by J. D. Weston
11
Tail
Harvey chose option three.
He walked to the side of the apartment door, put his finger over the spy hole and raised his hand to push the bell. He heard the jingle of keys close behind the door, and lowered his hand. Men's voices approached from the other side. He looked around and ran the few steps to the cleaning cupboard, stepped inside and pulled the door closed after him, just as the front door opened.
From inside the cupboard, he could see through the crack in the door. Donny and his goon waited for the lift to arrive. He saw Donny's scarred face, it looked worse than he thought it would, and gave Donny an evil look. Once they were inside the elevator and Harvey heard the doors close, he bolted to the fire escape and ran down the stairs.
He ran from the apartment’s main entrance before Donny and the big guy had started their cars. By the time Donny and Bruno had pulled out of the car park onto the road, Harvey had turned around and was ready to follow them.
He crept to the end of the road and nosed out. Once they were a safe distance in front, he pulled out behind them.
The Mercedes and Toyota turned into Pudding Lane, so he knew they'd be going to the farm. Harvey drove past the turning and diverted to the spot in the fields he'd found before. He bounced through the terrain with his headlight switched off, feeling the way across the rutted land cautiously. Reaching the copse, he ditched his bike and helmet, then ran across the field in the pitch black. He crawled the last two hundred yards to the spot behind the fence where he'd waited before. He let his breathing settle, but this time he had no intention of sitting and waiting for long.
Donny and the goon’s cars were already there. The single door to the barn was open, spilling light onto the small area where the cars were parked. As soon as the goon was out, Harvey would step into action.
Two more cars turned into the long driveway, and Harvey cursed at the lost opportunity. He recognised the BMW as Jamie Creasey but didn't recognise the car behind. It was a Range Rover, and it turned to park next to Jamie. A man stepped out and shut the door.
"A barn? Is this some kind of joke?" he said, as Jamie opened her own car door.
"Not just any barn, Mr Stokes. I can assure you."
"Looks like a barn to me."
Donny had heard the arrival and stepped out of the barn's single door.
“You must be Mr Stokes, welcome.” He offered his hand. The man took it and shook it, but kept looking around.
"You're perfectly safe here, Mr Stokes. Nobody knows we're here and there isn't a neighbour for miles," said Creasey.
"Come, meet the girls," said Donny. "You're going to fall in love tonight, Mr Stokes."
"If I wanted to fall in love, I wouldn't be here, Mr Cartwright."
"Love is temporary, Mr Stokes," said Donny, smiling as he stepped into the barn.
Harvey watched as the single door was pulled closed behind them. He sat back and waited for the tank moving through the shadows, but couldn't see it anywhere. The team would surely know of the new development, and if they'd been smart and followed Creasey like he'd planned, then they might even call for back up.
Less than an hour later the double doors slid open. A plastic sheet had been laid out on the floor inside, and the digger's diesel engine fired up, coughing black smoke noisily into the air. Harvey watched, waited and planned. Execution was imminent.
Mr Stokes emerged from the single door. He abruptly shook hands with Donny and Creasey and walked to his car.
“Was it what you expected, Mr Stokes?”
"I'm not entirely sure what I expected, Mr Cartwright, but yeah, I can see your little enterprise taking off, given the right exposure to the right people." He began to walk away again. "Of course, you'll need to find somewhere else, this place just won't do."
"Are you suggesting you might know of some potential clients, Mr Stokes?"
"I'm saying you should get in touch when you're not based on a farm. Don't get me wrong, it works, but if you're going to charge seventy-five grand a pop, I imagine people will want to relax with the girls, you know, somewhere stylish, with champagne and more girls serving the drinks. I love the nude thing, by the way, no animosity." He opened the car door. "Anyway, thanks for the evening. Like I said, call me when you're set up properly and we'll see where we can help each other out." He started the engine quickly and pulled away, ignoring the waves from Creasey.
