Three Lives Down (A Dan Taylor thriller)

by Rachel Amphlett

  ‘Seems a bit extreme.’

  ‘We’re being hunted, Dan.’ Mitch took a step forward. ‘And, until now, we haven’t been sure who’s after us. We didn’t have a choice.’

  Dan raised his gaze to the television, his photograph now plastered across the screen with a flickering red banner at the foot of the image.

  He ran a hand over his face and then looked at the David and Mitch. ‘And now I’m a wanted man, too.’

  CHAPTER 47

  Forty-five minutes later, Dan rose as Sarah walked through the door, closely followed by Mel.

  Her worried expression softened as she saw him, and he gave her a quick hug.

  ‘Everything okay?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I wondered what on earth was going on.’

  Mitch walked towards them. ‘I need to apologise for scaring you the other day,’ he said to Sarah.

  ‘What?’

  ‘It was Mitch that followed you from your apartment,’ said David. ‘You were getting too close to the truth before we were ready to confront Porchester.’

  Sarah spun on her heel to face Mitch, her face thunderous. ‘You scared the hell out of me.’

  Mitch held up his hands. ‘It had to be realistic.’

  ‘It’s true,’ said David. ‘I’m sorry, but it was the only way we could make sure you backed off without exposing our plans. We still weren’t sure where Dan’s investigation was leading.’

  He turned to Dan. ‘Mel was keeping us up to speed,’ he explained. ‘If you and Sarah had gotten too close to Porchester and scared him off before we had enough evidence, we’d have already lost.’

  ‘What evidence have you got?’

  ‘The USB stick Mel gave you that you passed onto Porchester means we’ve got everything on his personal computer,’ said David.

  ‘Did it work?’

  ‘Oh yeah,’ Mel grinned. She pointed to a stack of paperwork clipped together in the middle of the table. ‘It worked really well.’

  ‘But we agreed you couldn’t use the email alone to prove Porchester’s involvement,’ said Dan, confused. ‘So what use is that?’

  ‘It’s never been simply about exposing Porchester,’ said David, handing him the print-outs. ‘There are names in these emails – people who are supporting him and, more importantly, people who are sponsoring him to overthrow the PM.’

  ‘We were about to bring all this to the Prime Minister’s attention when you decided to jump the gun and confront Porchester yourself,’ said Mel. ‘You nearly blew our whole covert operation out the water.’

  ‘You should’ve seen Mel’s face when she turned up here and said you’d gone to see him,’ Mitch snorted. ‘I think she would have killed you herself, given the chance.’

  Mel glared at him. ‘You said you wouldn’t tell him.’

  ‘It’s like the tip of an iceberg,’ said Dan, ignoring both of them as he fanned through the pages. ‘You think you can see it all, but when you look under the surface, it’s huge.’

  ‘It certainly is,’ agreed David. ‘Plus, with Mel’s hacking skills, we’ve managed to obtain copies of Porchester’s bank accounts – the ones he doesn’t report.’

  ‘Swiss?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Can you trace who’s paying him?’

  ‘Working on it,’ said Mel.

  ‘We’ve got to convince the PM his life continues to be in danger,’ said David. ‘After that, we have to move fast to prove who Porchester’s paymasters are.’

  ‘That could take months.’

  ‘We don’t have months. We have hours.’

  CHAPTER 48

  ‘I’m not too concerned with the first few names at the moment,’ said David, tapping his finger on the page. ‘I am interested in this guy.’

  ‘Vasili Malikov,’ said Dan and then frowned. ‘Where have I heard that name before?’

  ‘Russian mafia,’ said Mitch. ‘Old school. Grew up during the Yeltsin era. Took over from his father in his twenties and turned out to be even worse than the old bastard.’

  ‘Yeah, I remember now,’ said Dan. ‘What the hell is he doing in the UK?’

  ‘Diplomatic immunity,’ said David, ignoring a snort from Mitch. ‘Apparently, Malikov decided to go legitimate ten years ago, severed all ties with his old way of life, and re-established himself as a businessman specialising in capital investments.’

  ‘Bollocks.’

