Divide and Rule

by Solomon Carter

  Eva checked her phone. At 6.17pm there were lights moving on the horizon making the cool dank evening fluorescent. The light haze lit up a distant field. As the light came nearer tension came with it, and two skinhead men came up close to the house. One was older and taller, he could have been the one called Joe Merton, but Eva couldn’t be sure. The shaven hair robbed them of most of their identity in her eyes.

  “What’s that out there? You expecting anyone?”

  “Not at all. They call ahead when they’re coming.”

  The old man and the middle aged skinhead looked to the distant light, craning their necks to see over the curve of the distant fields. It wasn’t possible. Then the lights died, disappearing altogether in the blackness. Eva’s breath drained away. And nearby the night grew noisy again, with laughter, shouting and excitement. Eva felt a sense of dread. The noise came close and she saw the middle aged one smile.

  “Got you some new meat for the factory, Joe.”

  So it was him. Joe Merton, Peter Serge’s go-to man.

  “But I think we better soften it up first, don’t you?”

  The door burst open as Jess was thrown into the kitchen. She was soaked and shaking with shock and fear. She looked at Eva and breathed in sharp hasty breaths. Eva looked at her in the same way. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. She kept her face even and hid the terrible regret she felt at having ever taken the case on. These people were monsters, just as she should have known. But still, it didn’t mean Jerry Burton should have been attacked…did it? Jess’s blouse was torn. Eva noticed it, then she shook her head, letting Jess know the men had not molested her. Not yet at least.

  “Do you like meat, girls?” Freddie pushed into the kitchen, while Joe Merton laughed behind him, deep and full like he’d just heard the best joke in the world. Eva took a deep, deep breath and got prepared to fight.

  “Not in here, you animals. This is my house.”

  “Come off it, Cordy. This place is dirtier than a pig-sty,” said Merton.

  “My home is mine. You rent the ground and that’s all. Use the bloody barns for your depravity.”

  Outside the house they heard the noise of banter. Then it sounded like an argument had broken out.

  “Tell those bastards to shut up, Joe. I don’t get any bloody peace these days.”

  “No peace for the wicked, Cordy. You should know that.” Said Merton. “Now, come on girls. It’s time for a party.”

  Freddie came close and seized Jess’s hand. “Get off me, get off!”

  She couldn’t fend the strong young man away. Freddie dragged her outside. Eva ran forward to pull Jess back, but the boy was strong, and momentum carried Eva relentlessly forward. She bumped into Joe Merton’s shoulder. He turned, his chest was against her face. Eva drew back and saw three or four other youths ranged around him.

  “I think I’ll give this one a tour of the barns, myself boys. You can meet her later.”

  Joe Merton looked down at Eva and laughed. She screwed up her face, getting ready to hit him, but the man saw it all. He seized her wrist and threw it back down by her side.

  There was arguing outside, definitely a disagreement. More arguing now, and a shout from further away and couldn’t have been Jess or the other skinheads, they were too near for that.

  Joe Merton turned to peer into the shadows and half-light. Eva had the same view as the rest of them. There was the sound of running, feet hitting gravel quick and hard, and figures half touched by light, swallowed back into the blackness and the wind whipped away at the noise they made to make it weaker.

  “What the hell is going on here?”

  The skinheads turned away. Reluctantly, Freddie let Jess go.

  The man turned towards the melee of confused shouts.

  “What’s going on?” said Jess.

  Eva smiled a bitter smile. “Guess.”

  Jess smiled.

  “We’re not out finished after all,” said Eva. “Come on.”

  Eva and Jess dropped into the long black shadow of a barn as the action streaked past them. Three dark figures ran past, and then they looped back again like warplanes pursuing a mobile foe. One was out in front. The pale light from Cordy’s house washed over the man in front – Dan - and then he was back in blackness again as he ran on.

  “Dan!” said Eva hoarsely.

  There was a noise of violence, a guttural spurt of pain, and then more running. The light hit him again, and Dan dived into the darkness beside Eva and Jess. They were hidden by the wall of a barn.

  “Thank God you’re safe. These sick bastards…”

  “We know. But we can’t leave yet… We haven’t found Coulson. We haven’t had the chance…”

  “Don’t be bloody stupid, Eva!” he whispered sharply. “Peter Serge is the mastermind behind all this. You don’t need to find the smoking gun in his hand. You already know who did it.” They whispered hoarsely in the blackness.

