“Well he hasn’t exactly gone in there unarmed”
“Yes but like he said they will find his hand gun on him”
“Yes they will but that’s the plan”
Wyre shook his head indicating he didn’t understand. Andy pulled away from the petrol station to begin the slow, at a distance, pursuit of Richards.
“Tell me Wyre how many times have you been searched when you have entered a secure area whilst we have been working abroad, especially in the Middle East?”
“Every single time!”
“Describe how you were searched!”
Wyre paused but knew there would be a reason for the question.
“My legs are frisked then my torso then my arms”
“So if you were going to carry a weapon that you wished to go unnoticed, where would you carry it?”
Again Wyre shook his head.
“Richards is carrying a flick knife and I will put money on that they won’t find it. The reason they won’t find it is because…..”
Andy opened the palm of his hand and there in front Of Wyre was a flick knife. Wyre’s expression was one of surprise.
“In his hand, are you sure they won’t find it?”
“The only person who might find it is Bostock. Let’s just hope he’s not the one who searches him”
“I’ve just got a bad feeling about this” Wyre sighed as he noticed the flash on the screen was on the move again.
*
Alex was not new to this situation and realised time was running out if Andy and Wyre were going to be able to follow the tracker inside him. He was concerned that by now they should have arrived but the car now seemed to be travelling at some speed which meant they were probably on the motorway or dual carriageway which in turn meant they still had some way to go. Just as his mind was telling him they only had a few minutes remaining, the car pulled off the motorway and slowly drove around in second gear, then accelerated up into third then fourth then suddenly came to a halt. The doors were opened and Alex was pulled out and led into what sounded like a large warehouse type building. He gripped the flick knife tight in his clenched fist in preparation for what might be coming. As much as he tried to see through the hood it was too thick so had to rely on his heightened hearing and smell to gage what was going on around him.
“Search him!” said a voice to his right.
Two hands gripped their way up his legs, his crutch, his torso then his arms. The hands then returned to his torso and lifted his shirt up and there was his browning pistol taped onto the small of his back. The four guys who had travelled with him in the car all stood pointing their weapons at him waiting for him to make his move as one of the guys ripped the tape off and passed the weapon to one of his colleagues.
“Search him again!” said the same voice.
“That’s it, that’s all he was carrying” replied the guy who frisked him.
“Really well you obviously missed it the first fucking time so search him again”
The same hands started their search again except slower this time, making Alex suspicious that Bostock must be somewhere nearby perhaps watching every move. If he was, the detective knew his hidden flick knife might be discovered because Bostock knew every trick in the book. He stood relaxed as the guy frisked his torso then gripped his shoulders and slowly made his way down Alex’s arms to the elbows then to the wrists. Relaxing his fists slightly Richards felt the guy checking his watch and waited, almost expecting him to open the palms of his hands and see the knife. It was only a small one, just smaller than the width of his palm but he could only allow himself to grip it enough so as to not drop it but also to not arouse suspicion. Much to his relief he sensed the guy had backed off from him but there was no talking and no orders just silence. It was then Alex sensed someone else approaching to a point where he could feel and hear their breath. They smelled different and there was an obvious hint of alcohol and whoever it was leant in close to talk to him speaking calmly, almost reassuringly.
“It’s great to see you again Alex you look great............although you’ve made a huge fucking mistake coming in here”
“Well Farrah Macain what a pleasant surprise” replied Alex sarcastically.
It was obvious Farrar didn’t wish to do small talk and changed his tact whilst turning and walking away.
“You have no idea what you’re involved in here Alex. It’s going to be such a waste losing you today”
Under the hood Richards could not help a wry smile as he was led along a corridor to what sounded like a large empty office. His hands were cut free then the door was heard shutting behind him. The smile started to grow to a large grin as he felt at home once again. There was one thing Bostock had been right about and that was Alex had missed the having to fight for his life and survive, most likely by having to kill people. The feeling of having to fight his way out of a situation brought back memories of his past. Most people love doing the things they loved most and now Alex Richards was doing what he loved the most and it was getting his juices flowing once again. Being a detective was the path he had chosen to perhaps redeem himself but having his life threatened and having it threatened by Bostock himself made Alex relish the challenge of going up against the exact system that had made him who he was. To confront the beast that had reared him.
“So this is where Oliver and Susan must be” he thought to himself, recognising it straight away as a holding area.
*
Bostock looked back into the room where the body of Oliver lay still on the floor, motionless.
“Sir, Richards is here, he’s in the room next door to the boy”
“Ah good, listen make sure the boy Oliver gets his medication. Is he eating now?”
“Yes sir three meals a day”
“Good!”
“One thing sir”
“Yes!”
“Even though the boy has only been here a few days the doctor said that he seems to be getting stronger. He didn’t know why but he seemed to be relying on his medication for his condition a lot less than when he first came in”
Bostock paused looking slightly bemused then nodded to himself before walking towards the door of the room where Alex was being held. Looking up at the camera on the wall behind him he flicked his head to indicate that he required Jim to come in with him. Unlocking the door Bostock walked in.
