“What—” Eva swallowed, “and I can’t stress this enough—the fuck?”
“She only told me yesterday. I still haven’t got my head around it.”
“I’m not surprised. That’s some of the heaviest shit to lay on a human.” She scratched the back of her neck. “Especially right now.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah.”
They stood in silence for a time.
“We’ll talk this through later, yeah?” On receiving an affirmative dip of his head, Eva added, “In the meantime I suppose we should, I don’t know, stop a terrorist attack or something.”
“It’s not like we have anything better to do.”
“Right?”
Eva gave him another punch in the arm, apparently because she didn’t know what else to do.
Sophia returned and clearly sensed the change in their deportment, but chose to say nothing. When Bishop returned with the backpack, Sophia addressed them collectively.
“My team is ready, although they’re not sure what for exactly.” She eyed them each individually. “This is not a sanctioned operation by my government. Even if I had time to explain I doubt they’d authorise it, which is probably a blessing in disguise, no?” Her countenance took on a more serious quality. “You all shouldn’t be here, officially or not. And I definitely shouldn’t be arming you.” She thumbed Bishop’s backpack. “They’re untraceable, but should anyone ask…”
“We got them from a vending machine,” Eva stated. “Got it.”
Sophia accepted the comment and, using their bodies to shield what they were doing, distributed comms gear and weapons. One radio, one earpiece, one Beretta, one spare mag each.
Bishop cocked his head and addressed Eva. “What are you humming? Is that The Supremes?”
“Yes,” Eva declared merrily, “Love Child.”
Sophia’s eyes darted to Nash, but she remained silent as she zipped up the backpack.
All business, Sophia’s voice was low. “We need to remain absolutely focused. Check-ins are every ten minutes, no exceptions. We can’t fail, not now. Everything depends on it.”
Eva swivelled her shoulders. “If we don’t succeed, you could call it the daughter of all fuck-ups.”
Sophia’s eyes narrowed on Nash, who became intensely interested in the manhole cover at his feet.
Bishop shook his head slightly. “Who the hell would say that?”
“People,” Eva said vaguely.
“Touched in the head people,” Bishop grunted.
Sophia sighed and turned to Eva. “He told you, didn’t he?”
“No,” Eva said, as innocently as a crooked lawyer. “And how could you not tell Nash he had a daughter?”
Bishop baulked. “Nash has a daughter? Since when?”
“Ten years.”
“And you’re only telling me now?” Bishop looked lost.
In confusion, Eva shook her head. “Nash only just found out.”
“You just told me you’ve known for ten years?” Bishop scratched the back of his neck. “Oh… hold up. I thought when you said ten years, you meant you’d known for ten years. Yes, saying it out loud it does… I see where I went wrong there.”
Sophia gripped Nash’s arm and led him away from the van, then lowered her voice. “Are you sure about your team, him in particular?”
“Absolutely. At first, I thought he was an arrogant cad, self-absorbed and one-dimensional. I didn’t get the appeal.”
“I can still hear you,” Bishop declared loudly.
Nash continued. “But he has a way of sneaking up on you.”
Sophia seemed unmoved. “I’ll take your word for it.”
Rejoining the others, Nash asked, “Where should we be stationed?”
Without hesitation, Eva said, “Where they’ll most likely strike. Meaning in and around the weakest parts of the structure, as that’s where it’s guaranteed to cause the most damage and lead to collapse. That’s where I’ll be.”
Sophia’s forehead crinkled. “That’s too dangerous. We should station the teams further back in the hope of identifying them before they get to the structure.”
“Hope’s not good enough.” Eva’s jaw was set. “You station your teams where you want but I’m going where they’re ultimately going to be in case you miss them.” She held up a hand to stave off arguments. “What’s the alternative? We sit back at a nice comfortable distance and watch this place explode? Are we going to tell ourselves for years after, oh well, at least we kind of tried? We’re either doing this a hundred per cent or not at all, and I’m telling you right now I’m giving this fucking thing absolutely everything I’ve got. I can’t even go home without my own government shooting me in the tits so I’ve got nothing to lose. Now, I’m going up those fucking stairs and no cunting son of an arse-licking son-of-a-bitch is going to stop me.”
All four stared at her in silence for a time, Bishop and Nash with arms folded, Sophia clearly dismayed. Bishop was the first to break the silence.
