by Marcus Alden
‘So, where’s the money now?’ Dan answered his own question. ‘Maybury did all of this. He was the one who arranged this for Atmore.’
‘Atmore is running Hub, but, under the surface, he hired Maybury to sort out the acquisition of your grandfather’s land,’ Sarah said.
‘Yes, yes but where’s my grandfather in all of this? What made him decide to sell?’ Dan flicked through the sheets. Mixed in between the documents were correspondence between James Easton and a Hub representative. ‘Look, the letters back and forth were angry and resistant; he didn’t want to sell the land. This is all wrong,’ Dan said to Sarah with a concerned look on his face. ‘The last letter was absolute; Atmore couldn’t get the permission from him.’ Sarah shook her head looking at the paper.
A shrill alarm sounded. Dan and Sarah’s stomachs leapt up into their throats.
‘They’re coming for us Dan, hurry.’ Dan piled the sheets together and stuffed them into Sarah’s bag. They ran to the door. Back on the staircase they heard slamming doors and footsteps that were headed towards the terrapin.
Dan and Sarah ran down the stairs in a blurry panic. Frantic shouting in the air followed them. Rapid torchlight shifted in the dark. Dan searched for the gap in the mesh they had entered by.
The guard that had been summoned, reached the edge of the tracks. He met another two guards as they reached the bottom of the stairs. He shook his head at them and checked each direction. The guard that had raised the alarm was infuriated and started shouting.
‘Why didn’t you get them? I told you where they were.’
Dan tore back the clipped mesh of the railing. He and Sarah squeezed through the hollowed-out space. On the other side of the fence, they started sprinting towards the exit ramp of the car park. In the dark street, multiple police sirens grew nearer. Dan slowed Sarah down to a walking pace so as to avoid suspicion as they left the area. A police car sped past the end of the road; the blue lights pulsed onto the dull concrete. They had been lucky, very lucky, Dan thought.
The anticipation of what else they would find in the files gnawed at Dan as they walked away. His opinion of Atmore had been grounded in the knowledge that he was corrupt, but he didn’t know the extent of his deceit.
‘You owe me big time Easton,’ Sarah said. ‘My nerves are shot to pieces after that little episode. You do realise what we just achieved, don’t you?’ Sarah looked sideways at Dan.
‘What’s that?’ Dan asked, distracted by his thoughts.
‘We have the evidence we need to bring down Atmore. To expose his corruption and bring justice to your family.’ Dan nodded but remained quiet.
‘What did they do to him?’ Dan said after a long pause. Sarah couldn’t answer that, nor did she have the energy to talk. Dan could see by her vacant expression that mirrored his own that he should stop talking. They walked in silence exhausted and subdued.
The night air began to chill. Dan and Sarah walked further away from the sound of alarms and into a narrow back street with tall buildings on both sides. They walked under a dank bridge that the night hid in shadows. A rough voice echoed out from underneath the bridge.
‘Spare some change will ya, I’m starvin.’ Dan looked around but couldn’t see anyone in the shadows, just the moonlight from the other side of the bridge. Dan touched his wallet through his jeans pocket for reassurance that it was still there and kept walking.
‘Please, help me,’ the man’s voice cried out like someone in excruciating pain. Dan stopped. Though he could not see the contents of his wallet, he felt for the only cash he knew he had on him. Dan called out to the homeless man.
‘I don’t where you are, but I’ve put five pounds here by the railing. It’s all I have.’ Dan followed the cold metal with his fingers till he felt the ground and put the note down. A drop of water fell on his head and shivered down his neck.
‘Thank you, son, you’re very kind,’ the homeless man said. Dan and Sarah heard someone shuffle on the concrete and scratch across its surface as they walked away. Still unable to see the man, they walked out from under the bridge.
‘How do you know he won’t spend it all on booze?’ Sarah said in a flat tone.
‘I don’t, but when life knocks you down all that matters is hope. I have nothing else to give him, but maybe five pounds will make a difference. If people like Atmore helped others instead of squashing them there wouldn’t be people in situations like this. Besides, we’re staying in a hotel tonight and I can’t justify walking past someone that’s homeless knowing that I’m going to sleep in a warm bed,’ Dan said. Sarah looked to Dan.