  “No, Dan. We don’t. We have Cordy Farm. We have the threats. We have the things you’ve heard, but we don’t have anything which links Serge to the attack against Burton.”

  Dan shook his head. “You want to risk getting killed, getting Jess killed, so you can tick every little last box?”

  Eva said nothing while she listened to the chaos of the hunt outside and considered her options.

  They had no more than a day left until the election now. And Jerry’s attacker was still free, able to strike again. Still not brought to justice. It made Eva bristle. “We can’t just leave this, Dan.”

  “Then don’t leave it, damn it. If those are your orders, Eva, I’m staying here. You two can go. So go now.”

  “Dan. Don’t be bloody stupid! You’re not well.”

  He looked at them both and felt their eyes on him.

  Eva was grateful the darkness hid all their shamed gaze.

  “Go now, Eva. Now. Take this chance, okay? I’ll do your recon.”

  “Dan.”

  “Think of it as therapy for me.”

  “Dan!”

  Eva went towards Dan.

  “No time, Eva. The car is over on that side. I’ll stay this side and distract them.”

  “Come on Eva,” said Jess, ever the pragmatist.

  Eva nodded. “Don’t get yourself killed, Dan. These people are insane.”

  “I hear there’s a lot of it about,” Dan ran out into the yard and shouted “Over here!”

  Eva gulped on a glut of emotion- frustration, rage at the predicament, and despair at not having a clue. They’d found a nightmare in the making. A skinhead boot camp, a place of hate and fear and violence near their very own town. But there was no proof to link these people to Jerry Burton. These people belonged to Burton in name, but she wasn’t buying it. These people belonged to Peter Serge. Dan was right in that respect. This whole game was Peter Serge’s. The man was biding his time and had the upper hand over them all- Will Burton included. The prospect of failure loomed large and close. To be defeated by an enemy like this – Eva just could not stand the idea of it. Serge would know they now knew nearly everything about his little empire. From now on Serge would be more dangerous than ever. Eva now had to content herself with protecting the Burtons while hoping Dan found a clue, or Serge made a mistake. Eva and Jess slid into the Alfa, gunned it into life and sped past screaming skinheads who tried to give chase. But as soon as the car was out of range, the skinheads turned back into the farm and began the hunt afresh. The Alfa flew and jumped across ruts in the tracks. They drove like their lives depended on it. Eva looked into the rear view and saw only blackness.

  Eighteen

  Like most of Eva’s other goals since this case started, protecting the Burtons wasn’t going well.

  “You expect me to pay up for the mess you’ve been making?”

  “Yes, I do. You agreed to pay us irrespective of the outcome, so long as we worked to protect you and your son.”

  “You promised me you would uncover the identity of the attacker.”
/>
  “Correction, Mr Burton, we agreed that my agency would work to find the attacker. And working is exactly what we’ve been doing, every day, all day, and at night too. And we’ve been risking our necks for you, because that’s what we do.”

  “From what I hear, you’ve kicked up a stink with my party and upset my staff. Its 36 hours until the Election Day for crying out loud. I can’t have you doing this to me now! I don’t need this stress. I hired you people to relieve my stresses, not make them worse.”

  Eva took a few breaths and waited. Mr Burton wanted to punish them, Eva knew that, and so whatever she said now wasn’t going to wash until he was through. They were in a side room of the hospital, one of the rooms where the doctors ushered the families of people visiting to give them bad news. Mr Burton was a VIP nowadays. He got privileges. Jess sat in the corner looking pissed off and tired. And wasn’t doing her best to hide it, either.

  Will Burton paced the room and let off some more steam. Burton was a prima donna. Maybe he really did think he was in the same league as a Blair or a Cameron. Either way, Eva had him down as a cheap, evil sell-out imitation.

  “Are you through now, Will?” It was the first time Eva had used his name in such a hard tone and it got Burton’s attention.

  “For now. If you want paying, don’t get cocky with me, Miss Roberts.”

  “Oh dear. I’m sorry for not pandering to your whim or opting to be your punch bag, but my recent experiences and the way you tell this thing don’t match up one bit. I need some information and assurances from you before I give you anything at all.”

  “I’ll pay, if you come through.”

