High Pressure

by Sam Blake

  The door opened a little more, and Anna became aware of a figure crawling out of the front door on their knees, their hands in the air.

  ‘I’ve no weapons. Please, I know who is in the O’Brien house, he’s armed and very dangerous.’

  It was a woman’s voice, her accent Irish, educated. As she moved forward out of the shadow of the house, Anna could see in what little light there was that she had dark hair, was wearing jeans and a hoodie. She was deathly pale in the darkness.

  ‘Please, I think he’s looking for me. Please don’t shoot.’ Her voice wavered. From the darkness two more figures in combat gear appeared, one from either side of the house, both pointing their weapons at her. Like the commando with Anna, they were wearing full body armour, black crash helmets and night vision goggles.

  ‘Lie down flat, hands behind you.’ An unmistakably male voice this time.

  Even from where she was, Anna could see the woman was shaking.

  Was it Marissa?

  All the photos Anna had seen showed Marissa with blonde hair, but perhaps she was wearing a wig. Who else could it be?

  Anna leaned forward towards the female garda with her.

  ‘I think that’s Marissa Hunt. That’s who Chanin is looking for. She’s telling the truth – she’s why he’s here.’

  The garda gave the briefest nod and Anna heard her speaking into her helmet. The two armed men reacted immediately. One turned and dropped to one knee to face the house Anna had just left, covering his colleague as he helped the woman to her feet, urging her to run across the front and around the side of the house. The man providing cover twitched the barrel of his gun, and the garda with Anna turned back to her.

  ‘We need to move – can you run? Keep low.’

  Anna could hear her heart beating hard as she jumped up to a squat and, as if right on cue, the negotiator called out again.

  ‘We have supplies of food and water. Can you tell me if anyone requires medical assistance?’

  They were at the hedge in seconds; as they got there, the negotiator’s voice rang out again.

  ‘Can you signal that you have heard me and that everyone in the house is safe? We can send in water and medical supplies if you need them. Please signal so we know you can hear us.’

  The garda officer shielded her as Anna climbed through the hedge. It was a mix of gorse and box, and clawed at her jeans. She didn’t care. Behind the house, she could see the hostage negotiator had set up a command post. Beside him, lit by a laptop screen, a group of black-clad men were deep in conversation with a man in plain clothes who bore all the hallmarks of a detective. Closer to her, the woman who had come out of the house was leaning on the shuttered wall, talking to another man in black. He picked up her wrist to take her pulse as Anna’s garda minder led her towards them.

  He smiled at Anna as they reached him, his voice an urgent whisper in the darkness.

  ‘I’m Doctor Ronan Sweeney. Are you injured?’

  Breathing heavily, Anna shook her head. He nodded sharply.

  ‘We need to get you out of here. There’s an ambulance on its way. We’ll get you checked out at Wexford Hospital, and then the guards will need detailed statements.’

  Catching her breath at last, Anna nodded again. Beside her, the garda who had helped her up the steep slope of the hollow turned to her.

  ‘All good?’

  ‘Yes … Yes. Thank you so much. I …’

  The female garda put her hand on Anna’s arm.

  ‘It’s fine. I’m sorry, have to go now.’

  It was almost as if she wanted to stay. She gave Anna’s arm a quick squeeze and headed off towards the group gathered around the hostage negotiator.

  There was something about her.

  Anna’s brain was truly frazzled tonight, but she felt as if she was missing something significant.

  Then she realised.

  In the middle of everything, she hadn’t recognised her voice. It was Cat – Cat Connolly. Anna lifted her hand to call her back, but then remembered the Emergency Response Unit were supposed to be anonymous. Even in court, they were protected. Cat couldn’t reveal her identity, and Anna couldn’t reveal that she’d recognised her.

  She just should have guessed faster.

  Anna watched Cat cross the field, little more than a shadow in the darkness. She had so many questions to ask her about what she was doing now…Shaking her head, Anna turned to the woman who had come out of the house.

