by Cenarth Fox
‘Good boy,’ cried Ralph. ‘Come to Daddy, come to Daddy.’
The top of the page appeared on Ralph’s side.
‘Please hurry, sir,’ cried Lois. ‘I have an elderly mother who really needs medical help.’
Ralph slipped into ecstasy mode. He grasped the formula, held it tightly, and started to pull.
Then it happened.
Jessica got out of her car, ordered her driver to remain, and wandered over to the Commissioner. He now endured an intense dislike of the woman, and hated having her in his face, with a major op in progress.
‘I really don’t think you should be here, Madam.’
‘I’m totally out of the way. No interference at all. Please carry on.’
‘You do realise I could have you removed?’
‘Ditto,’ replied Jessica with a no-teeth smile.
He meant from the car park. She meant from office.
Bitch.
The Commissioner listened to his fellow officers, and to radio comments from the SOG upstairs.
After a few minutes, the police, concentrating on the job upstairs, saw Jessica wandering out of the carpark.
‘Shit! Stop her,’ snapped the Commissioner.
An officer ran. ‘Excuse me, Premier.’ He caught up with her.
‘I need a pee.’
‘I’m afraid you can’t leave. There’s a major operation in progress.’
‘So you want the Premier to squat here? What, behind your 4WD? Got a bucket have you?’
The officer ran out of answers, and the Premier walked to the door marked Stairs, and left the carpark.
‘Armed police. Don’t move!’
The SOG officer shouted with a powerful voice. His words boomed down the corridor where the Labcope CEO knelt ready to receive a piece of paper. Not just any piece of paper — it was the formula for the highly prized conscience drug.
The four people in the lab had mixed feelings. For two of them, the key thought was rescue. For the other two it was arrest.
The fifth person, the one kneeling in the corridor, felt an enormous urge to scream.
More stentorian tones came from the SOG. ‘Lie down on the floor!’
Ralph failed to follow the script.
Louder. ‘Lie down on the floor!’
He glanced at the men in black with their firearms. He acquiesced.
‘Don’t shoot,’ he cried, fighting back tears.
My fingers touched the formula.
SOG officers moved in, their lethal weapons pointing at the CEO.
‘Hands behind your back!’ A shattered Ralph complied.
He firmly believed he had done no wrong, and this was his company. He fought back.
‘Don’t you know who I am?’
That line didn’t work with the security guard, and it sure as hell didn’t work with the SOG. One of their number replied.
‘Unless you wanna get shot, sir, shut the fuck up.’
I’ll take that as a ‘no’.
The Labcope CEO tried on some bracelets. Not happy, Ralph.
Wonderful, he thought. Just wonderful. So far this evening I’ve been arrested three times. Should that fact appear on my CV?
Two officers helped the Hyphen to stand, and led him away.
During Ralph’s capture, Luca retrieved the formula, and stuffed it inside his shirt.
Possession is nine tenths of the law.
The SOG officers looked through the narrow window in the door. They saw Luca with his gun to Bernie’s head, and Animal with his knife to Lois’s throat. Luca saw the police.
‘Back off and nobody gets hurt,’ called Luca.
The police stepped out of sight. One radioed to his commander in the car park. The other dealt with the quartet.
‘Don’t shoot. We are not coming in. Repeat, we are not coming in.’
‘But we’re coming out. Unlock the door and back away,’ said Luca.
‘That’s a negative, sir. We are going to establish a landline to the phone in your room. Please be patient.’
‘You’re not listening to me,’ screamed Luca. ‘Either you do what I say immediately, or we start shooting the hostages.’
Animal really, really wanted to go back to gardening. Lois cried, and Bernie felt sad.
I hope my folks don’t hear that I’ve been shot.
The SOG negotiator spoke.
‘We can resolve this situation, sir. Please be patient. By the way, my name’s Rick. What’s yours?’
‘Well if you won’t open the door, Rick, I suggest you stand well back because there’s a bomb in here about to explode.’
Rick found that comment interesting.
