To Snatch a Thief

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR



The clock in the armacar said ten minutes to three. Although she’d been awake for over twenty hours Skye felt wired; like she’d drunk a crate-load of coke and her blood was a hundred percent caffeine. Adrenaline had her brain working at a hundred miles an hour. Okay, she thought, sick as it was, she loved him. If she could stop him going after Narelle and, at the same time, convince him to give himself up, that’s what she planned to do.

Climbing in the back, Skye took a seat behind Hunter while the others ranged along the bench seats wherever they could. She counted fifteen in all, including the driver: Sergeant Newman, Corporal Smith, Dawson and Johansson were in their group, plus nine others. Through the rear door, she watched a second armacar filling with soldiers. The door slammed shut. They pulled out of HQ. Nerves were running on hot. She could feel the buzz - a mix of fear and excitement.

A whole section, floor to ceiling, on one side of the vehicle at the front, was taken up with pulsating electronic equipment. Skye assumed the red swirls, dancing over the six screens, were a healthy sign, as the techno expert seemed relaxed, manning his console like a DJ at a gig.

‘Hey, Dawson.’ Two seats down, a uniform leant forward, winked at the others. ‘Want me to remind you how the safety catch on your weapon works?’

‘Shut up, Gregory.’

He grinned, darting looks right and left while the others chuckled. ‘Only, I seem to remember an incident during that raid on the pub. Help me here; didn’t you forget to disengage it?’

‘Equipment malfunction, mate. Joke’s on you, pal. I saved your butt at Tiffany’s and dented your ego.’

‘I’ve seen his ego,’ one of the female uniforms chirped up. ‘And it is pretty big.’

‘Believe it, baby.’

Everybody laughed. ‘Don’t,’ Smith groaned with exaggerated feeling. ‘You’ll make him unbearable.’

Dawson grinned at Gregory, licked her first finger and drew a short vertical line in the air. ‘I thought he already was.’

It was their way of coping with tension, Skye realised, this friendly point scoring. They obviously knew each other well. She felt a small stab of envy - she’d never had that closeness with anyone. Maybe Ashleigh was the nearest, but doubted, if push came to shove, she’d put her life on the line with her.

They raced towards Royalty. ‘Sir, what’s going to happen if some of those deliveries get through? If the captain can’t stop them leaving?’ one of the newcomers asked.

Hunter swivelled around. Their eyes met and for a second Skye saw triumph in them. Then the expression was gone. ‘We’ll stop them, soldier,’ he stated. ‘Either at Royalty or on the streets.’ As he turned back, his jaw clenched. ‘We have to. That bitch isn’t going to hurt anymore innocent people.’

‘Are you talking about Narelle Keating?’ Corporal Smith glanced over at Skye. ‘You think she’s behind this, sir?’

‘Up to her evil neck.’

Everyone but Sergeant Newman fell into an uncomfortable silence. ‘Um, what are our orders if she’s there, Lieutenant?’ Skye could tell from the lowered eyes around her, others were wondering the same thing. Newman cleared his throat. ‘I mean, with her being so high profile.’

Hunter kept staring ahead, his voice was chillingly calm. ‘Don’t worry about her, Sergeant. She’s mine.’

‘You’re cleared to go, Lieutenant.’ The whiz-kid stopped tapping his fingers and sat back. ‘Camera’s are out, blaster’s de-activated, door lock bypassed. I can hold them indefinitely. However, the signal’s not going to be good when you get underground. Anything you meet down there, treat as active.’

‘Understood.’

He’d been so distracted for the rest of the journey, Skye thought he’d forgotten she was there, but as the others jumped from the van, Hunter turned in his seat again, gripping her arm with his hand. ‘Don’t move. Stay here.’ Then he was gone and she was left, biting her nails to the quick.

‘Fancy a mealy bug?’ The techno guy drew a packet out of his pocket, burst the bag open and proceeded to crunch.

She would have thrown up if she’d tried. ‘No, thanks.’

