Deadly Choice

by Jack Parker

  "I don't see what's so funny!" she cried, "that's my –" she froze suddenly. She wasn't sure what she was about to describe Robin as but it was most likely something they hadn't even come close to talking about. She swallowed and tried again, "my best friend and one of the most highly respected men in this station." She narrowed her eyes at the men in the room. "Can I remind you that if it wasn't for him you'd probably all be sporting Evan-esque beards?"

  Her words seemed to shake them up. They muttered apologies and nodded slowly.

  "Sorry, Kim," they said quietly.

  Kim slowly sank back into her seat, still a little shocked by her own outburst.

  "That's better," she mumbled.

  "I need you all down to the street where his abduction took place," said March, "we've got witnesses to interview and more footage to examine. Stringer," he glanced at Kim, "go home.

  "No bloody chance," muttered Kim.

  "You're in no fit state to be here and too emotionally involved"

  Kim turned bright red. She knew that was true. She also knew that March had no idea how emotionally involved she was. She shook her head slowly and said,

  "I have to be out there. I can't leave him in danger."

  "You'll put yourself and your team in danger if you turn up and puke on Nailer's head," said March, "go home and stay by the phone where we can keep you posted."

  "But…"

  "That's an order, Stringer."

  Kim stared at him and scowled. A feeling of anger was bubbling up inside of her. She didn't like taking orders, especially ones that involved leaving Robin in danger. She shook her head but slowly got to her feet.

  "Fine," she muttered, "I'll go home."

  As she began to leave the room she knew that the only reason she was going home was to wait for another call from Robin. If there was any way that he could contact her, she knew that he would. She loved the way that he called her instead of 999 or any of the team involved on the Nailer case at the station. Her. She was the one he linked with his safety. That made her feel strangely warm inside.

  Feeling buoyed by that realisation, she climbed into her car and began the drive home, her heart pounding. Whenever Robin called she'd be there waiting. And unlike March was busy asking questions of people who would barely be able to tell him a thing she was going to wait to hear it from Robin and know exactly what she was doing. She was going to make sure Robin would be safe, and she would do it alone. Because that's what they did - they looked after each other. They needed each other. They seemed to be doing that a lot.

  What did that say about them and their destiny?

  "We need each other," Kim whispered as though realising for the first time.

  It was a revelation that changed everything for her deep inside.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Robin kept his eyes closed as he felt the van come to a halt and a few minutes later a couple of people started to move him out.

  "What's in the bag?" one of them asked.

  "Dunno," said the other one, "bring it with you."

  Robin almost sighed. Now he was going to be humiliated all over again, he was sure. He kept himself dead-weight and gave no indication that he was awake; the whole way until he found himself plopped down on the floor.

  "What now?" he heard one of them say.

  "Get Nailer. Ask him what he wants us to do.

  "Need something to tie him up with."

  "I'll tell Nailer, you get the rope."

  Robin waited, almost holding his breath, until the two men left. He opened one eye a crack. It was dark in the room but one tiny window shed a dim light over the space that appeared to be a storage cupboard. Quickly he reached into his pants and pulled out his phone. There was only one bar but he had enough signal to make a call. With his heart racing he waited for Kim to respond.

  "Robin?"

  Hearing that voice filled Robin with hope.

  "Kim, they've taken me to some building," he hissed, "got to talk quietly and make it quick. Could come back any time." He tried rattling the door handle gently but it seemed to have been bolted from the other side. "Shit, can't get out," he whispered.

  "Have you any idea where you are?" asked Kim.

  Robin sighed.

  "Not really," he said. He looked at the tiny window near the ceiling. "Hang on…" he climbed upon a big box and stood on tip-toes to see out of it. It could have been no more than six inches high. "There's a tiny window, Kim. I can see out… there's a lorry. Carter's Logistics. Ring any bells?"

  "I know where that is," said Kim, "Is it just a van or are you actually on the premises?"

  "Don't know," hissed Robin. He tried to look around. "No, I can see another one, I'm pretty sure of it. Must be on the premises."

