by M A Comley
“Yeah, but you don’t want to spend all your time off with us old fuddy-duddies, I understand.”
“Ha ha, no, it’s not that at all.”
Lorne raised her hand to stop Katy digging a bigger hole for herself. “Stop, while you still have some self-respect. Go and enjoy yourselves.”
“Thanks for understanding and for the invite. Maybe if we had a bit more notice next time, we could stick around longer.”
“Yeah, all my fault as usual,” Lorne said, jokingly. “I’ll just say goodbye to AJ.”
Ted and Carol were the next to leave, about an hour later, which suited Lorne. She was tired and in dire need of collapsing into a comfy chair. However, everything took a turn for the worse the second the other guests left and it was only family around to hear the argument flare up between Jade and Luigi.
Lorne walked over and stood in front of the warring couple. “Guys, think of the kids. Look at their scared little faces. Please don’t do this in front of them.”
“This time, tell her or I walk, for good.” Jade crossed her arms tightly and tapped her foot on the grass.
Luigi looked at Lorne, his shoulders slumped in defeat. “Can we take this inside? You and me, Lorne?”
“You go inside and I’m going with you, if only to make sure you don’t leave out any important facts to your incredible story,” Jade warned.
“Guys, please lower your voices. Inside, the pair of you. Tony, I think you better hear this too.”
Under Charlie’s and the boys’ worried gazes, the four adults walked into the house and sat around the kitchen table, Lorne and Tony opposite Jade and Luigi.
“Luigi?”
Luigi pulled in a large breath and let it out through tight lips before he spoke. “Okay, there’s really not much to tell. You know how Jade overreacts at times…well, this is such an occasion, I promise you.”
“We’ll be the judge of that.” Lorne knotted her fingers together in front of her. She noticed that Jade was wringing her hands nervously in her lap. She prepared herself for bad news. How bad?—that was the main question running through her mind, and Tony’s too, most likely. “I had a strange visit at work this week.”
Luigi ran a very successful import-export business that he’d started over five years ago. “Go on? What was strange about it?” Lorne asked.
“I was approached by two men. They asked me…no, they told me, that they were going to use my business to import dodgy goods.”
“What? Jesus, Luigi. How did you react?” Lorne asked horrified.
“I laughed in their faces. One of them started punching me in the stomach.”
He looked down at his hands, one of them was swollen.
Shit! Why hadn’t I noticed that before?
Luigi continued, “The other man stamped on my hand while I was down on the floor.”
Jade interjected, “I wanted to tell you immediately, but he wouldn’t let me. I don’t want to live under a cloud of threats all my life. This family has had its share of dealing with madmen over the years. I don’t want my husband to be subjected to sick shit like this.”
“All right, Jade. I’ll do all I can to help, you know I will. So, what did the men actually say, Luigi? Were they English or foreign?”
“Foreign, although I couldn’t tell you what kind of accents they had. They came into the office wearing balaclavas. I haven’t got a clue what they look like. I was about to lock up for the day. They’d obviously been keeping an eye on the premises, because they barged into the office after the rest of the staff had left for the day.”
“When was this?”
Luigi didn’t need to think about his answer. “On Wednesday.”
“So, you told them no, and they proceeded to beat you up…what happened then?” Lorne heard her sister let out an exasperated breath. She turned to her with her hand up, indicating the need for patience. “I have to run through what happened, Jade.”
“Yeah, and while you’re questioning him, like he’s the criminal, these guys are getting away. You should be out there searching for them.” Jade’s voice was high-pitched and pleading.
Luigi stood. “Enough, Jade. This is not Lorne’s fault. I will not let you speak to her like that. Why don’t you go outside with the boys while we have an adult conversation about this?”
Jade crossed her arms, a petulant pout appeared on her already unhappy face, and she threw herself against the back of the chair. Lorne was grateful to Luigi for speaking up and reprimanding his wife; if Lorne had done it, she knew Jade would have argued and refrained from speaking to her for weeks, like she always did when things didn’t go her way. “I’m staying right here,” Jade uttered.