Bernie looked at the counter on the device and mouthed the word six.
Luca yelled. ‘In six minutes!’
Jessica avoided the bodies inside the building, and crept upstairs. She didn’t want the loo. She wanted that formula. She heard shouting on the floor above. One faint voice sounded like her luncheon pal, Luca Parisi.
She looked up the stairwell. All clear. She climbed.
On the next floor she waited on the landing. The shouting sounded close. The police and Luca traded insults and offers.
Waiting for something to happen wouldn’t work. Hoping the formula would fall out of the sky would never work. Action is the key.
She opened the unlocked door.
22
THE COMMISSIONER SCREAMED. ‘What?’
‘The Premier is walking towards us, sir,’ said the SOG member, his radio working perfectly.
It was all action at the R & D lab. Inside were two criminals and two hostages. Outside, SOG officers crouched in the corridor. A bomb was due to explode, and to add spice to the event, some loopy woman appeared, doing a superb impersonation of the Victorian Premier.
The last thing the police needed was a civilian wandering into the hostage scene. The fact that the civilian was the Premier, well, WTF!
‘Madam, stop,’ called a Soggie in his loudest/softest voice.
‘I only want to help, officer,’ replied Jessica, playing a cross between Joan of Arc and Mother Teresa.
The cop hurried to Jessica. ‘This is a dangerous hostage situation, madam. The kidnappers are armed. Now please go back the way you came and stay there.’
Jessica paused. The officer was close to losing it.
‘I will arrest you if I have to.’
Jessica slithered into her lawyer-like, bitch-like self. ‘Not a good career move, soldier,’ she said, then walked back to the landing.
The police scrapped the plan to communicate with the kidnappers via phone. With a bomb in the lab, speed ruled.
Luca tried to control the situation.
‘Open the door and back away. We’ll come out, and turn right. You stay left and do nothing. Do you hear?’
‘We hear, sir, but we can’t …’
‘The bomb is about to explode,’ screamed Luca.
Bernie yelled supporting his kidnapper. ‘I’m a scientist, and there really is a bomb in this room.’
Luca’s anger mixed with his fear. ‘Now open the fucken door!’
The commander nodded, and an officer removed the mops. All the police members moved back from the laboratory door.
Luca opened it, and signalled to Animal. He stood close behind Lois and, with a knife at her throat, eased her towards the corridor.
‘Stand back,’ screamed Luca.
Shuffling, Animal and Lois left the lab, and headed to the landing.
The men in black stood still, their trigger fingers twitching.
Luca and Bernie left the lab. Two couples now shuffled to the landing.
Luca spun around, making his partner, Bernie, face the cops. They moved awkwardly, shuffling backwards with Bernie as the shield.
‘Warn them about the bomb,’ urged the scientist.
‘Shut up or I’ll shoot you,’ snapped Luca.
‘Shoot me and you’re dead.’ Bernie could not believe he said that.
Animal reached the landing. Using his spare hand, he pushed the door. Lois went through followed by her captor.
Luca looked back to find the door. He pulled Bernie with him. They made their exit, and then it happened.
Ralph’s firecracker went bang. SOG officers no longer stood. Glass exploded. Wood splintered. Smells wafted. Men groaned. Radios crackled. Coughing. Yelling. More yelling.
Luca and Bernie made it through unscathed — just.
Genevieve felt she had no choice. Fear for her and her family’s safety brought enormous pressure. Only by telling the truth could she be free of her suffering. Confession is good for the soul. It worked wonderfully well for the old woman beside her. Genevieve wanted that happiness. Besides, if the issue goes public, Jessica would never dare do anything rash.
The Chief of Staff called the one journo she trusted.
‘Hello, Gloria, it’s Genevieve Kovács. Would you like an exclusive?’
The journalist hit record and Genevieve began.
‘There’s a scientist working for the pharmaceutical giant, Labcope.’
The journalist respected Genevieve. Anything she said would be worth repeating. Genevieve continued.
‘This story involves a leading politician, a crime boss and a scientist.’
