-1Instinct and training took over and he rolled as he was thrown free of the horse, collecting bruises in the process but still, thankfully, keeping hold of his gun. The horse was screaming and trying to get to its feet, and Peterson was unconscious, bleeding from a leg wound. Nearby, a clod of earth whizzed up. The sniper was still trying for them. Fuck you, Davenport, get the hell on with it! Kill the bastard!

Suddenly, someone ran up to them, quickly freeing Peterson's feet from the stirrups, and getting the horse onto its feet. It was bleeding freely from a long furrow across its rump and galloped off, still screaming. The newomer ran across to him, grabbed his hand and the two of them ran together for the safety of the VIP boxes, taking advantage of the distraction to reach safety. They ran through the door. In front of them was a staircase, the size and signage indicating that it was the main exit from the VIP boxes. They quickly stood to one side, protected by the windowless wall on either side of the door. The corridor seemed to Goren to be oddly deserted given what was happening, though he could hear footsteps upstairs.

His rescuer - Sienna - looked up at him. "What's happening? I have two very garbled messages from Drew and DS Hood to stay in here, even though the roof's coming down – what the fuck's going on, Bobby? Everyone's holed up upstairs waiting to hear what to do, the radios are down."

He explained. "We need to keep everyone in here until Davenport reports he's killed the sniper. They're safer in here – the temporary roof doesn't cover this part of the stadium." He looked her over quickly. She was clad in a black pantsuit with a purple shirt. The only thing that didn't match the demure businesswoman image was the large pistol in her right hand.

Sienna nodded as he explained. "Okay. Well, given the chaos on the pitch and the fact that no fire alarms are going off, the security people have decided to leave everyone in here for now." She grinned wryly. "I told them I knew about the sniper plot, told them it might not be the safest idea to go out in the open. Had to fudge how I knew about that a bit… I told them it was through Interpol and hinted I was more senior than I looked." She smiled a lopsided smile. "Drew would have been proud."

Goren sighed a deep sigh of relief. Perhaps they were actually going to get away with this.

Suddenly, two police officers in black uniforms with stripes on their sleeves came towards them. They were armed and carrying the insignia of SO19. Perhaps Hood had finally got through to his superiors and managed to explain the situation. "Would you mind telling us exactly what you're doing here, sir, madam?" They eyed the guns in Sienna and Goren's hands suspiciously.

Sienna, who had her official ID badge clipped to her jacket, replied on their behalves. "I'm Sienna Tovitz, Interpol Liaison Officer with the Metropolitan Police. This is Detective Robert Goren of the New York Police Department's Major Case squad. We're attached to the security team for this event."

"Really, madam? Then what are you doing wandering about down here? Put your weapons away." The two officers were closer now. They were moving towards them, backing Goren and Sienna into a corner, clearing the stairway. Suddenly, one of their radios crackled. "We're evacuating the boxes as you ordered, sir. Over and out."

"You can't do that!" The two of them shouted in unison.

"Really? Why not? Put your weapons away now; we won't ask again." one of them replied. He was smiling oddly. Goren felt himself go cold, as, behind the two officers, he heard the sounds of people beginning to come down the stairs. Male voices were raised in protest; he could hear voices, some of which were familiar to him from the TV news. "It's about time! We've been stuck up here for hours!"

"There's a sniper on the roof of the stadium," he replied.

"No sir, there isn't. That's been taken care of."

Was this the truth? Suddenly, his own cellphone vibrated. Keeping an eye on the two officers, who were eyeing him just as carefully, he pulled it out with his right hand, keeping his gun arm free.

"Better put that away, sir. You might interfere with communications in the building." One of them made a grab for it. Sienna stepped smoothly between him and Goren, indicating with body language that they would have to come through her to get to him. The two of them eyeballed, the tension rising as he listened carefully to the cellphone, dancing away from the man's attempts to grab it from him. It was Hood's voice; he spoke clearly although with a lot of pain in his voice: "Goren, listen to this." The phone crackled – a radio broadcast, he realised.

"To all officers; we have reason to believe that there are two hostile suspects impersonating police officers within the stadium. They may be disguised as senior officers, two of him have been found injured. Consider them armed and dangerous."

Oh God. Davenport's warning that Andropov was backed up by a foreign government, with the accompanying resources to play with, came back to him. The man trying to grab his cellphone suddenly reached for his gun. Goren, reacting on pure instinct and praying that he was right, whipped his own gun out and fired, catching the man's arm. He yelled and fell to the ground, Goren staying upright and kicking out frantically, kicking the gun from the man's hand, then leaping across, picking it up and tucking it securely into his waistband.

As he turned back towards them, his heart sank and his blood ran cold, as the other fake officer grabbed Sienna's wrist with his free hand, preventing her using her own gun, and began to bring his own weapon up and around, ready to dispose of both of them.