The Whitehall Syndicate: A time travel conspiracy thriller

by Malhar Patel

  “Okay I have a name and factory ID number. I'm sending it to you now. Can you run a background check? I can’t do it remotely”

  “I'll do it right now” replied Frank, optimism leaking into his voice again.

  Jack began pacing nervously while another nerve shredding minute slowly dragged by. “Okay here's his identity document. I'm pulling it up now. Anisha and Jack's eyes widened as the picture came up.

  Remove some facial prosthetics, and it was a perfect image of the man they thought was Green senior. He had been lying all this time; he wasn't from the future at all. He was actually Rory Tomlinson, an American criminal for hire.

  Chapter 24

  Even though plenty of shops were still open on Sundays, Gina had taken longer than expected finding the model car. She had searched in amongst the maze of Covent Gardens’ underground shopping structure, finding a small alley filled with classic toyshops; but even that had been a dead end.

  Of all places, she ended up finding the toy on the busy roads of Charing Cross’ late night market. The mechanics were working late too, and had only just finished off the ambulance, leaving the fine-tuning and safety checks for the morning. As long as they finished early, it wouldn’t harm the plan.

  Gina wanted to be up early tomorrow so that she could beat her boss to work and tell him she had phoned the hospital already. If she got there too late, he may do it himself, and everything would be ruined.

  By the time she returned to the flat it was getting very late and everybody who was still up knew they would be shattered tomorrow if they didn't go to sleep soon.

  Jack and Anisha had gone to bed early after phoning Bob. Pete noticed they were both gone for a long time and suspected Jack had received some bad news about his brother, but was refusing to share it. He didn't want to ask him about it right now though. He had enough to deal with.

  Instead Gina and Pete continued working on the chemical release mechanism for the ambulance. It was fairly simple; by connecting the wheels of the car to a cog, they could use it to pull open the top of a fibre-glass drink bottle. The problem was that the car's radio control didn't work over a very long range so they would have to be accurate.

  With Gina’s crank call, they already had a rough idea of part of the ambulance’s route, which they hoped would help them with the ambush. Pete placed the device on the coffee table, proud of his work, then said goodnight to everybody and went off to try and get some sleep. As he went, Gina smiled, glad that Kim had helped to once again prove his innocence. Over the past week he had become a really good friend.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by Green senior trudging down the stairs in his boxer shorts, looking as if he had just woken up. He had heard part of the conversation and asked how they could be sure that the device would actually work.

  Gina couldn't get the liquid until tomorrow, at which point Jack would pour it into the device and fit it into the ambulance. Gina just assumed that they would know then if it functioned properly.

  “Does Anisha have any sort of alcohol around here?”

  “Erm yeah, in the back cupboard. Are you getting nervous?” Green senior let out a laugh and shook his head.

  “No I mean if she has some proper ethanol lying around, we could heat it up and pour it into the bottle, then warm the bottle in a water bath-,”

  “Until it turns into vapour!”

  “Exactly. Then when we release it we'll know if that contraption works properly. I know that it's not the same as that engine ether but…”

  “No it’s a good idea, let's do it.”

  The both of them got up and headed to the pale, pine kitchen, sifting through the medical and cleaning products for a bottle of pure alcohol.

  Since finding out the news, Jack and Anisha had agreed, for now, not to tell the others about Tomlinson. If he found out that they knew he was an impostor, then he might inform the people blackmailing them about the plan. It was Jack’s life at stake and he couldn’t take the risk. Tomlinson hadn’t harmed them so far, so it seemed a safe option for now. Plus he was still useful for Monday night.

  Green yelled out that he found one, which was ninety eight percent, and Gina darted back to the living room to grab the device. After a little tinkering around they set the upright bottle heating in a saucepan of water, but had to be careful not to get water on the motor.

  Finally seeing the contents inside had turned to steam, Gina pulled at the control stick on the radio control. The lid popped open and alcohol vapour began flowing out. The pair of them jumped up with beaming smile; a second later coughing and spluttering at the alcohol vapour. With her eyes watering and her voice hoarse, Gina managed to choke out, “I think it works.”

  After a few days off, Kim had already grown accustomed to sleeping late, and was feeling drained from the early start this morning. Hearing Jack tell her the good news about Bob had cheered her up though and had led to a comfortable night's sleep. Looking around she could see that everybody in the laboratory was tired but they had no choice but to get back to work.

  As Kim walked around, she could hear different groups all chatting about the incident, which had closed the lab. In amongst the gossip were several theories for the evacuation and some of them were daft enough to raise a smile on her weary face.

  One idea was that somebody had overloaded the machine on purpose so that he could get out of work for a few days. Some other people believed that it was a random search of all the labs for drugs or something else illegal, and the radiation was just a cover story. Personally, Kim just thought it was a good old-fashioned accident.

  She walked over to her group and saw Imran, still looking nervous. He saw her approaching and waved her over. “Hey Kim how are you?”

  “I'm okay. A bit tired but can’t complain. What about you.”

  “I'm okay-,” he was cut off by laughter from Ahmed, one of the younger lab workers.