The goon pulled the digger out and turned behind the building. Harvey waited for Donny and Creasey to disappear. He stepped up with one foot on the fence, and was about to pull himself over when Bruno walked back around the corner into the light.
He was carrying somebody on his massive shoulder. It was Melody. She was limp and hung over his huge body like he was carrying a wet towel from the shower.
"Boss," he called when he stepped into the barn, "we got ourselves a visitor." He dropped Melody onto the plastic sheet and pulled her Sig from his waistband, "She was carrying this."
Donny took the gun from him. “Take a torch, look around.”
Creasey joined him, and they both stood over her, "I know her, she was stood beside me at the club."
"What club?"
"Marco’s, where I'd arranged to meet Mr Stokes."
"Did she come into contact with you?"
"No, wait, yes. She spilt her drink and-"
“Check your bag and pockets.”
“What for?”
“For something that isn’t supposed to be there.”
Their voices were raised, Harvey heard everything from where he sat fifteen metres away.
"Do you think she's police?" asked Creasey.
"I think we got ourselves a new girl," said Donny, smiling. "Strip her and put her in stable six."
The goon walked back into the barn, "No sign of anyone else anywhere, boss."
"Okay, carry on digging the hole, Bruno, get rid of that body."
Bruno was watching Creasey unbutton Melody’s shirt.
“Bruno?” said Donny.
“Yes, boss.”
Bruno walked back out into the darkness and disappeared behind the building. Harvey now knew that Donny was carrying and watched his every move.
Creasey pulled the chip from her bag, it was the size of a small SIM card.
"Bitch," she muttered.
"I'll take that," said Donny. He threw the chip on the concrete floor and grabbed a hammer from where it hung on the wall with other random tools. He destroyed the chip with three direct hits.
By the time he had vented his anger on the small device, Creasey had stripped Melody to her underwear and was uncoiling the hose from its reel on the wall. As she turned the tap, a stream of cold water spewed from its nozzle. She turned it on Melody who immediately woke and rolled over, holding her head. She covered herself as she stood, but didn't say a word. Donny had her gun raised at her.
"Who are you?" he said.
Melody didn't reply.
"You will tell us," Donny said.
“Maybe she needs a little solitude? That might encourage her to talk.”
“Room six is all made up for you.” Donny motioned with the gun to the line of doors behind her. “In.”
Melody stood resolute. She stared at him. Harvey could see the hatred on her face from where he sat. He felt helpless, without a weapon he stood no chance of helping her against the three of them, all of whom could be carrying.
Melody moved out of sight, and Harvey heard the bang of a door being slammed, then the jingle of keys in a lock.
Donny came back into view and stood beside Creasey in the doorway of the double doors. She turned to him.
"She's not alone. There'll be more, they're onto us," she hissed.
"Calm down, there's-"
"Calm down?” she interrupted. "Don't tell me to calm down, who the hell is she? And why does she have a gun?"
"Bruno swept the place. If there were more of them we'd of found them, and no doubt they would have kicked the doors in."
"You're saying she's alone?"
"Maybe, let me think. We can't afford to make any rash decisions. My father used to attack problems with a cool head."
"You can think all you like, I'm out of here," she said, picking up her bag off the floor, "I won't be back until all this is over."
“What?” cried Donny. “You can’t leave just because of this, you’re the one that brought her here, she obviously followed you.”
"I didn't bring her here, Donny, I brought clients here. Two of them in one night, that's two hundred grand. We should cut our losses and get out while we can. We haven't seen Barney for days, do you think maybe that's why? You think he's been-"
"Jamie, shut up. You're hysterical. Get a grip. No-one will do a thing while we have her, she's our guarantee." Donny smiled cruelly.
"Guarantee, Donny?" she started to raise her voice. "So you're into hostages now are you?"
