The Hostage s-1

by Duncan Falconer

  Stratton checked the rear-view mirror, saw Wilks give a thumbs-up, shut the door then slipped it into drive and slowly accelerated away, leaving the people who had been ushered off as well as those who had been waiting in the street somewhat bemused.

  Chaz sat down on the top deck and took a moment to get a look at the targets. He picked out the only short-haired, pretty girl at the very front of the bus and it was easy to see who the two men were. The younger one was beside her and the older one behind them both. No one was seated the other side of the aisle to them.

  Chaz turned around and faced two middle-aged couples in the two seats behind him. He showed them his badge, told them in a low voice he was with the London special security services, and asked them to quietly and calmly get up and go downstairs. They looked at each other, wondering if this was some kind of a joke. He repeated his command, making sure they could see his picture clearly on the MoD identity badge, and further explained he was a form of police officer and that they were quietly to go downstairs where a colleague would explain the situation to them. They were eventually convinced enough to get up and go to the stairs. Chaz kept an eye on Brennan, who remained looking forward.

  As the four passengers reached the lower deck they started talking and asking what was going on. Wilks gave them a quick shhh, put his finger to his lips, and reinforced the command with a flash of his badge. They obeyed this new stranger.

  Stratton was anxious for the next bus stop. He wanted everyone off as soon as possible. He took the right turn off the bridge and drove along the riverbank. The road curved slowly to the left and then a stop came into view. As he started to slow, the driver came alongside him.

  ‘This is the wrong stop,’ the driver said clandestinely.

  ‘You mean none of those people waiting at the stop will want this bus?’ Stratton asked.

  ‘That’s right.We don’t stop ’ere. Ours is around the corner a bit further.’

  ‘Perfect.’ Stratton brought the bus to a stop alongside the bus stop and hit the lever that opened the middle doors with a gush. Wilks ushered the people off. Stratton closed the doors and moved the bus on its way.

  Chaz got up and walked to a seat opposite the last couple upstairs, who were one seat back from Brennan. Brennan was aware someone had arrived close by and glanced back. Chaz avoided Brennan’s eyes and looked out the window until Brennan faced the front again. Chaz reached a leg across the aisle and tapped the young man on the foot. The man looked at him strangely and then saw the badge in Chaz’s hand by his knee. Chaz made a motion for him to move back. The man frowned, wondering what Chaz wanted. Brennan started to look around but was seemingly interested in something across the river and went back to facing ahead.

  Chaz suddenly started to feel the pressure. It dawned on him that he had never been in such a dangerous position in his life. He was used to following foreign diplomats mostly, Russians, East Europeans, Middle Easterners. He’d worked against the IRA loads of times but never like this, never close to a killer who was prepared to waste him if he made a mistake. Chaz looked at the young man with eyes so intense it was if he was trying to burn the message into him. He made another, more severe jerk with his head towards the stairs.The young man’s girlfriend was suddenly aware of her boyfriend’s distraction and looked past him to see Chaz holding his badge. Chaz thought about showing them his gun, but changed his mind for fear it might scare them into a negative reaction.

  The girl was more switched on than her boyfriend and took a look at the people in front of her, evaluating why the black guy was being so secretive and cautious. As if Brennan had sensed something he turned and looked at her, into her eyes. It was as if she saw something in him that scared her. Brennan looked ahead again. She nudged her boyfriend to get up. He was resistant. She nudged him again, harder. Chaz put his fingers to his lips, the young man gave in, and they got up.

  Brennan looked back just as Chaz was getting up to leave. Chaz caught his eyes, just long enough to see the beast in them, then followed the couple down the stairs. Brennan looked ahead again, but this time niggled by something. He looked back to see the upper deck was empty.

  On the lower deck the couple had joined the last of the passengers herded together at the centre doors as Stratton slowed the bus to a stop at a set of traffic lights. He decided to go for it and opened the doors.

  ‘Everyone off,’ Chaz said quietly, keeping an eye up the stairs. ‘You too,’ he said to the driver.

  ‘But this is my ship, I mean my bus,’ the driver said.

  ‘You’ve done your job, mate. You’ve got to get off now, please.’

  The driver glanced over at Stratton in his seat, accepted it was all very much bigger than he was, and stepped down off the bus. Stratton shut the doors and as the traffic lights turned green he drove on through the junction.

  Wilks and Chaz glanced at each other, at Stratton, and upstairs. Now what?

  Wilks took a seat on the bench behind Stratton, nearer the stairs, while Chaz made his way to the back and sat down.

  Stratton pushed on along the riverbank taking it as slowly as he could without alerting suspicion, every few seconds flashing a look at the upper-deck mirror. Parliament was a mile or so further on; he needed to drag the journey out as long as he could. There had been no call from Sumners yet, no support team, no plan. It was beginning to look as if everything was going to be down to him. With Brennan, it could get messy. He wondered if the bus could be the best place to end it. He could stop the bus, walk upstairs, and take his chances on shooting Brennan before he could react, and then Lawton. If the virus was somehow released they would have to stay on the bus. It could be sealed off where it was by the biohazard teams and they would take it from there. Not the best end to the day Stratton could imagine, but it might have to do. Then came a loud ding that made Stratton flinch. It took a split second for him to realise it was the stop request bell.

  Stratton looked at the upper-deck mirror to see the backs of Brennan, Lawton and Aggy on their feet. He looked at the mirror showing the lower-deck interior, at Chaz and Wilks who were looking up at the sound of footsteps above moving to the top of the stairs.

