Stealing People (28 page)

From the dark recesses of the dead end came a man in a black balaclava, who got into the cab. He held a silenced pistol to the driver’s head and ran a scanner over the dashboard, which located the microphone. He ripped it out. In the meantime, four men climbed on to the back of the truck and scanned the money, while two others ran scanners along the sides and underneath. The process took three minutes. The men disappeared, leaving the driver shaken.

A minute later, Ryder Forsyth, who was in Wilton Place watching developments on screen via a link to the communications centre, received a call.

‘Ryder,’ said the voice, ‘we told you not to put tracking devices on the truck or in the money and you’ve done both. We also warned you of the consequences. Lots will now be drawn and one of the hostages killed.’

‘Wait.’

‘We told you. We were absolutely clear.’

‘I know you were and I appreciate that. Whoever put those devices on that truck did not advise me or the hostages’ parents.’

‘But they knew the consequences of their actions. We were clear. It was in an email that went to the communications centre so that everybody would have seen it,’ said the voice. ‘We located one of the devices in the money and it was a state-of-the-art super-thin undetectable
CIA
appliance. Except that, unfortunately for you, every tracking device has to emit some electronic signal, however small, and we have the technology to pick it up.’

‘It was done without our knowledge. Had we known, we would have—’

‘Ryder. It doesn’t matter. Whoever did it knew what they were doing and what would happen. We’re drawing lots.’

‘Look, how about this? I will talk to the people who did this. I will make sure that all tracking devices are immediately removed. I will get names. They will never work again.’

‘I don’t think you understand, Ryder. We had an agreement. That agreement has been broken. We have kept our word throughout. When we told you we were going to do something, we did it. When you complied with our wishes, we stopped. You were told of the consequences.’

‘What would it take for you not to kill one of the hostages?’

Silence.

‘You wouldn’t be able to make it happen.’

‘Try me.’

‘We’re assuming that this decision to go ahead with tracking devices was a
CIA
-inspired action. Is that correct?’

‘I’d have to check.’

‘You find out who was responsible and we’ll start drawing lots.’

The phone went dead.

Ryder Forsyth knew immediately what he had to do. He called Hines.

‘They’re drawing lots to kill a hostage,’ he said. ‘Whose decision was it to retain the tracking devices when the kidnappers had expressly forbidden it?’

‘As far as I know it was a
CIA
decision in consultation with Ken Bass representing the parents. I did not agree with it.’

‘None of the other parents consented to any representative,’ said Forsyth, who asked for an immediate video conference call between Hines, Sutherland and himself.

He shouted down to Ken Bass, who was in the other living room, told him to get upstairs.

‘They found the tracking devices,’ said Forsyth. ‘We’re going to have a video conference call with Hines. You’ve got two minutes to get your story straight with Ray.’

Bass said nothing, went to the corner of the room and called Sutherland. He was back in two minutes to take part in the call.

‘Who ordered the tracking devices to be installed?’ said Forsyth.

Silence. The men stared into the cameras. Hines and Sutherland looked serious on the split screen.

‘They’re drawing lots to kill a hostage,’ said Forsyth. ‘I have to get back to them with who was responsible. Only then do I have a chance at negotiation.’

‘Like what?’ said Sutherland, aggressive. ‘Negotiate
what
with these guys?’

‘No, Ray, they have always been very clear. They told us precisely the consequences of such an action. I have a chance of reversing it, but only with the truth. I have to know who took that decision. They were
CIA
devices, so I know you supplied them. Was anybody consulted?’

‘No,’ said Bass.

‘Jeez, Ken, that’s such a crock.’

‘There was no consultation between you and me, Ray.’

‘I told you—’

‘But I did not agree to it with you,’ said Bass. ‘There was no formal agreement.’

‘But you knew,’ said Forsyth, ‘and you allowed the devices to be planted without consulting any of the other parents or me?’

‘I did not give permission. I was only told that these “undetectable devices” were available. Ray was well aware that I was not in any position to allow him to plant the devices.’

‘Did you assume that he was going to do it?’

‘There was no agreement.’

