something. He looked back to see the upper deck was empty.
On the lower deck the couple had joined the last of the passengers herded together at the centre doors as Stratton slowed the bus to a stop at a set of traffic lights. He decided to go for it and opened the doors.
‘Everyone off,’ Chaz said quietly, keeping an eye up the stairs. ‘You too,’ he said to the driver.
‘But this is my ship, I mean my bus,’ the driver said.
‘You’ve done your job, mate. You’ve got to get off now, please.’
The driver glanced over at Stratton in his seat, accepted it was all very much bigger than he was, and stepped down off the bus. Stratton shut the doors and as the traffic lights turned green he drove on through the junction.
Wilks and Chaz glanced at each other, at Stratton, and upstairs. Now what?
Wilks took a seat on the bench behind Stratton, nearer the stairs, while Chaz made his way to the back and sat down.
Stratton pushed on along the riverbank taking it as slowly as he could without alerting suspicion, every few seconds flashing a look at the upper-deck mirror. Parliament was a mile or so further on; he needed to drag the journey out as long as he could. There had been no call from Sumners yet, no support team, no plan. It was beginning to look as if everything was going to be down to him. With Brennan, it could get messy. He wondered if the bus could be the best place to end it. He could stop the bus, walk upstairs, and take his chances on shooting Brennan before he could react, and then Lawton. If the virus was somehow released they would have to stay on the bus. It could be sealed off where it was by the biohazard teams and they would take it from there. Not the best end to the day Stratton could imagine, but it might have to do. Then came a loud ding that made Stratton flinch. It took a split second for him to realise it was the stop request bell.
Stratton looked at the upper-deck mirror to see the backs of Brennan, Lawton and Aggy on their feet. He looked at the mirror showing the lower-deck interior, at Chaz and Wilks who were looking up at the sound of footsteps above moving to the top of the stairs.
Stratton saw a bus stop up ahead and started to slow. The footsteps clomped down the stairs. Lambeth Bridge was several hundred yards away, still a fair distance from Parliament Square.Then it hit Stratton like a slap. Of course. MI5 headquarters. A perfect place to put the virus, and Lawton the perfect person to deliver it there.
Aggy was first to step from the stairwell on to the lower deck, followed by Lawton carrying the briefcase, then Brennan who kept an arm’s length from the other two in case he needed to draw his weapon.
As Chaz saw Brennan he felt a sudden flush of anxiety. Brennan had looked at him upstairs. If he saw him again he might become suspicious.
Aggy didn’t know where Brennan and Bill were headed with the virus. She wasn’t familiar with this part of London and was feeling numb with helplessness. Attacking the thug would be a losing start. She was no match for him. Grabbing the briefcase wouldn’t gain her anything more than a bullet in the back. Bill might help her if she started it; she could grab the thug as the doors opened and Bill could run with the case. But that would probably end with a bullet for both of them. He might not even run. Bill looked as helpless as she felt. She believed he would not let the virus be released, not if he could help it. He had assured her as much on the stairs outside his apartment. But how much was he protecting her, and where would he draw the line between saving her and everyone else? The thug wasn’t going to let her walk away at the end of all this no matter what. She was only alive so far to keep Bill in line. As soon as they reached their destination she was dead. Bill must know that.
Aggy looked around the bus, which was now almost empty and saw the chubby bloke who was looking directly at her. There was something in his eyes. He seemed tense. She took a look at the other guy seated at the back and felt her senses tingle ever so slightly.Were they who she thought they were? She looked towards the front of the bus, at the driver, and her reaction was almost visible but she held it in check. He wasn’t looking at her, she couldn’t see his face, but she’d know that head and straggly hair anywhere. His presence was like an emergency chute after the main one had failed as she plummeted to earth. He was here and suddenly there was hope. She had to be alert now. Whatever his move was going to be she had to be ready. She hoped she could figure it out seconds before and be of help, or, if not, avoid being a liability.
Stratton assessed the situation and concluded they were all well and truly screwed. If he drove on without stopping Brennan would figure it out pretty quickly and go nuts with his gun, etcetera, etcetera. If Stratton stopped the bus and let them off he would have to act. It was now or never.
He brought the bus to a halt at the stop and opened the doors. One way or another it was going to be party time very soon.
When Wilks saw Aggy look at him he knew he had to somehow communicate she was not alone. He couldn’t play it too strongly and when she looked away he wasn’t sure if she’d sensed it. Brennan had held back and Wilks briefly considered making a grab for him, but could not see how that would do much good. The briefcase was the focus and the other man had that. Chaz was too far away to help, and Stratton was driving. This was not the time to take matters into his own hands. Anyway, he wasn’t prepared for that kind of heroics. It wasn’t something he ever thought of and didn’t have the confidence he could carry it out without screwing up, and that would mean the end of him and the others too quite likely. He had a wife and two kids who needed him as much as he wanted them. He would stick to what he was good at and that was being led. Stratton would have to make the move and he would do his best to follow.
Lawton stepped off the bus feeling completely useless, as he had from the moment Brennan had surprised him and Aggy outside his apartment. There was nothing he could think of that could even begin to get him out of this problem. Every scenario he ran through his head ended with Aggy dead or as good as, him dead and the virus in that maniac’s hands. However, time was fast running out and it was beginning to look more and more as if he should accept the inevitable and throw himself into the arms of fate. He could not allow the virus to be released. He would be damned for ever if he did that. Aggy’s usefulness would soon be at an end. He had to act at his first opportunity and hope luck had not deserted him. He stood with his back to the bus, waiting for the inevitable growl from Brennan to get going. If Brennan got close enough he would make a grab for him. Perhaps Aggy would grab the case and run for it.
Aggy stepped off the bus beside him. He felt her look at him but could not return it. He wanted to let her know he was ready to do something, but how?
Brennan moved forward to step off the platform and, as his instincts demanded, he checked his flanks. To his right was a fat guy on the bench looking at Aggy. Brennan glanced at the driver, found his eyes in the mirror staring at him, piercing eyes, enough to hold Brennan’s gaze for a split second. Brennan continued forward as he turned his head to look in the other direction and saw Chaz, the black man from upstairs. As his foot hit the pavement his mind was screaming a warning at him. The combination of the burning eyes in the mirror and the black man was an alarm bell so loud he reached inside his jacket for his gun. He heard the doors shut behind him as he took another step. No one had gotten off. If they had he would have drawn his gun and been shooting as he turned. He kept his hand on his gun and pushed Aggy forward into Bill’s side.
‘Go on,’ he said. They walked across the pavement and angled towards the large building on the corner. Brennan’s eyes were forward, but his senses were all aimed to his rear.
Bill looked up at the front of MI5 headquarters. Ahead were the steps that led up to the main doors through which he could see the lobby and the perspex tube turnstiles, hollow pillars that a person stepped into and waited for the sensors to permit them inside.
Stratton watched them reach the steps. Something was vibrating in his pocket. His phone of course. No doubt it was Sumners, or perhaps it was the new ground leader wanting to know where to deploy his teams or needing an update. Whoever it was they were too late.
‘What do we do now?’ asked Wilks.
‘When we get off, spread out. Wait for me to start.’
Stratton’s phone stopped vibrating for a moment then started again. He ignored it as he watched Brennan,
