‘Jack, what’s going on?’ asked Duggan.
‘Just do what I say, Colin,’ said Nightingale. ‘As soon as you examine the girl you’ll know that I’m right.’ He turned to Hoyle. ‘Let’s go, Robbie.’
‘I’ve got a PC who can take you up,’ said Duggan.
‘I know where we’re going,’ said Nightingale. ‘Come on, Robbie,’ he said, and they hurried towards the apartment block.
‘Why aren’t you up there, getting her down?’ shouted a bald man holding a metal toolbox. He pointed at Nightingale. ‘You should do something instead of pissing about down here.’
Nightingale walked over to the man and punched him in the face. The cartilage splintered and the man fell on his back, blood pouring down his chin.
‘Jack!’ yelled Hoyle, pulling Nightingale away.
‘He asked for it,’ said Nightingale. ‘He just wants to see her jump.’ He jabbed his finger at the man on the ground. ‘She’s not dying today, you ignorant bastard!’
‘Jack, what the hell’s wrong with you?’ said Hoyle. ‘You’ll be thrown out of the job for that. You can’t go around thumping civilians.’ He tugged at Nightingale’s arm and the two of them began jogging to the entrance of the block.
The reception area was plush with overstuffed sofas and a large coffee table covered with glossy magazines. A doorman in a green uniform was talking to two uniformed officers.
‘Where’re the stairs?’ shouted Hoyle.
The doorman pointed to three lift doors. ‘The lifts are there, sir,’ he said.
‘We need the stairs,’ said Hoyle.
‘It’s okay, Robbie,’ said Nightingale. ‘We can take the lift.’
Hoyle stared at him in amazement. ‘You never use lifts.’
‘It’s okay.’
‘How many years have I known you? You’ve never once stepped inside a lift.’
Nightingale stabbed at the call button. ‘Yeah, well, today’s the day, the first day of the rest of my life.’
The doors to one of the lifts opened and Nightingale strode in. Hoyle followed him. Nightingale pressed the button for the fourteenth floor.
‘It’s the thirteenth,’ said Hoyle.
‘There is no thirteen. It goes from twelve to fourteen.’
‘Why?’
Nightingale scowled. ‘Because the developer thought that thirteen was unlucky. And in this case he was probably right.’
The lift doors closed. ‘Are you okay, Jack?’
‘I need you to listen to me and to do everything that I tell you, do you understand?’
‘I’m not retarded, mate.’
‘Everything,’ insisted Nightingale. ‘No matter how.?.?. unorthodox it seems.’
‘Unorthodox?’
‘The girl is in Fourteen C. On the balcony. Actually, it’s more like a terrace. Next door, in Fourteen D, are a Mr and Mrs Jackson. Nice couple, in their sixties. They’ll let you out onto their terrace. Make sure that they stay well back, okay?’
‘Okay,’ said Hoyle hesitatingly.
‘Go out and talk to her. Her name’s Sophie. She’s holding a doll. The doll’s name is Jessica Lovely.’
‘What’s going on, Jack?’
‘Just listen to me. Sophie wants to jump, Robbie. She wants to end it. Her father’s been abusing her and her mother isn’t doing a blind thing. There’s a bruise on her leg and God only knows what else. When she jumps she’ll just jump. There’ll be no shouting or screaming, she’ll just go. She’s sitting on the edge with her legs hanging over so all she has to do is slide under the railing and she’s gone.’
‘How do you know all this? Do you know her?’
‘You have to keep her talking, Robbie. Get her attention. Talk about the doll. Talk about the sky. Talk about birds.’
‘Birds?’
‘Whatever it takes to distract her. You can jump over to her but the way she’s sitting that’ll just spook her and she’ll go over the side.’
‘Where will you be?’
‘I’m going up to Fifteen C. I’ll get onto the balcony above her.’ He took out a cigarette and lit it.
‘And then what?’
‘Then I’ll drop down. I’ll drop and I’ll push her away from the railing. And at the same time you jump across and grab her.’
‘Bollocks you will,’ said Hoyle.
‘It’s the only way,’ said Nightingale. ‘She wants to jump and if she thinks you’re trying to stop her, she’ll do it.’
‘Jack, you’re not the bloody SAS. We don’t do jumping off balconies.’
‘Keep your phone switched on, but set to vibrate. I’ll call you when I’m in position. When your phone vibrates you get ready, and as soon as I drop you jump across. I’ll push her back, you catch her.’
‘And then what? What about you?’
‘I’ll be okay. I’m dropping one floor. I’ll grab the railing and pull myself up. You keep hold of Sophie.’
‘Have you cleared this with Chalmers?’
‘This has nothing to do with Chalmers.’
‘What’s got into you?’
The lift arrived at the fourteenth floor and the doors rattled apart. Nightingale pressed the button for the fifteenth floor and then held the doors open for Hoyle. ‘Just go, Robbie. Keep her sweet and wait for my call. I drop, you jump, we save her life. Deviate from that and she’ll be dead. Robbie, I swear to God she’ll jump. Just do exactly what I say and we’ll save her.’
Hoyle opened his mouth to argue but then he sighed. ‘Okay,’ he said.
‘One more thing,’ said Nightingale. ‘Every time you cross the road, you bloody well look both ways, do you hear me?’
‘What?’
‘The Green Cross Code. Just look and keep looking every time you cross the road. Any road.’
‘Okay.’
‘Swear.’
‘What?’
‘Swear,’ said Nightingale. ‘Swear on the life of your kids that you’ll look both ways every time you cross a road.’
‘What’s going on, Jack?’
‘Swear, you bastard,’ hissed Nightingale.
‘Okay, okay, I swear. Cross my heart.’ Hoyle made the sign of the cross on his chest.
‘On the life of your kids.’
Hoyle’s eyes narrowed. ‘This isn’t funny, Jack.’
‘Swear,’ repeated Nightingale. He took a drag on his cigarette.
‘On the life of my kids,’ said Hoyle quietly.
Nightingale smiled. ‘One day you’ll thank me,’ he said.
‘When this is over, you and I need to talk,’ said Hoyle. He stepped out of the lift.
‘Phone on vibrate, remember? And when I drop, you jump across.’
Hoyle nodded.
Nightingale moved away from the doors to allow them to close.
‘And watch out for black cabs!’ shouted Nightingale through the gap.
The lift started up and Nightingale took a final pull on his cigarette and then dropped the butt onto the floor. At the fifteenth floor, the lift doors opened and Nightingale stepped into the corridor. He took a deep breath, then walked over to Fifteen C and rang the bell.
76
Hoyle walked over to the window that overlooked the terrace. He gestured at the door. ‘That’s unlocked?’
Mr Jackson nodded. He was in his early sixties with grey hair that was only a few years from being completely white. He had a stoop and he had to twist awkwardly to look Hoyle in the eye.
‘What’s going to happen?’ asked Mrs Jackson anxiously. She was sitting on a floral-print sofa, her hands in her lap.
‘Mr Jackson, could you sit down with your wife while I go outside? The fewer people that Sophie sees, the better.’
Mr Jackson nodded and went to sit next to his wife. She reached for his hand.
‘Do you know Sophie?’ Hoyle asked them.
They both nodded.
‘And her parents? Are they good people?’
Mr and Mrs Jackson looked at each other. ‘Six years, and I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I’ve seen her with her mother or father,’ said Mr Jackson. ‘It’s always an au pair she’s with, and they seem to change them every six months or so.’ He looked at his wife again and she nodded in agreement. ‘The thing is,’ he continued, ‘one doesn’t like to talk out of school but they didn’t seem to be the most attentive of parents.’