Private Games (Private 3)

‘We don’t have an hour,’ Knight said.

Jack was already on the steep ladder, preparing to climb down to inspect the giant propane tank. ‘Call in the dogs again, Stu. Send them down as soon as they get here. Peter, trace the gas line up to the roof.’

Knight nodded before asking Meeks if he had any tools with him. The facilities director unsnapped a Leatherman from a pouch on his hip and told Knight he’d send the schematic of the gas-line system to his phone. No more than twenty yards up the spiral staircase that climbed the Orbit, Knight felt his phone buzz, alerting him to the arrival of the schematic.

He was about to open the link when he thought of something that made the diagram seem irrelevant at this point. He keyed his microphone and said, ‘Stuart, how is the gas line to the cauldron controlled? By that I mean is there a manual valve up there that controls the gas flow that will have to be moved for the flame in the cauldron to go out, or will it be done electronically?’

‘Electronically,’ Meeks replied. ‘Before it connects to the cauldron the line runs through a crawl space that’s part of the ductwork in the ceiling above the restaurant and below the roof.’

Despite the pounding in his skull and his general sense of irritability, Knight was picking up the pace as he climbed. The wind was strong now. In the distance he thought he heard the rumble of thunder.

‘Any way to get on the roof?’ he asked.

‘There are two hatches with retractable doors and staircases on opposite sides of the roof,’ Meeks said. ‘That’s how the guardsmen have been climbing up and down for their shifts. There’s also an exhaust grate in the ductwork several feet from that valve you asked about.’

Before Knight could think about that, he heard Jack say, ‘Main tank appears clear. Stuart, we know the max volume and what it’s holding?’

There was long pause before the Olympic Park’s facility supervisor said in a hoarse voice, ‘It was filled again at dawn, day before yesterday, Jack.’

Two hundred feet above the Olympic Park, Knight now understood that underground between the Orbit and the stadium was a mega-explosive device certainly capable of toppling the tower, but also of causing tremendous damage to the south end of the stadium and everyone seated there. Not to mention what might happen if a central explosion set off other detonations around the venue.

‘Evacuate, Jack,’ Knight said. ‘Tell security to stop the ceremony and get everyone out of the stadium, and out of the park.’

‘But what if he’s watching?’ Jack said. ‘What if he can trigger it remotely?’

‘I don’t know,’ Knight said, feeling torn. His personal inclination was to turn around and get the hell out of there. He was a father. He’d already almost died once today. Could he dare tempt fate twice?

Still climbing, Knight toggled on the schematic on his phone, looking for the digitally controlled cauldron valve that was somewhere between the roof and the restaurant ceiling. At a glance, he felt almost sure that that control valve was the most likely place for Lancer to attach a triggering device to the main gas line.

If he could reach it, he could defuse it. If he couldn’t …

Chapter 114

LIGHTNING FLASHED IN the near distance and the wind began to gust as Knight reached the entrance to the observation deck of the Orbit. Samba music blared from inside the Olympic stadium as part of Brazil’s tribute to the 2016 games.

Though they’d been warned that he was coming, the Gurkhas at the entry insisted on checking Knight’s ID before allowing him to enter. Inside he was met by the senior SAS man, a guy named Creston, who said that he and his team and the skeleton television camera crew had been on the deck since roughly five o’clock when the restaurant had been closed to everyone but the Queen’s guardsmen who were using the gents’ inside to change in and out of uniform.

Queen’s Guard, Knight thought. Lancer’s regiment served in the Guard. Hadn’t he said that?

‘Get me in that restaurant,’ Knight said. ‘There might be a triggering device tied into the gas line above the kitchen.’

In seconds, Knight was running through the restaurant towards the kitchen with the SAS man in tow. Knight looked over his shoulder at him. ‘Are the roof hatches open?’

‘No,’ Creston said. ‘Not until the end of the ceremony. They’re timed.’

‘No way to talk to the guardsmen up there?’

He shook his head. ‘They aren’t even armed. It’s a ceremonial bit.’

Knight pressed his microphone. ‘Stuart, where do I go up through the ceiling?’

‘In the kitchen, left of the oven hood,’ Meeks replied. ‘The kitchen is past the toilets and through the double doors.’

As Knight went into the hallway towards the kitchen, he saw the gents’, remembered that the guardsmen got changed there, and had a sudden strange intuition. ‘When did the relieved guards leave?’ he asked the SAS man.

Creston shrugged. ‘Right after their shift. They had seats inside the stadium.’

‘They changed and left?’