by M A Comley
• • •
The day dragged by while they waited for Tony’s call. Katy stood beside Lorne when he rang at ten minutes to five that evening.
“I can’t talk long. Two guys are approaching the vehicle now. I have my phone on speaker. I still haven’t picked up the cargo yet. Can you confirm the GPS is working?”
AJ gave Lorne the thumbs-up. “Yes, I can confirm that, Tony. We’re tracking you, and you’ll be free to head through customs, without getting too much attention, all right?”
“Yep, okay, gotta go.” He hung up before Lorne had the chance to tell him to be careful.
Lorne turned to her team of detectives. “Okay, we still don’t know if Tony will be travelling from Le Havre or Calais. My guess is the latter, as it’s a ninety-minute trip to Dover. AJ, will you look up the ferry timetables? Let’s estimate that it’s going to take them a good hour, if not two, to load up the vehicle. That’ll take us to seven. He’s at Le Havre now, right near the port, so check what ferries are leaving there tonight?”
AJ tapped rapidly on his keyboard. “I’ve got the website up now, Lorne. It’s doubtful whether he’ll get a ferry from Le Havre at this time of night. Calais is a different kettle of fish. Here we go, I reckon he’s likely to come over on the 21.45 ferry. “
This confirmed Lorne’s thoughts. She nodded.
“Okay, we’ll spread the word amongst the teams, with a caution that it could possibly alter at the last minute.”
“I guess we’ll know more once Tony has met these two guys,” Katy said, blowing out her cheeks as she dropped down onto the desk behind her.
Superintendent White drifted into the room, accompanied by the aroma of freshly cooked pizza. “Grab your dinner, folks. This might be the last chance we get to eat tonight.” She placed three large pizzas on the desk nearest the door, and the team attacked them with gusto.
“That was kind of you, ma’am,” Katy said as the three women took their pizza slices, grabbed a coffee from the vending machine, and went into Katy’s office.
“It’ll come out of petty cash. I rang DCI Roberts by the way. His wife is still in labour. He told me to send on his best wishes and to tell you he’ll have his fingers crossed for a successful outcome.”
“Yikes, so will we…with regard to the baby, I mean. That’s a long labour, I don’t envy his wife,” Lorne said with a shudder. “Once was enough of an ordeal for me. What’s the betting Sean’s child ends up being an only child.”
They all chuckled and tucked into their pizza. Once finished, they went back into the incident room and paced the floor.
Finally, a full hour passed before Tony rang Lorne again. “Hi, ferry is at 21.45, going to Dover.”
He hung up. Lorne looked at her phone in puzzlement.
“Lorne, everything okay?” Superintendent White asked, concerned.
“I think so. He just sounded weird. I know it was only a quick call, but something’s wrong, I can tell.”
Katy rubbed her arm. “Like what?”
“I have no idea. Damn, we should have worked out a code word for him to use if things went wrong.”
“I’m sure he’s fine. If anything has gone wrong, I doubt he would tell you anyway, knowing how much Tony likes to protect you,” Katy pointed out.
“Thanks, that’s reassured me no end—not.”
“I didn’t mean…” Katy began but stopped midway through her sentence.
“Ignore me. He’s fine, I’m sure,” Lorne faked, as the pizza she’d just consumed worked its way up and lodged at the back of her throat. She excused herself and went to the ladies’ toilet. She walked into a cubicle and threw up. Dousing her face with water and drying it on a rough paper towel, she returned to the incident room to find that Derek had joined the group.
Scoffing a piece of leftover pizza, he came towards her. “God, you look rough. Should you even be here?”
“I’m okay. I guess my stomach wasn’t ready for a vat load of grease. Glad you could make it. I put in a good word with the super, so treat her well in your write up, mate, won’t you?” Lorne nodded in White’s direction.
“What’s she like? I seem to recall you had little respect for your old super.”
“Yeah, he was a dinosaur. Ann seems an okay kind of woman. Not sure I’d feel the same if I ever got on the wrong side of her. That used to happen a lot under the previous super.”
