Ken McClure: The Secret

Steven started running round the deserted ground floor of the multi-storey, the fact that he was now alone allowing a tide of despair to encroach on him. Nick’s final ‘good luck’ wish now seemed to carry the same inflection it would have had he announced that he was going to jump over the moon. ‘C’mon, c’mon,’ he murmured. ‘Give me a break... just one lousy break...’

He had just about completed his circuit of the ground floor when he heard shouting come from somewhere above him. He stopped running and strained to hear what was being said but, at that very moment, a police loud hailer started warning personnel to withdraw from the area surrounding the car parks and drowned everything else out. It was a five minute warning. An explosion was imminent: police on duty outside the car parks were being ordered to withdraw. Jenny had five minutes to live. Steven’s angst was interrupted when Nick called to reveal what the shouting had been about. ‘She’s on level three in a blue Ford Focus.’

Steven sprinted up the winding ramps like a man possessed. There was no need to look for the car: the three SAS men were already there. One was looking under the vehicle, the other two were examining the seams round the doors. One of them gestured to the back of the car and Steven looked in the rear window to see Jenny lying on the floor. Her eyes were closed and she wasn’t moving. The fact that she wasn’t gagged and didn’t appear restrained in any way flagged up the nightmare that she was already dead. This threatened to overwhelm any sense of caution in him, especially when he noticed two electric wires wrapped round her ankle.

One of the SAS men had to stop him pulling the door open. ‘Leave it to Stratocaster, mate. He knows what he’s doing.’

Steven stepped back to be joined by Nick who had now arrived on the scene.’

‘Well done, guys. How are we doing... with three minutes to go?’

‘Door’s okay,’ said the soldier nicknamed Stratocaster, ‘but I’d stand over there if I was you.’

‘Nobody moved. Stratocaster opened the rear door of the Ford slowly, feeling gingerly with his right hand round all the edges. ‘So far so good...’ He opened the door fully and, getting down on his hands and knees, started examining the floor of the interior with the aid of a torch. ‘Here we go...’ The soldier had discovered the explosive device lodged under the front passenger seat. ‘Another offering from IED Central...’

‘There are a couple of wires round Jenny’s ankle,’ said Steven.

‘Got them,’ replied the soldier calmly.

Of course, he’d bloody seen them, Steven admonished himself; he wasn’t helping matters. He should move back but couldn’t take his eyes off Jenny’s lifeless face.

Stratocaster got on with the job while the others were left with their thoughts. ‘Oh, I see... clever bastard...nearly had me there... let’s see, blue for a boy connects to... nope, I tell a lie... it doesn’t! It goes to the fu... Oh, very nice. Some bugger’s been to the Afghan Academy for very naughty boys...’

The others exchanged nervous smiles as they listened to the muttering coming from inside the car until a snipping sound was followed by two others in quick succession and Stratocaster turned over on to his back to slide half out the car and look up at them with a big smile on his face. ‘Bang,’ he said.

‘Oh, you beauty,’ exclaimed Nick as the tension evaporated from everyone bar Steven who was now anxiously bending over Jenny in the rear of the car. He touched her cheek and found it warm, causing him to give silent thanks.

‘How is she?’ asked Nick behind him.

‘I think... she’s going to be okay,’ said Steven, struggling to get the words out against the wave of relief that flooded through him as he found the strong pulse in Jenny’s neck. ‘Fingers crossed she’s just been kept sedated but I’ll have to get her to the sickbay in the terminal to check her out properly... but her pulse is strong and there’s no sign of injury.’

‘Great,’ said Nick. ‘Do you think we can tell the police the excitement’s over?’

‘Yep,’ said Steven, allowing himself to relax with a heartfelt sigh. ‘All over.’

‘Good. Time for us to melt away then, before questions start being asked,’ said Nick. ‘We’ll take all traces of the bomb with us but I hope your people can deal with the “clean-up” across the road?’

Steven nodded. ‘Of course.’ He laid Jenny gently along the back seat in the car and shook the hand of each man in turn. ‘I’m not sure I have the words to tell you what I feel right now,’ he said. ‘But I think you can guess. Thank you will have to do.’

‘You would have done the same,’ said Nick. ‘That’s the way we do things. We look after our own.’

Steven nodded, his throat tight. ‘Damn right.’

Steven moved Jenny to the sick bay in the airport where he and the airport nurse were happy to conclude that she was just sleeping under the sedation Khan had given her. He called Tally’s mobile to give her the news and heard her almost explode with joy before seemingly turning away to give others the news.

This puzzled Steven. ‘Where are you?’ he asked.

‘In Glenvane. I flew up to Glasgow this morning after your call and got the bus down. I’m with Peter and Sue and the kids. I thought we should all go through this together. God, what a relief. And Khan?’

‘Gone from our lives.’

‘Good. Sue’s asking when we’ll see you?’

‘I’ll wait here until Jenny comes round and then decide whether she needs a hospital check or not. If not — and I don’t think she will — I’ll bring her straight home.’

‘I take it there was no official police involvement... I mean, no formal kidnap report filed?’

‘No, there wasn’t time. In the end it was down to just me and a few very... very good friends.’

‘Must make the paperwork easier,’ Tally joked uncertainly as if dealing with conflicting emotions.

‘Love you, Tally. See you later.’

‘That has a nice ring to it.’

With Jenny still sleeping, Steven contacted Macmillan and told him all that had happened, apologising for not having kept him in the loop but time had been so tight.

In the circumstances, Macmillan was understanding. ‘Anything I can do to help?’

Steven told him that he had agreed with the soldiers that Sci-Med would make the necessary arrangements to remove Khan’s body from the airport as their operation had been ‘unofficial’. Macmillan assured him that he would take care of this and also seek the Home Secretary’s assistance in smoothing things over with Lothian and Borders Police, offering them Sci-Med’s sincere thanks for their help and professionalism in the situation that arose. The airport bomb incident could be dismissed as a false alarm.

‘That should cover it,’ agreed Steven. ‘I’m going to hire a car to take Jenny home. I’ll stay the night in Glenvane and be back in London tomorrow.’

‘Did you get the disk?’ asked Macmillan.

‘Affirmative.’

‘Good, I think the computer people have just about done everything they can so we should have a meeting as soon as possible to see if we can now unravel just what the hell this has all been about,’ said Macmillan.

Jenny regained consciousness some thirty minutes later, giving a big yawn which made the airport nurse smile and Steven feel like a million dollars. ‘Daddy what are you doing here?’ she asked followed by a sleepy, ‘Where am I?’

‘You’ve been having rather a long snooze, nutkin,’ said Steven. ‘and you’re in Edinburgh Airport although we’re not going anywhere. What do you remember, pussy cat?’

‘A man... there was a bad man... he came to the house and hurt Uncle Richard... we were frightened... and... and then... nothing. I can’t remember anything, Daddy.’