  “You’re okay? Please! Even now you’re sweating!” Imran gave him a glare and turned back to Kim.

  “All I was saying was, the radiation might not all be gone by now. We're working here nine hours a day, that can't be safe.” Kim smiled, and patted her friend on the back, giving him a reassuring look.

  “I think we’ll be okay.”

  “Well I'm still not entirely convinced. There are these black-suited people lurking around all over the place. Rumour has it they're from radiation health and safety, trying to find out how this happened. They're doing some kind of really serious investigation.”

  Kim felt a shudder run down her spine. She stole some valuable items from Michael Green and a few days later, mysterious suit-clad agents' were investigating everyone. That couldn't just be a con-incidence. All she could do was to avoid them and try to look calm.

  Feeling a weight on her eyebrow, she realised she was starting to sweat and wiped her forehead. She only had to get through this one day and everything would be over. Smiling sweetly at everyone, she shuffled past them and into the lab to get to her computer. If there were any revealing files, she planned to delete them straight away.

  Anisha was having a bad morning and last night was still plaguing her mind. The one person she hadn't suspected of anything was Green senior. His fingerprints even matched her phone and she still couldn't work out how. The counterfeit fingerprints available nowadays were still easily detectable on a phone as advanced as hers, but these prints had been perfect.

  In fact she was so worried, that using a piece of equipment on loan from work, she had taken a hair from Jack’s comb and done a DNA match with the dead fingers.

  She had reasoned that if Tomlinson’s fingerprints were fakes, maybe the ones on the fingers were as well. But unfortunately the results had proved conclusively that they were Jack’s fingers, which meant that everything else they had been told was true: Jack was going to die. For a fleeting few minutes she had hoped it was all a lie, but discovering it was his fingers for certain left her with a rotten feeling.

  She had to give Jac
k credit for yesterday though. Tomlinson helped shoot his brother and if it had happened to her, the traitor would be a bloody mess by now. But Jack saw the bigger picture; he realised that he had to keep Tomlinson alive for now in order to keep himself alive. In practise that also meant not telling Frank anything yet: they weren’t sure if they could trust since the fierce detective to keep his cool.

  Presently Anisha was at work, and she walked out of her small, green-walled cubicle and into the lift, riding it down to the eighteenth floor. Her friend Michelle owed her a favour and today she was calling it in. As she reached the criminalistics lab, she saw the tall silver door that led into a small, sanctioned off room.

  Knocking on it, Michelle turned and smiled before opening it up. She was a slightly chubby brunette, with curly hair and a few freckles, and was dressed in a lab coat at least two sizes too big. After catching up with a short chat, Anisha handed her the small swab of Dextrafizene and asked her to do an analysis of it.

  Michelle took it with a cheery smile and she waited patiently as the machines worked their magic. In no time at all the device blinked and the results came up on the monitor by the far wall. “Sorry Neesh, but this isn't what you were hoping for.” Anisha has suspected as much.

  “What is it then Shelly?”

  “From the trace results, it looks like a mixture of sugar, flour and talcum powder.” Anisha thanked her and walked back out of the small room.

  It all made perfect sense now. The plan had been to stab Green non-lethally and use the drug to make him appear dead. But in reality the drug would be having no effect, and the place Green had told Jack to stab him would actually end up killing him.

  When he looked dead, he actually would be dead, and whoever Tomlinson was working for would finally be satisfied. She texted Jack to let him know. Somehow they would have to change their plans by tonight to keep Green alive, while still convincing Tomlinson that he was dead. Time was rapidly running out.

  Pete gave the bleach blonde a flirtatious smile and ducked his head back under the camera. Facts and anecdotes were running through his mind, and he couldn't concentrate properly. He was Tony Dunn for today. But what did that really mean? Did he have to act differently? Should he act differently? He was getting distracted again. After snapping a few more shots he called for a break. He needed a few minutes to compose himself.

  Checking his phone he saw a text from Gina asking if he knew where Jack was. Scratching his head he went back to work. He had hoped to visit Bob again today but his workload seemed to have piled up out of nowhere. He and Anisha would have to change at work and go directly to the party. But if everything went well tonight he wouldn't have to worry about any of this ever again.

  He massaged his nose for the umpteenth time; it was still sore from where Jack had smashed his fist into it. He wasn't going to dwell on the past and what was done was done. But he couldn't help but feel a small spark of jealousy over the man. Pete couldn't work out why it was, but for some reason, Jack was just more passionate, motivated, and inspirational than him. He was all of the things that Pete wanted to be, but with his simple job and good looks, had never really needed to explore.

  Gina waited anxiously at the desk, looking up every few seconds and then checking the time again. Jack should have been here by now. If he didn't arrive soon, her boss would almost certainly phone the hospital again and then everything was over.

  From the corner of her eye she saw a man in a faded brown leather jacket approaching from across the road. It was Jack at long last. She got up and walked over to meet him on the gravely drive. Telling him what to say in case he was asked, she then called out to her boss that the hospital had sent someone for the ambulance.

  He just nodded, without coming over, and Jack took his queue to get into the vehicle. All that was left now was to procure the packet of the fluid but Gina needed a distraction.