  ‘Are you OK? It’s Marissa, isn’t it? Brioni sent me here to find you.’

  The woman straightened, looking startled, her eyes wide.

  ‘Brioni sent you?’ Her voice was hoarse, little more than a whisper.

  ‘Yes, she got your email, but it looks like Reiss intercepted it.’

  The doctor interrupted her. ‘It would be better if you didn’t talk until we’ve got this straightened out and you’ve given your statements.’

  The woman ran her hand into her hair and hung her head, answering as if she hadn’t heard him.

  ‘I’m so sorry, I was such an idiot. Mike’s going to kill me.’

  It took Anna a moment to realise what she’d said.

  ‘Mike? You mean Mike Wesley? He knows you’re here?’

  Her eyes full of fear, Marissa glanced up at her and nodded.

  ‘He thought I’d be safe here if no one knew I was in Ireland. He was right, obviously.’ She shook her head, then suddenly doubled over, crying out.

  The doctor stepped forward. ‘Where’s the pain?’

  ‘It’s … I’m …’ She paused, her voice strangled, as she bent forward with another sharp movement. ‘I’m pregnant.’

  Anna and the doctor moved forward together to catch Marissa as she fell.

  Chapter 57

  As Brioni crept into the kitchen through the back door, she strained her ears, listening for sounds of movement. Her mouth dry, her heart beat was too loud.

  Was Anna inside? Jim Phelan, the farmer, had said he’d seen two people in the house – and if one of them wasn’t Marissa, then it had to be Anna. Reiss must have followed her from the airport.

  Had he been following her, too? Brioni thought of all the times she’d had that creeped-out feeling that someone was watching her. Had it been Reiss? A shiver ran down her back.

  She just prayed Anna was all right. Had he tied her up somewhere, locked her in one of the bedrooms? Or could he have killed her, now she’d brought him to the house and she’d outlived her usefulness? Brioni felt herself chill.

  She couldn’t think that could be a possibility.

  Questions jostled for attention as she silently closed the door and locked it behind her. At least if Reiss did come round, he was on the outside and she was safe inside the house.

  Turning, she headed across the kitchen. It was clean and tidy. It had never been clean and tidy in all the time Brioni had lived here; clearly no one had been here for ages.

  At the kitchen door, she listened hard again. She could hear the wooden frame of the house groaning, contracting in the cool night after the heat of day. She held her breath to see if she could hear anything else. Nothing. The house smelled vaguely damp, unoccupied. It felt empty, but Brioni needed to check for herself. Anna had to be here somewhere.

  What the hell did Reiss want with Mar? Brioni was convinced that he’d been involved in Steve’s death somehow. Slipping through the open kitchen door, Brioni leaned against the thin plasterboard wall of the hallway. Jim had said there were only two people here, but what if someone else had been in the kitchen when he’d looked in? What if Chanin had accomplices?

  Brioni could feel her heart beating in her chest, ready to explode. How long would it take whoever was in the helicopter to get here? And how long would Chanin stay unconscious? He could come around at any minute, and she needed to find Anna before he did.

  The hallway was dark, the door to the bathroom firmly closed. One more step and she’d be able to see into the living room, and anyone in it would
be able to see her. Holding her breath, Brioni crouched down as low as she could and shuffled towards the corner where the hall opened into the living room. There was an occasional table on this side of the corner; beyond it, a three-legged antique chair they’d always called the Captain’s chair. Her mum had loved antiques. They’d never had money for them, but she’d picked up all sort of things in skips and junk shops, had lovingly restored them.

  Once she could get to the table, Brioni knew she’d have a full view of the living room. The sofa was to her far left, under the window looking directly over the beach. Opposite her would be the old kitchen table, pushed up under the other window. Her dad had always had his chair positioned so he could look out over the dunes and beach through both windows. Beside her dad’s chair, there was a side table, another beside the sofa. It wasn’t the type of room you could hide in.

  Brioni’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness as she’d run across the fields outside. Now, in the darkened house, she could see easily. She inched closer towards the living room, sliding on her knees across the polished boards, always gritty with a light dusting of sand.

