Finders Keepers

by Kris Lillyman

  * * *

  An hour later, Jake was back at The Dorchester, the key fob that contained the data stick tucked safely in his pocket.

  He had tried Lizzie repeatedly on her cell phone but she had not picked up and he was extremely worried about her, not knowing if she was alive or dead. The men they were up against had shown themselves to be ruthless in their pursuit of the diamonds as the murder of Jake’s family and Aaron Sumpter had proved. Jake just prayed that Lizzie was not going to be another of their victims.

  He paced the floor anxiously, trying to think of what he should do next, knowing that there was only one real option left open to him. He had to phone the police, they would surely be able to find Lizzie where he couldn’t. It was the only way to save her life - if he wasn’t too late already. Jake snatched up his phone but before dialling the police decided to give Lizzie one last try.

  This time the phone was answered on the third ring but it was not Lizzie’s voice on the line.

  “Hello Mister Sawyer,” the voice said. “My name is Arthur Khan and I believe you have some rather pretty things that belong to me.”

  “Where’s Lizzie?” Jake growled.

  Khan ignored him. “I have a rather pretty thing which I believe belongs to you. So I propose an exchange.”

  “You better not have hurt her you–” Jake began but was cut off abruptly.

  “You’re obviously feeling far too emotional at present,” Khan said. “So I will call you later, when you’ve had time to consider my proposal. Until then, goodbye Mister Sawyer.”

  And with that the phone went dead.

  * * *

  “Well?” Said Peter Bearing, who had picked up Arthur Khan on the corner of Baker Street a few minutes after Król had dropped him off. Peter and Arthur were now sitting in the back of Bearing’s sumptuous Bentley en-route to his apartment, the chauffeur separated from their conversation by a privacy screen.

  “I’ll give him an hour or so to cool down,” Khan said. “To let the futility of his situation sink in. If he wants the girl back he’ll cooperate I guarantee it. He’s got nothing left except for the diamonds to bargain with - no tapes, no files, nothing. His whole plan has collapsed now we’ve destroyed all the evidence that Sumpter had. The diamonds are the only things he has left. And soon enough we’ll have those, too.”

  “You seem very confident, Arthur.” Said Bearing.

  “I am Peter. Besides, Król says Sawyer’s in love and love can be very persuasive.”

  “It can indeed.” Bearing agreed, thinking of the arrangement he had made with Anya - eight highly valuable diamonds for a few rolls of video tape of him and her having violently, rough sex - hardly a smart business decision but Peter was infatuated with her, maybe even in love with her, which was surprising for a man with very few emotions, and love, as Król had said, could be very persuasive.

  “And now you have a friend at Scotland Yard to keep you informed,” Khan continued, “I really don’t see how things can fail. You mark my words, Peter, by this time tomorrow we’ll have the diamonds and Jake Sawyer and Elizabeth Wallace will be dead.”

  “I believe you, Arthur. I do.” Said Bearing. “But I think it might be wise for me to give young Detective Sergeant Eckhart a call, to remind him of our arrangement. If Sawyer does decide to go to the police then we need to be aware of it and act accordingly.”

  Khan leaned forward in the Bentley’s luxurious interior and helped himself to a drink from the walnut cabinet in front of him. “I couldn’t agree more, Peter.” He said.

  * * *

  Jake sat on his bed at The Dorchester feeling as if he had been punched in the gut. Memories of that hideous moment at the Waldorf Astoria flooding into his brain when he learned the horrific fate of his family. Now the same thing was threatening to happen again.

  He hung his head in his hands, trying to force his brain to move on from the past and into the present, to think of something to help Lizzie. Then it suddenly became clear. But first he had to know exactly what it was that he had to bargain with.

  Jake grabbed the bag containing his laptop and sparked up his MacBook. He then took Aaron’s keys from his pocket and separated the two halves of the big yellow foot to reveal the data stick. He plugged it into the USB slot on his laptop and hoped.

