The Conspiracy 2

by Jack Probyn

‘I’ll do what I can.’

  ‘Thank you. I have every faith you won’t fuck it up.’

  ‘You really are a prick sometimes, Jake Tanner,’ Danika said and hung up. Jake felt a little lighter. Something about Candice had been niggling him at the back of his mind, and it felt good to tell someone about it. Especially someone he could trust.

  Hole 13 was in sight. He jogged the remaining twenty feet and peered into the hole. An object glimmered in the sunlight. Jake reached inside and retrieved the key. It was almost identical to the one James Atwood had given them. The same size. The same colour. The same texture. And, beneath it, was another note.

  Jake was too excited to read the note. He pocketed it, along with the key, and hurried round the rest of the course where he eventually met up with Bridger at the ninth hole.

  ‘You got one as well?’ Bridger asked, holding another key in his hands.

  Jake smirked. ‘Not just a pretty face, am I?’

  ‘No one’s ever said that. Except maybe your mum.’

  ‘Hers is the only opinion that matters. Now, stop wasting time and let’s get back to Pemberton.’

  | EPISODE 2 |

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  TRIPWIRES AND TRIBULATIONS

  Bridger eased the car onto Candice’s driveway, leaving it in the same spot they’d picked it up from. By now, the forensic team had set up a perimeter around The Crimsons’ van, cordoned off by tape, and small markers were dispersed around the vehicle, signalling points of evidence that were not to be touched. A group of three SOCOs clad in their white oversuits were inside the back of the vehicle. Flashes sparked from inside as they snapped photographs of new pieces of evidence.

  Jake was the first out of the car and made his way to the garden. He came to a stop as soon as he realised it was no longer just Pemberton and Candice situated in the centre of the grass. In the time they’d been gone, four members of the bomb disposal unit had arrived and replaced the armed officers from before. The bomb squad were dressed in dark grey bomb suits – heavy-duty outfits designed to protect them from the threat of potential detonation – and helmets of the same colour.

  ‘I’m glad to see you both,’ Pemberton said as she approached them. It was clear to see she was no longer in control of the situation; that baton had been passed to the man currently standing inches away from Candice’s chest, his hands fumbling around the device on her neck.

  ‘What have we missed?’ Jake asked.

  ‘Right now, EOD are looking over the device to see whether we can remove it without blowing her face off.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘No luck yet. Did you find the key?’

  Jake held his triumphantly in the air. Bridger did the same with the other two.

  ‘Three of them?’ Pemberton asked.

  ‘That’s what the riddle said. But only one of them works. Where’s the one I found earlier?’

  ‘It’s with the guys over there. They’re going to try it when they know more about the device,’ Pemberton explained.

  The three of them watched the bomb expert set a metal detector on the floor and remove a pair of wire cutters from his pocket.

  Jake opened his mouth to speak but was too afraid to voice the question, too afraid to hear the answer he already knew.

  ‘What happens if we can’t use the keys?’ Bridger asked with no such reluctance.

  ‘With any luck we won’t need them. But if they’re useless, we’ll just have to find another way to defuse it. Any word on The Crimsons’ location?’

  Both men shook their head. ‘None yet, ma’am,’ Bridger responded. ‘HQ are running reports on Candice’s stolen Mercedes. We’re waiting on any ANPR and CCTV hits. But it’s very possible they’ve changed plates, so it could be while until we find anything concrete.’

  ‘Right. As soon as we hear something, I want you both to go after them.’

  Jake’s ears perked up. ‘What about the keys?’

  ‘You can leave that to us. There are enough uniforms here to go to the locations. But I want you both to follow and get after these guys. I’ve got a feeling we’re not going to be out of this place for quite some time.’

  Jake nodded. And then an idea popped into his head. ‘Ma’am,’ he said tentatively. ‘Might I make a suggestion?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Their old leader. Freddy. He’s in Winchester Prison – it’s just a few miles down the road. He might be able to tell us a thing or two. Do I have permission to speak with him?’