  "OK Rob, hold tight, I'm coming," Kim told him.

  "Get as much back up as possible," said Robin, "no idea how many of Nailer's cronies are here."

  "Please stay safe?" Kim begged.

  Her words did very strange things to Robin's insides.

  "I'll do my best," he whispered and cut the call before someone could come back and threaten him with a rope.

  He went back to his playing-dead potion and not a moment too soon as the two goons returned, one of which had the promised rope in his hands.

  "He's not happy," the other was saying, "don't know what the bloody hell to do to please the twat any more."

  "Oh bloody hell, here he comes," the only one commented as thunderous footsteps came in their direction.

  "What a bloody bunch of muppets," a third voice began. Robin half opened one eye to see what was going on and blearily saw Nailer looming over the idiots at the doorway, "this 'break out' is the gift that just keeps giving, isn't it? Like I need to be checking over my shoulder every five minutes, now I have to worry about some uniformed bozo you've snatched off the street?"

  "He was going after Bill!" One of the men protested.

  "I don't care if he was going after Bill Clinton!" cried Nailer, "Now I have to deal with this on top of everything else?" he glanced at Robin who shut his eye abruptly. "How long has he been out for? You haven't killed him have you?"

  "I think he was still breathing," one of the men said.

  "Christ's sake… bugger off, the both of you. Give me the rope." He sighed as he watched his two goons disappear. "Bloody hell, if you want a job done properly…"

  "…Don't kidnap a chief inspector who's just had the most humiliating shopping trip of his life," hissed Robin as he opened his eyes and snatched the rope from Nailer. It seemed like a bit of a strange and risky reaction but Robin had just about had enough of playing dead and it was time to get out of this damn situation. Nailer was out of practice and his responses were not as sharp as they used to be so the last thing he was expecting was a punch heading in his direction.

  "Ugh!" Nailer found himself knocked back as Robin grabbed his arm and turned him over. He pulled his arms tightly behind his back and went at them with the rope while employing Simon's previous tactic of sitting on him to make sure he wasn't going anywhere.

  "What is it with you, hmm?" cried Robin, "are you determined to 'accidentally' ruin my life with everything you do? You killed my fucking dog! I went chasing after you, crashed and my boyfriend died! Then you see fit to help Evan fucking White and his stupid beard and suddenly that facial hair is all over the news and I get dragged to court and torn apart as a witness for the prosecution, and now you manage to kidnap me in the middle of the most humiliating shopping experience of my life!"

  "Hey, hey, calm down, cool your head!" cried Nailer. He turned his head as far as he could to look at Robin, "first of all, it's easier for me to talk when you're not sitting on my back."

  Reluctantly Robin climbed down. He crouched in front of Nailer and folded his arms.

  "And?"

  Nailer sighed. He looked a little like a slug with his arms tied behind his back.

  "Well first of all," he began, a little breathlessly, "I'm sorry about your dog."
He genuinely looked a little downhearted, "believe it or not I'm not in the business of shooting defenceless animals. I fired a warning shot and she got in the way. But I'm sorry. Secondly," he carried on without giving Robin the right of reply about Cassandra, "you can't blame me for an accident that happened when you were driving. Now, Evan… he'd a bit of a twat and he has the worst facial hair this side of a werewolf movie but all he did was make a mistake. He screwed up. Slept with a married woman. He wasn't the first and he won't be the last."

  Robin felt a terrible sense of guilt attacking him at Nailer's words. That was very true. That's where Evan's problems had started – sleeping with Caroline Price. And who was he to judge about having an affair with a married woman?

  "Yeah," he said quietly.

  "His mistake was trying to bury it all," said Nailer, "until it started to grow in the dark and by the time the truth came into the light it had become a giant flesh-eating monster. Now," he took a deep breath "as for your shopping trip, I have heard about the contents of your bag and I'm sorry," he gave a tiny grin, "we shouldn't have kidnapped someone in your condition."

  "Oh, everyone's a fucking comedian!" cried Robin as his pants started to vibrate.

  Nailer looked even more amused.

