by Paul Watson
No response.
Janet opened Jamie’s mouth and looked inside: there were no obstructions. She listened for breathing; it was shallow and weak. Janet called Amy.
‘We need paramedics in here now, at the first-floor of the building in the central courtyard. Officer injured.’
‘Is it Jamie?’
‘Don’t know, Amy, get them in here fast.’
Janet descended the stairs as fast as she could, which was not quick enough for her liking. She stepped into the stairwell and saw the AED cabinet on the wall. The sticker on the box gave a number to call for the unlock code. Janet called the number, and, to her surprise, an operator answered straight away, and gave her an access number.
Janet punched in the code on the metal keys and the cabinet unlocked. She extracted the case inside and hurried back up the stairs and into the science area where she unbuttoned Jamie’s shirt. The AED case contained various implements, including tough cut scissors and a razor.
‘Don’t think we need the razor Jamie. Has Amy got you waxing?’
She took out wipes and cleaned Jamie’s chest and then took out the electrode pouches and stuck them onto him. Janet pressed the button on the machine.
‘Analysing,’ said the machine voice. Janet waited. ‘Shock required, stand away from the patient and prepare to shock. Press the shock button now.’ Janet pressed the shock button. There was a jolt. ‘Please begin CPR.’
Janet knelt close to Jamie pushed the heels of her hands into his sternum. Hundred beats a minute to the rhythm of Staying Alive.
Two minutes later the paramedics found an exhausted Janet. There were four paramedics, all women.
‘We’ll take it from here love, well done,’ said one. Janet felt a surge of relief; she’d done her duty; over to the professionals now.
Janet gazed out of the window; an army of police swarmed around the buildings. They had helmets, and riot shields. Police dogs sniffed around in the courtyard.
Janet heard rotor blades; the air ambulance landed in the field, and a man got out. The writing on his orange overall showed that he was a doctor. One paramedic waved and shouted to him out of the first-floor window. He ran over, accompanied by two other men who carried a stretcher. The men disappeared as they entered the building and then reappeared in the science room. The doctor looked into Jamie’s eyes and spoke with the paramedics. They strapped Jamie to the stretcher and carried him into the helicopter. Janet watched the aircraft rise into the sky as Ed entered the room.
‘Always at the heart of the action Janet.’
‘Not as easy as it used to be Ed.’
‘I don’t remember things ever being easy with you. Well done. How is he?’
‘I don’t know, he didn’t look good; he had a bruise on his head and might have banged it on the table. He’s a brave boy, looks like this fellow underestimated him. Where’s Amy?’
‘Amy’s outside in the car; I told her to stay out of here.’
‘She did what you asked?’
‘Some officers can follow orders, Janet.’
‘Amy surprises me, I thought I saw a spark there this morning.’
‘You don’t have to be reckless to have a spark, Janet.’
‘I guess you’ve proved that, Ed. Thought you’d have made it higher than a chief inspector by now though.’
‘I’m glad to hear compliments still don’t come for free. Maybe testifying for you hurt my career.’ Ed listened to his radio. ‘They’ve found Rob. They’ve also found a body down near the old entrance, let’s take a walk.’
Ed put his arm out, and Janet linked her arm under his. The chest compressions had tired her. ‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘The leg never recovered; I should have paid more attention to the physio.’
‘You had other things on your mind.’
‘I had plenty of time but always found something more interesting to do. Prison libraries are well stocked.’
‘What are you reading these days?’
‘You’ve always had the small talk Ed, but you save your energy for sorting out this mess, I’ll be all right. If you get me outside, I’ll rest, and then I’ll get home.’
‘I’m sure you’ll be all right. I’m just trying to keep an eye on you to get a statement before you disappear, as I’ve got a feeling you won’t be the easiest person to trace.’
They walked out into a courtyard, and Janet sat down at a wooden A-frame bench and table.
