easy. The AFA plan called for James to stay in the flat for twenty-eight hours, when Mark would drive him to the station and put him on a train back towards Bristol. James didn't have his mobile, the door at the bottom of the stairs was deadlocked and Mark and Adelaide both had guns.
James reckoned her be able to take Mark and Adelaide out and make a run for it, but her be putting Kyle in danger if word of his betrayal got back to Hummingbird Farm.
Once her peed, James went into the living-room to find the TV turned up loud. Mark and Adelaide sat on the sofa and an excitable newsreader spoke over footage from Tyneside Studios. The pictures showed the kidnapping, with TV CHEF KIDNAPPED rolling across the bottom of the screen.
Although the two camera operators on the stage floor had panicked and stopped filming, the Wendy and Otis Showt director had remote cameras positioned around the studio and kept his show on air, cutting expertly between different angles as the drama unfolded.
Thatt gotta hurt,?James grinned, as he watched a replay of his mercifully unrecognisable self punching Otis Foxt lights out.
Then the camera cut to a close-up of Gaynor, crying in her wheelchair as Markt gun hovered in her face. The newsreader spoke sternly over the images.
These pictures were taken forty minutes ago inside Tyneside Studios near Newcastle. TV chef Nick Cobb was kidnapped live on air and taken away on the back of a motorcycle at high speed. Police currently have no idea as to Cobbt whereabouts and have mounted a search for the three kidnappers.
The Animal Freedom Army have claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and have issued a statement saying that they will run a live webcast with Nick Cobb, starting at one p.m.?
*
The drive from the banks of the Tyne to Hummingbird Farm took just under an hour. Two vans travelling at speed in a rural area might have raised eyebrows, so the one with Jo driving and Nick Cobb held at gunpoint moved quickly, while Kyle and Tom took the scenic route.
A stocky woman called Chase opened the gate for Kyle when they arrived. She had an assault rifle slung over her shoulder and as far as Kyle could tell, this was the only automatic weapon in the AFAt small arsenal.
Take the van around the back and park beside the barn,?Chase ordered, then she grinned. Better get a move on, they're about to start the webcast.?
Kylet heart was pounding as he stepped out of the van, making a point of keeping hold of the keys.
Excited??Tom smirked, as the two lads stopped by the back of the van and looked at each other.
Nalf excited, half scared,?Kyle said uneasily.
They stepped close and kissed. Kylet feelings were all tangled up: Tom was great fun, he had a great body and was everything Kyle wanted in a boyfriend ?apart from the difficult to ignore fact that he was one of the bad guys.
Te should go on holiday together when this is over,?Tom said. Lust you and me. Ire got enough cash for a couple of cheap flights down to Greece and we can go camping for a couple of weeks. Do you think your mum could handle that??
Tomt plan made Kyle sad. There was nothing in the world he wanted to do more than bum around the Med with Tom, but it wasn't going to happen.
Tf she won't let me, IEl run away with you,?Kyle said.
TEl book tickets when we get back,?Tom said, before glancing at his watch. Tanna go watch Vivt TV debut??
The studio lights made the dining-room unbearably hot. The ancient electrics inside the house weren't up to the demands of all the equipment and bundles of cable ran out through the windows to a diesel generator standing on the back lawn.
Two women manned the cameras. Jay sat at a fold-out table, in front of three screens and enough buttons to launch a space shuttle. He yelled orders at a couple of teenage flunkeys who were making last-minute adjustments to the lights and microphones hanging over the tiny set.
Viv stood centre stage. Tall, young and well spoken, he looked every bit the aspiring TV presenter, except for the black Balaclava over his head. Jo handed identical Balaclavas to Kyle and Tom, before shaking their hands.
Keep 抏m on in the studio, just in case a camera turns around and catches you,?Jo said. Bang-up job this morning, by the way.?
Theret Cobb??Tom asked.
Net in the other room. Ir prefer