river irwell, north of manchester,
1:49 a.m. gmt
They watched as the lights in bedrooms sprang to life in houses up and down the river. Terry smiled grimly at the futility of the police officers’ efforts to try and save some of the local residents from the upcoming devastation. He had to give them kudos—none of them tried to save their own skins.
“How long now?” he asked Huntington.
Huntington checked his wristwatch. “About three minutes, by my reckoning.”
Nolan flicked the cigarette off the back of the narrowboat and watched in satisfaction as it was extinguished in the river. “Well, Captain, if Leslie can’t deactivate this thing, it was a pleasure knowing you.” He reached out his hand. The officer shook it firmly.
“Pleasure’s all mine.”
Nolan heard a voice on his earpiece. “Sir, we have your boss on the line, I’m patching him through now.”
“Nolan, where are you?”
“Oh, just relaxing on the back of this narrow boat enjoying the night air. You’ll be glad to hear it’s finally stopped raining, sir.”
“Jesus, son, can’t you get out of there?”
Nolan sighed. “And go where, sir?”
“Listen, Nolan. I managed to get Amanda on the line. She wants to talk to you, okay?”
“I’d like that, sir.” Her voice suddenly filled his ear.
“Terry, honey. Robert told me what’s happening. Is there nothing you can do?”
“One minute,” said Huntington.
“I’m sorry, Amanda, but there’s no point running. Listen, I need to be quick.” He sighed heavily and tears welled up in his eyes. “I’m so sorry, sorry for everything.” The words began to choke up in his throat, but he had to get them out. “I’m sorry for how I treated you when Miranda died. I’m sorry for not being there when you needed me.”
“It’s okay, Terry. I forgive you. I always have.”
He sighed. What a bloody fool I’ve been and now it’s too late.
“Twenty-five seconds, sir,” said Huntington.
“I love you, honey. I’ll say hello to Miranda for you.”
She was crying now. “Terry, pleas—”
He hung up the phone and looked up into the dark sky . . . and nothing. He looked over at Huntington. “How come we’re still breathing?”
“No idea, boss,” he replied, getting to his feet and walking down below. Nolan followed.
Leslie was sitting back against one of the galley cabinets holding a small pair of wire cutters. Her two techs were smiling ear to ear and shaking hands. Nolan walked over to the bomb . . . The timer said three seconds.
He laughed. “Bloody hell, Leslie, cutting it a little close, weren’t you?”
Leslie looked up at him. “No shit, Terry, I think I need to get out of this business. I could do with a beer.”
Huntington walked over to the fridge and opened the door. Inside there were five bottles of Smithwick’s Irish red ale. He realized that the Irish were becoming as Americanized as the Brits. Beer in the refrigerator? To heck with it. “This will do nicely,” he said passing Leslie a bottle.
She twisted off the top and took a long drink. “Thanks, Captain, that really hit the spot.”
Terry got on the radio. “It’s all clear, Leslie disarmed it.” He heard laughing in reply and a number of people yelling. He opened one of the bottles. “Cheers. Here’s to not getting blown up today.” He promptly drained half the bottle and let out a burp. The others on the boat let out a burst of nervous laughter.
“Is it safe?” Huntington asked Leslie.
“For now. All I did was disconnect the timer. We still need all the cell phone towers shut down while I dismantle the rest of it, but as long as I don’t do anything stupid, we should be fine.”
“Best you keep evacuating the local residents, sir. At least for tonight,” said one of the techs.
“Okay,” replied Huntington. “I’ll let the locals know. We’ll put it down to a gas main leak or something. Anything else?”
“Yeah. Whoever designed this bloody thing really does know their stuff. I had to get past two traps just to stop the timer,” said Leslie. “I was lucky, Nolan. Anyone else trying to disarm this thing, I don’t think they would have made it.”
“Got it,” replied Nolan. “Just remember that we have another one out there somewhere.” He finished his beer. “Come on, Captain, I think there are a few people in London waiting to talk to us.”