  "Well you're a medical marvel, aren't you?" he commented.

  "Shit," mumbled Robin. He fished his phone from his trousers and found a text from Kim.

  At building. Help on its way. x

  "That your midwife?" asked Nailer.

  Robin put his phone away.

  "You're going back behind bars," he said.

  "Good," said Nailer.

  Robin frowned.

  "What?"

  "I'm not up to this any more," said Nailer.

  "I'm not in the mood for mind games," said Robin.

  "Straight up," said Nailer, "I mean, it was all very well fifteen, twenty years ago… Look at me, officer. How old do you think I look?"

  Robin scrutinised him.

  "Fifty seven?" he guessed.

  Nailer's first instinct was to call Robin a cheeky bugger but with a heavy heart he had to admit that he wasn't that far off the mark.

  "I'm fifty three," he sighed, "Fifty three years old and crashing vehicles through fake panels in walls. It's stupid. This is a young man's game, sir. I used to enjoy it, not denying that. Loved the thrill of the escape, always staying one step ahead. Enjoyed the money, few free samples. But I don't even do that stuff any more. Never got that much into my own wares, you see. I knew when to stop. Part of me wanted to get out for a long time but it's like an athlete who wants to keep defending their title – I couldn't just give in and give up while I had my reputation. I'd evaded you lot for decades. But now I've been on the other side of the prison walls the game's lost its fun for me. I don't want to start running again. I quite liked it in there."

  Robin stared at him incredulously.

  "Then why break out?" he asked.

  "Because it seems I had a society of numbskulls working away behind the scenes," sighed Nailer, "I didn't send the word. I was happy enough with my lot. Just wanted to get on with it." He sighed, wishing his hands weren't tied up so that he could scratch an itchy leg. "My heart's gone out of the whole thing, Sir. I want to be left alone to rest and grieve."

  "Grieve?"

  Robin had never seen someone on the other side of the law with such sincerity in their eyes.

  "Doesn't matter who she really was," he said, "doesn't matter what she was paid to get close to me. Doesn't matter what the detectives in their smart suits tell me. The fact is, I still fell in love with her." He sighed. "Vicky."

  Robin bit his lip. He'd seen the news.

  "Victoria Stone," he said.

  Nailer nodded.

  "I should have known something was up," he said, "you look at her and then you look at me and we're like one of those what's wrong with this picture games. But I guess I wanted to believe it. Love does that. Makes you blind." He let out his breath and closed his eyes. "And they can say what they want… give me all the proof, show me the brief, let me know for sure that she was one of them. But there were moments we had that were all ours. They weren't in any brief. There's no brief that's gonna tell her to cover my shoulders with the duvet on a cold winter night. No brief that's going to tell her to look at me like she's going to undress me right there and then. No brief that's going to tell her to feed me strawberries and cream in bed."

  Robin wrinkled up his nose.

  "Not sure I needed that much information," he said.

  "The point is," Nailer looked at him seriously, "whatever they say about her and whatever job she was supposed to do, there's always that chance… that tiny possibility… that somewhere underneath it she really felt something for me too." He had a slightly pleading look in his eyes. "Isn't there?"

  Robin hesitated. He knew some of the background. He knew about Victoria's assignment, about her being undercover, he knew about the way she died and that the drugs had gotten hold of her. But he knew there was such a thing as going beyond the call of duty and no one in her position was going to do the things that Nailer said just for the sake of being undercover. And sometimes, just every now and then, the unexpected happens.

  "I think," he said quietly, "that where love is concerned, there are no rules."

  He felt a lump in his throat as he spoke. Nailer nodded to him gratefully.

  "So," he said, "I do know what you're going through. And I'm sorry your boyfriend died. I'm grieving too. But at least I know what it's like to be in love."

  Robin bit his lip and nodded.

  "Yeah," he whispered.

  "It's too late for me now," Nailer sighed, "your mates will be round before I know it and I'll be back inside in time for tea. I'm never going to meet the woman of my dreams in there, am I? But you've got your life ahead of you. And now you've known what it's like, you'll recognise it. The next time."

