Nightmare

by Stephen Leather

  Nightingale took a quick look, left and right. One of the men pulled out a gun. A MAC-10. Nightingale’s heart pounded. He moved until his back was against a shop window. The second man pulled out his weapon. Another MAC-10. He pulled the trigger and the gun kicked in his hands. The window behind Nightingale shattered. Pedestrians screamed and ran for cover as glass crashed down onto the pavement.

  One of the black teenagers fell to the ground, yelling in pain. The shopkeeper stood with his mouth wide open, too shocked to move.

  The first gunman seemed to be having trouble getting his gun to work. He was cursing and banging the magazine. The gunman who’d fired looked over at him. ‘What’s your fucking problem?’ he shouted.

  ‘It’s jammed. It’s fucking jammed.’

  Nightingale started to run. The second gunman turned and fired but Nightingale was a moving target now and the shots went high, slamming into the brickwork above his head. Nightingale crouched low and ran down the road, zig-zagging. The first gunman finally let rip with his gun and bullets whizzed around, smashing the windows of a Chinese restaurant. Pedestrians were screaming and running away from the gunmen, towards Hyde Park. A car veered to the right and collided with a taxi and a white van slammed into the back of them both.

  The first gunman fired again and bullets screeched off the road, this time missing Nightingale’s feet by inches. A Muslim woman completely covered in a black hijab threw herself to the ground, wailing. A young father clutched his baby son to his chest and ran into a coffee shop, barging past a middle-aged couple laden down with carrier bags who were staring wide-eyed at the mayhem.

  Nightingale ducked behind the taxi as bullets thudded against the side of the vehicle. He was breathing hard and fast, trying to work out how many rounds they still had in their weapons. Nightingale knew that the MAC-10 came with two types of box magazine: a regular version holding twenty rounds and an extended version that held thirty-two. The fact that the guns were hidden under the shooters’ jackets suggested that they’d used the smaller magazine, which meant that they could be emptied in two seconds. And the fact that they’d both fired three short bursts meant that they’d be running low. So either it would all be over soon or they’d stop to slot in fresh magazines.

  He risked a look over the wing of the taxi. The two men were walking towards him, their guns held out at arm’s length. They were both firing one-handed, which accounted for the terrible marksmanship. They must have fired more than twenty rounds between them and so far they’d not managed to hit him. But the closer they got the more likely they were to hit home so he had to move and he had to move fast. One of the men fired a quick burst but it went high and shattered the windows of the shop behind him. Nightingale bent low and scuttled behind the white van. The driver’s door burst open and the driver, a West Indian in his twenties, fell out onto the pavement. He scrambled to his feet but Nightingale pushed him back down. ‘Stay low,’ he hissed. A siren started to blare at the far end of Queensway. It was a paramedic’s vehicle, trying to clear the traffic ahead of it.

  More bullets thudded into the side of the taxi. Nightingale looked around for something to use as a weapon but there was nothing at hand. All he had in his holdall was camera equipment, and he doubted that his attackers would be deterred by his telephoto lens.

  One of the gunmen stepped from behind the rear of the taxi and onto the pavement. He raised the gun and pointed it at Nightingale’s chest. Nightingale crouched down, making himself as small a target as he could, and he held the holdall up in front of his face, bracing himself against the hail of bullets that he was certain was about to be heading in his direction. He heard a metallic click followed by a curse. He moved the bag and saw the shooter staring at the side of his gun. The shooter cursed again and Nightingale realised that he was out of ammunition. Nightingale roared and got to his feet. He started towards the shooter, but as he did so the other gunman appeared and fired. The shots went low and smacked into the wing of the white van. Nightingale spun around and began running down the pavement, towards the Tube station.

  The two trail bikes had started to move down Queensway, the riders clearly panicked by the siren. The bikes braked hard and squealed to a halt close to the white van. The two shooters jumped on the pillions and the bikes roared off.

  Onlookers were still screaming and crying and running for cover. Nightingale looked across the road. The black teenager that had been shot was sitting in the doorway of the gift shop, holding his hand to his shoulder. His friend had run off but the Indian shopkeeper was kneeling down next to the injured boy and talking into a mobile phone.

