The must-read new blockbuster thriller

by Tony Kent

  Now, as she looked around the lock-up and set eyes upon a bloody figure secured to a chair in the centre of the space, Sarah began to question her own decision.

  Mullen looked directly past Liam and Michael towards Sarah. He seemed to recognise her uncertainty. His stare bored into her. The intensity in his gaze caused a shiver to run to the base of her spine.

  It made him crack a sinister smile.

  ‘You took your time, Liam.’

  Mullen’s grin did not fade as his eyes moved to Casey.

  ‘I thought you might have changed your mind about coming back.’

  ‘I was always coming back, Robert. I just thought I’d give you some time to yourself.’

  ‘Time to think about the things you might do to me, you mean? Well, I’ve had time. And you may as well get started with it, because I’m not telling you a thing.’

  Liam did not seem surprised by the statement.

  ‘What makes you think I’m going to do anything to you?’ he asked. ‘No one’s touched you since you’ve been here, have they?’

  ‘Fucking right they haven’t.’ Mullen’s lack of respect for anything and everyone was absolute. ‘Your boys haven’t the balls to start without you. Maybe you need to show ‘em the way, eh?’

  Sarah wanted to look away, yet she could not take her eyes away from Mullen. The man was almost hypnotic. He seemed unfazed at the prospect of torture. It was a mentality she could not understand.

  ‘They didn’t touch you because I told them not to.’

  Liam’s voice was as calm as Mullen’s. Even more controlled.

  ‘And I won’t touch you either. Because I don’t need to.’

  The first flicker of confusion crossed Mullen’s eyes. A moment of uncertainty. It was gone as quickly as it had arrived. When he spoke again his voice was still calm.

  ‘Don’t waste your time playing games. I’ve been doing this too long to fall for the shite. We both know how this works. You’ll offer to let me go if I tell you what you want. I refuse, you torture me and then you promise to stop if I talk. Then you kill me anyway. I end up dead whatever happens, Liam, so I’m not telling you shit.’

  Mullen’s words were certain. But Liam had very different ideas.

  ‘What makes you think it goes that way, Robert? We’re not all unsophisticated psychopaths. There are alternatives to torture. To murder. You just never worked them out.’

  ‘Is that right?’

  Mullen was trying his best to sound dismissive, but it was clear that the possibility of survival was impossible to ignore.

  ‘What are they, then?’

  ‘It just takes a little thought, Robert. But then that’s something you’ve never been that good at.’

  Liam’s tone was becoming intentionally patronising. He continued.

  ‘I only need to kill you if you don’t tell me what I want. Because if you do, you’re finished anyway, and then you’re no threat at all. So you get to live. It’s simple when you think about it. You’ve just never been smart enough to see it.’

  ‘Fuck you, Casey!’

  Mullen responded with renewed ferocity. And Sarah could see what had caused it.

  It was the illusion of choice. Liam seemed to have given Mullen two options, but human nature dictated that only one path would ever be taken, and that made it no choice at all.

  Whatever the cost, survival wins every time.

  ‘Fuck you!’ Mullen seemed to be fighting his natural will to live. A pointless battle. ‘You’re all so fucking civilised with your big cars and your posh restaurants and your trendy bars. So what? At the end of the day, you’re still in a lock-up with a fella tied to a chair and you’re still gonna kill him. We’re not fucking different, Liam. We’re both murderers. I just don’t hide it from myself.’

  ‘Neither do I,’ Liam replied. ‘I know what I am. But there is a difference, Robert. I’ve killed when I had to. But you? You never see any other choice. You think I have to kill you because you’re too simple to realise that I don’t.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  The carrot of survival was dangling. For some reason Mullen still struggled to understand the consequences of taking it.

  Or maybe he knows, Sarah thought, but just can’t believe it.

  When Mullen spoke again he was ranting.

  ‘We both know what you have to do, Liam. Killing me is the only way to stop a war. If I leave here alive I’ll hunt every one of you bastards down. My boys will be on your back day and night. We both know it, Liam. Don’t try telling me I’m wrong.’