He tapped his nose. “Leave her to me. I can wind women around my little finger.”
Lorne smirked. “Like me, you mean? I don’t think so, Derek. Anyway, I’m glad you’re here. You’ll be coming with Katy and me once things get underway, okay?”
“Yeah, great. Do we know when that’ll be?”
“I’ve just heard from Tony. At this moment we’re guessing what route he’s taking and what time he’s expected to dock. It’s still a few hours away yet, any adjustments can be made without too much hassle. It’s all this hanging around that’s killing me.”
“I’m with you on that one, sister.” Derek mingled with the rest of the team as he munched on the remainder of his pizza.
• • •
The ferry docked. Lorne got the all-clear from the customs officer soon after Tony’s vehicle passed through the check point. To avoid suspicion, it had been decided that a few of the other lorries would also be given the all-clear without the full inspection. The customs officer’s feedback was that two men were sitting upfront next to the driver and that the driver was sporting a black eye.
“Shit. They’ve beaten him up,” Lorne announced to the team. They were all stunned to hear this.
Katy rushed to the rescue with a positive comment. “Don’t go thinking all sorts, Lorne. We don’t know that to be the case, do we? Stay positive. Besides, he can’t be that bad or he wouldn’t be driving, worst case scenario.” The team moved swiftly through the building out to their waiting vehicles.
AJ called out to Katy and Lorne to wait up. “I’ve just heard from the surveillance team that the two men have left the house. I’ve told the team to tail them and to keep us informed of their route.”
“Well, that’s interesting.” Lorne looked back across the car park to the station just as Derek came trotting out of the building. “Come on, Derek, keep up.”
“Jesus, I went for a slash, and when I eventually found my way back to the incident room, you were all gone. Nearly had a bloody heart attack I did.”
“Yeah, well, make sure you adjust your dress properly before getting in the car. We don’t want anything making a scary appearance, do we?” She wiggled her little finger at him.
He turned his back and zipped up his flies. “Shit. Hey, trust you to notice that.”
Lorne sniggered. “Yeah, I pondered whether to say anything or not. Get in the car. AJ?”
“Yep?”
“Ring us as soon as you hear anything, okay?”
“Will do. Wagons roll,” AJ said, getting into his vehicle.
The convoy left the car park, and the tension in Katy’s car mounted. Every ten minutes, AJ rang to keep them up to date with news of both of the vehicles the relevant teams were following
“Wouldn’t it be strange if these guys turned up at the same location and were connected?” Lorne said.
Katy drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “Well, it could happen. We don’t really know much about the two men under surveillance other than they’ve possibly killed Elaine Syposz.”
As time marched on, Katy pulled the car over until it became clear that the truck Tony was driving was heading to Luigi’s warehouse. It was joined by another vehicle, the vehicle the other surveillance team had been following. Lorne contacted all the concerned teams to make them aware of the situation and to ask them to get into position, ensuring they were tucked out of sight at all times.
Five miles out, Lorne contacted the Border Agency car, which was following the truck. Between them, they decided Katy and the Border Agency car would swap places behind the truck now and again
to avoid being spotted. As Tony approached the industrial estate where Luigi’s business premises were located, Luigi left his office to join him as the two other men got out of their car. Katy pulled over behind another delivery van, and they watched Tony and two thick-set men dismount from the cab of the lorry. One man pushed Tony in the back, sending him momentarily off-balance. Luigi ran to help his brother-in-law, shouted something at the men, and received a punch in the stomach as punishment. A scuffle broke out when Tony hit the man who’d punched Luigi.
“Shit, guys. Take it easy,” Lorne cringed every time another clenched fist hit one of her relatives. “We’ve got to get in there, Katy. They’re outnumbered.”
“Not yet. Wait until the truck has been unloaded. That’s what we all agreed. Tony will make sure Luigi doesn’t get hurt.”
“Yeah, and who’s going to watch out for Tony? He’s taking the brunt of their punishment,” Lorne complained under her breath.