  Robin felt himself breathing deeply. Who would have thought it would take Nick Nailer of all people to talk some sense into him?

  "That's true," he said quietly.

  They heard a clattering and the sound of shouting outside, which brought Nailer to look back at Robin with a slight smile on his face.

  "That sounds like my taxi back to the nick," he said.

  Robin nodded.

  "I think so," he said.

  "Do me a favour, help me up," said Nailer, "can't wriggle around like a fish on the floor all night."

  Robin pulled Nailer to his feet and, gripping the ropes, led him out of the door.

  "Well, Mister Nailer," he began, "I hope that you enjoy going back inside as much as you say."

  "Sure I will," said Nailer, "hope I haven't missed too much of the bloody pool tournament. I've got a score to maintain."

  As Robin pulled him into the corridor outside he saw Kim in the middle of handcuffing one of the goons who'd clobbered him and March arresting the other. All around were various people being rounded up by officers and detectives and somewhere in the middle of it all Robin led the main man through the crowd.

  "Robin!" cried Kim as she saw him.

  Just seeing Kim made Robin's body tingle from head to toe. Hearing her voice stole the breath from his body. He couldn't fight the smile across his face as he looked at her.

  "I'm fine, I'm fine," he said quickly. He ignored the lump in his head and the blood that had matted his hair.

  "Bloody told me to go home, they did," said Kim, "they were going to do this by asking stupid passers-by for identical eye witness reports that told them nothing the CCTV footage hadn't already shown them."

  "DC Stringer, I am aware of my error of judgement…" March began but his attention was drawn to Nailer smiling amiably. "I see you've found our escapee," he said to Robin.

  "It's a fair cop," said Nailer. He looked at Robin, "And you were. A fair cop, that is. Cheers for that."

  "Can we start getting this lot outside please?" Kim asked as the goon in her grasp tried to struggl
e away and kicked her in the leg.

  "With pleasure," said March.

  Slowly the building began to empty and the yard outside became increasingly full as various characters were loaded into vans to be shipped off to the station with a nice comfy squad car for Nailer himself. As the crowd began to disperse a little Robin and Kim glanced at each other, smiled and found themselves drawn together. A lifetime felt like it had passed since that morning. Robin looked at her with a fondness that he had rarely known.

  "Hey you," he said quietly. He realised something that made him shudder. That was a greeting he used to use for Simon all the time but rarely for another person. It seemed natural and fitting to use it for Kim.

  "Hey," she said quietly. There was a look of concern on her face as she reached up and skimmed the side of his head with her fingers. She didn't touch him hard enough to hurt him but just enough to feel the blood that had dried around his hair. "Oh God, Rob, what did they do to you?" she flinched, "I mean, I know what they did to you… we all watched it…" she looked almost tearful. "I thought I was going to lose you."

  "Turned out Nailer wasn't bad… for a bad guy," Robin said quietly.

  "Rob, you have to get to hospital, Kim told him, "you're probably concussed, or…"

  "I'm fine," Robin said quickly, "I'll be fine. Really."

  "Not taking any chances," Kim began to back away towards her car, "come on. Car's over this way."

  "I've got to get back to the station and give my statement," Robin protested.

  "You're going to hospital if I have to drag you there," said Kim, "look –"

  She took a step towards Robin, her arms held out to carry out her threat and use brute force if necessary but out of the blue there was a deafening roaring noise followed by a loud crashing and cracking sound. Before anyone could get their bearings, a car seemed to fly out from nowhere, the shards of a secret panel in the building flying in all directions as Billy Hocker took advantage of Nailer's main getaway technique to secure his own freedom.

  It all happened in such a blur that it took a moment for anyone to realise what was going on but as Kim's body flew through the air, spinning over and over as it hit the ground, Robin gave the most dreadful cry of his life. He screamed out her name, over and over, ran to her side and knelt on the ground by her face. The fear that gripped him inside was beyond compare, the terror at the thought of losing Kim was crushing him, tearing him in two.