They were chatting animatedly, the woman laughing loudly.
She was the first to hear the phone ring.
Doyle saw her look towards it, saw her say something to her companion.
Saw her begin walking towards it.
'Oh shit,' he muttered, lifting Lisa clear of the bike, his eyes on the woman.
The phone had rung twice already.
'Leave it,' he roared at her.
She looked at him, as did her companion, but both offered only dismissive glances.
Doyle ran towards the phone as it rang for the third time.
'Get away from it,' he bellowed at the woman who now seemed intent on picking it up.
Her companion, a tall, thin man in a linen suit, his hair slicked back into a pony tail, stepped forward as if to frighten Doyle off.
The counter terrorist barged the woman aside and picked up the phone just before it could ring for the fifth time.
'Doyle,' he gasped into it.
'I'm impressed,' Neville told him.
'Hey,' said the tall man in the linen suit. 'What do you think you're playing at?'
Doyle felt a hand on his shoulder.
'I'm talking to you,' the tall man insisted.
'What's going on?' Neville demanded.
'You could have hurt her,' the tall man said, his hand still on Doyle's shoulder.
'Hang on,' Doyle said into the phone.
He pulled the Beretta from its holster and jammed the barrel against the tip of the tall man's nose.
'I'll hurt you if you don't take your fucking hand off my shoulder,' Doyle snarled, thumbing back the hammer.
The colour drained from the man's face until his flesh was the same colour as his cream jacket.
Doyle heard a low rumbling sound as the tall man's bowels loosened.
'Fuck off, you ponce,' Doyle snarled, the gun still aimed at the man's head.
'Oh my God,' the woman stammered, backing away, tripping on the kerb.
'Go on, move it. Get away from here,' Doyle continued.
The man was frozen to the spot. It was as if every muscle in his body had locked. Apart from his sphincter which seemed to be working quite freely.
'What's happening?' Neville persisted. 'If you're trying to set me up I'll-'
'Some stupid bitch was going to answer the phone,' Doyle told him. 'Her boyfriend decided to be a fucking hero.'
'You'd better not be fucking me about, Doyle.'
'I made it, didn't I? Just talk.'
Doyle looked round and saw that the man and the woman had fled back inside the glass-fronted building.
He eased the trigger forward and reholstered the automatic.
'Is Lisa still with you?' Neville demanded.
Doyle beckoned her over, handing her the phone.
'Are you all right, darling?' Neville asked her. 'Is the man looking after you?'
'Yes, Dad,' she said. 'I didn't like the motorbike though. I thought I was going to fall off.'
Doyle rolled his eyes irritably.
'I'll see you soon, sweetheart,' Neville told her. 'Give the phone back to the other man.'
Lisa did as she was told.
'What fucking motorbike, Doyle?' Neville hissed. 'I told you only public transport.'
'You never said that,' Doyle reminded him. 'Besides, how else was I going to get here on time? Or didn't you want me to? Looking forward to letting off another bomb, are you?'
'Get rid of the bike. Understand? You use public transport or you fucking walk, that's one of the rules. You put my daughter's life in danger, you bastard.'
'Just give me the next set of instructions,' Doyle demanded angrily.
Silence.
'Neville. Are you listening?' Doyle snapped. He thought he could hear chuckling on the other end of the line.
'I knew I picked the right bloke,' said Neville finally.
Doyle's knuckles turned white as his grip tightened.
'Phone box in Cambridge Circus,' Neville instructed. 'It's a straight run, Doyle. You've got ten minutes.'
6.28 P.M.
Doyle felt as if his lungs were going to burst.
He was running with his mouth open, sucking in huge breaths which seemed to sear his throat as he gulped them down.
Even Lisa was breathing heavily and he was carrying her.
The child had been light, as he'd expected, but running down Tottenham Court Road and then Charing Cross Road clutching her like some kind of oversized doll was proving too much.
Sweat was coursing down his face and he could feel his T-shirt sticking to his back.
His heart was thumping so hard against his ribs he feared it might bruise.
And for the entire journey he was met with curious glances from those he passed. Some even stopped and looked at him, watching him as he sprinted down the thoroughfare clutching the child.
Some assumed it was his daughter.
One or two entertained darker thoughts.
A middle-aged man leaving Foyles with a bagful of books saw Doyle running with Lisa and wondered whether or not to phone the police.
Was this an abduction?
He watched as the leather-jacketed man ran on through the crowds, his mind turning one way then the other like some kind of revolving door.
When Doyle disappeared into a crowd outside the Marquee, the man walked on but the vision remained in his mind.
The unshaven, long-haired man, his face sheathed in perspiration, bumping uncaringly past pedestrians while he held tightly to the little girl, who looked pale and tired and who clung to the man's shoulders almost reluctantly.
Doyle saw the flashing blue lights as he passed the Marquee.
The ambulance was parked on the corner of Old Compton Street, lights turning silently.
A crowd had gathered, five deep in places, around the emergency vehicle.
Doyle glanced into the road and saw the twisted frame of a racing bike lying against the kerb.
There was some broken glass.
Some blood.
The car which had hit the cyclist was standing immobile a few yards from the junction, the driver leaning against his vehicle, head bowed. The policemen were talking to the man, one offering a comforting hand on the shoulder.
The cyclist was lying still on the road, ambulancemen gathered around him.
Only his legs were visible, the skin having been ripped from his knees and calves. One leg was twisted beneath him and Doyle could see something white protruding from the mass of crimson which covered his shins.