  ‘But you are wrong.’ Liam was as calm as he had been throughout. ‘You’re only a threat to me with your organisation behind you. But once I know about the True IRA and every other dirty little secret you have, you won’t have an organisation. No back-up for me to worry about. You’ll be what you were a few years ago, Robert. A nobody with a bad temper.’

  Mullen did not move an inch as Liam’s words trailed off. His unblinking eyes stared blankly at Liam’s face, the truth seeming finally to sink in.

  ‘You expect me to believe you’ll let me walk out of here?’

  Mullen’s words remained defiant, but his faltering voice betrayed them.

  ‘I don’t care what you believe,’ Liam replied. ‘You’ll talk. If you’re so stupid that I have to break every bone in your skinny little body to make that happen? Well, that’s up to you.’

  Mullen did not respond. Instead he glared at Liam. He gave every indication that he would erupt again. A final act of violence before death.

  Sarah stepped back. She began to tense, preparing for the fury they all seemed to expect.

  It never came.

  The phone was not answered on the second ring. Not even on the third. Only on the eighth did the line come to life.

  Joshua was met by Stanton’s usual empty greeting.

  ‘What can I do for you, Sergeant?’

  ‘Where the hell have you been?’ Joshua’s annoyance tripped off his tongue. ‘I’ve been trying to contact you for three hours. Why didn’t you answer?’

  ‘That’s my business. Not yours.’ Stanton offered no apology. ‘You might be surprised to hear this, Sergeant, but I have responsibilities other than to be at your beck and call.’

  ‘Really? In that case you won’t be interested in what Devlin and Casey are doing right now then? Or to know who they’ve got tied to a chair?’

  ‘Someone else? Already?’

  ‘Yes, someone else. They don’t dawdle. They had this guy within hours of the last one. What do you want done about it?’

  ‘Do you know who it is?’

  ‘I didn’t catch the name tag, no.’

  It was Joshua’s turn to enjoy some sarcasm.

  ‘Then tell me what he looks like.’

  ‘He’s small. Five foot six. Wiry build, sandy hair. Mean anything to you?’

  Stanton’s momentary silence was answer enough, but he confirmed it with his next words.

  ‘Yes, it does. His name is Robert Mullen. Where was he taken from?’

  ‘They grabbed him from outside a snooker club in the north of the city. There were men with him but Casey and his boys dealt with them. Pretty brutal stuff. I’ll tell you something for nothing, Stanton. These guys are good at what they do.’

  There was another pause before Stanton spoke again.

  ‘How good?’

  ‘That’s hard to say,’ replied Joshua. ‘I don’t really know what you’re asking.’

  ‘What I’m asking is are they too good for you? Or can you deal with them now? Inside the building?’

  Joshua had already surmised that the man in the lock-up was important. Now he knew for sure. The answer Stanton wanted to hear was obvious. But realism was safer than bravado.

  ‘Maybe. But maybe not. It’ll be messy, and I can’t guarantee it’ll go our way.’

  ‘OK. Then we can’t take that risk. Not now.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘Stay where you are for
now. Mullen won’t break easily. Which means there’s a good chance they’ll leave him there to stew a while. If that happens – if Devlin and Casey leave – how confident are you that you can take what’s left?’

  ‘They left three last time. And three would not be a problem.’

  ‘Good. Then we wait for now. And if they leave you go in there and you mop up what’s left. Starting with Mullen.’

  Joshua did not answer.

  ‘I’ll take your silence as agreement,’ Stanton continued. ‘And one more thing: I want the brothers alive if possible. At least for now.’

  The line went dead before Joshua could question the last order. It made no difference. He had his instructions.

  SEVENTY

  ‘I was working for someone called Stanton.’

  The explosion of anger they had expected never came. It seemed that Mullen had accepted the inevitable.

  Liam hid his satisfaction that his mind games had worked.

  ‘This Stanton wanted you to carry out terror attacks, and you just did it? Why, Robert? You’ve never had a cause.’

  ‘I still don’t.’

  Mullen smiled as he spoke. As if he took pride in the role he had played in global events.

  ‘I did it for money. Lots and lots of money, Liam. Enough to make me bigger than you!’