“Luigi, what happened?” Lorne asked.
He sat back down with a pointed look at Jade, then said, “They told me to go to France to pick up a delivery and bring it through customs, they’d take care of the shipment at this end.”
“I hate to ask this. If you don’t do what they say, what will be the outcome?”
Luigi contemplated his answer long and hard. “They said my family would get hurt if I didn’t cooperate with them.”
“Jesus. Okay, you’ve done the right thing telling me. I can get you, Jade, and the boys into a protection house…if you want it.”
Luigi coughed into his hand. “Er, talking of protection,” Luigi’s voice grew softer, “they said that if I paid them two grand a month, they would protect me from other gangs.”
Lorne ran her hand through her hair and glanced at Tony. “A protection racket too.”
Tony nodded. “Seems that way. How did you leave things?”
Luigi grimaced. “I said that I would do it. These guys were huge. I had to say something to get them to leave. They told me that they would ring me with the arrangements on Monday at noon. The shipment is due this week, Friday, I think he said.”
“I’ll need to have a word with my boss—not Katy, but Sean Roberts, or the super even. Either way, you have my word that we’ll protect you, all of you, all right?” Luigi nodded while her sister simply glared at her. “Jade? Trust me please?”
Jade suddenly burst into tears and blurted out through wracking sobs, “I don’t want to end up like Pete, or Dad. What is it with these people disrupting our lives in this way? My kids shouldn’t have to go through life living in fear all the time. Why? Why is this falling on our doorstep?”
Lorne reached across the table urging her sister to place her hand in hers, which she did, eventually. “Sis, it’s the world we live in. Luigi is a prime target for these devious people. Anyone running such a business is open to being pounced on by these unscrupulous idiots.”
“I never even thought about it,” Luigi said sadly. “Maybe it’s time I started rethinking my career options?”
“Don’t throw in the towel yet, love. Let’s see what we can do about this before you give it up as a lost cause. After talking to my superiors, we might come back to you asking if you’ll be prepared to get involved in a sting operation. Would you be okay with that?”
“What? Never, I won’t allow him to be a piece in your trivial game.” Jade snatched her hand away and glared at Lorne.
Luigi sighed loudly. “Calm down, Jade. It won’t be a game or trivial. I trust Lorne. She’d never put my life at risk, would you, Lorne?”
Lorne smiled at Luigi, then glared at Jade. “No, I’d never do that, hon. It’s a pity my sister has to have that pointed out to her.”
Jade shook her head slowly. “Don’t you two dare gang up on me! I seem to be the only one who is concerned about this. You’re all sitting around discussing it matter-of-factly as if it was happening to someone else. It isn’t. It’s happening to us, my family. Luigi is up to his neck in shit here.”
“Don’t be so ridiculous, Jade. We’re all well aware of the magnitude of this situation. We’re discussing it calmly, like adults, that’s all,” Lorne admonished her sister’s childish outburst.
Jade leapt out of her cha
ir and marched over to the back door. “Well, I can see I’m not wanted. I’ll leave you adults to sort things out while I go and play with the other children.” The door slammed behind her.
Lorne cringed. “Shit! What is the matter with her? She never ceases to amaze me. We’re trying to come up with a solution and all she does is kick off.”
“Don’t be too hard on her, Lorne. She’s obviously scared,” Tony said.
Lorne shook her head in frustration. “All right, back to business. Did these men give you a hint as to the cargo you’ll be expected to shift?”
“Drink, cigarettes, even people, I suspect.”
“Well, if that’s the case we can get other departments involved too, such as Customs and Excise and the Border Agency. I’ll get onto them first thing, see if they can shed any light on this. You never know…they might have a gang on their radar already, waiting to seize an opportunity for a raid.”
Tony nodded. “You could be right, Lorne. Either way, try not to worry, Luigi.” Then he snapped his fingers, waggling his eyebrows over wide eyes.