  Nightingale slowed as he reached the entrance to the station. The people walking away from the escalators towards the exit had no idea of the mayhem that had just taken place outside and they had the blank bored faces of seasoned commuters. Nightingale forced himself to relax and tried to blend in, but his hand was shaking as he pressed his Oyster card against the reader to open the barrier.

  11

  Nightingale walked into the office and grinned when he saw Jenny at the coffee machine. ‘Perfect timing,’ he said. He took the camera from his holdall and put it on her desk. ‘Loads of pictures of Mrs Stevens with her gentleman friend entering and leaving the hotel, including a couple where they’re very lovey-dovey.’

  ‘Well done you,’ she said, picking up his mug and filling it full of coffee. ‘Any problems?’

  ‘Two guys tried to kill me with automatic weapons in Queensway. Does that count?’ He took the mug from her.

  Jenny’s jaw dropped. ‘Please tell me you’re joking,’ she said.

  ‘I wish I was. They had machine pistols and tried to mow me down on the way to the Tube station.’

  ‘Are you okay?’

  Nightingale shrugged. ‘Ran like the wind,’ he said. ‘Might need a change of underwear.’

  ‘Are you serious?’

  ‘About the underwear? No. Not really.’

  ‘Jack, I’m never sure whether you’re joking or not these days. Did someone try to shoot you or not?’

  ‘I’m just trying to lighten the moment, kid,’ he said. ‘Yes, two black guys, gangbangers, with what looked like MAC-10s. They got out of a Range Rover and escaped on bikes. The only reason they didn’t stay and finish the job was because a paramedic hit his siren and they panicked.’

  ‘And this happened in Queensway?’

  ‘Just near the Tube station. Innocent bystander got shot. A teenager.’ He sipped his coffee and then went through to his office.

  Jenny followed him. ‘Come on, Jack. Details.’

  ‘It’s no biggie,’ he said, sitting down at his desk.

  ‘Like hell it’s no biggie. You said someone got hurt.’

  ‘That tends to happen when bullets are flying around.’

  ‘Damn you, Jack, how can you be so blasé about what happened?’

  ‘I guess I’m just getting used to people trying to kill me. Anyway, it all happened so fast, it was over in seconds.’

  ‘And you just went on to the surveillance job?’

  Nightingale forced a smile. ‘There wasn’t much I could do.’

  ‘You could have talked to the police, for a start.’

  ‘And get hauled in by Chalmers again?’

  ‘Did you get a look at them?’

  ‘They were wearing ski masks but I saw them go by in their car before they started shooting.’ He sipped his coffee.

  ‘Then you have to go to the police. You can’t just walk away from something like that.’

  Nightingale laughed. ‘Walked? Do me a favour! I ran. My feet hardly touched the ground.’

  ‘And nobody stopped you?’

  ‘Everyone was pretty much down on the ground or hiding,’ said Nightingale. ‘There was one hell of a lot of lead flying around.’

  ‘And they still missed you?’

  Nightingale looked at her in astonishment. ‘You sound disappointed.’

  ‘Idiot. I’m just saying that you were
lucky, there’s not a mark on you.’

  ‘MAC-10s are difficult to control,’ said Nightingale. ‘Gangbangers love them because they look the business, but they’re a bugger to aim and the recoil is fierce. In a street fight it comes down to spray and pray.’

  ‘You prayed? Is that what you mean?’

  Nightingale grinned and shook his head. ‘They pray is what I meant. Spray and pray. They point the gun in the general direction of the target, pull the trigger and hope for the best.’

  ‘In Queensway? They didn’t care about passers-by?’

  ‘The days of worrying about innocent bystanders are long gone, kid. It’s like the Wild West in parts of London. They hit a young lad but he seemed okay.’

  ‘But Bayswater? It’s hardly Brixton, is it?’

  ‘Yeah, well, I think it was a case of Mohammed coming to the mountain. They were outside my flat first; they were waiting for me.’

  ‘But who, Jack? Who would want to shoot you in broad daylight?’ Her eyes widened. ‘You don’t think it was Proserpine, do you? Were they working for her?’

  ‘That’s the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question, isn’t it?’

