The policeman was briefly caught between anger and deference. The latter won out; a bad word from somebody in one of the Met’s special operations units could be disastrous to a junior officer’s career aspirations. ‘Okay, sir. Sorry to bother you. I’ll be on patrol if you need me.’
‘Just make sure nobody else wastes my time,’ said Brice, returning to the pickup bed. ‘What, yer still ’ere? Jesus Christ, go!’
The cop hurriedly strode away. The spy glared after him, then returned to his task.
Another look at the clock tower. Less than ten minutes before noon.
Ten minutes before Britain changed for ever.
Nina cringed as a jaywalker belatedly ran for the pavement ahead of her. ‘What the hell is with people in this goddamn city?’ she shouted to Roy. ‘Big red thing coming straight at them, and they just stare at it!’
‘They probably can’t believe a London bus is doing more than five miles per hour,’ he replied. Then: ‘Okay, we’re nearly here! Just past these buildings, on the right.’
Beyond a cluster of pricey apartment blocks was what Nina first took as parkland before the building at its heart came into view. The new US embassy in London was a glittering glass cube surrounded by open green space. It was not freely accessible, though; the complex stood atop a small rise, walls spiralling up around it as effectively as a castle’s battlements. It even had a moat of sorts, the side facing the Thames separated from the park by an artificial lake. Waterfalls gushed over its sheer inner edge.
There was a pedestrian entrance down a side road on the right, but she would not be able simply to walk in. A pair of the inevitable black Range Rovers waited on each leg of the junction ahead.
But she couldn’t stop, not now. She had to get the evidence against Brice and his co-conspirators to the ambassador. But how?
Her only option, insane though it was, struck her. ‘Roy!’ she yelled. ‘Can you swim?’
‘Yah, of course, but why—’
Keeping her foot hard on the accelerator, she spun the wheel to aim the ravaged Routemaster between the two Range Rovers. ‘’Cause we’re taking a dip!’
The Removal Men had expected her either to stop or try to round their blockade, crouching behind their vehicles to cover both roads. They hurriedly changed positions and opened fire, but by then the bus had already rushed between them—
It leapt over the kerb, churning up turf as it skidded through the park. People fled, screaming. The remaining windows on the bottom deck exploded under the hail of gunfire.
Splinters stabbed into Nina’s cheek as a bullet blew apart the panelling behind her head. She held course as the grassy ground rose up towards the lake. The embassy loomed beyond it—
She screamed as blood sprayed from her left forearm.
The bullet had not smashed any bones, but her hand was now useless, every flex of the fingers agonising. All she could do was grip the steering wheel harder with her right hand as the bus reached the top of the slope—
And vaulted over its summit.
The Routemaster went airborne as it cleared the lakeside, hurtling across the water… and arced down into it.
The impact flung Nina against the steering wheel — then a frothing wave crashed through the broken windscreen, sweeping her from her seat.
The world spun, another lightning bolt of agony shooting through her wounded arm as it struck something in the swirl. An echoing boom rolled through the water as the bus slammed down on the lake’s bottom. More pain as her head smacked against a seat… then something large absorbed the next impact.
Roy. The young man had also been swept up by the inrushing water, but overcame panic to thrust himself in front of her. She heard a gasp as she knocked the breath from him — but he quickly recovered, grabbing a handrail and catching her with his other arm.
He lifted her head above the churning flood. ‘The stairs!’ he spluttered, pushing her towards the forward flight. ‘Get up the stairs!’
‘Thanks,’ she gasped, spitting out a mouthful of lake as she found footing. ‘You okay?’
‘Was in the rowing club at uni. Took plenty of unplanned dips!’
Nina staggered up the staircase. The torn hole in the bus’s front gave her a clear view of what lay ahead. The Routemaster was about ten feet short of the embassy’s wall, a paved plaza visible beyond the waterfall flowing over its edge. Alarm bells sounded inside the compound as its staff reacted to the crash.
But the Removal Men were also responding, running towards the lake. The harsh clatter of automatic weapons echoed across the park, the bus taking more hits. Their orders were clearly to stop her from reaching the embassy at any cost — even if that meant gunning her down on the boundary of American territory.
Rounds tore through metal, smacking against seats. Nina ducked fearfully back into the stairwell — but only seconds remained before they reached the lakeside and riddled the entire upper deck with bullets.
She felt her pocket. The flash drive was still there. ‘Roy, get back in the water!’ she cried, hoping it would offer him some protection — then she sprang up and ran for the front of the bus.
New pain stabbed through her wounded arm, but she forced herself to ignore it, focused on the gap between the Routemaster and the embassy. A mere ten feet, but she had only a short run-up…
She leapt, one foot stamping down on the broken window frame to propel her over the gap—
The top of the wall rushed at her.
Too high. She was falling short.
She threw out her arms—
Her left arm again flared with agony even before she hit the barricade. She slammed against it, the wounded limb flopping uselessly to her side — but managed to hook her right arm over the concrete edge.
The waterfall rolled over her, threatening to tear her loose. Nina choked as the deluge hit her face. She clawed for grip, fingers finding a pipe along the inner wall of the pool above her and clutching it as hard as she could.
Shouts reached her over the hissing rush of water. She struggled to raise her head above it. Figures were running across the plaza towards her.
Men in uniform, rifles at the ready. Marines.
They were not the only armed men she had to worry about. More gunfire erupted from the park, splashes bursting from the falling water around her as bullets struck the wall—
The marines fired back. Clods of earth spat up around the Removal Men as a barrage of automatic fire closed in on them. Outnumbered and outgunned, the British assassins sent a few last rounds at Nina before breaking and running through the trees back to their vehicles.
The firing stopped — but Nina was still in danger. She could feel the pipe buckling under her weight. She tried to scrabble higher, but her feet found no purchase on the smooth, wet wall. And her other arm was useless, pain overcoming her attempts to lift it. She slipped lower, her head dropping back under the relentless waterfall as her handhold tore free—
Someone grabbed her right arm.
She cried out as she was hauled roughly upwards. Two marines had leapt into the watercourse along the wall’s upper edge and seized her. They waded back to the plaza and deposited her unceremoniously on the paving. ‘She’s wounded!’ one shouted, seeing blood spreading across her wet left arm.
Nina coughed, trying to clear her airways. ‘I’m — I’m Nina Wilde,’ she gasped. ‘I’m an American citizen — and I’ve got to see the ambassador! There’s a—’
Before she could say anything more, she was sharply brought to her feet. ‘Get her to detention,’ barked another marine, glaring after the gunmen as their Range Rovers peeled away. ‘The embassy’s been attacked — we need to lock it down and find out what the hell’s going on!’