The Robert Finlay Trilogy

by Matt Johnson

  ‘The hotel you mean?’ Webb asked.

  ‘Yes, when I came to pick you up. You recognised me.’

  ‘Yes … I did that. I see your face for the first time in twenty years and I’m about to get in a lift with you, aye, it was a wee surprise, I’ll tell ya. You missed your chance, you won’t get another.’

  ‘I didn’t recognise you.’

  ‘Not many do these days, even that idiot Costello. He and I used to go to the same school and he still thought I was Iranian.’

  ‘Costello’s dead.’

  Webb appeared to flinch, but then instantly regained his composure. ‘No matter. There are many more like Costello in this world and now I won’t have to pay him.’

  ‘Pay him? Is that what this is all about? Money?’

  ‘For him, yes. He was a hired gun. For me … well, you know why I’m here, Finlay. Does your little wife here know too?’

  I glanced down to where I could just make out the outline of Jenny as she lay pinned to the floor. She had stopped struggling.

  ‘You ok, Jen?’ I asked.

  There was a muffled grunt. I was right about the gag.

  ‘Tell your wife, why don’t you, Finlay? Tell your wife how twenty years ago you bravely shot my fifteen-year-old brother to death. Tell her how his life’s blood spilled over the roadway, how his brains decorated the car … you tell her, Finlay.’

  ‘There was nothing brave about it, Richard. I was doing a job, you and your friends tried to kill me.’ I wondered how Jenny was reacting to what she was hearing, whether she would be confused or angry. I was about to try and reassure her when Webb reacted.

  ‘You liar…’

  His top lip curled back in a snarl as he lifted the Uzi. Another burst of fire hit the wall alongside me.

  I pulled back a few inches, nearer the door and in a way that kept Webb from seeing the Glock. My heart seemed to be trying to burst out through my rib cage. I was going to have to do something, and quickly.

  Despite the years that had passed since I’d completed any form of training in hostage scenarios, my soldier’s brain was starting to spark into life. I was seeing things, noting details and making plans, and my body was starting to feel alive. It was the adrenaline that had triggered it, but long-forgotten lessons and skills were now in my grasp.

  I looked at Webb’s index finger. It was steady, resting gently on the trigger. The Uzi, I could see, was set on automatic. That meant trying to get Webb to take his finger off the trigger, if I was to have any chance of overpowering him. The magazine on the machine pistol looked to be a standard fitment. That meant twenty-five rounds maximum with at least nine or ten fired already. The fifteen remaining bullets were more than enough to kill us all, but the rate at which Webb was wasting ammunition might prove decisive. If I could get him to waste a few more, we might have a chance. I decided to keep the conversation going.

  ‘How am I a liar, Richard?’

  ‘You butchered my brother. You stood there and shot him in cold blood … he never stood a chance.’

  ‘And if I’d let him get out of the car with his Kalashnikov? Would that have made it a fairer fight?’

  ‘Fair … what would you know about fair? What did the SAS ever know about fair? You were there to kill, pure and simple.’

  ‘So, how did you find me?’ I asked.

  ‘At my trial, you were there.’

  ‘I had a cipher, no name … and I was behind a screen.’

  ‘Monaghan told me who you are.’

  That confirmed it. The final proof, and from the horse’s mouth. Monaghan had betrayed us. I wondered, just possibly, would I be able to stall Webb and also discover the reason why?

  ‘So, what did you do?’ I said. ‘Blackmail him or something?’

  ‘Something, yes. He knew my line of work and he came looking for me with a proposition. You were the bait. I think you’d call it a mutually beneficial arrangement.’

  ‘Until you killed him…’

  ‘He betrayed me. I was supposed to deal with you myself … that was the deal. Then he tried to get clever by having you snatch me. There was only one person apart from me who knew I was at that hotel.’

  ‘Why betray you when Kevin and I were still alive? I don’t get it.’

  ‘That’s because you don’t work in my world, Finlay. Monaghan was going to kill all of us. The job was done … all the main targets eliminated. You and Jones were extras. Monaghan was going to kill you two himself. By killing me at the same time, he planned to make sure there wasn’t a connection back to him.’