Suddenly a muffled scream was heard and then a thud-like sound.
Silence.
‘Hello? Genevieve? Are you there?’
She was there but no longer able to speak.
Holding her walking stick with both hands, Mother stood behind the unconscious Chief of Staff.
‘Nobody tells tales about my daughter,’ whispered Mother.
Luca pulled Bernie through the door to the landing, turned to Animal and gasped. The woman hostage, Lois, had vanished. In her place, Animal’s new hostage had a knife at her throat.
‘Mr Parisi,’ said Jessica, ‘how lovely to see you again.’
‘She grabbed me, boss, and pissed off the other bird.’
Bernie shook his head.
Criminals are mad; politicians insane.
Luca too shook his head. ‘I said I’d get you a job. Right, down the stairs and no tricks.’
The quartet moved carefully. The explosion meant police were dead, dazed or distracted. From below, other police rushed to assist. Talk about the perfect cover for a getaway.
They reached the ground floor where the foyer was abuzz.
Luca thrust his gun against Bernie’s spine.
‘What’s another way out of here? Come on.’
‘There’s the smokers’ alley.’
‘Show me.’
Bernie led them along a corridor. They entered a room marked Store, and then through another door to the outside. Cigarette butts abounded.
‘Where now?’ ordered Luca.
Bernie pointed. ‘There’s a small gap at the end of the alley.’
Luca urged them forward. Bernie told the truth; the gap was small. Anyone with even a moderate BMI would struggle.
The wiry Animal opened the battling. He squeezed through, and stood guard with his lethal blade. Luca ordered Bernie to follow. Trouble here.
Damn those cinnamon doughnuts.
Bernie made it. Then Jessica slipped through. She was slippery.
Luca’s turn created a problem. What to do with his gun while his body underwent squashing? He ordered Animal to keep his knife against the Premier’s throat then, keeping the gun in his upstage hand, squeezed through and joined the others.
‘You can let us go now,’ said Bernie.
‘No way,’ replied Luca.
‘You’ve got the formula, your car’s not far; and you don’t need us.’
Jessica now knew Luca had the formula. Only by sticking with him could she hope to win the prize.
‘Yes he does,’ said the Premier. ‘The police won’t shoot Mr Parisi with the Premier by his side.’
Bernie shook his head in disbelief.
The world has many strange people but politicians are unique.
‘She’s right. Move,’ snapped Luca.
St Kilda Road was buzzing with fascinated onlookers, gridlocked traffic and emergency vehicles. The quartet hurried away from Labcope, and reached Luca’s car. Animal moved to the driver’s door then stopped.
‘Boss, it’s no good. I can’t do this no more.’
Luca’s blood boiled. With the formula in his kit bag, and the cops in confusion, now was the perfect time to flee. Suddenly his faithful lieutenant turned wimp.
‘Get in the car and drive,’ snarled Luca.
Animal cried. ‘I can’t, boss. I can’t do this stuff no more. I wanna be a gardener. Please.’
Luca cocked his gun. It was smart to shoot Animal. With the conscience drug in his system, the prick was a liability. Luca took aim.
Bernie moved, and Luca lost it.
‘Freeze!’
The scientist kept moving to stop in front of Animal. Luca screamed.
‘Get out of the way.’
Bernie refused.
‘Move or I’ll shoot you and then him.’
Bernie spoke. ‘You can’t shoot me, Luca. You need me to prove the formula works.’
Luca could not believe Bernie, and almost ran to the scientist.
‘You told me everything was correct with nothing missing.’
‘True, but unless you see how it’s made, you’ll never know.’ Luca raised his gun. Bernie prattled away. ‘Take me somewhere safe, and I’ll mix the drug in front of you. You can see what I use and how. That way you’ll have the formula, the drug, and the method.’
Luca hesitated. ‘Last chance or you are seriously dead,’ he growled.
‘But one condition,’ said Bernie.
‘No fucken conditions!’
‘Let this guy go.’
