Andy McNab - Avenger

'Suit yourself,' said the big guy with a shrug.

Danny was about to turn away but then he stopped. 'You're certain she couldn't have gone up there?'

'I told you,' said the guard. 'If she ain't got no invitation, she ain't at the party.'

Danny walked away from the Time Warner building, wondering if perhaps he'd got it all wrong: maybe Elena had left the invitation stuck to the DLB to confuse him; to send him on a wild goose chase while she carried her deadly cargo to some other venue in Manhattan.

But why? To get him out of the way? To make sure he was safe as she killed herself when the device was detonated?

He had no idea what to do next as he edged his way through a large group of new arrivals and made for Columbus Circle.

And then he saw her. Elena was standing across the road, close to the wall surrounding Central Park. She was staring directly at him.

Danny couldn't stop himself from shouting. 'Elena!'

Elena just kept staring and Danny started across the road. A car horn blared its warning and he jumped back onto the pavement.

When he looked across the road again, she had disappeared. 'Elena!' he breathed.

He pulled out his mobile and dialled. 'Granddad, I've found her.'

He explained exactly where he'd seen Elena standing, hearing the traffic and voices and Fergus's laboured breathing in the background as he talked.

'I'll be there in ten,' said Fergus. 'Be careful, Danny, and remember, get that det off the battery and twist the leads together. Get the IED off her and walk away. I'll do the rest. Good luck.'

Danny slipped the mobile back into his pocket, looked across the road and saw Elena again. She had moved further back into the shadows, but she was there, and she was still looking at him. Danny remembered the area well; it was almost exactly where he had been standing when he was pulled into the darkness of the park by Mick.

Danny waited for the traffic to pass. He crossed the road, walking rather than running, realizing that he needed to approach Elena with caution – the utmost caution.

He took three further steps across the wide pavement and then Elena spoke. 'Don't come any closer, Danny.'

Her voice was strange – deep and distant – and as Danny stopped moving, she looked down at her right hand, which was holding the fishing line, and raised it slightly. 'Go away, Danny, you're in danger if you stay.'

'Elena, please!' said Danny softly but urgently, knowing that he had to try to appear calm, even though his heart was pounding.

Slowly Elena lowered her hand until it rested at her side.

'Don't do it, Elena. Please? You can't do what Black Star wanted now; you won't get in. I'm not gonna give you the invitation. And Black Star's dead.'

The relief on Elena's face was obvious. She smiled. 'Is he? Oh, Danny… He said he was going to die, but I didn't know whether he meant it.'

Danny had no idea what she was talking about.

Elena leaned back against the wall, her hand letting go of the line. 'Why did it all take so long? I didn't know what to do and I thought he was following me, watching me, all the time. That's why I left the invitation, so you'd know where I'd gone. With this stuff on my back, I knew I didn't have long.'

Danny moved slowly towards Elena, listening to every word she said.

'I knew I wouldn't get in without the invitation and I knew I couldn't bluff Black Star and tell him that I'd tried to detonate but the mix didn't work. I came over here to get out of the way of all those people.'

'You… you mean, you weren't going to detonate the device?'

Elena stared at him. 'What?'

'I thought… we thought…'

'I didn't know what was happening – I had to keep going – I had to carry on with the job until I knew Black Star was dead.'

'But the cocaine was still in the room. We thought you were gonna do it for real.'

'What! Why would you think that?' She paused. 'Cocaine! Is that what…? I couldn't put it in the mix. He was watching me all the time! There was nowhere I could do it without him seeing.' She shuddered. 'You have no idea how awful it was! I was scared, Danny, really scared. I wanted to walk out and leave someone else to do it. But I knew I couldn't.' The words tumbled out of her.

'You're sure he's dead?' she asked again.

Danny nodded. 'Dead. Really dead.'

'You know, Danny, there were times when I lost it, lost sight of what I was doing,' she whispered. 'His voice. It took hold of me. It was so creepy. And I was playing the part so hard…' She took a deep breath. 'You're gonna think I'm crazy, but Danny, there were moments when I… I started to believe… I thought I was going to go through with it. And then I thought of you, my dad-' Her voice broke.

'You love this stuff, Danny I don't. I hate it. The lies. The secrets.' She sighed. 'I've gotta get out. There's something I've got to do first and then I just want to go home.'

She looked down at the fishing line dangling from the jacket sleeve. 'I have to get this thing off me. We'd better go somewhere out of sight.' She started working at the buttons of the jacket. 'I couldn't take it off before. People would have seen me. I disconnected the det leads in the lift. That was all I had time for.'

'It's still dangerous,' said Danny.

'I know,' Elena replied. 'Let's go.'

As she moved slowly down the ramp leading into the park, Danny followed and took out his mobile.

'Who are you calling?' asked Elena.

'My granddad. He needs to know what's happening.'

'Not yet, Danny. I want to talk to you alone first.' She'd unbuttoned her jacket, but then she stopped. 'There's something I need to know.'

She looked closely at Danny. The lights of the city seemed far off. He could hear the traffic but it could have been a million miles away.

'Deveraux killed my dad,' she said.

'What?'

'It's true. Black Star told me he heard Fergus and Deveraux talking about it. Did you know? I want the truth, Danny – don't lie to me. There've been enough lies.'

Danny was still trying to get his head around what Elena had said. 'Maybe Black-'

'Did you know?'

'No, I didn't. Maybe Black Star just said that… to get you to do the bombing. How could he know?'

'He heard them. And I know he was telling the truth. You know what Deveraux's like. She did it. I know she did.' Elena's voice was deep with urgency. 'Danny. Did you know?'

'I promise you I didn't know,' he said.

Elena said nothing. Just stared at him, as if looking for the truth in his face.

I've never lied to you, Elena,' he said more emphatically. 'If it is true, we'll find out. But can we get the IED off you? I've gotta call Granddad to tell him that we're in the park. He knows how to make it safe.'

They were at the bottom of the ramp, and Elena moved even further into the gloom. 'I believe you. I'm glad. But I'm still doing it.' She stared towards the lights bouncing off the Time Warner building and up into the sky.

'Doing what? I don't understand, Elena.'

She turned back to Danny as a single tear rolled down her face. 'Somehow, and I don't know how, I'm gonna kill Deveraux.'

Behind the tears in Elena's eyes was a hard look of determination that frightened Danny.

'Elena,' he said softly. 'I… I promised I'd always be here for you. I haven't done as good as I could have… I… I got too caught up in all this… stuff. Black Star. Working for…' He was going to say Deveraux but he knew it was the one word he had to avoid. 'Working on this mission. It made me feel important. Special.'

He edged forward as he continued to speak softly. 'But I've realized it's not important,' he went on. 'None of it. Not if I haven't got you. You're the most important thing in the world to me, Elena. Honest, I swear it. More important than my granddad. More than anything.'