Finders Keepers

by Kris Lillyman

  It was dark inside the building but enough illumination was seeping in from the halogen work lights outside for Arthur to navigate a way through.

  He found an open sided works elevator with a mesh cage door, there was a wheel barrow inside and several sacks of cement. Arthur dragged Lizzie into it and pulled the door closed. A makeshift control box hung from a cable with a red button and a green button. Arthur punched the green one, marked start and the elevator rattled and shook into life as it rose steadily upwards. Up through the ceiling of the ground floor and upwards through the centre spine of the unfinished structure.

  Jake arrived just as the elevator was disappearing through the ceiling of the first floor. “Lizzie!” he shouted.

  “Jake - I’m here, help me!” She called back, but then Khan pressed the muzzle of the Magnum hard up under her chin, “Not another word.” He snarled.

  Jake was frantic, he didn’t know what to do. The building was enormous and if Khan rode the elevator all the way up then there was no way Jake could get to Lizzie in time. He watched helpless as the lift ascended up through the rudimentary shaft, dragging a thick rope in its wake that was obviously tied to it as a some sort of safety precaution. Jake then glanced down to the space below his feet. He was standing on the edge of the area immediately below the elevator and saw the long rope rapidly uncoiling like a big, thick snake. Without thinking about the consequences, Jake suddenly sprang onto the rope and lashed it around one of his wrists, then quickly linked it around one of his ankles, securing himself as safely as he could, although leaving an arm and a leg dangling freely as the elevator dragged him violently upwards behind it.

  The elevator continued to rise sharply. Ten floors, twenty, Lizzie could not be sure. She only knew that Jake was now a long way below her and her chances of being rescued diminishing with every passing level.

  In actuality, Jake was hanging no more than three floors below her, the rope already burning red grooves into his wrist and ankle, but he was clinging on for dear life, trying to stop himself from looking down at the ever increasing drop below him.

  Thirty, forty, sixty more floors up they went, the scale of the building utterly staggering. Then, on the sixty-fifth floor, the elevator eventually stopped with a loud metallic clang. Khan slid open the mesh door and pushed Lizzie out onto the top level of the building which was clearly nowhere near completion. The majority of the metal skeleton was in place but it was still exposed to the elements aside from some plastic sheeting which was flapping like the sails of a galleon on the high seas. There were no windows fitted as yet, just huge empty frames that allowed in the fresh night air.

  There were stacks of brick and timber littered all over the cement floor. The open sides had no hand rails just a wooden plank walkway beyond the edge of the building itself, laid down across the exterior scaffold which allowed workmen to move around carefully on the outer edge.

  Meanwhile, three floors below, Jake was hanging precariously on the rope, his grip starting to slip.

  * * *

  It was much cooler up here and the wind stronger but all that concerned Lizzie was Arthur Khan and how she was going to get out of this predicament.

  Now Khan was up here he did not seem to have any idea of what to do next. He forced Lizzie to the ground and told her not to move then, still keeping a close eye on her, he quickly explored the immediate area. But it did not take him long to realise what Lizzie already suspected; that they were trapped and she was his only way off this building. The only card he had left to play.

  Khan returned to where Lizzie was laying and placed a foot firmly on her chest to keep her from escaping. He then ejected the clip from his Magnum and checked how many rounds he had left. This revealed more bad news. Two cartridges, that was all he had. He had to make them count.

  * * *

  Jake’s arms were throbbing badly as he clung desperately to the rope but his hands were now sweaty and slippery and even though the rope was coiled around one of his wrists he was steadily sliding further down. The skin around the lashed wrist had blistered and burst and blood was dripping down his arm. His leg, which had previously been entwined around the rope, felt painful too although that had unlinked itself moments before the elevator halted and both legs now dangled freely. Jake knew that it was just a very short matter of time before he plummeted to the ground some sixty floors down.

  His only option was to try to swing onto the nearest level which was maybe ten or twelve feet below him.

