Old Crackers

by Peter Bates

  *

  “He’s coming out.” yelled Roy.

  “Shove your arm out of the window,” ordered Frank.

  “Glad you reminded me,” smiled Roy. “It was that long ago when we parked up, I was just about to drive off without making the signal”.

  Roy briefly extended his right arm out of the open window, and waved his arm briefly.

  Frank leaned as far forward in the passenger seat as he could and peered down the street to his right.

  “Yes, you’re right, Roy. He’s getting in now so you’d better start up the car’s engine. He’ll be on his way in no time, and we need to keep him well in our sights.”

  Frank glanced sharply at his watch. It was nine-fifty a.m. For all they knew, Thomas could be going absolutely anywhere. Frank smiled to himself. Maybe the bloke was heading out for the weekly shop, although that would be very unlikely without his girlfriend in tow. With a big slice of luck, he and the lads would find out exactly where he was going very soon. Roy edged the car slowly forward to the main road, and clearly saw the Jaguar setting off at a steady speed. He allowed the Jaguar to travel at least one hundred and fifty yards or so, then turned the wheel, entered the road, and slowly accelerated until his own car was a good seventy-five yards behind it. A quick glance in the mirror confirmed that Terry was a further fifty yards behind him, and also on the move. Roy smiled to himself — Terry knew the game well. Within half a mile he would be overtaking and changing places. As long as they didn’t come across any major hold ups in the traffic ahead, they would rotate positions on a regular basis. If the route included motorway travel, the whole thing would get much easier, and they’d be able to drop back a fair distance and simply close up a little when they neared any of the exits.

  Within minutes of setting off, Terry, who had already exchanged positions with Roy, was virtually certain that the Jaguar was heading for the M55, and would access the motorway directly from the main road on the east side of town. The M55 was the link motorway from Blackpool to the M6, and if that turned out to be Jed Thomas’ route, it would be as welcome as he could have hoped for. At that time of day, the eastbound traffic would be no more than light, and following at a reasonable distance would be relatively simple. The M55 only had one turn off at Kirkham, and if that one wasn’t taken, Thomas would then either turn left to the north, or right in a southerly direction, on the M6. The situation could easily and quickly change and Terry may need to smartly adjust his thinking.

  When the Kirkham turn-off wasn’t taken, Terry dropped back immediately, allowing Roy to slide past him. It was most unlikely that Thomas was aware of either of their cars, especially as both were some distance behind, and not in any way distinctive, but he knew that in situations like this, extra caution would usually pay off. Now it was virtually certain that Jed Thomas would take the M6 option, and Terry guessed that his choice would be the southerly direction.

  At the Preston end of the M55, Thomas continued onto the M6, swinging his car around the huge roundabout before heading at a steady sixty-five miles an hour in a southerly direction as Terry had correctly predicted. Although the traffic was slightly busier, following Thomas’ car was now easier, and far less detectable. Terry was once more leading the two chasing cars, and the individual phones were all switched on and ready to go.

  Three hundred yards before the junction 25 turn off to Wigan, the left rear indicator on Thomas’ car flicked into life.

  “Here we go,” muttered Terry. “They should be able to see it, Reg, but just give Roy and Frank a quick ‘heads up’.”

  Terry slowed, keeping a uniform distance between the cars, and didn’t indicate until late, and not until the Jaguar had angled its way into the turn off. A quick glance in the mirror confirmed that Roy and Frank had done the same. The next section could be difficult though, and they would all need to keep very alert.

  “Are the lads on the phones now?” asked Terry, the tension sounding in his voice.

  “Yes,” confirmed Reg.

  “Let’s just hope that whatever Thomas does, we can see him and he can’t see us. We still don’t know for certain what he’s going to do, but if he and a possible dealer go into a big open field or inside a building, it’ll be difficult to get near to them without being spotted.”

