False Impression by Jeffrey Archer

channels. There was
only one story. She found that she couldn’t go on watching endless reports
without continually being reminded of her own small walk-off part in this
two-act drama. She was about to turn off the television when it was announced
that President Bush would address the nation. ‘Good evening. Today, our fellow citizens .. .’ Anna listened intently, and nodded when the
President continued: ‘The victims were in airplanes, or in their offices;
secretaries, businessmen and women .. .’ Anna once
again thought about Rebecca. ‘None of us will ever forget this day...” die
President concluded, and Anna felt able to agree with him. She switched off the
television as the South Tower came crashing down again, like the climax of a
disaster movie.
    Anna sat back
and stared down at the map on the kitchen table.
    She
double-checked, or was it triple, her route out of New York.
    She was writing
detailed notes of everything that needed to be done before she left in the
morning when the front door burst open and Tina staggered in – a laptop over
one shoulder, dragging a bulky case behind her. Anna ran out into the corridor
to welcome her back. She looked exhausted.
    ‘Sorry to have
taken so long, honey,’ said Tina as she dumped the luggage in the hallway, and
walked down the freshly vacuumed corridor and into the kitchen. ‘Not many buses
going in my direction,’ she added, ‘especially when you’ve left your money
behind,’ she added as she collapsed into a kitchen chair. ‘I’m afraid I had to
break into your five hundred dollars, otherwise I wouldn’t have been back until
after midnight.’
    Anna laughed.
‘My turn to make you coffee,’ she suggested.
    ‘I was only
stopped once,’ continued Tina, ‘by a very friendly policeman who checked
through your luggage, and accepted that I’d been sent back from the airport
after being unable to board a flight. I was even able to produce your ticket.’
    ‘Any trouble at
the apartment?’ asked Anna, as she filled the coffee pot for a third time.
    ‘Only having to
comfort Sam, who obviously adores you. He looked as if
he’d been crying for hours. I didn’t even have to mention David Sullivan,
because all Sam wanted to do was talk about you. By the time I got into the
elevator, he didn’t seem to care where I was going.’ Tina stared around the
kitchen. She hadn’t seen it so clean since she’d moved in. ‘So have you come up
with a plan?’ she asked, looking down at the map that was spread across the
kitchen table.
    ‘Yes,’ said
Anna. ‘It seems my best bet will be the ferry to New Jersey and then to rent a
car, because according to the latest news all the tunnels and bridges are
closed. Although it’s over four hundred miles to the Canadian border, I can’t
see why I shouldn’t make Toronto airport by tomorrow night, in which case I
could be in London the following morning.’
    ‘Do you know
what time the first ferry sails in the morning?’ asked Tina.
    ‘In theory, it’s
a non-stop service,’ said Anna, ‘but in practice, every fifteen minutes after
five o’clock. But who knows if they’ll be running at all tomorrow, let alone
keeping to a schedule.’
    ‘Either way,’
said Tina, ‘I suggest you have an early night, and try to snatch some sleep.
I’ll set my alarm for four thirty.’
    ‘Four,’ said
Anna. ‘If the ferry is ready to depart at five, I want to be first in line. I suspect
getting out of New York may well prove the most difficult part of the journey.’
    ‘Then you’d
better have the bedroom,’ said Tina with a smile,
    ‘ and I’ll sleep on the couch.’
    ‘No way,’ said
Anna, as she poured her friend a fresh mug of coffee. ‘You’ve done more than
enough already.’
    ‘Not nearly
enough,’ said Tina.
    ‘If Fenston ever
found out what you were up to,’ said Anna quietly, ‘he’d fire you on the spot.’
    ‘That would be
the least of my problems,’ Tina responded without explanation.
    Jack