  Kevin was right. Monaghan was going to make it up close and personal.

  ‘So, you did him first.’

  ‘All’s fair in war, Finlay.’

  ‘Did he tell you why he wanted the others dead?’ I asked.

  ‘That was his business. All I wanted was you.’

  ‘So he didn’t tell you it was revenge against men he thought had been sleeping with his wife.’

  Webb laughed. ‘You’re kidding me? Well, if that’s the case then she had quite an appetite. Those boys paid a heavy price for a bit of fun, didn’t they?’

  ‘They’re not the only ones, Richard. Monaghan’s wife committed suicide when she was found out.’

  Webb laughed again. ‘Like that matters to me, Finlay. She played with fire and got burned.’

  I paused for a moment. The opening dialogue with Webb was going well. I tried to make eye contact with the surveillance cop but he was looking at the Uzi, watching its barrel, ready to move if it swung in his direction.

  ‘So, tell me Richard. How did a lad from the streets of Castlederg manage to pass himself off as an Arab?’

  In the distance, the sound of an approaching siren reached our ears. I wouldn’t need to keep Webb talking for much longer before help was at hand. But he had other ideas.

  ‘Long story, Finlay … and you’re never gonna get to hear it.’

  Chapter 94

  Webb lowered the Uzi and pointed it at Jenny’s head. In that moment, he must have sensed that the surveillance cop was about to try something. He looked away from her for a split second and as the barrel of the Uzi lifted, she suddenly swung her foot up from the floor and into his groin. He folded.

  The talking was over. I swung the pistol around from behind my back and fired. My first bullet was aimed at Webb’s chest, near to his heart. The force knocked him back against the window. I kept firing. This wasn’t me being professional and it wasn’t meant to be pretty. This was me saving my wife from a madman. Bullets hit the wall around Webb and smashed through the glass of the window. Some must have hit him, because he spun around.

  Next thing, Jenny was on him like an angry cat.

  ‘Jen, get out of the way,’ I yelled.

  Either she didn’t hear me or she was past caring. As Webb stood up straight, Jenny punched him hard on the temple. The surveillance cop was in front of me as we leapt forward, but Jenny beat us to it again. From somewhere, she found the strength to deliver a sharp side-kick to Webb’s ribs. He flew into the window and crashed through it. The last sound that Richard Webb uttered was a scream, before he crashed into the garden outside.

  I threw myself at Jenny. There was a handkerchief stuffed in her mouth, held in place by a scarf. Around one of her wrists was the cord from my dressing gown. Webb had made a poor job of tying her up. As I made to comfort her, she pushed me away.

  ‘He’s wearing a bullet-proof vest. I could feel it.’

  The surveillance cop looked out of the window and, as he did, a spray of bullets hit the outside wall and remaining glass. He fell backwards into the bedroom.

  ‘I’ll take care of him. You get that bastard, Finlay.’

  For a brief moment, I hesitated. It seemed so unlikely that I should be taking orders from Jenny. I picked the Beretta up from the bed with my free hand, ran downstairs, out of the house and on to the drive.

  There was no sign of Webb. I checked our car, behind and underneath.

&nbs
p; ‘Up the lane, I can see him running.’ Jenny was leaning out the broken window pointing away from the house. In the bright, morning sun, I could just make out the fleeing figure. I raced after him.

  By now, Webb had over a hundred yards start on me but he was slowing fast. Either the fall or one of the bullets I had fired at him must have injured him. He was limping badly on his right leg. As I closed on him, he must have heard my footsteps on the gravel. He started to turn.

  I raised the Glock and fired. My aim was good. The bullet struck his arm, sending the Uzi spinning away. It clattered to the ground, now far enough away from him to render it useless. The sound of the approaching siren was louder now.

  Webb turned to face me. ‘Allahu Akbar, Finlay. God is …’

  ‘Cut the Jihadist crap, Richard.’

  ‘Twenty years I have waited for this moment. Twenty years to avenge my brother. Now … now what?’

