Free False Impression by Jeffrey Archer Page B

story. She tried to stay
still, aware that anything she touched was immediately smeared with ash and
dirt.
    Tina didn’t seem
to notice.
    ‘I know this may
sound a little strange,’ said Anna, ‘but I haven’t a clue what’s going on.’
    Tina turned up
the sound on the television.
    ‘Fifteen minutes
of that,’ Tina said as she filled the coffee pot,
    ‘ and you’ll know everything.’
    Anna watched the
endless replays of a plane flying into the South Tower, people throwing
themselves from the higher floors to a certain death, and the collapse of first
the South and then the North Tower.
    ‘And another
plane hit the Pentagon?’ she asked. ‘So how many more are out there?’
    ‘There was a
fourth,’ said Tina, as she placed two mugs on the table, ‘but no one seems
certain where it was heading.’
    ‘The White
House, possibly,’ suggested Anna, as she looked up at the screen to see
President Bush speaking from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana: ‘Make no
mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for
these cowardly acts.’
    The images
flashed back to the second plane flying into the South Tower.
    ‘Oh my God,’
said Anna. ‘I hadn’t even thought about the innocent passengers on board those
planes. Who’s responsible for all this?’ she demanded, as Tina filled her mug
with black coffee.
    ‘The State
Department is being fairly cautious,’ said Tina, ‘and all the usual suspects –
Russia, North Korea, Iran and Iraq – have all been quick to scream, “Not me,”
swearing they will do everything they can to track down those responsible.’
    ‘But what are
the anchormen saying, because there’s no reason for them to be cautious.’
    ‘CNN is pointing
a finger at Afghanistan, and in particular at a terrorist group called Al-Qaeda
– I think that’s how you pronounce it, but I’m not sure as I’ve never heard of
them,’ Tina said as she sat down opposite Anna.
    ‘I think they’re
a bunch of religious fanatics, who I thought were only interested in taking
over Saudi Arabia so they could get hold of its oil.’ Anna glanced back up at
the television and listened to the commentator, who was trying to imagine what
it must have been like to be in the North Tower when the first plane struck.
    How could you
possibly know, Anna wanted to ask him. A hundred minutes telescoped into a few
seconds, and then repeated again and again like a familiar advertisement. When
the South Tower collapsed and smoke billowed up into the sky, Anna started
coughing loudly, shaking ash onto everything around her.
    ‘Are you OK?’
asked Tina, jumping up from her chair.
    ‘Yes, I’ll be
fine,’ said Anna, draining her coffee. “Would you mind if I turned the TV off ? I don’t think I can face continually being reminded
what it was like to be there.’
    ‘Of course not,’
said Tina, who picked up the remote and touched the off button. The images
melted from the screen.
    ‘I can’t stop
thinking about all our friends who were in the building,’ said Anna, as Tina
refilled her mug with coffee. ‘I wonder if Rebecca…’
    ‘No word from
her,’ said Tina. ‘Barry is the only person who’s reported in so far.’
    ‘Yeah, I can
believe Barry was the first down the stairs, trampling over anyone who got in
his way. But who did Barry call?’ asked Anna.
    ‘Fenston. On his mobile.’
    ‘Fenston?’ said
Anna. ‘How did he manage to escape when I left his office only a few minutes
before the first plane hit the building?’
    ‘He’d arrived on
Wall Street by then – he had an appointment with a potential client, whose only
asset was a Gauguin. So there was no way he was going to be late for that.’
    ‘And Leapman?’
asked Anna as she took another sip of coffee.
    ‘One step behind
him as usual,’ said Tina.
    ‘So that’s why
the elevator door was being held open.’
    ‘The elevator
door?’ repeated Tina.
    ‘It’s not
important,’ said Anna. ‘But why weren’t you