a police escort. Blues and twos all the way to the East Neuk. That was what he needed right now.
Lawson looked around the church hall they'd commandeered. "The technical support team can identify which rooms Macfadyen and the baby are in. So far, he's spent most of his time in a room at the back of the house. The baby is sometimes with him and sometimes in the front room. So it should be straightforward. We wait till they're separated, then one team goes in the front and gets the baby. The other team goes in the back and closes down Macfadyen.
"We wait till it's dark. The streetlights will be off. He won't be able to see a damn thing. I want this to go like clockwork. I want that baby out of there alive and unharmed.
"Macfadyen is another matter. He's mentally unstable. We have no idea whether he is armed or not. We have reason to believe he has already killed twice. Only last night, he is believed to have committed a serious assault. If he hadn't been disturbed then, it's my belief he would have killed again. He said himself he has nothing left to lose. If he shows any sign of reaching for a weapon, I am authorizing you to open fire. Does anyone have any questions?"
The room was silent. The officers in the armed-response group had honed their skills for an operation like this. The room had become a vessel for testosterone and adrenaline. This was the moment when fear was given another name.
Macfadyen tapped the keys and clicked his mouse. The connection over the mobile phone was abominably slow, but he'd managed to upload his conversation with Lawson to the Web site now. He sent out a follow-up e-mail to the news outlets he'd contacted earlier, telling them they could get a front-row seat at the siege by linking to his site, where they could hear for themselves what was going on.
He was under no illusion that he could control the outcome. But he was determined to stage-manage what he could, and to do whatever was necessary to make this front-page news. If that cost the baby's life, so be it. He was ready. He could do it, he knew he could. No matter whether it meant his name would be synonymous with evil in the tabloids. He wasn't going to come out of this as the only bad guy. Even if Lawson had called for a news blackout, the information was out there now, in the wild. He couldn't gag the Internet, couldn't stop those facts spawning. And Lawson must know by now that Macfadyen had an ace in the hole.
Next time they called, he'd lay it out. He'd reveal the full extent of the police duplicity. He'd tell the world how low justice had stooped in Scotland.
It was judgment day.
Alex was halted at a police roadblock. He could see the massed emergency vehicles ahead, could just make out the red-and-white barriers at the mouth of Carlton Way. He rolled down the window, aware that he looked filthy and disheveled. "I'm the father," he told the police officer who leaned down to speak to him. "It's my baby in there. My wife's here somewhere, I need to be with her."
"Have you got some ID, sir?" the constable asked.
Alex produced his driving license. "I'm Alex Gilbey. Please, let me through."
The constable compared his face to the picture on the license, then turned away to speak into his radio. He came back a moment later. "I'm sorry, Mr. Gilbey. We have to be careful. If you'd just park on the verge there, one of the officers will take you to your wife."
Alex followed another yellow-jacketed officer to a white minibus. He opened the door and Lynn leaped out of her seat, falling into his arms on the steps. Her body was trembling and he could feel her heart thudding against him. There were no words for what ailed them. They simply clung to each other, their anguish and fear palpable.
For a long time, no one spoke. Then Alex said, "It's going to be OK. I can end this now."
Lynn looked up at him, eyes red-rimmed and swollen. "How, Alex? You can't fix this."
"I can, Lynn. I know the truth now." He looked over her shoulder and saw Karen Pirie sitting by the door, next to Weird. "Where's Lawson?"
"He's at a briefing," Lynn said. "He'll be back soon. You can talk to him then."