His momentary lack of focus cost them dear and as he turned back, Pete saw the approaching roundabout and a lengthy queue of traffic. Joanne was about to congratulate him on giving the police the slip but the next thing she knew she was propelled forward with such force that the air bag was activated. Then she was thrown back in her seat and everything went black.

57

DAY 7

As Alex Radford finished his early morning briefing, Graham came dashing into the office, his face beaming.

‘We’ve got them!’ he shouted. ‘They were picked up on CCTV joining the M4 at 8.15am.’ A massive cheer resounded through the room and Alex picked up his phone to request two cars to intercept and arrest the pair.

Everything moved quickly from then. The nearest police car to the junction was dispatched to follow the suspect car and within minutes a second vehicle joined the chase. The team gathered around to listen to the commentary from the pursuing vehicles. Sirens screeching ensured other traffic moved out of their way, and the first car made visual contact with the Lexus in a matter of minutes. The driver, however, pulled away at speed.

‘The idiots are trying to make a run for it!’ Graham said.

Everyone in the room realised how dangerous such a situation could be and silently prayed there’d be no collateral damage. Once the Lexus started to put space between them and the pursuing police, more cars were dispatched to the two nearest exits, either of which the suspects might choose in their efforts to avoid arrest.

‘Slow down, you fools, we’ve got you now,’ the DI muttered as the whole team listened to the live commentary.

Graham was tracking their progress on Google Maps and saw the junction approaching. ‘Are the backup cars at the junctions yet?’

‘Yes,’ Dee Samms answered and the room fell silent again other than the commentary from the car.

The first pursuing car went past the junction – the Lexus had gained in distance between them and was out of sight. The other car took the exit and in a matter of seconds reported a multi-car collision on the slip road. A few groans and expletives hummed around the room and the atmosphere grew heavy with tension. They listened helplessly to the uniformed officer as he tried his best to keep them updated.

‘It appears the Lexus ploughed into stationary traffic at speed. I can see at least three cars jack-knifed... but I’m unsure how many casualties there’ll be. We need traffic control here ASAP – the roundabout’s at a standstill – and medics too.’ After the last message, nothing more could be heard except static and background noise.

‘Come on, Graham, let’s get down there.’ Radford grabbed his jacket and set off at a run, his DS following close behind.