Lethal Reaction

by Dawn Marsanne

  They didn’t want to risk alerting Mark’s wife and give her the opportunity to tip off her husband, nor did they want to phone ahead to the science park to see if he was on duty, they had no idea whether they could trust his fellow security guards not to tip him off. If he were guilty he might decide to run, although probably not far, he was a family man and as far as they could tell had not previously dabbled in any crimes however small. All the CID staff had now been on duty for over twelve hours and the strain and tiredness were beginning to tell. However, they were all keen to make progress with the investigation so providing they could get a dog unit to be available to check Mark’s car they would go to his house around 10 p.m. If he had been transporting the drugs for Nick then the chances were they would get a positive identification from a sniffer dog.

  **

  Shani rubbed her eyes and closed down her computer. Her senior officer had told her she had to go home and get some sleep, that was an order. As Nick had admitted going to BioQex on Sunday evening they had focussed on the footage from that time slot. Sure enough, they had seen Mark’s car arrive in the car park around 7 p.m., he then went off for a while leaving Nick in the car, then returned. The CCTV had captured them both walking up to the building where Mark unlocked and they both went inside. No further action was captured until about forty-five minutes later when they both left. They could see the envelope containing the data along with another small plastic bag. That was presumably the one containing the samples they’d found in Nick’s flat. But the plastic bag was very small, it didn’t look as though it contained any bulk powder, so that must have been removed at another time. That puzzled the detectives slightly as it leant credence to the fact that Nick Thomas might be telling the truth. However, it could also mean that Nick had removed the bulk sample earlier in the week and had just been along on Sunday to remove any incriminating evidence.

  Shani’s task in the morning was to look at each evening in the week, after normal hours to see whether Nick had left work late consistently later than the rest of the workforce. That was the most likely time when he would have removed the bulk of the drugs. Particularly if Mark was his accomplice, he manned the desk after 7 p.m. in the evening, an ideal opportunity for the handover. Shani would have liked to have stayed and carried on after a short break. When she had a goal to work to the tiredness dissipated but she new better than to disobey an order. She collected her bag and jacket and headed outside to retrieve her car.

  Chapter 52

  Mark’s wife Tanya had gone to bed at 9 p.m. exhausted. After about an hour she heard the doorbell ringing and banging on the front door but turned over in her bed thinking it was part of her dream. She became aware of someone shaking her shoulder and speaking to her. Turning over she came face to face with her little boy Kyle, who was four.

  ‘Mummy, mummy, there’s someone at the door. It woke me up!’ he moaned.

  ‘Wait here, I’ll go and see what’s happening,’ she told him, grabbing her dressing gown. Not bothering with her slippers she rushed down the stairs and saw the outline through the glass of a group of people illuminated from behind by the street light. She was unaware of an additional pair of officers who were stationed at the back of the property in case their target decided to leave by the back door. Putting the chain on the door she opened it tentatively.

  ‘Mrs Jameson, we need to speak to your husband, is he in?’, said Detective Andy Walters showing his warrant card through the gap in the door.

  ‘He’s not here, he’s at work at the science park. What do you want him for?’ asked Tanya sounding extremely worried.

  ‘We’d like to check your house, please open up,’ asked Andy, ‘stay in position lads,’ he then said into his walkie-talkie to his team at the rear of the property.

  ‘Well you can come in and search but he’s not here, I’ve told you!’

  ‘Thank you, madam,’ he replied entering the house. Turning round to his colleague he instructed, ‘radio the other team, tell them to swing into action.’

  Tanya stood aside as the detective plus a couple of uniformed officers quickly searched her house. Her wide-eyed son Kyle grasped his mother’s leg through her dressing gown. She heard wailing from upstairs, it was her daughter.

  ‘Come with me Kyle,’ she said, pulling him by the hand as they hurried up the stairs to her daughter Maisie’s bedroom. She scooped Masie up in her arms and they went downstairs again.

  The police team soon left, heading off to join the other group over at the science park. Tanya saw them off the premises then she and her two frightened children huddled together on the sofa in the lounge.