  A couple of seconds later, the stick’s icon mounted on the desktop and Jake, with his heart suddenly beating faster, double clicked. A window opened to reveal several folders that were all individually labelled; Recordings, Documentation, Photographs, Reports, Logs and so on.

  The data stick held four gigabytes of information, ample storage space for all the evidence it contained. There were sound files, scans of transactions and business dealings, shipping notices and timetables, photographs of meetings between Peter Bearing and the Khan brothers, geology reports, estimates from diamond specialists on the value of certain stones and a detailed log of every diamond that the case contained; the cut, the clarity, the colour and the weight. And written in the margin, next to each one, was an expected value. Jake scanned the columns and could not see one valued at less than thirty-thousand pounds. Most were estimated at considerably more. It seemed he had sold his at a bargain price.

  Jake clicked on one of the sound files, obviously recorded in Bearing’s office, where he and Khan were discussing the importation of the diamonds. He clicked on another where they were discussing Jake, himself, and what to do about him. In another Khan made mention of Angie and the kids and how he could make them reveal what they knew. When it had finished Jake felt sick, but he knew what he had was incredibly important.

  It was all there. Everything, Every little incriminating fact, hard irrefutable proof that, along with the diamonds, would guarantee Bearing and Khan’s long-term incarceration. It was clear to see why they wanted to destroy it. And they thought they had.

  However, Jake had to save Lizzie and if that meant trading the diamonds for her then he would. But Jake knew that without the actual stones, the information on the data stick would be almost worthless. It would certainly be enough to raise questions but to secure a conviction leading to actual prison time, Jake doubted it.

  Also, after what had happened at Sumpter’s house, could he still trust Roper Coyle?

  * * *

  An hour later, Jake’s phone rang and he snatched it up. “Hello?”

  “Hello, Mister Sawyer,” said Khan. “I trust you have thought about my proposal?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Then you are agreeable to an exchange?”

  “Yes. The diamonds for Lizzie - let me speak to her. I want to make sure she’s okay.”

  “Alas,” Khan said. “I’m afraid that is not possible but I can assure you she is unharmed. You have my word.”

  “I doubt your word is worth very much at all.”

  Khan chuckled, “You’ll just have to trust me then, Mister Sawyer. My only interest is in the diamonds, once I have those then you and Miss Wallace - my apologies, Miss Barnes, are of little use to me.”

  “I bet,” Jake said under his breath. “When and where do we make this exchange?”

  “You know the Olympic Village at Stratford East?”

  “No, but I’ll find it.”

  “Good. Well there’s a new complex being constructed there - called the Bearing Building - there’s a sign outside with a logo on, you can’t miss it. The gates will be open. Be there at midnight, at the northern point of the main structure.

  “North point. Midnight. Fine.” Jake agreed.

  “Oh, and Mister Sawyer - no police, there’s a good fellow, otherwise I’m afraid your Miss Barnes will not look quite as fetching as she does now. Understand?”

  “Yeah. I get it. But Khan, a word of warning. You touch one hair on her head and I’ll kill you. Do you understand?”

  Khan chuckled again. “Of course, Mister Sawyer
. Of course. Until midnight then?”

  “Yeah. Until midnight,” Jake said but the line was already dead.

  * * *

  Detective Sergeant Dave Eckhart was sitting at his desk staring at a blank computer screen, his thoughts a million miles away, when his mobile phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out to see the caller display saying ‘Peter Bearing’.

  He looked around him furtively but there was no one within immediate ear shot. He pressed answer and said, “Hello - look, I told you not to call me. I’m at work, someone could hear.”

  “Then you had better listen fast,” said Bearing. “I’m conducting some business at midnight tonight at the Bearing Building near the Olympic Village in Stratford East, you know it?

  “The Twirl,” said Eckhart, “Yeah, I know it. But —”

  “Good.” Interrupted Bearing. “I do not want to be disturbed. If any one phones, or if you hear of anything even remotely connected to that area, then you let me know, understand?”

