Light of the Sun: They always make a mistake and when they do, we kill them...

by David Costa

  ‘What do you think that rucksack on her back contains?’ asked Anna.

  ‘I think it contains exactly what you think it contains.’

  Yasmin turned and walked back in the direction she’d come then crossed the junction into Oxford Street.

  ‘We need to close-up on her. If she takes that bag off her back, we hit her. What’s your location Alpha Two?’ asked Reece.

  ‘Just turning into Oxford Street from the Circus end heading towards you,’ replied Henderson.

  ‘Try and pull in and wait. We are heading towards you.’

  ‘Roger, will do,’ came the reply from Henderson.

  ‘I don’t like the fact she is moving into a more crowded area. It will be harder to close her down before she tries anything,’ said Anna.

  ‘If there is no sign of her friends by the time we reach Steve and Palo, then we will make a decision on whether to move in.’

  Reece could see that the woman was taking her time. If she did have a target in mind, she was in no hurry to get there. The woman continued to look in shop windows and crossed Oxford Street twice, before reaching where Henderson and Palo were parked at the top end of Duke Street facing towards Oxford Street. Both men watched the woman cross over keeping to the main shopping street.

  ‘Alpha One, that’s her past us. What do you want us to do?’ asked Henderson.

  ‘She’s going into the West One shopping centre. Stay in the car, we will go in after her,’ replied Reece.

  Reece had walked through the West One shopping centre in Oxford Street many times. He knew this would be the ideal place for the woman to carry out a suicide attack. Stepping up the pace Reece and Anna entered the centre twenty yards behind the woman. Her walking pace had slowed even further as she continued to investigate shop windows. Reece knew that there was a train link at the back of the centre. Was she heading there, he thought?

  ‘Alpha One, I think the woman is the same one I saw in Malta,’ said Palo.

  ‘Roger that, I’m ninety-nine per cent sure it’s her. She is still playing the part of the tourist shopper, but I’m beginning to think that whatever she’s doing, today she’s on her own. I don’t want a Barcelona incident here, especially as I’m too bloody close to her now.’

  ‘Take her out if there’s any doubt.’ It was the voice of Jim Broad in his ear. ‘I have the Tango team deploying to you if you need them. We don’t want a fuck up here and we don’t know where the other two are.’

  Reece could feel some of the pressure Broad must be under. He could imagine the calls coming down from Downing Street via ‘C’. Reece remembered being under similar pressure when his bosses in his Special Branch days always wanted more. He used to remind them, do you want it done right now, or do you want it done right?

  ‘I know the risks control. Tell Tango to hang back.’

  Yasmin had looked in several shop windows before finally appearing to make up her mind. She went into the Starbucks coffee house and joined the small queue at the counter.

  ‘What do we do now?’ asked Anna.

  Reece watched from across the corridor as the woman ordered coffee and sat down at a table near the window. Reece felt she was using the window as he would, looking for followers.

  ‘I have an idea that might save time and a lot of lives,’ replied Reece.

  ‘What do you mean?’ asked Anna.

  ‘Stick with me and follow my lead,’ said Reece walking across and into the Starbucks.

  Anna couldn’t believe her eyes but quickly fell in behind Reece.

  Reece walked straight over to where the woman was sitting. She was taking off her backpack, placing it on the seat beside her. Reece sat down on one of the two chairs opposite her at the same time pulling his gun out of his pocket and pointing it at the woman under the table. Anna sat in the chair next to him. It took two seconds for the woman to register what had just happened. Her instinct kicked in and she started to reach for the rucksack, but Reece spoke first.

  ‘My gun is pointing directly at you under the table. Don’t make any stupid mistakes or it will be your last.’

  Yasmin pulled her hand back to rest it on the table. The man’s blue eyes were cold, and she realised she’d seen that type of seriousness before in the eyes of the Teacher.

  ‘Who are you. What do you want?’ asked Yasmin.

  Reece was glad she did not panic or appear nervous. The one thing he did not want was a shoot-out in a packed coffee shop.