Lorne turned sharply to look at her husband, fear gnawing at her insides. She knew that look of old. “No, Tony, don’t even think about it.”
“It’s the perfect solution.” Tony grinned and winked at her.
“Would someone like to tell me what I’m missing?” Luigi asked, his brow wrinkled into a heavy frown.
Tony held out his hand for his brother-in-law to shake. “Thanks, I accept the position. It’ll be a pleasure working with you.”
“I don’t get it.” Poor Luigi looked more confused than ever.
Lorne placed her head in her hands and mumbled, “Luigi, meet your new driver.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Lorne drove into work on autopilot. Her mind churned through the ideas she intended sharing with her colleagues the second she arrived at the station. She’d already rung Katy the previous evening and explained the discussion her family had thrashed out after the other guests had left the house. Katy had agreed in principle to the plan and arranged a team meeting at eight thirty, which DCI Roberts was due to attend also.
Lorne parked the car in the car park and was about to get out when Katy pulled in. “Hi, no AJ with you?” she teased.
“Give it a rest, Lorne. We both slept in separate locations last night, if you must know.”
“Oh right, you say that as though that’s something out of the ordinary.”
“Christ, you’re impossible at times. Has anyone ever told you how annoying you can be?”
Lorne pulled her innocent face. “Not recently, no.”
They made their way up to the incident room and were surprised to find Superintendent White standing next to the evidence board.
Katy looked at Lorne, one side of her mouth tugged down at the side. “Hello, ma’am,” Lorne said.
“Morning, ladies. No need to look so worried. I thought I’d step into DCI Roberts’s shoes for the meeting. His wife went into labour last night.”
“Whoa, the little one is determined to make an early appearance,” Lorne commented.
“So it would seem. Now, where’s the rest of your team, DI Foster?”
“They should be here any minute, ma’am. It wasn’t really fair calling an early meeting on a Monday morning.”
“Nonsense. Start the week as we mean to go on, that’s what I always say.”
With that the swing doors opened. AJ entered the room first and was quickly followed by the rest of the team. As soon as they saw the superintendent waiting to get things started, they swiftly and quietly moved to their chairs and sat down.
Superintendent White nodded at Katy to start the meeting. “Okay, here’s where we’re at. Yesterday it came to our attention that one of Lorne’s relatives, her brother-in-law actually, has been contacted by a gang to import counterfeit merchandise, possibly transporting immigrants in the trucks too. We’re going to try to organise a sting operation. We’ll be contacting a couple of other departments today to see if we can make this a combined operation.”
“Wow. Do we have a day when this operation will take place, ma’am?” AJ asked.
“As far as we know, it’s going to happen this Friday. These gang members are going to verify that around noon today.”
Mumbles of discontent filled the room. “That doesn’t really give us much time to put things together, if you don’t mind me saying, ma’am,” Graham pointed out.
Superintendent White stepped up to stand alongside Katy. “We’re well aware of that, team. This is a one-time opportunity that we must seize with both hands. We must be ready to strike. This gang has already warned us of their ruthlessness by threatening Lorne’s brother-in-law’s family. I want it nipped in the bud now. Is that understood? DI Foster, DS Warner, and I will be busy this morning trying to coordinate the operation. We need you guys to keep the other cases going in their absence. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the team responded in unison.
AJ raised his hand. Katy pointed and nodded for him to speak. “Yes, AJ?”
“If you need any muscle, I’m your man.”
Graham laughed. “Spoken in a camp George Michael voice.”
Katy stifled a grin. “Thanks, AJ, that’s appreciated, but I think we have all the muscle we need in the form of Lorne’s husband, Tony.”
“It must be nice to be able to call on an ex-MI6 agent when the need arises.” AJ nodded his approval and winked at Lorne.
Lorne held her hand out in front of her and waved it from side to side. “That’s debatable, AJ. Let’s just say that I had little option in his involvement. He’ll be doing it as a volunteer civilian.”