‘What hotel?’ Sarah said.
‘I don’t know yet; pass me your phone.’ Sarah handed it over to him. Dan tapped in the search and continued to walk while he checked the screen. ‘This one looks good,’ Dan said in a flat voice. ‘We have to sleep somewhere. Besides, it won’t make any difference to my credit card adding a bit more to it now. We need a safe place to recharge and form a plan. We couldn’t replicate the last few days if we tried and I for one am tired,’ Dan said with a weary irritation in his voice.
Dan and Sarah entered the glossy hotel lobby, though they were too tired to care how luxurious it looked. The check in desk was quiet and manned by a Polish receptionist who was eager to please the guests that had arrived on his night shift. The man smiled as he pronounced his clipped English with an overemphasis on certain words.
‘You are sleeping with her, right?’ the receptionist said. ‘Lucky man.’ The receptionist eyed Sarah up and down.
‘Excuse me?’ Dan said perplexed.
‘You two are sleeping together, in the same bed, yes? One room?’ The man tapped into his computer.
‘Oh––. It’s not like that, we’ll have different rooms,’ Dan said feeling like an idiot correcting him.
‘No, it cannot be! I can tell by your faces. I see a lot of faces, you know, and your two are definitely sleeping together.’ The receptionist continued to smile. Sarah looked at Dan and spoke under her breath.
‘If the Polish man says we should sleep together, then we should sleep together.’ It was the first time Sarah had smiled for hours. Dan cleared his throat in a deliberate manner and made eyes at Sarah to stop.
‘We’ll have two rooms please, we’re exhausted,’ Dan said. The receptionist looked disappointed but then started typing at the computer again to check them in. Dan was too tired to even check the total price on the card machine; he just keyed in his pin number and pressed the green button.
‘Okay, here is room keys.’ The receptionist handed the keys over and spoke to Sarah in a hushed voice. ‘Don’t worry honey; you are very be-au-tiful, he just doesn’t know it yet. Soon, I think,’ the Polish man said as he winked and smiled at Sarah. ‘Enjoy your stay.’
Both Sarah and Dan were beyond small talk as they split off down the warren of corridors that led to their rooms.
‘Night Dan,’ Sarah said handing him the files. With lacklustre energy Sarah inserted her electronic key into the door.
‘Night,’ Dan replied. Deflated and exhausted they both shut the doors on their sanctuaries for the night.
Chapter 17
A silhouetted figure walked to the window and answered a ringing phone. Behind the man was a panoramic view of London with thousands of twinkling lights that trailed into the horizon. In the large oversized bed, tucked underneath the silk bedding, was a woman that had come home with him earlier; he’d forgotten her name already. The man, whose body was toned and supple, stood naked looking out of the skyscraper. He held the phone to his ear. The murky river Thames was far below the plush bedroom and snaked between the buildings like a strand of liquorice.
‘What is it I’m busy? I told you not to disturb me,’ Atmore said. He listened for a few seconds before cutting off the call without another word. Atmore threw the handset against the far wall; it smashed into pieces. He walked over to the bed to fetch his dressing gown. The sleepy blonde woman in the bed stretched her arm to
ward him, beckoning him back to bed, but the man slapped her hand away.
‘Get out,’ Atmore shouted.
‘What?’ the sleepy blonde model said slurring her speech.
‘You heard me. Get out; now!’ Atmore grabbed the duvet cover the model was lying under. ‘I said now!’ The model looked fearful at the sudden turn of the lover she had just met. Her eyes became sharp and she covered her exposed body as she got out of the bed. ‘It’s a bit late for that, move!’
Looking over her shoulder, the model hurried to put her bra on and the dress that she had picked up from the floor. Atmore grabbed the high heels that had been left scattered on the floor. He walked to the apartment door and opened it. The light from the marble foyer flooded the unlit room. Atmore tossed the shoes out towards the lift. He threw a large handful of fifty-pound notes from his gown pocket out onto the floor after them. The model looked at Atmore with anger as she walked towards him.
