Siege

Forty-nine

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.’