‘You’re not answering the question, Ken,’ said Forsyth. ‘I know these people by now. If we try to sell them some shit, they won’t tolerate it and somebody’s child will die. It could be yours. They’re drawing lots. Now. Do you understand me?’

‘I understand you perfectly. I reiterate that I was told of the availability of these undetectable devices, but I was not consulted and I did not give permission.’

‘This is such bullshit, Ken. I cannot believe you’re saying this,’ said Sutherland.

‘I’m only telling the truth.’

‘Look, buddy,’ said Sutherland, pointing into the camera, ‘you
and the truth were never even in the same goddam room in the whole of your fuckin’ life.’

‘Calm down, Ray.’

‘I choose my words carefully,’ said Bass. ‘Your problem is you don’t listen.’

‘If we’re not going to get the precise truth, then we should agree on a statement that is acceptable to both of you and hope they’ll buy it,’ said Hines.

‘The problem with these guys,’ said Forsyth, ‘is they won’t
buy
anything.’

‘So tell them the
CIA
deployed the devices without consulting the parents,’ said Sutherland. ‘What they gonna do? Come after us? Fuck ’em.’

The video call ended. Forsyth sent an email to the kidnappers telling them what Sutherland had said. He sent Bass downstairs. The kidnappers called him back.

‘That took a long time to decide,’ said the voice. ‘Do the parents have a spokesperson or do you have to speak to each one individually?’

‘They’re all billionaires,’ said Forsyth. ‘None of them would consent to having a spokesperson.’

‘The
CIA
and the Kinderman Corporation have very close ties. I think it unlikely that the
CIA
would do anything without at least letting Ken Bass know.’

‘He says they didn’t and the
CIA
have confirmed that they planted the devices. They had the technology.’

‘All right. Because you took so long, we have already drawn lots. The hostage who will be killed is Sophie Railton-Bass.’

‘I did what you asked. I found out what happened. You told me—’

‘Keep your hair on, Ryder. We won’t follow through with the threat if you do two things. The first is to remove all the tracking devices right now.’

‘And the second?’

‘We’ll tell you once you’ve confirmed the devices have been removed. You’ve got ten minutes.’

The phone went dead. Ryder called Hines and Sutherland. A tech team was sent under police escort to where the truck was parked and all the devices were removed. It took twenty-seven minutes. Forsyth confirmed the removal by email.

The kidnappers called him back.

‘The second thing is that the
CIA
must agree to a press conference in which they fully reveal the extent of their manipulation of the weapons of mass destruction data in co-operation with the demands of the Bush administration, which resulted in going to war with Iraq. They also have to name who was responsible.’

Silence from Ryder.

‘You still there, mate?’

‘Yeah, I’m here. But you know that’s impossible. Nobody’s going to agree to that.’

‘Then tell them that Sophie Railton-Bass will be executed in fifteen minutes,’ said the voice. ‘In the meantime, we’ll get the truck on the move again.’

Forsyth shouted down to Ken Bass and made another conference call, told them the news.

Ken Bass immediately called the vice president of the United States. Hines disappeared from the camera and told the communications centre to alert all units to report any sightings but under no circumstances to follow the vehicle.

The truck reversed out into Upper Thames Street. The driver followed instructions. They took him on the same circuit over Blackfriars Bridge, south of the river and then back over Tower Bridge, but this time they sent him east on the Highway towards Limehouse.

‘That sounds like it’s going to be very difficult to achieve in the time frame given,’ said the vice president.

‘Remember they only have to agree to give a press conference. They don’t actually have to do it,’ said Bass.

‘It’s a complicated issue, the politicisation of intelligence data. It’s not something easily condensed for a short press conference. It was the subject of the Senate Report on Iraqi
WMD
Intelligence in 2004 and 2007. I mean, what exactly are they looking for?’ said the vice president. ‘And what happens if this is an extended scenario? Your daughter will still be in danger …’

‘But she won’t be executed in fifteen minutes’ time,’ said Bass. ‘That’s the point.’

‘Leave it with me,’ said the
VP
.