  “I don’t think that they’ll go into a building,” said Reg. “They won’t be risking cameras, or any hidden physical threats from either side. I think it will be relatively out in the open somewhere, but with some cover, and certainly a place where they can get away quickly.”

  “Who knows?” asked Terry. “We’ll just have to stay as close as we can and hope for the best.”

  Thomas’ Jaguar continued for just less than half a mile, and finally slowed down close to a large supermarket that was set back at least sixty yards from the main road. The car pulled into the large and wide supermarket car park and slowly made its way across its tarmac surface until it reached the far side, close to several fairly large and open sheds, before finally coming to a halt.

  “Park up, Roy,” ordered Terry into his phone. “Keep to this side of the car park, though, and try to park without facing Thomas’ Jaguar directly. Get your cameras out and ready lads, but whatever you do, don’t yet lift them above the car window sills. If there is any sort of exchange, wait until it’s being done before you click off any photos, and make bloody certain that the flash isn’t switched on.”

  Roy grinned and followed Terry’s instructions, parking at an angle to the supermarket building, and switched off the engine. He slid several inches down his seat, reducing his profile, and stared out over the sill towards the roofed, but open sheds. A tall man, clothed in blue jeans, a green coat, and a wearing a grey cap, stood motionless in the doorway of one of the sheds. Roy’s heart jumped as his eyes focused on the scene. Alongside the man, on the floor, lay a large white canvas bag, and Thomas was removing a smaller, but still large bag from the boot of the Jaguar.

  “Snap off a couple of early photos, Frank, but keep the camera well out of sight.”

  Frank nodded, then keeping the camera half hidden behind one arm that pressed horizontally against the window, clicked twice, and returned it to his jacket pocket.

  Roy quickly called Terry.

  “Terry, did you get any photos?”

  “Yes, mate. I’ve taken at least two good ’uns.”

  “OK, wait for the actual handover, then take another. It would be a good idea, if you also take one of Thomas’ Jaguar just for the record. When he’s finished, we’ll hang around and try to see where ‘Greencoat’s vehicle is, and try to get a shot of it before he leaves. I’ve a feeling that Thomas will leave first. We’ll not be moving from here until they’ve both gone.”

  Thomas did leave first. After throwing the larger of the two bags into his car boot, he quickly started up the Jag, and drove rapidly out of the car park. The man nicknamed Greencoat by Roy, waited until Thomas had disappeared from view, picked up the remaining smaller bag, and strolled with it across the car park until he reached a metallic silver Range Rover. He remotely clicked open its rear door, threw the bag on the back seats, and then opened the driver’s door. The dealer hesitated for a moment, peering around all sides of the car parking area for several seconds before climbing in and starting the engine. Thirty seconds later, Greencoat was out of the car park, and back on the road.

  Terry waited for almost five minutes before opening his car door, and then walked across the car park. He could have phoned Roy, but was elated and wanted to speak to his old friend, face to face. Roy was already out of the car before he reached it, and holding out a welcoming hand to Terry.

  CHAPTER 53

  “We could be well on our way to getting a result today.”

  Reg smiled fondly at his three old friends, and poured himself a second glass of white wine.

  “We could, mate,” agreed Frank. “The only thing is, we know exactly what’s gone on, but proving it to Norman Pendleton could be very difficult.”r />
  “Why?” asked Reg. “We’ve got photos of a cash/drugs exchange that can’t be denied.”

  “We’ve got photos of two blokes swapping bags in a supermarket car park. We don’t have photos or samples of what was in ’em.”

  “That’s true,” agreed Roy. “We know damn well what they were doing, but no court in the land would convict them for exchanging bags, without knowing for certain what was contained in them.”

  “If we’d still been on the job, we could have picked them up on the spot,” added Terry.

  “I know, Terry, but we ain’t, so there’s not much we can do.”

  “We must be able to do something,” said Reg, licking his lips as his facial expression quickly turned from casual to thoughtful.