“Hello Alex, how are you? Welcome back it’s great to see you again. I’m sorry we couldn’t chat more the other day at the court but you know how it is, business is business, schedules to keep etc”
Alex never answered but just stood casually leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. He still held his knife in the palm of his hand because it would be visible in his pocket.
“This is Jim” said Bostock as his right hand man entered the room.
Alex smiled as he glanced at Jim who smiled back at him. The detective knew smiles meant one thing. There was no” hard man” glaring in this game, no long stare to worry the victim. There was always respect between people such as these even if the one was about to kill or torture the other.
“So you know about Noah’s Ark then Alex?” smiled Bostock.
“As much as I despise doing what I’m doing now, yes I do know what you want to know about Noah’s Ark but I obviously want a guarantee that you will let the boy and his mother go. I mean come Ron you must be getting tired of driving up and down the M4 by now”
Bostock nodded still smiling.
“And I understand you wish to give all this another go……re-kindle old friendships so to speak”
“Like I say that would depend on you holding up your end of the deal”
Again Bostock nodded.
“There is one thing I don’t understand Alex so please forgive me for asking. The mother and boy, what’s the fascination with these two, I mean please enlighten me because I used to think I had you all worked out but this……..why? We preferred it when you kept your head down playing detec
tive”
“Well that’s strange because you know Ron I was going to ask you the same question. All this seems a bit low ball for you. It’s normally Presidents aides, government officials or people on your hand written list that get put into a room and tortured and then killed, then tortured again. Why am I here?” Said Alex approaching Bostock.......”To kill you of course”
“That’s my boy Alex” said Ron Bostock bursting out laughing. “Come with me Alex and I’ll show you…..well remind you what you’ve been missing so much”
They left the room and made their way down the corridor and unknown to Alex past the room Oliver was in. Bostock stopped at a door and swiped a card forcing the door to click and unlock. Richards recognised it immediately as a card similar to the one he took off one of Bostock’s men and then gave to Ruben. The door opened and the smell from inside almost repulsed all three of them. It seemed Bostock was taking great pleasure in showing off one of his collection to Alex.
“This poor bastard is a Mr Naseem, why don’t you tell my friend here who you are…..sorry who you used to be?”
The skeletal looking guy sat at a table in a pair of trousers and shirt that looked like had been worn for weeks on end and was now hanging off him, just stared back at the three of them. In the far corner of the room Richards noticed piles of what he could only guess as being human excrement as the stench was almost overpowering. It was accompanied by pools of the poor guy’s piss that had stained the floor and walls in various parts due to it being there for so long. The guy had obviously given up on pissing over the floor and it was obvious he had started to piss himself, his trousers stained with various bodily functions. In a separate corner was what looked like a collection of vomit. There were the normal pieces of carrots and other various vegetables in it but Alex could see it looked very similar to the piles of excrement which meant only one thing. His own shit was the only thing this poor bastard had been eating. Bostock was starving him, probably to death.
“You see Alex I don’t have to tell a man of your experience that some people don’t belong in this country. For whatever reason there comes a time when we decide that before they cause harm and are a danger to the security of the country and its people they should be dealt with. Unfortunately we always are not the ones to deal out the said punishment, which is obviously a great shame so the next best thing is to send them back the country that agree to deal out the sentence….in this case Jordan. You see this man in all fairness was very good at what he did and was fortunate to make his fortune in this country……I’m talking Millions Alex. He has the beautiful wife and kids, the big house in Kensington, the big retreat in the country with the horses and stables and sports cars, you name it he had it, living the dream. The big mistake he made was to get involved in something he really knew nothing about. Passion is sometimes a man’s undoing. You see as you have probably heard the radical cleric Abu Qatada quite rightly so was being sent back to Jordan to face trial for charges of crimes committed in his own country. That’s the reason he was here in the first place to sponge off this government and preach hate in the name of Islam which as we both know is a peaceful religion that has been twisted to suit assholes like him. Anyway just as Qatada was about to be sent on his way, much to the relief of the British taxpayer and the Americans, out of nowhere he gets legal representation at a huge cost which showed up Cameron and the government for being the incompetent fools they are. Qatada’s flight gets cancelled and it’s all over the news, throwing doubt over whether he will actually get sent back to Jordan at all. The human rights group get involved and Cameron is fuming and wants something done about it so naturally we go for the source…….him, Mr Naseem. He thought it would be a great idea to pay for Qatada’s legal costs and fund his attempts to stay here enabling him to still preach in the streets. As you know Alex, what we see here is what happens to people who decide to bite the hand that has fed them. He’s giving our Theresa May a right royal fucking headache”
Alex realised this poor bastard was fucked and would not get out of here alive. This was one of the reason’s he got out when he did but there was also an element of him that agreed with Bostock. Sure this guy should be dealt with for supporting radical clerics but not like this. As far as Alex was concerned no one should suffer like this. As far as Bostock was concerned this was the only way. Richards would rather just shoot them and kill them outright.
