She turned to Janine. ‘Can you tell Silver that I wish to be relieved of my post. I’d recommend that Chris Matthews take over for the duration. Thanks to each and every one of you for all your efforts tonight.’
There was a stunned silence lasting a good three seconds, before Cheney finally broke it. ‘Arley? Ma’am? You can’t just leave in the middle of a crisis like this. It’s bloody madness.’
Arley fixed him with a hard stare. ‘I’m sorry. There’s nothing else I can do.’
Cheney started to say something else, but she’d already turned her back and was walking out the door, knowing it was only a matter of time before her colleagues realized what she’d done, but knowing too that she had to see Oliver and India before she was arrested. Only then would she be able to prepare herself to face the consequences of her actions.
But she’d barely gone ten yards across the grass in the direction of the outer cordon when she heard footsteps behind her.
It was Cheney.
She stopped, facing him. ‘Leave me alone, John.’
‘At least tell me what’s going on, Arley. You’ve been behaving strangely all night. And who exactly was your mysterious source who knew that the SAS were walking into an ambush?’
‘You’ll find out soon enough.’
He took a step forward. ‘Come on. We go back a long way. I may be able to help.’
She didn’t know if he could or not, but before she had time to think about it, she was talking. ‘My children were kidnapped by the terrorists who organized this siege. They used me to tell them the plans for an assault on the building. I almost sent those SAS men to their deaths.’
‘Jesus. What stopped you?’
‘The kids escaped,’ lied Arley, knowing she had to be careful to protect Tina’s role.
‘So, there was no informant?’
‘No, there wasn’t.’
‘I’m sorry. If there’s anything I can do.’
‘You can cover my tracks, and give me some time. I need to go and see my children. I need to tell them about Howard.’
Cheney nodded. ‘I understand. And I’ll do what I can.’
Arley managed a tight smile. ‘Thanks, John.’
‘Good luck, Arley.’
They looked at each other for a long moment, and she wondered if he still felt something for her after all these years. If he did, it was way too late.
She turned away and started walking, her pace quickening on the wet grass.
And then, just as suddenly, she stopped, feeling a growing sense of dread.
She turned round and watched John Cheney walk back towards the incident room.
Which as far as Arley was concerned could only mean one thing.
He already knew.
Ninety-three
‘HOW THE HELL did you know about Howard?’
They were just a few yards from the mobile office, the area around them almost deserted now that all the available officers had gone forward to deal with the hostages as they came out of the hotel. Fires burned in some of the Stanhope’s upstairs windows, lighting up the night sky, but Arley hardly noticed them. She was too busy confronting the man she was now convinced had something to do with the kidnapping of her children.
When he turned round, Cheney looked so shocked and confused that a part of her doubted the accusation she was throwing at him. ‘I don’t understand what you’re talking about,’ he said.
‘I told you that I had to tell my children what had happened to him, and you said you understood. You didn’t ask what happened to him. That means you must have known he was dead.’
‘Arley, I think all this stress is getting to you.’
‘It’s not. You know something.’
But did he? Or was she imagining it?
No, she couldn’t be. All night she’d wondered how the terrorists had known so much about the police operation. It stood to reason that they had an inside man. Cheney wouldn’t have been able to get hold of the SAS plans himself. Nor would he have wanted to when he could use Arley to do it for him, and therefore keep suspicion firmly away from himself.
Her mind was a maelstrom as she stood glaring at the man who’d once, many years ago, been her lover. Now she was accusing him of complicity in mass murder, including that of her husband. It all seemed so surreal.
‘I ought to have you arrested right now,’ said Cheney angrily. ‘And if there was anyone round here, I would. But right now, someone’s got to take responsibility for the operation now that it’s been compromised. Just go and see your children while you still can.’
He turned away from her.
‘You’ll get found out,’ she called after him. ‘When they arrest me, I’ll tell them to investigate you. And they will. They’ll want to know how the terrorists knew I was going to be a commander today.’
‘Anyone could have guessed it if they’d known you were on duty. It’s not rocket science.’
‘You won’t have been that good at covering your tracks, John,’ she continued, ignoring his protests.
‘Come on, Arley,’ Cheney sighed, turning back round and walking up to her. ‘This is ridiculous.’
At the last second, she saw him glance out of the corner of his eye to check that there was still no one around, and knew immediately what was going to happen next.
His hands shot up and he grabbed her roughly by the throat, squeezing as hard as he could as he tried to drag her behind one of the empty squad cars. But Arley reacted fast, grabbing his crotch and twisting with all the strength she had. His grip loosened and they both fell over, Cheney on top. They struggled violently on the ground, Arley driven on by anger as she scratched and kicked him, but Cheney was a big man and his hands were still round her throat, applying more and more pressure, and Arley began to feel herself passing out.
‘What’s going on?’
It was Janine Sabbagh, standing over them.
Cheney immediately released his grip and Arley gasped for air.
‘It’s not what it looks like, Janine,’ said Cheney, rolling off her. ‘DAC Dale was resisting arrest.’
‘It seemed like you were trying to strangle her,’ said Janine, looking totally shocked.
‘He was trying to kill me,’ Arley gasped, getting shakily to her feet.
‘Don’t be stupid,’ snapped Cheney. ‘Get back inside, Janine. I’ll handle this.’
‘No, stay here, please.’
‘Look, I don’t know what’s going on here,’ Janine said uncertainly.
There was a shout from behind her and Chief Inspector Chris Matthews came running into view, accompanied by three CO19 officers. ‘I need to see both your phones,’ he said, addressing Arley and Cheney. ‘In fact I need to see the phones of everyone here. We’ve just traced a mobile phone contacted a few minutes ago by one of the terrorists to this exact area.’
‘It’ll belong to him,’ said Arley, recovering herself now.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ spat Cheney, but there was the first sign of doubt in his voice.
Matthews put out a hand, and one of the CO19s raised his MP5. ‘I need to see the phones now.’
Arley saw Cheney tense just before he made a run for it. As he took off into the darkness away from Matthews and the others, she leaped forward and rugby-tackled him, sending him to the ground with a hugely satisfying thud.
Matthews was on him like a whippet, followed by the CO19 officers, and Cheney’s struggles ceased as his hands were cuffed behind his back.
‘Do me a favour, ma’am,’ said Matthews, turning to Arley, ‘and tell me what’s going on here.’