‘Would you take this lady’s statement please,’ Ed said to a young officer who didn’t look sure where he should be going. ‘Not every day you meet a legend; get her a cup of tea please.’ Ed bent down and hugged Janet around the shoulders. ‘Good to see you again Maam.’
Ed squinted over towards the main road where Amy had crossed the crime scene cordon.
EIGHTEEN
The dog poked its head around Julia’s door; the creature was two feet long and white, with brown ears and bright eyes. Its mouth was open, and it smiled at Roberts. Roberts wasn’t an expert on dogs. He’d come across them plenty of times, but he didn’t know the name of the breed or whether it was a mongrel; it looked intelligent. The dog ran over to him on the sofa; Roberts held the dog’s head in both hands and rubbed its ears. The dog smiled and wagged its tail; its tongue lolled.
Roberts smelt Laws before he saw him; the man shuffled along, and his stale odour arrived two seconds before he walked through the door. Laws was a similar age to Roberts, but that is where the likeness ended. Laws was about five feet eight tall and wore grey jogging pants that encapsulated his enormous belly. An unwashed XXXL polo shirt covered his torso, stubble shrouded his face, and his hair was shoulder-length and brown, apart from a bald patch at the back; it was an unacceptable haircut, in Roberts’s opinion.
‘Morning Patrick,’ Julia said. Laws didn’t return the greeting.
‘You’ve got a guest,’ Laws said. ‘He looks a fine specimen. Nice dress Dr Matthews, I bet that feels nice and cool in this hot weather.’
‘I’m wearing a skirt. This is Roberts; I thought meet him face to face for his next briefing.’
Laws’s face froze for a fraction of a second. Roberts detected surprise in the other man’s eyes, then fear. Laws looked at the ceiling for five seconds before he looked back at Julia. ‘Why not; face-to-face communication is easier, thanks for arranging the meeting. Would you mind feeding Toto please Dr Matthews? Mr Roberts and I can go to the meeting room.’
‘Sure. I’ll bring coffee.’
Laws left the room.
‘You’re playing a dangerous game, Julia,’ Roberts said.
‘My instincts tell me bringing you here will be my best chance of survival; sometimes you get lucky, and I’m getting a lucky feeling with you. You’d better go.’
Roberts walked into the meeting room that had served as last night’s dining room. Roberts moved a chair downwind of the air conditioning unit and sat with his back against the window.
The sun had been rising for a few hours but was still low enough to dazzle through the window; Roberts saw its reflection on the wall, and then stood up, took a penknife from his pocket and cut the two cords either side of the top plastic strip, on the Venetian blind behind him. Roberts caught the falling blind and placed it on the floor. It was his room now.
Laws shuffled into the meeting room a few moments later, closed the door and sat in a chair. Laws then stood up again, and walked a few paces up and down the room with his hands in the air, and the chair wedged to his backside.
‘I used to be as thin as you when I was younger.’ Laws said and laughed.
‘What happened? Did you develop a medical problem?’ Laws put the chair legs back on the ground and stopped smiling. Laws looked disappointed that his attempted icebreaker had disappointed.
‘Would you mind pulling the blind down please?’ Laws said. ‘The sun gets bright in here, in the morning.’
Roberts motioned at the bare window. ‘The fit-out men didn’t do a great job here.’
; ‘Perhaps you can just move down the Table Mr Roberts; the sun is right in my eyes.’ Laws was correct, Roberts noticed that Laws had positioned himself in the worst spot possible, and the sun was illuminating his saggy jowls and dazzling him.
‘Perhaps you can tell me what I’m doing here, and then I can get away from your stench.’
‘I never wished to meet you Mr Roberts, and I’m sure you never wanted to meet me. Has our arrangement so far pleased you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Has the money gone into your account as agreed?’
‘Yes, no problems.’
‘Would you like that arrangement to continue?’
‘Get to the point.’
‘Dr Matthews is the reason you’re here. Dr Matthews has taken it on herself to arrange for us to meet face to face, an example of her odd behaviour as she nears the end of her project. Perhaps she suspects something; Julia’s very intuitive. I want you to kill her.’