  ‘Indeed.’

  ‘Thoughts?’

  ‘Probably the man who owned the prison you were being held in.’

  Dan reached forward and snatched the photograph from the file, his knuckles turning white as he held it in his grip.

  ‘Then I owe him one.’

  David tweaked the photograph from Dan’s fingers. ‘All in good time,’ he said and dropped it back in the folder. ‘Right now, we need to find out what he and Porchester are up to. And fast. I’ve got a video conference with the PM in less than an hour.’

  ‘Where do you want us to start?’

  David jerked his chin at the television screen. ‘I’ve got a contact in the Metropolitan Police who’s keeping me up to date when he can. Let’s try to get him on speakerphone, see if he can shed some more light on this news about the isotope being recovered.’

  He turned to Sarah. ‘Help Mel if you can. With your investigative skills, an extra pair of eyes on this would be appreciated.’

  ‘Okay.’

  David pointed at Dan. ‘And you’ll have to stay quiet. As far as the police are concerned, I’m AWOL. I don’t want them to know I’m also harbouring a wanted man.’

  Dan slumped in a chair out of the way while David dialled a number and asked to be put through to his contact.

  ‘There was one male suspect in the building,’ said the detective. ‘Already dead, so no use trying to question him.’

  David appeared to ignore the dark humour and instead rubbed at his earlobe. ‘Radiation poisoning, too?’

  ‘Actually, no,’ said the man on the end of the phone, his surprise still evident. ‘We’ve got to wait for the official forensic report, but first impressions are that he was smothered to death.’

  Dan grabbed a pen and notepad and scrawled across the page before spinning it round to face David and jabbed his finger at the writing.

  David nodded. ‘Do we know yet if the fingerprints match those of the suspect that died at the hospital earlier today?’

  ‘Not for sure, but it could be,’ agreed the policeman. ‘He could’ve put his accomplice out of his own misery before turning himself in.’

  ‘Or took matters into his own hands if his accomplice refused to get help,’ said Mitch.

  Dan pulled the notebook back and wrote two words on it and then shoved it across the desk to David.

  Kill switch?

  ‘What if Ben Hicks was acting on orders from someone else?’ asked David.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘They must have been reporting to someone,’ said Mitch. ‘If that person found out both Ben and this second guy were at death’s door with radiation poisoning, maybe the person they were reporting to instructed Ben to kill his accomplice while he was too weak to do anything about it.’

  ‘Or before they were found,’ David added.

  Dan heard the policeman swear under his breath.

  ‘We’ll need to find out if Ben said anything to Dan Taylor when he interviewed him at the hospital,’ he finally said. ‘From the transcript I read, it appears Ben refused to give up his accomplice, but it’s certainly worthy of further investigation.’

  Dan gave David a thumbs up and then wrote once more on the page.

  Porchester?

  David nodded, but kept his thoughts to himself.

  ‘Well, if you’ve got anything else for me, use my private number,’ said David and ended the call after the policeman assured him he would.

  ‘What do you think?’ he asked.

  ‘Ben was either reporting to Porchester or Malikov,’ said Mel, tu
rning from her computer. She leaned forward, balancing her elbows on her knees. ‘Except I don’t think Porchester was running the two thieves.’

  Dan frowned. ‘What makes you say that?’

  Mel shrugged. ‘It doesn’t seem his style,’ she said and glanced down at her hands.

  ‘Explain,’ said David. ‘And don’t be shy about it.’

  Mel took a deep breath. ‘Okay. Well, Porchester seems to only deal with people on the same level as him – psychologically, you know? I can’t see him lowering his own perceived standards to deal with a low-life like Hicks.’ She looked at each of them in turn. ‘Yes, he’d be able to provide information about the government project, but organising the theft of an isotope?’ She shook her head. ‘No way.’

  ‘So, the Russians, then?’ asked Dan.

  David pointed at the paper trail that Mel had started to accumulate. ‘Apart from that one email you found from Porchester to Malikov, have you found anything else?’