Finally, one of the men who had travelled with Tony in the lorry, called a halt to the brawling, and they moved to the back of the truck and opened the doors.
Katy pressed the button on the walkie talkie. “Here we go, guys. Wait for me to give you the nod.”
Several responses filled the car.
Luigi brought the forklift truck to a standstill alongside the truck as the men had instructed. One of the men boarded the back of the truck and pointed out what he wanted unloaded first.
“Okay, guys. As soon as that first pallet drops on the ground, we hit them.”
Again all the teams responded. Lorne heard a vehicle approaching behind them. “Quick, duck.” Once the car had passed, Lorne sat up and squinted in the night, trying to get a look at the number plate. By the time her eyes had adjusted, it was too late. But it didn’t matter, upon closer inspection she recognised the vehicle. Her fist hit the dashboard. “Yes!”
“What is it?” Katy asked bemused.
“You’ll see. All will be revealed. Tell the teams to hold back. I wanna get that fucker involved in the action first, up to his scrawny pol…neck.”
“Who is it, Lorne?” Derek asked impatiently from the rear. At the same time Katy strained to look past Lorne, but Lorne shifted in her seat, preventing her partner seeing who the car belonged to.
Once the person left his car, Lorne twisted in her seat to look at Derek. “Quick, start snapping off some pictures.”
Derek grabbed his camera and angled it at the scene and fired off some shots.
“Okay, call it, Katy. Let’s get this wrapped up.”
“It’s a go…go…go!” Katy ordered into the walkie talkie. Headlights lit up the area as cars sped into the warehouse car park. Men darted from the vehicles and pounced on the criminals as they tried to escape.
Lorne leapt out of the vehicle, despite Katy calling her back. Derek, still firing off pictures was close on her heel. The seven men they’d had under surveillance were quickly handcuffed by a mixture of uniformed police and Border Agency enforcement officers.
“This one and this one belong to us.” Lorne claimed Tony and Luigi and pulled them from the group. “Are you all right?” She kissed Tony and ran a finger down his swollen cheek and across his bruised eye.
“I’m fine. Go do your job, Lorne. Throw the book at those bastards.”
Accompanied by Katy, they approached the criminals. “You were right,” Katy said out the corner of her mouth. “He’s implicated in this up to his armpits.”
“Yep, the old policewoman’s gut instinct strikes again. No doubt he’ll try and worm his way out of it. Let’s see what he has to say for himself. Mind if I tackle him?”
Katy winked. “Be my guest.”
Lorne stood in front of the late arrival. “Well, well, well…fancy seeing you here, Mr. Syposz?”
His mouth twisted into a snarl, and his eyes narrowed. “You’ve got nothing on me, bitch. Tell them to take these cuffs off, or I’ll sue every last one of you.”
“Really, you can try. So, tell me, why are you here? I can guess. I don’t have to be Einstein to figure that out, but I’d like to hear it from your own mouth.”
“It’s a mistake. I took the wrong turn off the main road, and…” he began cockily before his two men sniggered. He shot them a warning glance.
“Maybe you took the wrong turn when you headed out of Poland all those years ago,” Lorne suggested with a wicked grin.
He shot forward at her, but the two officers restraining him held firm. He spat, “You dumb women think you have an answer for everything, don’t you?”
“Dumb. Oh, okay, sure…well, my partner and I saw through you quickly enough. We were just waiting for you to mess up, and voila…you didn’t take long to help us out.” Again he tried to run at her. Lorne’s determination to get him to admit his involvement in the case grew. “You don’t like being outsmarted by a member of the opposite sex, do you?”
“You have not outsmarted me, lady. My solicitor will wipe the floor with you. You women haven’t got what it takes to deal with me.”
“Women? Is that a reference to your wife? The wife you paid these two idiots over here to kill?” Lorne pointed at the two men who had come from the house and been followed by the surveillance team. “What was her undoing, to challenge your manhood?”
