Stephen Leather - False Friends

‘All will be explained to you at the right time,’ said Harith. The van moved away from the kerb and joined the traffic heading south, into the city.

‘Right, everyone on their toes. Under no circumstances are we to lose this van,’ said Button. ‘Zoe, make sure the chopper stays high. I don’t want them hearing it.’ On the screen the van had pulled back into the traffic and was moving south. ‘Luke, are you in contact with the bikes?’

‘Tim is,’ said Lesporis.

One of the men in a pinstriped suit raised his hand.

‘Right, Tim, let them know we’ve got the eye in the sky so they can hang back for a bit,’ said Button. ‘But on their toes. If the chopper loses the van I want the bikes straight back in. I need you to keep them up to date on the van’s location every step of the way.’

‘Got it,’ said Tim.

‘Luke, what about the cabs?’

Lesporis nodded. ‘Two running parallel and one behind.’ He pointed at the view from the helicopter. ‘One is four cars behind the target.’

‘Okay, let’s get them all ahead of the target. And again, keep them informed, ready to move in if the chopper loses the van. Let’s give them no chance of seeing our vehicles, right?’

A uniformed police commander appeared at the doorway, his hat tucked under his left arm. ‘Ms Button?’ he asked, looking around the room.

‘Commander Needham, welcome. There’s a desk ready for you,’ said Button, pointing at a workstation and headset to her left. ‘The link to the Met is already up and your screen has access to the PNC once you’ve logged on.’

The commander nodded and took off his jacket as he walked towards the workstation. ‘We have three armed response vehicles en route,’ he said.

‘We need them well away from the target vehicle, and absolutely no blues and twos,’ said Button. ‘At least a hundred yards away at all times and under no circumstances can there be any visual contact. I can’t stress that enough.’

‘Understood,’ said the commander, sitting down and adjusting the headset.

Button stared up at the screen showing the overhead view from the helicopter. ‘I need everyone to start considering possible targets,’ she said. ‘Any thoughts just shout them out — there’s no need to be shy.’

Chaudhry could feel his heart pounding as if it was about to burst out of his chest. He looked over at Malik. Malik’s face was bathed with sweat and he was breathing heavily.

‘Where are we going?’ Chaudhry asked Harith. ‘You can at least tell us that.’

‘Soon, brother,’ said Harith. He handed a mobile phone to Chaudhry. It was a cheap Nokia. ‘You will be called on this and given instructions.’

Chaudhry nodded. He ran his hand through his hair. ‘But what are we to do, brother? Why can’t you tell us?’

‘You are serving Allah, that is all you need to know,’ said Harith. ‘Put the phone in your pocket. When it rings, answer.’ He looked through the windscreen at the traffic ahead of them. ‘We will soon be there.’

‘Inshallah,’ said Chaudhry. God willing.

Shepherd looked up at the screen showing the map of central London. The position of the van containing Raj and Harvey was marked with a red flashing light. ‘The station,’ he said. ‘St Pancras.’

Charlotte Button nodded in agreement. ‘I think you’re right.’

‘Lots of people, high profile; they could do a lot of damage.’ He ran a hand through his hair. ‘We need to be looking for more of them,’ he said. ‘If they’re attacking the station they might be going in mob-handed.’

Commander Needham looked up from his console. He was holding a phone a few inches from his ear. ‘We might want to consider multiple targets,’ he said. ‘If this is in some way a repeat of Seven-Seven they could be planning to attack several places at the same time.’

‘What do you suggest, Commander?’

‘I can talk to our CCTV centre and get our people looking for Muslims in vans.’ He smiled thinly. ‘God forbid we should be profiling, of course.’

‘Do it, please, Commander.’ The commander nodded and pulled on his headset. ‘Luke, you need to ask all our watchers to keep an eye out for other possible attackers. Vans, cars — if they follow the profile of this one then we’re looking for two Asians in the front, more in the back. If they see anything they’re to let us know immediately.’

‘Will do,’ said Lesporis.

Button looked across at Shepherd. ‘This could very easily go wrong,’ she said.

‘You want to pull them over?’ asked Shepherd.

‘That’s not going to help if there are others,’ she said.

‘What about Khalid? Any news?’

‘No sign of him,’ said Button.

‘That’s not good,’ said Shepherd.

‘You’re telling me.’

Harith twisted around in his seat. ‘Two minutes and we will be there, brothers,’ he said. He pointed at one of the plastic crates. ‘Open that, brother,’ he said to Malik.

Malik leaned over and pulled the lid off the crate. Inside were two Timberland backpacks. One was black, the other blue. Chaudhry reached over to grab the black one and passed it to Malik, then he took the blue one for himself.

‘Do not open them, brothers,’ said Harith.

Chaudhry rested the backpack on his knees. ‘What is it, brother? What’s inside?’

‘You do not need to know,’ said Harith. He gave a sheet of paper to Chaudhry. It was a map.

‘This shows you where you are to go,’ he said. ‘Wait there and you will receive further instructions.’

‘Are we to become shahid?’ asked Malik. He was sweating and his Adam’s apple was bobbing up and down. He pushed down the hood of his parka and shook his hair from his eyes.

‘If it is the will of Allah, who are you to argue?’ said Harith.

‘Why won’t you tell us what’s happening?’ asked Malik.

Chaudhry put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. ‘Hush, brother,’ he said. ‘This is what we trained for.’

Harith nodded enthusiastically. ‘You must put your trust in Allah.’

Malik opened his mouth to say something but Chaudhry squeezed his shoulder and shook his head.

The van came to a stop. ‘Allah be with you, brothers,’ said Harith.

‘And with you, brother,’ said Chaudhry. ‘Allahu Akbar.’

‘Allahu Akbar,’ repeated Harith.

Malik opened the door and stepped out on to the pavement. Chaudhry followed him and slammed the door shut. A cold wind blew against their backs and they both pulled up the hoods of their coats as they watched the van drive away.

‘Raj, what the hell are we going to do?’ asked Malik.

Chaudhry hefted the backpack on to his shoulders and turned to face the building they were standing next to. St Pancras Station.

Button watched the van drive away from the station on the screen showing the feed from the police helicopter. ‘Tell the chopper to keep with the van,’ she said. ‘They’re not to be stopped. Just keep an eye on them.’ She tapped her fingers on her lips as she stared at the map, which was now centred on the station. ‘Can we get a CCTV feed on the two of them?’ shouted Button. ‘We need to see if they’re being coerced.’

‘I’m on it,’ said a young man in a grey suit.

‘And can we get video feeds from inside the station?’ asked Button.

‘I’ll talk to the BTP’s Major Incident Communication Centre,’ said the man, tapping on his computer.

Button looked over at Shepherd. ‘It has to be the Eurostar.’

‘I don’t think they’re after the Eurostar. Raj wasn’t told to take his passport with him,’ said Shepherd.

‘I have a feed now,’ said the man in the grey suit. ‘Screen five.’

They all looked at the screen. Chaudhry and Malik were standing on the pavement, deep in conversation. They both had backpacks on.