  She could hear the sea, as if someone had left a window open. Puzzled, Brioni leaned forward just as a voice boomed into the house from somewhere outside.

  ‘This is Colm Hayes. I’m part of the Garda Síochána Crisis Unit …’

  Brioni literally jumped like a startled cat, curling up into a ball beside the wall.

  Well, that explained where the guards were.

  Her heart pounding, Brioni waited to see if there was any response from inside the house. Nothing.

  She closed her eyes. The voice came again, looking for a response.

  Still nothing.

  Where on earth was Anna?

  A chill breeze blew across Brioni’s face, lifting her hair. Was the sound of the sea coming through the front door, rather than a window? Was it open? Had Anna escaped?

  Brioni slid up the wall, trying to look out of the huge window. It was difficult to see anything except the reflection of the room. But, standing up, she could see that the front door was wide open to the night air. Brioni’s hand snaked out to the light switch on the wall beside her. She flicked it on and off again. Then again. Pulling her phone from her hoodie pocket, she sent Con Walshe another text.

  Chapter 58

  Brioni was sitting on the living room floor when the first commando came through the front door. After she’d texted Con, she’d looked in every room for signs that Mar had been here. There had been nothing. Only the squished cushion in her dad’s chair was an indication that anyone had been in the house at all. Where could she be? And where had Anna vanished to?

  Brioni hoped she’d found her way to the guards, that whoever had come with the hostage negotiator had found her and was looking after her. The urge to go outside looking for Mar was eating her up, but where did she look next? Where could she be, if she wasn’t here? Brioni had suddenly felt exhausted and, sinking down, had put her head against the white wall and closed her eyes.

  She opened them fast when she felt, rather than heard, a presence in the room with her. A presence that was dressed in black trousers, boots laced almost to his knees, and a short-sleeved shirt under his body armour, the tattoo of an octopus straddling his extremely toned, tanned arm. He was wearing gloves and carrying what looked like a machine gun. Not exactly what she’d been expecting.

  Struggling upright, she smiled weakly at him.

  ‘Hi, I’m Brioni. Reiss Chanin’s outside the back door. He … erm … He hit his head. I’m pretty sure he was on his own. There’s no one else here.’

  The officer, his face hidden by a crash helmet and visor, gave a sharp nod and came fully into the room. Like something out of a movie, another officer was close behind him, covering him as he checked the rest of the property. She’d left the doors open and he swung them wide, methodically double-checking.

  Then he headed into the kitchen. She heard the rattle of the back door opening.

  Brioni turned to put the light on in the living room. She wasn’t completely sure why she’d been sitting in the dark, but at least it meant that no one could see her from outside. She paused before she turned it on, catching a flash of light across the dip in front of the house. Walking over, she put her hands around her eyes to look out of the huge window. She could see dark figures moving around outside Cara’s house. Was that where Anna was? She could just make out a large shape behind the house – was that the helicopter?

  As she looked out, her phone pipped with a text. She glanced at it – Con Walshe had replied.

  Marissa safe. Your friend Anna here, too. You ok?

  It took Brioni a moment to respond – a moment in which emotion swelled inside her, enveloping her. She could feel tears falling down her face, but she didn’t care. She hit reply and texted him:

  Very ok.

  An ambulance was pulling up behind the house as Brioni climbed the far side of the dip, heading for Cara’s bungalow. Blue strobes illuminated the entire area, the flashing lights picking up Emergency Response officers moving around ominously in their body armour and helmets.

  Brioni didn’t bother to look around at what was happening behind her; if she never saw Reiss Chanin again, it would be too soon. The garda officer who had found him out the back had come in to her and said that he was alive, which half of her supposed was a good thing, and half of her deeply regretted. Another guard appeared then – a woman. She’d checked Brioni was all right and told her she could leave the house, had made to go with her, but Brioni had said she’d be fine. She didn’t need to be shown the way.

