Stephen Leather - False Friends

‘We need them all,’ said Button.

‘I told them that but the point they’re making is that if they send them as individual feeds we won’t have enough screens here. They’re suggesting they send us split-screen feeds with sixteen views per screen.’

‘That’ll do,’ said Button.

The man put a hand to his Bluetooth headset and nodded as he listened to what he was being told. He put up his other hand and made a waving motion at Button. He muttered something into his headset and then nodded at Button. ‘What they’re saying now is that you can have multiple feeds but you won’t be able to home in on any particular frame.’

‘Just tell them to send the feeds now,’ said Button tersely.

The van that had been driving along Euston Road stopped outside the station. The video from the bike that was following the van shook for a few seconds and then stabilised.

Button turned to the commander. ‘Have you got a firearms team at the Euston Road entrance?’

The policeman nodded. ‘Already in place but still in their vehicle.’

‘Let’s leave it that way for a while longer,’ said Button. She called over to a red-haired woman sitting at the far side of the room. ‘Marie, can you get me a floor plan of St Pancras showing all the entrances?’

‘I’m on it,’ said Marie, tapping on her keyboard.

‘The first feeds are coming through,’ said the young man.

‘Thanks, Toby,’ said Button. She pointed at the wall of screens. ‘Let’s clear the top row and put them all there.’

‘I’ve another ARV on the way,’ said the commander.

On one of the screens, three Asians got out of the back of the van on Euston Road. All were wearing backpacks.

A black screen flickered into life. It was filled with a map of the station, showing Euston Road to the left, Midland Road at the top and Pancras Road at the bottom.

Button walked over to the screen and tapped the top of the map. ‘This is where Chaudhry and Malik are,’ she said. ‘The Midland Road entrance.’ She moved her finger and tapped the left-hand side of the map. ‘This is where the second van is. I need everyone to start looking at the CCTV footage to see if we can spot anyone else. I’m as anti-profiling as anyone but we’re looking for young male Asians with backpacks.’

Shepherd got up and went to stand next to her.

‘Chaudhry and Malik are about to enter the station,’ said the commander.

‘We’ve got the van covered from the air, and it’s no longer a threat,’ said Button, her eyes on the screen.

Each of the screens showing the CCTV footage from St Pancras was divided into sixteen viewpoints, four across and four down. One of the shots was a view of the main entrance. Shepherd could see Chaudhry and Malik standing together.

‘If we move now we can take them down before they enter the station,’ said the commander. ‘But that window of opportunity is closing fast. If there are bombs in those backpacks. .’ He left the sentence unfinished.

Shepherd stared at the screen. Chaudhry was looking straight at the camera, almost as if he was looking right at Shepherd; then he smiled thinly.

‘It’s okay,’ said Shepherd. ‘There’s no need to shoot.’

‘What do you mean?’ said the commander.

‘Spider?’ said Button.

‘It’s okay, nothing’s going to happen.’

‘How can you say that?’ asked Button.

‘His hood. The hood of his duffel coat. We agreed a signal: if he was in trouble he’d move his hood. His hood has been up since he got out of the van. He hasn’t done anything to it so it’s all good.’

Button and the commander turned to look at the screen. Chaudhry was looking right at them. His face was strained and he was biting down on his lower lip. ‘He’s stressed,’ said Button.

‘Of course he’s stressed. He’s stressed because he knows we’re following him and the cops have a habit of shooting innocent people.’ He smiled at the commander. ‘No offence,’ he said.

‘We’re not going to get another chance like this,’ said the commander. ‘Once they’re inside we can’t use the snipers so that means we’ll have to go in, and then it’s going to get very messy.’

Shepherd ignored the policeman and stared intently at Button. ‘Charlie, this is a rehearsal.’

‘Are you sure, Spider? Are you absolutely sure?’

Shepherd pointed at the screen. ‘Raj and I have a prearranged signal. If there’s a problem he’ll pull down his hood. Or he’ll bite his nails. If there was a problem that’s what he’d do. He’s not doing either. Harvey’s hood is up too.’

As they watched, Chaudhry turned and walked through the doors leading into the station.

‘What if he’s forgotten? What if in the heat of the moment he hasn’t remembered?’

‘He was looking at the camera,’ said Shepherd. ‘He was giving us a clear view of his face so that we can see it’s him.’

‘There’s a lot riding on this, Spider,’ said Button. ‘You have to be sure.’

Shepherd swallowed, his mind whirling. He wasn’t sure. There was no way that he could be. But if he admitted that to Button she’d give the order and the CO19 marksmen would start shooting.

‘We have a window of about two seconds,’ said the commander.

‘Spider?’ asked Button.

‘It’s okay,’ he said.

Button nodded and looked at the commander. ‘Stand your men down,’ she said. ‘We won’t be shooting anyone today.’

The commander scowled at Button as if he thought she’d made the wrong decision, but he relayed the order to his team.

Button looked back at Shepherd and he could see the apprehension in her eyes. He knew exactly what she was thinking. If he was wrong both their lives were about to change for ever. And a lot of people were going to die.

Chaudhry and Malik walked together towards the Eurostar departure area. A train had just arrived and passengers were pouring out of the arrivals hall.

‘What’s going to happen?’ asked Malik.

‘I don’t know,’ said Chaudhry.

‘Are we going to France? Are we doing something on the Eurostar?’

‘We can’t, we don’t have our passports.’

‘So why are we here?’

‘I don’t know, Harvey. Now just shut up, will you?’ Malik flinched as if he’d been struck and Chaudhry felt suddenly guilty. ‘I’m sorry,’ whispered Chaudhry. ‘I don’t know what’s going on. But it’s not about bombs, I’m sure about that.’

‘So what, then?’

‘Wait and we’ll find out.’

A fearful look flashed across Malik’s face. ‘Raj, what if it’s radioactive? What if there’s plutonium or something in the packs? It could be killing us now without us knowing.’

‘No one is going to kill us, Harvey. Remember what The Sheik said to us? We are Islamic warriors. Mujahideen. We are to fight and fight again, remember? We were never meant to be shahid. Only the stupid and ignorant kill themselves. That’s not us.’

‘So why won’t they tell us what’s happening? Have a look at the phone, will you? Check it’s working.’

Chaudhry took the phone Harith had given him out of his pocket. He showed the screen to Malik. ‘See? When they call, it’ll ring.’

‘Yeah? And maybe the phone is the trigger. Maybe when it rings the packs will explode or spew anthrax into the air.’

‘Harvey, will you look at the bloody phone? It’s a phone, full stop. It’s not connected to anything. It’s not a detonator. Okay?’

Malik shuddered. ‘I can’t take this much longer, brother. It’s doing my head in, innit?’

Chaudhry wasn’t listening to his friend. He was scanning the area, his eyes narrowed. ‘It’s a rehearsal,’ he said quietly.

‘What?’

‘A dry run.’ He gestured with his chin. ‘Take a look around, Harvey.’