  “Yeah, I understand, but–”

  “No buts, detective, just do it. As you are already aware, I can make your life very much sweeter or I can make it considerably more sour. So if you want to keep your pretty young wife happy and a roof over the head of that lovely baby daughter of yours, you will do as I say. Yes?”

  “Yes.” Replied Eckhart, begrudgingly.

  “Good,” said Bearing, “Do not disappoint me, detective.” Then he hung up.

  Eckhart turned in his chair and was startled to see Coyle standing behind him. “Problems?” Coyle asked.

  “Er, no Guv,” Dave replied, “No problem. No problem at all.”

  Chapter 44

  Król had his story ready when Arthur and Peter arrived at the Mews house at a little after 11pm that night.

  Bearing’s first question was “Where’s Anya?” But Król bluffed it out expertly, claiming that he had not seen her all day and had assumed she had not been required after all.

  Immediately Peter pulled out his Blackberry and dialled her number but it went straight to voice mail. He then called his assistant, unconcerned about the lateness of the hour and asked if she had seen her. The answer, as Król already knew, was clearly ‘no” as Bearing was obviously not happy after ending the call abruptly. He phoned Anya’s mobile again and was once more directed to voice mail.

  Król was actually quite enjoying himself as he watched, knowing that the phone his employer was calling had been switched off, its SIM card smashed, and bagged up with Anya’s corpse in the back of the Range Rover.

  “Maybe she just forgot,” Khan offered. He, himself, had little faith in women, or little use for them, aside from fulfilling his sexual needs. “I’m sure she’s just back at your apartment taking a long, hot bath after a hard days” shopping.”

  “Hmm,” Bearing mused, far from convinced. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

  “Anyway, Peter, we’ve got rather more pressing matters to think about tonight, wouldn’t you say? You can reprimand Anya tomorrow, when we have our diamonds.”

  “I’ll thank you not to remind me of what I can and cannot do, Arthur, if you don’t mind. But yes, you are correct, tonight we must retrieve the diamonds and rid ourselves of Sawyer and young Miss Barnes. And, just for the record, I will certainly be reprimanding Anya tomorrow.” Bearing could think of many ways in which to do that, all of them rather deliciously nasty and the thought was already exciting him.

  Król looked on contemptuously. What a smug, pompous fool Bearing was. It certainly wouldn’t be Peter getting his hands dirty with the killing of Sawyer and Barnes. It would be left up to Khan and him to do that. Bearing would merely just give the order as people in his self-satisfied and oh, so superior position so often liked to do. But they knew nothing of killing, of how it felt or of how empowering it was. If Bearing knew the truth about Anya, he might also finally understand who it was who had the true superiority and power.

  After this assignment was over, Król might just take the time to tell him. Now he had reflected upon it, he didn’t regret killing the girl at all. She was a spoilt, vain whore and Bearing was a stuffy, arrogant, buffoon. They deserved each other.

  For the first time Król allowed himself to think about the diamonds and how they could change his life. Up until now, his life had been all about order, discipline and loyalty. His word was his bond and his loyalty to a client guaranteed. But men like Peter Bearing were beneath him and in the last few days of this assignment, having been on the receiving end of Bearing’s wrath for what had happened in Nassau and then ridiculed by Anya, the whore, who had clearly been privy to what had transpired, he was starting to believe it was time to make contingency plans. And a case full of diamonds, or half a case if shared with Arthur Khan - a man who Król did respect, would set him up very nicely indeed.

  Firstly though, he had to deal with Sawyer and Barnes. Then, just maybe, he would deal with Peter Bearing too.

  * * *

  “Król! Did you hear me, man?” Bearing was asking, having just given the man an order and being completely ignored.

  The sharp tone snapped Król back to the present. “Sorry, no. What did you say?” He said.

  “My God,” Peter said with disgust, “No wonder they slipped through your fingers in Nassau.”

  “Peter, please!” Khan interjected. “Let me deal with this.”