  Jenny frowned. ‘I’ve never understood that. What does it mean? Sixty-four-thousand-dollar question?’

  ‘It was an American game show in the fifties. Like Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? Back then, sixty-four thousand dollars was a lot of money.’

  ‘You don’t seem particularly upset about what happened. They tried to kill you, right?’

  ‘What do you want me to do, Jenny? Lock myself in the bathroom? Hide under the bed? I was in an armed response unit when I was with the Met, remember? I’m used to facing bad guys with guns.’

  ‘Sure, but when you were a cop you’d have been wearing a bulletproof vest and not a raincoat. And you’ve have had an MP3 to fire back with.’

  Nightingale laughed. ‘I bloody hope not,’ he said. ‘An MP3’s a music player. You mean a Heckler & Koch MP5.’

  ‘Whatever I mean, you’d have had a gun and protection. Why are you being so bloody calm about this?’

  ‘Because it’s over and I’m alive and all’s well that ends well,’ he said.

  ‘Except for the teenager who got caught in the crossfire.’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘You’re avoiding my question, aren’t you?’

  ‘What question?’

  ‘I asked you about Proserpine and you did that clever thing you do of making a joke to get out of answering. Jack, could she be behind this? She said she’d send three people to kill you. Two have already tried, right? Maybe this is the third attempt.’

  Nightingale finished his coffee, put down his mug and reached for his cigarettes.

  ‘Jack, talk to me. Is it possible that Proserpine sent them?’

  ‘I’m not being evasive, kid. I just don’t know. I suppose it’s possible.’ He didn’t want to tell her that he’d seen Proserpine just before the shooting. Or that she’d said they were coming for him. Maybe Jenny was right, though. Maybe they had been working for her and maybe she had been there to watch.

  ‘Suppose isn’t really good enough, is it? Not when your life’s on the line.’

  ‘What do you think I should have done? Interrogated them as the lead was flying?’

  ‘You make a joke of everything, don’t you? Look, you did a deal with a devil. She gave you the information you needed to find your sister and help get her out of prison. But for every question of yours that she answered she said she’d send someone to kill you.’

  ‘To try to kill me,’ corrected Nightingale. ‘She hasn’t had much luck so far.’

  ‘Yes, well, maybe she’s saving the best until last. Men with guns shooting at you in broad daylight? That sounds like she’s getting desperate. Like she’s annoyed that the first two failed and this time she wanted to make sure.’

  ‘But doesn’t the fact that they made such a mess of it show that it wasn’t her behind it?’

  ‘I don’t know, Jack. That’s why I’m asking you. You’re the one who summons her, not me.’

  ‘I don’t know, kid, I really don’t know. I can’t help thinking that Proserpine’s minions would be more creative. This just seemed like a gang thing.’

  ‘So it’s connected with the drug dealer you’re supposed to have shot?’

  Nightingale slid a cigarette out and slipped it between his lips. ‘That seems more likely,’ he said as he took his lighter from his pocket.

  ‘You need to find out for sure,’ said Jenny.

  ‘I will,’ said Nightingale. He lit his cigarette. ‘And I know just the person to ask.’

  ‘Please don’t tell me you’re going to start summoning up devils again,’ said Jenny. ‘You know that always ends in tears.’

  ‘I was thinking of someone closer at hand, actually,’ said Nightingale. He handed her his empty coffee mug. ‘Couldn’t have a refill, could I?’

  12

  Nightingale pushed open the door to the pub, stepped inside and looked around. Evans was standing at the corner of the bar from where he could watch the door and the flatscreen television that was showing a Chelsea–Liverpool game. Evans nodded when he saw Nightingale, then raised his glass to his lips as he watched the football. It was stiflingly hot in the pub and Nightingale took off his raincoat and slipped it over his arm on his way to the bar.

  ‘If Chalmers finds out that I’m drinking with you, he’ll blow a fuse,’ said Evans as Nightingale joined him.

  ‘That ship has already sailed, I think.’ He waved over at the barmaid, a redhead with shoulder-length hair and a sprinkling of freckles across her upturned nose. ‘What are you on, lager?’ he asked.

