Real Tigers / C14

Chapter 14

Book 3 Part Two 4972 words POV: Nick Duffy, Roderick Ho, Shirley Dander, Louisa Guy, Diana Taverner

Summary

Nick Duffy, commanding the ambush from the shadows, learns that a prisoner was taken on the perimeter while a second escaped, and that the first prisoner is dead; he throttles a wavering Black Arrow into accepting the need for killing and goes to deal with the new captive himself. In the wrecked farmhouse, Ho preens over his bus and is set to look up Alison Dunn, which turns up her brother Craig and her fiancé Benjamin Traynor. Shirley Dander throws one pursuer through a window and then fights a knifeman, blinding him with half a broken CD and sending him out of the window too. In the archive, Louisa Guy shoots the man who Tasered River and two more besides, revives River, and hears Donovan praise her soldiering. Taverner, leaving the pub, remembers arranging Alison Dunn’s death and framing Donovan for it, then calls Peter Judd and is bundled into a cab by the sleek man, Seb. In the storage room the firefight kills Ben Traynor and leaves Donovan wounded in the shoulder and thigh; Louisa takes his bloodstained folder and gives it to River, and a canister is thrown in. In the van, Duffy finds Marcus Longridge’s revolver taped inside his cap and prepares to shoot him.

Beats

C14S01 · Nick Duffy — Nick Duffy watched his killing ground from the shadows and heard that a prisoner had been caught on the perimeter while a second got away. Told that the first prisoner was dead, a Black Arrow balked, and Duffy took him by the throat and talked him through the choice between an inquiry and a clean sweep. He sent the man to his position and went to deal with the new prisoner himself.
C14S02 · Roderick Ho — Roddy Ho nursed his grievance about the credit owed him for driving the bus, imagining a more graceful rescue. Lamb cut him short and set him to looking up Alison Dunn on the Service intranet, which turned up her mother, her brother Craig and her fiancé Benjamin Traynor. Ho recognised the name Traynor and told Lamb there was something else he should know.
C14S03 · Shirley Dander — Shirley Dander climbed to the first floor of the block, watching the Black Arrow van where Marcus had been taken. She let a lumbering pursuer run past her doorway, then tackled him through an unglazed window. Finding herself grinning, she waited in the shadows for the next man up the stairs.
C14S04 · Louisa Guy — Louisa Guy refused to accept that River was dead, put down the Arrow who had Tasered him and dived and rolled to Traynor’s dropped gun. She shot the man who had taken River and the two who were securing Traynor, then dragged River behind cover. Donovan praised her soldiering, and she told him they were not on the same side before he went to fetch Traynor.
C14S05 · Diana Taverner — Diana Taverner left the pub and remembered how she had arranged Alison Dunn’s death six years earlier, spiking a drink and tampering with a car and letting Donovan take the blame. She admitted she had since fed Donovan the story that Tearney was responsible and brought Traynor in with him. She then called Peter Judd to confess part of the truth, and a sleek man appeared to put her in a cab.
C14S06 · Shirley Dander — Shirley Dander’s second opponent threw himself to the floor rather than through the window and came at her with a knife. He boasted and threatened while she gave ground along the corridor, and when he pulled her against his chest she drove half a broken CD into his eye. He went out of the window screaming, and Shirley ran for the stairwell after spotting a figure heading for the van.
C14S07 · Louisa Guy — Donovan cut Traynor’s bonds under covering fire while Louisa counted her remaining rounds and River broke cover to help. Traynor was killed by a shot to the head and Donovan took a shoulder wound and a worse one in the thigh. Louisa took the folder from Donovan’s shirt and gave it to River, and then a canister came through the doorway and the room turned white.
C14S08 · Nick Duffy — Marcus Longridge lay bound in the back of the van beside the dead first prisoner and understood that he was next. Duffy pulled off the cap Marcus had kept on through the beating and found a small revolver taped inside it. Marcus told him to get on with it, and Duffy thanked him for making it easier.

People

Nick Duffy — Runs the ambush, forces a wavering Arrow to accept killing, prepares to execute Marcus.
Roderick Ho — Preens over the bus and runs the Dunn lookup for Lamb.
Jackson Lamb — Questions Ho and refuses to call an ambulance for Dunn.
Catherine Standish — Insists on an ambulance and calls Dunn a civilian.
Craig Dunn — Injured prisoner held at the farmhouse.
Shirley Dander — Kills one Arrow, blinds a knifeman and puts him through a window.
Louisa Guy — Shoots three Arrows, revives River, takes Donovan’s folder.
River Cartwright — Fights at the breach, takes the folder, covers Donovan.
Sean Donovan — Frees Traynor, is shot in the shoulder and thigh.
Ben Traynor — Killed by a shot to the head in the storage room.
Diana Taverner — Recalls ordering Dunn’s death; calls Judd and is collected.
Peter Judd — Takes Taverner’s call and sends his man for her.
Seb — The sleek man; flags down a cab and takes Taverner’s elbow.
Marcus Longridge — Bound prisoner in the van; hides a revolver in his cap.

Places

The archive — Derelict factory site held by the Black Arrows; Shirley fights in its empty block.

Lines worth keeping

“Well what the fuck did you think we were going to do? Tag them and release them into the community?” — Nick Duffy, schooling a reluctant Arrow

“If you’re not part of the solution you’re part of the problem.” — Nick Duffy, closing the argument

“I had you pegged as a waste of space.” — Jackson Lamb, on first meeting Ho

“We’re not on the same side.” — Louisa Guy, refusing Donovan’s alliance

Threads

Plants: Donovan’s folder, bloodstained, now in River’s shirt.; Duffy’s intention to kill Marcus in the van.; The sleek man is Seb, Peter Judd’s driver.; Ho’s unfinished warning to Lamb about Traynor.
Payoffs: The sleek man watching Taverner is identified as Seb and collects her.; Craig Dunn is established as Alison Dunn’s brother; Traynor as her fiancé.; Taverner is revealed as the author of Alison Dunn’s death and Donovan’s ruin.
Continuity: Ben Traynor is dead.; Donovan is wounded in the shoulder and the thigh.; Louisa has killed at least three men.; Duffy knows Marcus recognised him.

Characters

Places

The archive