‘There you go – mulled wine. That should thaw you out.’
Sarah held the glass in both hands, warming her fingers. ‘Oh, that’s great – bliss,’ she breathed.
Dan grinned, sitting down on the cushioned bench seat next to her. ‘You’re such a wimp.’
‘I know. But I’m happy being a wimp.’ She took a sip, the cinnamon flavours mixing with the red wine, warming her from the inside. She loosened her scarf and put it with her gloves on the seat. She glanced at the window, condensation running down it while outside, the sun ducked behind ominous clouds. She sighed. ‘I can’t help feeling we’re being manipulated.’
Dan took a swig from his pint before putting the glass down on the table. ‘I know. I had a good talk with David – almost friendly really. The problem is, he’s spent so long playing the political game, it’s hard to know if he’s being honest or not.’
Sarah leaned back, stretched out and tapped her foot along with the pub’s sound system gently playing in the background. ‘I don’t want to give up now, Dan. I know you’ll just say it’s my journalism background but it’s more than that – I feel like I owe it to Pete. And myself.’
Dan nodded. ‘I know. You don’t have to explain yourself to me.’ He squeezed her hand.
Sarah felt herself instinctively pulling back from his grasp, then relaxed.
‘What are you thinking?’ he asked.
She smiled to herself. ‘Just that I think we need to keep going. We have to stop this guy. I know we’re completely out of our depth but I’ve got this gut feeling we’re on the right track. We can’t give up now.’
Chapter 40
London, England
Dan gestured to Sarah to follow him through the door, walked over to David’s desk and pulled out a seat for her. Sarah stood at the threshold, and cocked an eyebrow at Dan before stepping towards him. As she approached the desk, Dan made the formal introductions. Sarah held David’s proffered hand briefly and then sat down. Dan shut the office door, pulled out a chair next to Sarah’s and gestured to David to begin.
David held Sarah’s gaze and slid a sheet of paper across the desk to her. ‘Before we begin, I’m going to have to ask you to sign this.’
Sarah glanced down at the document. ‘Official Secrets Act?’ She slid the document back towards David and stood up. ‘I don’t think so, thanks.’
‘Sit down.’
She looked down at Dan. ‘What?’
‘Sit down – and sign it.’
‘Wh…’
‘Just do it – please.’
He nodded at her. It’s okay.
Sarah sat down and began reading the document.
‘It’s a formality,’ explained David. ‘I just need to be able to control what you tell the general public. Before, during and after the event. The last thing we need is mass hysteria. You can sign it now and continue to be part of this investigation, or I can have you imprisoned until after this is over. It’s up to you.’
Sarah nodded. Then signed the document.
‘Thank you,’ said David, taking the pen from her. His face softened. ‘A few months ago, I don’t think you’d have done that.’
‘A few months ago, I didn’t have a dead ex-husband, a dead friend nor the sneaky suspicion you know a lot more than you’re letting on,’ said Sarah defiantly. She folded her arms and glared at David, then at Dan. ‘Now we have the pleasantries out of the way, are you going to bring me up to speed on what you two have been discussing behind my back?’
David reached out for a file on his desk and slid it towards himself. Opening it, he brought out a large photograph then spun it around to face Dan and Sarah.
What is it?’ asked Sarah.
‘Forensics from the explosion in Singapore,’ he said.
Sarah stared at him.
David shrugged. ‘We were still close by. I could’ve given you a lift to the airport if you’d waited another ten minutes.’
Dan picked up the photo and studied it before staring at David. ‘What the hell did they use?’ he asked. ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before.’
David flicked through the notes in the file. ‘Nothing conventional. Tech nerds reckon it’s a new form of propulsion. They’re still investigating. Which to me,’ he said, throwing the file shut in disgust, ‘means they haven’t got a clue.’
David stood up and beckoned Dan and Sarah to follow him. He pushed open the door and walked across the open-plan office to a separate room.
‘You can set yourselves up in here,’ he explained. ‘If you need anything, ask Philippa – she’s quite resourceful.’ He turned to Dan. ‘Meet me back in my office in five minutes. Let’s see if you can help fill in some of the gaps we have in our investigation.’
Dan nodded, sank onto a sofa in the corner of the room and began to read the report provided by the technicians about the car bomb. It was woefully short on detail. He wondered if he’d have found anything more, if he’d had the chance. His first priority had been to get Sarah to safety.
He glanced over while she set up her laptop on the empty desk, unravelling wires and checking phone lines were working. He smiled – she was tougher than he’d first thought, her mind always on the new story she hoped would propel her into journalistic stardom.
Dan re-arranged the photos in the file, then clipped them back together and stood up. ‘I’m going to get a coffee then go and see David,’ he said. ‘Back later.’
Sarah nodded. ‘Okay. I’ll catch up on some work emails, then have a dig around to see what I can uncover about shipping movements out of Singapore to see if I can find that car.’
David looked up as Dan entered the office, stood up and walked over to the incident board. ‘Come here and take a look. See if you can fill in any of these other gaps for us.’
Dan put his coffee mug down on the desk and joined David. He scanned the evidence David’s team had managed to collate so far. Suddenly he pointed to a photograph on the wall – a man, stocky build, wearing a dark grey suit and glasses.