Siege: A Thriller

by Simon Kernick

  She was just about to click on the answer button when the call ended, leaving Tina wondering whether Arley had called her by mistake. They’d met a few years earlier at a function honoring special achievements by women and had spent much of the evening standing outside smoking, hitting it off straight away. Tina liked Arley’s bluntness and confidence, and the fact that she didn’t take crap from anyone. They’d kept in touch, gone out for the occasional drink, including one night when they both got so hammered neither of them could remember how they’d got home.

  When Tina had been suspended eighteen months earlier, Arley had stood up and supported her, saying that the Met needed more strong women like Tina Boyd. But she’d been noticeable by her absence back in February when Tina had finally got the push, which was fair enough. You can only stick your neck out so far when the other person insists on hanging one-handed from the parapet. Especially when you’re a high-flying DAC in the Met, with the job of being the force’s first female commissioner in your sights.

  And now here was Arley calling her, out of the blue, and just as suddenly hanging up. Tina was surprised she wasn’t involved in dealing with today’s attacks. She was the kind of high-profile copper who was always in the midst of the action.

  Like Tina had once been.

  The phone rang again, and Arley’s name flashed across the screen for a second time.

  Tina picked up. “Arley? How are you?”

  There was a pause. Three seconds. The sound of breathing at the other end of the line. Then five words, laced with quiet desperation.

  “You’ve got to help me.”

  47

  Arley took a deep breath. She was taking an immense risk confiding in someone like Tina Boyd, a woman for whom the term “loose cannon” might have been invented; but she knew too that she was running extremely short on alternatives. “I’m in real trouble,” she whispered into the phone, keeping one eye on the incident room, twenty yards away, “and I don’t know where else to turn.”

  “What is it?”

  There was no sarcasm in Tina’s voice, even though she and Arley hadn’t spoken for a long time. Just genuine interest.

  So Arley told her everything that had happened, keeping it as brief and businesslike as possible.

  “Jesus,” said Tina when she’d finished. “You’ve got to tell your superiors. You can’t deal with something like this on your own.”

  “I can’t, Tina. The government will sacrifice my family if they have to. They won’t let their safety stand in the way of an assault on the hotel.”

  “But why are you calling me?”

  “I want you to find them. I want you to find my husband and children. I know it’s a long shot—”

  “It’s more than a long shot, Arley. It’s a physical impossibility. I’m one woman. One woman who no longer has a warrant card or access to any police resources.”

  “I’ve got access to resources.” Arley could hear the desperation in her own voice. “I’ll give you every assistance I can.”

  “We haven’t spoken for nearly a year.”

  “I know we haven’t. And I know I should have helped you over that Philippines thing. But you’re a bloody good detective, Tina. One of the best I’ve ever come across. And you get things done. Where are you now?”

  “I’m at home.”

  “That’s near Ridge, isn’t it?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Well, that’s only twenty minutes away from me. I’m in Mill Hill.”

  “I know where you are. You could have called, or visited, or something, couldn’t you? In an unofficial capacity, so that it wouldn’t have affected your career.”

  “I’m sorry. I truly am.” Arley looked toward the incident room door, knowing she was going to have to go back soon. “But they have my family. Can you imagine what that must feel like?”

  “I still don’t see what I can do.”

  “I know I’m putting you on the spot, Tina. I know I’m asking you to risk everything. But I’m completely trapped here, and you’re the only person I could think of to ask. The only one I know who might just be able to find them.”

  There was a silence at the other end.

  Arley waited, not knowing what else she could say.

  “When did you last have contact with them?” Tina asked eventually.

  “This morning. I left the house at seven thirty. They were all there then.”

  “Nothing suspicious? No unfamiliar vehicles? Anything like that?”

  Arley wrenched her mind back to earlier that morning. “No. Nothing.”

  Tina was silent again. “I’ll go over there. But listen, Arley. I would think really carefully about telling your bosses about this because the chances are I’ll turn up nothing. You have to understand that.”

  “I do. Just please, please, do what you can. And call me, will you? As soon as you find out anything at all.”

  Arley ended the call, dabbed the corners of her eyes with her sleeves, pulled some more cold air through her nose into her lungs, and turned back toward the incident room.

  48

  19:37

  Scope sat on the floor against the bed, Ethan beside him. Abby had drifted off to sleep, and after checking that she was all right, Scope had let her be. Although it was clear she was still in a lot of pain, the bleeding had stopped and it seemed she’d stabilized.

  “When are the police coming?” Ethan asked for the hundredth time.

  Scope knew how he felt. The slow turn of the minutes was hugely frustrating. “They’ll come as soon as they can,” he answered, yet again. “They just need to find out where the bad guys are so they can come in here and save us.”

  “They need to hurry up. Mom’s really sick.” Ethan’s face was white and strained. He took her hand and tried to wake her.

  “Leave her now, Ethan,” said Scope gently. “She’s resting.”

  Ethan looked at him, his gaze imploring. “She can’t die, though. She can’t.”

