Need You Dead

104 Saturday 30 April

Richard Trundle in the passenger seat of Hotel Tango Two Eight One was maintaining his running commentary to Ops-1, whilst simultaneously carrying out his duties as pursuit commander. In recent months, due to a change of policy, although Ops-1 had the overall responsibility for any chase, and would end it at any time if they felt there was too much danger to the public, it was now up to the officers actually carrying out the pursuit role to decide on the most effective and safest tactics to effect a stop.

A deer darted across the road in front of them, causing Edwards to brake sharply, but Trundle kept a watchful eye on the tail lights ahead. They were gaining on them rapidly.

‘Maintaining visual on subject vehicle,’ he said. ‘Speed one-one-five in six-zero limit.’ As he spoke he was thinking hard, glancing intermittently at the area map he had brought up on the screen showing their current position and the road options around them.

He knew roughly the positions of the three division cars close by and he was trying to work out his chances of containing the Mondeo and forcing it to a halt at a roadblock if viable. A stop-stick would be another option, but he didn’t have enough details on the locations of any of the other cars as yet. If he could coordinate them, and the subject vehicle was on a wide-enough road, they could try to use the safest method of all, TPAC — containing the vehicle by boxing it in with one or more other vehicles.

‘Subject vehicle turning left, left left,’ he announced, as Edwards braked hard and continued following. ‘South on the A281, passing Ginger Fox pub.’

There was a roundabout a mile ahead. A left turn would take the Mondeo down towards the A23 with then a choice of routes north towards London or south towards Brighton. If another car was close enough, perhaps they could take control of that road, he contemplated, but he only had seconds to make that decision. If the Mondeo continued straight over the roundabout it would enter a narrow, winding three-mile-long road over the Devil’s Dyke leading towards the outskirts of Brighton, with only two turn-off options. They should be able to get a Brighton car to position itself at the far end and, with luck, another one at the other end near Small Dole.

He gave Ops-1 the two requests. The Mondeo was approaching the roundabout, and they were now again less than a hundred yards behind it.

‘What about the paraffin parrot?’ Edwards said.

‘I think we can get him without the helicopter,’ Trundle replied, watching the car entering the small roundabout. Into his radio he said, ‘Subject vehicle going off at not one — not two — not three — Oh shit! Off at four! Back the way we’ve just come from!’

The one exit he had not anticipated, effectively a U-turn.

Trundle gripped the grab handle as Edwards kept the Audi in a controlled power slide round the roundabout, and accelerated out of it.

‘You could be on Top Gear with that one, Pip,’ Trundle said.

Edwards grinned.

‘Nooooooo!’ Trundle yelled. ‘Stop, get back, you idiot!’

An articulated lorry was pulling out of the entrance to a garden centre, a short distance ahead. The car they were chasing shot past it but, seemingly blind to their blue lights and deaf to their siren, the lorry continued pulling out, turning right, completely blocking their path.

All Trundle and Edwards could do was sit tight.

‘Comms, we have momentarily lost visual contact — due to a lorry turning across us.’

Finally, as the lorry completed its turn, there was enough of a gap to get by it. Edwards started to pull out then immediately braked and pulled in again, as a Range Rover came past from the opposite direction. Then Edwards pulled out again and the road was clear.

Too clear.

Just a long black ribbon with dark woodland on either side.

The subject vehicle was no longer in sight.