  ‘Look after Maisie,’ she instructed Kyle, ‘I need to get my phone to call daddy,’ and she rushed upstairs bewildered at what had precipitated this late night-visit.

  **

  Zac reached the bottom of the stairs and hurried outside into the car park at his flat. He couldn’t see his car as it was obscured by a large black four by four parked at right angles to the rear of the space where he normally parked. The dark tinted windows made it difficult to see whether there was anyone in the driver’s seat but he noticed that one of the rear doors was open. He wasn’t worried about anything being stolen from his car as he never kept anything valuable in it so the thieves would have wasted their time but he would have the inconvenience of making yet another trip to a garage to have the window replaced. He rounded the front of the large black vehicle and saw that both windows on the offside of his car were OK so it must be on the nearside where there had been the breakage. He went round to that side and stood puzzled for a few moments as both windows were intact. A wave of relief swept over him, there must have been some misunderstanding and another car not his had been vandalised. Momentarily caught up in his thoughts he failed to notice the two men approaching him from behind until they were right upon him. Turning quickly he felt a hand over his mouth as he was grabbed, the strong duo encircling him, clamping his arms by his sides and rendering him powerless.

  ‘Hey! Get off me!’ were the words Zac tried to shout out but his cries were muted by his assailant’s hand over his mouth and the other man grabbed hold of Zac’s legs so that between them they were able to bundle him over to the large black car. They were on the side of the vehicle out of sight of any windows overlooking the car park but still, they wasted no time. With an upward movement which had obviously been practised before, he thrust the knife between two ribs and up into Zac’s heart whilst lifting his legs and pushing him on to the rear seats.

  ‘Hey, what... arggh,’, were the mumbled words that emerged from Zac’s lips. He slumped down on the upholstery. One of the men ran round to the driver’s door and jumped in, starting the engine as he closed his door. The man wielding the knife slashed at Zac’s throat for good measure. The job was almost finished. The car sped out of the car park and out into the road with the assassin driving quickly but unobtrusively, there was no need to rush and they needed to avoid drawing attention to themselves. The evening traffic was light and in just over ten minutes they reached the outskirts of Persford, taking one of the roads which was flanked on both sides by farmland.

  The hit-man in the passenger seat phoned their accomplices who were due to collect them once they had abandoned this vehicle. They no longer had any use for it. He glanced over to the rear seats. Zac’s glassy eyes looked at the ceiling of the car, unaware of the final destination. His mouth sagged open showing his teeth and the roof of his mouth. Blood had soaked through his clothing and onto the rear seats. He could see something that looked like a white envelope, whitish would better describe it due to the blood stains. It was poking out from one of the inside pockets of his jacket. When they stopped he would have a look at it. The driver slowed and pulled off the country road onto a narrow track. After fifty yards they pulled up and left the car on a grass verge so it was no longer blocking the narrow road. The car ended up at a slightly rakish angle as the nearside front wheel stuck in a rut which had been invisible due to t
he unlit road.

  They alighted from the car and opened the rear door to retrieve the envelope. Opening it they found a nice bundle of cash which had remained untainted by its owner’s blood. That was an unexpected bonus and the assassin showed it to his accomplice who smiled. Cole need not know about this, they would split the proceeds later, treat it as a small bonus for running the risk of carrying out the assignment. They closed the door and locked the car with the remote. They had asked Cole if they should torch the car with Zac’s body inside but he didn’t want them to do so. He felt it was better that the police found Zac and thus they would draw a line under the whole episode. They would put it down to hired assassins and he knew there was no chance of them being traced back to himself. Similarly, the hit-men weren’t worried. Despite their chequered pasts and lives of crime, they had been careful and their DNA wasn’t on record. They’d worn gloves and hats to cover their sparse buzz cut hair. Their evening’s work was finished and they jogged swiftly down to the main road where their lift was waiting. Everything had gone according to plan, they just needed to let their master know.

