David leant over Stanton. He was coughing blood.
“You tried not to kill me.” He coughed. “You shot the gun hand pointing at the children too.” He felt a pain spasm and coughed heavily. David put his hand on Stanton’s chest, there was a mass of blood, a pool of it was gathering around him on the floor.
“I think he shot an artery.”
“Forget… it… time for me to go… everything I said… find the phones..” Stanton closed his eyes.
“Is there a message for someone? Family maybe?” David asked.
Stanton’s eyes opened.
“No family… no one…”
“I’m sorry…”
Stanton slumped and his body went limp. David stood up. There was the sound of sirens, ambulances and police. He turned to Tony and Ellie.
“You okay Ellie?”
“Just a flesh wound.” Ellie grunted.
“Tough woman.” David said and looked at Tony.
“That’s my girl.” Said Tony keeping his pistol trained on Sternway.
Before the police came David went into the garden to see what the DIC listener had got and found him unconscious. Tony helped him get the unconscious man into the house. David made a thorough search of the house. He worked around Della Sternway as she packed. He found a Bic ‘disposable’ cell phone, orange coloured, in Sternway’s suit jacket and two lime green Bic ‘disposable’ cell phones in the Jaguar.
Ellie was taken away in one ambulance with Tony. The DIC listener was taken away in another and Nigel Sternway had a police escort in his. He had tried to speak to his wife, but she had cut him dead and defeated he had sat looking at the ground whilst Tony held him still at gun point.
Ten minutes after the gun play, the only blue light left was a waiting police car and the ambulances had gone. David stood in the door way of the house having answered all police questions he was able to. The DIC badge had done most of the work, DIC official stand down not having been something that would be externally broadcast.
On the doorstep Della held out her hand for the Jaguar keys. The children were dressed and there were bags on the floor.
“Do you need a hand with those bags.” David asked.
“That’s good of you thank you.” She said softly.
David took the bags to the car and put them in the boot. The children got in the car. Della stood by the driver’s door.
“I didn’t know exactly what he did at work. I knew that he was MI6, but I never asked. I didn’t realise he was so cold blooded… he wouldn’t even stand in front of us, to protect us, he was more concerned about his secrets.”
“I thought he was moving you away from him so that Stanton would shoot at him not you, I thought he was protecting you.”
“You’re a good man Mr..?”
“McKie, David McKie.”
“Do you have a family?” She asked.
“Yes.”
“Don’t ever put your work before your family like he did. His work turned him cold. He wasn’t like that when we first met, his work changed him.”
“I’ve heard a lot about that, killing rotting the soul.”
“Then you’ll know to be careful.” She said and opened the car door and turned to face him. “We’ll be at my sister’s house if anyone wants us. I expect you can get the address easily in your line of work.”
David nodded. He watched her get in the car and pull out of the drive.
He turned his own steps to the Citroen C4. It was getting on for eight o clock and he had a meeting to get to.
Euston Tower
8 p.m.
April 19th
Brook hadn’t heard anything from anyone. He hadn’t been in contact. Once you were into the tube of an E order you kept out of contact and kept heading for the target.
He had prepared well on the information Stanton had given them and done some research on the floor layout of the building from the plans, which were available, but didn’t show any of the details, just the structure.
He walked into the revolving door at the tower. It moved slowly, very slowly. The guards watched him. The x-ray showed the holstered weapon and the infra red showed he was hot, sweating probably. The guard at the desk readied a weapon. When the door revolved to let him into the lobby he made his way to the desk and held up his badge. The MI6 people had quickly made a copy. It was good.
“Hi lads Leigh Taylor new guy reporting for duty.” Telford held out the badge.
The guard looked at the badge and then at the roster and the list of expected people on the screen in front of him under the desk.
Telford noticed a second guard appear from a door to the side. He was a heavily built man. He leant on the door frame.
The guard behind the desk rose and opened the sliding gap in the long desk pressing a button under the table.
Telford walked through, walked up to the two lifts and pressed the button. The door of the left hand lift opened instantly. He stepped in and the door closed. The two guards smiled at each other and one picked up a phone. DIC medical team came down in the lifts behind the hidden entrance door and deployed themselves outside the left hand lift door.
In the lift Telford had a second’s abject fear as the lift filled with gas and then he passed out and slumped to the floor. Fans switched on and sucked the gas out.
Minutes later when the doors opened the medical team put Telford on a stretcher and unconscious he was loaded into a private ambulance. The guards were back at their posts serious faces, but there was an atmosphere.
Suddenly one of them laughed then the other joined in. Their laughter echoed around the lobby.
“Silly bugger!”
“I wonder who he was?”
“I expect Jack will tell us when he gets back from Downing Street.
10Downing Street
8-15 pm
April 19th
Tarquin Robinson sat on the same side of the cabinet room table as Gary Braine. Across the table Diane Peters sat with an MP3 player attached to speakers in front of her. Next to her Jack Fulton sat with his face like stone looking over at the photographs arranged in front of the PM. They were photographs of Sternway and Mrs Robinson leaving La Rueda, separately.
“This is ridiculous!” Robinson was in full flow. “I have no idea what this is all about. That could be Nigel Sternway’s voice, it sounds a bit odd, but Melinda didn’t meet him there as far as I know, even if she did we’ve met socially, she could have been there to ask a personal favour.”
“You know why she was there.” Jack’s voice was flat.
“This doesn’t change anything Fulton. We need to suspend all DIC activity until this whole sorry mess has been investigated.” Robinson was adamant
“I’m sorry Jack, it doesn’t look good. I’ll admit the tape does show Mrs Robinson speaking to Sternway, but frankly Jack I’m shocked you’d make the accusation on such flimsy evidence. The Home Secretary has a point, you’ve hardly distinguished yourselves.”
Jack looked at Diane and Robinson smiled.
A phone rang. The phone was in Robinson’s pocket. He took out the orange coloured Bic cell phone and pressed cancel.
“I’m sorry…” He went to put it back in his pocket but it rang again. At the same time the cabinet room door opened and David McKie walked in holding an identical orange Bic ‘disposable’ cell phone in his right hand. In his left hand he held a sheaf of papers.
“What’s the meaning of this?” The Prime Minister asked tersely. Jack looked quizzically at Diane.
“I’m sorry Prime Minister. I’ve just come from Nigel Sternway’s house where myself and another DIC officer shot Trevor Stanton…”
“This is ridiculous!” Robinson shouted. “Your duty teams were suspended Fulton. I want this man arrested.”
“.. Stanton spoke before he died. Sternway was injured and a female DIC officer, unarmed, shielded Sternway’s children with her own body and was also injured.”
Jack looked horrified.
“It’s alright Jack she was just a shot in the arm, Ellie’s fine.”