by Andrew Grant
The dot stayed resolutely still.
“Your plan would have backfired, if I hadn’t been there to save the boy,” I said, deciding it was time to go all in. “Wouldn’t it, Mr Hardwicke?”
The dot disappeared, and more stones rattled directly in front of the car.
“Do you have any evidence for such a wild claim, Commander?” Hardwicke said, emerging from behind a mound of rubble. The front of his coat was covered with mud and brick fragments. The vague, distracted look that had always been on his face at Thames House had been replaced with a focused, angry stare. And the rifle in his hands was still pointing straight at Melissa. “Because otherwise, you’d struggle to make anyone believe you.”
“How about this?” I said. “We take the girl to the hospital, and once she’s safe I’ll hand everything I have straight over to you.”
“Agent Wainwright? I like her. I’d have liked to see her walk away from all this. And I would have let her – you too – if only you’d gone through with your threat to shoot Jones. Everything would have fallen on him and Leckie. But you had to start asking questions. And I can’t take the risk you haven’t been asking them elsewhere.”
“I haven’t.”
“Put your gun down, and pick her up.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s in the wrong place. I want you to move her.”
“So you can kill her?”
“You set that particular ball in motion. I’m just going to let nature finish its work.”
“And me?”
“Interesting question. If you’d asked me yesterday, I’d have said you had a bright future ahead of you. Today, I’m forecasting rain.”
“Then, I’m not seeing the incentive to help you.”
“OK. Try this. If you don’t help, I’m going to shoot you in the spine. And I’m going to aim low, so you don’t die straight away. So you lie there for a while, paralysed. Then I’ll take your belt off Wainwright’s arm, and your final sight will be her blood pumping out of the wound you inflicted and mingling in the mud with what’s left of Jones’s brain.”
I didn’t move.
“Oh,” Hardwicke said. “I see. You’re thinking of calling my bluff. Well, that’s your choice. But do you really believe I couldn’t get people over here to dress the scene any way I want it? Or that I couldn’t just leave your bodies here, and think of a way to explain how the chips happened to fall? Because let me tell you – I’ve achieved a lot, today. And I’m not about to see it all go south.”
Hardwicke raised his rifle and lined it up on my stomach. A whole new can of worms was opening before my eyes, but I had no time to deal with it. Getting Melissa to hospital was my priority, which meant putting Hardwicke on ice, at least for a few hours. But that was easier said than done. He was armed. He was too far away to rush. And he was completely unstable. My options were limited. I decided my best shot was to keep him talking, and try to work an angle as quickly as possible.
I put my Beretta on the ground, released Melissa’s seat belt, and lifted her back on to my shoulder.
“I suppose it’s quite ironic, in a way,” I said.
“What is?” Hardwicke said.
“I was brought in to work against you. And here I am, helping you.”
Hardwicke laughed.
“My poor boy,” he said. “You don’t understand. I was the one who requested you. I brought you in to help me, and that’s what you’ve been doing from the start. Didn’t you know?”
“No,” I said. “What else did I do?”
“There’s a group of busy-bodies in parliament who are trying to foist external investigators on the Service, for breaches of security. I’ve been fighting them for two years. And now, you’ve given me the ammunition I need to back them off for good.”
“I did? How?”
“We had two bad apples in our barrel. Jones, and Wainwright. It should have just been Jones, but that number doubled because of you. Wainwright became collateral damage. But anyway, it proves our existing methods work. And if they’re not broken, why fix them? It’s just a shame you had to give your life to expose the vicious traitors.”
“All this so you could avoid some semi-retired ex-superintendent looking over your shoulder?”
“No. That was just the icing.”
I felt a little tension come back into Melissa’s body.
“What else was there?”
“Have you got any idea how much press you get for saving a sweet-looking little kid? Let alone what public displays of success do for funding?”
“You thought al-Aqsaba’a was going to use a fire engine to spray the kids at St Ambrose with the caesium solution? Which is why you dropped the hints at that late night meeting at Thames House, when the container showed up at the fire station, and everyone thought Parliament was the target. And ordered the other pair of agents to be there, even before we’d caught on to what was happening.”
“That’s right. That whole Parliament thing was bizarre. It suited me for a while, after you all misunderstood that snitch’s warning. Frightening MPs is never a bad thing. The only thing they care about is themselves. I thought you lot would get back on the right track eventually, but Leckie having the container moved made things worse. He was trying to nudge you towards St Ambrose, but he’d forgotten the fire station serves both places. And I have to admit – the way time was running out, I was getting a little nervous, myself.”
“That’s a hell of a lot of trouble you went to.”
“Actually, it wasn’t. Leckie did all the heavy lifting.”
“Did you plant him at the hospital, specially for this?”
“No. I’d have planted him in jail, but that would have aired too much dirty laundry. So I told him I’d let him walk away, but only if he kept his head down. I made it clear. One squeak of trouble, and he wouldn’t end up in a cage. He’d end up in a box.”
I could feel Melissa’s stomach muscles working against my shoulder, now, almost as if she was trying to wriggle further down my back.
