Red Notice

90

Tom worked his way towards the rear of the train as rapidly as his wound allowed. The team option would kick off any minute. It had to. COBRA wouldn’t let this go on any longer. He had to intercept them. It was the only way he had left to save Delphine. And — if Laszlo’s plan was to detonate the pipeline — the life of everyone else aboard.

The power had come back on. Lights blazed through every pane of glass, splashing across the sides of the tunnel. He’d had to move deeper under the train, right into the middle of the track, and it slowed him down.

He was now on his hands and knees. His thigh burned with every movement, but he kept driving himself on. He had to link up with the assault team. He had to tell them about the device on the gas pipe. Was he going to kick it off as soon as the team turned up? All Tom knew was what he’d seen and what he’d heard. He didn’t even know if Laszlo was still sticking with the negotiation pantomime, issuing a string of demands and deadlines. All he knew was that if an option went in it could result in disaster. And Laszlo could be right: the explosion might be enough to fracture the tunnel.

But how to intercept the team? He had two options. He could go to the end of the final coach and wait; Keenan and his mates would take out the PKM position before moving on. Or he could try and get beyond the gun, and intercept the team on their way in.

With four carriages to go, he heard movement above his head, four sets of boots thumping across the linking steel-plate walkway. The sound receded and he carried on.

Tom finally reached the rear of the train. The lighting was good: too good for him to try and get past the PKM. He could see the silhouettes of the two-man team about a hundred metres ahead. But they weren’t sitting or standing, one ready to fire, the other feeding in the link: they were lying prone on the tracks. Unless they were asleep, they were dead. And from what he’d seen of these guys — and their commander — he knew they wouldn’t be sleeping.

Alarm bells started ringing in his head. The four sets of boots… The team was already aboard.