  Evans nodded and Nightingale ordered a pint of Fosters and a bottle of Corona.

  ‘So what do you want, Jack?’ asked Evans, putting down his glass. ‘I’m assuming you’re not going to confess to shooting Dwayne Robinson.’

  ‘You know full well that what happened to Dwayne Robinson has got nothing to do with me. Chalmers is clutching at straws.’

  ‘He’s got you in his sights, that’s for sure,’ said Evans. ‘He’s trying to get funding to put together a full Tango team and really put you under the microscope.’

  ‘Great,’ said Nightingale. The drinks arrived and Nightingale paid for them. There was a group of Chelsea fans within earshot so Nightingale nodded at the fruit machine and the two of them went over to stand by it. ‘I need a favour,’ said Nightingale.

  Evans chuckled. ‘And in the whole of the Metropolitan Police I’m the only cop you can ask? You really don’t have any friends, do you?’ He sipped his lager.

  ‘You’re the only one that can help me, Dan.’

  ‘You mean everyone else has told you to go screw yourself ? I’m your last resort?’

  ‘It’s more complicated than that,’ said Nightingale. ‘Did you hear about a shooting in Bayswater this morning?’

  ‘Sure. Trident are on the case. Black on black. Black teenager took a bullet in the shoulder but it’s not life-threatening. Looks like a turf war.’

  ‘Yeah, well, that’s not what happened.’

  ‘Says who?’

  ‘Says the guy they were shooting at.’ He raised his bottle in salute. ‘Here’s to dodging bullets,’ he said.

  ‘Please don’t tell me that you’re withholding information,’ scowled the detective. ‘A teenager got shot.’

  ‘I’m talking to you now, aren’t I? And let’s look on the bright side, shall we? At least it wasn’t coppers doing the shooting.’

  Evans sipped his lager and then his eyes widened as a Chelsea player took a shot at goal that was tipped over the crossbar by the keeper.

  ‘You a Chelsea fan, Dan?’

  ‘Liverpool,’ said Evans. ‘My grandfather worked on the docks and my dad was a cop.’

  ‘So how did you end up in London?’

  ‘We’re never going to be bosom buddies, Jack, so you don’t need my family history.’ He took another drink and then looked at Nightingale like an
undertaker measuring him up for a coffin. ‘Look, what you did to the father of that little girl – you know, a lot of guys in the job think you did the right thing. She killed herself, you threw him out of his office window, and there’re plenty out there would have done the same. But that was two years ago. Water under the bridge. Now you’re a civilian, and a civilian who seems to be the catalyst for a hell of a lot of corpses.’

  ‘It’s been an unlucky few weeks, that’s certainly true.’

  ‘Unlucky? It’s like you’ve got the plague, Jack. Everyone you talk to turns up dead.’

  ‘That’s a bit of an exaggeration and you know it.’

  ‘Yeah? Well, a month ago you were a former cop scraping a living as a private eye and you weren’t even on our radar. Now every time a body turns up Chalmers wants to know where you were.’

  ‘Chalmers has always had the hots for me,’ said Nightingale.

  ‘I don’t understand why you keep making a joke about it.’

  ‘What do you want me to do, Dan? Confess?’

  ‘You see, you’re doing it now. Your uncle and aunt are dead. He killed her and then topped himself.’

  ‘Murder-suicide,’ said Nightingale.

  ‘And then you go and see the guy who killed Robbie.’

  ‘It was an RTA.’

  ‘It was a traffic accident when he died, but the guy took a flyer off his balcony while you were talking to him.’

  ‘He jumped, Dan.’

  ‘And then you go to Wales claiming that some woman was your sister and she hangs herself.’

  Nightingale shrugged and said nothing.

  ‘You go to see the guy who used to drive Gosling around and he decapitates himself in front of you. Oh, and let’s not forget the gamekeeper who blew his head off with a shotgun while he was talking to you.’

  ‘You’re starting to sound like Chalmers.’

  ‘I’ve got to be honest, he’s got a point. All this is going on around you and you’re acting like it’s no big thing.’

  ‘It’s a huge bloody thing, but what can I do?’

  ‘You can tell me what you think is going on.’