Knife Edge

3.56 P.M.

Doyle took a drag on his cigarette and regarded the photo on Calloway's desk blankly.

The DI, his wife and two children.

He guessed the older one was in her teens.

Pretty kid.

Her finely chiselled features were obviously inherited from her mother, he mused, glancing at Calloway's grizzled visage.

If he and Georgie had had kids, what…

He tried to brush the thought from his mind. Forget it.

Tried to wipe her image from his memory.

Not a chance.

He put the photo back and glanced around the office at the other men.

Calloway was seated behind his desk studying a map of central London.

Mason stood behind him, looking down at the map, occasionally sipping from a cup of coffee.

Two other men, who had been introduced to Doyle as John Fenton and Peter Draper, members of the bomb squad, were seated across from him. Fenton kept glancing at his watch. A nervous gesture, Doyle decided.

Draper was chewing thoughtfully on a piece of gum.

'So,' said Doyle finally, gaze fixed on the policemen.

'So, what?' Calloway asked.

'Four hours until the big one goes off and we're no closer to finding Neville,' Doyle reminded them.

'Or his wife and kid,' Calloway said quietly.

'So why haven't you found him, Doyle?' Mason snapped. 'You're the fucking expert.'

Doyle ignored him. 'How many men have you got on the streets?'

'Two hundred,' Calloway answered. 'We've got mobile units patrolling, men walking the streets, we've even got three helicopters in use. And we still can't find him.'

Calloway got to his feet and crossed to the window of his office. 'I don't know what more we can do.'

'Give him what he wants,' Doyle said flatly.

'What guarantee have we got he won't detonate the rest of the bombs, even if we do give him what he wants?' Calloway said. 'Assuming of course that we had what he wants.'

'Just be grateful Neville doesn't know you haven't got the kid,' Doyle added.

'The policewoman who was injured during the escape seems to be improving,' Mason said. 'If you hadn't told Julie Neville we were going to use her child as a bargaining tool this would never have happened.'

'Fuck you,' Doyle said dismissively.

'Why aren't you out there looking for Neville?' Mason persisted. 'You claim to know how he thinks. Why can't you find him?'

'I'm not a fucking mind-reader, fatso,' Doyle snapped. 'I understand what he's thinking about, not what he's thinking. Prick.'

Mason took a step around the table.

Doyle rose to meet him.

Come on then, fuckhead.

Mason stopped and held Doyle's gaze for a moment longer.

'Just shut it, both of you,' Calloway interjected. 'We all know what we have to do. Julie Neville and her daughter have to be found, Robert Neville has to be stopped and the rest of those bombs must be located.'

'Just like that,' Doyle said.

He turned to look at the members of the bomb squad. 'You say the bombs were constructed the same way?'

Fenton nodded.

'Electronically activated,' Doyle added.

'So there's every reason to believe the others are the same?' Calloway said.

'It's highly likely,' Fenton told him. 'But we can't be certain.'

'So if we find Neville and blow him away, the bombs could still go off?' Mason clarified.

Doyle clapped mockingly.

Mason shot him an angry glance.

'What about Kenneth Baxter?' Doyle asked.

'We've got his place under surveillance, just in case you're right about him and Neville,' Calloway said.

Doyle lit up a cigarette and began pacing the office slowly.

'Neville still thinks we've got his daughter,' he said. 'As long as he believes that we're OK. If he finds out she's missing we're fucked.'

There was a knock on the office door.

'Come in,' Calloway called and a uniformed officer entered the room.

He crossed to the desk and handed something to the DI.

It was an envelope.

'This was handed into reception just now, sir,' the officer said. 'Some kid brought it in, early teens. He said a bloke stopped him on the street and promised him a tenner if he delivered it here.'

'Where is the kid now?'

'We've got him downstairs,' the officer replied. 'I thought it best to hold him until you'd seen the note.'

Calloway opened it, unfolded the paper inside and smoothed it out on his desk.

The other men gathered round.

I WILL CALL AT FIVE. I WANT TO SPEAK TO MY DAUGHTER THEN. I NEED TO KNOW SHE IS ALL RIGHT. IF I DO NOT TALK TO HER I WILL DETONATE ANOTHER BOMB. NEVILLE

Doyle looked at his watch.

'Unless we find that kid in the next hour,' he murmured, 'you'd better make sure you've got a good supply of fucking body bags.'