Siege

injured and in need of insulin.

Scope sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was draw more attention to himself, not after what had gone on upstairs. But it looked as though he didn’t have much choice.

Forty-nine

IN THE INCIDENT room, Riz Mohammed was grinning as he and the others watched the screen which showed the three children being released.

‘Well done, Riz,’ said John Cheney, patting him on the back. ‘That was some good negotiating.’

The two technicians, Janine and Will, were both on their feet, smiling and adding their own words of encouragement, and Arley had to force herself to do the same, even though she was finding it almost impossible to concentrate.

‘The children are going to need debriefing as soon as they’ve been checked out at St Mary’s,’ she said. ‘John, can you call your people at CTC and get them to send their people over there, and then let us know what, if anything, they find out?’

Cheney nodded and picked up one of the phones, and Arley was amazed at her own capacity for carrying on in the midst of this, the worst personal crisis of her life.

One of the secure phones rang in the incident room and Janine picked it up. ‘Gold for you, ma’am.’

Decision time.

Arley picked up the phone at the far end of the office and got Janine to patch him through, turning her back on the others in an effort to get some sort of privacy.

‘It’s good news about the children being released,’ said Commissioner Phillips without preamble. ‘Congratulations are in order to you and your negotiator.’

Tell him. Tell him now.

‘Thank you, sir,’ she replied, her voice sounding hollow.

‘But the PM and I are still very concerned that your negotiator hasn’t yet been able to speak to Michael Prior. We need to find out urgently whether he’s been compromised.’

They’ve got my husband and children. What do I care about that?

‘I can understand that, sir, but if we insist, we risk antagonizing them or, worse still, letting them know that we’re really worried about what he might say.’

‘Which is why we’re preparing for a possible armed intervention.’

Oh Jesus. The assault the caller was talking about.

‘Are we handing over control of the scene to the military?’ she asked, unable to keep the undercurrent of fear out of her voice.

‘Not yet. The PM’s very keen for a negotiated settlement.’

‘So am I. Especially now that we’ve secured the release of some of the hostages peacefully.’

‘But we’re also going to have to review our options if Michael Prior remains unaccounted for. Do we have any news on where he might be in the building?’

‘According to calls made to his phone, he was initially being held in one of the guest rooms somewhere on the third floor, but the phone signal was last picked up on the ground floor. We don’t know where the phone is now, because we no longer have coverage within the building. And, of course, there’s no guarantee it’s with him anyway.’

‘So, we don’t have a clue, basically,’ said Phillips, sounding irritated.

‘No,’ she responded tightly, ‘I’m afraid we don’t, sir.’

A silence stretched between them. ‘Are you all right, Arley? You sound very tense.’

Last chance. Tell him.

‘It’s a tense situation, sir.’

‘Well, you were picked because you’re calm and level-headed, and it would be a great help to all of us if you didn’t forget that.’

‘I won’t.’

Phillips sighed. ‘Carry on doing what you can to locate Prior, and keep me informed of any progress, however small. No one wants a bloodbath, which may well happen if the SAS are sent in, but if the terrorists don’t let us talk to Prior, then I’m afraid it may become inevitable.’

Fifty

20.02

TINA BOYD DROVE HER car past the Dale family home as slowly as she could. There were no lights on inside, but that was to be expected. If the kidnappers were holding the family there, they wouldn’t want to advertise their presence, although Tina didn’t think they’d risk staying put with three hostages. It would be far easier to move them to an undisclosed location, just in case Arley didn’t choose to cooperate, or came here looking for them herself. She also noticed something else. None of the curtains at the front of the house had been drawn, which was the first thing you’d do if you were a kidnapper and didn’t want anyone seeing inside.

An Audi estate, which Tina presumed belonged to Arley’s husband Howard, was the only car parked in the driveway. She continued driving, checking to see if any of the cars parked on either side of the road were occupied. She didn’t think the kidnappers had the necessary resources to be keeping a watch on the house, but it paid to be thorough.

When Tina was satisfied that the street was clear, she found a parking space about thirty yards further on and got out, shivering in the cold night air. She walked back towards the Dales’ house, trying to look as natural as possible – just another commuter coming home after a late night at the office – but instead of turning into their drive, she turned into the one next door. She crept by the side of the house, ignoring the lights in the window, and tried the side gate, which was locked. Hoping there wasn’t a dog on the other side, she clambered over it and into the back garden, thankfully without the accompaniment of angry barking.

A high evergreen hedge separated the two properties, and Tina had to force her way through it like some kind of rainforest explorer, before emerging on the other side at the back of the Dales’ house. There were no curtains closed on this side either. She stayed in the shadows of the hedge for a full minute, watching for any signs of life.

Nothing and no one moved. There were no lights coming from inside to signify someone watching the TV. No sounds either. Just the distant hum of traffic and the occasional plane rumbling through the clouds overhead. Tina had been on enough surveillance jobs in her life to know when a place was empty. Human beings can’t stay still for long, even when they’re trying to.

She gave it another thirty seconds, then slowly approached the nearest window, which looked straight into an expansive kitchen diner.

Straight away she saw the body lying there. Or, more accurately, she saw a pair of legs, a pair of forearms, and half a torso lying across the chequered floor, the remainder hidden by the kitchen sink unit. A dark pool of blood had formed round the upper part of the body and the hands were dipped in it, the fingers outstretched. Tina had never seen a photo of Howard but she was certain it was him. And it was clear from the amount of blood that he’d been lying there some time.

She took a step back. This was the time to call the police. If she went inside, she’d be contaminating a crime scene, and giving herself a whole lot of trouble. It was also possible that the kids were still in the house – and if they were, they were almost certainly dead too. She could feel her mobile in her pocket, and she almost took it out to make the call, but stopped herself.

With a long sigh, she put on her gloves and retrieved the spare keys from the potting shed, where Arley had said they’d be, trying them one after the other in the kitchen door until it finally opened. As she stepped inside, she was greeted by an empty, all-pervading silence and the telltale sour smell of death – something she’d experienced