  Jack yelled at the mechanics and the pair slowly stopped what they were doing and walked over, glaring at him through the driver's window. Behind them, Gina snuck back into the workshop, her nerves jangling erratically. Jack could see Gina from his rear view mirror and she was still searching; he had to buy her some time. His voice faltered slightly but he kept his cool.

  “Good day fellas. Can you do me a favour and explain to me exactly what was wrong with it?”

  “The ambulance? It just had a few wires fallen out or messed up, maybe from a lot of fast driving.”

  “And…..How do I erm, how do I stop that from happening again?” he said slowly, seeing that Gina was still having no luck.

  “We fit in some wire locks and tuned up the engine,” replied the second mechanic in a heavy cockney accent. “Trust me mate, this vehicle is in excellent condition now.” Seeing Gina was on her way back he thanked the mechanics' for their time and turned the engine on.

  As Gina walked past the vehicle she slipped him the packet of clear liquid through the window. Nodding, he headed out of the garage and down into a side street a few blocks away to begin adding the bottle device.

  Reaching a large, empty space, he pulled over and checked his phone, finding a message from Anisha. A sigh of frustration slowly escaped his lips. The drug had been key to their operation tonight.

  As the sun beat down through his window, he sat in the vehicle thinking about how to modify the plan, and how that might affect the ambulance situation.

  Slightly tilting her head and straining her neck, Kim nervously peered out of the side window yet again. All morning she had been on a knife-edge, even though all of the files on her desk and the computer where gone.

  If she had left any sort of clue in any of the safes, then she knew they would find her. Finishing up the last decay experiment, she went back to her desk and collected up some observations. Looking up she saw a dark figure entering the lab, with a photograph in his hand that she couldn't make out.

  Her stomach sank in fear and her skin immediately began to blotch red as her fear stricken heart gushed hot blood around her body. Steadying herself with a few deep breaths she slowly crept out of the office and immediately headed for the back exit of the lab.

  There was only one reason they would be here: they knew it was her. Entering the empty corridor she jogged up to the end, making her way to the exit. Seeing some people approaching she slowed down and flashed a friendly smile.

  She was breathing hard now, walking quickly. She didn't want to run because that would just draw more attention to her, but she was so close to the door that temptation threatened to take over at any second. All of a sudden another black figure swooped out in front of the exit and she panicked, taking the first turn she could find.

  As she journeyed down the corridor she was practically jogging. Her delicate ears detected a thudding of boots behind her and it was her cue to break into an all out run.

  She was toned and in fairly good shape but the corridor was a long one, and after a few minutes down the small, claustrophobic passageways, her chest throbbed as if something was gnawing at her insides.

  Reaching the end of the corridor she tried the doorknob furiously. Realising it was locked she turned around and saw a large, near expressionless, man approaching, gun in hand. She couldn’t hear anything anymore; the sound of her heartbeat having become deafening.

  Spotting another door that was open she ran into it, her heart threatening to smash out of her ribcage. Running in she saw it was a small lab with no other way out and her heart sank. Stuck, with no way out, she froze: her body giving up and preparing for her inevitable death. In an instant, the thug burst in.

  Jack pulled up outside Kim's lab in the ambulance. He had a new plan that he wanted to run past her, but he'd probably just missed her lunch break. Whistling along he walked up to the entrance and stopped dead in his tracks as he heard a deafening gunshot.

  Chapter 25

  Juleen chatted nervously, looking around as she did. So big was this event that there was a small queue outside the door already, and she was at the tai
l end. The night was frosty and she was shivering slightly, with her open back being lashed at by the cold.

  Her dark mauve dress looked perfect though and it was clear she was out to get noticed. As the group of bodies in front of her finally shuffled along she reached the doorway and was greeted by a well polished Green, pristinely shaven and wearing just the right amount of cologne. Smiling he kissed her on both cheeks and invited her in.

  Passing through, the guard in the black suit and white shirt standing by the landing nodded to her. There was already something of a crowd gathered inside and, like practically everyone else who had arrived; she had with her a bottle of wine. Placing the ninety-one Montage on the table, she looked around and spotted Moira.

  In a big room of equally big political players, she was glad to see a friend and went over to say hello. The spacious living room was been exquisitely transformed and the food had been laid out in tables surrounding a central place to stand and talk. The sofa was already occupied and so were the sparsely littered chairs, so she walked into the middle and simultaneously straight into the heart of the party.

  Anisha walked up the road in between Jack and Pete. Pete had a duffel bag in his hand, full of the equipment they needed, and the rough blue bag clashed with his elegant tuxedo. As he walked along, the collar of his ruffled shirt itched and he cursed Green for requesting such ridiculously formal attire.

  Anisha was wearing a burgundy dress with a lacy black shawl and Jack couldn't help but admire how amazing she looked. As they approached the house they began to slow down and check around. There were only a few people left at the door and Anisha spotted the guard they were expecting on the north side.

  All three of them took up their positions and Jack walked up to him.

  “Excuse me mate, We're looking for Mr. Green's house. We haven't been here in a long time, do you know where it is?”