counting the seconds, calculating when to make his move.
Brennan was aware the bus had not moved. He no longer had any doubt the men on board were the enemy. Then he heard a gush of air that told him the bus doors were opening again. He pulled his gun from its holster and kept it under his coat.
‘Go on,’ he said in a raised voice as he pushed Aggy forward to follow Lawton up the steps. He glanced over his shoulder long enough to catch sight of figures moving from the bus. Now was the time.
Stratton’s gun was in his hand. Wilks and Chaz held theirs and moved apart.
Brennan pulled his gun from his coat as he surged up the steps to overtake Lawton and Aggy to put them between him and the men.
‘Freeze,’ Stratton shouted, aiming his gun.
Bill froze just before the top. Aggy stopped beside him. Brennan grabbed Aggy and spun her around to face Stratton, with his gun at her head.
‘One more step,’ Brennan shouted, ‘and I’ll blow her focken head off!’
‘And I’ll blow your head off, Brennan, as I should’ve done on the border.’
Brennan focused on Stratton. He cast his mind back, replaying the events of that day. He could see the chopper, the man inside it leaning out of the cab holding a rifle aimed at him. ‘Pink,’ he muttered, gritting his teeth with utter hatred, his leg throbbing from the short sprint. It was a standoff, and not the first time he’d been in such a situation. Four years earlier in Cork, after robbing a building society, a plain-clothes cop happened to be on the street outside and drew his weapon. Brennan grabbed a woman who was in front of him and put his gun to her head. After a brief exchange of words he took the initiative and shot through the woman’s head, sprinkling the cop’s face in blood and giving Brennan the precious split second he needed to shoot him too. But this was not going to be as easy. The Pink was too far away, and anyway, the man was no street cop. He was a killer like Brennan, that was obvious just by his manner. The eyes told the rest. There was going to have to be another way out of this situation.
‘If you were gonna give her up, you’d have done it by now,’ he shouted.
‘You can take things only so far,’ Stratton replied. ‘But time’s run out. It ends here.’
‘There’s always enough time for negotiation,’ Brennan said.
‘There’s always time for that,’ Stratton agreed. ‘Her life for yours.’
But both men knew they were simply playing for time and an opportunity to take the other out. Both were the key to winning or losing this fight.
‘Well, I tell you what, Pink. I trust you about as far as I could throw that bus.’
Aggy stared at Stratton, his gun levelled at her in one hand, the other hand down beside his body. It moved, ever so slightly and her eyes flicked to it. He was holding it for her to see what was in it. The initiator. She knew immediately what it signified. That’s what Stratton was doing in Bill’s apartment. He couldn’t find the virus; Bill had hidden it. So Stratton mined the briefcase. He was warning her to get clear. This was his move, his plan. There was only one problem. Brennan would shoot her through the head if she so much as twitched.
Brennan was like a rock, hands steady, his glare determined, his mind spinning like a fruit machine trying to work out his options. ‘Lawton,’ he growled. ‘Put the case down on the floor by my foot.’
Lawton didn’t move.
‘I said put it down, Billy boy.’
Bill still didn’t move.
‘You’ve got five seconds, then I shoot the bitch, and you, and probably get a chance to hammer that case before those bastards get me. It’s your call.’ He shoved the barrel of the gun hard into Aggy’s head. ‘On the ground, now!’
Bill turned and held up the case towards Stratton. ‘Shoot her and I throw him the case,’ Bill shouted.
Brennan’s finger froze on the trigger. He had pushed Lawton to the brink and now he was prepared to sacrifice himself and the girl.
Chaz watched all of this as if from the front seats at a bullfight. He was a part of it and yet he wasn’t. All the cards were being dealt in front of him but he had none to play himself. His gun was up on aim but he would only fire when the maniac or Stratton starting shooting. It all had to end here one way or another but he couldn’t start it. His phone suddenly chirped in his pocket. The ‘Ode to Joy’ was his ring tone, a merry melody for such a moment. No one else appeared to notice. He ignored it himself, but it kept on ringing and was almost becoming an embarrassment. Wilks was a few yards away with his gun levelled. Chaz carefully slid the phone from his pocket and put it to his ear.
Bill Lawton was looking into the abyss. It was all he could do. ‘I swear, the second you shoot, I’ll toss the case to him,’ he said to Brennan. He had gone past the point of no return, his choice clear. This was the only chance he had to save Aggy and the virus, small though it was. It was up to Brennan now. He knew Stratton needed just one slender window of opportunity and he’d take it. Stratton was obviously trying to save Aggy too otherwise he would have wasted them all by now, even if that meant getting to Brennan through Aggy. Bill was surprised. He didn’t think Stratton had this much heart. Perhaps Aggy had been wrong about him. Perhaps he did feel something for her.
Brennan knew his options had run out. Bill had turned completely and played his final card. ‘You fool,’ he said. ‘She’s the only thing keeping the both of us alive.’
‘This is the last time I ask. If you don’t let her go, I’ll toss the case to him anyway.’
‘Then she’s dead for sure and so are you,’ Brennan said with finality.
Lawton slowly moved into a position that suggested he was going to throw it.
‘Put the case down and I’ll let her walk.’ Brennan said. Lawton held himself in check. Was there still a chance? ‘Let her go first,’ he said.
‘Lower the case to the ground then,’ Brennan bartered. Lawton took a moment to decide and then lowered the case but without releasing the handle.
Chaz’s eyes moved to Stratton’s hand by his side as he listened to the voice on his phone and he seemed to understand the worst. ‘Stratton,’ he called out. ‘Stratton. I’ve got a message for you.’
‘Not a good time,’ Stratton said, his gun rock steady and aimed at Brennan’s head or what he could see of it behind Aggy’s.
‘It’s someone called Sumners,’ Chaz persisted trying to keep his voice low. ‘It’s important.That thing you asked him about. He said it won’t work.’
Stratton instantly knew he was referring to the explosive device. His only ace had just been taken from him and his options were suddenly boiled away to one. It had come down to shooting Brennan at the first opportunity even if it meant losing Aggy.
‘Go, Aggy,’ Bill said.
‘Let go of the case first,’ Brennan said. He didn’t trust the spy. Not that it mattered. The key was taking out the bastard Pink at the bottom of the steps and to do that he needed one fraction of a second.
Aggy realised it was all down to her now. She was the key to Lawton’s next move and Stratton’s too. She was going to have to move and give Stratton the shot he needed. She felt suddenly weak as if her legs could no longer support her weight. She wanted to run but she was frozen to the spot. Everything felt as if it had slowed to a crawl. And that’s what it would be like if she ran. She would be too slow. Brennan only needed to move his finger half an inch and she needed to move her whole body ten times as far in the same instant. Her mouth trembled and she closed her eyes. She was going to do it.
But it was Bill who made the first move. ‘Brennan,’ he said. ‘Here.’ And he tossed the briefcase at him. Brennan saw it coming out of the corner of his eye. Aggy ducked and spun, her arms flailing, the split second distraction enough to move her head from the barrel of Brennan’s gun. But Brennan was already traversing the weapon, his subconscious focused on the virus.
Brennan fired a shot into Lawton then dropped a little to engage Stratton. But he was no match for the man who had far more battle experience, and many more kills. Stratton fired two quick shots into Brennan’s body and a third at his head as Brennan fired at him, missing by inches. The head-shot took the side of Brennan’s head off exposing his brain.
Lawton dropped back on to the steps, his chest on fire, his legs unable to support him. Brennan dropped to
