The Gated Trilogy

by Matt Drabble

  “Good note,” Tolanson had to agree.

  “This government has prevented more terrorist attacks than I could possibly list in the time that we have,” Avery continued in Knowles’ place. “We are working tirelessly to bring together the countries of Europe and beyond to develop a global network of information sharing to combat terrorism. This is the sort of programme that requires decades of experience and knowledge, decades of personal relationships based on respect and familiarity, the decades that only one of us on this stage has.”

  Tolanson bristled a little as he felt the shot land.

  “Furthermore, I would put it to you that no one places the futures of our children higher than a father. I am the proud parent to three wonderful sons and with my wife we have raised them with the future always in mind. I plan to leave our country in their hands: a better country, a stronger country, a safer country!”

  This time the ripple of applause caught Tolanson entirely by surprise. These were his people and yet they were clapping for his mock opponent.

  “Prime Minister?”

  “No. Here you use his name. Here you make him a man, not a leader,” Avery interrupted.

  “Fine,” Tolanson snapped and for the first time today he suddenly felt tired. “Is that a personal attack on those of us who have sunk our lives into serving our country, Mr Knowles?”

  “Not at all, Mr Tolanson. I just feel that those of us with children have a greater grasp on what we leave behind for those who follow in our footsteps. It is our responsibility, one that perhaps, if I might be so bold, you may not quite understand.”

  “I wouldn’t understand?” Tolanson exclaimed, now starting to become fully aware that the subject had wandered off the topic of national security and onto a personal attack without him even noticing how they got there. “I find your attempts to smear my… lifestyle choices… deeply offensive!”

  “Then I apologise most sincerely, Mr Tolanson. I wouldn’t dream of insulting any man’s private lifestyle choices.”

  Tolanson’s blood started to boil then. Somehow he’d just been accused of being gay and - as much as any modern country liked to think of itself as tolerant and accepting - he knew that voters in the confines of a private voting booth may well show baser instincts when it came to selecting their leaders. He may well have underestimated Avery Grant and she was getting under his skin

  “I firmly believe, Mr Tolanson, that ours is a country that welcomes every race, religion and orientation. The only thing that we will not accept is deceivers. We will not tolerate those who would seek to ruin our great nation from within…,”

  Her words, although in character, started to feel like a personal dig at him and he wondered just how much she might know about his true face.

  “…those who would take our hospitality and seek to destroy our very way of life,” she continued to rail. “And I vow that we will never stop the fight to shine a light into every dark corner and expose those with two faces. Those who would smile on camera and then stab us in the back!”

  “I really don’t see what any of this has to do with…,” he blustered.

  “This country deserves a leader who walks in the light, a man who is not afraid to stand out in front rather than act from the shadows. A man who will make the hard choices but will always act with honesty and integrity.”

  “We were talking about security…,” Tolanson tried to butt in.

  “I am talking about security, Sir,” Avery cut him off. “I’m talking about the security of a nation and the dark forces that threaten to destroy us. This election is a battle for our very souls and there can be only one winner!”

  “WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE TALKING TO?” Tolanson exploded. “I WILL PEEL THE SKIN FROM YOUR BLOODY BONES, WOMAN!”

  The room fell deathly silent and he knew that he’d lost the debate. The people at the back of the room now stared at him with a touch of fear in their eyes.

  He looked over at Avery who was now looking at him with a strange mixture of fear and triumph.

  “You were being Knowles,” he said quietly.

  “Of course, Sir,” she responded. “The debate prep is designed to prepare you for anything. I’ve watched Knowles speak and he can be ruthless. You need to be prepared for any attack.”

  “Yes, quite right. Perhaps you were correct earlier; it’s been a long day and I’m tired. We’ll pick this up tomorrow.”