  Cautiously, he began to swing, slowly building up the momentum, dreading the point when he would actually have to release because that would be it, the moment that would not only determine his life or death but also the one to either increase or permanently end Lizzie’s chances of being rescued.

  Gradually, as the momentum gained speed, Jake carefully uncoiled his hand from the rope. Swinging as close to the side wall of the shaft as the rope would allow and trying to accurately gauge the trajectory of his fall. Finally, with as much courage as he could muster, he took a deep breath and let go.

  For a second it seemed like he was going to make it but the awful truth was that he was just a few inches too short. Desperately he reached out as his body slammed hard into the concrete wall of the shaft immediately below the ledge of the opening. His breath was knocked out of him as his hands scrambled to find something, anything, to stop himself from plunging into the dark abyss below.

  Frantically his ever slipping fingers searched around as the shaft dragged him backwards. At last his right hand fastened on a thin, black cable but he clung to it madly as he dropped back into the shaft, falling unimpeded to his certain death hundreds of feet below. But then, miraculously, his fall was arrested as the cable became taught and firm allowing Jake to grab onto it with his left hand as well. Again he slammed into the concrete wall of the shaft, his elbows and knees taking the brunt of the impact, but this time he was in the middle of two levels. Nevertheless, he clung on precariously but determinedly, his body racked with pain, as he tried to work out his next move.

  However, that was quickly made for him as the cable suddenly seemed to lose purchase on its anchor and Jake slowly started to slide down the wall to the level below. Two seconds later, he was hanging directly in the opening to the fifty-eighth floor and he felt sure if he could just cling on for another couple of seconds he could swing into safety. But at that very moment, whatever the cable was anchored to broke free completely and Jake dropped violently again. This time though, he landed on his stomach on the concrete floor of the level with his legs still dangling in the shaft. As the cable continued to fall, Jake desperately hauled himself in completely, just in time to avoid being hit by an enormous, very heavy, circular saw that the cable was attached to, which sped past the opening at a rapid rate of descent.

  For a few moments, Jake lay there on the floor, breathing a huge sigh of relief. But then, almost immediately, his thoughts turned once again to Lizzie.

  * * *

  From six floors beneath where Lizzie was being held, Jake heard the sound of another elevator clang to a halt somewhere off in the dark, maybe a few floors down and as he began his ascent to the top, scampering up ladder after ladder, moving as quickly as he dare over the small scaffold platforms that supported them, he could also hear footsteps behind him. It was the definite sound of someone else climbing the ladders below, somewhere down on a lower level, and he prayed to God that it was Roper Coyle.

  * * *

  Earlier that evening, Jake had taken a huge gamble in calling Scotland Yard and speaking to Detective Chief Inspector Coyle, not really knowing whether he could trust him or not. But he needed help and did not know where else to turn. Aaron Sumpter clearly had faith in Coyle and from what Lizzie had told him, Sumpter’s judgement was invariably sound.

  Nonetheless, upon speaking with him over the phone, Coyle had convinced Jake that he could be trusted and after much
discussion managed to allay all the doubts about his honesty.

  Furthermore, Coyle suggested that he and Jake should to meet up quickly to discuss how best to save Lizzie and apprehend Bearing and Khan - preferably whilst they were taking possession of the diamonds, which had been Sumpter’s plan all along.

  So, an hour later, Roper and a small team of techies arrived via the rear entrance of The Dorchester and were shown directly to Jake’s suite where they sat down to discuss a plan for the evening ahead.

  * * *

  Until ten minutes ago, everything had gone as planned - both with Jake’s rendezvous and with Coyle’s timely intervention at the crucial moment. However, matters had taken a terrible turn for the worse. Lizzie was now in even greater peril and Jake was pursuing her completely unarmed and almost blind in the dark, half finished building.

