‘You alright, Sam?’ Upex asked, sincere concern on his face.
‘I’ll get over it, thanks, Nick.’ Sam replied, patting Upex on the shoulder as he left the cubicle.
‘I hope you haven’t thrown up and wiped your mouth with that hand.’ Exclaimed Upex, trying to inject some light-hearted humour into the current dour situation.
‘Don’t worry mate.’ Sam said as he patted Upex on the back with his other hand.
‘I used this hand to wipe my mouth.’
They left the washroom and headed along the corridor back to the investigation room. Sam checked the time on his phone.
‘An hour?’ He said. ‘I had no idea I’d been in there for that long.’
‘Don’t worry about it.’ Nick replied. ‘You haven’t missed anything, and you’re still officially on leave.’
They entered the investigation room, only a couple of spare seats remained as Virani stood at the front addressing the room.
‘Ah, Sam. I’m glad you’re back. You feeling okay?’ She asked.
‘Fine thanks, Jay. Sorry, I didn’t realise how long I’d been gone.’
Virani smiled.
‘Think nothing of it Sam, your contribution to the effort of trying to detain Raynor has been outstanding, and very much appreciated.’
Sam sat on one of the few unoccupied chairs.
‘Don’t mention it.’ He said, slightly embarrassed by the unexpected display of gratitude.
Virani’s smile widened.
‘Don’t think too much of it Sam, I’m only being nice because I need you to keep up these high levels of involvement.’
A few laughs echoed through the room as Sam rolled his eyes and shook his head. Virani added.
‘We need your friends Sam. Raynor’s disappeared. He’s gone to ground.’
Sam stood from the seat he’d taken just moments before. He took his phone from his pocket and headed towards the door.
‘I’ll make some calls, Jay.’ He said as he left the room. A moment later, he poked his head back around the doorframe and added. ‘And where’s my car?’
Virani picked up a set of keys from the desk she was leaning against and threw them towards the open door. Sam stepped into the doorway and snatched them from their flight.
‘It’s out front.’ Said Virani and Sam disappeared once again to take up residence in the hallway outside of the main office. Stairs joined the landing from the ground floor and another set started an ascent to the floor above.
The sky had suffered a serious mood swing in the last hour. It now looked upset, as if was going to have a tantrum at any moment; its tears would fall as rain from the mass of black cloud that had taken the sun hostage.
The smoke coming from the Shard didn’t look to be thinning out, or was the dimming light playing tricks as the evening drew in? Sam couldn’t tell. He closed his eyes tightly and pinched the top of his nose with thumb and index finger.
He stood perfectly still for a moment before letting out a long breath. He unlocked his phone and dialled Dave.
‘Hello mate, what have you got?’ Sam asked.
‘I’ve got a Purver, as you ask.’ Replied Dave.
‘Mick’s come to my office. Said it makes more sense for us to work together. Hang on; I’ll put you on speaker.’
Sam heard a muffled knock as the phone receiver was put on the desk. It was followed by a beep as Dave hit the conference call button.
‘I’m gonna put the phone back on the cradle, so ring me back If I cut you off. I’m never sure if these things will work or not.’
Another click as the receiver was replaced in its cradle.
‘You there?’
‘Yeah, I’m here mate.’ Sam said. ‘Who else is with you?’
‘Well Mick’s here, like I said.’
Sam heard Mickey’s voice in the background, it sounded like he was shouting from deep inside a cave.
‘Alright Sam?’
‘Hiya Mickey.’
Dave came back on the line. ‘And Lucy’s here too.’
Sam and Lucy exchanged greetings before Sam got to the point. ‘Dave, what have you got?’
‘Well we’ve started trying to backtrack his communications. Gonna see if we can reverse engineer his Trojan and see where it sends us. Lucy’s working on that at the moment.’
‘Right, okay, I think I understand that. Use his own tools against him, is that what you mean?’
‘That’s about it Sam. We unravel his code and see where he was directing all the return text messages.’
‘That’s great, Dave. What about you Mickey? Got anything new?’
‘Not really, Sam. All the connections are made. Raynor and Saunders, Raynor and Thomas, Saunders and Thomas, Thomas and Fostervold. I’ve found an account I think might be Raynor’s, but no proof. Six million quid in it, to the penny. Deposit made on the morning of the Knightsbridge attack. The same timestamp as the money leaving the account of General Thomas.’
‘Nice one Mick, what’s next for you?’
‘Well I’ll start knocking up some code to attack Raynor’s system. Once Dave and Lucy manage to track it down we’ll need to disable it as fast as we can.’
‘Thanks Mick. Dave, we need to track Raynor. He’s disappeared. Is there anything you can do to find him?’
‘Not unless he uses his… Hang on a minute, he’s just powered up his phone.’
Chapter Forty-Three
Bollards lined the pavement, close to the kerb, close to the road. Their purpose was to stop cars from mounting the pavement. To stop car bombs from being left and detonated next to the exterior of Thames House. A recess in the bollards allowed dignitaries and VIP’s to leave vehicles. It gave just enough room for car doors to be opened without making contact with the bollards. It was in this recess that Raynor was parked.
He switched on his phone and checked for missed calls. Nothing. He got off his bike and walked towards a bus-stop just a few metres away.
‘So where is he?’ Asked Sam.
‘Give us a sec, it takes a few seconds to calibrate. Nearly there.’
Sam turned and looked out of the window. Once again he looked at the Shard, and then his gaze drifted to the street below. He saw a bike parked in the bollard recess, and then spotted a man dressed in biking leathers.
‘Don’t worry, mate. I’ve found him. I’ll call you back.’
Sam watched as Raynor started moving toward the entrance to Thames House. He was stunned. Surely Raynor wasn’t coming in to one of the country’s most secure facilities. For a start, he’d have to take his helmet off.
Every member of the military and law enforcement would know his face. Ninety percent of traffic wardens would probably be able to pick out Nathan Raynor in an identity parade.
Sam turned and pushed open the double doors into the office.
‘Jay! Get a team downstairs. Raynor’s coming in.’
Everybody in the room stopped what they were doing and looked at Sam as if he’d lost his mind.
‘NOW!’ He shouted, and the room erupted into action.
Sam returned to the window and gazed out. Raynor had stopped at the bus-stop. He was rummaging in his rucksack. He removed a brown paper bag, about the size of a house brick, and placed it in a bin that was screwed to the side of the bus-stop.
As if he knew he was being watched, Raynor looked up to the window Sam was looking out of. He gave Sam a thumbs-up and then wrapped one hand around a clenched fist and pulled them apart, extending his fingers, gesturing an explosion. Sam was sure that if Raynor wasn’t wearing a helmet he’d be able to see the other man smiling and mouthing the word ‘Boom!’
‘Shit!’ Sam said as he turned from the window. He looked around the hallway and spotted the red box on the wall at the top of the stairs. He ran to it and smashed his fist through the clear plastic trigger-cover. The trigger popped out and the circuit fell into place. The shrill of the fire alarm filled the stairwell.