  “No, Will. You’ll pay full stop. That’s a non-negotiable fact. We’ve just got back from a certain farm you know about. And earlier today we visited Curlon’s Foods. You know about the purpose of those locations, am I right?”

  Burton turned around and stared into Eva’s eyes to read her intent. He was slow and steady in his reply. Maybe too steady.

  “I know about Cordy Farm. Curlon’s Foods? I’ve heard of them, yes.”

  “Then you’ll know you’ll be paying me in full.”

  The man wore a poker face. “Why does that mean I’ll be paying you in full?”

  “Because otherwise the press may hear about both places. In detail. To be frank, I think the voting public have a right to know what’s going on over there. But what I want to know is what you know… and right now that’s very important to me. It could be the most important thing in this whole case.”

  “About the farm?”

  “For one and then there’s the food plant.”

  Will Burton rolled his eyes. “That’s where Joe Merton and Peter Serge oversee the UKFirst development programme. I’ve seen it. It’s a rough and ready place, but they get the work done. They have a squad of about twenty UKFirst apprentices there, as I recall. It’s not in my constituency, so I don’t have to go there often.”

  “We couldn’t give a rat’s backside about your political boundaries, Will. That’s your bag, not ours. I need to see what you know, and what you don’t.”

  “And I just told you.”

  “So what is your party training those youths for exactly?”

  “According to Peter, they are taught British History, politics and economics from a modern and unbiased perspective, by which he means, uninfluenced by liberal-leftist dogma which rules our news and education system.”

  “And that sounds rational to you, does it?”

  “Miss Roberts, I’ve been defending and promoting my party for weeks now. I don’t want to go through this again here and now.”

  “But you’re not defending the farm. No one can defend the indefensible. That place is a propaganda machine, and worse, Old man Cordy told me that it is a military training camp, preparing a small army for you. You’re making foot soldiers. And you campaign, like your politics, is just about leaving Europe. You’re hiding the truth – you’re deceiving the electorate

  “Not at all. I’m being honest. And you’re exaggerating.”

  “No, Will. I’m not. Your boys threatened sexual assault against myself and Jess. Joe Merton, your close associate threatened me himself. And it was more than an empty threat. Your party colleagues were minutes away from heinous crime.

  Will Burton shook his head and rubbed it. “That’s bullshit. You’re trying to discredit us. No wonder you haven’t helped us! Who paid you first? The Newspapers? The Labour Party. No! Probably the Tories!”

  “Look at me, Will. I’m telling the truth. But right now, I’m not sure whether you are. Are you?”

  “Are you serious?” There was a pause. “Really?”

  Eva nodded. “Absolutely. Serious as in kick your arse, serious,” said Jess.

  “Joe Merton?”

  “I’ve said already who it was. If that doesn’t square with your knowledge of the man, then you have bigger problems than you think. Which is exactly what I’m trying to establish here. Do you know about the purpose of the farm?”

  “Not that purpose, of course not.”

  “What about Curlon’s Foods?”

  “The apprenticeship scheme, giving kids with rough lives a chance to earn a living and start over. That’s the scheme you’re referring to.”

  “No. The scheme I’m referring to is teenage boys with shaven heads working in an unsafe and unhygienic meat factory as cover for a programme of harvesting young men. And I heard how you punish them when they are out of favour with your party musclemen.”

  “Poppycock! Absolute bull!”

  “It’s true. We saw it. We heard it. Now I really need to believe you, Will. If I don’t believe you, I can’t work for you. And if I can’t work for you, I can’t get paid. And after what we’ve been through, if we can’t get paid, I am so going to blow the whistle. I’m going to destroy your whole election campaign. And there’s a lot of me which would like to do that anyway.”

  Will Burton stared at the women and bit his lip. “You’re being straight up? This is the truth - the way you see it?”

  Eva nodded once. “Your turn.”

  “I’ve been telling you the whole way through. If I can’t trust my senior men… Joe, Peter… then I can have them replaced with people I trust. I’m in charge in this district. They can’t do any of these things without my say so. UKFirst party isn’t like what you’ve been saying. UKFirst is mainstream, not extreme.”

  Eva had heard that quote every day for months now. Will Burton looked like he believed it – and if he did, he was a fool.

  “If you’re clear on that, and you are 100% sure, then I think I know your problem. I think I know who is working against you, and maybe who attacked your son. If I’m right about the working against you, then I’m almost certainly right about the attackers’ origin.”

