Siege

Seventy

21.56

‘WE’VE GOT LESS than ten minutes,’ said Fox, standing alongside Wolf and staring down at the laptop screen.

‘And you think this is the true plan?’

Fox looked at him. ‘We’ve got this woman’s kids at gunpoint. It’ll be the true plan.’

‘I want you and Bear to organize the first line of defence against our attackers,’ said Wolf. ‘You both have the most recent military experience. Cat and I will remain here guarding the hostages. What about your two operatives in the restaurant upstairs? Do they need informing of what’s going on?’

‘No. They’ll have seen the message so they’ll know what’s happening. And they’ll hold their positions.’

‘You’re going to need to be able to hold off the attacking forces at least until I can get through to the negotiator and tell him that unless the assault stops, we will blow up the building. Do you think that will be enough to make them pull back?’

‘If they lose the element of surprise and the authorities realize we’re still in control of the situation, they’ll have to stop the assault.’

Wolf’s breathing had quickened, and he suddenly looked excited. ‘Which will leave them totally humiliated. We are doing good work here, Fox. The British government will fall over this.’

‘Let’s hope so,’ said Fox, although right then he was far more interested in getting out of the building alive, which was no sure thing.

As they hurried from the kitchen, Fox felt the adrenalin pumping through him. Zero hour was approaching – the time when he’d finally earn his money.

The plan had always been to trigger an assault on the building. It was why they’d set a midnight deadline while timing the bombs inside the hotel to detonate an hour earlier. They’d never expected to last until midnight. Ideally, the assault would have come just before 23.00. That way they could repel the SAS forces, thus heaping public humiliation on the British government, and use the subsequent timed explosions (which could also be blamed on the government) as cover to escape from the building.

Instead, they were going to have to put up with the assault coming nearly an hour earlier, which, Fox knew, would mean a nerve-jangling climax to the siege as they tried to keep the security forces at bay. But it was still manageable, as was the fact that they were operating two men short. The most important thing was that, unlike the SAS, they still possessed the element of surprise.

The ballroom was quiet. The bodies of the two hostages who’d dared to resist their captors were still propped up against the wall in full view of the others as a warning. As far as Fox could see, it was proving effective, but then it needed to. The next hour was going to be extremely challenging.

He motioned Bear over and, ignoring Cat’s glare, and Wolf’s comradely pat on the shoulder, led his old army buddy towards the ballroom door.

It was time to prepare their reception.