Wyre shook his head and placed his hand over his mouth with a look of concern on his face. Before Wyre could ask anything else Richards read his mind.
“If you want proof look deeper into what you have seen on the news recently. Take something as obscure as the football player John Terry. Do you know who he is?”
“I don’t follow football but I watch the news so yes I have heard of him”
“So you know why he has been in the news recently”
“Something to do with racism?” said Wyre shrugging his shoulders.
“Yes but you have to look deeper. He allegedly racially abused a black player so the FA decided to punish him. Even the England manager resigned over it, not agreeing with the FA to strip Terry of his captaincy before he is found guilty. The ripples were getting bigger in number 10 because he is meant to be the England captain and England and the FA are trying to shake the racism tag and have to be seen to be doing something about it. What can you do, he is a high profile player?.................enter Mr Ron Bostock”
“Really!” frowned Wyre not quite understanding what someone like him could do.
“Mr Bostock visits Chelsea football club and demands that he is side lined for a month or two with a supposed knee injury until the dust settles”
Wyre kept on frowning and shook his head not quite believing what he was hearing.
“These people really have that much influence in everyday life?”
“I know for a fact the trial will be put off until after the European Championships and even then the outcome of the trial will have already been decided. Abramovic will be threatened if he sticks his nose in etc, etc, I could go on Wyre but we haven’t the time. I’m just trying to give you an idea of what we are up against”
Wyre seemed to add a stare to his frown before shaking his head again.
“You mentioned to me before about this guy called David Kelly. I remember seeing it in the news.
Was that really this Bostock guy?”
Alex didn’t answer but just nodded. It was as though he knew more and seemed reluctant to go deeper and hoped Wyre didn’t push him further.
“The guy in the suitcase……..” asked Wyre before Alex interrupted him.
“Mr Gareth Williams the code breaker. This is the one Bostock has nearly fucked up on. He was trying something new but it has Bostock written all over it. Williams the poor bastard is now thought of as a weirdo with strange sexual tendencies, someone who likes to be locked up in holdalls naked. He wasn’t like that at all”
“Did you know him?” asked Wyre now looking eager.
“I knew of him. He was ex- GCHQ earning an honest living before Bostock got his hands on him. Bostock underestimated Williams’ abilities and whilst trying to crack something for Bostock he found out more than he should have done like secrets about the government.”
Alex seemed to pause and his expression turned slightly to anger.
“Gareth was harmless. That’s why there will be a big investigation because this time Bostock has taken it too far. I’m betting Gareth was tortured, sexually abused then probably poisoned then put in that bag. There might even be evidence of rape. He was a professional and would never have told anyone what he found out but Bostock obviously got scared”
“Why have the bastards taken my family……I want them back Alex?”
Alex returned his focus to the present day.
“I will get a handpicked team in here if you don’t mind Wyre to gather some evidence although I don’t think we will find any. Then………..”
Before he could finish the detective’s mobile phone rang and his expression changed from one of determination to one of concern as Alex stood up and made his way towards the kitchen.
“It’s Bostock” Richards said, holding the phone screen towards an anxious looking Wyre.
“Hello! Richards speaking”
“Well look at us Alex. We don’t speak for 3 years I think isn’t it and now here we are chatting twice within twenty four hours. It’s nice to be friends again”
“Oh come on Ron……let’s cut the bullshit shall we and tell me what you would want with the boy and the woman?”
Wyre’s eyebrows raised in astonishment at how the detective was talking to someone who only seconds ago he had just described as an untouchable, heartless killer that was not to be messed with. His expression said one thing but deep down Wyre knew why Richards could talk like this and he was unsure how he felt about it. Anger and hatred was apparent as Wyre guessed Richards used to be, or perhaps even might be still be one of these guys but then common sense told Wyre what better man to have fight his corner. Whether Richards could actually do anything about what was turning into a desperate situation or not, remained to be seen but an element of confidence grew in Wyre whilst witnessing Richards’ conversation with this arsehole of a bloke called Bostock. The fact he was taking no shit and also giving it had Wyre subconsciously nodding his head. The urge to grab the phone off the detective and hurl threats and abuse to the bastard on the other end, who at this moment in time was tearing his family apart was also an urge he was struggling to suppress.
“Oh come on Alex now let’s not get involved in something you know you can’t possibly win. And I thought you were a bright lad who had learned a lot. You know how it works everything we do has a reason”
“So what is the reason? Why the boy and why come to the house and take his wife. It’s a bit lowball for you isn’t it Ron. You’re normally into presidents, diplomats and celebrities so why this innocent family?”
