‘Where are we going?’ I ask, realising that I have no idea where we’re headed now.

‘We’re going to get into position ready for The Leader’s speech, just like we planned.’

I blink. ‘Is there any point if Nard’s bomb is going to blow him up anyway? Shouldn’t we be getting away? Or looking for the little girl?’

‘We don’t know for sure what Nard is up to. Maybe he’s taken his explosives and his uniform elsewhere. No one has reported a missing team member yet. If there is an exploding child wandering around in the square, then we’ll have to trust that Tanisha and Kurt have picked her up, because we are going to carry on exactly as arranged. We’ve worked too hard to abandon the plan now.’

He is seriously determined. So am I. I don’t even consider trying to talk him out of it. There may be a bomb in the vicinity, but this is probably the best opportunity I’ll ever get to kill The Leader.

We park several streets away and then walk over to the main square. We’re well behind schedule and I struggle to keep up with Ven’s urgent striding. As we approach, the air vibrates with the throb of loud music. The celebrations have already started. Balloons and long strings of bunting are swaying in the breeze.

The main square is surrounded by government buildings. All entrances have been gated for the occasion and admission is strictly by ticket only. As we get closer to the gate my heart speeds up. I’m afraid that the guards will know who we are. I focus my eyes on a man spreading a picnic blanket out on the grass for his family and let Ven hand over the tickets.

The guard on the gate says nothing.

I follow Ven through the swarms of people and stalls selling sweets and flags, until we reach a tall grey building on the other side of the square. Just as we expected, the main entrance is hidden by a large section of boarding which shows a display of ‘Letters to my Leader’ written by young children.

‘Wait for it,’ Ven says.

We hover for a moment and I wonder what it would be like to forget about all of this and just sit down on the grass and let someone else worry about making everything right.

The music cuts out and a voice says, ‘Please welcome back your host . . .’

There’s a storm of clapping and the music swells. Ven slips behind the boarding and I follow.

Ven reaches for the door press-pad and taps in the code that I found for him by hacking into the building’s security records. Once inside, we creep up two flights of stairs. Ven locates a caretaker’s cupboard and produces an old-fashioned metal key. Inside, I’m relieved to see the bags that were sent ahead. At least some parts of our plot seem to have gone to plan. I pick up my bag and we move to a large open-plan office that looks out over the square.

‘Keep low,’ Ven says.

We drop to our knees and crawl to the windows.

I take out my rifle and calibrate the laser sight as quickly as I can. Slowly, I raise my head high enough to look out of the window. I’ve got a great view of the stage.

The presenter is bouncing about telling the audience what a wonderful day it is and what a great man The Leader is. The crowd are quite happy to cheer at the appropriate moments. It’s just a day out for most of them. They’re oblivious to the fact there might be a child sat next to them with enough explosives strapped to her to blow them all to smithereens.

My heart squeezes. Where is Kay? If a bomb did go off, would she be safe from the blast? Considering the quantities of explosives Ven was talking about, I’d be dead for sure. But I try not to think about that.

‘The Leader will be on soon,’ Ven says in a low voice.

There’s a thump somewhere below and behind us. ‘What was that?’ I ask.

‘What?’

‘I heard something. There’s someone in here.’

‘I can’t hear anything.’

The sound comes again. Ven’s eyes meet mine and I know he’s heard it too.

There’s someone coming up the stairs.