  Now, walking quickly across the cropped grass in front of Cara’s house, Brioni didn’t want to think about Reiss Chanin or what might have happened. She broke into a run, skidding around the corner, through the gap in the hedge that seemed to have got wider since she was last here.

  She could clearly see the helicopter now. It had landed at the edge of Phelan’s field, and in front of it, a black jeep had pulled up, the doors open, the interior light bright in the darkness. Closer to her, dark figures were clustered around a computer screen, the light almost supernatural, radiating out into the night. Before Brioni could catch her breath, she spotted Anna deep in conversation with Con Walshe. He must have seen her at the same moment she saw him. Her face twitched into a smile as she raised her eyebrows in mock surprise.

  ‘Con Walshe, what on earth are you doing here?’

  Brioni said it loud enough for those focused on the computer to hear. He grinned back at her, shaking his head as Anna turned and gave her a hug.

  ‘Bri, what happened? How did you get here?’

  Before Brioni could answer, another figure slipped out of the rear of the jeep and was running towards her. For a moment Brioni wasn’t sure who it was – a woman, with dark hair, but …

  ‘Bri! My God, you’re all right, I was so scared.’ Marissa threw her arms around Brioni and held her so tightly Brioni could hardly breathe. She hugged her right back, winded for a moment, unable to find the words she needed. A moment later Marissa took a step backwards, shaking her head. ‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry all this happened.’

  Brioni shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

  ‘Are you OK?’

  ‘I am now. I have to go to hospital to get checked out, but I’m OK.’

  ‘Come on, ladies, let’s get moving, will we? It’s late enough.’ Con Walshe sounded firm. ‘Bri, will you and Anna come to the station with me and we’ll get your statements? Then you can all catch up? Marissa, the doc wants to get you to the hospital.’

  Marissa turned to him. ‘Can’t Brioni come with me? There’s so much—’

  ‘Don’t worry, she’ll see you later. I reckon she needs a nice cup of tea now.’

  Brioni wiped her eyes and smiled.

  What was it with police and cups of tea?

  Chapter 59

  ‘What’s happening, honey? I’m about to get on a plane and I need to
know you’re OK. Something’s happened here, too. We need to talk.’

  Anna replayed Rob’s message and took a deep breath. Heathrow was much busier than London City, despite it being so early in the morning; it was a huge airport.

  Anna glanced over her shoulder. She’d only just landed, had walked out to find a police driver waiting to collect her and Rob. With the car abandoned somewhere outside, he’d gone off to get a coffee now, which suited her fine. Anna felt nerves flutter in her stomach. She had so much to tell Rob, and from the tone of his voice it sounded as if he had a lot to tell her, too. Right now, she just wanted to feel his arms around her and hear his gorgeous voice.

  The arrivals hall was crowded, families waiting for relatives, drivers with signs waiting for business people. Anna glanced up the line standing beside the barrier. A man in his twenties stood nervously, clutching a large bunch of flowers. Anna smiled to herself. There was nothing easy about long-distance romances, but moments like this made up for all the angst.

  ‘Hello, honey.’

  Anna spun around to see Rob smiling down at her, his laptop bag slung over this shoulder, his signature silver Samsonite carry-on at his feet. He was wearing an open-necked blue cotton shirt and jeans, the sleeves rolled back. He looked good enough to eat.

  ‘Where did you come from?’

  He grinned. ‘You think I come through passport control like everyone else?’

  She laughed. ‘I suppose not. How was the flight?’

  ‘Worth every minute of seven hours to see you.’ He pulled her into his chest in a hug. ‘You OK?’

  Anna paused as emotion choked her. She could smell his aftershave, just wanted to stay in his arms all day. But that couldn’t happen. She pulled away.

  ‘I’m good. It’s so good to see you.’ She paused, taking a shaky breath. ‘Really, I’m good. It all worked out OK in the end …’

  His hands still on her shoulders, Rob rolled his eyes and looked at her seriously, as if he didn’t believe her.

  ‘How’s Marissa?’