Hope Never Dies

by Mike Holden

  “All right, I have no choice, you can have the money but I can assure you that we do not have it on us. It’s in a safe place. I’ll tell you where it is if you please let the lady go”

  After some initial thought, Slater eased the knife away from Kim but still held her in a vice-like grip. He saw some relief in Kim’s eyes.

  “Are you all right?” he asked her. She nodded to him and he saw some of the panic abating from her eyes. This had brought back to her the ugly incident in the restaurant when she was attacked by the two drunken thugs and had been saved that night by Ned. The incident was similar, except that Ned was very much in the same predicament and she could not see him as “the knight on a white charger” this time.

  “The money is in a safe deposit box in a bank in Kendal. Leaving us here in whatever state, will not get you access to that money”

  “Where is the key to the box?” asked Slater.

  “Also in the bank, that cannot be accessed without my biometric identification.” There was no look of surprise on Kim’s face. Maybe she was too scared to express any emotion or maybe she was a very good actor. She thought the money was in his backpack as she had seen him put it there this morning. Ned was hoping that they would not search his pack.

  “Come on then, get moving or else you’ll be leaving this mountain quicker than you thought” He pointed down the ridge. Ned knew that he was capable of such an act but he had to think up a way of escaping without jeopardising Kim. Slater walked behind them and extremely near to Kim. There was quite a way to go and this gave Ned some thinking time. In view of what he had told him, they would be taken directly to the bank. Perhaps the bank was the best place to make an escape. He would have to play it by ear. He slowed down for Kim to catch up with him. Slater was too canny to allow them to speak to each other discreetly and whilst they were allowed to talk, there was nothing that they could say to each other out of their captor’s earshot. So therefore, Ned confined himself to asking Kim if she was okay. Her eyes said it all, like “what do you think? I’ve had a knife shoved at my throat, threatened with being pushed over a precipice and now kidnapped. She simply said that she was all right, but clearly, she was in some distress.

  Before they had travelled much further Ned noticed a man approaching them who stopped a short distance from them. It was just then that they all seemed to recognise each other, to Kim and Ned; it was the man who threatened them in the apartment and whose money they had obtained. Paul’s dulcet tones, The fool on the hill, came immediately to mind. Haslam had been watching the situation unfold. Now that White and Chen were in the hands of Davies’s thugs, he assumed that they had the money and naively thought that his troubles were over. His only problem was that he wanted the money for himself and to begin a new life with some young bimbo who would ignore his looks and age for a comfortable life in the sun. After all, this old guy here, seemed to have done all right with this gorgeous bird. Slater told Kim and Ned to sit down whilst he pushed Haslam a little down the hill nearer to the drop over the side. Ned watched intently. It was quite clear that his presence was unwelcome. Slater pushed Haslam onto the ground and took out his own mobile from his pocket. It was answered very quickly.

  “Boss, we have a bit of a situation here. I’ve found the old guy and the Chinese bird on this mountain and I have them here with me. Haslam’s also just turned up.”

  “Where’s the money.”

  “The old bloke says it’s in a safety deposit box in Kendal and that he’s the only one who can get it”

  “The copper is somewhere on that mountain too. Jimmy’s following him but keep an eye out. Let me speak to Haslam”

  Slater handed Haslam the phone. He guessed it would be Davies. He was right.

  “Where’s my money, Haslam” he threatened

  “The Chinese bird and her boyfriend’s got it”

  “No, they haven’t. It is a safety deposit box.”

  “I have it on good authority that White has it in his possession as we speak. His backpack is big enough” said Haslam.

  “Did that copper tell you that and are you working with him?”

  So he knew about Kingsly, thought Haslam. If he said no, he might ingratiate himself with Davies, but then again, Davies would probably have noticed that he was talking to him earlier. If he said yes, it might worry Davies a little. He chose the ground that he thought was the safest and admitted that Kingsly was using him but he had a plan that would see him end up with the money.

  “Not if it’s in a bank.” said Davies

  This information confirmed to Davies that Kingsly was definitely working alone and he, too, was after the money and was using Haslam to get it for him. He obviously knew that Haslam had stolen it in the first place and was blackmailing Haslam as well. This man was a loser but more money could be extracted from him if necessary. Davies said he wanted to speak to Slater again.

  “Have you checked the guy’s backpack? “ He asked Slater. He had to admit that he hadn’t

  “Then fucking check it now! The money could well be inside” He rang off. Slater went over to Ned and roughly removed the pack from his back and opened it. Whilst doing so he walked towards Haslam who was still sitting on a small rock.

  “If the money’s in here” Slater said “you find it!” He threw Ned’s backpack so hard at Haslam that Haslam flung out his arms like a panicking goalkeeper to parry it away. But he soon retrieved it and opened the bag. Ned moved nearer to Kim and held her hand tightly. Haslam threw out everything, until he saw the black package lying at the bottom of the bag. He made no attempt to pull the package from the rucksack but instead sneaked his right hand into his jacket to feel the comforting presence of the gun. He thought quickly and then said to Slater,

  “There’s no money in here.” Instead of throwing the bag back at Slater, Haslam put it down beside him. Slater became suspicious and made a lunge at the bag. Instinctively, Haslam tried to grab both the bag and the gun at the same time, but Slater was too strong for him and wrestled it from him, pushing Haslam nearer to the drop.