  He left the stage quickly and with great restraint. Every fibre of his being desperately wanted to tear the woman’s head off for showing him up, but he just needed to hold it together for a little while longer. The real debate was in a little under 48 hours and he just had to get through until then. It wouldn’t matter how much energy he used up during the debate, it wouldn’t matter if he completely emptied the tank - he just had to get there first. He could deal with the Avery woman at his leisure afterwards, and now he would enjoy it.

  ----------

  Jimmy Horton waited in the parking lot until it seemed like everyone had left, and then he waited a little longer.

  He’d been able to find Tolanson’s headquarters without too much trouble, but the man’s private address had been impossible to locate. That had left him with no alternative other than to approach the man at his place of business. Fortunately - with a dead body on the premises and an investigation underway, however much it was dragging its feet - it gave him cover to approach the man here.

  Jimmy’s mind was racing with possibilities. He’d always known that Sutherland’s rise through the ranks of the force had to have had a benefactor and his guess was that it was Tolanson. Patterson had confessed before he’d killed him, that he’d been sent on the instructions of Tolanson. And if Tolanson was happy to have another man killed then he was someone that Jimmy wanted to do business with.

  The back door was locked but he quickly picked it; it wasn’t exactly the first time that he’d gained illegal entry to a property.

  He slipped in quietly and made his way along the hallway, all the while listening out for sounds of voices. There was an office up ahead and he could hear masculine voices coming from inside as he approached slowly. One of the men appeared to be extremely angry while the other merely muttered an occasional comment of single syllables.

  Jimmy pressed his ear to the door and listened until he was sure that Tolanson was inside. Then he burst through loudly and brashly, as was his usual approach when entering a room. He wanted to dominate and overwhelm, to take charge immediately and be the man.

  The two men looked up in surprise as he entered. Tolanson was instantly recognisable due to his massively increased public presence lately. The other man was huge and looked dangerous. Jimmy started to regret his entrance but it was too late to turn around now. One of his most admirable traits was his persistence on a course of action; it was obviously one of his biggest failings too.

  “Mr Tolanson,” he greeted the politician before taking a seat opposite the man.

  The office was laid out with expensive-looking furniture. The desk looked hand carved and the bookcases lent an air of respectability to the room, given the contents.

  “Are we operating an open door policy now?” Tolanson demanded of his huge companion.

  The big gorilla merely shrugged.

  “Mr Tolanson?” Jimmy started again but again the politician ignored him.

  “Are we expecting any other visitors this evening?” Tolanson asked the other man sarcastically and Jimmy started to feel a little uneasy at being so blatantly ignored.

  “Dunno,” the big man replied with another shrug of his wide shoulders.

  “Jimmy Horton. I’m the man that you sent Patterson to… Albert Patterson?” he reiterated when the name didn’t evoke an immediate response.

  “And what are you doing here?” Tolanson asked with obvious annoyance.

  “I thought it best that we meet in person.” Jimmy grinned with a lot more confidence than he currently felt. Tolanson was clearly not intimidated by hi
m and the big ape was staring at him like it was dinner time.

  “You thought wrong,” Tolanson snapped as he squinted, rubbing his forehead.

  “Look, I can surmise that Sutherland was your ‘go to’ man on the force, just as I can surmise that he fell afoul of you. I can assure you, Mr Tolanson, that you won’t be disappointed with my performance.” Jimmy had intended to burst in and set the terms, but now he felt like he was begging for a job.

  “Mr… Horton, was it?” Tolanson asked and Jimmy nodded. “Mr Horton, there is a good reason why I keep certain parts of my business separate from others; can you understand that?”

  “Of course.” Jimmy nodded eagerly.

  “Then please answer me: just what the hell are you doing here?”

  Tolanson’s question was asked in a pleasant enough tone but suddenly Jimmy felt scared of the man, suddenly more so than of his bodyguard.

  “Look, perhaps I’ve made a mistake coming here. I see that now, Sir,” he said raising his hands. “I had hoped that a show of initiative on my part would convince you that I could be of use to you, now that Sutherland is out of the game.”