He walked over to her, they were five metres from where Harvey sat. Donny gritted his teeth while he spoke, "If you leave now, you cowardly bitch, I'll keep every penny. There's four hundred grand in there." He gestured to the kitchen. "If Barney has been caught, he's either dead, or he's not talking, so that's two hundred grand each. You walk, and I'll keep the lot. Your choice." He turned away from her. She stood staring at him.
"I can’t do it anymore, Donny." Her voice broke.
"I thought you had more balls than that, Jamie."
Her face was screwed up, not with hate, but with fear. Harvey knew the look. He'd seen it on the faces of his targets, and he'd seen it on Sergio's face before he’d boiled him alive.
"We'll move them tomorrow," he said.
"Where to?"
"I'll find somewhere. We'll torch this place."
"And the cop?"
Donny paused and looked her in the eye. "We'll get rid of her, leave no traces."
Bruno came out from the darkness and went to the stables to get the body.
Donny looked at him and gestured with his thumb as he emerged from the stable carrying the dead girl. "It works, Jamie. You can see for yourself. You heard Stokes, there's potential here. We just need to be more careful."
“I’m scared, Donny.”
"Of what, Jamie? What is it? Prison? There's no chance of prison. There's two outcomes here, you'll either end up dead or rich. Give me six months."
"Six months? I can’t take another six months of this, Donny. I'm at breaking point."
"Alright, six months and half of Barney's cut."
"What about Barney?"
"He's out. I just severed the tie."
"What if he grasses?"
“Chances are he’s dead already. If he isn’t, what’s he going to say? He’s not likely to just tell the police that he’s involved in…” he chose his words carefully, “all this, is he?”
“Six months.”
“Six months, or a million each. Whichever comes first.”
She nodded faintly in the bright light.
“Go, get some rest. We’ll take care of all this.” He gestured over his shoulder.
Jamie turned and left. Harvey watched her leave. Bruno was wrapping the girl in thick, blue, plastic sheets. Donny stood looking out into the night as Bruno walked passed him carrying the bundle.
“Good work, Bruno.”
“Thanks, boss.”
Donny pulled his phone from his pocket, dialled and listened.
“Murray, it’s me,” he began, “I know what time it is, we have a problem.” He listened to the voice, then began in a defensive tone. “No, it’s not like that. No. Just a week, I need to find a new place, it’s all on top here, we found some bird creeping around outside with a gun.” He lowered his voice to a hiss. “What? You can’t keep them here, we’re moving the operations tomorrow. Jesus, Michael, have I ever let you down? I’m not letting you down now, we need to move the girls, I’ll have a new address tomorrow, you can deliver them there. You’re on your way now? Five am? It’s three am now, you can’t-” The man disconnected. “Ah, Christ.”
Harvey overheard the one-sided conversation but could fill in the blanks. Another batch of girls was two hours away, and Melody was in serious trouble.
Harvey watched as Donny nervously began fingering the scar on his face. He was planning.
If more girls were arriving in two hours’ time, the place would be full. Melody would be stuck in there. Donny would need to go and find a new place and leave the farm unprotected. That gave Harvey an opportunity to get Melody out, then he'd wait for Donny to return. But he'd need a weapon.
12
Man Down
Harvey tapped on the window of the VW Transporter van and saw Reg nervously jump and turn around. He fumbled for his weapon. Harvey opened the rear door and stepped into the light. The smell of fresh coffee hit Harvey.
"It's me, put it down, Reg."
"Stone," said Reg, he lowered his weapon, "Melody-"
"Yeah, I saw it. I need a weapon."
"A weapon? I'm not sure-"
"We can't give wanted criminals weapons, Harvey," said Denver from the front. He was turned in his seat and faced Harvey. Harvey saw a cool boldness in his eyes.
"You want Melody back?"
"Sure we do."
"Are you two about to go in there and save her?"
"We're not trained for that sort of thing."
"I am, so give me a weapon."
Denver stepped from the van and walked around the back to join Harvey. He held out a hand, Harvey studied him and then shook it.
“You back then?” Denver asked.
“Have you called it in yet?”
“Melody? No, not yet.”
