Coldbrook (Hammer)(106)

‘What?’ Lucy asked.

‘Everything’s buggered,’ Gary said. ‘Air-traffic control’s working so hard to avoid collisions that, they don’t have time to answer anything incoming. And since we’re approaching a bloody massive airport I’d like to know what’s happening there.’

‘I guess we can just assume it’s batshit,’ Marc said. ‘I don’t think Baltimore airport’s going to be f*cking around with passport control right now.’

‘I’m feeding radio just to my headset,' Gary said. ‘I haven’t even told you this . . .’ He reached across and held Marc’s hand, clasping it tightly. ‘Two passenger jets collided above Washington. Three more above Chicago airport, and I’ve heard of at least four others going down. And there are rumours about military jets shooting down anything that ventures out over the Atlantic.’

‘Our air force is shooting down passenger planes?’ Lucy asked, shocked.

‘I didn’t say our military,’ Gary said. They fell quiet at that, and Vic reached across to touch Lucy. For a moment she seemed to stiffen, but then she squeezed his hand.

Vic soon grew tired of looking down and seeing what was becoming of the world, so he looked to the skies instead. That was not much better. In the space of the half-hour it took them to reach Baltimore airport, they saw several smaller helicopters, three fast jets, and at least a dozen military helicopters, some of them Chinooks with vehicles slung beneath them. Their bellies were probably full of soldiers. Most of the army’s choppers seemed to be flying north.

‘Attack or retreat?’ Marc said, and no one risked a response.

Olivia’s desperation grew intense, and in the end Lucy fluffed up a blanket and sheltered her while she peed into that. The smell filled the cabin. No one commented, and Vic felt an intense gratitude to the other two men for that.

‘Airport’s close,’ Gary said, his voice quieter than before. ‘Better come see.’

Vic and Lucy crouched forward, and Olivia went with them, holding their hands. She felt cold to Vic, and he tried to remember the last time they’d eaten or had a drink.

The sun was a pale smudge on the horizon directly ahead of them, veiled by the massive spread of smoke that stained the eastern sky. It reached high into the air, and thousands of feet above them the spreading cloud was smeared with a dirty sunrise. At the base of the column of smoke was the glow of distant flames.

‘That’s the airport?’ Lucy asked.

‘Yeah,’ Gary said. He flicked a switch and spoke into his microphone, the words inaudible to the others. Vic tried to read his expression from the side but it was inscrutable.

‘She must be dead,’ Lucy said.

‘No,’ Marc said.

‘How can you know?’

‘I can’t,’ he said, never once looking away from the smoke and flames. ‘But if there’s even a remote chance that she isn’t, then it’s our duty to search for her.’

‘And put my daughter at risk?’ Lucy asked. Vic felt a swell of pride.

‘Absolutely.’ Marc turned around and smiled at the little girl who was unaware of their conversation. ‘Absolutely. This woman could save a billion other kids.’

Lucy snorted and looked away. He’s right, Vic thought. It’s gone so far so quickly, and if she is dead then maybe everyone is dead.

‘Honey, we’ve come all this way,’ Vic said. He meant from Cincinnati, but when Lucy smiled he thought back to the very first time he had set eyes on her, when he had fallen for that smile.

‘I’ll go in upwind, from the south,’ Gary said. ‘But it’s still going to be bad. I’ll do a flyover. You all need to be looking, because I’m going in low and all my attention will be focused on not hitting anything.’

‘What are we looking for?’ Lucy asked.

‘Anyone alive.’ Marc had produced a gun from his bag and placed it casually across his lap. Vic saw Olivia’s eyes straying that way. They went wide.

‘Where’s your gun, Daddy?’ she asked.

He thought of every way he could answer that: how to protect her, to shield her. But he realised that he was still thinking safe thoughts, from a time when safety was a very different thing. Baseball matches were cancelled, Oprah was not on air, and the schools were closed today.

‘It’s here,’ he said, pulling the M1911 from his belt. ‘And Daddy uses this to make sure that no one ever, ever hurts you.’