“And mighty grateful we are, too,” Superintendent White said, smiling reassuringly at Lorne.
Lorne’s smile was tinged with appreciation at the kindness of her superior’s words.
The meeting drew to a close not long after. Katy ensured everyone had a task set for the morning before she and Lorne followed the superintendent back to her office for further discussion.
“Organise some coffee will you, Ginny?”
“Yes, ma’am.” The secretary pushed back her chair and busied herself with the filtered coffee machine sitting on the table behind her chair.
Once seated and with their coffee cups on the desk, the superintendent glanced down at her notebook. “So, Lorne, if you get onto the Border Agency, Katy can take Customs and Excise, and I’ll ring around a few other departments with a noted interest in counterfeit merchandise. Obviously, we can’t give them a definite time when this is going to take place, but what we can do is ensure the relevant parties know as much of the final details as possible.”
Lorne assured them, “The minute Luigi gets the call signifying when the pick-up is going to take place, I’ll let you know ASAP.”
After toasting Chief Roberts and his wife over coffee and wishing them good luck with the impending birth of their first child, the three women sat in different corners of the room to settle into their assignments. An hour later, between them, they had everything in place and the relevant departments primed and ready for action.
It was an adrenaline-filled morning, and by the time midday arrived, Lorne felt she had already completed a twelve-hour shift with the rumblings of a headache starting to present itself. Once they’d returned to the incident room, Katy handed her a Nurofen, which she gratefully took and swallowed with a few gulps of water just before the phone on her desk started ringing. The room fell silent as Lorne snatched up the phone.
“DS Warner.”
“It’s me, Luigi.”
“Hey, hon. How are you doing? Have they contacted you?”
“Yes. A man called the office line. I’m ringing you on my mobile just in case they call me back to check if I made another call after they’d hung up. God, did that even make sense? Am I waffling or what?”
Lorne chuckled. “You’re all right, Luigi. It makes perfect sense to me. What did they say?”
“Not a lot. Five o’clock, near the Le Havre port. I have a proper address here. Lorne, are you sure Tony will be all right doing this? What about his leg?”
“Don’t go worrying about that. If he didn’t think he was up to it, Tony wouldn’t have volunteered for the role. Hey, I’ll make sure he’s a hundred-percent healthy before he sets off, I can assure you that.”
“I’m sure. Jade is still blanking me.”
“She’ll come round…give her time and space. Try and not tell her every little detail of what’s going on, all right? She’ll worry herself into an early grave otherwise.”
“You’re right of course. Thank you for your support in this, Lorne.”
“Hey, that’s what families are for. Stop worrying. Just keep me informed if the gang makes contact again. There’s a possibility they could change things at the last minute, trying to outsmart any probable traps. If at any point they ask for your mobile number, I’ll issue you another mobile…actually scratch that. I’ll organise another mobile phone for you now and drop it over to you later, then you make sure you give the gang that number and not your regular number, okay?” Lorne looked over at AJ, placed her hand over the receiver, and loudly whispered, “Organise that for me?”
AJ gave her the thumbs-up and dashed out of the room.
“Thanks, Lorne. Will you bring the phone to the office? I’d hate for you to get into another argument with Jade at home.”
“Sure. I’ll make a detour and swing by the office on my way home. Six o’clock-ish, okay for you?”
“Fine. I don’t generally leave here until about seven anyway. See you later.”
“Try not to worry, Luigi. Be safe in the knowledge that you have several law enforcement departments aware of your situation and intent on bringing this gang down.”
“I’ll try, but it’s not easy, that’s for sure. Well, bye for now.”
Katy sat in the chair next to Lorne. The rest of the team smiled at Lorne and continued working. Katy patted the back of her hand. “Hey, you. Listen to your own advice and don’t worry. We’ve got ace teams covering this, and the whole exercise is headed up by three astute and highly capable women. What could go wrong?”