  Slater found the black package.

  CHAPTER 28

  The contents were tightly wrapped in a bin liner and sellotaped heavily. It therefore took Slater a little time to make any inroads into undoing it and had to use his knife in doing so. This was a very tense moment for both Haslam and Ned, as only Ned knew what was in the package. Haslam put his hand on the gun, still inside his jacket, mainly for assurance. He would use it on all three of them if he had to without any qualms.

  As the package was being opened, Haslam saw what was left of his future drain away. He knew that Davies would never be satisfied and would keep making menacing demands on him until he was financially drained. And then what? He made a lunge at Slater aiming the gun at him and fired a shot into his calf. Slater was not expecting the assault and caught him off his guard. He fell heavily onto the rocky slope, further injuring his right leg. This did not stop him from retaliating against Haslam as he raised himself up on his uninjured leg and knocked him to the ground but with insufficient force to stop Haslam getting up straight away. This time he smashed his fist into Slater’s nose causing it to bleed profusely. He grabbed the package from him and continued to open it. Slater, who was not one of Davies’s right-hand and hard men for nothing, drew on his strength and tenacity by raising himself up again and swinging his sore leg straight at Haslam’s groin. He missed the intended area and instead knocked the package from his hands sending it flying down part of the ridge. Haslam chased after it and Slater scrambled along the ground, but was unable to reach it before Haslam, whose only concern appeared to be the contents of the package. Instead of dealing with Slater, he tried to open it further but another unforeseen kick from Slater as he reached Haslam again took it out of his hands.

  The package was almost open as they both grappled for it. Haslam was again the first to p
ick it up but Slater, even with his injury, was too quick for him. Somehow, even with four hands around it, the package was released and flew up into the air, as if by its own volition and looked to be heading for the escarpment. As it started to fall, the contents escaped from the package with lots and lots of what appeared to be white paper fluttering down towards the bottom of the rock face, with many of the pieces of paper being caught in the prevailing wind and disappearing into eternity.

  Both Slater and Haslam looked on in absolute horror. In his younger days, Slater was notorious for the short fuse on his temper and that fuse was now extinguished. He attacked Haslam with venom that was unabated.

  “You stupid bastard” he shouted at him, “You stupid fucking bastard” Haslam soon realised that he had nothing to lose, hurled Slater back on the ground and stamped on his injured right leg, causing him to squeal in pain. But, with one last draw on his energy, he took hold of Haslam, and despite the excruciating pain, hit him very hard pushing him at the same time. Haslam lurched backwards and lost his foothold. It seemed to take an age for him to fall over the edge and join the remains of the package some two hundred feet at the foot of the escarpment. All three surviving people looked on in shock at what they had just witnessed. Kim pressed herself to Ned and began to shake uncontrollably.

  It was as though they were all frozen in time, just looking at each other. Slater had tried to move but the added injury to his leg prevented him from raising himself off the ground. Surprisingly, it was Ned who took control of the situation even though he had experienced nothing like this before. He walked to the edge of the ridge, staying well clear of Slater and looked down. There was the lifeless body of the man, surrounded by pieces of paper, a man, who had tried to harm his precious Kim and himself. He could feel no sympathy. He returned to a prostrate Slater, who eyes were asking for help, even though he kept silent. Since meeting Kim he had learned, particularly from her that expressions from the eyes could say a lot and would never lie.

  “Yes, I’ll help you mate” he said to Slater, “even though you’ve thrown away a fortune. But before I do, I want to make sure we can get out of here with our lives intact”

  He roughly pushed Slater onto his back and extricated his knife and mobile phone.

  “Once we are safely at the bottom, I’ll tell the ambulance and police where you are, together with your mate’s body. They should be very interested.”

  Ned felt as though a burden had been lifted from him. No matter what this thug would say to the police, he and Kim would alibi each other for what had just happened.

  Unbeknown to them, there was another witness.

  CHAPTER 29

  No one had spotted Terry Kingsly making his way up the hill. During his walk up there he was surprised to see Neil Haslam emerging from behind a gorse bush. He had obviously decided to hide from Slater and once the latter had passed, had followed him, undoubtedly spurred on by sheer greed. He held back to allow generous distance between himself and Haslam. Thus, he was able to step behind a protruding rock and watch the encounter between Haslam and the other three. He had not been able to see any part of the encounter between Slater, White and Chen. He was now in no doubt that there was some kind of collusion between Haslam and Davies. As he watched the incident unfold, he wondered why there was antagonism between Slater and Haslam when they were both supposed to be on the same side. Perhaps there was some double-crossing going on. Honour amongst thieves was “flying out of the window”. He was horrified to see lots of paper being flung into the air and disappearing either into the wind or to the valley floor below. It looked very much like all the money had now disappeared over the mountainside and, as it was now no longer possible to reap his unofficial pension, he would have to revert to “good cop” once again and hope that his explanations would save him. It was more likely if he could portray himself as the “saviour” and conclude this case satisfactorily.