  ‘I’m pleased to meet you and to see that you’re not stupid. The last time I saw you was in a hotel in Malta,’ replied Reece.

  Reece saw the moment’s surprise in her eyes.

  ‘My question is still the same. Who are you and what do you want?’

  ‘To answer the first part of your question, we work for the British government. As to the second we just want to talk for now. Do you mind if we join you in a coffee?’

  Yasmin felt herself nodding even though she just wanted to run. The man never took his eyes away from her and she knew he was not joking when he said he had a gun under the table. She also knew from his eyes that he would kill her despite the many people sitting around them.

  ‘Anna, would you get us three coffees please? I think we might be here for a while.’

  When Anna had gone, Reece leant closer so that he could whisper the words directly.

  ‘Do you have a gun and what’s in the rucksack?’

  Yasmin felt the weight of the gun in her left-hand pocket. For a second, she thought about going for it, but the next thought said no he’ll kill you.

  ‘I have a gun in my left pocket, and as you seem to know more than you should, there is a bomb in the rucksack.’

  ‘Is it armed?’

  ‘Not yet.’

  ‘When Anna comes back you will hand her the rucksack with your left hand only. She will then sit down beside you and take the gun out of your pocket. Any stupid move and I assure you it will be your last.’

  ‘What is your name?’ asked Reece.

  ‘I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.’

  ‘Joseph,’ he replied using the undercover name.

  ‘You can call me Yasmin. Are you Jewish with a name like Joseph?’

  ‘No, I told you we are British.’

  Anna returned with the coffee.

  ‘Anna meet Yasmin. She is going to hand you her rucksack with her left hand. There is a bomb in it, she says it’s not armed, she also has a gun in her left-hand pocket. When she gives you the rucksack, take it then sit down beside her and remove the gun discreetly from her pocket. Bring both outside and ask control to have the Tango team and ATO to pick them up and check the device asap.’

  Yasmin handed over the rucksack and Anna sat beside her and neatly removed the gun, placing it in the rucksack. She left talking into her body mic as she walked back to the shopping centre exit.

  ‘Now we can just enjoy our coffee and have a little chat as friends do. We are friends now aren’t we Yasmin.’

  Reece had decided to use his training and experience as a recruiter and handler of agents. His instinct was telling him this woman wasn’t the dangerous terrorist they’d thought her to be; despite the fact she’d ruthlessly killed a man in a hotel bedroom in Malta. He saw something in her brown eyes that verged on the edge of tears. She took a deep breath and started to speak.

  ‘I couldn’t do it. I was awake most of the night and then this morning. I found myself going along with the plan but wanting to scream no, no, no.’

  Reece kept quiet allowing her to continue now that she was opening up. He just hoped there would be time for questions and answers that would help find her two friends. Between sips of coffee and deep breaths she continued.

  ‘To tell you the truth Joseph, I was hoping someone would stop me.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘When I checked out Trafalgar Square and took photos. I was determined to return there today and leave the bomb to kill as many people as possible. But then when we reviewed my pho
tos back at the apartment, I started to have second thoughts as you would say.’

  ‘What apartment, where is it, are there others there now?’ it all came out fast when Reece realised the Arab might still be there.

  ‘The apartment on Edgware Road is an upstairs apartment number 137A. There is no one there now they’ve left to carry out their mission. But, oh my god, they left a bomb which is timed to go off ninety minutes after we left.’ Her eyes opened wider as the memory came to her.

  ‘What time did you leave?’

  ‘Eleven.’

  Reece looked at his watch the digital display showed 12.05 he grabbed her arm and pulling her to her feet made for the door and the street.

  Anna was standing at the opened side door of a white transit. Two heavily armed SAS troopers stood beside her.

  ‘Cuff this woman and get her into the van now,’ said Reece to one of the troopers.

  ‘There is a bomb in the apartment ready to go off in twenty minutes. We don’t have time for bomb disposal all we can do is clear the streets and buildings.’