  “Did you now?” Tolanson asked, leaning forward across the desk.

  Jimmy stood and tried to back away but now the gorilla had blocked the doorway without being directly asked by his master.

  “You know, I think that I’ve had all I can take today, Mr Horton,” Tolanson said as he moved closer. “You insects that buzz around me with your sheer… STUPIDITY!” he roared and Jimmy flinched. “You don’t have the sense that you were born with and yet I have to deal with your incessant questions and problems. I have to stand by and hold my tongue while imbeciles block my path at every turn.”

  “Look, I’m sorry,” Jimmy tried.

  “Yes, you are. The whole damned human race is the sorriest joke ever played on the planet. I should be worshipped the second I cross any of your insignificant paths and yet I have to earn it? I have to explain myself to you? I have to wait in line while I’m slowed down at every turn?” Tolanson’s voice was rising fast now and spittle started to fly from his lips. “YOU OWE ME NOTHING BUT OBEDIENCE. YOU OWE ME WORSHIP! YOU OWE ME UNDYING GRATITUDE JUST FOR LOOKING IN YOUR DIRECTION!”

  “I’ve obviously caught you at a bad time; it’s my mistake,” Jimmy blustered as he turned to run.

  “Yes, Mr Horton.” Tolanson smiled coldly. “You most certainly have.”

  ----------

  Avery was the last to leave the mock debate area. She sat on the stage while everyone else moved away slowly. She was sure that much of the murmuring would have been about Tolanson’s loss of control but she was more concerned with her own.

  The debate prep was designed to help Tolanson prepare for Knowles but she just hadn’t been able to help herself once she’d smelt blood in the water. Tolanson was a supreme presence on the stage and she had no doubt that he was going to destroy Knowles, even though the prime minister would enter the real debate stuffed full of confidence.

  Tolanson was young, he was single and childless. He was also representing a party with a long history of being perceived as weak, too weak for this world. Knowles would bank on Tolanson being a typical Progressive Party candidate but he was going to be in for a shock when he found himself faced with a man to the right of his own politics.

  She should have played the part of Knowles but she just hadn’t been able to resist the opening. Tolanson’s arrogance radiated from him in these close quarters and her eyes were now open. Whatever the truth about him, and whatever truth lay in Lomax’s stories, she knew that Tolanson couldn’t win - he just couldn’t.

  She left the staging area and headed into the back offices, hoping that she’d left enough time for Tolanson and McDere to have left by now.

  The raised voice caught her attention and she recognised it as Tolanson’s immediately. The man was becoming more and more unstable lately and she feared for whoever was caught in his path now.

  Despite her unease, she headed towards the commotion instead of away from it. There was still some doubt in her mind at what he really was and an unshakable realism that Lomax’s fantastical tales just couldn’t be true.

  Her approach to the office was masked by Tolanson’s now screaming voice, a voice that seemed to shake the very foundations of the building. In spite of the covering noise, she still found herself creeping up slowly to the door. She knelt down by the keyhole and closed one eye as she stared inside.

  McDere’s unmistakable form was blocking most of her view but she could just see past him to where Tolanson was raging at another man whom she didn’t recognise. She knew all of the headquarters’ staff and this man definitely didn’t work here.

  Tolanson’s face was contorted into sheer rage now, a monster unmasked away from prying eyes. He was screaming obscenities at the now cowering man until his words became tangled and unintelligible.

  The man turned to run but McDere shoved him hard and the man fell back against the office desk. Tolanson suddenly shot out a hand and flung the desk aside with ease and Avery had trouble understanding what she was seeing. She had been here overseeing the set up of the headquarters and had watched as four big men had struggled to heave the desk into the office, but Tolanson had flipped it aside with one hand as though it was made out of paper.

  A hand flew to cover her mouth as Tolanson scooped the man up into his arms and held him over his head like he weighed nothing. Even though her view was obscured by the keyhole, she could see that Tolanson now looked terrifying.

