Stephen Leather - The Bombmaker

Patsy wrote down the address and nodded at Denham.

'Good girl,' said Denham. 'The bomb, Andrea. How big is it?'

There was another hesitation, then another clearing of her throat. 'Four thousand pounds.'

Patsy's mouth opened in surprise.

'What type is it?' Denham asked.

'Ammonium nitrate, aluminium powder, sawdust and diesel.'

'Initiator?'

'They've got Semtex, Liam. Semtex and Mark 4 detonators.'

'And what stage are you at?'

Andy didn't reply.

'Andrea? How close to completion are you?'

'It's ready, Liam. All I have to do is set the timer.'

Patsy ripped off the headset and dashed across the office to the door, the piece of paper in her hand. She rushed out, leaving the door open.

'Liam, promise me you won't do anything until Katie's safe.'

'We'll do what we can,' said Denham, not wanting to lie to her.

'Liam, I want you to promise.'

Denham could hear Patsy shouting instructions down the corridor.

'Now listen to me, Andrea. If we're going to locate Katie, you're going to have to get them to let you telephone her, do you understand? If you can get her on the phone, we can trace it. No matter where she is, we can trace it. Just make sure that you use her name. You have to say "Katie", do you understand?'

'I'll try,' said Andy. 'But please, you have to promise me, don't let them storm the building, not until Katie's safe.'

Denham closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He didn't want to lie, but he knew that the bomb was the priority, and that the life of a seven-year-old girl would come a poor second.

– «»-«»-«»Patsy rushed into the briefing room, waving the sheet of paper. There were more than a dozen people there, either working on computer terminals or phoning. 'Right, everybody, stop whatever you're doing and listen. We have a location.'

Phones were slammed down and all the agents watched her as she wrote the address on the whiteboard. 'Cathay Tower, Queen Anne Street. Ninth floor. Lisa, get me a large-scale map of the area, now.'

Lisa Davies got up from her computer and dashed out of the room.

'Anna, I need an architect's plan of Cathay Tower. Every floor. And I need to know the tenants on each floor.'

Anna Wallace picked up the phone and dialled a number.

'Our information is that a four-thousand-pound fertiliser bomb has been constructed on the ninth floor. David, I need to know what effect a bomb of that size will have if it goes off. Radius of damage, direction of blast – talk to our technical boys and any contacts you've got in RAOC in Lisburn.' David Bingham nodded and picked up his phone.

'Right, everyone else, I want you to split into four groups. We need observation points around the building and we need them fast. Eyes and ears, full thermal imaging, the works. Jonathan, find a base that I and the SAS officer in charge can use. I want everyone to gather in the gymnasium in five minutes.'

Jonathan Clare nodded, then half raised his hand. She encouraged him to speak with a raised eyebrow. 'Evacuation?' he said.

'No, not at this stage. If we start pulling hundreds of people out of the area, it's going to attract attention. We don't want them spooked. So mum's the word until I say otherwise. Am I clear on that? Another thing. We don't know what effect the bomb's going to have. If we fill the streets with people, an evacuation could kill more than it saves, if the worst comes to the worst.'

The agents in the room nodded. 'Right, let's get to it,' Patsy said. She looked at her watch. It was just after eleven o'clock in the morning. The City would be at its busiest.

– «»-«»-«»Andy cupped her hand around the bottom of the mobile phone. 'Liam,' she hissed. 'You mustn't let them do anything until Katie's safe. They'll kill her.'

'I'll do what I can, Andrea,' said Denham. 'But the best chance we've got of finding her is if you can persuade them to let you speak to her. Do you think you can do that?'

Andy walked over to the television. The remote control for the video recorder was on top of the TV set, and she picked it up with her free hand. She stroked it against her cheek, a faraway look in her eyes. 'I think so,' she said.

'Good girl,' said Denham. 'Now, who else is there, Andrea? How many of them are there?'

'Three. Two men, one woman. They keep their faces covered all the time they're around me. One of them's called Don. He's got a tattoo on his left forearm. A cross of St George. And I think the woman's name started with "McC". Or "'McK".'

'Irish?'

'God, Liam, I don't know. Her brother was killed by the SAS, so she's got Irish family, I'm sure, but the more I hear her speak, the more I think she's Scottish.' She tucked the video remote control into the back pocket of her jeans.

'Have they said why they're doing it?'

'No.'

'Do you get the feeling it's political?'

Before Andy could answer, she heard a noise behind her. Two figures wearing ski masks were standing at the open door. One was Green-eyes. The other man was a newcomer, short and stocky, wearing a black leather jacket and black jeans. Andy took a step back, her mouth working soundlessly. The man walked quickly towards her. His hand went inside his jacket and pulled out a gun.

Andy took another step back. She held the cellular phone in front of her in a futile attempt to keep him away, but he swept her arm away with his left hand and brought the gun crashing down against her temple. She barely felt any pain. Her vision blurred and then everything went black.

– «»-«»-«»Liam Denham frowned as he looked at the phone. 'What's wrong?' asked Martin. 'Let me speak to her.'

Denham replaced the receiver. 'She's gone.'

'Gone? Just like that? Didn't she ask to speak to me?'

Denham continued to stare at the phone, a look of concern on his face. 'Maybe she was interrupted. I don't know.'

'Did you hear anything?'

Denham shrugged. 'It just went dead.' He lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply.

'Now what's going to happen?' asked Martin.

Carter took off her headset and put it down next to the tape recorder. Fanning popped the cassette out of the recorder and slotted in a fresh one.

'We'll put the building under surveillance, I suppose,' said Denham. 'It's out of my hands, though, Martin. It's Patsy's game from here on in. Patsy and the SAS.'

'The SAS?'

'They'll have to go in. There's a time element, Martin. We can't allow the bomb to go off.'

'But Katie…'

'Katie's one little girl. We're going to do what we can, but a four-thousand-pound bomb could destroy the centre of the city. Hundreds could die. Thousands.'

Martin's lip curled back in a snarl and he pointed an accusing finger at Denham. 'If anything happens to Katie, I'm going to hold you responsible.'

Denham looked pained. 'Martin, this is nothing to do with me. I'm retired. I'm…'

'You're the one who got her into this. If it wasn't for you using her as an informer, none of this would have happened. She wouldn't have built bombs for the IRA, the kids wouldn't have died, and Katie wouldn't have been kidnapped and had a fucking gun pointed at her head.'

Denham looked away, embarrassed by Martin's outburst. Embarrassed and guilty, because deep down he knew that the man was right.

The office door opened. It was Patsy Ellis. She sensed the tension immediately and motioned with her head for Carter and Fanning to leave. On the way out, Fanning handed the cassette tape to her.

'What's going on?' She asked Denham. He nodded at Martin but said nothing. Patsy turned to face Martin. 'Well?'

'He said you're going to send in the SAS,' said Martin.

'That's a possibility, Martin. I'm not going to stand here and lie to you.'

'But we don't know where Katie is. If the SAS go in, we might never find her.'