Ultimatum

Sixty-six

21.13

Tina signed the last of the papers giving her custody of Fox and handed them back to the worried-looking prison officer behind the reception desk. There was a definite tension in the air. The riot might not have been audible from where Tina was standing, but its effects were etched on the features of all the prison staff.

She felt the fear as much anybody. She’d seen more than her fair share of destruction today. On her way here in the helicopter she’d had to pass the burning Shard, its base surrounded by emergency services vehicles, and as they’d come in to land a large fire in one of the prison’s wings had been clearly visible. It reminded her of the riots of August 2011 as they’d spread across London and the rest of the country like wildfire. It had seemed then as if society was on the verge of complete collapse. In a way, it felt like that now.

But Tina had always been a fighter. Rather than letting the fear overwhelm her, she used it to keep her steadily building exhaustion at bay. She might not have been feeling top of her game but there was no way she was going to show Fox that as he stopped in front of her, flanked by his prison escort.

‘Hello, Miss Boyd,’ he said, keeping his tone neutral.

‘Hello, Mr Garrett,’ she answered curtly, once again struck by how insignificant he looked. Barely an inch taller than her, and probably no more than eleven stone at most, his thinning hair making him appear prematurely middle-aged, he stood there with shoulders slumped and his head bent forward. But she knew it was an act. Fox was a dangerous killer, however much he tried to hide it. ‘Are you ready?’

‘Whenever you are.’

Tina nodded to the prison officer who’d escorted her to the interview with Fox on her first visit, ten hours and a whole lifetime ago. Thomson, she thought his name was. ‘Thanks, we’ll take him from here.’

‘He’s all yours,’ said Thomson, giving Fox a hard shove in the back. ‘He’s been given a full body search, but I’d watch him if I were you. He’s a slippery bastard.’

‘Can I ask a favour, Miss Boyd?’ said Fox, as Tina led him by the arm out of the main doors and on to the front steps of the prison, where two police cars and a van waited to take him away. ‘Do you mind if I wear the cuffs in front of me rather than behind? They’re making the stitches on my arm rub in this position.’

Tina met his eyes. There was none of the cockiness that he’d exhibited earlier, and his request seemed a genuine one, but she wasn’t fooled. ‘I’m afraid not.’ She gave his arm a tug and carried on down the steps.

‘That’s not getting us off to a very good start.’

‘Give me the names of everyone involved in today’s attacks and I’ll think about it.’

‘If I do that, you’ll just march me straight back in there. I need some leverage, and there’s no way I’m telling you anything until I’ve got it in writing that you’re keeping me in the safehouse until my trial.’

‘Then you’re going to have to travel in some discomfort.’

‘Let’s compromise,’ said Fox as they stopped next to the van where four more armed officers waited. ‘I’ll give you one name — the name of someone who was one hundred per cent involved today. Just to show willing. And then you show me a little respect by letting me travel with my hands cuffed in the front. Look at all these people escorting me. It’s not as if I can do anything anyway.’

Tina thought about it. There were twelve armed officers in the convoy, plus herself. It was more than enough to keep Fox on a tight leash. And if she was honest with herself, she saw an opportunity to look good by squeezing out a second name before the real questioning had even begun.

‘Go on then. Give me a name.’

‘Cecil Boorman. Ex-soldier. Very reliable. He should have been involved at the Stanhope, but he had salmonella of all things. He’ll be part of this too, although not at a senior level. Cecil’s just a grunt.’

Tina remembered Bolt telling her earlier that Boorman was the man his informant had been trying to get close to. ‘And you’ve got evidence to back this up?’

‘Plenty.’

Tina sighed. Agreeing to Fox’s request went against all her instincts, but he’d now given her two useful names — more than anyone else had done.

‘OK,’ she said. ‘Let’s do it.’