Read Online Java Spider by Geoffrey Archer - Free Book Online Page B

a face. In the control room there was a communal gasp.
    ‘My God!’ Charlie choked. ‘It’s
him
! What’s happened?’
    Stephen Bowen. A purple swelling on the left cheek. A cut on the jutting chin. Defeat in the usually confident eyes. Hair tousled, pale-blue shirt stained with blood. The minister opened his mouth to speak, flinching as if it hurt to do so.
    Charlie reached for the intercom.
    ‘Tom!’ Voice taut as a violin string.
    ‘Yes?’
    ‘Are you watching line six?’
    A pause.
    ‘Am now. Who the fuck is it?’
    ‘Stephen Bowen!’
    ‘Chri-ist! Are you recording?’
    ‘Yes. Hang on, he’s saying something …’
    ‘
I’m a prisoner. The people who have me say I’ll never be free again unless the British government stops selling weapons to Indonesia
.’
    Voice weak and stilted.
    ‘
They say the equipment Britain’s selling will be used against people on the island of Kutu, who are being murdered and tortured by the Indonesian army, so that their homeland can be dug up for gold and copper
.’
    Not his, the words. Memorised and recited.
    ‘
I will not be harmed so long as the British government tears up the arms contract that I signed last week and gets the United Nations to demand the full implementation of human rights in Indonesia
.’
    Bowen’s eyes flicked sideways as if for fresh instructions. Then he picked up a placard and held it across his chest.
    STOP ARMS SALES TO THE INDONESIAN MURDERES it read. Then the picture went to snow.
    ‘Tom!’ Charlie screaming into the intercom. ‘You’re going to run that now, right?’
    A moment’s pause. ‘Have to check it out first.’
    ‘What’s there to check?’ she seethed.
    Marples was scared. Terrified of taking decisions. Always sought Sankey’s approval.
    ‘Tom, we’ve got this on our own. It’s a scoop! It’s news! We
have
to break into this swimsuit crap.’
    On the station output a Baywatch blonde was removing the top half of her bikini.
    ‘
Now
, Tom!’ Charlie screamed. ‘I
know
the story. I’ll ad-lib it.’
    ‘OK,’ he conceded tensely. ‘I’m on my way. Get in the studio, Charlie.’
    ‘Tech centre!’ the director bellowed.
    ‘Cue it again from the top?’
    ‘You got it.’
    ‘And line up that clip reel I cut,’ said Charlie, turning in the doorway. ‘Listen for my words. I’ll make the cue clear.’
    She sprinted through the newsroom, checking her top was free of coffee spills.
    Mandy, bleary-eyed, was taking her coat off at the newsdesk, having arrived for the day shift. ‘Ring PA,’ Charlie shouted to her. ‘Tell them we’ve got an exclusive on Bowen and to watch us.’
    She pushed through the thick door to the studio, trying to write a script in her head. She was handed an earpiece. Through it she heard Marples brief the presenters.
    ‘Coming to you in ten seconds, Charlie.’
    She gave a thumbs up.
    ‘Tell us all you know! And good luck.’
    The presenters took their cue.
    ‘We’re sorry to break into that swimsuit feature, just when things were getting interesting,’ the young man grinned, unable to change his style, ‘but we’ve got some fast breaking news that’s pretty sensational. The News Channel has just learned that the Foreign Office minister Stephen Bowen has been kidnapped. We’ve just received the first exclusive pictures of him, filmed by his captors. Our reporter Charlotte Cavendish is here to explain. She’s been following the story. Charlie? What can you tell us?’
    She took her cue from the light on the camera.
    ‘For the past twenty-four hours there’s been a mystery about the whereabouts of Foreign Minister Stephen Bowen,’ she began, too excited to be nervous. ‘He didn’t return home at the weekend after a visit to Jakarta, where as these pictures show,’ – she glanced down at the monitor to check her clip reel was rolling – ‘he signed an agreement for Britain to sell Indonesia half a billion pounds’ worth of ships and submarines. He was due back in England