  “One thing we could do, is to at least let Norman know what we know so far, and see what he says. Don’t forget that we have photos of both men making the exchange, and we now have the number plate details of Greencoat’s Range Rover.”

  “That’s true,” murmured Roy. “If we tipped off Norman, he could at least keep his lads on the lookout. Wherever Greencoat hangs out, Norman could tell the coppers from that area what’s gone on and to put a close watch on him. Locally, he would then know as well that Jed Thomas was also now into the market and had goods to sell to the drug pushers.”

  “It can’t do any harm in telling him,” agreed Reg. “Come on, lads. Let’s give him a call.”

  Terry glanced round his three friends’ faces. They were all nodding their heads, and that was good enough for him. He quickly reached into his pocket, pulled out his mobile phone, pressed several buttons, and in less than half a minute began to speak into its mouthpiece.

  “Can you put me through to Norman Pendleton please?”

  Terry listened to the response for several seconds. “Will you tell him that it’s Terry Reid, it’s very important, and give him this phone number?”

  Terry hung up.

  “He’s in a meeting, but he’s due out of it very soon. They say that they’ll get him to call me as soon as he comes out of it.”

  Reg smiled, reached for the wine bottle, and topped up the wine glasses of each of his friends.

  “Here’s to the old case crackers,” he said, holding his glass out and clicking it gently against the others that were suddenly held out around the table.

  “We’ve a bit to do on this one yet,” commented Frank.

  “We have, pal,” agreed Roy, “but we’re not doing too badly.”

  Terry’s mobile began to ring.

  “Hi, Norman,” he said, holding the phone tightly against his ear. “Sorry to bother you, matey, but we have a few odd bits of info that you may be able to use.”

  “Go ahead, Terry. I knew when my number two said it was you that had made the call, it would certainly be something useful.”

  “I hope it is, Norman. You’re obviously very much aware of Jed Thomas, so we have a few bits of info for you.”

  “I’d be very pleased to get him off my patch, so anything that you have will be useful.”

  “Well, Norman, we thought it was highly probable that he might just start doing drugs. There’s a hole in the local market, because we know that Harrison’s stuff was confiscated, and we didn’t think that Thomas would be able to resist the opportunity to fill the gap.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “As it happens, Thomas picked up a very large bag today, and handed over a smaller one in exchange. We are virtually certain that the larger one contained illegal powder, whilst the smaller one would most likely have been the cash payment. The exchange took place just off the M6 junction 25 in a small industrial estate, close to a large bike shed by Robinson’s supermarket. Obviously, we have Thomas’ registration plate, but we’ve also got the plate details that were on the other man’s silver coloured Range Rover. As well as that, we have photographs of the deal taking place, but you won’t be able to use the snaps other than for immediate identification. Our little group of old guys can’t be seen to be involved in any way at all, but your lads might find the pictures useful for identification purposes, although you’ll definitely already have that for Thomas. The other bloke could well be off your radar, but if he has ever been picked up before, the pictures could help you to trace him very quickly.”

  Terry hesitated for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

  “Thomas must have some fortified place where he keeps the cash or drugs that he’s handling now. If it’s not his own house, he must have somewhere else where he thinks it’s safe. I can’t really see him using somewhere legitimate, like a bank vault, or something similar, and I don’t think that wherever it is will be very far away from here in town.”

  “No, you’re right, Terry. It won’t be anywhere like an official vault, but we can try to get men on his trail straight away. You’d better give me the vehicle plate number of the other fella, and we can start tracking him immediately. I’ll put out a high priority call to all the northern forces to be on the look-out for him, and to check all of the M6 cameras for sightings. He may be well known to the lads in some of the other regions.”

  “Yes, I would do that, Norman. Because they were meeting where they did do, it’s highly likely that the dealer would have travelled from the south to there, and also probable that the meeting would have been planned to take place somewhere in-between the two men’s usual locations.”