  “She won’t.”

  “I wish my dad was here.”

  “Where is he?”

  “He left home. Last year.”

  “Do you still see him?”

  Ethan shook his head. “No. Mom says he still loves me, but he’s very busy. She says when he’s less busy, he’ll come and see me. He calls me sometimes, though.”

  “I’m sure he misses you.”

  “I miss him.”

  Scope wished he’d seen more of his own daughter when he’d had the chance. And yet, like Ethan’s dad, he’d left home and his family, and since then he’d lost count of the number of times he’d wondered how different things might have been if they’d all stayed together. He remembered Mary Ann as a laughing two-year-old running around the backyard on tiny legs while he and Jennifer looked on with the broad, dopey smiles of new parents full of love for the beautiful creature they’d created.

  “Are you OK?” asked Ethan.

  Scope smiled down at him. “Yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking.”

  “What about?”

  For a moment, Scope considered telling him. It was almost like he wanted to unburden himself, which came as a surprise to him. He’d never been much of a talker. “Nothing much,” he answered.

  Silence.

  “Grandpa brought us here as a treat. I’ve never been to London before. And I don’t want to come again now. Never.”

  “Where are you from?”

  “America.”

  “I guessed that. Whereabouts in America?”

  “Florida.” Ethan looked at Scope again, his face calmer. “Near Disney World. Have you ever been to Disney World?”

  “No, can’t say I ever have.”

  “Where are you from? You’ve got a funny accent.”

  “A place called Manchester, and it’s not funny.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  Scope thought of the three men upstairs. “Visiting friends.”

  Ethan was silent a moment, his face scrunched
up in thought. “Why are those men killing people?” he said at last. “They killed Grandpa. And the man in the mask wanted to kill Mom and me too. Why?”

  “Some people like hurting other people for no reason. There aren’t very many of them, and you were very unlucky to have run into some today. I’m sorry for you.”

  Ethan’s eyes flashed. “I’m glad you killed them,” he said defiantly.

  Scope nodded. So was he.

  “Are you a policeman?”

  “No.”

  “A soldier?”

  “You ask a lot of questions.”

  “I think you’re a soldier,” said Ethan knowingly. “Thank you for helping us.”

  Scope shrugged. “You should never walk by and leave people who are in trouble.”

  But even as he said this, he wasn’t sure he believed it. Helping Abby and Ethan had already caused him a hell of a lot of grief. Quite how much depended on what happened when—or, of course, if—they got out.

  Scope’s attention was caught by something on the TV. The camera had suddenly panned from a reporter to the front entrance of the hotel. As Scope watched, the far left door was slowly opened and a masked terrorist in navy overalls appeared in the doorway with a small group of children. The terrorist then disappeared back inside, locking the door and leaving the kids standing on the front step, holding hands and looking confused.

  As the camera panned back to reveal more of the scene, two armed police officers, accompanied by a pair of paramedics, rushed over, and led the children away from the hotel entrance, the camera following the group as they went behind the cordon before disappearing into a melee of emergency services people.

  “What’s happening?” asked Ethan, who was also watching the TV.

  Scope got to his feet and stretched his legs. “I think they might be releasing some of the hostages.”

  “Can we go too?” For the first time, there was excitement in Ethan’s voice.

  “I’m not sure,” said Scope, trying to figure out a plan of action, knowing that there was no guarantee they would let Ethan go. But knowing too that he couldn’t simply sit there waiting for events to unfold, not with Abby injured and in need of insulin.

  Scope sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was draw more attention to himself, not after what had gone on upstairs. But it looked as though he didn’t have much choice.

  49

  In the incident room, Riz Mohammed was grinning as he and the others watched the screen which showed the three children being released.

  “Well done, Riz,” said John Cheney, patting him on the back. “That was some good negotiating.”

  The two technicians, Janine and Will, were both on their feet, smiling and adding their own words of encouragement, and Arley had to force herself to do the same, even though she was finding it almost impossible to concentrate.

  “The children are going to need debriefing as soon as they’ve been checked out at St. Mary’s,” she said. “John, can you call your people at CTC and get them to send their people over there, and then let us know what, if anything, they find out?”

  Cheney nodded and picked up one of the phones, and Arley was amazed at her own capacity for carrying on in the midst of this, the worst personal crisis of her life.

  One of the secure phones rang in the incident room and Janine picked it up. “Gold for you, ma’am.”

  Decision time.

  Arley picked up the phone at the far end of the office and got Janine to patch him through, turning her back on the others in an effort to get some sort of privacy.

  “It’s good news about the children being released,” said Commissioner Phillips without preamble. “Congratulations are in order to you and your negotiator.”

  Tell him. Tell him now.

  “Thank you, sir,” she replied, her voice sounding hollow.

  “But the PM and I are still very concerned that your negotiator hasn’t yet been able to speak to Michael Prior. We need to find out urgently whether he’s been compromised.”

  They’ve got my husband and children. What do I care about that?

