‘Not the boy!‘McGirl said.
Harrison began rubbing his chafed wrists as Pippa was released.
‘This is madness!’ McGirl shouted and stepped forward, jamming his pistol against Archie’s temple. ‘Leave him be, before I blow his sodding brains out.’
Harrison went to move towards the Irishman, then froze. The finger was taut on the trigger. So close, but there was nothing he could do.
‘Listen, Pat — ‘ Clodagh began.
‘No, you listen! I don’t know what this bastard said to you, but forget this business about deals. It doesn’t work like that. The Brits, the Prods, the bloody Army Council, they’ll all drop us in the shite if it suits them. And if there’s an agreement, however much we’ve helped, we’ll just be an embarrassment. Harrison and your man here, they both take the Queen’s shilling. They’re soldiers, expendable when it counts. But a wee boy. He’s our real insurance. They won’t sacrifice a wee boy to the IRA in a deal for peace — the tabloids would never let the politicians forget it. So if you want to live — and I do — then keep the boy, too.’
She hesitated, then slowly withdrew her hand and the key from Archie’s handcuffs. In a quiet voice she said: ‘The boy stays.’
‘I’m sorry, Tom,’ Nash said after Harrison’s immediate debriefing. ‘We had no idea it would work out that way.’
They were standing by Zulu Control on the village green. Harrison was choked with emotion. Anger, bitterness and a burning thirst for revenge. All played a pan. But the most gut-wrenching feeling of all was that of absolute helplessness.
Jim Maitland said: ‘Terrorists are an unpredictable lot, Tom. We thought it would be a good move. Although God knows what prompted Don to do his Sidney Carton bit. You know, it’s a far, far better thing I do, and all that. At least we’ve got you and Pippa out. A small mercy, I suppose. Although I don’t expect you to see it like that.’
Pippa out, Harrison thought. It may have been a consolation to him, but it was none to the woman herself. Like him, she’d rather have stayed in danger than abandon her son. If Archie died, she would die. Not immediately, but slowly over the years. Already something had died inside them both. And if the brief few hours of their reunion in the factory cell had brought them together again as a family, Jtheir forcible removal when Trenchard arrived had cruelly shattered a’ll that.
Pippa had been hysterical, inconsolable, and had run to the arms of her father who had been brought to the scene. In some perverse way she blamed Archie’s plight on Harrison and, of course, indirectly, he knew she was right.
He tried to clear his head, took a deep breath and looked around. Dusk was settling now. There were vehicles everywhere, uniformed police, marksmen and another group some distance away with two unmarked furniture vans who kept themselves to themselves. SAS reinforcements, he guessed.
Then he saw Casey, keeping back as she watched. Clearly unsure of herself, of him. Not wanting to intrude on his grief. Not knowing how he would react to her and what she had done., Slowly he walked towards her. She was wearing her reporter’s trench coat, eating a hamburger, cupping one hand to catch the crumbs.
Scared, he thought. Scared and not knowing what to do, like a girl. Her eyes were watchful, worried.
He stopped in front of her. ‘Thanks, Casey. Thanks for what you did.’
Still she wasn’t sure. ‘Do you mean that, Tom?’
‘I mean it.’
‘I’m afraid it didn’t help. I’m so sorry.’
‘It was a brave and crazy thing to have done. But if you hadn’t, all three of us would be in there and the police might never have found us. I took a gamble and lost.’
‘As you said, you had to try.’ Suddenly she realised how foolish she looked, a squashed hamburger in her hand, relish dripping through her fingers. ‘I was hungry. I haven’t eaten all day. Would you like some?’
Even now she could make him smile. He shook his head.
‘What happens next, Tom?’
‘We wait. It could take days. The negotiators will be asking to speak to Archie every day. Make sure he’s still all right. Clodagh Dougan’s agreed to that.’
‘Is she running things?’
‘Hard to say. She and McGirl between them.’
‘What’s she like?’
‘Not like Caitlin. Clodagh’s — I don’t know — strange. Sort of hard and soft. Like there’s some inner conflict. I’m sure she’d have released Archie. Something Don said perhaps, I don’t know. McGirl stopped her.’
‘Pippa’s taken it badly.’ As she spoke the words she realised it was a stupid thing to say; stating the obvious.
‘She’s under sedation. I’m afraid she blames me.’
Casey touched his arm. ‘She shouldn’t do that, Tom.’
‘She has a point.’
There was a sudden commotion at the Zulu Control trailer. Voices were raised in vehement argument. Several officers stood around the entrance, looking in with curiosity. After a few moments Jim Maitland emerged, glanced around, spotted Harrison and strode towards him.
‘Look here, Tom, we’re beginning to get developments and I don’t like the look of them. McGirl’s starting to get very twitchy with the negotiators. To be truthful I think his real predicament is starting to sink in. He’s beginning to dismiss the idea that their release will be part of a final deal at Trafalgar House.’ Maitland grimaced. ‘And I can hardly say I blame him there. The point is, he’s demanding a helicopter flight now to take all of them to Eire with guarantee of no interference here and immunity from extradition by Dublin.’
‘And?’
‘He’s threatening to shoot Trenchard if he doesn’t get it.’
‘What’s the likelihood London and Dublin will agree?’
‘Slim. But that’s not the point. If anything happens to Don, we lose any chance of negotiating your son’s release. He’ll then be their only insurance and they’ll keep him with them until the bitter end.’
Harrison experienced an awful churning sensation in his gut, the bile rising. The thought of his friend dying because of him, and his son still held captive was all too much. And just when he’d almost reconciled himself to the possibility that the siege could end peacefully. ‘What are you proposing?’
‘That we prepare for the worst. McGirl has given us an ultimatum to agree to his demands.‘Three hours. That’ll take us to midnight. Our negotiators will try to dissuade him, play a stalling game…’
‘But?’
‘If Don is killed, I’m afraid COBRA will give the order for us to go in. Standard procedure once the shooting starts.’
‘Christ.’
‘The thing is, Tom, this is likely to get messy. You’ve been debriefed on what you saw of their explosive defences and they’ve left us in no doubt what to expect. The SAS have now updated their first Immediate Action Plan and are going to require backup from bomb disposal. Colonel LloydWilliams is flying here direct from Aldergrove by helicopter to take overall charge of the EOD operation. He’s agreed, albeit reluctantly, to let you lead in the main assault to clear the way for an SAS follow-up and support from the 821 Squadron boys.’
‘No!’ Casey protested. ‘You can’t ask Tom to do that.’
Maitland looked grim. ‘Please keep out of this, young lady. No one’s forcing him, it has to be his own decision. But quite obviously Tom’s the best qualified for this particular job. He’s been inside the building and he’s worked with the SAS.’
Harrison said: ‘I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, Jim.’
Casey looked on in horror and disbelief. But she knew he would ignore her protest.
At that moment the Wessex appeared over the nearby village rooftops, fresh from the front line of Northern Ireland, in its battle livery of green, black and brown. Tall LloydWilliams had arrived.