Animal stopped crying. He looked at Bernie and mouthed “Thank you”. Luca fumed, paused, and then agreed. He tossed his keys at Bernie.
‘You drive.’
Bernie shoved Animal. ‘Go!’
The wannabe thug, thief and drug-dealer took a second to realise he was free. He ran.
Bernie drove with Luca and Jessica in the back.
‘They’re what?’ screamed the Commissioner.
‘Missing sir and we can’t find the Premier.’
For the police, the incident at Labcope went downhill fast. No arrests, several casualties, and the conscience drug formula whisked away to parts unknown by a wanted criminal. Oh, and that interfering woman, the state’s top politician, had gone AWOL.
Well, it wasn’t all bad news for the boys in blue (or black). The CEO of Labcope, Ralph “the Hyphen” Hetherington-Smythe, was in custody — again — helping the police with their enquiries. Ralph was not happy.
The Commissioner felt one sliver of satisfaction.
At least I don’t have to deal with that Premier. But where is she?
‘Where to?’ asked Bernie as he began to pull out on to St Kilda Road.
‘I’ve got a lock-up past Campbellfield. Get driving.’
‘That won’t work,’ said Bernie. ‘The ingredients are at my house in Cremorne, and at my parents’ empty house in Hawthorn.’
Luca hesitated. For him, things were desperate. His hands were dirty, and he had to disappear. It might mean buying a cheap wig and sailing to Italy, but with the formula and the conscience drug in his swag, Luca could find sanctuary and fame amongst his Calabrian chums.
‘You’re on thin ice, Mr Drug Maker. Don’t push your luck.’
Bernie drove. He parked illegally near his home, and set off with Luca’s words ringing in his ears.
‘Any tricks and your beloved Premier dies. Try putting that on your conscience, Mr Conscience.’
Bernie let himself in and immediately missed Albert.
At least he’s safe with Annuska and Dorothy.
He grabbed the essential items, and closed his front door. Gary barked next door. Bernie tiptoed to his gate, and returned to Luca, failing to spot the unmarked police ca
r and its two occupants. From his home in Cremorne, Bernie headed east. Discreetly, the cops followed.
The scientist drove to Hawthorn, parked, and the trio entered the former, and now very dark and empty Slim property. Bernie played for time. He tried his key in the front door. No go; new lock.
‘Maybe the back door,’ said Bernie, and led the others down the drive. Luca’s patience was in short supply.
The back door wouldn’t open either. Luca pushed past Bernie, and turned the door handle. Bingo; one unlocked door.
‘Get in, and no lights,’ ruled Luca.
‘Well how can he mix the formula in the dark?’ asked Jessica.
‘If the house is empty, lights will alert some nosy neighbour.’
‘I do the mixing in the shed in the backyard,’ said Bernie.
Luca fumed. ‘Well stop wasting time and get in the shed.’ He pushed Bernie outside but blocked Jessica. ‘You stay here and make coffee.’
‘Oh, charming. The caveman speaketh.’
‘And understand, sweetheart, I know what you’re up to.’
Jessica swore under her breath. She knew Luca was many things but no mug. She knew she had much more to lose if the conscience drug ever broke free. Jessica felt itchy. Her career was on the line, as was her life.
In the shed, Bernie turned on a soft red light his father used when working on his photography hobby.
Luca watched with interest as Bernie prepared to make a batch.
‘So what happens after I make the drug?’ asked Bernie.
‘Shut up and work.’
‘It’s just that if this is my last hour on Earth, I’d like to know.’
‘It’ll be your last minute on Earth if you don’t shut up and mix.’
Bernie shrugged and started. With all the ingredients on the bench, he held out a hand to Luca.
‘What now?’ asked the drug baron.
‘This is the moment when the formula is handed to the scientist.’
Luca reached inside his shirt, and withdrew the page from the calendar. Bernie placed the document on the bench. He used a small torch to read his writing.
‘I need to know every step,’ said Luca. ‘I have to be able to explain this stuff to any dumb drug-maker who isn’t sure.’