Agent of the State Read Online Free PDF Page A

still. The Smith & Wesson felt nice and solid, weightier than the Glock, so Kerr used the barrel to stab him in the eye. He screamed as blood spurted through his fingers and Kerr hit him again on the temple. ‘Hold onto him, Mel.’
    There was scuffling in the hallway as the first target came round, so Kerr re-holstered the Glock and turned back to batter him with his accomplice’s revolver until he was unconscious again.
    The landline was still connected and they could hear an urgent male voice. Kerr picked up the receiver. ‘This is John Kerr. We are safe. We are not under duress. Do not, repeat not, order any action until I give the all-clear.’ The voice at the other end was still going, but Kerr slammed the receiver down.
    He checked both men, pulled Melanie clear and sat her on the sofa. ‘You all right?’
    ‘What kept you?’ She was grinning at him.
    The phone was ringing again but he went to the kitchen for a knife and cut her bonds. ‘Where’s the rest of the tape?’
    Melanie searched under the sofa cushion for the roll of brown duct tape and bound the wrists and legs of her gently moaning captive while Kerr dragged the other man in from the lobby. ‘Better hurry up,’ said Melanie, taping his mouth to stop him moaning, ‘or this one’s going to bleed to death.’
    They trussed up both men and left them at opposite sides of the room. Then Kerr disarmed the shotgun and the handgun and laid them on the kitchen drainer.
    ‘Ready?’ he said, when they were back in the hallway. ‘Let’s go to work.’
    Kerr slowly opened the front door and held out his ID for all to see. As they made their walk down the street he held Melanie’s arm. To the watching cops it could have been for support or restraint, and Kerr made it deliberately ambiguous. A couple of senior uniforms were waiting by the school to receive them. Kerr identified himself and told them where they could find the hostage-takers, weapons and ammunition. He didn’t give Melanie a name, describing her as a source he needed to extricate immediately to avoid the media. Unimpressed, they ordered him to remain in the containment area for a ‘comprehensive debriefing’.
    ‘Understood. No problem,’ he conceded. Then he spotted an ambulance parked by his car. ‘Just need to get her checked out and make a couple of calls.’
    Armed police were swarming into the stronghold now. ‘Five minutes,’ ordered one of the uniforms, distracted. ‘Wait for us at Gold Command.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘The caretaker’s office.’
    ‘Of course.’ Kerr walked Melanie to the ambulance. He told her to look injured but all attention was directed at the stronghold as they walked past the ambulance to the Alfa, where Dodge was waiting.
    ‘Welcome back,’ he said, giving Melanie a bear hug and winking at his boss as he tossed him the car keys.
    Kerr checked his BlackBerry as he and Melanie got into the car. ‘They’re being a bit arsy, Dodge.’
    ‘So I’m staying here to cover, yeah?’
    Kerr pushed the Alfa into ‘Drive’. ‘Say I got called away.’
    ‘Great,’ said Dodge, deadpan. ‘That should calm them down.’
    Kerr turned round and drove slowly until he was clear of the cordon. At the end of the street he swung right into Hackney Road. ‘Thanks, John,’ said Melanie.
    He flashed her a smile. ‘What went wrong?’
    ‘Haven’t the faintest. Nothing unusual, not a sign, until they got pulled. Then they went crazy, as if they’d suspected me of being a cop all along.’
    ‘Any signs before that?’
    ‘No. They made a couple of calls on the way to South Mimms. In Turkish. The only English word I heard, kept hearing, was “total”.’
    They paused while Kerr wove through the vehicles along Bishopsgate, heading for the City. Traffic was heavy, so he went left at Houndsditch, racing down towards Tower Hill.
    ‘We’ll get to the bottom of it. Do I get you checked out or is it straight home?’
    ‘Not a scratch.’
    Channel Five erupted while