Healy hit a replay button on a tape recorder and played back Stratton’s last transmission a couple of times.The garbled sounds echoed through the van. ‘Yes, that’s Achilles all right.’
Tommy glanced over at Healy, disliking him even more following his reference to the dead as ‘yours’ and not ‘ours’. A car zoomed down the lane like a jet, passing in front of the van from right to left, the tail wind rocking the lower branches of the trees that reached over the road.
‘That was Sean,’ Tommy said quickly.
‘Mary is not all that far behind,’ said Healy.
Tommy started the engine and craned to look back up the road in the direction the car had come from. He tapped the steering wheel with his fingers, a little nervous about this next phase, but anxious all the same to get it done.
He suddenly saw Aggy’s car no more than a couple hundred metres away, the bushes whipping in its wake. ‘Here she is,’ he said as he put the engine into first gear and nudged forward a little, the nose of the van just poking from the small clearing in the wood. He needed to time his move perfectly. He could not afford for her to ram him and put him out of action. His orders were to get away and over the border as soon as possible. More to the point, he had to get Healy and his equipment back into the south.
When Aggy’s car was eighty yards away Tommy gunned the van forward and forced the creaky old vehicle on to the lane to show her his rear. Healy watched anxiously out of the dirty back window as Aggy’s car slammed on the brakes but continued to close at a rapid rate of knots, fishtailing in the narrow lane. He grabbed hold of the seat in case she hit them.
It was obvious to Aggy and Ed the instant they saw the van pull out that this chase was over for them. The instantaneous subconscious question for Aggy was: how badly was it over? Ed already foresaw the absolute worst.Aggy’s mind raced to process what little information she had. Her hands turned the wheel just enough so as not to cause them to roll immediately. They missed the back of the van on Ed’s side by inches and headed at an angle for the hedge.The slight verge served as a ramp to tip the front up and the car left the lane. It hit the hedge halfway up, punching out a chunk of it and shattering the headlights as they sailed through. The car was airborne for a few seconds before nosing hard into a freshly ploughed field. The frame bent on contact and the windscreen cracked all over. Aggy locked her arms on the steering wheel and rocked like a crash dummy on contact with the earth, her face enveloped in the airbag. The rear wheels hit earth and the car slid sideways for a short distance, shuddering over the ruts to finally come to a steaming stop.
Healy looked back at the car as they drove down the lane. He watched it until they were out of sight. ‘Bye bye, Mary,’ he said.
Tommy glanced at him and shook his head.
Aggy and Ed sat for a moment without moving. Ed had his hands over his eyes as if refusing to look, or perhaps he was praying.
‘You okay?’ she asked.
‘Fuck off . . . Don’t speak to me for a moment, okay?’
She accepted he needed some release time and checked all about them through the windows. There was no sign of anyone. She felt for her gun. It was still in her shoulder holster.
‘How come my fuckin’ airbag didn’t go off?’ Ed finally asked.
‘You don’t have one on your side. That’s where they put the radio scrambler.’
‘Fuckin’ brilliant,’ he said.
She pressed the button below the seat. ‘Zero alpha, this is one three kilo, check?’
‘Zero alpha, send,’ came Graham’s voice from the ops room.
‘We’re out of it,’ she said. The words came out like a pathetic confession of failure for all to hear.
Stratton received the message with his usual calm acceptance and quickly moved on. He studied the map, considering the possibilities.The obvious one - and the one he would go for - was that the kidnappers planned to take Spinks directly over the border and into the South. Keeping Spinks in the North would remove the high risk of being stopped at a crossing point, but then they would remain under the RUC and army’s nose. If Stratton was wrong and the kidnappers stayed in the North, there was still a chance of finding Spinks alive. If they made it over the border, Spinks was a dead man for sure. Time was the crucial factor. It would take precious minutes for the army and police to set up roadblocks on every crossing, especially the small lane crossings in the countryside, minutes they might not have.
Water from the Neagh sprayed the bubble glass as the helicopter roared across the lake barely five feet above it. Land the other side was in sight, but they were still too far to know if Spinks had played his ace card, the only card he probably had left.
Brennan sat in the rear of the car, his pistol levelled at Spinks, while keeping an eye on the road ahead as they entered the town of Dungannon at a normal speed.
‘Nice and easy,’ he said. ‘Let’s not draw any attention.’
Sean was annoyed with the obvious advice. He took the constant flow of petty orders as a show of nerves on Brennan’s part, not what he expected from a man who was as hard and experienced as he was reputed to be. Sean drove into the town and before heading up the steep hill toward the city centre he turned into a housing estate.
‘There it is,’ said Brennan. ‘Pull in behind.’
Sean slowed the car and parked behind a van in the quiet street. Brennan leaned closer to Spinks’s face with his pistol shoved in his stomach and made his words as clear and murderous as possible.
‘We’re now going to change vehicles. If you try to run, I’ll shoot you, you Pink bastard. If you make a fuss and lark about, it won’t matter because we own this street, but I’ll batter the livin’ shite outta ya anyway for not doing what you’re told. Understand?’
Spinks nodded.
‘I was ordered to deliver you alive. No one said anything about bits of you bein’ missing, okay?’
Spinks believed him.
‘Pull yer trousers on,’ Brennan said.
Spinks shuffled on his back and pulled up his trousers and clipped them together. He tried to fasten the zip but it was broken.
‘Don’t worry about your shoes and socks. We’ll get you a nice pair of comfy slippers when we get to the hotel,’ Brennan said with a grin. ‘Nice and slowly now.The driver’s going to get out, open your door, and I’ll follow you out.’
Spinks pulled his shirt closed to cover his exposed chest and stomach. Brennan nodded to Sean, who opened his door and climbed out. He looked around and up and down the street. The windowless wall of the building behind him was covered with drawings of Republican flags and slogans. There was a handful of people about, someone returning from shopping, an old woman walking a dog, a couple of housewives chatting over garden fences, children kicking a football the far end of the street. Sean opened the rear passenger door.
‘Nice and easy,’ Brennan reminded Spinks.
As Spinks started to sit up he felt spasms of pain in several parts of his body, damage caused from the ride and where Brennan had roughed him up. He supported himself on his arms, pushing himself upright so he could drag his legs around and move them out the door ahead of him. His right hand slipped off the seat and into the boot where it touched something metallic jammed under the seat.The stun grenade. Spinks stalled for a second, his mind flying through the possibilities. He knew it was a slender chance, but he also knew that if he ended up wherever this thug was taking him it was the only one he had. There was still the ace to play, but he couldn’t use that while this bastard kept so close an eye on him. This might give him the opportunity to play that last card, if he could only get to it.When the kidnap scenario had been discussed in training all the emphasis was placed on avoidance. Once the operative was in the enemy’s clutches it was pretty much accepted the game was to all intents over. ‘Take your chances early,’ was the advice they always gave.
‘Move it,’ Brennan said impatiently, prodding Spinks with the gun.
Spinks lost hope at the sight of the gun barrel and decided the idea was suicide. He let his hand leave the grenade as he squeezed his legs past the back of the front seats. But, suddenly, he felt like a drowning man letting