  Jake was shattered and sweating profusely in the heavy woollen jumper, his legs and arms aching desperately as he climbed up the last few ladders to the top level of the building. He had slowed now, taking care to make as little sound as possible and trying to keep his exhausted breathing under control as he gradually ascended the final ladder, hoping not to alert Khan to his presence.

  Very carefully he pushed his head up through the large square gap in the ceiling, which would eventually form a stairwell, his eyes barely over the parapet when a shot exploded just inches from his head, blasting away a huge chunk of the wooden framework and smashing loudly into a concrete support beyond. Quickly Jake ducked back down. He had obviously made more noise than he’d hoped - no doubt due to the dramatic events in the lift shaft. And as a result, Khan had clearly been expecting him.

  “Come out here slowly, Sawyer!” Khan shouted. “With your hands up where I can see them.”

  “I’m not armed,” Jake called back, “I just want Lizzie, that’s all.”

  “How very romantic. Now come on out here, before I lose my patience.”

  Tentatively, Jake pushed his head back up over the parapet.

  “Hands up. Quickly!” Khan shouted.

  Jake did as instructed, climbing out onto the top floor with his hands held high. He could just see Lizzie and Khan, several feet away in the darkness, close to the edge of the building. Khan was using her as a shield.

  “That’s it, Sawyer. Very good. Now walk very slowly towards me.” Khan said. And again, Jake did as instructed.

  * * *

  Twenty feet below, Eckhart heard the report from Khan’s gun as if it had been fired right next to him, loud, explosive and deadly.

  Dave had followed Jake into the building, knowing that he had to put an end to this situation one way or another. If Khan hadn’t already ended it then he would have to, it was the only possible solution.

  He had found an alternative works elevator, further into the lower level, that took him only up as far as the fiftieth floor. But now he was just two floors below and realised that if he continued up the same way as Jake it could be suicidal. He did not want to accidentally catch a stray bullet from Khan. He’d had quite enough of that from Król just a few minutes earlier. Król had been the one that had recruited Dave in the first place, sucked him into this whole messy quagmire of guilt, greed and betrayal and for a moment, Dave had seen red. He had just wanted to kill the evil, tattooed Pole, to silence him once and for all. But he had failed and had nearly been killed in the process. But now he had cooled down and was resolved to do what he knew he must.

  Quickly, he scanned the murky darkness around him and could see no other way up to the roof. But then he glimpsed what looked like another set of ladders on the exterior scaffolding, outside the building itself, which presented him with alternative route.

  * * *

  Two floors above, Jake was speaking. “It’s useless Khan,” he said. “The building is surrounded by armed police - Bearing has been arrested and the Polish guy, is dead. There’s no escape. It’s over.”

  “You’re wrong, Sawyer. It’s not over. Not by a long way. Me and your girlfriend are getting out of here.”

  “How? There’s no way out, nowhere you can go.”

  “Wrong again. You’re getting us out of here - you and your friends in the police.”

  “Please, I don’t know what you mean - just let Lizzie go and we can talk about it.”

  “Listen, she’s not going anywhere. Not until I get a helicopter and the diamonds.”

  “A what?” Jake exclaimed, “There’s no way I can–”

  “If you don’t want her to die,” Khan interjected, “you’ll do as I say.”

  “But how? You want me to go back down and–”

  “You’re staying right here where I can see you, Sawyer.”

  “But how then? How can I–”

  “Call them on the phone. Tell them what I want and tell them I want it now before one of you dies.”

  “Okay, okay,” Jake said. “I’ll do it. But please, let Lizzie go. I’ll stay. Take me instead of her.”

  “What, and have only one hostage when I can have two? Why on earth would I want to do that? No, Sawyer, you’ll both stay right here until I get my diamonds and a helicopter. So make the call.”

  “But I don’t have my phone - it’s down there, in my rucksack.”

  “Jesus Christ, Sawyer - you’re really starting to try my patience,” Khan said with exasperation. “Here, come and get mine. Slowly though, mind. Very slowly, keeping your hands exactly where I can see them.”