‘They said you were a pig,’ the model said as she spat back at Atmore. She walked past the gowned Atmore and bent down to collect her money. He slammed the door behind her. The feline model scrambled on the floor picking up each fifty-pound note. She put the stack of folded money into her clutch bag and collected her shoes. As the lift ascended she slipped into her shoes. The model got into the lift the and swung her hair around to give it more body and readjusted her bra. The lift doors closed and she was gone.
Back in the room, Atmore looked out again over the city that had made him so successful. His assistant had just given him the worst news of his career and he stood paralysed knowing he was powerless to stop what was about to unfold. The businessman reached for his mobile and summoned his assistant.
‘Get over here now, there’s a lot to plan.’ Atmore’s voice had changed, it wasn’t angry like it had been with the model; it was full of fear.
* * * *
A strip of runway lights shone stark against the grey of the tarmac. Breaking through the purple haze of the sky, the sun woke on another morning. A satellite disk oscillated on the roof of the air traffic control tower scanning the skies while red lights, positioned like totem poles in the landscape, flashed on and off. Miniature trucks and vans danced backwards and forwards carrying trailers of luggage and cargo; fuel for the engines, and food for the passengers. From the strip of lights, a plane rose up with a loud whir and drifted into the haze, leaving heated trails behind it that quivered on the horizon.
On the tarmac, a private jet spun with a high-pitched scream. The pilot made his routine safety checks in the cockpit as the stewardess checked her watch for the time. The stewardess glanced round the galley; champagne, entrées, chocolates; it was all there. It was all as it should be. She took a final sweep down the aisle examining the wide reclining leather seats; it was all as it should be, all apart from the lack of passengers.
The stewardess stood by the door of the plane and went to check her watch again, but, before she could, she saw a car draw up near the stairs. A member of the concierge team on the ground hurried to open the rear passenger door and Atmore stepped out onto the tarmac. The suited businessman walked towards the stairs as sirens echoed nearby. Atmore ascended the narrow steps that formed part of the plane’s door. At the top of the steps he was greeted by the stewardess. Her smile tried hard to conceal her nervousness.
‘Good morning sir,’ the stewardess said. She handed him a glass of champagne and tried to ignore the sirens behind him.
‘Why are we not moving yet? Tell the pilot to hurry up,’ Atmore said as he grabbed the glass from her and spilled some champagne onto the plush carpet. The false smile on the stewardess’s face drained and she walked over to the cockpit door as if there was nothing wrong. Atmore sat down in one of the large padded seats and downed the remaining champagne in one mouthful. He watched out of the window and searched for the blue flashing lights.
The stewardess lifted the handset of the wall mounted phone and consulted the pilot, glancing over to Atmore with a nervous flash of her eyes. Her mind told her that the VIP guest fidgeting in his seat was a fugitive, not a client. She walked towards the plane steps in preparation to raise them as officers in special uniforms started to climb them. The stewardess had no choice but to stand back and let the officers through as they pushed past her. Atmore looked up in horror at the group of men standing at the front of the plane. No explanation was needed; he knew why they were there and where he would be going.
* * * *
The phone next to Sarah’s bed rang and woke her up. Her head throbbed with each shrill ring of the phone that dragged her out of her dreams.
‘Go away!’ Sarah put her head under the pillow, but the phone continued to ring at her. She gave up and fumbled her hands over to lift up the hotel phone. ‘Yes? What is it?’ Sarah prepared to shout at someone.
‘What are you doing, I’ve been ringing for ages? Come here quickly,’ Dan said. Dan put the phone down.
‘Good morning to you too,’ Sarah said clunking the handset back. Sarah stumbled out of bed and threw her clothes on. She found her way to his room and yawned as she waited for Dan to open his door.
‘I’ve been looking through everything in these files,’ Dan said. Sarah looked at him with a blank expression of tiredness. Her hair fizzed out from the roots and made her head appear much larger than it was.
‘Wait, can I please get a coffee first before we start all of this again?’ Sarah rubbed her eyes. ‘How long have you been up?’ Sarah looked across to the piles of paper spread about in Dan’s room.
‘Of course, but I can do one better than just coffee. Breakfast is included so let’s go downstairs. I can talk about this then.’
