Nine Lives (Sam Archer 1)

by Tom Barber

FORTY SIX

  It took everyone concerned a good few hours to fully understand everything that had just happened and put together the whole picture, piece by piece. The Manchester United- Chelsea match was mysteriously cancelled half-way through the first half. According to ground staff, apparently a gas pipe had ruptured under the stadium and they needed to clear the area immediately. A number of fans in the South Stand said that they heard five distant bangs, but apparently that was just the sound of the pipe rupturing.

  The game was postponed until a later date, but everyone made it out OK.

  In reality, the other ARU officers and the stadium security had arrived to find a bloodbath in the white corridor of the lower level. There were three dead bodies, two guards and Shapira, and two critically wounded men. Before anything else, Rivers and Chalky were rushed to hospital as quickly as possible. Rivers especially was in a seriously bad way.

  The EOD squad had arrived from Canada Square as soon as they could and quickly inspected the nerve gas. There was no timer, no trigger switch aside from the one dropped from the dead woman’s hand. They disarmed it without any difficulty, then loaded the canisters up securely and removed them from the site to be destroyed.

  However, there was more shocking news. Mac had received a call from Director Cobb as he and his men watched Chalky and Rivers being loaded into the ambulances outside the stadium. He couldn’t believe what Cobb told him.

  Apparently, Dominick Farha himself had appeared out of nowhere outside the Unit’s HQ and tried to kill Special Agent Crawford. However, he hadn’t counted on the presence of the youngest member of the task force, hobbling his way through the parking lot after Porter dropped him off.

  The phone to his ear, Mac smiled. After a standoff, apparently Archer had shot the terrorist leader in the head, no negotiation, no mercy. His ankle was a mess though, broken in two places, and he was taken to hospital immediately afterwards. After hearing all this, Mac informed his men and without a moment’s hesitation, they all piled into the Unit’s cars and headed for St Mary’s Hospital. Mac was surprised to find a spare MP5 resting on the back seat of one of the vehicles. It had to be Archer’s. However, considering what had just happened and what the young police officer had just done, he’d let him off the hook. Just this once.

  Once Agent Crawford was patched up and had recovered, he’d received some mixed news himself. French police had contacted the American embassy, informing them that four dead bodies had been found in an airfield outside Paris. Two of them had ID and were confirmed as Agents Adrian Flynn and Jack Brody, DEA. Both men had been murdered as they lay in a hide on the edge of the airfield, machine-gunned from behind. However, Henry had made a huge mistake. Crawford had another agent in place as back up, a man whom no-one aside from him knew was there. The man had witnessed the entire trade with the Albanians and called ahead to Riyadh. The moment Henry’s jet landed, an entire division of Saudi Police and armed agents from the DEA appeared on the runway. He was done.

  Back at the ARU, Cobb and Nikki pieced together Shapira’s involvement. According to the log at Stamford Bridge, the vending machine containing the canisters of nerve gas had been delivered the day before. Henry and his daughter had planned the attack all along, but it seemed the bomber at the Emirates had complicated their plans. Security would have been tight before. After the incident at the Emirates, it would have been close to impossible to get inside Stamford Bridge and to the nerve gas without authorisation. Shapira had been forced to improvise and had infiltrated the Armed Response Unit.

  Cobb was wracked with guilt at being deceived by her, but no one blamed him. She’d prevented the ambulance bomb outside the stadium and also shot the guy on the roof with the RPG, currying favour and allaying any suspicions. No one had ever considered the thought that she could be on the other team.

  After talking with Crawford’s sixth agent and looking at timings, it appeared that the woman had also been providing Henry with intelligence all along. The drug lord all of a sudden knew about the DEA’s involvement and operation, hence how Brody and Flynn had been compromised. They realised he’d also ordered Dominick to put the hit on Crawford. Cobb guessed it was a way of buying the drug lord time to get back to Riyadh, while at the same time getting rid of Dominick and also exacting revenge on the DEA Special Agent.

  Shaking his head at it all, Cobb took a deep breath.

  He couldn’t have scripted this day.