  ‘What? No. I—’

  ‘Ma’am, please. I’ve had dealings with Freddy in the past. I betrayed him – I’m the reason he’s locked up. I don’t think he’ll want to speak to anyone except me. And I’m worried that this is all an elaborate plan for something else.’

  ‘You think they’re going to try and break Miller out of prison?’

  Jake looked at her blankly. He shrugged.

  Pemberton looked to the ground in a deep state of reflection.

  ‘If you think you can muscle any information out of him, then yes. But I want a full update once you’re done,’ Pemberton said. She stared deeply into his eyes. Her gaze filled him with a determination to succeed.

  ‘You can’t be serious,’ Bridger added. ‘You’re going to let him speak with a former member of The Crimsons?’

  ‘DC Tanner has a unique connection to this case, DS Bridger, so I have to manage these extenuating circumstances. It’s my decision – I’m the SIO – and if you have a problem with my conduct, you know who you can take it up with. But how about you only do it after we’re done here, eh?’

  Bridger rolled his eyes. ‘We don’t even know for certain it is The Crimsons. Tanner admitted himself that they’re acting strangely.’

  ‘The same rules apply. We have to catch them, regardless of who they are and what colour outfits they like to wear.’

  ‘They’re more meticulous and methodical than any other robber I’ve ever come across,’ Jake added.

  ‘The pool of suspects is hardly big though, is it?’ Bridger retorted, inching closer to Jake. ‘You’ve only been doing this job for three hours.’

  Just as Jake opened his mouth, Pemberton intervened. She stepped between them and ushered them away from one another.

  ‘What is wrong with you two? Seriously. You’re both acting like children. I’ve got two of my own to look after – I don’t want to have to add you to the list as well. Don’t make me regret my decision to involve you both.’

  She turned to address Jake. ‘I have news for you – they’re not as meticulous as you give them credit for. A SOCO found fingerprint samples in the bathroom. They’re being sent to HQ now. We won’t know anything until the results come back. So you can both put your egos aside for now.’

  Something moved in the corner of Jake’s eye and distracted him. It was the explosives officer. He had stepped back from Candice’s stiff, frozen body and started towards them.

  ‘Ma’am,’ he said as he neared, his voice barely audible through the thick helmet he wore. ‘I’ve X-rayed the device. There’s a small charge in there that’s connected to the six spikes. When the charge goes off, it’ll shoot the spikes into her neck. But other than that, there’s no explosive.’

  ‘What about the keys?’ Pemberton asked.

  ‘I think we’re ready to try. From what I can tell,’ the expert said. ‘There’s nothing to suggest the keys will initiate the device.’

  ‘How certain are you?’

  A pause. ‘Seventy-five per cent.’

  ‘We don’t like those sorts of numbers, officer,’ Pemberton replied. None of them did. They were far too low – far too low to be gambling with someone innocent’s life.

  ‘I’m afraid it’s all I can give you at the moment, ma’am. If I had a little more time, I could be more confident.’

  Pemberton glanced at her watch. Jake looked over her shoulder and saw it was 11:02.

  ‘You have three extra minutes,’ Pemberton said. ‘Discover what you can,
and then unlock it with the key.’

  ‘The machinations in here are incredibly sophisticated. Whoever built it certainly knew what they were doing.’

  ‘Yes, thank you for that,’ Pemberton snapped. ‘We just need to know how to stop it.’

  The explosives expert fiddled with the device for the next couple of minutes before he took another step back and turned his focus to Pemberton, Jake and Bridger.

  ‘It looks good to me,’ he said.

  ‘Is it safe?’ Jake asked.

  ‘As safe as a device of this malevolence can possibly be.’

  ‘Use the first key.’

  Paralysis gripped Jake as he watched the officer fumble for grip with his oversized flame-retardant glove. Eventually, he found purchase on the small key, steadied it against the lock and inserted it. Jake’s palms dampened with sweat, the stress and paranoia finally beginning to take hold of his body.