‘So you called me in here just to tell me that?’ Sarah stared at Dan who was sat back at the desk with paper spread out in chaotic piles. Sarah scratched her head and yawned.
‘Is something wrong?’ Dan asked.
‘Wrong? No. You just woke me up at the crack of dawn and brought me in here to tell me that I can eat breakfast.’ Sarah picked up the card with the hotel meal times on from the desk. ‘10:30 am. They serve breakfast till 10:30 am and you wake me up now?’ Dan looked at her apologetic.
‘Sorry, I’ve been absorbed in this. Go back to bed then if you want,’ Dan said pointing at the door. Sarah looked at the information he had spread out and could tell he was excited.
‘Okay okay, but give me ten minutes to have a shower first,’ Sarah said. Dan smiled.
When they got to the breakfast room it was busy, but there were a couple of free tables left.
‘Whoa that’s quite a spread,’ Dan said looking at the tiers of food stacked on the island in front of the hot food counter. Bowls of fresh fruit, pastries of every type, cereals, yoghurts, meats, cheeses, and salad beckoned them to start feasting. The choice of drinks was just as exhaustive too; varieties of teas, coffee, chocolate milk, juices, and smoothies all waited for them.
‘Yeah, compared to the food you’ve been supplying on our journey so far, Dan, this is amazing.’ Sarah looked at the selection with just as much enjoyment as he did. ‘How much did you say this cost again?’ Sarah said. She started loading up her plate with one of everything.
‘I don’t know, I didn’t check it,’ Dan said standing at the hot food counter feeling the warmth radiating from the glass and deciding what to have. Sarah laughed.
‘Ah well, you can afford it now, or will be able to soon,’ Sarah said.
‘I don’t even know if that money is real, do I? Maybury could have made that up too along with all the other stuff.’ Dan added some scrambled egg to his plate.
‘True, but don’t spoil my fun now,’ Sarah said holding up her plate that was full to the edge.
‘It looks as if you haven’t eaten for a week,’ Dan said. His eyes looked on in disbelief at the food Sarah had managed to stack up. They sat in the chic dining room on plush mushroom-coloured chairs and tucked into the plentiful breakfast.
‘Do you want anything else? I’m getting
some chocolate milk and a banana?’ Sarah said.
‘How old are you, five?’ replied Dan.
‘It’s free, and I’ve got to make up for the all the neglect. I’m a student remember, it’s usually just toast and tea for me.’
‘I don’t exactly eat like a king either,’ Dan said as he thought of his meagre portions back in his life far from there. Sarah left the table to fetch her chocolate milk and banana. Returning to her seat, Sarah bit into one of the warm pastries with icing sugar dusted on the top. Taking a slurp of coffee, she started to feel normal again.
‘Ok, go,’ Sarah said with the buttery pastry crumbling in her hand.
‘For once the lady has nothing to say. No, please, don’t let me interrupt this little love affair going on between you and your pastry,’ Dan said. Sarah squinted her eyes at his comment and bit into the pastry again in a deliberate manner. ‘So, I was looking at the Hub sheets trying to make sense of it all, and then the most obvious thing occurred to me.’ Sarah’s eyes closed as she savoured the last sweet taste of the pastry. ‘My grandfather’s estate isn’t in Hampshire at all.’ Sarah opened her eyes and looked at Dan. She took a sip of coffee. ‘The high-speed rail line is between London and Birmingham. The Hub maps clearly mark the borders of my grandfather’s land; in Oxfordshire.’
‘Oxfordshire!’ Sarah spluttered her coffee. ‘Why the hell have we been looking for James Easton in Hampshire then?’ Sarah said, her eyes were still and fixed on Dan’s.
‘Exactly, it was the painting that threw us off. You see the painting is of a house in Hampshire, and Maybury is of course in Winchester, but my grandfather’s house is not. The only conclusion I came to was that my grandfather inherited the painting, as that correlates with that document of the will we couldn’t read at the Records Office. That’s why his name appears to be linked to Hampshire; one of his relatives must have lived there. Sarah sat fascinated and began on her next pastry.
‘So why is the painting in Edinburgh now?’ Sarah asked.