Rina’s news threw everything into confusion.
‘There’s no doubt about this?’ Kendal wanted to know. ‘We’re trusting the word of a thirteen-year-old.’
‘How could he make this up? He knew nothing about the Goldman kids, but he does know Coran by sight. No, if George says he’s at Hill House then that’s where he is. We had a patrol car there most of the night but it seems they were withdrawn at eight thirty. The kids would have left for school. I’ll make a bet that Coran was watching.’
‘I’ll speak to Tyson, this changes the balance here,’ Kendal said. ‘You’d better start getting things mobilized.’ He winced. ‘I don’t want to think who’ll be footing the bill for this.’
Mac nodded. It would take time to shift operations over to Hill House, or rather, to set up yet another task force. So, Coran was only one man, but he had three hostages. What was he waiting for? What did he want? Why not just cut and run? What did he want the children for?
Stan was not prepared to wait this time. According to Rina, the police had no truly local resources to call on unless you counted a probationer and an elderly sergeant and a man nearing retirement. Resources would have to be called in from Dorchester and Honiton and probably Exeter. It was time, he worried, that they didn’t have.
‘Coran is just one man,’ he told Rina.
‘An armed and dangerous man and there are more people than Coran to consider.’
‘I know.’
‘For what it’s worth, I’m with Stan,’ Fitch said. ‘I say we go after the bastard, take him out.’
Rina eyed him suspiciously. He was enjoying this far too much, she thought, though she understood that the opportunity to act after so much frustration was overwhelming.
‘And if we get it wrong? We’ll have to live with that.’
‘There is no “we”, Rina.’
‘You’ll need a distraction, something to bring him to the front of the house, away from the children. Tim and I are it, I think.’
Stan shook his head.
‘What can I do?’ Joy asked.
‘You can stay put,’ Fitch told her.
Joy turned on him. ‘Fitch, I almost died last night. If it hadn’t been for Stan I’d be lying at the bottom of the ocean somewhere with a bullet in my brain. I think I’m a bit past telling no to. I got a second chance. I want to help those kids get one too.’
‘I don’t believe Coran would kill them,’ Stan said.
‘But can you be sure?’
He shrugged uncomfortably then looked away.
‘Right, so let’s stop wasting time. Rina, do you know the layout of the house?’ Fitch asked.
‘I know what Mac’s told me, but that’s all.’
‘Then we get George on the phone while we drive up there. He can fill us in. Everyone ready?’
No one was, but no one said so. ‘This is mad,’ Tim muttered.
‘It is that,’ Rina agreed, ‘but at least you’ll have a story to tell all those military relatives of yours. They may begin to think you’re almost normal.’
Tyson had thought carefully about how to play the new situation. He understood now why it had felt so wrong; so inauthentic. He decided he would play it straight and tell them what he now knew.
‘Inside the house,’ he called. ‘Inside the house, I hope you’re listening. I suggest you take up my suggestion and come out now, unarmed and with your hands raised. We’ve just received information about an associate of yours, a certain Mr Coran. It would appear that he took your bargaining chips away some time ago. As I understand it, gentlemen, lady, the children are no longer in your possession.’
Inside the house there was consternation.
‘I told you he sold us out.’ Thompson was furious. ‘Bastard.’
Tina, sitting at the top of the stairs, burst into tears. ‘I don’t want to do this any more. What’s the bloody point?’
‘They could be bluffing,’ Grogan protested. ‘Trying to shake us up.’
‘But they know about Coran,’ Thompson said. ‘That ain’t a bluff.’
‘We’re armed, we could fight our way out.’
‘What, go down in a blaze of glory like Butch and Sundance? Get real, Grogan.’
Outside, Tyson could almost feel the tension and the disagreement. He told his men to stand by. It would not be long now.
An officer came up close behind him and whispered that the negotiator had finally arrived and was waiting down the lane.
Tyson laughed. ‘Brilliant sense of timing,’ he said. ‘Tell him I’ll come down as soon as I can. To stay put in the meantime.’ A change of voice now could slow things down or even scupper things completely, Tyson knew. He hadn’t exactly achieved rapport with those inside the house, but he felt the balance shifting and was not prepared to let go now.
‘Inside the house, I would like a response from you. We know it’s only you in there, the kids are gone. No innocent lives to worry about. Maybe you should think about that.’
A few minutes more and he knew that his estimation had been right. The door opened just a crack and a scared, female voice was heard. ‘Don’t shoot, please. I’m coming out and I never had a gun.’
‘Come out slowly, hands above your head.’
Tina emerged, blinking back tears. Slowly the others followed, Grogan last of all.
Tyson breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Tell the negotiator that he’s got an early finish,’ Tyson said.