Soft Target (31 page)

'Absolutely,' said Tapping.

'Lose the equipment belt.'

'Including the Glock?'

^'If the MP5S don't do it, the Glocks won't be any use.'

'Everything okay?' asked Rose, in Shepherd's earpiece.

'We're in position,' Shepherd whispered into his mike. 'I'm going down with Tapping.'

'Hang fire until I give you the green light,' said Rose. 'The negotiator's still talking.'

Shepherd and Tapping removed their equipment belts and stood by the gaping hole in the floor, their MP5S close to their chests. They were about eight feet apart.

'The counter should be there,' whispered Shepherd,

pointing down between two of the joists. He pointed four feet to the left. 'That's where the kitchen starts. Dropping in won't be pleasant.'

'I'll do it,' said Tapping.

'No offence, but I'm a bit smaller. Less chance of me hitting something.'

Tapping nodded. 'Go for it.'

Ramshaw was holding the rope attached to Shepherd's waist and Sutherland had Tapping's.

'Brian, let me go five feet down, then take the strain, just in case there's an oven or something below. Give me a count of two to get my bearings, then let the rope go.' Ramshaw flashed him a thumbs-up. Shepherd winked at Tapping. 'Okay,

Kev?'

'Just want to get it over with,' whispered Tapping.

'We'll be fine,' said Shepherd. 'It's the last thing they'll be expecting. Just so long as Mike and Brian don't let go of the ropes.'

They heard sirens in the distance, and overhead the thudding beat of a helicopter rotor. Then silence.

'They're still demanding a coach in return for letting the injured hostage go.' Rose's voice crackled in Shepherd's earpiece. 'We've got a vehicle ready to go, but there's no way we're letting them drive away. We reckon one target will come out with hostages to check the coach, with the other remaining inside until he's sure everything's okay. As soon as Target One is at the door and the snipers have a clear shot, I'll green-light you two. You take out Target Two, and we take out Target One.'

'Affirmative,' said Shepherd.

'Affirmative,' echoed Tapping.

'Good luck, guys,' said Rose. 'Once things start moving,

I'll talk you through it.'

The radio went quiet.

'There's got to be more to this than pizzas,' whispered Shepherd.

'What do you mean?' said Tapping.

'If it was druggies they wouldn't have shotguns and they wouldn't be giving the negotiator a hard time. They'd be freaking out by now.'

'So.'

'So why knock over a pizza place? There are three building societies and a jeweller in the street.'

Tapping frowned. 'You think they're selling drugs, is that it?'

'I don't think they went in with guns to steal a few pepperoni pizzas. Drugs or money-laundering would be my bet.'

Shepherd's earpiece crackled. 'We have more details of what's going on inside,' said Rose. 'Targets are IC Three males. Not masked. Both have sawn-off shotguns, one appears to be double-barrelled but let's not make any assumptions.

The wounded customer is about six feet from the door being attended to by an IC One female wearing a dark blue coat.

One of the targets is between the counter and the door, but keeps the woman as a barrier. The second target is in the doorway that leads from the kitchen to the area behind the counter. He has three employees with him, all in uniform.

There are two customers also behind the counter, both IC One males in their early twenties, casually dressed.'

There was no need to spell it out. Shepherd would take the man behind the counter, Tapping the other.

'The coach is driving towards the shop,' said Rose. 'We have two men on board plus the driver. They're moving through the road block now.'

Shepherd's heart beat faster and a surge of adrenaline entered his system. Time seemed to slow, as it always did when he faced combat. All his senses became more alert, more focused.

¦ 'The coach is going to park in the middle of the road to give the snipers a clear shot,' said Rose, 'but we want to do this inside if we can.'

|| 'Affirmative,' said Shepherd. He nodded at Tapping and pressed his MP5 close to his chest, finger outside the trigger guard.

They heard the hiss of air brakes. Then silence.

'The negotiator's talking to them,' said Rose.

Ramshaw was holding the rope attached to Shepherd's waist and Sutherland had Tapping's.

'Brian, let me go five feet down, then take the strain, just in case there's an oven or something below. Give me a count of two to get my bearings, then let the rope go.' Ramshaw flashed him a thumbs-up. Shepherd winked at Tapping. 'Okay,

Kev?'

'Just want to get it over with,' whispered Tapping.