  “I can understand that, sir, but if we insist, we risk antagonizing them or, worse still, letting them know that we’re really worried about what he might say.”

  “Which is why we’re preparing for a possible armed intervention.”

  Oh Jesus. The assault the caller was talking about.

  “Are we handing over control of the scene to the military?” she asked, unable to keep the undercurrent of fear out of her voice.

  “Not yet. The PM’s very keen for a negotiated settlement.”

  “So am I. Especially now that we’ve secured the release of some of the hostages peacefully.”

  “But we’re also going to have to review our options if Michael Prior remains unaccounted for. Do we have any news on where he might be in the building?”

  “According to calls made to his phone, he was initially being held in one of the guest rooms somewhere on the third floor, but the phone signal was last picked up on the ground floor. We don’t know where the phone is now, because we no longer have coverage within the building. And, of course, there’s no guarantee it’s with him anyway.”

  “So, we don’t have a clue, basically,” said Phillips, sounding irritated.

  “No,” she responded tightly, “I’m afraid we don’t, sir.”

  A silence stretched between them. “Are you all right, Arley? You sound very tense.”

  Last chance. Tell him.

  “It’s a tense situation, sir.”

  “Well, you were picked because you’re calm and level-headed, and it would be a great help to all of us if you didn’t forget that.”

  “I won’t.”

  Phillips sighed. “Carry on doing what you can to locate Prior, and keep me informed of any progress, however small. No one wants a bloodbath, which may well happen if the SAS are sent in, but if the terrorists don’t let us talk to Prior, then I’m afraid it may become inevitable.”

  50

  20:02

  Tina Boyd drove her car past the Dale family home as slowly as she could. There were no lights on inside, but that was to be expected. If the kidnappers were holding the family there, they wouldn’t want to advertise their presence, although Tina didn’t think they’d risk staying put with three hostages. It would be far easier to move them to an undisclosed location, just in case Arley didn’t choose to cooperate, or came here looking for them herself. She also noticed something else. None of the curtains at the front of the house had been drawn, which was the first thing you’d do if you were a kidnapper and didn’t want anyone seeing inside.

  An Audi station wagon, which Tina presumed belonged to Arley’s husband, Howard, was the only car parked in the driveway. She continued driving, checking to see if any of the cars parked on either side of the road were occupied. She didn’t think the kidnappers had the necessary resources to be keeping a watch on the house, but it paid to be thorough.

  When Tina was satisfied that the street was clear, she found a parking space about thirty yards farther on and got out, shivering in the cold night air. She walked back towards the Dales’ house, trying to look as natural as possible—just another commuter coming home after a late night at the office—but instead of turning into their drive, she turned into the one next door. She crept by the side of the house, ignoring the lights in the window, and tried the side gate, which was locked. Hoping there wasn’t a dog on the other side, she clambered over it and into the backyard, thankfully without the accompaniment of angry barking.

  A high evergreen hedge separated the two properties, and Tina had to force her way through it like some kind of rainforest explorer, before emerging on the other side at the back of the Dales’ house. There were no curtains closed on this side either. She stayed in the shadows of the hedge for a full minute, watching for any signs of life.

  Nothing and no one moved. There were no lights coming from inside to signify someone watching the TV. No sounds ei
ther. Just the distant hum of traffic and the occasional plane rumbling through the clouds overhead. Tina had been on enough surveillance jobs in her life to know when a place was empty. Human beings can’t stay still for long, even when they’re trying to.

  She gave it another thirty seconds, then slowly approached the nearest window, which looked straight into an expansive kitchen.

  Straight away she saw the body lying there. Or, more accurately, she saw a pair of legs, a pair of forearms, and half a torso lying across the checkered floor, the remainder hidden by the kitchen sink unit. A dark pool of blood had formed around the upper part of the body and the hands were dipped in it, the fingers outstretched. Tina had never seen a photo of Howard but she was certain it was him. And it was clear from the amount of blood that he’d been lying there some time.

  She took a step back. This was the time to call the police. If she went inside, she’d be contaminating a crime scene, and giving herself a whole lot of trouble. It was also possible that the kids were still in the house—and if they were, they were almost certainly dead too. She could feel her mobile in her pocket, and she almost took it out to make the call, but stopped herself.

  With a long sigh, she put on her gloves and retrieved the spare keys from the potting shed, where Arley had said they’d be, trying them one after the other in the kitchen door until it finally opened. As she stepped inside, she was greeted by an empty, all-pervading silence and the telltale sour smell of death—something she’d experienced too many times before, and which she’d never managed to get used to. Holding her breath, she crouched down beside the body, avoiding stepping in the blood, and felt for a pulse as a simple formality. She wasn’t surprised when there was no sign of one.

  To make absolutely sure this was Arley’s husband, Tina crept into the hallway looking for family photos, which was when she saw the second body, propped up against the wall. This would be Magda, the Dale family au pair. Arley had told Tina that she’d been killed by the kidnappers, although she hadn’t mentioned that her body had been left here.