Siege

Seventy-eight

22.09

ARLEY FELT HER personal mobile vibrate as she watched the black-clad men on the TV screen disappearing one by one into the archway leading to the back of the Stanhope. She pulled it out of her pocket and her heart immediately skipped a beat. It was Tina.

‘What’s happening?’ she demanded, concerned only for news.

Tina’s voice was full of exhaustion, and there was a distant quality to it. ‘I’ve got your kids. They’re safe.’

Arley wanted to faint with the sudden burst of euphoria she experienced at that moment, but there was no time for that. ‘Thank you,’ she said simply. ‘I’ll call you back in five minutes.’ She pocketed her mobile and grabbed one of the secure phones, speed-dialling through to the SAS control room.

An unfamiliar voice picked up, introducing himself as Captain Hunter, and Arley spoke rapidly. ‘This is DAC Arley Dale, Bronze Commander. Stop the attack now. I have reliable information that your men are walking into an ambush.’

‘It’s too late,’ said the other man. ‘They’re going in.’

‘They can’t. Get them back.’

‘I’m not going to do that. This is a military operation. You have no jurisdiction.’

‘Then let me speak to Major Standard. Please. This will only take seconds.’

‘He can’t speak to you. He’s controlling the assault.’

‘If he’s controlling the assault, then he has to speak to me. It’s a matter of life and death.’

The captain told her to hold on, and Arley was conscious of the expressions on the faces of her colleagues as they stood or sat watching her in shocked silence, but she was beyond caring now.

She could only pray that she wasn’t too late.