The flames hadn’t reached the stairwell. Phil was grateful for that. He was unhappy about leaving Marina, but not as upset as she was with him for going back inside. But it was his job. She knew he couldn’t have done anything else.
‘Ben,’ she said, ‘he calls himself Ben. It’s his… other personality, I think.’
‘His dead brother,’ said Phil. ‘Thanks for the heads-up.’
‘Let me… come with you…’
‘You’re not going anywhere. The ambulance’ll be here soon.’
Marina nodded reluctantly.
One final kiss and he was off into the building again.
He took the stairs two at a time until he could go no further. Then he found a set of metal ladders bolted to the wall in front of him. He looked up. There was a hatch at the top. He started to climb.
Swinging the hatch back, he pulled himself out on to the roof. Looked round. The beam from the helicopter swung back and forth like a roving searchlight. He saw them. Two figures. One holding the other close. At the far side of the building, right at the edge. He walked towards them, the blades of the helicopter creating mini twisters all around him.
Grant Parsons saw him coming, turned. He grabbed Maddy, held her in front of him like a shield. Phil kept walking. Slowly. Purposefully.
Parsons had a knife at her throat. A big knife, Phil noted.
‘Get back,’ he shouted. ‘Get back…’ He pushed the knife against her neck.
Phil noticed she couldn’t move, that her arms were pulled tight behind her back. Tied, he thought. Her eyes were wild, staring.
‘Who am I talking to?’ shouted Phil above the din of the ’copter. ‘Grant or Ben?’
‘Ben,’ he shouted back. ‘It’s always Ben.’
From below, Phil heard the sirens of the arriving fire engines.
‘OK, Ben,’ he shouted. ‘Why don’t you put the knife down. Then we can talk.’
‘I’ve got a better idea,’ shouted Ben. He stepped up on to the parapet, put his feet right back against the edge of the building.
Phil ran forward. Ben brandished the knife once more. Maddy screamed.
‘Back! Get back!’
Phil noticed that there was a plank of wood on the parapet. It stretched across the alleyway to the next building. Parsons’s escape route. He must have planned it.
Parsons edged his way towards it, Maddy stumbling along with him.
‘Your empire’s burning,’ said Phil. ‘It’s all over. Why don’t you give up, eh? Then we can talk.’
Ben shook his head. ‘No, it’s better this way.’
‘You can’t get away. Look down there, look above you. You’re surrounded. It’s over. You’re finished.’
‘So?’ he shouted. ‘At least I’ll be famous. At least they’ll remember me. At least…’
Phil wasn’t sure, but he might have seen tears in Ben’s eyes.
‘At least… I won’t have been a failure… He won’t think I was a failure…’
He moved even closer to the edge.
Phil heard a sudden noise from behind him. He turned. It was Sperring, opening the hatch, letting it clang against the roof. Ben had heard the noise too, turned his attention towards it.
This is it, thought Phil. I won’t get another chance.
He readied himself to run forward, jump at Ben, grab Maddy and pull her to safety.
But Maddy had different ideas. She screamed. Primal, angry.
‘Fuck you! Fuck you! I’ve had enough… being hurt, used, abused… fuck you…’
She stamped down hard on Ben’s instep. He screamed in pain. Lost his footing. While he was disorientated, she brought her head forward, then let it fly back, hitting the bridge of his nose and his forehead with so much force that Phil heard the crack even above the blades of the helicopter.
Ben screamed once more, dropped the knife as he brought his hands up to his face. Maddy swung her leg forward and let it go backwards, hitting him in the shin. His footing became unsteady.
Phil ran, reached out, grabbed Maddy. Caught her by the arm. Pulled her forward, towards him, away from the edge.
Ben was weaving about in pain, eyes closed, blood fountaining from his broken nose. He staggered backwards. His heel hit the edge of the plank and he lost his balance.
‘No…’
He put his arms out, windmilling, but he couldn’t fight the momentum.
He disappeared over the side.
Screaming as he went down.
Phil held Maddy to him.
‘It’s OK,’ he said. ‘It’s OK. I’ve got you. You’re safe.’