‘It’s a synthetic, operated out of Northwood. I’m field testing it. You can’t arrest a synthetic, numb-nuts. Didn’t you get the memo?’
‘I’ll take it as evidence.’
‘Whatever. Good luck getting it in an evidence bag.’ He looked past Finch and the taxi passing the junction in the distance. ‘Listen, Finch. Just walk away, while you still can. I’m not going anywhere with you. I didn’t kill the General or Blackburn and you know it.’
‘Just following orders. You should try it sometime,’ Finch said, pulling a halo-cuff from his jacket pocket. A pale blue glow shimmered from the device as he extended it with a flick of his wrist.
Once in place the cuff rendered the person mute and compliant, neither of which Helix was in the mood for. He gave a derisory snort. ‘You think I’m going to stand here while you put that thing on my head?’
Finch’s glance left at the police vehicle drawing level with them was twice as long as Helix needed. A muffled crack issued from the officers jaw under Helix’s gloved fist. He followed with a strike to the solar plexus folding Finch onto his knees before a knee to the face put him on his back.
Sofi tossed a tactical EMP grenade under the police vehicle, its silent, small radius shockwave disabling it, trapping the officers inside. She launched a second at the vehicle approaching from behind, but the officers were already dismounting. The two women rushed towards them, their weapons drawn. Sofi drew her own. The bulky handgun whined into life as it left her thigh holster. Two rapid shots to the knees dropped the officers.
‘I thought you said there was no chatter,’ Helix said, turning towards the bridge. ‘Where did fuckwit Finch come from?’
‘If there’s nobody issuing orders over the net, I’m not going to see or hear it,’ she said, holstering her weapon. ‘Finch got lucky. He was in one of the AVs, must have spotted us.’
A faint beep in Helix’s ear distracted him. The panel in his sleeve gave the origin as he hailed the taxi and climbed in. ‘Home Secretary.’
‘Where the hell are you, Helix?’ Ormandy said. ‘You were expected in my office for a disciplinary ten minutes ago.’
‘You know where I am,’ he said, crossing his feet at the ankles. ‘You sent Finch.’
‘Who the hell is Finch? I sent two officers to collect you from that café in St Swithin’s Lane.’
‘After telling me to report in one hour.’
‘Yes. But you are you. And who is that woman who put them in hospital?’
‘Dawkins.’ He turned to Sofi. ‘She’s on secondment from G squadron.’ Apart from him, Ethan and Gabrielle, nobody else knew of Sofi’s existence and he wanted to keep it that way. ‘A pain in the arse, but she has her uses. General Yawlander assigned her.’
‘So, she was following your orders?’
‘Do you have any update on the location of my brother? My assumption being that the department is doing everything it can to find and release him. Who have you got working on it?’
‘We don’t negotiate with terrorists, Helix. We never have and never—’
‘Who said they were terrorists?’
‘We have all of the usual procedures in play, but it isn’t easy. Your brother’s paranoia means that there is little or no monitoring available to us in or around the Observatory. All we have is footage from the cameras on the old Naval College showing the explosion.’
‘And Stepper? How do you intend to proceed with her location and detention?’
‘Helix, you appear to have a very short memory. You are suspended—’
‘You mean wanted on suspicion of murder. Finch said you’d issued orders for my arrest.’
‘Your refusal to follow orders, Major Helix, leaves me with very few options. What else am I to think? General Yawlander and Blackburn have been murdered. Your brother is apparently missing and those holding him have told you to find Gabrielle Stepper. And then what? Who are you working for, Helix? Who’s behind all of this?’
‘What? Are you completely insane? I’m not working for anyone.’
‘No? Well, if I have my way, you will soon be unemployed and in a long tube with a lot of other miscreants in halo-confinement. If you choose not to surrender, I will issue orders to have you shot on sight.’
‘Listen. You want Gabrielle Stepper. I need to find her to get Ethan released. Let me bring her in.’
‘Bringing her to me won’t help your brother, will it? Sorry, Major. No deal.’
Helix clamped his hand over his mouth. That was the hard part. He wasn’t going to surrender Gabrielle, but he wasn’t going to let that lunatic Lytkin butcher his brother either. Locating Gabrielle should be easy enough. Getting her to come back to London was a different matter. But she thought the world of Ethan. She’d do anything to help. Wouldn’t she?
‘Who’s holding your brother, Major?’
‘I have to go.’
‘This is your last warning, Helix. I’m—’
‘And this is yours. Stay out of my way.’
12
Julia Ormandy pushed her chair back from her desk and crossed her legs. Gripping a hair band between her teeth she gathered her damp hair into a bunch and tied it. She pressed her fingers to her lips and made a mental note to amend the legislation that had given Yawlander and the others of his ilk the right to remain in post for the length of their natural lives. That same legislation protected any of the General’s appointments and that included the Helix brothers. But Yawlander was dead and she intended to exploit the vacuum. The new legislation would go through on the nod, as it always did, and then she would have the authority to appoint, promote or retire anyone,