Bass called Sutherland on his secure line, told him about the naming of names. There was a long silence.

‘Ray?’

‘I’m still here.’

‘Do you know what’s going on?’

‘I’ve got an idea.’

‘Are you going to tell me?’

‘I’m going to have to talk to Clifford Chase first,’ said Sutherland, and hung up.

The truck descended into the tunnel of the Limehouse Link. As the driver reached the halfway point, he was told to slow down and stop with his warning lights switched on.

DCS
Hines was given a report that the truck had gone into the tunnel but hadn’t come out.

‘Get me a
CCTV
feed from the Limehouse Link,’ he said. ‘Inside and all exit routes. Fast.’

Three minutes eased past.

‘Do you think they’re unloading in there?’ asked one of the constables.

‘It’s high enough.’

The
CCTV
came up on a monitor. They searched through the cameras and found the truck stopped with warning lights deployed and all the money still on board. As they watched, it started moving again.

‘I think that was a test,’ said Hines, ‘just to make sure we weren’t following.’

The truck took the Westferry Road exit and joined the West India Dock Road. One of the plain-clothes teams spotted it cutting across the busy Commercial Road heading north.

Ten minutes had passed since Ken Bass’s conversation with the vice president and Ray Sutherland. Bass was pacing the floor of the smaller living room downstairs, couldn’t bear any company. He hadn’t told Emma anything about the tracking devices or the negotiations. Since the revelation about her affair with Conrad Jensen, they’d reverted to their pre-separation state of not speaking, not making eye contact. Finally the vice president called him back.

‘Well I’ve gotten an agreement from the
CIA
that, under the circumstances, they are prepared to give a fifteen-minute press conference on this subject. I’ve primed a journalist from the
Washington Post
, who’s mystified and wants to know the bigger picture.’

‘There’s a media blackout at the moment. We can’t say anything,’ said Bass. ‘What about the naming of names?’

‘It’s not as clear-cut as that, but they’ve come up with four names that won’t stretch credibility. Two of them are dead, one is in a home with pre-senile dementia and the fourth has disappeared in South America.’

Bass went upstairs and rejoined the video conference call, gave his news.

‘Can we have an email to that effect?’ asked Ryder.

Sutherland, still connected through the conference call, glanced at his computer.

‘Sure,’ he said. ‘I’ve just had confirmation. I’ll forward it.’

As Forsyth sent the email to the kidnappers, the truck crossed the Mile End Road and continued north. Beyond the street lights to the west was the darkness of parkland leading down to the Regent’s Canal. The squally wind, sometimes full of rain, was thrashing through the trees.

Hines was summoning unmarked cars from other parts of the city and stationing them along the route the truck appeared to be taking. He had a sighting from a car on Roman Road. Another, parked just down from the Crown pub, saw the truck cross the roundabout, maintaining its northerly direction on a road that bisected Victoria Park.

It was a couple of officers in the crowded Royal Inn on the Park who reported the truck heading into the western section of Victoria Park.

Hines told them to pursue the truck in their car, but not into the park; they just had to maintain a visual. He called the officers who’d made the two earlier sightings and told them to proceed to Victoria Park. He wanted both sets on foot: one to approach from the Regent’s Canal side and the other from the north-west.

‘You don’t think they’re going to use the canal, do you, sir?’ asked a constable.

‘I’ve no idea,’ said Hines. ‘It would be a slow process if they offloaded it on to a boat. There’s got to be ten locks between Victoria Park and Limehouse Basin.’

The car pursuing the truck from outside the park called in to say they’d seen it heading towards the canal. Minutes later, the officers stationed on a bridge over the canal said that they could see the truck, but that it had left the tarmac path and was heading into the flat open parkland.

It came to a halt after about a hundred metres.

‘Keep your distance,’ said Hines to the officers on the ground. ‘Just tell me what you can see. Don’t take any action.’

‘The driver has left the vehicle and seems to be preparing to unload the first package. Yes, that’s what he’s doing. He’s hooking the ropes up to the lifting gear. Now he’s off the vehicle and operating the crane. He’s lifted the first package off and he’s being very careful about its position.’