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Valentine started to answer but abruptly stopped. “Shite. Mia, I need to go. Fuck.”
“Is everything okay?” I clutched the phone.
But he’d disconnected as fast as he’d called.
Chapter 21
Valentine
“Talk to me.” I strode into the room we’d designated our control centre.
Ben had summoned us all, and the team were together in the dark, pulled from our locations at various windows around the hotel while Leo and his family were huddled in a bed in another room, trying to keep the kids calm.
My brother lifted his chin to Raphael. “Tell everyone what ye just told me.”
Our new recruit held up his phone. “I’ve been monitoring social media. An hour and a half ago, a post appeared that gave Leo’s hotel address in the city.”
“The original source,” I snarled. “Odds on it was the record company.”
He jerked his head in agreement. “It’s a throwaway account, but the tagging of the tour, the city, and key people made surethe post was picked up fast. I reported it, but the damage is done, and it gets worse. In the past twenty minutes, the amount of people sharing pictures and live footage from the crowd has spiked. It’s going viral.”
“Turning into a riot,” Jackson said in a deadly low tone.
I took a breath, my adrenaline rising with the new threat. “Ye think? I just saw three uniformed police officers escorting a group away.”
Jackson folded his arms. “From my position at the other end of the building, I just watched a flood of people arrive and someone try to kick in the door of the place next to the Excelsior. They’re already in the hotel itself.”
“What kind of people are the new arrivals?” I asked. The teenager with his parents I’d seen when I was down in the alley talking to the guard probably wasn’t the type of fan turning up now.
“Men in their twenties or older.”
I understood his riot comment now. Fuck.
Any kind of public disturbance, be it a protest or another kind of gathering, attracted dodgy types, there for the kind of opportunities that could be had under the hubbub. Such as breaking and entering. Or brawling for fun.
Ben listened to us in turn, his gaze touching on each. “That police action is too little, too late. The situation is escalating more rapidly than predicted, and those incomers don’t sound like fans of Leo’s. More likely they’re here for mischief. Let’s revisit our options.”
Jackson’s scowl darkened. “This is no longer a safe house. The surrounding buildings are vulnerable, and we’re sitting ducks. We can run, but we might be chased.”
Raphael nodded, no fear in the younger man’s countenance, only bristling determination and a touch of anger.
I felt it, too. It rippled across all of us.
“We need to leave while it’s still possible,” Raphael said. “We can ignore police advice because that’s been bullshit, but the safest route is going to be by air.”
Ben huffed. “The local chief of police is still maintaining that we stay put. They’ve got a major football match on that kicks out soon, and their forces are concentrated there.”
My sense of concern deepened. A flood of sports fans wasn’t going to help matters any.
“Walk through the helicopter option,” my brother asked Raphael.
“We can do it, just not from here. The problem is that restricted air space. No local pilot will risk losing their licence. The rules are a lot stricter here than in the UK.”
“Where’s the nearest ye can legally get someone to touch down?” I asked.
His reply was instant, the man having done his homework. “There’s a helipad about a thirty-minute drive away across the city.”
“Which means getting to the cars which are still on standby,” Ben concluded. “Jackson, check our exit. If we can get out safely and make it to the square, we’ll have the cars waiting. Raphael, how long until we can have a helicopter in position?”