‘250 000 pounds.’
‘That’s absurd.’
‘Take it or leave it.’
‘Why so much money for a gentle doctor? It’s the easiest job I’ve given you; I’ll get someone else to do it and kill you too.’
‘Think about my track record, the reasons you hired me. Are you doing that?’
‘Yes.’
‘What’s the chance that if you threaten me again you’ll walk out of this room alive?’
‘Between zero and one percent.’
‘What’s the probability that one of my associates will find you if I have an unfortunate surprise?’
‘Close to one hundred percent. I’ll have Deakin kill Dr Matthews.’
‘I disagree. You pay well and on time, and I like Dr Matthews, I’ll do it quick and painless.’
‘I can’t approve that amount of money. I must make a phone call.’
‘Call a grown up then. Make the call.’
Laws squeezed out of the chair, putting his hands on the armrest this time, so that his backside didn’t get trapped between the arms of the chair. Laws’s walk from the room reminded Roberts of a pair of dividers, used for map reading, one foot up, a swivel on the other foot, no knee bend.
Roberts looked out of the window. A van pulled into the yard; three builders got out. One man had his arm in a sling and carried an object like a black brick in the other hand. The builders walked through a roller shutter door on the long face of the building.
Roberts worried about Laws. Worrying kept him alive; Roberts had not lived to middle age, in his line of work, by being complacent.
Laws shuffled back into the room and shut the door. ‘It’s done. I want her dead by tomorrow.’
‘Why tomorrow?’
‘I thought you liked as little information as possible Mr Roberts?’
‘I do, but this could be important for my work. If something is happening tomorrow, then I need to know.’
‘Tomorrow’s the first of July, we launch. I don’t want Dr Matthews around when we launch.’
‘Ok, I’ll do it. I’ll get Julia to drive me out of here.’
‘People consider me to be strange. They find me hard to relate to, and I’ve never understood them either. You look like a popular man Roberts; I bet you had friends when you were younger, at school, university?’
‘I didn’t go to university, but I made good friends in the army, most are dead and the rest I never meet anymore. They’ll always be my friends though.’
‘What I don’t understand, Mr Roberts, is why everyone would hate me and why people would like you. You’re about to get a ride with a woman you’ll kill and get paid for it. How could people like a man like that?’
‘It’s because I get paid for it,’ Roberts said. Laws gazed through the window, at a plane tracing an arc across the sky. ‘Are you listening? I don’t get this personal with anyone, but you asked, and I’ll answer.’
‘Go on.’
‘A civilised society has various truths it holds sacred. These truths change. In the Stone Age, it was acceptable to kill, the law of the jungle, survival of the fittest. I read it in Dr Matthews’s book last night, before I fell asleep.’
‘Good job I wasn’t around seventy thousand years ago.’
‘You’re right, a weird man like you without friends wouldn’t make it to adulthood. Even the prime specimens struggled to make it; life was brutal. As we evolved, we learned to cooperate better than the other animals. Humans reached the top of the food chain, and we stopped worshipping lions, eagles and bears. We created gods to give us meaning in a world with no purpose. We observed the world, imagined things that didn’t exist, and made these things reality, one tool at a time. Humans came to understand that we didn’t need to understand, and we no longer needed our gods because our weapons became more powerful. We became able to kill more people.’
‘What about money?’
‘How do you organise people in their millions? How can you influence someone and trust them to do something you want without even meeting them? Money gave us the opportunity to cooperate with no need to build trust between individuals. So, two constant things in human history are money and killing. My goal is money, and I’m prepared to kill to get it. I step outside the current Zeitgeist. This makes most people uncomfortable, but they understand it because it’s hard-wired into them. I’ve fought in wars where elected officials and, by proxy, the electorate have killed for money. Distance isolates most people from this uncomfortable truth, but they could form my view, given the same experiences.’
‘So, what’s the answer to my question? Why don’t people like me?’