'We'll be fine,' said Shepherd. 'It's the last thing they'll be expecting. Just so long as Mike and Brian don't let go of the ropes.'

They heard sirens in the distance, and overhead the thudding beat of a helicopter rotor. Then silence.

'They're still demanding a coach in return for letting the injured hostage go.' Rose's voice crackled in Shepherd's earpiece. 'We've got a vehicle ready to go, but there's no way we're letting them drive away. We reckon one target will come out with hostages to check the coach, with the other remaining inside until he's sure everything's okay. As soon as Target One is at the door and the snipers have a clear shot, I'll green-light you two. You take out Target Two, and we take out Target One.'

'Affirmative,' said Shepherd.

'Affirmative,' echoed Tapping.

'Good luck, guys,' said Rose. 'Once things start moving,

I'll talk you through it.'

The radio went quiet.

'There's got to be more to this than pizzas,' whispered Shepherd.

'What do you mean?' said Tapping.

'If it was druggies they wouldn't have shotguns and they wouldn't be giving the negotiator a hard time. They'd be freaking out by now.'

'So.'

'So why knock over a pizza place? There are three building societies and a jeweller in the street.'

Tapping frowned. 'You think they're selling drugs, is that it?'

'I don't think they went in with guns to steal a few pepperoni pizzas. Drugs or money-laundering would be my bet.'

Shepherd's earpiece crackled. 'We have more details of what's going on inside,' said Rose. 'Targets are IC Three males. Not masked. Both have sawn-off shotguns, one appears to be double-barrelled but let's not make any assumptions.

The wounded customer is about six feet from the door being attended to by an IC One female wearing a dark blue coat.

One of the targets is between the counter and the door, but keeps the woman as a barrier. The second target is in the doorway that leads from the kitchen to the area behind the counter. He has three employees with him, all in uniform.

There are two customers also behind the counter, both IC One males in their early twenties, casually dressed.'

There was no need to spell it out. Shepherd would take the man behind the counter, Tapping the other.

'The coach is driving towards the shop,' said Rose. 'We have two men on board plus the driver. They're moving through the road block now.'

Shepherd's heart beat faster and a surge of adrenaline entered his system. Time seemed to slow, as it always did when he faced combat. All his senses became more alert, more focused.

'The coach is going to park in the middle of the road to give the snipers a clear shot,' said Rose, 'but we want to do this inside if we can.'

'Affirmative,' said Shepherd. He nodded at Tapping and pressed his MP5 close to his chest, finger outside the trigger guard.

They heard the hiss of air brakes. Then silence.

'The negotiator's talking to them,' said Rose.

There was a long silence. Shepherd spat out his chewing gum and took a deep breath.

'Okay, they're going to move to the coach,' said Rose.

'Target One is going to go outside with one hostage to check the coach. Target Two will remain inside. As soon as Target One opens the door, you move. Target One is still in the kitchen doorway. All the hostages are lying down.'

Shepherd nodded at Tapping again. Tapping grinned and spat out his gum.

Shepherd played it out in his head. He would drop down behind the man in the doorway. He would shout for the man to drop his weapon. If he complied, it was game over. If it looked like he was going to fire, Shepherd would fire first.

Tapping would drop behind the man at the front of the shop.

The biggest risk, so far as Shepherd could see, was of the man in the doorway shooting Tapping in the back.

'The coach door has opened,' said Rose, in Shepherd's earpiece. 'Target One is moving towards the door. The hostage is an IC One male wearing a black-leather motorcycle jacket.

Go, go, go!'

Shepherd stepped forward, keeping his elbows tight against his sides. He dropped and his feet broke through the plasterboard with the sound of tearing paper. There was a jolt around his waist as the rope held but he continued to fall. His instinct was to close his eyes but he forced himself to keep them open. He saw stainless-steel ovens, a hotplate, a large refrigerator,

work surfaces thick with flour, plastic containers full of tomato sauce, green peppers, sliced pepperoni and the man standing in the doorway, starting to turn. There was a second ripping noise as Tapping broke through the ceiling.

The rope bit into his waist and Shepherd jerked to a halt.

He was hanging a few feet from a metal preparation table with half a dozen pizzas ready to go into the oven. 'Armed police!' he yelled. 'Drop your weapon.'