  Reece jumped into the transit followed by Anna. Talking fast but clearly into his radio he informed control of the address and told them they were on their way with Tango One and one prisoner. Reece told the transit driver to get to the Edgware Road fast.

  Anna held up the device they’d taken from Yasmin.

  ‘What should we do with this?’ she asked.

  ‘It will only work if you press the blue button to start the phone, then press the red, it will explode two hours later,’ said Yasmin.

  Reece took the device and handed it to one of the troopers.

  ‘There will be a bomb disposal team on the way to where we are going, give it to them. Tell them what you just heard about arming it but also tell them to trust nothing.’

  The trooper nodded, took the device, and placed it inside the rucksack.

  The transit driver had switched on the two-tone sirens and flashing lights while weaving the way through the city traffic. Turning into Edgware Road, Reece could see at least four police cars and two police motorcycles all with their blue flashing lights parked across the road barring the traffic from both directions. Police officers, some armed, were shouting at the startled pedestrians and herding people out of shops and buildings away from the area surrounding 137A. Reece was impressed at the speed they were closing the road.

  ‘Have you the keys?’ Reece asked Yasmin.

  ‘No, I left them in the apartment. We were not returning.’

  ‘Anna, you stay here with our friend. Two of you come with me,’ said Reece pulling on the police baseball cap.

  Reece had intended trying to break down the door. After that with fifteen minutes to go, he didn’t have a clue. As they moved towards the building, a man in civilian clothing ran towards them from the opposite direction waving his hands in the air stopping Reece and the two SAS soldiers in their tracks.

  ‘Stop, stop where are you going?’ the stranger called loudly.

  ‘Who are you?’ asked Reece stopping outside the door with 137A written on it.

  ‘I’m Felix,’ replied the man.

  Reece knew that Felix was the code name given to the bomb disposal officers or ATO Ammunition Technical Officer. When Reece had worked in Northern Ireland, he knew the code name Felix was because they were named after the cat with nine lives. He knew that once Felix was on the scene of a suspected device the rules were that he was in charge and must be obeyed. As a bomb disposal officer once told Reece when he was just a young police constable in Belfast and was sealing off the street because of a suspect package in a building, ‘I get paid to do this you don’t.’ Another he met when dealing with an abandoned car bomb told him, ‘I’m a bomb disposal officer. If you see me running, try to catch-up.’

  Reece had great respect for these men and women who, no matter what the equipment they had, always had to take that last walk right up to the device to declare it safe. He knew the danger of any device being booby-trapped was one of the greatest dangers any ATO faced.

  ‘I’m David Reece, Security Services. We’ve been told there is a device in the upstairs apartment in this building ready to go off in less than twelve minutes.’

  ‘Is there anyone up there now?’

  ‘We don’t think so.’

  ‘Well then, Mister Reece, if that’s the case all we can do here is clear the street and buildings of people and sit back and wait for those twelve minutes to tick down. I suggest you and your team get back to your vehicle and park a bit further down the road.’

  ‘In that case we have another device and the lady who was carrying it in the back of that transit. Perhaps you could use your time to look at it for me?’

  ‘I will, now let us get away from this building.’

  ‘You’re the boss.’ said Reece and turning on his heels with the two SAS men ran back to the transit. He was sure he could hear Felix shouting from behind him, ‘You better believe it.’

  Felix took the device out of the rucksack and having asked Yasmin once more how she was to set it, carried it further down the road, where he sat down on his own and spent five minutes inspecting it from every angle. From where he stood Reece could see that the ATO had a small penknife which he used to gently pry open the lid of the device, then he appeared to remove or cut something away before placing the lid back on and standing, walked back to the transit.

  ‘I’ve seen this type of device before when I worked with the army in Afghanistan. One button, as the lady said, switches on the phone and the second usually sets a timer in motion counting down to detonation. But young lady,’ He spoke to Yasmin while holding up the disabled device, ‘in the case of your bomb, this one was set to go off as soon as you pressed the red button, and these little items are four-inch nails, combined with the Semtex there wouldn’t be much of you left.’