  The officer switched the lock. The sound was deafening, muting all other noise around them. And then everything seemed to stay still. Nobody moved. The breeze stopped. Jake’s breathing stopped. Even the trees and small blades of grass stopped swaying. It felt like an eternity before someone said or did anything.

  And then when nothing happened, they had their answer.

  ‘It worked?’ Jake asked hesitantly. He kept his voice low, lest he disturb the device and cause it to detonate.

  ‘I think so,’ the explosives officer said, taking a step closer to Candice.

  As soon as he placed a hand on the device, everything changed.

  An aggressive beeping sound emanated from the collar bomb, shouting at them, enraged.

  Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Candice asked, panicking. Her hands lashed at the top of the device and she strained her neck to peer over the top at the source of the noise.

  Nobody responded.

  Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep.

  ‘What’s going on? Somebody tell me what’s going on!’ Candice’s screech pierced Jake’s eardrums. He felt useless. All he could do was stand there and watch.

  ‘I don’t know,’ the officer said, struggling to keep the device still amidst Candice’s thrashes and throes. ‘Hold on! Stay still!’

  Eventually, he steadied the machine and inspected it. ‘The timer’s gone down. It says we’ve got ten minutes left before detonation.’

  Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep.

  ‘What?’ Candice screamed.

  ‘How can that be?’ Pemberton whispered.

  ‘Jesus Christ,’ Bridger voiced aloud, throwing his hands into his hair.

  Jake tried to say something, but the words fell over his teeth.

  ‘Give me the keys,’ the officer said. ‘Let me try the other keys, for crying out loud! Hurry, before this thing goes off!’

  Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep.

  Pemberton panicked. She mishandled the keys and dropped them to the ground. Cursing herself, she bent down. Jake knelt beside her and grabbed two by her left foot. He took the other one from her hand, hurried over to the expert and passed them to him, ignoring Pemberton’s calls for him to retreat to a safe distance.

  Jake watched the officer scramble for the lock and insert the keys one by one. By now, the sweat on his body had multiplied, and streams of salty liquid coated his skin.

  The first attempt failed. As did the second. As Jake watched the officer insert the final key – the one that he had found – he prayed, for the first time in a long time, that it would work. He didn’t want to see Candice’s head and brain and skull strewn all over the grass.

  Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep.

  The officer inserted the key. Twisted. And then an eerie silence filled the air again.

  Jake exhaled heavily. ‘Did it work?’

  ‘Yes,’ the officer said hesitantly. ‘It’s gone back to the normal time.’

  Candice let out a loud moan of relief, and then her legs buckled as she blacked out. The officer beside her caught her and eased her to the safety of the grass.

  ‘Jesus,’ Jake said. ‘Is she going to be OK?’

  ‘She’ll come round soon enough,’ the officer said.

  ‘What happened just then?’ Bridger asked.

  ‘There must have been a setting in the countdown. As soon as we entered the first key, it required the second—’

  ‘Which means we’re going to need the third and fourth at the same time before we can do anything else…’

  The officer nodded.

  ‘Two down. Two to go,’ Jake added.

  Saying nothing, Pemberton turned and started towards the house. ‘You two – with me.’

  Jake and Bridger looked at one another before following behind her.

  ‘What’s the matter, guv?’ Bridger asked.

  Pemberton stopped abruptly and pointed at them. ‘We need to move faster. Jake, get to Winchester. Speak with Freddy and see what he knows, if anything, about this robbery and kidnapping. Bridger, change of plan – I want you to look for the other keys. Forget what I said earlier. What happened just then has changed everything—’

  Pemberton was cut off by her mobile ringing. She held a finger in the air to pause the conversation and answered the call. ‘Yes… OK… Thank you… Understood… No. I’ll be in touch if I need anything else… You’ve been a great help. Stand by for further instructions.’

  She shut the phone off and turned to face Jake. ‘Looks like you were right all along, DC Tanner. The fingerprint that forensics found in the bathroom came up with a direct match. A Mr Luke Cipriano.’