  Mel turned and jabbed her forefinger on the keyboard to wake up the computer. ‘I’ve been trying to get into his bank accounts,’ she said. ‘I found one that has me worried. I can’t see it listed on his assets register.’

  ‘Why has it got you worried?’ Dan prompted. ‘What can you see?’

  ‘This,’ she said and beckoned them closer. She ran her finger down the screen.

  Mitch whistled under his breath. ‘That’s a lot of money.’

  ‘Where’s it coming from?’ asked Sarah.

  Mel moved her hand up the screen to the more recent account activity. ‘Look at this. Until three weeks ago, there were regular payments going into the account. Same amount, every week. Then,’ she said, tracing her finger down the screen as she spoke, ‘those same amounts were transferred again, twenty-four hours after being received.’

  ‘Porchester moving the money,’ said Dan.

  ‘Right,’ Mel nodded. ‘What I’m trying to trace is where that money was coming from – and why.’

  ‘A payoff?’ suggested Mitch.

  ‘Then why did it stop?’ said Sarah.

  Dan leaned forward. ‘I got rescued.’ He turned to David and Mitch. ‘And you two went into hiding.’

  ‘It’s still only circumstantial,’ said David. ‘Unless you, Mel, can verify the money was coming from Malikov.’

  ‘And where Porchester was transferring it to,’ said Dan, calculating the amounts in his head. He straightened and stared at David. ‘There’s more than half a million quid over the past four months.’

  ‘Pounds,’ said Mel, unable to keep the smirk off her face.

  Dan glared at her and then continued. ‘I’m presuming we’ll find it’s all been transferred to Switzerland or another tax haven that has a reputation for asking no questions.’

  ‘Porchester getting ready to take his family and run for the hills if his plan doesn’t work?’ suggested Mitch.

  ‘We need to tell the PM,’ said David. ‘If Porchester’s been receiving bribes from Malikov for compromising your mission and is trying to influence the PM’s European policy to favour the Russians, he needs to know about it.’

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile phone.

  ‘Hang on,’ said Dan. ‘I thought you were in hiding, too? How are you going to reach the PM without compromising your position?’

  David glanced sideways. ‘The PM has had his suspicions that there’s been something going on behind the scenes still, despite surviving the ‘no confidence’ vote,’ he finally said. ‘He didn’t know who to trust, so I agreed with him that Mitch and I would go into hiding instead of following orders passed down by Porchester,’ he said. ‘We’ve been trying to get this breakthrough ever since.’

  Dan crossed his arms over his chest. ‘And how do you know you can trust the PM?’

  ‘He was the one that authorised your rescue,’ said David.

  CHAPTER 49

  ‘Get the PM on the line now,’ said David, pointing at Mel’s computer. ‘We’ll meet you in the conference room.

  ‘I thought you didn’t want me present?’ said Dan.

  ‘This changes everything,’ said David. ‘Strength in numbers. We need to convince the PM that Porchester is trying to overthrow his efforts in Europe.’

  He led the way to the cramped room that had been set up with basic conferencing equipment, and the three men sat down at chairs facing a camera and screen.

  As Mel powered up the system and fought her way through the PM’s bureaucratic outer circle, Dan leaned forward.

  ‘I didn’t stumble on the story about the isotope theft,’ he said. ‘Someone sent the information about the theft to Sarah – the same day I discharged myself from hospital.’

  David tugged his ear lobe. ‘Malikov.’

  ‘Why him and not Porchester?’

  ‘Because Malikov probably can’t be tied to the isotope theft – he can be linked to the prison where you were being held. Only Porchester could be associated with the project.’

  ‘Hell of a risk, though.’

  ‘Not if Malikov wanted to keep Porchester under control,’ said Mitch. ‘Sounds to me like the knowledge of the theft sent you both on a wild goose chase.’

  ‘And distracted you from investigating who knew about your mission and held you captive,’ said Sarah.

  ‘But why hold me captive? Why keep me alive?’

  ‘I’m sure there are a few people who’d like to get their hands on you – for a price,’ said David.

  Dan shivered.

  ‘Coming online now,’ Mel called.

  The screen in front of them lit up, and the team turned their attention to it as one.