  ‘But which one of us is tied to a chair?’

  Liam’s response elicited a scowl from Mullen but no response.

  ‘OK, so tell us, this guy wanted you to pretend to be the True IRA? What’s in it for him?’

  ‘I’m sure he had his reasons, but Stanton wasn’t one for sharing them.’

  Mullen seemed to be warming to his new role. Revelling in holding information that Liam needed.

  ‘I don’t buy that for a second.’

  Liam picked up a length of thin link-chain from the oil-stained floor as he spoke. Slowly – almost absentmindedly – he wrapped it around his right fist.

  ‘I know you spoke to McGale time and again. I know you told him the lies that led him to London. You were behind all of that. Which means you know more than you’re letting on.’

  ‘What, you’re gonna hit me now, Liam, is that it?’ Mullen’s eyes rested on Liam’s covered fist. ‘That’s a bit of a change of plan, isn’t—’

  Mullen did not finish his sentence. Liam’s ironclad hand impacted his face. The teeth on the left-hand side of his jaw shattered. Thick, free-flowing blood poured from his mouth.

  ‘It is, yeah.’

  Liam stepped back. He paid no attention to the fact that Mullen was now doubled up in agony.

  ‘But then plans do tend to do that when I don’t get what I want.’

  Mullen spat out what remained of his shattered teeth. A blood-stained smile broke across his face. Liam could see a hint of his defiance returning. Of his arrogance. But he was confident that Mullen would control it. That he still hoped to leave here alive.

  ‘He wanted to change the world!’

  The blood continued to flow as Mullen spoke. It stained his already tattered white shirt crimson.

  ‘The stupid fuck thought the return of terrorism would turn the country on its head. That it would get rid of the government and let us all start again. He’d been waiting for it to happen. Waiting for the IRA to breach the ceasefire. When they didn’t, he did something about it. He made it happen. He gave me enough money and information to tear the country apart. And that’s exactly what I did.’

  ‘So you admit it? You admit that you and this Stanton were behind the True IRA?’

  Sarah’s soft voice was out of place in the surroundings.

  ‘Not just the True IRA, sweetheart.’

  Mullen looked towards Sarah as he spoke. He appeared to be enjoying himself.

  ‘The UVA too. We were behind the lot. I did it all and you know what? That stupid fuck Stanton wasn’t so stupid after all! The government’s been turned on its head. The army is coming back. We’ve changed the country. We’re going back to the good old days, Liam. Back to when the likes of you and me ran this city. You should be fucking thanking me for what I’ve done!’

  ‘We already know you were behind both.’ Liam again. ‘What I don’t understand is why. What’s the point behind any of this? What the hell was it all supposed to achieve?’

  ‘And you called me stupid!’ Mullen’s voice was now mocking. ‘If the man wanted a resurgence of terrorism he had to play both sides, didn’t he? To keep control on things. What’s the use if one side is playing a role but the other is running rampant, doing it for real? Or worse, what if the other side stuck to the damn ceasefire? It was both sides or nothing. Which meant double money for me.’

  ‘You heartless bastard!’ The disgust in Sarah’s voice was unmistakable. ‘You killed innocent people for nothing more than money. For your goddamned pocket! How can you live with yourself?’

  ‘Up to now? Very comfortably.’ Mullen looked towards Liam. ‘Maybe not so much after tonight, though.’

  ‘What about my brother and his friends?’ Liam kept the conversation on track. ‘Why was it decided they had to die?’

  ‘I honestly have no idea.’ The answer was matter-of-fact. Believable. ‘Before today I didn’t even know you had a brother.’

  ‘You mean you had nothing to do with the bomb in London last night? Or the attack in the university?’

  Michael’s questions were desperate. Liam could understand that; Mullen’s previous answer, if true, meant that his organisation were not the only pieces Stanton had on the board. Whoever had tried to kill Michael and Sarah was still out there.

  ‘All I had to do with that was cleaning up the mess you made there. Good work, by the way. Those RUC bastards had it coming.’

  Michael looked away. Towards Liam. They seemed to be reaching the same conclusion.

