Jane shouted to them to leave him alone and struggled hard. She had nothing to lose. No one was listening to her. They pushed her hard back against the wall and she banged her head. Someone held his forearm across her throat. All around she could hear the sounds of grunting and punching. She wondered if it would be her turn next.
Imogen stood watching. There was no compassion in her gaze. The vivacious girl was gone forever. A small smile curved her lips. With a slight shock, Jane realised Imogen was enjoying this.
After what seemed a very long time the men drew back. Everyone looked at everyone else. Jane wrenched an arm free and pushed her hair out of her eyes. The original group of civilians had been augmented by a team of security guards. Escape, never very likely, was now impossible.
‘Get him up,’ said Mr Geoffrey, flushed and dishevelled. Slapping Jane had obviously taken it out of him.
They hauled Luke to his feet. He looked dreadful. One eye was closing fast and blood ran from a deep cut above his right eyebrow. He tried to pull himself free from their grasp.
‘Christ almighty, are you out of your minds? I’m Luke Parrish, for God’s sake. Do I look like a Time Police officer? Does Jane? I mean – look at her.’
Everyone looked at Jane, who did her best to look as unlike a Time Police officer as possible. For her, not difficult.
She tried to take advantage of their uncertainty. ‘Wait, wait. If I’m understanding this correctly, Miss . . . Farnley . . . ?’
‘Farnborough,’ spat Imogen.
‘Sorry. Miss Farnborough is a regular customer of yours. Together with her friend . . . Eric. She’s claiming the Time Police somehow arrested her but let her go? Why would they do that? I’ve heard the Time Police will kill you just for looking at them wrong.’ A thought apparently occurred to her and she turned to Imogen. ‘Did you perhaps do some sort of deal with them?’
‘That’s a very good point, Jane,’ said Luke, swiftly. ‘No one gets off scot-free from the Time Police. Not unless they’ve got something those bastards want.’
‘Scot-free?’ shrieked Imogen, enraged beyond discretion. ‘I did eight years thanks to you two. Eight fire-trucking years.’
‘Eight what?’ said someone in puzzlement.
‘I think,’ said Jane, ‘she means . . .’ She paused, closed her eyes, swallowed hard and said in a tiny voice, ‘Fuck.’
‘Oh my God,’ said Luke in delight. ‘You did it. Your first faltering steps on the primrose path, Jane. Well done you.’
‘Shut up, Luke.’ She looked at Imogen. ‘You say I was one of the people who arrested you and you served eight years?’
Imogen, suddenly wary, said nothing.
‘Well,’ continued Jane, diffidently, ‘when was this? Because eight years ago I was still at school.’
This was undeniably true. The grip on her arms slackened slightly. Heads turned towards Imogen.
‘They’re the Time Police, you idiots,’ she shouted. ‘They take you to another time – you serve your sentence – and then they bring you back and only a few months have passed.’
Jane was clearly puzzled. ‘Why? Why would they do that?’
‘Because they’re bastards,’ yelled Imogen. ‘I mean – you’re bastards.’
‘Now I’m completely confused,’ said Jane. ‘Because everyone knows the punishment is usually either execution or a really, really long spell in prison. Why did you only get eight years?’
‘Well,’ said Imogen, off-balance. ‘Because of Mummy, of course.’
‘But I still don’t understand,’ continued Jane. ‘They’re utter bastards, but you only got eight years because your mother complained?’ She turned to Mr Geoffrey. ‘How likely is that, do you think?’
‘Jane’s right,’ said Luke before Geoffrey could reply. ‘They’re the Time Police. They’d just laugh at her. Why did you get such a lenient sentence, Imogen?’
Imogen said nothing.
My God, thought Jane, conscious of a warm glow of hope rising in her aching body. We might just get out of this alive. She can’t say anything without implicating herself. Turning to Mr Geoffrey, she said faintly, ‘I’d like to go home, please.’
Luke had finally pulled himself free. ‘Of course you do, Jane.’ He turned to Mr Geoffrey. ‘Now, if you don’t mind.’
Mr Geoffrey hovered, indecision written all over him. Imogen made up his mind for him. Seizing a weapon from the man standing next to her, she levelled it at Luke. ‘Admit it or I’ll kill you.’
Luke sighed. ‘Very well. I’m a Time Police officer. Happy now?’
‘Allow me,’ said Mr Geoffrey, relieving her of the weapon and examining it closely. ‘Ah, one of our more potent stunners.’ He handed it to the man next to him. ‘Shoot Lockland.’
‘It won’t be fatal,’ said the man, mystified.
‘Not initially, but repeated blasts will be. Eventually. And every one of them will be exceedingly painful, of course.’
The man stared at him. ‘What?’
Mr Geoffrey’s patience snapped. ‘Oh, for God’s sake, just keep shocking her until Parrish tells us the truth. Or her head bursts. Whichever comes first.’
The man looked at Lockland, his reluctance plain. ‘It’ll have to be you,’ said Luke to him. ‘Our friend Geoffrey here just doesn’t have the balls.’
‘Oh, dear God,’ cried Imogen, in exasperation. She snatched the weapon back. ‘I’ll do it.’
She will too, thought Jane. She’s probably got more balls than any of them.
The same thought had obviously occurred to Luke. ‘All right,’ he said, quickly. He looked at Imogen. ‘You just made a big mistake.’
‘I’m the one with the gun, Parrish.’
‘But I’m the one who can tell them what you told everyone at TPHQ.’
For one fatal moment, Imogen froze. The man next to her snatched back his gun and stepped away from her. Now they were all looking at Imogen.
‘She gave you all up to save herself,’ said Luke, quietly. ‘She gave us the King’s Arsenal. She gave us you, Geoffrey. By name. And then we just sat back and waited for you to invite us to meet you. From there we were led to Shoreditch. By you, Geoffrey. And then again, from Shoreditch to here. Nice little trail. Escorted every inch of the way. Again, by you, Geoffrey, because you’re a stupid, greedy little oik.’
Mr Geoffrey’s face was so twisted with rage as to be unrecognisable. Clenching his fist, he punched at Luke. Again, it was more of a slap than a punch, but it opened up Luke’s lip.