  “Go on.”

  “Not yet. I need to be certain. Certain about a more few things.”

  “Come on! I am exposed. My son is at risk. My marriage is nearly finished. I am trying to win this election, the public are on my side, but the whole rest of the world seems to be against me. Please! Fix this for me. Help me get through this unscathed, that’s all I’m asking.”

  “Coming from a Neo-Nazi front man, with silky presentation skills, I would really like to sympathise. But the only one I can sympathise with is your son.”

  “Do it for him then.”

  “Don’t worry about that, Will. He’s the only motivation I’ve got left.”

  Eva walked out of the room and Jess followed behind a moment later. They walked down the sterile blue corridor and stole a look at Jerry Burton as they passed his room. He was still unconscious.

  “So where’s Dan now?”

  Jess knew Dan hadn’t called or texted. If he had, Eva would have said so.

  “Where do you think, Jess? He’s probably still in that hell hole, trying to get away.”

  “If you say so…. He’s lost it, hasn’t he, Eva? You told him yourself. He could be at the farm or sitting i
n another bar getting trashed.”

  Eva turned around and faced Jess. “Whatever your issue with Dan is, let it go now. Dan helped get us out of that farm, and he put his own safety at risk to do it. Whatever state he’s in right now, we should be worried about him and we should be grateful for what he did for us.”

  “We could have gotten away ourselves.” Jess’s face was not convincing.

  “You think so?” Eva’s eyes flicked up as she caught movement ahead. Down the corridor she could see a bright rectangle of white light from the side room. Will Burton was there, just visible by his shadow coming through into the corridor. He was listening.

  “Come on. Not here, not now.”

  Eva walked away and didn’t wait for Jess. She wasn’t going to play mummy to a brat. And besides, she was sorely frustrated with everyone involved - Dan and herself. Dan had gone AWOL. And from his behaviour, she wasn’t sure if she would ever see him again. This was a disaster from top to bottom and Eva wanted out. She should never have sold out to UKFirst. She should have always worked alone. Should. Would. Could. The worst words in the language – words of regret and doubt.

  But it was too late for regret. Now was the time to close in on the enemy, and get this disaster over with once and for all.

  Nineteen

  Evening. Cordy Farm.

  They were sweeping the area, scenting their prey, not knowing where they were going. The Alfa Romeo disappearing with the women they wanted made them angry. They were like wasps now, looking for somewhere to unload all their pent up frustration, their hormones, and their rage. But Dan Bradley had everything he ever needed. He hid in the dark behind a cupboard in a barn, just catching his breath. He’d flattened three of them by now, and they all knew about it. He contemplated his lot as he took in the air. They were horny teenagers, drilled into an amateur army mind-set. They had skills. They had fitness. They had hate, but they didn’t have hate like his. Dan’s hate was pure, bred of fear, created by his desire to overcome and utterly destroy an enemy for all the havoc they’d wreaked on him. And then there was Marka. He’d never had the chance to take his revenge on Victor Marka, not in the way he’d hoped and dreamed of. Last summer in Surrey Quays, it was Gillespie’s mob, the gypsy mafia, who’d taken that scalp. But at least now, Dan had a symbol of a despicable evil he could vent at. Dan knew Peter Serge was as evil as Marka. He was at least as bad, and now at Cordy Farm he’d seen it with his own eyes. This group within a group, the radical far right cell led by Peter Serge, was creating a brand of violent extremism with the potential to become every bit as bad as what was going on with the Islamic extremists in the Middle East. But this was hidden. It was an incubating virus, a deadly and virulent strain, and Dan wanted to wipe it out. All of it. It wasn’t good enough that Will Burton appeared to be good, or at least pretended to be. Ignorance was no excuse. And helping these scum for the sake of Jerry Burton, wasn’t good enough either. Maybe he was crazy. His head was broken pretty bad right now, but that was temporary. Right now, Dan was the darkness within the darkness. He was the terror on the rise, and it was Peter Serge’s time to fear. He heard them running close by on the gravel. He heard the old man curse them all, and then he heard Joe Merton curse the old man. A second later the barn door crashed inwards, and at least two sets of feet pushed into the darkness. Dan breathed cleanly, quietly as the October wind whipped around him. He let them walk.