  PRE ORDER EPISODE 3 TODAY [exclusive chapter attached]

  If you loved Episode 2 of The Conspiracy, you can pre order the third episode today (released 22/06/2020) and it will be delivered straight to your Kindle.

  Pre Order Here

  Can’t wait? Well, here’s an exclusive preview of Chapter 1, Episode 3 to whet your appetite:

  ———————————————

  | EPISODE 3 |

  CHAPTER ONE

  OLD FRIEND

  The cumbersome metal doors opened. On the other side was Freddy Miller, the former leader of The Crimsons. The man who’d held Jake hostage inside the HSBC branch in Oxford just over two years ago. The man who had been responsible for inspiring Jake to enter the police service. From that point onwards, Jake knew that he wanted to fight against evil, like he was some sort of modern-day superhero dressed in a suit and tie.

  Freddy’s face remained impassive as they locked eyes on one another. The bald man was ushered into the room by a prison officer and then allowed to walk the small distance to the desk in the middle where Jake was seated.

  ‘I was wondering when you’d visit,’ Freddy said, pulling the chair opposite from beneath the table. ‘And in what capacity,’ he added. ‘I hear you bat for the other team now.’

  Jake dipped his head slightly, glancing down at his suit. He straightened his tie and adjusted the metal clip. ‘I’ve got a lot to thank you for.’

  Freddy leant forward on the table, his face shining under the light. The man Jake had encountered during The Crimsons’ last hit was completely different to the one in front of him now. There was no energy left in his face. No life. No vigour. The colour had gone from every aspect: his cheeks, his eyes, even his lips. His facial hair was messy and unkempt, and he looked as though he’d only just woken up. And he’d lost a lot of weight, too. So much so, in fact, that the prison-issue tracksuit drowned him, hanging from his shoulders and revealing half his chest hair. Jake reckoned he wouldn’t have noticed Freddy if he’d passed him on the street.

  ‘Have you really come all this way just to thank me. Or are you asking for help?’ Freddy asked.

  ‘Can it be both?’ Jake said. He had never come face to face with a criminal in a situation like this. He couldn’t believe he’d been allowed to speak with Freddy alone, but he had known it was the right thing to do. And, more impor
tantly, so had Pemberton, which was all the authority he needed.

  A smirk grew on Freddy’s face. ‘I know what this is about. They’ve done it again, and they’ve got you right where they want you, haven’t they?’

  ‘You’ve heard what’s happened?’ Jake asked. He had to be careful how to play it – give away too much and he would risk losing his hand to Freddy who, in fact, had Jake right where he wanted him: begging on his knees.

  Freddy shrugged. ‘I’ve heard things.’

  ‘Where from?’

  ‘The walls. You spend a lot of time in this place, they start talking to you. Begins to get quite scary after a while.’

  ‘Perhaps you should see a doctor?’

  ‘Shrinks aren’t my friends.’

  ‘I’m sure I could do an evaluation – I’ve got a degree in psychology.’

  ‘You clever boy. I’m sure your parents were very proud.’

  ‘My mum was.’

  ‘And your dad?’

  ‘Dead.’

  Freddy leant back in the chair, folding his arms. He bounced on the plastic and placed his entire weight on it. He commanded Jake’s attention in one move. ‘How’s that girlfriend of yours? What was her name?’ Freddy touched his temples with his index and middle finger. ‘Alice? Alicia? Eliza? Elizabeth! That’s it. How’s she doing? She still stuck around with a little shitbag like you?’

  To Jake’s surprise, he found himself chuckling at the remark. ‘Yes. She’s still with me, by some miracle. We’ve even got a beautiful little daughter together.’

  Freddy clapped. ‘You don’t hang about, do you? Did you conceive her on the night we had our little foray? Testosterone levels running high. Ego through the roof. You really had a lot going for you that night, didn’t you?’

  ‘If only that were the case,’ Jake said.

  ‘Is the baby healthy?’

  Jake nodded. ‘Come down with something minor today, but Elizabeth’s coping with it.’