I 1 I The man kept turning. The barrel of the shotgun was pointing at the ceiling.

'Drop your weapon!' Shepherd yelled.

'Armed police!' shouted Tapping, from the front of the shop. There was the deafening sound of a shotgun blast followed by the crack of a 9mm round. A woman screamed and a man yelled.

Almost immediately Ramshaw let the rope slide and Shepherd dropped to the floor. He bent his knees to absorb the impact but his eyes never left the man in front of him.

He caught a glimpse of a hostage just behind the target, a man in his twenties wearing a blue baseball jacket, but he kept focused on the man with the shotgun.

The shotgun barrel swung down. The man's mouth was open in surprise, eyes wide and staring. Shepherd slid his finger inside the trigger guard. One pull and he'd hit him dead centre.

His finger tightened on the trigger, but he could see how frightened the man was. Shepherd rushed forward, the rope trailing in his wake, and slammed the stock of the carbine against the man's chin. His eyes turned up in their sockets and he fell to the ground. Shepherd kicked the shotgun to the side and rushed through the door. He shouldered the man in the baseball jacket to the side, his MP5 at the ready, but it was all over.

The air was thick with dust from the ceiling. The second target was on the floor, the shotgun several feet away, blood oozing from his left thigh. He was clutching his leg and wheezing. Through the shop window Shepherd saw two armed police running from the coach, handguns held high.

Tapping was standing by the counter, breathing heavily.

'You okay, Kev?'

Tapping nodded.

Shepherd spoke into his radio mike. 'All clear, Sarge. Two targets, one unconscious, one bleeding from a leg wound.

We need paramedics.'

'They're on their way, Stu. You okay?'

'We're fine.'

The two armed officers burst into the shop. One picked up the shotgun and made it safe.

'There's another in the kitchen,' said Shepherd.

Two paramedics arrived with a trolley. Tapping and Shepherd ushered the hostages outside. One of the members of staff, a middle-aged West Indian, was insisting that he be allowed to stay but Tapping told him it was a crime scene and pushed him outside. The woman who had been looking after the injured hostage was sobbing and a WPC took her to an ambulance.

The paramedics dealt with the injured hostage who was bleeding from the stomach and barely conscious. Shepherd knelt beside the robber Tapping had shot and used his Swiss Army knife to cut away the man's bloody trouser leg. There was an entry wound six inches above the knee and a larger exit wound at the back. It was bleeding but Shepherd could see it wasn't life-threatening.

Two more paramedics rushed in. Tapping and Shepherd moved away to give them room to work on the man's injured leg. Sutherland and Ramshaw appeared at the shop doorway.

'Everything okay?' asked Sutherland.

'We're fine,' said Shepherd.

The armed officer who'd gone into the kitchen reappeared with two uniformed officers who'd come in through the fire exit. They had handcuffed the robber Shepherd had knocked out. The man was still dazed but he could walk.

'How did you manage that?' asked Sutherland.

'He was slow,' said Shepherd, 'and I almost landed on top of him.'

'Mine fired by mistake,' said Tapping. 'Shat himself when I dropped through and the shot went into the ceiling but I couldn't take the chance of him firing again.'

'I'd forget the “by mistake” bit if I were you,' said Shepherd,

keeping his voice low. 'He fired, end of story. There were too many civilians around to take chances.'

Rose appeared at the door. 'You guys okay?'

'Not a scratch,' said Tapping. 'The one on the ground shot at me so I fired. Stu here didn't bother with his gun, took his guy out with a flying drop kick.'

'I hit him with the stock,' said Shepherd.

Rose clapped him on the shoulder. 'Not bad for a first day on the job,' he said.

Swift jogged down the street. He stood aside for the paramedics to wheel out the injured hostage. 'Is he going to be okay?'

'Stomach and intestine perforated and he's lost a lot of blood,' said a paramedic. 'It doesn't look good.'

'No one else hurt?' asked Swift.

'Just a leg wound,' said Rose, indicating the robber on the floor.

'Brilliant, lads,' said Swift. 'Might have a photocall for you later, turn you into heroes.'

Shepherd grimaced. 'If it's all the same to you, sir, I'd rather keep a low profile. A guy did stop a bullet. He might have relatives who'll take offence if they see us grinning on the front page of the Evening Standard!