“What’s your plan?” asked Harvey.
“Whatever it was, rescuing Melody wasn’t part of it. We can do this together, Stone.”
“Did you hear the phone call?”
"Cartwright's?" said Reg, "Yeah, it's a burner."
"He's the source, the Michael guy. Donny was scared. There's a new batch of girls arriving at five am."
"That gives us a little over one hour," said Reg.
"No, Donny and his goon will need to go and look for new places. They're going to torch this place and move operations."
"Torch it?"
"Fire, Reg," said Harvey, "lots of it."
Reg looked away.
"So, we wait for the delivery," said Denver, "then once Cartwright leaves to find a new place, we go in and get Melody out."
"No," said Harvey, "more detail. The success is in the detail."
Denver and Reg stared at him.
"The girls will arrive in a lorry or truck of some description. The lorry will need to be tracked. Do you have any of those LUCY chips left?"
"Sure," said Reg.
"Okay, your job is to make sure that lorry gets a chip. Once it leaves here, it'll take us right to the source, that'll please Frank."
"Got it," said Reg.
"The girls will be stripped and thrown into the stables with the other girls. The truck will be out of there as fast as possible, they won't hang around. Donny will leave to go see the new place, which he's probably researching right now. Reg, can you tap into the internet in there?"
"It has internet? It's like something from The Waltons."
"There's a control room, and cameras in every stable. If you can get the video fed, there's your case right there. That'll also please Frank. Donny will go find the new place, we go in, get all the girls out, I wait inside."
"What?" said Denver.
"I came for Donny. I'm taking him out. He'll come back from the trip, and I'll deal with him. You guys have Jamie on screen still?"
"Yeah, thanks for the clue," said Reg.
"Okay, you keep an eye on her, Denver. She's terrified and won't be back for a while, but if she does come along, you guys take her off the road, put the cuffs on. Frank'll be happy three times in one day. Frank gets Creasey, and the source, Michael, plus the girls live. I get Donny."
“Soun
ds like a plan,” said Denver.
“Plus, Sneaky got the plates of Mr Narakimo, we’ll find him, and who’s the guy that just left?” said Reg.
“Stokes,” replied Harvey. “Two killers, the salesman and the source.”
Reg handed Harvey an ear-piece, “Welcome back, Harvey, we missed you,” said Reg with a grin.
Harvey fitted the ear-piece. “Reg are you inside that internet yet?”
“Yeah, Donny’s looking at nearby commercial rental properties.”
“Would the CCTV be on the same network?” asked Harvey.
"If a dumbass installed it, yeah. Why?"
"There's a bunch of screens on the wall in the control room, there's cameras in every stable."
"Okay, well let's see," Reg went into Reg mode and began to talk to himself as he worked, "cameras are usually UDP based and will require a server or gateway-"
"What's UDP?" asked Denver, regretting the question before he finished asking it.
“That’s a good question, Denver. User datagram protocol is a method of transmitting data over the internet that doesn't resend lost packets-”
"Okay, we don't really have time for this, save the IT lesson for when we're back in HQ eh?" said Harvey.
Denver glanced up at Harvey. "You are coming back then?"
"Let's just say my options are open right now," said Harvey.
Denver nodded at him, and they banged fists.
"Okay, if you guys have stopped being so cool, let's do some pinging over ports seventy-five and eighty. Hmm, there's the internet gateway there," he pointed to the screen, "and hello, there's the media server. So, if I browse to the IP address over port eighty, aha." He stopped the muttering. "We have a log in screen, we just need the username and password for the CCTV system. Let's try admin and admin." Reg entered the default credentials, and the screen went blank, then eight small thumbnails appeared with one larger window above showing the Mercedes and Toyota sitting at the front of the barn.
"I'm impressed, Reg, that was under a minute," said Harvey.
"If you teach me how to kill with my bare hands, I'll teach you how-"
"I'm not that impressed, Reg. What's on the cameras?"