“Four: one on each side.”
“And what about the coverage of the outside CCTV? Have the gunmen disabled that as well?”
“No. My men are monitoring those feeds.”
“Good. We must know immediately any door is opened – even if only a crack. I want someone stationed at each corner ready to warn us if anyone comes out. Everyone else, back into the other building. Rob, Don – with me please.”
Laura then led Rob and Don to the nearest door and swiped Don’s access pass against the reader. With a click, the door naturally inched open. Before Laura could peek inside, a bullet pinged loudly off the metal frame.
“That’s not necessary!” she called. “The building is surrounded and I’m an armed officer from MI5. We need to talk.”
“The only thing to discuss is our safe passage. We have hostages, as you probably know. I want a four door saloon car outside in ten minutes and an assurance there won’t be any tricks or the hostages die.”
“Yes, I am aware of the hostages,” Laura replied. “I’m not authorised to grant these requests. It will take time to obtain that authorisation.”
“We’ll wait, but be quick about it. And no tricks – we will be taking some of the hostages with us!”
Laura gently pulled the door shut and they withdrew back to the previous building.
“Armed units and bomb disposal are on their way,” one of the detectives confirmed once they were inside. “Probably another fifteen to twenty minutes.”
“And we think that there are six hostages, not eight,” one of Don’s men added. “Reviewing the footage immediately before the feeds were cut, two of the now hostages were in deep conversation with the gunmen and appeared to be tied-up willingly. The layout of the space appears as it always has been, but there are numerous barrels along one side connected to the testing pipes. Here are the images that have been taken.”
“Thank you. Hardly a bomb-making factory,” Laura responded, flicking through the photos with Rob looking over her shoulder. “David, what do you think they are doing here?” she asked, passing him a couple of photos.
“Hmm. Hard to say, but it could well be planting explosives.”
“My impression as well.” The grim words hung in the silence, spreading dread as everyone within hearing glanced nervously about.
The shrill ring of Don’s phone broke the silence. “Yes?… Okay, thanks.” Having cut the call, he turned to Laura, “The gunmen have been in touch with the security office – they want to talk again. It sounds like they could be getting impatient.”
Repeating the previous exercise, Laura swiped the door open once again. “Where’s the car?” one of the gunmen yelled immediately. “I’m not waiting any longer.”
“I said before…”
There was a loud, reverberating crack of a gun shot in the building, followed by the bang of a door being slammed shut.
“Boss! Boss!” a voice called urgently over Don’s radio.
“Yes.”
“A body has just been shoved out of a door! Can’t see who it is – it’s face down!”
Laura felt bile rise in her mouth as the gunman yelled out once again. “If that doesn’t focus your attention, then another will follow in two minutes!”
“Oh, Lord, no!” Don said under his breath. “Laura, what do you advise?”
“Rob?”
There are still multiple hostages, but this will be horribly dangerous! Rob nodded as he saw the desperation in Laura’s eyes, anticipating what she was going to ask.
Seconds later, taking a radio from one of Don’s men, Laura took Rob’s hand and led him round the corner to the door opposite to where the body had been thrown from. “Are you sure? You’re really up for this?” she looked him straight in the eye.
“Of course! Steven will lambast us, but hey! Take care.”
“Don, where’s the shooter?”
“Still where you last saw him.” Don was lying on the ground peeping through the narrow crack that had been left at the first door.
“What’s it to be, agent girl?” the gunman yelled.
As the man yelled, Laura swiped Don’s access card on the panel and hoped the click would not be heard above the gunman’s shout. Laura stood in front of the mostly closed door, holding her handgun with both hands, arms outstretched.
“Well?!”
Laura nodded and Rob, lying at her feet, pushed and held the door open.
As the gunman swung round to see what the noise was, Laura had the necessary fraction of a second to adjust her stance and aim. The two exchanged shots, the gunman’s bullets slamming into the wall just inches from Laura’s head.
“Urrgh!” the man screeched. “You’ll pay for that!”
Laura darted through the door and behind a huge metal canister with a large number of pipes sticking out of it. Damn! Only winged him!
Knowing that Laura would draw the two gunmen’s attention, Rob hesitated only briefly and slipped quietly through the door, heading in the opposite direction. Now it’s my turn!
While Laura kept the two gunmen busy, trying to stop them approaching the hostages, Rob crept carefully around all of the pipes and equipment. Periodically, he caught a glimpse of the gunmen through gaps in the tangle of metalwork.
* * *