  ‘Well, if you weren’t involved in those attacks, who was?’

  ‘I don’t know! Do you think I’m the only gun Stanton’s got? I’m just a cog in a machine, boys. Stanton has people and resources from all over. If you think you’ve got to the bottom of things by getting your hands on me you’re very wrong. I’m just the tip of the iceberg, Liam. The tip of the iceberg.’

  Liam did not know what to say. The information had been unexpected. Mullen smiled at his uncertainty.

  ‘So if Stanton’s the man in control of all of this, tell us who he is.’ It was Sarah who spoke, her question filling the empty air.

  ‘I can’t do that.’ Mullen turned to face Sarah. ‘I don’t know who he is.’

  ‘You’ve been working for him for years,’ she replied. ‘You must have spoken to him countless times!’

  ‘Hundreds. Maybe even a thousand. But that doesn’t mean he introduced himself. The man calls himself Stanton. Do you honestly think that’s his real name? Of course it isn’t, but it’s all anyone ever knew. It’s all I can tell you about him.’

  ‘I don’t buy it.’ Liam did not waste any time considering what Mullen had to say. He knew the man too well. ‘You’re a deceitful bastard, Mullen. There’s no way you got into this without making sure you were protected. You know something about him. What is it?’

  Mullen took his eyes away from Sarah and met Liam’s gaze. The conceited smile crept back across his bloodstained face. It was an answer in itself.

  ‘I may have done a little digging. But it won’t do you any good. This guy’s set-up is bigger than you and me combined. He’s got resources we can only dream of. You start a war with him, you’ll lose.’

  ‘Since when did that stop anyone? Tell me what you have.’

  ‘Just a little insurance policy. I’ve got recordings. Digital ones, of hundreds of conversations. You can hear both of our voices, clear as day.’

  ‘You expect us to believe the guy you’re describing would be that careless?’

  ‘Not at all,’ Mullen replied. ‘He took every precaution he could. Used some sort of top-end voice disguise machine that I couldn’t break through for months. But I got there in
the end, from the cockney arsehole Stanton used as a facilitator. That eejit used to get me whatever I needed, no questions asked. So one time I asked for the one thing I really needed and what d’ya know?’

  Liam looked at Michael.

  ‘That any use to us?’

  ‘If he’s telling the truth,’ Michael replied. ‘Voice recognition is as good as a fingerprint. If we can find someone to analyse the recordings then we might be able to work out who this Stanton is. Or at least use them as a bargaining chip.’

  Liam watched as Michael looked towards Sarah. He saw relief and reassurance in his brother’s eyes. The look of a man who had ensured the safety of everyone he cared about.

  The tapes gave them two choices. Liam knew it. And he could see that Michael did, too.

  Michael turned back to face Mullen.

  ‘Where do you keep them?’

  SEVENTY-ONE

  Joshua slumped into his seat. Michael, Liam and a third man were leaving the lock-up and climbing into the usual Land Rover. The engine roared into life. At the sound Joshua manoeuvred himself into a low position. Only once they had disappeared around the road’s first bend did he sit back up.

  Joshua considered his next move carefully.

  There were three men left inside. A more than manageable number, they posed no real threat to a man like him. But the girl was in there too. Sarah Truman. It was a complication.

  He ran through the options. Killing her was easiest, of course. But perhaps she had value. After all she had been through with Michael Devlin it was possible that he would feel at least some loyalty to her. And loyalty could be helpful. It could provide leverage, or even just a distraction. Plus it might help to know what the brothers knew, and she would no doubt be able to tell him that.

  He made his decision. Sarah Truman would live. For now, anyway. Unfortunately for every other soul within that building, she would be the only one.

  Joshua reached for the glove compartment. Inside was a SIG 226 semi-automatic pistol. He inspected the weapon. Even on this timescale, his obsessive compulsions demanded at least that.

  Satisfied, he thrust a fifteen-round magazine box into the gun’s handle and chambered a round. He then shoved a second magazine into his belt. With three potential targets he did not expect to use both clips. But he had learned long ago that it was safest to overestimate the odds.