“God you really have forgotten everything I taught you Alex. You disappoint me and I think you need to get yourself back in the game and back here with the family where you belong. Nobody is innocent young man. The boy well let’s just say he’s necessary but his mother ………….I’ll leave that one for you to figure out yourself. Do you know the empty office block on the Gloucester road leading out of the city?”
“Yes!”
“There’s a car park underneath the office block. Be there midday tomorrow and don’t get bringing the fucking cavalry Richards because that will decide the outcome for sure”
“So they’re still alive then?”
“Oh so you haven’t lost your touch then” said Bostock laughing.
Richards ended the call and looked at Wyre whilst grinding his teeth.
“You’re not claustrophobic are you?”
“Why?”
*
Richards drove down through the car park to the lower basement where facing him at the other end was a four door black AMG Mercedes. He parked his car side on in a random parking place approximately 40 yards away from the black Mercedes and climbed out. Walking around his car he tapped the boot and confidently made his way towards the guy who had also climbed out of his car and was now confidently sat on his bonnet with arms folded, head slightly tipped back defiantly staring at Richards as he approached. Wyre watched intently through the whole that had been purposefully drilled into the side of the boot of Alex’s car, desperately trying to hear the conversation that was about to start. He longed to be up there with Alex to find out what was happening but trusted Alex’s judgement that it would be too dangerous. Instinctively he guessed that decision to be right because the guy dressed in black jeans and black leather jacket seemed trouble. Even from a distance and going by the guys he had met whilst working abroad, Wyre knew this tall white male had an air of maliciousness about him.
“Alex Richards?” asked the American voice.
Richards never responded and just kept walking at the same confident pace. The guy now stood up straight instead of leaning on the car and became almost concerned at Richards’ calm but sincere reaction. Wyre was scared that the beating of his heart would betray his position in the boot as his adrenalin surged once again. His eye strained through the hole to try and catch everything that was going on. Maybe they had his son or his wife in the back of the car. Alex seemed confident that they would not have
either of them in there when they discussed it last night but maybe he was wrong. This thought now gave Wyre hope and slightly lifted his lead filled heart. Although the detective seemed to know these people, it seemed maybe, just maybe he was wrong and it could all be sorted out right here, right now. Of all his experience in difficult situations around the world Wyre could not understand the strange feeling of fear that was now consuming him. It was a mixture of hope that he was a step nearer to seeing his family again and dread of not knowing what would happen next. His body froze with fear as he struggled to see everything clearly through the hole.
“Are you Richards?” asked the guy again, looking more agitated at Alex’s lack of response forcing him to let Richards see he was armed.
What happened next made Wyre’s body jump forcing him to crack his head on the inside of the car boot. Without saying a word and in a blink of an eye Richards had pulled out his weapon and opened fire on the guy asking the questions. Wyre watched as the guy’s head exploded out from the back where the bullet had left it. A bloody hole showed where it had entered as he slumped to the ground. In seconds Richards was stood next to the car and opening fire again this time into the rear side window. Wyre watched as Richards opened the door and pulled out a guy holding what looked like a Heckler and Koch semi- automatic weapon. He was still alive and pleading with Richards not to kill him as the detective threw the weapon away out of reach. Wasting no time Wyre forced the boot open and climbed out screaming at both Richards and the guy Richards now had around the throat.
“Where are my family you bastard?” Wyre shouted, running towards them both.
The guy glanced at Wyre then without hesitating Richards held his pistol up to the guy’s head and pulled the trigger forcing Wyre to stop in his tracks and let out a cry of shock. He then started slowly walking towards the Mercedes car almost in a daze.
“What the hell are you doing? They know where my family are you bastard! You’ve just murdered my family!”
Richards now quickly turned towards Wyre with his weapon raised and pointed it straight at him. Wyre instinctively stopped and raised his hands, still shouting at Richards.
“What the hell is happening? Who are you and what the bloody hell have you done? They have come to release my family”
Without batting an eyelid Richards moved slightly to his right and fired in the direction of Wyre forcing him to duck and shout in fear at the noise of the weapon being discharged in his direction. Wyre felt nauseous and gasped for breathe as he waited to feel where the pain would come from. He was still alive and could feel no searing bullet hole in his body but flinched as Richards ran past him.
“What the fuck is happening?” gasped Wyre as he turned slowly around in a sitting position.
There behind him was someone also dressed in black lying on the ground with a bullet hole straight through the forehead clutching a shotgun. Wyre’s gaze was drawn from the dead body now breathing their last to the figure of Alex Richards now placing his weapon calmly back into its holster.
“Wyre we have to go quickly!”
Wyre instinctively walked back towards Alex’s car but then glanced back at the carnage.
“Wait!” said Wyre holding his arms out to his side and shrugging his shoulders.
“Wyre you must get back in the car……we have to go now, there will be more”
“Why? You never even asked where they were…….my boy Oliver…..we don’t know where he is….for fucks sake what about Susan?”