  His face had aged but there were shifting features beneath the thin skin as though there were other faces trying to burst through. His flesh bulged grotesquely as bone structure altered into different angles and she could just make out an older man and then a young boy all fighting under the surface.

  Tolanson held the man above his head before driving him down hard across one raised knee. She thought that she was going to vomit and had to swallow the bitter bile as the office was filled with the sharp sound of a cracking spine. The man in his hands went immediately limp and Tolanson raised him up again, holding onto each of the man’s wrists.

  Avery wanted to look away but she couldn’t turn her head. She couldn’t cry out for she couldn’t make a sound. Tolanson then pulled the man apart at the seams like a greasy, tender cooked chicken before letting him land on the floor with a wet slap.

  She watched on in morbid fascination as Tolanson appeared to gather himself and regain control. He breathed deeply and easily until his face settled into the one that she knew and now loathed.

  “Better?” she heard McDere ask.

  “A little,” Tolanson agreed with a heavy sigh before he sat down in his chair.

  “I’ll get this cleaned up,” McDere said and Avery suddenly realised with horror that the big man was about to leave the office.

  McDere opened the door and all she could do was flatten herself against the wall and pray that the door opened outwards.

  It seemed to take an age but mercifully the door did open out into the hallway and she was partially hidden behind it. She held her breath as McDere started to turn towards where she was hiding before he realised that the cleaning closet was the other way.

  She waited for him to leave the hallway before she slipped out on the sound of Tolanson snoring heavily. She had to force herself to walk quietly and not run like the Devil himself was chasing her. Eventually she reached one of the side doors and slipped outside and into the embrace of the darkness of the night.

  Her car was parked off to the side but she didn’t dare start it for fear that Tolanson would hear her and know that she had been in the building. Instead, she started to jog until she was clear of the headquarters and then she started running until her lungs couldn’t stand the pace any longer. She didn’t stop until she reached Debbie’s apartment, unlocking it quickly and slamming the door behind her.

  CHAPTER 26

  ALL ABOARD THE CRAZY TRAIN

  Sutherland made h
is way slowly to Donovan’s club, sticking largely to the shadows in spite of the location. He wasn’t in any mood to start taking chances.

  The strip bar was in the part of town where the police should be in regular attendance, but he knew from personal experience that the boys and girls in blue rarely ventured this far south. The Docks were largely left to police themselves and it was the way they liked it. He had banged on enough doors in his uniform days only to have them slammed in his face. No one down here talked and every outsider was viewed with suspicion.

  The neon lights above the building read ‘Teasers’ in bright bold lettering with a naked female silhouette straddling the word. The bar was always jumping with a mixture of clients from the smartly suited BMW drivers to the denim and leather biker crowd.

  Sutherland knew that his face was a wanted one, but down here he was fairly confident that no one was going to call the cops any time soon.

  He made his way around to the back of the bar and up to a fire exit that was currently being held open by a burly bouncer. The big man had a fixed gaze straight ahead and didn’t utter a word, only jerked his head to motion for Sutherland to come inside. He’d called Donovan ahead and the young man hadn’t been all that welcoming but had eventually agreed to let him come to the club.

  The back hallways of ‘Teasers’ stank of cheap perfume as though the dancers bathed in it. There was also a mixture of booze and weed that hung thickly in the air. He supposed if this was his life he might try and smother the bad taste with something.

  The bouncer led him past several changing rooms that were dimly lit with various costumes hanging on the walls. There were dressing tables with light bulbs encircling mirrors although several weren’t working and hadn’t been replaced. Again he thought that a lot of the girls probably didn’t want to catch an accurate reflection of themselves in the mirrors.

  He saw several young girls as he walked past, ones that caused him concern as to their actual ages. He knew that Donovan ran girls but was usually sensible about using underage ones. But he also knew that he’d pulled a girl from a lorry who couldn’t have been more than 13 or 14, a lorry that had been under Donovan’s control.