Page 50 of 72 Hours

I could feel Niall tensing beside me. Would Greg really come here? It could be of advantage to us if he did. Despite all that, I put the edge of a whine into my voice. “Why the fuck should we stay here? You might have all kinds of other stuff planned, and we’re not sitting here like fairground targets to get blown up again.”

He gave a low growl of disgust. “You’ll have to take that risk. I’m the one in charge now, aren’t I?”

I looked at Niall, who spoke quickly to me under his breath. “There’s no risk of another bomb here. The blast under the trailer was low level, less explosives than were really needed. Maybe he’s used up all his supplies, or is using them somewhere else.” He grimaced. “And I’ve checked everywhere else on the site. Twice.”

“The hospital?” I hissed back.

He shrugged. “I’d say too big a target, too difficult to organise an effective attack there. Especially if he’s acting on his own. But I don’t know for certain. He doesn’t sound stable.”

I turned back to the phone. “Greg.” I wheedled. “Maybe we should come and meet you. Tell us where you are.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Niall roll his eyes, but I got the right response from Greg.

“So you can send the Team after me? Don’t be stupid. I’m coming to you. But if I don’t find you there I’ll have to leave another calling card. Maybe another person will lose limbs, another person will learn what it’s like to be shit scared and desperate. And get that fucking dog away from the site. If there’s anything that smells of a trap, or any kind of obstruction—”

“We’ll stay here,” I said swiftly. “Don’t get hysterical. You’ll bring them both with you, won’t you? Simon and Sheri?”

“Maybe,” Greg said. He didn’t like me talking to him like a kid. “Maybe not.”

“Greg,” I said. “That’s fine. Chill. We’re completely at your call, aren’t we? But aren’t you worried we’ll call in some back-up? If you can’t give me any idea of when you’re coming....”

And he laughed. Loudly, and this time with a rather pleasantly melodic tone. He feels superior. “Do what you like, MacKay. But I think you’ll find the back-up isn’t available at the moment. Not for you, anyway. In the meantime, I’ll be there when I’m there. And my back-up? Well, just remember who I have with me. You understand?”

The call ceased. I turned to Niall.

“Is he insane?” Niall asked, frowning. I think he meant it genuinely. “Coming to meet us here? Warning us he’s on his way? He could have got clean away, he could have tried some other remote attack again. Not knowing we were on to him—”

I held up a hand, quieting him. “Yes, I believe he’s nuts, but not in the way we can measure. He wants to see us for some reason. He wants us all to be here together. He wants his day in court.”

Niall still looked confused. “What did he mean, another person might lose limbs, another person might learn what it’s like to be scared and desperate? He can’t mean us, surely.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. It’s melodramatic crap, his head’s in a mess. He must think Joe is still likely to lose his leg or something like that. He hopes he’s ruined that life, if nothing else. I don’t know what he’s thinking about the rest of us.”

“How long do we have? I mean, he could be here in the next ten minutes or the next ten hours.”

I shrugged, but when he frowned at me, I held up a hand. “Okay, so obviously we’re not meant to know, but that’s the idea, isn’t it? To unsettle us and keep us on tenterhooks. But it was important to keep him talking. I heard planes in the background. That confirms it for me—they’re all at the place Brad found, like I thought. Remember Brad said it was near both the airport and the club where you were stabbed?” I glanced at my watch. “That’s almost an hour across town. And at this time of day, anyone who tried to cross the traffic in town in a rush really would be nuts. I reckon Greg will wait for commuter time to pass. Then he’ll come here when it gets dark, when there’s less chance of witnesses. Especially if he’s got Sheri with him. Imagine if he tried to pass through the site with her in tow for everyone to see?”

Niall winced.

“Yeah. It wouldn’t just be Dylan he’d be in danger from.” I thought quickly. “That’s going to be after nine tonight.”

“So there could be time to get to the hospital and back?”

I took hold of Niall’s shoulders and stared carefully into his face. I could almost see the plans rolling around in his brain. Here was a guy who was created for field work, right? “Maybe there would be time, Niall. But I’m not going to risk it. Not for Simon, not for Sheri. If you want to try it, go ahead, and I’ll cover for you. But I’m staying here until Greg comes, and I’m going to find out what the fuck this is all about. I’m going to get Sheri and Simon back, and then—then—I’m going to beat the holy crap out of this kid.”

Niall looked back at me, and I wondered if he’d chew me out for it, for not considering other options, for just sitting back and waiting for trouble to come to us, for... well, for not being him.

But he didn’t.

“Right,” he said, nodding. “Good call. We stay here. We’ll wait together. I can rig up some early warning system, and I’ll see what weapons we can get around us. We won’t be sitting ducks, if and when he turns up.” He turned from my raised eyebrows and flipped open the phone again. “We can still call Judith, ask for cover. We must be able to get through by now.” He shook the cell phone, peered at the screen, held it up to the window.

“No signal, huh?” I asked. “No coverage, no connection. Your phone’s gone the same way as the others. I understand what’s happened now.” Niall was frowning at me, puzzled. I wanted to laugh, but I was just too fucking angry. “You know what he’s done? He’s cut them off! The guy works in procurement. His section—Simon’s section—pays the bills. How easy is it for him to cancel the contracts, cut us off from each other, just like that? If we rang him back now, I expect that connection would be lost too. It’s served its purpose. How fucking obvious, how fucking mundane.” I was shaking my head, half impressed. “Until we find alternative lines or set up proper radio contact, the Team can’t communicate, can’t plan anything as a group. It’s so simple it hurts. He’s living in a cheesy thriller of his own mind’s making—and dragging us in after him.”

Niall stared. “But he’s working alone, Tanner. We can take him out, no trouble. He’s unprepared for all this. None of us were meant to survive his remote attacks. He’s been very naïve, and clumsy too. He’s making mistakes, he’s making it up as he goes along.”

“But that’s what makes him dangerous!” I saw Niall flinch. “I have to think this through before he arrives. I think he has Simon under some duress, and God knows what he’s done with Sheri. It’s not a matter of just jumping the kid when he turns up and handcuffing him. You have to realise the danger of unpredictability, of irrationality. I underestimated it once before, and I’ve regretted that ever since.”

Niall’s eyes narrowed. “You’re going on about it again. That mission –”

“No,” I said, firmly. “I’m learning from it at last.” I stared steadily at him until I saw some acceptance flicker in his eyes. We both glanced together at the door out of the trailer.