Richards walked over towards Wyre and placed his arm around his shoulder and tried to guide him towards the car. Wyre moved away and Richards could tell unless he physically forced Wyre into the car they were going nowhere.
“Wyre listen, these guys had no intention of negotiating with us on the release of your family. Did you not see the look on that guys face when you asked where they were…….he had no idea what the fuck you were talking about? Believe me they knew nothing about Oliver or Susan”
“Then why were they here?” asked Wyre shaking his head.
“To kill us both” replied Richards showing no emotion. “Now please Wyre we have to go”
Richards made his way to the car, climbed in and started the engine. This snapped Wyre out of his shocked state of mind he was now in. He joined Richards in the car and it screeched off back up towards the road. Silence descended as Wyre tried to take in what had just happened. The questions filled his mind and battled for supremacy in his head with disappointment and desperation. When they were driving here he was full of hope that they would be a step closer to getting his son and his wife back. Those thoughts were now in tatters as he had just witnessed killing and murder in the most cold and brutal way, fuming inside with thoughts of perhaps what should have been and how he would have dealt with it differently. Wyre also couldn’t help but feel great respect and awe at the way Richards went through these guys who did seem as though they were fully prepared for a battle and were armed to the teeth.
“Who the hell is this guy?” was one of the questions Wyre was asking himself. He had never seen anything like it and wondered how this guy who went about his business in a quiet and reserved manner could turn so quickly into what Wyre could only describe to himself as an assassin, a cold one at that where killing almost seemed second nature.
“You explained your actions by saying the guy you had around the throat had no idea what I was talking about but you started shooting before that Alex. You had already killed one of them without even letting them speak or explain themselves”
Richards looked at Wyre almost like he wanted to tell him something but instead returned his focus to the road. “I know it’s hard for you to understand Wyre but you have to believe me when I say as soon as I pulled up and saw them I knew why they were there…..”
“Do you think they have killed Oliver and Susan?” asked Wyre not really wanting to hear the answer.
“Honestly?” asked Richards. “No I don’t think they have but I’m not sure why. It’s not like Bostock. This whole thing seems messy for him”
“You knew what would happen today before we even arrived there didn’t you?”
Without his eyes leaving the road Richards nodded.
“How can you be sure that he hasn’t had them killed?” asked Wyre stroking his chin nervously.
Richards glanced at Wyre and felt he could trust him enough and knew it would give him hope in getting his family back if he revealed some facts to back his theory.
“Wyre I can’t be one hundred per cent sure but those guys we met to discuss the release of your family with were not the guys that are normally sent to discuss these things. I knew those guys and recognised them although they did not know who I was because I was sent to kill them a few years back. They got a reprieve at the eleventh hour”
Richards paused for a second before continuing.
“I was the one normally waiting in the black Mercedes filled with weapons to strike a deal with whoever had come to try and put Bostock in his place or try and pull a deal that would drop him and his lot in the shit. This is why I knew these guys were only there for one reason. It’s not Bostock’s normal protocol to send assassins. I was expecting to see someone else”
It was the first real admission from detective Richards that he had truly been involved in SW1 and employed by Bostock and the government. Wyre’s thoughts on this were put on hold because he now had an opening and wanted to make the most of the chink in Alex’s armour. Wyre knew the opening would not last long.
“How long did you work for this organisation SW1?” asked Wyre also looking slightly relieved that at least he had someone like Richards on his side that knew this group well.
“As long as I thought I was doing some good and it was for a worthwhile cause like looking after the governments interests” replied Richards giving Wyre a reason and not a period of time.
“What changed?”
At that moment the detective’s phone rang, Richards answered it with an
“ok” then placed it back in his jacket pocket.
“Isn’t the police station that way?” pointed Wyre as they drove past the turning that would have taken them back into the city.
“We can’t go back there yet Wyre it’s too dangerous. We’re going somewhere safe”
They headed into the countryside on the east side of the city and drove deeper into an area covered with trees. There at the bottom of a long straight single track lane was a house with a porch light on. Richards drove the car around the back of the two storey house and parked up right next to the back door.
“We should be safe here for a while” said Richards as he unlocked the door opened it and entered. Wyre now found himself staring at Richards but now felt reluctant to probe further into his past as he felt the chance had been and gone. His priority was to get his family back and he didn’t want to upset the only man who seemed more than capable of doing this.
*
“What happened?” asked Ron Bostock to the guy who stood nervously in front of him.
The guy took a deep breath and shook his head.
“He went right through them like they weren’t there. Executed all three of them in a matter of minutes”
“Probably more like seconds. Where are they now?” replied Bostock.
BEYOND THE SPRING Page 9