nicer person, your majesty.’
Leeson held up his hands. ‘Enough, children. We’re all professionals here, so let’s all behave with some professionalism. Mr Kooi has a simple job to do, and if you do it Lucille and Peter can go back to their lives knowing you really did love them. Peter can go back to school and play with his friends and grow up and chase girls and have a family himself one day. He’ll always know what his father did for him.’
Peter was still staring at Victor with the same quizzical gaze. Not frightened or overwhelmed with emotion. But curious. Then Victor understood.
The boy didn’t know his father. He didn’t know Kooi. He didn’t tell his captors the truth because he didn’t know the truth. His parents must have split long enough ago that the boy couldn’t picture his father’s face.
He thought Victor was his father.
Leeson squatted down on his haunches before the little boy. ‘They say if you come down to their level so you can look them in the eye they’ll trust you.’ Leeson brushed the shoulder of the kid’s T-shirt. ‘Do you trust me, Peter?’
The boy called Peter didn’t answer.
‘Maybe I should start hurting him now. Would that encourage your cooperation? I wonder how loud he would scream if I cut off his thumb?’
‘Let them go,’ Victor said.
‘Kill Prudnikov and they’ll be released,’ Leeson said. ‘There is nothing more to discuss. All I need from you is your agreement. Otherwise, by proxy you will give me your consent to have the ones you love butchered.’
Victor looked around. Dietrich, Coughlin and Hart surrounded him in a loose circle. Leeson and Francesca stood between him and Kooi’s family. Five Chechens stood at the periphery of the room. He had a single advantage: they thought the woman and the boy really were his family whom he supported and protected. Leeson believed they were Victor’s priority. The men in the room were positioned to stop him trying to kill Leeson or rescue the captives. They weren’t concerned about Victor escaping because they didn’t consider he would want to.
‘You’re probably wondering why this is happening to you,’ Leeson said. ‘Well, quite simply, Mr Kooi, reliable suicide bombers aren’t that easy to come across, and those that are reliable aren’t exactly the kind of people who can get into a Russian embassy and in range of a specific target. So it had to be a professional. You weren’t the only candidate, but you were so very calm when we met in Budapest, which we need you to be in that embassy, and of course you have such a lovely family to use as leverage. You need to make a decision, Mr Kooi. Right now. You’re going to die. There’s nothing you can do to stop that. But you don’t have time to grieve for yourself because you need to answer a question. You need to ask yourself whether you would rather die alongside your family or whether you’ll die to save them.’
The door was six metres away. He could cover the distance and be through it before anyone could intercept him. Leeson was pointing a gun at him, but Leeson was no marksman. Victor doubted he could hit a moving target. The mill was enclosed by the chain-link fence topped with spikes, but it was almost sunset. Shadows were deepening. The modern mill building was huge and full of machinery and blind spots – places to hide and to ambush pursuers. There would be improvised weapons. He had the valet key still. If he distracted them long enough he could get to the limousine and charge through the gates. It wasn’t a great plan. It wasn’t even a half-decent one. As soon as he was out of the door he would be improvising every step.
There was only a slim chance of a successful outcome, but a slim chance was all he needed – those inside the room had no idea what he was really capable of, and he would do anything to survive.
Victor stared into Lucille’s confused, terrified eyes, and then down to Peter’s. The boy didn’t blink. He stared at the man he believed to be his father. The man about to run away and leave him to his death.
‘I’ll do it,’ Victor said.
FIFTY-SIX
Leeson’s expression didn’t change. It didn’t change because there were only two answers to the dilemma he had posed, and Kooi or Victor or any sane person would never choose immediate death for himself and his family if there