  He was now alone on the upper level of the Armed Response Unit, inside the tech area. Once it became clear the operation was over, he’d told the tech team to take a few days leave, effective immediately. The task force, who’d also been given some well-deserved leave, were all down at the hospital, checking up on Archer, Chalky and Rivers. The Prime Minister had also called once he’d been evacuated from the stadium at Stamford Bridge, saying he wanted to meet each member of the detail and thank them all personally. Cobb looked around the empty level, smiling.

  They’d earned it.

  Leaning over a desk, he powered down the last computer as Agent Crawford appeared from the stairs behind him. He had a plaster stuck to the right side of his neck. They were the only two people left in the building.

  Cobb turned as the man approached.

  ‘Good news. I just spoke to the hospital. Rivers is going to make it.’

  Crawford sighed with relief. ‘That’s great.’

  A broad smile appeared on his sandy Southern features. Like a young Robert Redford, Cobb had thought when he first met him. That seemed like a lifetime ago.

  Crawford’s smile faded though.

  ‘And your men?’

  ‘They’ll be fine. They got the bullet out of Chalky- I mean Officer White’s- back. And Archer’s getting a cast on his ankle. Broken in two places. But he’ll be OK.’

  Crawford smiled.

  ‘That’s good. I’m glad. The guy saved my life. That was some shooting.’

  Cobb nodded.

  There was a pause.

  ‘I’m sorry about your two men. Three men, I mean.’

  Crawford nodded. ‘Me too. But we got what we needed. My last agent watched the whole thing first hand. Right now, he’s got Henry in custody himself. We had an entire division waiting for him in Riyadh. Working with the Saudi police, we’ve already started raiding his compound and seizing his assets. It looks like we have enough evidence to take two other cartels down with him.’

  ‘Congratulations. That’s great news,’ Cobb said. He meant it.

  There was a brief silence.

  Then Cobb pulled on his suit jacket. Crawford had travelled light; he was ready to go. The two men walked to the stairs, Cobb flicking off the light switch as he passed. Together they walked down the stairs and arrived in the reception area, pushing open the door and walked outside. It was surprisingly warm after the cold of the previous few days; a bright January afternoon. The sun was just starting to set in the distance.

  Twenty five yards away, Cobb saw a black taxi waiting on the street outside the car park.

  ‘Yours?’ he asked.

  Crawford nodded. ‘I’ve got a plane to catch.’

  ‘You headed home?’

  Crawford shook his head, with a smile.

  ‘No. Not yet. I’ve got one final pit-stop to make first.’

  There was a moment’s silence. Then Crawford offered his hand. Cobb shook it.

  ‘Thank you. For everything you’ve done,’ the American said. ‘I couldn’t have done this without your help.’

  Cobb nodded. ‘Same to you. You ever need my help again, don’t hesitate to call.’

  Crawford smiled. Turning, he walked across the car park towards the taxi, then stopped and turned back one last time.

  ‘Did you know Agent Rivers was part of the team that took out Bin Laden?’

  ‘I didn’t.’

  ‘He never made it into the house. His helicopter crashed before he got there. The first time I met him, he told me his biggest regret from that night wa
s that he’d never have anything special to tell his grandchildren about what he did in his life.’

  Cobb smiled. ‘I guess he does now.’

  Crawford stood still for a moment, smiled, then walked across the car park, climbed into the taxi and pulled the door shut.

  The driver released the handbrake and the vehicle moved off and down the street until it disappeared out of sight.

  Cobb turned back to the entrance to the building, set the sophisticated alarm system and locked the door with a set of keys pulled from his pocket. He climbed into the front seat of his car. Just as he went to slot the key into the ignition, his phone rang in his pocket.

  He pulled it out and answered.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Hey Dad.’

  Cobb smiled. ‘Hey buddy.’

  ‘Are you coming home today? We’re all worried about you.’

  ‘I’m just leaving now. I’ll be home soon, OK.’

  ‘OK.’

  The called ended. Cobb pushed the key in the ignition and fired the engine. Reversing, he took one last look at the Unit.

  What a day, he thought.

  He moved out of the car park, and drove down the road towards his family and his home.

  What a day.