coal-eyed virgins,’ he said. ‘Not today, anyway.’
Chaudhry punched him gently on the shoulder.
‘No virgin’s going to give it up for you, brother; you’re as ugly as sin.’
The van stopped next to them and the passenger window slowly wound down.
‘Salaam, brothers,’ said the man in the front passenger seat. He was wearing a white woollen skullcap and had a straggly beard. The beard worried Chaudhry because Khalid had always insisted that he and Malik were clean-shaven. It was important to blend in, he said, so no beards and no Muslim clothing.
‘Who are you, brother?’ asked Chaudhry. ‘I don’t know you.’
‘I’m Harith. We are here to take you where you need to go.’
‘But I don’t know you, brother. You could be anyone.’
The driver nodded at Malik. ‘You know me, brother.’
Malik leaned forward and put his hand on the door. ‘Afzal, brother, what are you doing here?’ he asked the driver.
‘I’m here on behalf of Khalid,’ said Afzal. ‘You’re to get into the back of the van.’
Malik looked at Chaudhry. ‘Afzal plays in my five-a-side league,’ he said.
‘Where’s Khalid?’ asked Chaudhry.
‘He’s in the control room,’ said Afzal. ‘You’re to get in the back.’ He looked at the cheap digital watch on his wrist. ‘We’ve got a schedule.’
‘What fucking control room, brother?’ Chaudhry asked Afzal. ‘Nobody said anything about a control room. What’s going on?’
‘There’re a lot of people involved,’ said Afzal. ‘He’s running things so he’s somewhere where he can’t be found, organising. Now get in the back, brother. We’re on a tight schedule.’
Chaudhry and Malik walked round to the rear of the vehicle. Chaudhry pulled open the door. There were racks filled with tools and plumbing supplies on either side and plastic crates full of equipment in the middle. They both got inside. Malik sat on the floor while Chaudhry pulled the door closed. He checked that the door was secure and then sat down on one of the crates.
‘Are we good, brothers?’ asked Harith. ‘Are we ready to serve Allah?’
Malik nodded. ‘All good, brother,’ said Chaudhry. He pulled down the hood of his duffel coat.
‘No mobile phones, right?’ said Harith.
‘No, we left them in the flat,’ said Chaudhry. ‘What’s happening? What are we doing?’
‘All will be explained to you at the right time,’ said Harith. The van moved away from the kerb and joined the traffic heading south, into the city.
‘Right, everyone on their toes. Under no circumstances are we to lose this van,’ said Button. ‘Zoe, make sure the chopper stays high. I don’t want them hearing it.’ On the screen the van had pulled back into the traffic and was moving south. ‘Luke, are you in contact with the bikes?’
‘Tim is,’ said Lesporis.
One of the men in a pinstriped suit raised his hand.
‘Right, Tim, let them know we’ve got the eye in the sky so they can hang back for a bit,’ said Button. ‘But on their toes. If the chopper loses the van I want the bikes straight back in. I need you to keep them up to date on the van’s location every step of the way.’
‘Got it,’ said Tim.
‘Luke, what about the cabs?’
Lesporis nodded. ‘Two running parallel and one behind.’ He pointed at the view from the helicopter. ‘One is four cars behind the target.’
‘Okay, let’s get them all ahead of the target. And again, keep them informed, ready to move in if the chopper loses the van. Let’s give them no chance of seeing our vehicles, right?’
A uniformed police commander appeared at the doorway, his hat tucked under his left arm. ‘Ms Button?’ he asked, looking around the room.
‘Commander Needham, welcome. There’s a desk ready for you,’ said Button, pointing at a workstation and headset to her left. ‘The link to the Met is already up and your screen has access to the PNC once you’ve logged on.’
The commander nodded and took off his jacket as he walked towards the workstation. ‘We have three armed response vehicles en route,’ he said.
‘We need them well away from the target vehicle, and absolutely no blues and twos,’ said Button. ‘At least a hundred yards away at all times and under no circumstances can there be any visual contact. I can’t stress that enough.’
‘Understood,’ said the commander, sitting down and adjusting the headset.
Button stared up at the screen showing the overhead view from the helicopter. ‘I need everyone to start considering possible targets,’ she said. ‘Any thoughts just shout them out — there’s no need to be shy.’
Chaudhry could feel his heart pounding as if it was about to burst out of his chest. He looked over at Malik. Malik’s face was bathed with sweat and he was breathing heavily.
‘Where are we going?’ Chaudhry asked Harith. ‘You can at least tell us that.’
‘Soon, brother,’ said Harith. He handed a mobile phone to Chaudhry. It was a cheap Nokia. ‘You will be called on this and given instructions.’
Chaudhry nodded. He ran his hand through his hair. ‘But what are we to do, brother? Why can’t you tell us?’
‘You are serving Allah, that is all you need to know,’ said Harith. ‘Put the phone in your pocket. When it rings, answer.’ He looked through the windscreen at the traffic ahead of them. ‘We will soon be there.’
‘Inshallah,’ said Chaudhry. God willing.
Shepherd looked up at the screen showing the map of central London. The position of the van containing Raj and Harvey was marked with a red flashing light. ‘The station,’ he said. ‘St Pancras.’
Charlotte Button nodded in agreement. ‘I think you’re right.’
‘Lots of people, high profile; they could do a lot of damage.’ He ran a hand through his hair. ‘We need to be looking for more of them,’ he said. ‘If they’re attacking the station they might be going in mob-handed.’
Commander Needham looked up from his console. He was holding a phone a few inches from his ear. ‘We might want to consider multiple targets,’ he said. ‘If this is in some way a repeat of Seven-Seven they could be planning to attack several places at the same time.’
‘What do you suggest, Commander?’
‘I can talk to our CCTV centre and get our people looking for Muslims in vans.’ He smiled thinly. ‘God forbid we should be profiling, of course.’
‘Do it, please, Commander.’ The commander nodded and pulled on his headset. ‘Luke, you need to ask all our watchers to keep an eye out for other possible attackers. Vans, cars — if they follow the profile of this one then we’re looking for two Asians in the front, more in the back. If they see anything they’re to let us know immediately.’
‘Will do,’ said Lesporis.
Button looked across at Shepherd. ‘This could very easily go wrong,’ she said.
‘You want to pull them over?’ asked Shepherd.
‘That’s not going to help if there are others,’ she said.
‘What about Khalid? Any news?’
‘No sign of him,’ said Button.
‘That’s not good,’ said Shepherd.
‘You’re telling me.’
Harith twisted around in his seat. ‘Two minutes and we will be there, brothers,’ he said. He pointed at one of the plastic crates. ‘Open that, brother,’ he said to Malik.
Malik leaned over and pulled the lid off the crate. Inside were two Timberland backpacks. One was black, the other blue. Chaudhry reached over to grab the black one and passed it to Malik, then he took the blue one for himself.
‘Do not open them, brothers,’ said Harith.
Chaudhry rested the backpack on his knees. ‘What is it, brother? What’s inside?’
