Page 101 of Next in Line

Everyone in the room expected the next voice they heard to be Nasreen Hassan. That was to be the first of several surprises.

‘Good morning, Superintendent. My name is Jamil Chalabi, and let me assure you I have complete control of this vessel. Let me also make it clear from the outset, if you fail to carry out my orders to the letter, I will not hesitate to make your adulterous Princess walk the plank. That may sound overly dramatic, but I have a feeling the event would be peak viewing on every television channel around the world.’

A young secretary seated behind the Prime Minister fainted, and two of her colleagues helped her out of the room. Everyone around the table remained transfixed by the conversation.

‘Your silence suggests that I’ve caught your attention,’ said Chalabi. ‘So I’ll now tell you what will happen next if you hope to see your precious Princess again. First, you will release my leader, Mansour Khalifah, from solitary confinement in Belmarsh and have him transferred to the prison hospital, where I will be calling him in an hour’s time. Is that simple enough for you to follow, Superintendent?’

‘Yes, it is,’ said William, refusing to rise. ‘But you have to realize that releasing Mr Khalifah will be a decision for theAssistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, not for me. And I have no idea where the AC is at the moment.’ William glanced across the table at Holbrooke, who gave him a curt nod.

‘You have one hour, no more. And I suspect he’s sitting in the room with you, so when I phone again, just be sure he’s ready to take my call. Should you attempt to double-cross me, the first person to die – well, let me be more accurate, the sixth – will be your colleague, Inspector Hogan, who is listening to this conversation. His will be a special death, which I’ve given some considerable thought. I’ve always wanted to know how long someone can survive in the sea without a life jacket. Less than a few hours, would be my bet.’ The line went dead.

‘I thought you told us that Chalabi was meant to be a society playboy,’ snapped the Prime Minister, ‘not a ruthless terrorist.’

‘There’s been nothing until this moment to suggest otherwise,’ said Commander Hawksby, coming to William’s aid. ‘However, I must confess that in the course of his duties as the Princess’s personal protection officer, Inspector Hogan has warned me on more than one occasion that Chalabi shouldn’t be underestimated, and that he was convinced, and I quote,’ he said, looking down at his briefing notes, ‘“That he’s not quite as naïve as he would have us believe.”’

‘That’s for sure,’ said the Prime Minister, ‘because he’s certainly made fools of you lot, and—’

‘Was there anything else you learnt from the conversation with Hogan, Superintendent?’ asked the Cabinet Secretary, butting in before the PM said something she might later regret.

‘His answers to the security questions were actually a way of passing on vital information without arousing Chalabi’s suspicions. DI Hogan mentioned the number ten when I asked how many officers I have under my command at BuckinghamGate. The correct answer is fourteen, so we can assume that ten is the number of terrorists involved in the raid, plus Chalabi, making eleven.’

‘So how long does it take on average for an ambulance to reach a traffic accident in London?’ asked the Cabinet Secretary.

‘About seven to eight minutes,’ replied William. ‘So I suspect eighteen to twenty knots is the speed theLowlanderis currently travelling.’

‘And is currently about a thousand miles away from its destination,’ suggested the First Sea Lord.

‘Clever,’ said the Cabinet Secretary. ‘But what about the six brothers and four sisters?’

‘I also know that Inspector Hogan was an only child,’ said William, ‘so I suspect the six brothers are active terrorists, while the four sisters are non-combatants. And rod of iron is slang for a Dragunov sniper rifle, which was presumably responsible for the death of the photographer on the beach.’

‘And Bill didn’t sit easily with the rest of the conversation,’ suggested the Cabinet Secretary. ‘I have a feeling you’re a William, and Inspector Hogan would normally call you “sir”.’

‘It’s an agreed code to let me know that everything he’s said can be relied on, and is not being forced out of him at the point of a gun, or worse.’

The First Sea Lord gave William a respectful nod, before saying, ‘We have less than an hour before we find out what Chalabi’s next demands will be, by which time the SBS transport plane should be on its way to HMSCornwall. You’re going to have to buy me some time, Superintendent, because my lads will need total darkness before they attempt to board that yacht, and sunset isn’t for another five hours.’

‘No pressure,’ whispered the Hawk, without any suggestion of irony.

‘As I mentioned before,’ said the Prime Minister, ‘we never negotiate with terrorists. But that needn’t stop us coming up with any excuse to keep them talking until the SBS are ready to play their part. With that in mind, Superintendent, if I might give you a word of advice: be sure your phone is fully charged.’

CHAPTER 34

‘THANKGOD YOU’RE STILL ALIVE,’were Victoria’s first words after the cabin door had been opened and Ross thrown back inside.

‘Well, at least for another hour,’ said Ross, trying to make light of it.

‘What makes you say that?’ she asked, anxiously clinging to him.

‘I’ll tell you later,’ he said, although he had no intention of repeating what he’d overheard of the conversation between Chalabi and William. ‘Right now, I need to speak to the Princess.’

‘She’s sitting on the balcony of her cabin, and she’s still on the same page of her paperback as she was an hour ago.’

Victoria followed Ross out onto her adjoining balcony, to see the Princess, head down, looking fragile and lost, her usual shy smile replaced by a look of intense foreboding. When she saw the two of them, she leapt up and ran across to their side of the balcony.

‘I owe you an apology,’ were her first words. Ross didn’t comment. ‘You never left me in any doubt how you felt about him,’ said Diana. ‘If only I hadn’t ignored your undisguised loathing of the man.’

‘You weren’t the only one who was fooled, ma’am. But for now, we have to concentrate on the present. So, if I tell either of you to do something, anything, don’t even think about questioning me. Is that understood?’

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