Contents (84)
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- EIGHTY
- EIGHTY-ONE
- EIGHTY-TWO
- EIGHTY-THREE
- Acknowledgements
Nelson chose to ignore Webb’s political bait and turned his attention back to Jade.
‘Have you spoken to him yet?’ he asked.
‘I have, yeah,’ Jade replied.
‘And what did you think?’
One minute . . .
‘I thought he was bloody gorgeous!’
Nelson laughed. It was not quite the answer he had been expecting.
‘Gorgeous? Jade, the guy’s nearly sixty.’
‘Yeah, but still. It’s the charisma, isn’t it? It’s like you’re the only person up here with him when he looks at you. It’s . . . it’s . . . well, it’s a bit hypnotic.’
Nelson laughed again. He had flown with celebrities occupying the First Class cabin many times, often with Jade on the crew, but he had never seen her react so enthusiastically.
‘Have I got some competition back there?’ he asked, only half joking.
‘Course not,’ Jade replied. She waited a beat before adding: ‘I mean, he’s got his wife with him, hasn’t he?’
This time it was Webb who laughed. Loud and hard.
‘She’s got you there, buddy,’ he bellowed.
One second . . .
It is impossible to be sure what is faster: the speed of a human thought, warning that something is very wrong. Or the speed with which an explosion can spread throughout a fully fuelled commercial jumbo jet. And so it is impossible to know if any of them – David Webb, Jim Nelson, Jade Cox, or anyone else on Flight PA16 – was aware of the moment their lives were ripped away.
The explosion began in the luggage hold. A single case, filled to capacity with military grade C4 and a crude, home-made timer.
The C4 itself would have been enough to tear the plane in two. Enough to guarantee no survivors. But someone was taking no risks. The case had been carefully placed at the closest possible point to the base of the left wing, ensuring that the explosion ignited the fuel store within it.
The combination of the explosives and the fuel was devastating. The smooth, uneventful journey of the Boeing 747 was brought to an abrupt end, with white-hot, jet-fuel flames engulfing every inch of the massive flying machine.
No time for a brace warning. No time for oxygen masks. No time for crash positions. Just the sudden, fatal introduction of hellfire.
Flight PA16 from London’s Heathrow to New York’s JFK ended its journey in a violent storm of blazing debris, raining its charred remains across a five-mile stretch of the Atlantic Ocean.
TWO
Joe Dempsey sat in silence at the wheel of an aged Ford Galaxy people carrier.
The European-made MPV would stick out as unusually old in some parts of Manhattan – those neighbourhoods where a closet seemed to cost as much as a Midwest mansion – but it was entirely at home alongside the hard-worked cars and vans found in the island’s Chinatown district.
Lost in plain sight. Exactly as Dempsey intended.
‘How much longer?’
The question came from Dempsey’s right.
‘We’ll go as soon as SWAT’s ready,’ Dempsey replied, turning to face the speaker. ‘Not before.’