Andy McNab - Dark winter

As we came out of the tunnel I heard another estuary voice, male this time. 'Tickets, please.' The guy was working his way towards us on auto-pilot. 'Tickets, please.' I looked down the lines of heads towards the next carriage. Sundance and Trainers had come through the connecting door and were leaning against the luggage racks. I understood the look on their faces only too well. Sundance was talking into his cell. The QRF would be fast-balling from in front of the TV and heading for Liverpool Street.

The train rumbled on, not very fast, shunting us from side to side. Suzy's phone rang as some kids went running past and their father yelled after them in German. She looked surprised. I wasn't.

She put the phone to her ear and listened. 'Hello? Yes, sir. We have it.' There was a pause. 'No, we can't do that, sir. I'm sorry.' Another pause. 'I understand the risks, sir, but there are reasons for this happening and I'm not going to- No, sir, I can't do that. Everything is under control.'

She held up the cell between us and I heard him ranting, 'I want Dark Winter handed over now! Do not disobey me – do not waste your career for this man! What on earth do you think you're doing?'

I managed to get my mouth up against the mike. 'You can have it once I've finished. I'll explain later.'

'Stone, I know what's happening. You were not at the flat this morning, we went looking for you. Where is the source? He's missing – does he have your child? Does he intend to use Dark Winter? I can help you, but I need that agent now.'

'Tell the team to withdraw. If they try a lift I'm going to throw one of these bottles. What have I got to lose?'

His voice went steely calm. 'Listen to me. You will not do any such thing. The team will not withdraw, and you will not throw anything, anywhere. I know what is happening; I've opened up the old ops number so we can talk. I can help you. Do you understand me?'

I matched his tone. 'Do you understand me?'

'Hand the bottles over, Stone. Only then can I help you with this situation. I will get your child back, but I must have control of the bottles.'

'Can't do that. Listen in: there are at least two contaminated bodies in Berlin, and maybe a bottle already opened – smashed, whatever. Flat twenty-seven, twenty-two Bergmannstrasse. You got that?'

There was a slight pause. 'Got it. Now, come in and we can help you. I understand the situation with your child, but we can work together and-'

I pulled down the little window next to me and threw the phone out, then dug around in my jacket for Geoff's and got rid of it as well. 'Looks as if I came up with the bright idea instead, didn't I?'

She was happy now as I turned to face Sundance and Trainers. Suzy looked the other way, past the toilet and towards the other two somewhere in the next carriage. 'I thought you'd called from Berlin. I'm sorry.'

She moved closer to me: we must have looked like a boyfriend and girlfriend who'd just had a row and were busy making up. 'What now?'

Sundance was still on his cell, his eyes not leaving mine.

'We can't go to Liverpool Street. You know Tottenham Hale?'

'Nope.'

'Me neither. OK, we'll RV at Smith's in Sloane Square – that's the only location not known to anyone but us, right?'

'Shall we split the bottles?'

Good call. If only one of us made it to the source, we might be able to carry on with the job. I nodded slowly as a woman squeezed past us and opened the toilet door, only to be put off by the smell and turn away. Suzy took off her jacket and knelt by my feet, peeling off the outer duty-free bag and putting two bottles into it. I kept my eyes moving between the two teams. Sundance was redialling, pissed off that he'd lost his signal, and the German kids ran past again as she stood up, the bundle under her arm.

I still had the carrier-bag and two bottles in my left hand, the other on display in the right. 'We'll keep the RV open until eleven thirty tonight. If either of us doesn't make it, the other one's got to get to Fuck-face with their bottles. It's Kelly's only chance.'

She nodded.

'No matter what, don't get the Yes Man involved.' I looked past her to see Sundance on the phone again and Trainers adjusting his bag and just staring at me, really pissed off. 'He won't give a shit about her. Will you promise me that?'

She nodded again and looked back down the carriage. 'I'll do my best, but ultimately DW has to be controlled – you know that, don't you?'

Ugly grey tower blocks sprouted from among the greenery as the tannoy announced the joys of Tottenham Hale, just twenty minutes from Oxford Circus via the Victoria line. Tourists could get to many parts of London from here more quickly than by going all the way in to Liverpool Street. I looked out of the window as the train lost speed, trying not to make it obvious what we were about to do.

Soon we were pulling into a mishmash of glass, Perspex, concrete and billboards, surrounded by office blocks and open space. I caught a glimpse of a main road and a large car park, busy with shoppers.

Quite a few people stood up in our carriage and started to make their way to the doors: women in airline uniforms after a shift at a ticketing desk, holidaymakers on their way home. A black woman put her baby into the three-wheeled buggy behind Suzy and busied herself with the straps.

Sundance and Trainers were still at the far end, looking even more pissed off. I couldn't see the other two, but had no doubt they were getting ready to take us from the train.

I checked that the bumbag was zipped up, and that nothing was going to fall out of my pockets. Suzy started doing the same, not trying to hide the fact. 'Fuck 'em, what does it matter?' She was right: they would still proceed as if we were going to do a runner, so waiting until the last minute wouldn't help us any. The train slowed enough for me to read the billboards. The woman negotiated her buggy round the suitcase and rucksack slalom and we fell in behind her. It squeaked to a halt and the automatic doors opened, our last chance to talk to each other. I put my mouth close to her ear. 'Smith's, half eleven.' She nodded, and we followed mother and baby on to the platform. She had that scary look in her eyes again.

The only way out was via a footbridge, enclosed by scratched and graffiti-covered Perspex. Sundance and Trainers tucked in behind us as we mingled with the crowd of people heading in that direction. The other two were in front of us, but staying near the train in case we jumped back on.

Suzy tapped my shoulder. 'Good luck. I'm going for the tube.' As she jogged on up the steps, the other two peeled off and followed her.

I continued behind the mother with the three-wheeler. She had a large bag over her shoulder and was leaning away from it to get a bit of leverage. Through the Perspex, I could see Suzy hurrying across to the other side of the tracks.

I caught up with the buggy at the bottom of the stairs. 'You want a hand with that?' She flashed me a grateful smile. I picked up the front with my right hand, still clutching DW in my left. The baby looked about a year old, totally zoned out, half of his face covered by a blue plastic pacifier.

I glanced over the hood before starting to head up the steps. Sundance and Trainers were on the phone again, about twenty paces away, their bags in front of them now, more or less on their chests. They probably wanted ready access in case I dropped DW by accident as I walked backwards with the buggy.

When we reached the top of the stairs I set the front wheel down and got more grateful thanks from the mother. I smiled, turned to my left, and legged it across the walkway. Through the Perspex I could see my new friend clip Sundance accidentally on the side of the head as she adjusted the bag over her shoulder. He didn't stop long enough to hear her apology. Glancing ahead, I could see the ticket office and the tube-station entrance beyond it. Ticket machines and turnstiles led on to a wide set of escalators that disappeared into the ground. There was no sign of Suzy or the other two.