He peered at his equipment, adjusted something. ‘Sure? Lots of protein - you look like you need to re-charge.’ He seemed irritatingly un-phased while she bounced on her seat with helicopters doing tail spins in her guts.

‘No, really.’ She bounced some more, drummed impatient fingers on her knees. Will you know when they’ve reached the tunnel?’

‘Hang on. I’ll put this on loudspeaker so you can listen to the action.’ The van filled with sounds, echoing in the confined space. She caught a faint lapping of water like when a breeze slaps it against the riverbank, and beyond that the distant hum of the city. But there was something else in the foreground; a kind of amplified breathing as if more than one pair of lungs were pulling in and blowing out air. She cocked her head, leant in closer to the machine. ‘What’s that?’

‘Trams moving out.’ His eyes had tightened. ‘We’re listening to Captain Yao’s party. We’re patched through to the equipment in the armacar at the docks. They’re almost there.’

Caught up, they both jumped as a blast ripped through their eardrums, reverberating around the insides of the vehicle. As the ringing in her ears cleared, the sounds now were of boots pounding on gravel - heavy breathing of men on the run. Then all hell broke loose: horrible sounds of a firearm battle, with no way of telling who was firing on whom.

The technician must have seen Skye’s face pale – she certainly felt every drop of blood drain from it – because he said, quickly, ‘A body hit, even set to kill, won’t have any effect. They’d have to take a stream in the face, or neck to do any real damage.’

Small comfort. ‘Hunter?’

‘They’re in.’ Abruptly he sat up, his fingers raced around the controls.

‘Officer down!’ a frantic voice shouted. Assistance required. Officer down!’

‘Wait, it’s not…’

She was out of the door.

Skye crept a few paces and saw nothing more frightening than the tunnel ahead, sloping downhill in easy curves. There was no movement or sound. A faint greenish light spilled out from the entrance; the light squares now doused to a standby glow.

‘It’s now or never,’ she told herself, forcing her feet to move while trying to steady the rapid hammering of her heart. Slinking in she began to descend. The thin light threw eerie shadows on the walls; shapes that grew into monsters in her mind.

She rounded a turn and came to a fork in the tunnel. Separated by a massive timber structure, the left hand wound down in what she guessed would be the direction of the river; the right to the heart of the Palace. Skye hesitated. Spinning a coin in her head, she tiptoed towards the left fork, keeping as close to the rock face as she could, listened. No sound. The air down there felt cold; damp. The lights petered out after a couple of yards. It felt disused.

She retraced her steps, turned towards the right, and on rounding the first curve found the slope flattened out. She slowed, keeping her fingers on the cool stone, as the safety of the tunnel fizzled out. In front of her was an open space. The three vehicles she’d seen earlier were parked at the far side; beyond them, a short flight of steep steps leading up. Skye hesitated, terrified of being caught in the open. One more step and she’d be exposed, but there was nothing for it. Go on, or turn back.

Too late, she thought of body armour and the fact she should have grabbed one. She gulped a large mouthful of air. With her heart fluttering, she lifted a foot.

A hand, clamped across her mouth from behind, stifled her scream. She was dragged backwards, then spun around to be pressed face first against the cold tunnel wall.

‘If I let go, will you be quiet?’

She nodded. The hand was removed and King stepped round to face her, grinning like an idiot.

‘Surprised?’

‘King!’ she hissed, keeping her voice just above a whisper. ‘What in God’s name are you doing here?’

His grin widened. Putting his mouth to her ear, he said, ‘I followed you in. I’d been watching the action from the docks and saw the armacars scream in. You could have knocked me down with a feather when I saw you bolt out the back. What’s going on?’

‘I haven’t time to explain. Look, just get out…now. Apart from anything else, the place is crawling with snatchers.’

‘Think I’ll take my chances. You might need me to snog you again.’

She didn’t have time to argue. ‘King, I have to find Hunter.’

‘Okay.’

They ran across the open area, squeezing between the cars. As they reached the flight of steps the world erupted. Shouting, cries, the unmistakable whine of laser streams. They stared at each other for less than a second.

King nodded. ‘Go. I’ll watch your back.’