  ‘Oh no!’ gasped Yasmin.

  ‘Yes, young lady. Whoever gave you this bomb expected it to explode immediately, making you a suicide bomber. If you even know what that means.’

  Reece saw that Yasmin was shocked at hearing these words, her eyes were wide and full of tears, and he thought, fear.

  ‘Now, Mister Reece, if you’re right we have two minutes left before the device in that apartment explodes, so if I could suggest you make sure everyone has taken cover before then and that the fire service is ready to go in to preserve as much evidence as they can. I’ll get back to my own people before then.’

  Felix then walked slowly back to his own green transit and Reece could see him waving his arms as he shouted for people to take cover.

  Reece gave Broad a quick update over the radio and had just finished and was taking his place beside Anna and the rest of the transit passengers at the back of the vehicle when the bomb exploded. The blast was just as Reece remembered from his days in Northern Ireland the bright flash, followed by the loud low boom of the explosives detonating followed by the noise of flying debris and breaking concrete and glass tumbling to the earth from the sky. Then came the smoke followed by the smell and finally the flames starting to lick the outside of the broken windows. As the bomb was small and inside the building when it detonated, the flying debris had not travelled too far and fell well within the cordon perimeter reducing the danger to those taking cover. Reece slowly lifted his head to watch the flames start to take hold. He knew the fire service would wait at least five minutes to allow time for a secondary device to go off before they would approach the building, working from the outside to deal with the flames. By the look of things, no one was hurt and the agencies working in harmony with each other had reduced the chances of anyone getting injured. Reece was already thinking ahead. The Arab and his friend were still out there. If they had access to the Internet on their phones, it wouldn’t be long before they heard about the blast. Reece hoped the news would please them and keep them thinking they were on track to finish their operation. Turning to Yasmin, he grabbed her by the arm.

  ‘Now Yasmin. Yo
u know that your friend the Arab was happy to see you go up the same way as that building.’

  The tears started to roll down her cheeks.

  ‘No time for tears, many more people will be crying if we don’t stop these people. They’ve shown they’re no friends of yours. The Arab was happy to see you die, and he would have told everybody you’re a martyr, now tell me where they are?’

  Yasmin had been sobbing with her head down but at these words she lifted her head her eyes that were angry now, looking directly into the eyes of Reece.

  ‘I don’t know exactly where they are. They left by the back door when I left. All I know is they’re going to Canary Wharf.’

  ‘Do they have the bomb with them?’

  ‘Yes, and the plutonium.’

  For the first time Reece noticed that Steve Harrison and Palo had arrived and were talking to Anna.

  ‘Steve says you need to talk to Matthew at control. With the explosion going off our radio mics were down for a few minutes,’ said Anna.

  Reece spoke into his body mic.

  ‘Control, this is Alpha One, you have something for me?’

  The voice of Matthew Simons came back.

  ‘Roger Alpha One. We have had a couple of updates from GCHQ. Our friends have sent a video to Tehran which will go out when they complete their mission. We were able to confirm the end user as the Iranian Quads General so everything on for today. It then appears that the mobile phone this end has been switched off so we can’t track it.’

  Reece felt like saying, no shit Sherlock, but kept his thoughts to himself for now.

  ‘Understood. The people here have things in hand, luckily no one hurt just some damage. The only problem is that the city will go into lockdown and the Tube will stop running. We need to get to Canary Wharf fast, so I need a chopper right now.’

  It was Jim Broad’s voice that came back this time.

  ‘You’re right about the lockdown Alpha One. The emergency Cobra meeting is already under way in Whitehall, and they’re working to the book with boots on the ground and transport being brought to a standstill. The weather has cleared slightly meaning we only have one helicopter in the sky, just taken off from the city airport. I can get it to where you want it, but there’ll be plenty of people on the ground at Canary Wharf so you could stay where you are and let them deal with it.’