He raised his own rifle and drew a bead on Neville.
He tried to swallow but it felt as if someone had filled his throat with chalk.
There were so many other vehicles in the road. So many other targets he might hit by accident.
Dare he shoot?
He kept the rifle pressed to his shoulder.
The chopper dipped low once more.
As Doyle roared along in pursuit of Neville, he could see the Lynx above him, drifting up and down like some toy dangled on a string. Many of the pedestrians he sped past had stopped to look at the spectacle hurtling past them, marvelling at the wildly moving helicopter and the speeding motorcycle it pursued.
Fucking police, Doyle thought angrily.
They were told to keep out of it.
Without their interference he'd have got Neville.
Fuck it. He had him. Helpless before him until the bloody chopper arrived and fucked everything up.
If Neville got away the police would be to blame.
Let that bomb that was due to go off in just over fifteen minutes be on their conscience.
But where?
One hundred and thirty pounds of Semtex. Where the fuck had Neville hidden such a prodigious supply of the explosive?
Doyle shook his head as if to clear away the thought, concentrating his mind on the fleeing motorcyclist, using all his skill to weave a path through increasingly heavy traffic.
The counter terrorist knew that Neville had an advantage.
His manoeuvrability.
The Nissan Doyle was driving was fast but cumbersome compared to the swiftly moving Harley Davidson. If the ex-para should swing the bike off a main road then Doyle knew he was fucked.
Ahead of him two cars were blocking the road.
Doyle twisted the wheel and sent the Nissan hurtling up on to the pavement.
He heard someone scream, saw a dark shape dive away from the onrushing car.
Doyle stayed on the pavement, realising it would give him easier access along the thoroughfare.
There was a loud clang as he struck a waste bin, ripping it from its position on the pavement.
It flew into the air, spinning, sending its rotting contents scattering in all directions.
He hit the next one too and heard one of the Nissan's headlights shatter.
Still he drove along the pavement, finally guiding the vehicle back into the road as Neville reached the junction of St James's Street and Piccadilly.
The lights were red.
7.46 P.M.
Neville glanced up at the red light then sent the bike hurtling left into Piccadilly, oblivious to the frantic blasting of horns which greeted his arrival.
The Harley swept across the path of two cars, both of which braked hard to avoid collision with the bike.
They managed that but not with the vehicles following.
A bus slammed into one, shunting it several yards further down the road.
The other, a Fiesta, shuddered as another car struck it hard in the rear, the metal crumpling like paper, back lights shattering under the impact.
Doyle sent the Nissan after the bike, slamming sideways into a Cortina in the process, the impact jarring both cars momentarily, but Doyle gripped the wheel, pressed down on the accelerator and roared off once more, noticing that the helicopter was now able to swoop even lower in such a wide thoroughfare as Piccadilly.
It was no more than fifty feet above Neville, the skids moving downwards until it looked as though they could merely bump the fleeing ex-para off the Harley.
Neville heard the deafening roar of the rotor blades and glanced up. The Lynx hovered over him like some massive metallic bird of prey.
He worked the throttle of the Harley and coaxed yet more speed from the bike, whose speedo was already pushing seventy.
There was an ear-splitting bang and a bullet sang off the road no more than ten feet from the Tour Glide.
Then another.
The second struck the front grille of a stationary Mercedes and punched a hole through the metal.
In the chopper Clark cursed and took aim again.
Ahead on the left Neville saw the brightly lit frontage of the Ritz Hotel.
He swung left sharply, across the path of a taxi, whose driver blasted its horn angrily.
The Harley hit the kerb, rose into the air for precious seconds then slammed down again, skidding momentarily on the pavement.
Neville hunched over the handlebars and rode fast through the horde of pedestrians on the pavement outside the hotel, scattering them as a dog does sheep.
Some even ran screaming into the road.
He looked up and saw that the Lynx was almost level with him now, dropping ever lower until it seemed the thing must strike the ground.
Behind, Doyle floored the accelerator and also sped up until he was virtually alongside Neville.
A parked Jag whose driver seemed oblivious to the pandemonium around him flung open his door, preparing to step out.
Doyle tried to swerve but it was too late.
The Nissan struck the Jag's open door and tore it free, sending it skidding across the road.
The other headlight shattered, more paint was stripped from the body of the SX, leaving a great furrow in the red paintwork of the vehicle.
Doyle reached for the Beretta, watching as Neville swung back into the road only yards ahead of the Lynx.