  With the muzzle of the gun pushed into Lizzie’s cheek, Khan reached into his coat pocket with his free hand and pulled out his mobile phone.

  He held it out to Jake, who, out of the corner of his eye, had just seen Detective Sergeant Dave Eckhart appear into view, on the outer edge of the building. However, Jake was surprised to see that Eckhart seemed to be pointing his gun not at Khan but directly at him.

  * * *

  Coyle was on the ground floor looking up when he heard the faint sound of the shot being fired and saw a tiny white flash briefly flicker from somewhere up on the sixty-fifth floor. He had sent an armed team in prior to that and they were now swarming up through the tall spine of the building in full body armour but it would be a long time before they reached the roof.

  Now, several minutes later, Coyle desperately hoped he was not too late. He was worried about Eckhart and his eagerness to be involved in the operation. His young sergeant was quite obviously stressed and suffering from anxiety but he had been keen to be a part of it and Roper could not deny him. The lad clearly wanted to prove himself and Coyle understood that. Eckhart’s near fatal suicide dash towards Król notwithstanding.

  Coyle looked about him. So far, the operation had only been partially successful. Peter Bearing was sitting in the back of a squad car in handcuffs and Fabian Król, who was a known associate of Arthur Khan was dead. He would not be missed. The body of a young girl had also been discovered in the back of the Range Rover and her murder would be added to those already committed in Bearing’s single-minded pursuit of the diamonds.

  But also a young police officer had lost his life and Roper felt a tremendous burden of responsibility for that. He would inform the lad’s family personally.

  Three ambulances had appeared at the scene moments earlier to collect the bodies and Coyle hoped, with the operation still far from over, and with the unexpected turn of events, that more would not be needed.

  He looked up again, squinting into the darkness from the well lit ground, through a pair of binoculars trying to spot any movement.

  It was then that he saw someone, very high up, shrouded in darkness, climbing precariously around the outside scaffolding at the lip of the roof. Someone that looked very much like Dave Eckhart.

  * * *

  Eckhart was pointing his gun directly at Jake as he loomed silently out of the darkness behind Khan and up onto the lip of the roof. For a moment Jake
stiffened with fear.

  However, the gun was only aimed at him briefly as Dave sought to get a better foothold. As soon as he had, he trained the gun onto Khan and signalled for Jake, who breathed a sigh of relief, to get ready.

  Jake was almost in touching distance of the mobile phone that Khan was holding out to him, although he now had one eye on Eckhart waiting for him to make his move.

  He did not have to wait long because as Jake was about to take the phone, Eckhart said, “Freeze, Khan. Move so much as a whisker and I’ll shoot.”

  Khan visibly tightened, inadvertently dropping the mobile phone, doing as he was told as Eckhart climbed onto the roof and positioned himself a few feet to the side of him, the gun pointed out in front and clasped expertly with both hands.

  “Put the gun down, Khan,” Dave said. “There’s no way out, you’re completely surrounded. Just slowly put it down and let the girl go.”

  “So, the worm has turned,” said Khan. “Did you know, Sawyer, that this young man was very nearly responsible for getting you killed today? That all that lovely evidence that Sumpter collected was destroyed as a direct result of this policeman’s betrayal of you and of his superiors?”

  “Shut up, Khan!” Barked Eckhart.

  Jake looked directly at Eckhart, as did Lizzie.

  “You?” Lizzie said to Eckhart. “You told them about the evidence?”

  Eckhart looked ashamedly at her, not able to meet her eyes.

  “But of course,” Khan said. “Everything you had on us is gone, thanks to this fine upstanding officer.”

  “I told you to shut up!” Eckhart snapped again.

  “What?” Khan said gleefully, “And spoil the surprise?”

  “It’s no surprise,” said Jake. “I know all about it. I know everything. The sergeant here is working with me now. And as for the evidence, well let’s just say it’s safe. You’re finished Khan and there’s nowhere left to go.”