  Stratton saw a bus stop up ahead and started to slow. The footsteps clomped down the stairs. Lambeth Bridge was several hundred yards away, still a fair distance from Parliament Square.Then it hit Stratton like a slap. Of course. MI5 headquarters. A perfect place to put the virus, and Lawton the perfect person to deliver it there.

  Aggy was first to step from the stairwell on to the lower deck, followed by Lawton carrying the briefcase, then Brennan who kept an arm’s length from the other two in case he needed to draw his weapon.

  As Chaz saw Brennan he felt a sudden flush of anxiety. Brennan had looked at him upstairs. If he saw him again he might become suspicious.

  Aggy didn’t know where Brennan and Bill were headed with the virus. She wasn’t familiar with this part of London and was feeling numb with helplessness. Attacking the thug would be a losing start. She was no match for him. Grabbing the briefcase wouldn’t gain her anything more than a bullet in the back. Bill might help her if she started it; she could grab the thug as the doors opened and Bill could run with the case. But that would probably end with a bullet for both of them. He might not even run. Bill looked as helpless as she felt. She believed he would not let the virus be released, not if he could help it. He had assured her as much on the stairs outside his apartment. But how much was he protecting her, and where would he draw the line between saving her and everyone else? The thug wasn’t going to let her walk away at the end of all this no matter what. She was only alive so far to keep Bill in line. As soon as they reached their destination she was dead. Bill must know that.

  Aggy looked around the bus, which was now almost empty and saw the chubby bloke who was looking directly at her. There was something in his eyes. He seemed tense. She took a look at the other guy seated at the back and felt her senses tingle ever so slightly.Were they who she thought the
y were? She looked towards the front of the bus, at the driver, and her reaction was almost visible but she held it in check. He wasn’t looking at her, she couldn’t see his face, but she’d know that head and straggly hair anywhere. His presence was like an emergency chute after the main one had failed as she plummeted to earth. He was here and suddenly there was hope. She had to be alert now. Whatever his move was going to be she had to be ready. She hoped she could figure it out seconds before and be of help, or, if not, avoid being a liability.

  Stratton assessed the situation and concluded they were all well and truly screwed. If he drove on without stopping Brennan would figure it out pretty quickly and go nuts with his gun, etcetera, etcetera. If Stratton stopped the bus and let them off he would have to act. It was now or never.

  He brought the bus to a halt at the stop and opened the doors. One way or another it was going to be party time very soon.

  When Wilks saw Aggy look at him he knew he had to somehow communicate she was not alone. He couldn’t play it too strongly and when she looked away he wasn’t sure if she’d sensed it. Brennan had held back and Wilks briefly considered making a grab for him, but could not see how that would do much good. The briefcase was the focus and the other man had that. Chaz was too far away to help, and Stratton was driving. This was not the time to take matters into his own hands. Anyway, he wasn’t prepared for that kind of heroics. It wasn’t something he ever thought of and didn’t have the confidence he could carry it out without screwing up, and that would mean the end of him and the others too quite likely. He had a wife and two kids who needed him as much as he wanted them. He would stick to what he was good at and that was being led. Stratton would have to make the move and he would do his best to follow.

  Lawton stepped off the bus feeling completely useless, as he had from the moment Brennan had surprised him and Aggy outside his apartment. There was nothing he could think of that could even begin to get him out of this problem. Every scenario he ran through his head ended with Aggy dead or as good as, him dead and the virus in that maniac’s hands. However, time was fast running out and it was beginning to look more and more as if he should accept the inevitable and throw himself into the arms of fate. He could not allow the virus to be released. He would be damned for ever if he did that. Aggy’s usefulness would soon be at an end. He had to act at his first opportunity and hope luck had not deserted him. He stood with his back to the bus, waiting for the inevitable growl from Brennan to get going. If Brennan got close enough he would make a grab for him. Perhaps Aggy would grab the case and run for it.

  Aggy stepped off the bus beside him. He felt her look at him but could not return it. He wanted to let her know he was ready to do something, but how?

  Brennan moved forward to step off the platform and, as his instincts demanded, he checked his flanks. To his right was a fat guy on the bench looking at Aggy. Brennan glanced at the driver, found his eyes in the mirror staring at him, piercing eyes, enough to hold Brennan’s gaze for a split second. Brennan continued forward as he turned his head to look in the other direction and saw Chaz, the black man from upstairs. As his foot hit the pavement his mind was screaming a warning at him. The combination of the burning eyes in the mirror and the black man was an alarm bell so loud he reached inside his jacket for his gun. He heard the doors shut behind him as he took another step. No one had gotten off. If they had he would have drawn his gun and been shooting as he turned. He kept his hand on his gun and pushed Aggy forward into Bill’s side.

  ‘Go on,’ he said. They walked across the pavement and angled towards the large building on the corner. Brennan’s eyes were forward, but his senses were all aimed to his rear.

  Bill looked up at the front of MI5 headquarters. Ahead were the steps that led up to the main doors through which he could see the lobby and the perspex tube turnstiles, hollow pillars that a person stepped into and waited for the sensors to permit them inside.

  Stratton watched them reach the steps. Something was vibrating in his pocket. His phone of course. No doubt it was Sumners, or perhaps it was the new ground leader wanting to know where to deploy his teams or needing an update. Whoever it was they were too late.

  ‘What do we do now?’ asked Wilks.

  ‘When we get off, spread out. Wait for me to start.’

  Stratton’s phone stopped vibrating for a moment then started again. He ignored it as he watched Brennan, 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 ge
t 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.’