  Ned and Kim had not walked very far down the hill, when they came across another man they recognised as the investigating police officer, coming the other way. By this time, it was beginning to worry Ned as to the amount of people who knew that, not only were they in the Lake District, but they were climbing this mountain in Coniston. Their tracks were not covered sufficiently. He turned to Kim and said

  “It’s amazing just how many Mancunians happen to be on this mountain today”

  “I don’t see any Manchurians” she replied

  “Mancunians, not Manchurians. People who come from Manchester”

  “Oh” For Manchuria was a part of China where Kim was born. This time however, the smile on the person coming towards them was welcoming although this did not put Ned particularly at ease.

  “I take it that you are looking for us? How did you find us?”

  “Thorough police work, mate. Now tell me what has happened, firstly further up that mountain and secondly how you came to be here in the first place particularly as you are fugitive of the law”

  Ned would tell him the whole story, we can work it out, he thought but left out the bit where the money had blown away, as he assumed that Kingsly had already seen that but firstly he explained that he had to call the police and ambulance. He told both organisations, coherently and exactly what had happened, giving his name and home address. He also told them where he was staying in Windermere. He explained to Kingsly the whole story as they walked down the hill. Both were so engrossed that they did not spot a person hiding behind some rocks. Jimmy Reed made a phone call back to his boss

  “Gaffer, the copper’s just walking down the mountain with the old guy and the Chinese bird. There’s no sign of Bri”

  “Do they look to have the money?”

  “Not unless it’s in a bag”

  “Then wait for Brian”

  Davies had been trying to contact Slater for some time now without any success. This whole thing was becoming a nightmare. He was considering cutting his losses, something that he could recoup later. He would move his car to the small car park further up the lane so he could see any developments better but not before a police car came hurtling up the dirt track in front of a Vauxhall Astra that had all the signs of another police car and an ambulance. He found a suitable place to park.

  *

  Kingsly had heard the whole story by the time they were approaching the car and he had formulated the way the case should go. Show that Haslam was the villain, in league with Vic Davies and that White and Chen were the innocent bystanders. He hoped that he might have his reputation restored once his report had been submitted. As they approached the car parking area, they saw an ambulance coming up the dirt track following two police cars and by the time, they had reached it, a number of both policemen and paramedics were approaching them. Kingsly went up to the uniformed police officer, who appeared to be in charge and showed him his identification. He then beckoned for Kim and Ned to speak to him. They recounted their stories explaining where one injured and one apparently dead men were. Kingsly told them that both were suspects in a serious robbery case that he was investigating. Four paramedics and two policemen began to ascend the hill, with the other two policemen waiting for the mountain rescue team that would be necessary to attend to the body.

  *

  Jimmy Reed decided not to wait for Slater but instead he ventured up the hill to find his colleague. He did not have to go very far before he spotted him lying near to the rock face, apparently in agony. Reed looked quizzically at him,

  “What the ‘ell’s ‘append to you?”

  “That bastard Haslam shot and attacked me and caught me off guard, but not for long”

  “Where is he?”

  Slater pointed to the edge of the ridge and downwards

  “Somewhere down there”

  Reed went to the edge and peered over the side

  “Fuck me!” he said as he saw the body lying at th
e bottom of the rock face surrounded by lots of pieces of paper.

  “Give me your phone” he said to his mate.

  “Where’s yours?” Slater was in severe pain and was in no mood to argue

  “Just give me your fucking phone!” he shouted. Reed handed over his phone and Slater pinged in the short dial. It answered almost immediately.

  “Boss? Brian.”

  “What the ‘ell’s going on? This place is now swarming with cops and ambulances. It’s no longer healthy here.”

  Slater was relieved at the news that ambulances had arrived. It meant that the old guy had kept to his word and had telephoned for help. The cops were bad news though. He would most likely get banged up for Haslam. He spoke into the phone.

  “Right, boss, I’ll start from the beginning. I checked the bag and found the money inside but Haslam managed to get his hands and he shot me in my fucking leg. We had a fight but unfortunately the package with the money in it, got opened and it all fell into the ravine, just like Haslam did a few moments later. Then the old guy took my phone and knife and off he went leaving me here” He did not expect any sympathy from Davies and got none.

  “Are you sure that the money is actually at the bottom of the cliff?”

  “I saw it go”

  “Did you not say that it was also in a bank?”

  “Yes, but that was before I actually saw where it was”

  “Did you think he was telling the truth when he told you it was in a bank?”

  “Actually, I did”

  “What made you think that?” Davies trusted Slater’s opinions. That was why he was one of his trusted right-hand men.

  “It could have had something to do with me sticking a knife in his girlfriend’s neck.” He smiled at the thought “You should have seen the panic in him”

  “Well then, I agree with you. The money is still in the bank or at least some of it is. Are you sure that Haslam is dead?”