  Bearing did not look at all happy but conceded to his friend. “Fine,” he said, clearly exasperated.

  Khan looked imploringly at Król. “Fabian, if you wouldn’t mind, would you please go and fetch Miss Barnes?”

  “Of course,” Król said, leaving the other two men alone, but remembering, and mentally logging, the way Bearing had spoken to him, making his decision that much easier.

  * * *

  The room was completely dark now and it seemed to Lizzie as if she had been there for hours. All the feeling had gone out of her legs as she had been unable to move them properly since Król had re-tied her earlier on. Now though, she could hear the sound of heavy footsteps coming up the stairs and suspected something was about to happen.

  The door burst open and Król snapped on the light temporarily blinding Lizzie, her eyes unaccustomed to the brightness. By the time they had adjusted Król was by her side.

  “Hello, girlie,” he said, a wide grin on his face. “You remember what I said about keeping mouth shut, eh?”

  Lizzie nodded.

  “Good.” Said Król, hauling her up and throwing her easily over his shoulder. “Now let’s go meet your boyfriend and get my diamonds.”

  * * *

  Król carried Lizzie downstairs and out to the car. Then he opened the boot and threw her in next to the bagged up body. Again he smiled and put a finger to his lips. “Remember,” he whispered. “Ssh, not one word.”

  He slammed the boot lid down plunging Lizzie back into darkness. But this time she was not alone as now she had Anya’s cold, dead, corpse for company.

  Chapter 45

  Jake arrived at the construction site of the Bearing Building a little before midnight. The site itself was enormous, with large sections already completed such as the huge shopping mall that cleverly echoed the design of the main building and the multi-levelled underground car park, which Jake could just make out the entrance to in the moonlight. However, the focal point was the magnificent glass spiral tower that rose up, nearly a thousand feet above it.

  ‘The Twirl,’ as Jake had learned it was nicknamed since speaking with Arthur Khan, was a breathtaking piece of modern architecture consisting of high-end office space and exclusive living accommodation.

  Presently though, it was largely covered in acres of white plastic sheeting which disguised an intricately designed spiral skeleton of metal, concrete, wood and breeze block. Some of the glass had already been fitted on the lower floors alluding to the beauty of the finished building but
, for now, the rest of it was still very much a work in progress.

  As such, the vast area of ground immediately surrounding the building itself was a mass of mud and gravel which covered an area equivalent to that of at least ten full-sized football fields. The whole complex was surrounded by temporary, ten foot high, metal fencing that ran around the entire perimeter and the only way in or out was through a wide set of high iron gates. At midnight, these would normally be padlocked shut to keep out intruders but tonight, as Khan had promised, they were open.

  The site was dark and desolate with only intermittent security lighting which offered precious little visibility over the uneven muddy ground.

  Jake slipped inside and walked swiftly towards the main structure of the tower some distance away. He kept purposely to the shadows to give himself as much cover as possible, even though they were ominously black and eerie. He felt alone, conspicuous and vulnerable, the suitcase full of diamonds stuffed into the rucksack on his back.

  Should Khan decide to take a shot at him now from some unseen vantage point then there was not a damn thing he could do about it, but the risk was worth it for Lizzie.

  At last Jake reached the base of the main structure at the northern most point. He was exposed, a sitting target, but he waited.

  He looked at his watch and was concerned to see that it was already ten passed the hour. Where were they?

  As Jake was contemplating the precariousness of his situation and praying that Lizzie was still alive, he at last saw headlights approaching the site. A moment later the shiny black Range Rover drove through the gates and was heading over the rough terrain towards him. The grounds around the building would eventually be wonderfully landscaped with walkways, outdoor seating areas, reflection pools and fountains but for the moment they were crisscrossed with a rudimentary network of roads for the construction vehicles that sliced through vast tracts of churned earth and mud.

  As the Range Rover found its way onto the large, trodden down circle of uneven ground that immediately surrounded the building’s northern point, Jake took a deep breath to calm his racing heartbeat.