  **

  The police team at the science park had already ascertained that Mark was on duty patrolling part of the perimeter and then at the end of his shift he was due to man the desk at BioQex from 7 a.m. onwards. They had been reluctant to ask the other security guards about Mark’s whereabouts without having a team in place at his house in case one of them alerted him and it caused him to flee.

  Having obtained directions as to where they could intercept Mark, one officer stayed behind in the security office to ensure that no call was made to inform Mark what was about to transpire. The team sped away from the security hut following the route to the perimeter where they spotted a shadowy figure they assumed to be Mark carrying out his circuit on foot. They approached showing their identification.

  ‘Mr Mark Jameson, we would like to have a chat with you about your activities on Sunday evening. Please would you come and sit in the car?’ said Inspector Harris showing his identification.

  ‘What’s this about?’ asked Mark, ‘Sunday, I was here, at work, you can check the duty roster.’ Despite his outward confidence, a wave of dread was spreading through him.

  ‘We don’t doubt that you were here sir, it is your activities here on that particular evening which we would like to discuss.’

  Mark was inwardly trembling, he knew only too well what he’d been up to on Sunday evening. He was cursing himself for being so stupid to be carried along on Nick’s crusade. He could lose his job over this. What had Nick told them? He must have been interviewed. Oh God he thought, this was a nightmare. He’d seriously abused his position of trust in using the keys to enter BioQex. But he’d done it with the best of intentions, he must remember that Nick was innocent and Zac was guilty. The police must be made to understand that and question Zac.

  ‘Well I just did my normal duties,’ replied Mark, ‘why do you ask?’

  ‘We have looked at CCTV and have seen you enter the building belonging to BioQex along with another person. We’d like you to tell us what that was all about,’ asked Detective Inspector Harris.

  ‘Nick needed to go into BioQex to remove some evidence that proved that Zac Milburn has been using the company lab to synthesise street drugs,’ replied Mark, trying to keep calm but inwardly panicking.

  ‘What did you remove from the company premises?’

  ‘Some data in an envelope and some samples which Nick said proved that Zac had made drugs.’

  Well, at least he wasn’t trying to deny it, thought the inspector. ‘What about the bulk of the street drugs, did you remove those that evening?’

  ‘What do you mean? I don’t know what you are talking about? You need to speak to Zac about those! Why are you wasting time bothering me, get over to Zac’s place!’ he instructed aggressively.

  ‘We can decide our own strategy thank you, Mr Jameson. We’d like to examine your car please, now where is it parked?’

  ‘Over in the car park by the security hut,’ replied Mark, ‘why do you want to search my car?’

  ‘Just let us do our job, please. Fasten your seatbelt please.’ The inspector spoke into his shortwave radio to the dog handler. ‘We’re on our way over to the car park by the security hut, be ready.’

  The car with Mark followed by a squad car headed over to find Mark’s car. The group of men alighted and stood by his car.

  ‘Open it please,’ asked the inspector. Mark duly complied and activated the remote locking.

  The police donned disposable gloves and started to examine the contents of the car. The boot contained the usual collection of items, plastic bags, a small box of tools, a first aid kit, a wheel brace and other assorted items, nothing out of place. The sniffer dog searched the boot but found nothing to get excited about. They looked in the glove box and found a few odd items, the instruction manual for the car, some sweets, a few tissues and so on. The foot wells in the rear were littered with an assortment of children’s toys, some crisp packets, an empty carton of orange juice, none of which interested the spaniel. However, when the dog started to sniff in the front of the car it immediately became excited, particularly in around the pedal area on the driver’s side. It had found traces of the drug. The handler rewarded the dog and gave it a treat.

  ‘Right, I think we need to impound the car and take some swabs for the lab. Mr Jameson, we would like to you come down the station so we can continue this conversation. Are you willing to accompany us?’

  ‘Yes, I suppose so,’ replied Mark, ‘I don’t have much choice, do I?’