  “I agree, Terry. Because of the urgency here I’d better get off the line quickly now, so give me the registration numbers and I’ll get things moving quickly at this end. I’ll also give you a secure email address so that you can send in the pictures immediately. If we do come across anything useful or somehow manage a quick result, I’ll give you a call back and update you.”

  Terry carefully read out the numbers, then added, “Cheers, Norman. Let me just find a slip of paper for the email address.”

  Reg quickly pulled a small folded strip of paper from his jacket pocket, straightened it out, and placed a plastic biro pen alongside it. Terry smiled at him, picked up the pen, and carefully wrote down the secure email address on the paper, before quickly and verbally confirming with Norman what he had written on it.

  “Got it, Norman. You should get the pictures within five minutes. I’ll talk to you soon, and best of luck.”

  Terry clicked off the phone, leaned back in his chair, and let his eyes slowly drift from friend to friend.

  “I think we need another top-up, Reg. It’s very thirsty work being back on the job.”

  Reg quickly rose to his feet, a broad grin spread across his lined face. “That was perfect, Terry. I don’t think that any of us could have added anything to what you said to Norman that could have improved it. I’ll get another bottle of wine from the fridge, lads. We’re far from done yet, but a little celebration is certainly well due.”

  “You’re right, Reg,” added Frank. “All work and no play, is not a good thing. Right now, we can send out the email, and then sit back and see what happens. Let’s hope that Norman Pendleton pulls a quick result out of the bag.”

  Reg laughed aloud. “In this case, ‘out of the bag’ is a very suitable expression, Frank.”

  CHAPTER 54

  “Whatever it was that you were doing, I’m sorry to bring you lads back in and off the street so quickly. It’s something that I very rarely do, but I have some information about a priority case that you will need to start work on immediately.”

  Chief Inspector Norman Pendleton, paused for a moment, and briefly scanned the faces of his officers. Bringing them in to his office at such short notice was unusual, and each of his team’s expression reflected the urgency that showed clearly in his own.

  “I’ll be as quick as I can, lads. We have received a very reliable tip-off today that a very large drugs/cash exchange took place earlier just off junction 25 on the M6, close to the Robinson’s supermarket.”

  Pendleton clicked a button, and the white screen behind him lit up, displaying two pictures, side by si
de, and some large print information beneath them.

  “As you can see, one of those two men’s faces is very well known to you all. His name as you probably also know, is Jed Thomas. It seems that he has added drug peddling to his long list of criminal activities, and we want him off the street quickly. What you can see here, is insufficient for any prosecution. We have no proof currently, of what the bags contain, but it is quite clear to us that it’s certainly not groceries.”

  Several of the listening officers chuckled.

  “His motor vehicle is a Jaguar and the other man’s is a silver Range Rover. The number plates for both cars are displayed below each car on the screen, and the records team are already in the process of obtaining details of the Range Rover’s owner. We should have that information within the next couple of minutes. We are ninety nine percent certain that Jed Thomas must have a secure holding place in the Blackpool locality, initially for cash, and now to also include drugs. We are working hard to locate it, but it may not be registered in his own name, and finding it quickly could turn out to be quite difficult. Our best chance of finding that could well be through you lads, and the unmarked cars that you use.”

  “We need you to keep a constant look out for Thomas, and if you spot his car, follow it at a distance and be discreet. If he is walking, you must do exactly the same. If he goes to any address in and around the town, we need to know where and when he went, and if possible, we want you to try and watch him and wait for his exit. If he is shifting drugs, he’ll have to be carrying something that he didn’t go in with. If he’s carrying anything bigger than a lady’s handbag, pull him in.”

  Norman Pendleton’s phone buzzed as he finished speaking.

  “Just hang on a second, lads, this could be important.”

  After pressing the phone to his ear for several seconds, the chief inspector clicked it off and replaced it on his desk. A rare smile spread slowly across his face.