss glasses. There was a flurry of Bedu moves from one Land Rover to another.

Dillon said, 'I just caught a glimpse of George Rashid.'

'So we know where we are with that bleeding lot,' Harry Salter said, and fired a long burst.

Below, George Rashid spoke to his men. 'I want covering fire from one Land Rover. I'll go with four of you in the other, round to the rear. The wall is half fallen there. We take them two ways. Now move.'

A moment later, the Land Rover roared away. Dillon looked again through his glasses and saw legs underneath the other Land Rover. He took careful aim and fired, and another Bedu fell into view and lay writhing on the ground. At the same time, there was a burst of firing from the rear, Dillon turned and George Rashid and his men poured over the broken wall below into the courtyard.

Dillon and the Salters fell down on their faces as automatic fire raked the wall. Dillon and Billy fired back, another Bedu went down, but at the same moment, the men behind the Land Rover at the front gate raked the wall with automatic fire.

Dillon and his friends crouched low as pieces of the wall cascaded over their heads and then there was a burst of firing from some other direction, and Dillon looked out and saw Tony Villiers and his Hazar Scouts come over one of the huge dunes in five Land Rovers. They paused, then opened up with heavy machine gun fire at the Land Rover in front of the fort's main gate. It fireballed as its fuel tank was hit, and the four men left ran for their lives across open ground and were cut down.

Villiers and his men came down the side of the dune, and George Rashid and the three survivors of his group disappeared back over the crumbling rear wall. A moment later, their Land

Rover raced away and disappeared into a narrow defile.

It was suddenly very still. Dillon leaned against the wall with Billy and got a pack of Marlboros out. Harry was slumped down. 'For Christ's sake, Dillon, I'm an old guy.'

'You've done good, Harry.'

'Yeah, I'd be great – if I were the third lead in some old black-and-white movie on a satellite channel. Only you make it happen for real. You're a monster, Dillon.'

The Land Rover column of Hazar Scouts came in through the entrance and halted in the courtyard. Dillon and the Salters went down the steps and Tony Villiers got out of the lead vehicle and approached.

'Hot stuff.'

Dillon shook hands. 'George Rashid was in charge.'

'Really? Then you've definitely hit a nerve, Dillon. You're a lucky man.'

'I'd say that speaks for itself.'

Villiers lit a cigarette. 'Right, I'll take you to Shabwa Oasis. We'll arrange for Carver to find a plane and fly you back to Hazar.'

'That makes sense,' Dillon said.

'And don't forget to thank Charles Ferguson. Without him, you gentlemen would have been dead.'

In the bar at the Excelsior, Dillon sat with Hal Stone and the Salters.

Stone said, 'It really is like a bad movie, Harry.'

'You can bleeding well say that again. A few days away with Dillon isn't like walking up the Palace Pier at Brighton and having fish and chips and a glass of champagne. This one puts you in serious hazard of your life.'

'Oh, come on, Harry,' Dillon said. 'You haven't had so much fun in years and what have you got to worry about? It's Tony Villiers and his boys who're up there taking all that shite.'

Hal Stone said, 'That's all very fine, Dillon, but we still don't have the slightest inkling what the Rashids are up to. The only thing we know for sure is that they want to knock you off, but why? Why are you such a threat?'