“And this scheme was his idea of a quiet retirement?”
“No. He was approached by al-Aqsaba’a. They had some evidence about the people of theirs who’d got on the wrong side of his demolition ball, apparently. They offered him a deal. Procure the caesium, or they’d hang him out to dry.”
“How did you find out?”
“He came to me. Offered them to me on a plate. I’d take the glory, and in return I’d ensure the evidence would never see the light of day.”
“A tidy arrangement. Only it seems you both were trying to embellish a little.”
Hardwicke smiled.
“I’ve never been a fan of leaving hostages to fortune,” he said.
“Maybe Leckie knew that,” I said. “Maybe that’s why he moved the final act to the hospital?”
“Maybe. I honestly don’t know. But knowing Leckie like I do, I bet there was more to it. He never accepted having to leave the service. Deep down, he thought we were weak. He thought everyone should behave like he did. So I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d planned it that way all along. Then instead of glory, we’d be disgraced. There’d be calls for the service to toughen up. And he’d imagine himself being welcomed back with open arms.”
“Doesn’t sound too rational.”
“Psychopaths seldom are.”
Melissa’s hand seemed to be clawing at my waistband, which was strange. There’d be no danger of her slipping off if she’d only stay still.
“And what about the evidence al-Aqsaba’a were blackmailing him with?”
“That’ll be what the second stolen batch of caesium was for. A frame. I bet he’d have planted it at one of their houses, or mosques even, and blackmailed the blackmailers. I’d have liked to ask him about it, actually, but Jones’s finger was a bit too itchy.”
“Jones was working for him?”
“Jones was working for both us. Only he didn’t realise it.”
“How did he get hooked up i
n the first place? They never served at the same time. I checked.”
“That made them the ideal combination. There were no grounds for suspicion. So I had a mutual friend introduce them. Jones was pretty useful, for a while. You know, Leckie actually had him convinced they were doing the right thing? And he certainly helped keep my blood pressure down. When that idiot fireman damaged the vault door? The fake burglary? That could have been stressful, otherwise.”
Then the penny dropped. I realised what Melissa was doing.
“There never was anyone coming to collect the caesium from the thieves, was there?” I said.
“Of course not,” Hardwicke said. “It had to be recovered, so everyone would think none was missing.”
“The thugs who jumped me outside my building?”
“Leckie’s idea. He thought you were getting too close. Jones arranged it, though.”
Melissa tapped me twice in the small of my back. She must have got what she needed.
“And the idiots who came after us at Melissa’s apartment?” I said.
“Leckie again,” Hardwicke said. “He was starting to panic. And lose faith in Jones.”
“Why did Jones take a beating, to protect me?”
“The way I heard it, he had no choice. He didn’t know where you’d gone.”
I took a moment to think, and realised that was true. I’d left Jones alone so he wouldn’t overhear my phone calls, and I hadn’t told him where I was heading because I’d had no clear idea myself.
“It was what you could call an irrevocable breakdown in their relationship,” Hardwicke said. “Jones got scared. He realised Leckie was getting ready to cut his losses. So he decided to get his retaliation in first.”
“And he was prepared to sacrifice Melissa to do that?” I said.
“I don’t know. Maybe Jones snatched her from the hospital. Maybe he tricked her. But it really doesn’t matter, now. He’s dead. And he’s just as useful to me that way. Just as the two of you are going to be. Now, turn around.”
“Really?” I said. “I thought it would be harder than that.”
“What would?”
“Doesn’t matter. You really want me to turn around?”
“I do. Because I’m going to shoot you in the back. That way, when your people find you, they’ll think you died running away from someone.”
“Well, if you’re sure,” I said. “Everybody ready?”
Melissa tapped my back. I pivoted on the spot, 180 degrees, and almost simultaneously I heard two gunshots. It was like an old fashioned duel, I thought, bracing myself for the impact of a bullet.
None came.
“Are you OK?” I said, turning back to face the spot where Hardwicke had been standing.
“I’m fine,” Melissa said, almost in a whisper.
Hardwicke was lying on his back. His eyes were screwed shut, and he was clutching his chest and writhing. I stepped closer and kicked the rifle well out of his reach, then gently lowered Melissa’s feet to the ground. I kept a tight hold under her arms, taking most of her weight, and she kicked him hard in the side of the head. His writhing subsided, but she waited for him to open his eyes before doing anything else.
“Goodbye,” she said finally, holding his gaze. “Sir.”
Then she lined up the .22 and fired two more times.
Chapter Forty-Three
Melissa dropped the gun, turned, and walked away from Hardwicke and Jones’s bodies as if they were nothing more than rotting tree trunks. She moved slowly at first, then picked up speed and I realised she was heading back towards the main building. I thought she must be making for the wall she’d been chained to, but she didn’t get that far. Instead, she stopped when she reached the spot where Leckie had fallen. She paused there for a moment, her head tipped down like she was praying. Then she knelt, stretched out her right hand, and placed it over the blood-sodden hole in the back of his coat.