  Webb winced in pain. Blood covered his right hand where I had just shot him. His arm was shaking violently. Shards of glass glistened in the sun where they stuck in his scalp. With his left hand he brushed away the blood that flowed across his brow and into his eyes. He was in a real mess.

  ‘It doesn’t have to end this way, Richard,’ I said.

  ‘Shoot me then,’ he said.

  I held the Glock steady in my hand, the barrel pointed at his chest. But I didn’t fire.

  ‘You can’t, can you?’

  ‘Can’t what?’ I demanded.

  ‘You can’t kill me. I knew you were weak, Finlay. I always did. You should have killed me the day you killed my brother.’

  ‘You weren’t armed,’ I said.

  Webb laughed. ‘Have you any idea how much pain you caused me that day? I wish you’d shot me, I really do. It would have been better than a life wishing it had been me that died and not my brother.’

  ‘And now you expect me to put that right?’

  ‘No … you won’t. I know that. I’ve had a lifetime of nightmares. Do you know that I even see you in my dreams, Finlay? Even now, it won’t end. Even now, I’d put money that you’d try and wound me to spare my life.’

  ‘I wouldn’t count on it,’ I said. Behind me, I could hear footsteps.

  ‘Look behind you, Finlay,’ said Webb. ‘Your little wifey has come to help, she has.’

  ‘Kill him,’ said Jenny. She was close to me, close enough to hear what was being said. I hoped Webb wouldn’t use her to force me to shoot him.

  I kept my eyes facing towards Webb. Even now, he might be looking for a moment of distraction when he could reach for a concealed weapon. Behind him, the fast-approaching police car was now only fifty or so yards away. The crew had turned the sirens off as they drew close. For a moment, it crossed my mind that they were going to ram us. Suddenly, the police car slowed, the bonnet dipping as the driver braked hard. The tyres screeched as it started to skid, smoke pouring from all four tyres. From the passenger side of the car, an officer in blue uniform emerged holding an MP5 carbine.

  ‘He’s gonna shoot you, Finlay,’ said Webb.

  Although Webb was tormenting me, he was right. In civilian clothes and pointing a pistol at an injured man, I was the one presenting the most apparent danger.

  ‘Drop the weapon,’ the cop shouted.

  He was aiming at me.

  Webb was standing with his back to the police car, his good arm now concealed by his jacket.

  I hesitated.

  ‘Drop the weapon … now,’ came the repeated order, this time even louder.

  ‘Allahu Akbar …’ Webb said, quietly, as he moved his left hand further inside his jacket.

  He winked at me and then spun around to face the police car. A second cop had now emerged from the rear seat and was pointing a Glock pistol in our direction.

  Webb moved quickly. He ducked slightly, pulled his hand from inside his jacket and then thrust both hands forward as if about to fire. His hands were empty.

  Both armed cops reacted immediately and instinctively. They opened fire.

  Chapter 95

  I stood for several seconds, staring at the motionless form before me. There was no sign of life. Thick, red blood ran in narrow rivulets back towards the house. Dig two graves, I thought. The words of Jenny’s text came back to me just as I felt her hand touch mine. Whoever thought that up knew what they were talking about. For Webb, it was now truly over.

  The cops repeated the instructions for me to drop the Glock. With the danger from Webb removed, I complied with their instructions, lying face down on the tarmac as they handcuffed me and then searched my pockets. Only when they found my warrant card were the plastic cuffs cut and was I allowed to stand back up.

  My guess was that Webb was dead. One of the ARV cops reckoned that he could feel a pulse. From what I could see, the sad figure lying prostrate on the tarmac only had one eye intact and half his skull lay in pieces on the nearby grass. I doubted very much if he’d survive.

  Jenny clasped me to her and we stood silent for some time, unable to speak. Finally we turned back towards the cottage and she told me what had happened while I had been on the phone to Grahamslaw. Webb had been hiding in the bathroom. He’d jumped her on the landing and then told her he was going to kill me and make her watch. I didn’t say anything, but my guess was it would have been the other way around.

  I tried to tell her about what Webb had claimed, about the firefight when I had been ambushed by him and his mates. Clearly distressed, she told me to leave if for another time.