“You know nothing. She would still be here today, living the rich life she’s lived for the past five years, if she hadn’t—”
“Well, don’t stop there. If she hadn’t what? Let me guess, wanted out? Said that she was leaving you? That is what happened, isn’t it? She dared to pack her bags with the intent of walking out on you forever.” His face dropped, and Lorne knew she had him by the balls. She witnessed the anger rise up from his chest and settle in his eyes. “No point denying it. The evidence was in her suitcase. She’d packed enough clothes to see her through several seasons. She was leaving you. Bye bye, Joseph.” This time the officers had loosened their grips on his arms and he broke free, his nose came within an inch of hers.
As he spoke, Lorne felt a spray of spittle hit her cheek. “No one gets one over on me. She wasn’t capable of it and neither will you be!”
“I’m guessing Elaine was about to dob you in to the police, too…that’s why your goons tracked her down and killed her, am I right?”
Now restrained once more, he merely shrugged his shoulders and grinned.
“You’re a sick shit and totally deserve what’s coming to you. Get him out of my sight and don’t forget to seize his Porsche. We’ll sell that and give the proceeds to his victims and their families.”
“You can try, bitch. You can fuckin’ try!”
Lorne shook her head as the men dragged him away. Tony flung an arm around her shoulder and kissed her forehead. “Come on, let’s go home. You can deal with this lot tomorrow or after the weekend, yes?”
Katy nodded. “We sure can. Thanks for your help on this, Tony.”
“No problem. I enjoyed it, despite the bruises.” He winced as he touched his blackened eye, then grinned.
EPILOGUE
Monday morning, the team gathered around the incident room, all still joyful at what they’d achieved. Superintendent White had walked in seconds earlier to wrap up what had happened over the weekend, during which everyone had taken two days off due to their successful mission.
“Well, when the teams finally got the search warrant they needed for the squat, they made a few surprising discoveries. There were almost twenty people living at that house, all immigrants of different nationalities. Polish, Russian, Chinese and more. When pressed, they said that they had all paid the ‘boss man,’ who we think is Joseph Syposz, thousands of pounds to come to the UK. In return, he gave them false education papers. This prompted us to obtain yet another search warrant for Syposz’s home and office. We found evidence of the education papers and fake ‘official rubber stamps’ at his office, and when we searched under the floorboards in the lounge at his house, we unearthed a grand total of five mill
ion pounds in used notes.”
Lorne whistled. “Holy crap! Right, there’s one thing puzzling me, though.”
“What’s that, Lorne?”
“Did you find any proof of counterfeit goods at any of the three locations?”
“Yep, plenty. We discovered a nearby lockup full of fake booze, D&G bags, Adidas gear…in fact you name it, we found it.”
“Okay, what I’m wondering is, are the two cases we’ve been working on linked?”
“Good question. I took the liberty of sending a bottle of the vodka we stumbled upon over to forensics for them to run some tests. I’m betting we’ll find the perfect deadly match, although I’m still awaiting their confirmation. Maybe you can chase that up for me, Lorne?”
“I’ll do it after this, ma’am.”
“Anyway, that’s all. Well done, the lot of you, for wrapping up not one, but two tough cases in a fortnight. Looks like I’ve got a solid foundation for a good team. What say we meet up at the pub after work this evening, and I’ll buy you a few rounds to show my appreciation?”
Everyone nodded their approval at the super’s welcomed and unexpected suggestion.
• • •
Lorne rang Tony and asked him to join them at the pub. The afternoon had been full of excitement as Patti’s team had come up trumps on so many levels. The two cases were, as they’d assumed, undeniably linked. Therefore, Lorne knew that she could now throw the book at Joseph Syposz and enjoy seeing the man squirm. She was elated to be seeing true justice served for Elaine’s murder. Furthermore, Patti informed her that her colleague’s initial DNA results confirmed that Troy Wardley, along with another member of his gang, had died in the van the night the mobile distillery had exploded. Tests were still ongoing there on the charred remains.