“He’s begged me to kill him of course but it’s turned into a bit of an experiment for me Alex. I’m intrigued to see how long the human body can last feeding on its own waste……..two and a half months is a bloody good effort don’t you think? Determined bastard this one”
Bostock guided the three of them out of this hell hole with Alex pleased to breathe in the slightly fresher air of the corridor.
“Just so you know Alex that unfortunate bastard in there is low ball…..sort of anyway. The boy and his mother a different kettle of fish altogether”
Bostock admitting him and SW1 had Wyre’s family and pointing towards the wall to his right had Richards planning his next move. Still Alex desperately tried to figure out what Bostock would want with Wyre’s family but still nothing seemed apparent. It seemed he too was now running out of time as Jim took out his weapon in readiness.
“Alex, Alex I can’t express how disappointed I am with you and what you have become”
“So you don’t want to know about Noah’s Ark then?”
Bostock let out a laugh and shook his head.
“See there you go again leaving yourself open. We already know about Noah’s Ark. It came through this morning in a fax from Iran, sorry old friend. Oh and you owe me for taking out my guys in the house in town. Do you know how hard it is to get replacements nowadays Alex?”
Alex nodded and smiled now hoping Andy and Wyre had managed to follow the tracker to where he was before it had dissolved inside him. His plan to find Oliver and Susan and get them back to Wyre then deal with Bostock had not changed, only the opportunities to carry it out. These Opportunities were running out fast and Bostock had become worryingly more unstable since Alex had last worked for him. He would have to take his first opportunity to finish this before he was most likely killed. Bostock’s mannerisms were telling the detective that the boy and mother were still alive and he certainly wasn’t afraid of dying. Bostock knew this about Alex. He knew that most of the things Richards had done in his past had been almost suicide attempts. Walking into situations, not really sure or bothered whether he would come out alive meant Bostock had a tool to use that was priceless.
*
“How are we looking Wyre?”
“They’re still travelling at some pace which means I can’t even guess where they might be going. They have got to leave the dual carriageway and get to their destination soon otherwise we are going to lose him”
Andy checked his watch and see that they had approximately ten minutes before they would have no idea where Richards was. The tracker had probably started to be attacked by his blood cells already but they would still be able to receive a signal right up until it disappeared into his bloodstream.
“Come on Alex hold on in there” said Andy as he tried to watch the screen on the iphone in Wyre’s hand and drive.
“How long left now?”
“Six minutes” replied Wyre, the tension becoming visible and unbearable for him.
“Can we not speed up and get nearer then at least we might have a better chance of the area where they might be if it does go?” asked Wyre.
“We can’t take the risk Wyre. If they see us we’ll be fucked. They’ll kill us no questions”
“Shit we’re losing the signal!”
Andy glanced at the screen to see that the purple flashing dot had stopped on the dual carriageway. He knew it meant the tracker had dissolved inside Richards but didn’t show his disappointment to Wyre. They now would have to rely on his skills and his intuition to find where Richards might be heading. The tracker would give its la
st known location and they would have to go it alone from that point.
“Do you think they knew he had swallowed one and took the long route?” asked Wyre rubbing his unshaven chin furiously.
“With Ron Bostock who knows? Tell me when we get to the point on the map”
Wyre studied it intently as Andy now put his foot down reaching speeds of up to 130mph. The blue dot on the screen was them and it quickly passed the purple dot. Andy studied the scenery flashing quickly past them either side of the road until a road sign forced him to slam on the brakes and try and stop before the next junction. Wyre put out his hand on the dashboard to prevent him being pressed up against it even though he was wearing a seat belt.
“What is it?”
“I’m not sure but that place over there stinks of Bostock”
Wyre looked in the direction where Andy had been studying then noticed a sign for an industrial estate that looked filled with offices and warehouses. There was a petrol station situated near the entrance of the estate so Andy pulled in reluctant to go any further.
“We’ll wait here!”
“Are you sure this is it Andy?” said Wyre quietly studying for himself the estate from a distance.
“The only reason I would say no Wyre is because it’s too obvious. This place sticks out like a sore thumb. It’s not like them…….but I’ve been to similar places before.”
“Do you think Oliver and Susan are in there?”
Andy never answered but continued to study the buildings intently. Wyre’s stomach turned over at the thought of them getting near to Oliver and Susan.
*
“So Alex you see it looks like the deal we had has fallen apart”
Alex could see Bostock seemed filled with regret almost like if they had been alone he might have given him a friendly pat on the back and a goodbye.
“There’s no way I would put you through something like that down the corridor Alex but I can’t risk anything or anyone interfering with the plans. It’s out of my hands I’m afraid so I’ll leave you in the capable hands of Scotty and Bob. Come on Jim we have to go”
BEYOND THE SPRING Page 15