  As I had with Monaghan, I wondered what kind of a man could harbour such hate for so long. It wasn’t a question I would be able to let go easily. I was going to have to find out as much about Webb as I could. Even if he died, I would need to understand what had made him tick. Only then would I be able to put things to rest. Only when I understood could I put things behind me.

  Grahamslaw was one of the last to arrive. He was in a chauffeur-driven Volvo and had a young press liaison officer with him. That was all I needed. As if I hadn’t stomached enough, now there was going to be press interest.

  By that time, shock had started to get the better of Jenny and she wasn’t in a fit state to talk. At my suggestion, she started making tea for everyone. I hoped that keeping busy might stop her thinking about what had just happened. But I probably wasn’t doing her justice. As she had with me, I’d seen a side to my wife that I hadn’t known existed.

  It wasn’t long before I managed to get Grahamslaw on his own. I was walking down the garden when he came to join me. The press officer was still in the house using the telephone.

  ‘How are the two ARV cops?’ I asked.

  ‘As good as can be expected.’

  ‘They did the right thing. Webb wanted them to think he was going to shoot.’

  ‘I know … but that isn’t what you really want to talk about is it, Finlay?’

  Grahamslaw was right. There were some important questions to which Kevin and I needed answers.

  The Anti-Terrorist Squad Commander was generous with his explanations. I learned about the birth certificate, about the meeting with the Commissioner and how my name had come up in the conversation. It was how the Commander had made the link and why he had called me with the warning. He corroborated what Webb had claimed about being a hired gun recruited by Monaghan for the job. But there was more than simple generosity in his words. There was warmth, sympathy. He understood the predicament that Kevin and I had faced.

  ‘What do you think about the snatches that Monaghan asked us to do?’ I asked.

  ‘Only an opinion, but I agree with what Webb told you before he was shot. Monaghan was tidying up, getting everyone in one place where he could dispose of you all in one fell swoop.’

  ‘And it was nothing to do with the embassy?’ I asked, wondering if there had been clues that I had missed.

  ‘Nothing at all.’

  ‘So why try and bring about a situation where Kevin and I were likely to get captured?’

 
; ‘A bit of a mystery. My Superintendent thinks he might have had two plans. One to get you nicked and, if that didn’t work, one to bump you off.’

  ‘Why get us arrested, though?’

  ‘To ruin your lives … like he believed you had ruined his. He wanted revenge, pure and simple.’

  I stopped walking. ‘So, what now? Are Kevin and I both finished?’ I asked, my heart in my mouth. It was crunch time. Only now would I learn what fate Kevin and I faced.

  Grahamslaw kept moving for several steps before he stopped and turned to face me. The look on his face was solemn. It didn’t look good. ‘Finlay … you and your mate have shot at a PC, conspired to kill and kidnap, thrown grenades at SO19 and you expect me not to nick you?’

  ‘The PC was OK, wasn’t he?’ I did my best to sound desperate.

  ‘Yes.’ Grahamslaw chuckled. ‘And you gave yourself away when I pretended he’d been killed. Tell me now … what would you do in my position?’

  ‘What would you have done in mine?’ I replied, reassured that Grahamslaw seemed amused but, at the same time worried that he was playing games with me.

  Grahamslaw smiled broadly. That smile warmed me through to the very core. He stepped towards me and put his hand on my shoulder.

  The next question surprised me. ‘You’re wasted in uniform, Finlay. Would you be interested in joining my team?’

  It was my turn to grin. ‘Me and Kevin?’ I asked.

  ‘Perhaps … we’ll see.’

  As we turned back towards the house, we could see Jenny through the kitchen window. She was making a brew for the paramedics who were still working on Richard Webb. She waved and smiled bravely.

  The press liaison officer was scuttling down the garden towards us.

  ‘I suppose there’s no way we can keep this out of the papers?’ I said to him.

  ‘No way,’ he replied. ‘Unless something really big happens today, this is going to be on the front page. You’re a hero, Inspector. Just what the job needs.’

  His mobile telephone started ringing. As he answered it, I turned back to Grahamslaw. ‘Are you married, guv?’