‘You don’t care about money; it’s just a convenient way to get what you want. Your motivation is self-importance, and that means you’ve got to be more important than someone else. That’s why people don’t like you.’
‘I thought it was because I smelled bad.’
‘That too. I’ll find Dr Matthews and grab a ride out of here.’
NINETEEN
Andy slept in the chair; the nurse woke him. ‘Sorry but visiting hours are over now. There’s nothing else you can do tonight; your son is stable.’
‘The doctor said there might be news on the tests they made. Can I speak to the doctor before I go?’
‘OK, if you come over to the nurse’s station, I’ll call Doctor Rama and see if he’s available.’
Andy crouched and kissed Max on the head. ‘Good night big man. See you in the morning.’ Andy walked with the nurse to the desk in the corridor.
‘I’ve bleeped the Doctor, but I’m not sure how long he’ll be. You can wait here.’
The nurse wandered into another bay.
A woman sat behind the desk. A nurse? Andy didn’t understand the different uniforms. He waited for ten minutes and the doctor walked into the ward.
‘Hello, I’ve got results back, but we are still running tests. I can tell you that the substance your son drank included amphetamine. There were other chemicals, but we don’t know what they were. I’ve contacted the police, and they’ll want to speak to you.’
‘I’ve been waiting to speak to the police. They hadn’t got back before my phone battery ran out this morning.’ Andy had asked Jess to bring his charger when she visited with Sam earlier, but she had forgotten. Jess left an hour ago to put Sam to bed.
‘You go home and get rest. The police have had a busy day today; there was a guy shot earlier, and an officer arrived in critical condition, they’ll be in touch with you, I gave them your details.’
Andy thanked the doctor and trudged down the corridor to the exit doors. Andy’s thoughts were elsewhere, and he bumped into a young woman, coming out of one bay.
‘Sorry, Excuse me,’ Andy said.
‘No problem.’ Andy continued onto a landing and waited for the lift to arrive. ‘I’m sorry about your friend.’ Andy turned; faint recognition stirred behind his eyes. ‘We met yesterday evening, outside the pub when I was on duty, I’m Amy.’
‘I remember you now. Don’t wo
rry about Steve, he’ll turn up, he always does. His kidnapper will get sick of him soon.’
Amy’s eyes narrowed, ‘Will you sit a second; there’s something you should know.’ Amy sat in a blue plastic chair by a green plastic plant. Andy followed her and sat next to her.
‘A man shot Steve dead earlier; we informed his wife in America. We tried to call you.’
Andy’s face drained of colour, and beads of sweat sat on his brow.
‘My phone’s dead. Is that why you’re at the hospital as part of the investigation into Steve’s death?’
‘I’m here for personal reasons. The kidnappers held my boyfriend captive with your friend; my boyfriend escaped, but the suspect injured him.’
A woman came out of the ward with a six-year-old child. Amy paused the conversation; no need to make everybody else’s day miserable too. Two men in their early twenties emerged from the opposite door; both wore shorts and vests; one sported fabulous tattoos. Suns out; guns out. The men smelled of lager.
‘Bitch,’ said one man.
‘Yeh, bet she doesn’t get much cock, working here day and night; that’s why she’s so uptight.’
‘At least Dan slapped her on the arse when she kicked us out; his injury’s not too bad.’
The mother with the child stepped away.
‘What’s the matter love, you too good to share a lift with us?’
‘Stuck-up bitch.’
‘I’m warning you both, you’re in a public place, and you need to stop swearing,’ Amy said, standing two metres away from the youths. Amy held her warrant card out; the face on the photo smiled; the real face glowered.
‘I think we were at school with you.’
‘I think I fucked you.’
The woman with the child made her way past the cleaner and down the stairs.
‘I’m warning you; I’ll arrest you if you keep swearing.’
‘Yeh, you said, go on then.’
‘Give us a cuddle,’ Tattoo man said. The guy pulled Amy over to him, he forced her back against his chest and wrapped his arms around her.