  **

  The third team led by Inspector Mills gathered two uniformed officers and they headed off to Zac’s flat. He was conscious of the time, it was now after 10 p.m. but he tried to stay positive. If Zac had gone out for the evening he would likely be back at home as it was a weekday. The radio in the car kept receiving updates from the other team and he learned that they were now tracking down Mark Jameson at the science park. Traffic was light at this time and they made it to Zac’s flat by a quarter to eleven. He instructed the squad car to park at a distance of a few hundred yards from the block of flats and they made their way to the entrance. Pressing the buzzer on the intercom they received no answer.

  ‘Shit,’ muttered Inspector Mills, he started to press the other door buzzers in the hope that someone would answer. Fortunately, another resident obliged and they made their way up to the second floor and identified Zac’s flat. He rang the doorbell and again received no reply. He was becoming frustrated now. He listened at the door but could hear no sounds from inside the flat.

  ‘Stay here,’ he whispered to one of the officers and he motioned to the other one to accompany him outside. Once in the car park Inspector Mills phoned Andy Walters to tell him that they could raise no response at Zac’s flat. He was either out or lying low. They had grounds for obtaining entry without a warrant but Zac Milburn but if he did turn out to be innocent the police would be heavily criticised. Inspector Mills decided it would be better to gain entry with the authorisation of a warrant. They could get it drawn up and signed whilst they organised an additional team with a battering ram to break down the door. They also needed a sniffer dog team and forensics to be available. As the residence of interest was a flat on the second floor, even if Zac were home and not answering there would be no chance of escape. He left his uniformed team in place whilst radioing for another car to come and collect him to return to the station. He was disappointed they’d not managed to pick him up yet but they needed to remain optimistic. There were only two cars in the car park so he phoned through the registration plates, one belonged to Zac Milburn, the other was registered to one of his neighbours. There were several possibilities as to his whereabouts, the most depressing of which being that he had decided to flee. They would keep a watch here and if there was no sighting of him in the next hour or so they would enter the flat with a warrant. They had to remain positive that they would
catch up with him somewhere.

  Chapter 53

  It was after midnight by the time CID escorted Mark Jameson to the police station. The custody sergeant completed the relevant paperwork and he was taken to an interview room to await questioning. Sometimes it could take several hours to obtain a duty solicitor, depending on how busy things were during the night. So after being given refreshments, a cup of tea and some biscuits he was given the option to get some sleep in one of the cells whilst a solicitor was arranged.

  Andy Walters was exhausted but he wanted to find Zac Milburn, there was no possibility of him getting any sleep tonight until he knew whether he was in the flat. A sergeant brought him the warrant so he went off to find Inspector Mills. Together they went back to Zac’s flat where they would meet the team with the battering ram and the dog handler. They were both running on adrenalin, sleep could wait for a few hours.

  **

  Cole answered his mobile and listened.

  ‘It’s done,’ said the caller.

  ‘Thanks,’ said Cole and ended the call.

  His boys had done well, they hadn’t disappointed. It was a pity about Zac but he was becoming a danger to everyone, his whole organisation. He’d used Zac before and consequently, there was the worry that he had found out something about the organisation he was supplying, It was better not to take chances. Zac had not been particularly careless, it had been unfortunate he’d had a nosy colleague. Never mind, he would just have to find a replacement.

  **

  Inspector Chris Mills and Detective Sergeant Andy Walters plus a uniformed officer pulled into the car park at Zac’s flat, waiting for the sniffer dog team. There had been no sightings of Zac there in the last few hours. The inspector checked his phone and took a sip of water, he hoped that if Mr Milburn were holed up inside he would come quietly without protest. The dog handler entered the car park and the CID officers plus a uniformed officer got out of the car and walked over to the entrance. They radioed the uniformed police inside the flats to come down and release the main door. They rang the bell on the flat door simultaneously hammering on the wood, ‘police open up!’ Motioning for quiet the inspector put his ear to the door to listen. He could hear nothing, so the battering ram was pressed into action. As it made contact with the door adjacent to the lock the wood splintered rendering the lock impotent.