  ‘Prime Minister,’ said David. ‘Thank you for talking to us at short notice.’

  The PM’s camera shook a little, the image quality poor, and Dan realised the man was holding a tablet computer.

  ‘Best make it quick, Ludlow,’ said the PM. ‘I’m about to get on a helicopter to City Airport. ‘I’ve got a press conference to attend.’

  David’s gaze shifted to the door as Mel appeared. ‘Where’s Evans?’ he asked. ‘Can you get him to dial in?’

  She held up her mobile phone and shook her head. ‘No answer.’

  David turned his attention back to the PM. ‘We’ve reason to suspect the theft of the isotope was carried out to embarrass you and force your resignation.’

  The PM frowned. ‘Go on.’

  ‘The radioactive leak ruined that plan,’ said Dan. ‘They couldn’t control it, so in an attempt to use it to their advantage, they broke the story to the press, implicating me in the process.’

  ‘Who’s ‘they’?’

  ‘Vasili Malikov and Hugh Porchester,’ said David.

  ‘Porchester?’ The PM fell silent for a moment, a frown creasing his brow. ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘We’ve got evidence to show he was receiving large sums of money on a regular basis,’ explained David. ‘We’ve got emails tying him to Vasili Malikov.’

  ‘Good grief.’

  ‘Prime Minister, until we can substantiate the evidence in greater detail, we have to assume that your life is in danger,’ said David. ‘These are desperate men, motivated by power and corruption. I’d respectfully recommend that you hold your press conference there, rather than return to London.’

  ‘The problem is,’ said the PM, ‘After the events of the past week, it would be political suicide if I didn’t return.’ His eyes shifted to the right, and he nodded to someone off camera. ‘As it is, my press secretary and I have decided that we’ll hold the press conference in Covent Garden – we need to show the public that they’re safe to go about their daily lives, and there’s nothing to fear.’

  ‘I really don’t think that’s a good idea,’ said David.

  ‘Pass on all your information to MI5,’ said the PM. ‘They can assess what you have, and then we can convene a meeting to discuss how best to deal with what you think you have.’

  ‘With respect, sir,’ said David through
gritted teeth, ‘that doesn’t address the fact that now is not the time for you to be making a very public appearance.’

  ‘Hand over the information, Ludlow,’ said the Prime Minister. ‘That’s an order.’

  ‘Sir.’

  The PM checked his watch. ‘Hugh Porchester is due to meet my flight in less than an hour. If he is guilty of conspiring to overthrow my government, then I don’t want to alert him to the fact that we’re onto him, not until MI5 have corroborated your findings – is that understood?’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘Good. I’ll see you in London.’

  ‘What have you told the other security services?’ asked David. ‘Who do I liaise with?’

  The PM held up his hand. ‘I’ve asked them to keep it low-key,’ he said. He raised his eyes to someone off camera and then turned his attention back to David. ‘There’ll be a police presence, of course, and they’ll have people on top of the buildings as well, and my usual security detail will be with me. But if Malikov is planning something, we don’t want to scare him off.’

  ‘Is that it?’ Dan stepped closer to the screen, his tone incredulous. ‘We’ve just told you we believe your life is in danger, and you want to hold a press conference?’

  The PM’s eyes narrowed. ‘Harbouring a fugitive, Ludlow?’

  ‘He’s been set up,’ said David. ‘I’ll explain, but he’s right. You must reconsider.’

  ‘It has to be done,’ said the PM. ‘You look like you’re healing well, by the way, Taylor.’

  ‘Thank you, sir,’ said Dan. ‘But I still think this is a mistake.’

  ‘We can’t assure your safety if you go ahead with this,’ agreed David. ‘We have no idea to what extremes Porchester will go now. Or whether he’s even in control of the situation any more.’

  ‘I understand,’ said the PM, ‘but that’s my final word on the matter.’ He glanced up as someone approached his right side, and a woman bent down to whisper in his ear. He nodded and then dismissed her. ‘My helicopter is ready. I’ll be back in the country within the hour.’ He reached forward, his hand hovering over the screen. ‘Do your best.’