I stepped up alongside her, and saw she was crying. She wasn’t making a sound, but large heavy tears were cascading down her cheeks and dripping off both sides of her chin. Some had landed on the remains of her left wrist, which she was still clutching to her chest, diluting the blood and carrying it further down her arm.
“It’s my fault he’s dead,” she said, without looking at me. “He came here to save me.”
“It was Jones who brought you?” I said.
She nodded.
“How?” I said.
“At the hospital,” she said. “When I went to look for the nurse, to ask about that stupid kid. Jones was there. He pulled a gun on me.”
“He was lying when he told me Leckie had you?”
“Of course. He said that to lure you here. He wanted to kill us both, and let the blame fall on Leckie. Only he didn’t count on Hardwicke being here.”
“Hardwicke was driving the crane?”
“That’s right. It was like him forging Leckie’s signature. Jones wasn’t expecting that.”
“But Leckie was here to save you?”
“Yes.”
“Not to kill anyone?”
“No.”
“So you were in on his plan, too?”
“No,” she said, pulling her right hand back and spinning round to face me. “Absolutely not.”
“Then why keep you alive? The wheels were coming off his whole scheme. If you weren’t with him, wouldn’t it have been better to put you and Jones in the frame?”
“Maybe. But he would never have done that. Not to me, anyway.”
“Why not?”
“Because,” she said, standing and moving backwards, away from me. “He was my father.”
“Stan Leckie was your father?” I said, rooted to the spot.
She nodded.
“Are you serious?” I said.
“One hundred percent,” she said.
“And you chose not to share this with me? You didn’t think it might have been a useful thing for me to know?”
She didn’t reply.
“Did anyone else know?” I said, wondering why my control hadn’t briefed me.
“No,” she said. “They didn’t. I’m sorry. I only found out myself four days ago.”
“How did you find out?”
“Remember the time I told you I was following a lead in Leytonstone? Well, I wasn’t. Leckie had called me. He’d asked me to meet him near the Serpentine. He claimed to have information about the case, for my ears only. But when I got there, he dropped this bombshell on me. It was a lot to take in. I needed time to figure out what it meant. You have a father?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know him when you were growing up?”
“I did.”
“Then you can’t know what it’s like to spend your whole childhood with such a void in your life. My mother told me he was dead.”
“Why?”
“She’s a lawyer. She was very rich, even back then. She didn’t need his support. Their paths briefly crossed, one time, but it was never something that was meant to last. If they’d told Box about me, there’d have been implications for Leckie’s work. A kid’s a liability for an undercover operative, obviously. There was nothing between them, so they didn’t see the point of making it official. It was easier, and safer for everyone. And just as well for me, given how his career panned out.”
“It was a coincidence, you working for Box too?”
“A complete coincidence. He said he liked it, though, cause he could keep an eye on me.”
“So why tell you now?”
“Because you and I were getting too close to finding out what he was doing. Despite everything, I was his daughter and he didn’t want me to get hurt. And he couldn’t ask Hardwicke to pull me off the case. You can’t wear a different aftershave around a guy like that without him putting two and two together.”
“And the meeting with his snout. Here, at the workhouse. That came up straight afterwards.”
“It did. He was trying to help. He wanted to throw me somethin
g that would keep me out of harm’s way, and make me look good at the same time.”
“And something that would keep his misdirection on the rails. He wanted Hardwicke’s eyes firmly on that school.”
“That too, I guess. Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you straight away, but it was a lot to process. I’ve been all round the houses. I’ve been in shock. I’ve been confused. I’ve been angry – I even met my mother and screamed at her for lying to me. I’ve been relieved. I don’t even know what else I’ve been. I’ve just been a mess, I suppose.”
“How do you feel now?”
“That’s the funny part. My mother had told me my fictitious dead father was a good man. A good lawyer, if such people exist. And I felt empty and alone. Now, I know my father was what? A scheming psychopath? A man who killed people with wrecking balls and barbed wire? And you know what? I feel happy.”
I didn’t comment, but not for the first time in my life I was glad I’d brought a switchblade with me.
“And here’s why. Do you know what’s really important about my father? Two things are. First, he really, honestly believed what he did was right. He saved innocent lives, too, remember. And second, he could have walked away from this mess alive, with everything he’d worked for intact. But he didn’t. He came here to save me. And he died for me. Imagine that. Someone being prepared to give his life for yours. It’s humbling.”
I didn’t reply.
“The same goes for you, I realise,” she said. “You didn’t have to come back here. I should thank you, too.”
“Even after what I did to your hand?” I said.
“You saved my life. Twice. In one afternoon. Right now I’d consider marrying you.”
I looked away.
“That might be difficult,” I said.
“Why?” she said.
“You’ve got nowhere to put the ring.”
Melissa was still for a moment, then she peeled her left arm away from her chest and held it unsteadily in front of her, with the bloody jagged remnants of her wrist just below eye level. At first I could see her physically battling her neck muscles, forcing herself not to turn away. Ten seconds ticked past. Twenty. Thirty, and she still didn’t flinch.