27/10/07
12:20 PM
Exhibition Road, London
"Nah, let's go somewhere else."
"Why Dad?"
"Because cafés in museums are always more expensive or less good than the cafés outside, or both."
"Okay then."
They went up two flights of stairs and out on to Exhibition Road, the sun was strong, Adam undid his coat. Wes copied him. They turned South towards the station, there had been a few fairly nice cafés just West of the station the last time he'd been round here and paying attention to the scenery. Adam was looking around – he was always looking around in a place like this, he couldn't help himself – when he saw him. A young man, probably not even twenty, mixed race, walking fast, head down, hands in the pockets of a coat, a very big coat for today's weather.
Bomber. That was the first thing that went through Adam's head. A young male, alone, looking stressed and disconnected from his surroundings, with space to conceal a bomb on his body. Adam stopped walking.
"Dad?" He was not on duty. He did not have an obligation to protect the public, not today, not from this. The only person he had an obligation to protect was Wes. And what could he do? He was one man, unarmed, with no intelligence. Just a feeling. Startling a suicide bomber was a very good way to get yourself killed, and for all he knew there was a unit already on this. The best he could do was to get himself and Wes out of the way.
"Actually, let's go this way." He turned round. "There used to be a really nice place down towards…" Where would the next cluster of cafés be in this direction? "What's it called? Gloucester road. That's it. Let's go down there." Away. Away from that man and whatever was under his coat.