Stephen Leather: True Colours

‘Go on, Stuart, do it!’ shouted Connolly. ‘Woof, woof!’

‘Put the lighter down, Stuart,’ said Taylor. He still had his arms in the air.

The cop with the taser was moving closer to the sergeant.

‘I’m warning you. We’ll all go up together if you don’t put the guns down!’ shouted Harris.

Connolly turned around and threw petrol towards the two officers, but most of it splashed over Taylor, who jumped to the side, swearing. ‘Bloody hell, Barry, watch what you’re doing.’

There was a crazed look in Connolly’s eyes and he threw more petrol at the sergeant.

‘Put down the cans!’ shouted the cop with the taser, his finger tightening on the trigger.

‘What do you want me to do, Sarge?’ asked the cop closest to McDermid.

‘We want you to fuck off, that’s what we want!’ shouted Connolly, whirling around and throwing petrol at him.

‘This is your last warning!’ shouted the cop with the taser. ‘Put down the can and the lighter.’

‘I’d be very wary of firing a taser at a man soaked in petrol,’ said Taylor quietly. He lowered his hands.

‘Put down the cigarette lighter,’ said the sergeant, but his voice was shaking and lacked conviction. ‘No one needs to get hurt.’

‘You put the guns down,’ said Harris. ‘Put the guns down, and move back.’

‘That’s not going to happen,’ said the sergeant.

‘Then we’ll all burn together,’ said Harris. He flicked the lighter once and it sparked but not enough to set it aflame. ‘I’m serious, get the hell away.’

‘Shall I put him down, Sarge?’ asked the officer with the taser.

‘You really don’t want to be pulling that trigger,’ said Taylor.

The officer scowled and aimed the taser at Taylor’s chest. ‘You keep quiet,’ he shouted.

‘I’m covered in petrol, too,’ said Taylor quietly. He slowly raised his hands again. ‘I’m just saying, there’s no need for anyone to get hurt here. Least of all, me.’

‘Get the hell away from us now or we’re all going up in flames!’ shouted Harris.

‘Put down the lighter,’ said the sergeant.

‘You put down the gun!’ shouted Harris. He flicked the lighter again and it sparked.

‘Stuart, mate, this isn’t helping anyone,’ said Taylor.

‘I’m not going back to prison!’ shouted Harris.

‘They’re not going to let you walk away,’ said Taylor. ‘They’ve got guns. You’ve got a lighter.’

‘I’ve got fire, that’s what I’ve got,’ said Harris. He waved the lighter around. ‘I’m serious, you move back now or we’re all going up in flames.’

Weaver made a dash for the gate, reached the pavement and began running full pelt away from the house. The cops turned their heads to watch him go but quickly turned their attention back to Harris.

Connolly swung the can and a plume of petrol splattered over the pavement near the sergeant. ‘Come on, then, take a shot and we’ll all burn!’ he said. Weaver’s rapid footfalls faded into the distance.

‘Drop the can!’ shouted the sergeant.

Connolly laughed and tossed the can in the air. Petrol sprayed out of the spout as the can spun towards the policemen. The officers scattered.

‘Let them have it, Stuart!’ shouted Connolly.

Harris roared and flicked the Zippo. A flame flickered and Harris tossed the lighter at the can, which had landed at the sergeant’s feet. The petrol vapour ignited in a loud whoosh and the policeman disappeared in a fiery orange ball.

The sergeant dropped to the ground, screaming, and began rolling over to extinguish the flames.

McDermid started to run but the cop behind him was too quick and he kicked McDermid’s feet out from underneath him, then planted his foot in the middle of McDermid’s back.

Connolly looked around, his mouth open in shock. The cop with his foot on McDermid’s back pointed his gun at Connolly. ‘I will fucking shoot you!’ he screamed, and Connolly raised his arms.

A sheet of flame rippled back from the pavement towards Harris and then his trousers caught fire. He flailed around, screaming as the flames spread up to his coat.

‘Get down on the ground!’ shouted Taylor, but Harris either couldn’t hear him or was too panicked to react. Taylor cursed and dashed through the flames, barrelling into the burning man and pushing him away from the flaming petrol. Harris was screaming and flapping his arms around, which only made his clothes burn more fiercely. Taylor kicked the man’s legs from underneath him and Harris hit the ground hard. Taylor immediately rolled him over, beating the flaming jeans with his bare hands.

Harris carried on rolling until he hit the wall and lay still. Most of the flames had gone out but the coat was still smouldering.

Taylor stood up, his chest heaving from the exertion. As he turned to face the road, a small red dot danced on his chest. He opened his mouth to shout but before he had even drawn air into his lungs the barbs of a taser impaled themselves in his shirt. He just had time to see the two wires trailing through the air to the yellow taser in the hands of the armed policeman, but then he was hit by fifty thousand volts and his whole body went into spasm.

‘Spider? Spider, can you hear me?’ Dan ‘Spider’ Shepherd groaned. He wanted to open his eyes but somehow his brain had forgotten how to do pretty much anything. He couldn’t feel his arms or his legs; in fact the only sensation he had was a burning pain in his chest. ‘Spider, come on, take deep breaths, you’ll be just fine.’

Shepherd took a deep breath but there was a stabbing pain in his chest and he went back to tidal breathing. He tried wriggling his toes but there was no feeling at all below his waist.

Something soft patted him on the cheek and he caught a half-remembered fragrance. ‘Charlie?’

He heard a laugh, and then felt a pat on his shoulder. ‘Thank God for that,’ said Charlotte Button. ‘I thought they’d killed you.’

Shepherd’s eyelids flickered open. ‘I can’t believe they shot me,’ he said, his voice a strained croak. He was lying on a stretcher in an ambulance. The doors were shut. The engine was running, he could feel the vibration through his shoulders.

‘You were tasered,’ said Button. ‘That’s not quite the same as being shot.’

Shepherd forced a smile. ‘Suddenly you’re an expert on being shot?’ he said. ‘Trust me, I’ve been shot and I’ve been tasered and they both hurt like hell.’ He took a deep breath. ‘The house is OK, right? It didn’t go up?’

‘We had the fire brigade on stand-by by and they were in with extinguishers as soon as the police had finished. But the family were never in any danger. As soon as I got your text I phoned Mr Chaudhry and got him to get his family out.’

‘And the cop who caught fire, he’s OK?’

‘Their overalls are fire retardant,’ said Button. ‘He’s fine. Just a bit shaken.’

‘Would have been nice if there had been enough cops to have put the lid on the situation right away,’ said Shepherd. ‘It got completely out of control because there weren’t enough of them to maintain control, even with guns.’

‘I got straight on to the Met as soon as I got your text but there have been gang shootings in Brixton and Harlesden tonight so armed response vehicles are in short supply.’

‘I saw one,’ said Shepherd. ‘Three guys. Who the hell thought three guys would be enough? There were five of us.’

‘That was all we could get,’ said Button. She looked at her watch. ‘You sent the text less than half an hour ago,’ she said.

‘Best I could do,’ said Shepherd. ‘Weaver took our phones. When I went around to pick up McDermid I managed to use his mobile. I had just enough time to send you a text.’