Life of Crime

by Kimberley Chambers

  ‘You’re being too tough on Donte, in my opinion, Mel, and you’re achieving nothing by taking his computer away. You know how he loves playing all his games on it; he’ll only hate you more if you stop him doing that.’

  ‘But I don’t want him tracking down Joel. That’ll only make him feel worse. He’s still a child, Jason.’

  ‘He’s old for his years, Mel, and if he is that desperate to look for his old man there is sod-all you can do to stop him. Computers are everywhere these days; taking his away isn’t going to stop him searching for his father on somebody else’s. You need to cut him some slack or you’re gonna push the lad away for good. It’s tough enough on him that I’ve moved back in,’ Jason warned.

  ‘Will you talk to him tomorrow? He’s acting like he despises me – swearing at me as if he’s some hooligan off the Mardyke Estate. I never expected that. He’s always been polite until recently.’

  ‘I can try, but I reckon you’d do better to sit him down and talk it over with him.’

  Melissa squeezed Jason’s hand. The more she thought about Tracey’s pregnancy, the more desperate she was to become pregnant again herself. ‘Wouldn’t it be great if I got pregnant too? Our kid could be bezzie mates with Simon and Tracey’s.’

  ‘We need to be sure our relationship is sound before we bring a child into the equation, Mel. Not fair on the kid otherwise. There’s no rush, is there? Why don’t we give it a few months, see how things go?’

  Secretly praying she was already pregnant as they’d used no contraception the other evening, Melissa yawned. ‘I’m ready for bed. Will you be sleeping in Bobby’s nursery or with me?’

  ‘I’m gonna watch a film so will probably crash in Bobby’s room. Night, babe. Sleep tight.’

  CRASH, BANG, WALLOP – Melissa sat up in bed startled. She could hear men’s voices, shouting, and was sure they were inside her house.

  ‘Dad, Dad!’ Shay screamed.

  Leaping out of her bed, Melissa shrieked in terror as her bedroom door flew open. ‘Don’t move. Stay exactly where you are,’ a man barked. He had a navy baseball hat on with the word POLICE written across the front and a thick protective vest underneath his clothing.

  ‘Oh my God! Whatever’s going on?’ Melissa cried as Jason was marched into the room wearing only his boxer shorts and a set of handcuffs.

  ‘Listen carefully, all of you,’ another officer said as Donte and Shay were led into the room. ‘I am arresting you all on suspicion of a conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’

  ‘Is this some kind of joke?’ Melissa spat.

  ‘I’m afraid not, love,’ an officer said, flashing a badge and piece of paper. ‘DS Chatham, National Crime Squad – and this is a warrant to search your property. Smith, Singh, take the lady with you while you search each room. We don’t want to be accused of anything untoward. Jacobs, you take the kids downstairs and make sure they don’t tamper with any evidence. Anderson, Fletcher, you stay up here with me in case pretty boy plays up when we get him dressed. If he does, he can be interviewed at the station in his birthday suit.’

  Totally shell-shocked, Melissa glared at Jason before urging Shay and Donte to follow the female officer who was beckoning them. She was dressed the same as the men, had the navy baseball cap on and a thick vest protecting her chest.

  ‘Watch ’em like hawks, make sure they don’t plant anything, babe,’ Jason shouted after Mel. ‘This is a big mistake, you’ll see. Never taken or handled a drug in the whole of my fucking lifetime.’

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Still in a state of shock, Melissa got inside the police vehicle with her children. Jason had been taken away in handcuffs in a separate unmarked van and hadn’t even been allowed to speak to her and the kids before being dragged out the front door.

  The neighbours were gathered, no doubt gossiping, and Melissa had never felt so humiliated in all her life as they were driven away. She had never broken a law in her life, so how could they arrest her and her children? It was beyond ridiculous. ‘Donte, Shay, are you OK?’ she enquired. As far as she was aware, nothing untoward had been found inside the house. The officers had certainly found no drugs, but had taken away a bag full of bits and bobs, including paperwork. They had also taken a mobile phone out of the glove compartment of Jason’s car. That worried Mel, as she had never seen that particular phone before.

  ‘Are we going to go to prison?’ Shay asked, chewing at her fingernails.

  ‘No. Your dad reckons there has been a mix-up. Hopefully, all will be fine,’ Mel replied. She was trying to act brave in front of the children, but it wasn’t easy as she was terrified herself.

  ‘I bet my real dad wouldn’t get us arrested,’ Donte hissed. ‘My teachers are bound to hear about this and I bet I get expelled.’

  The female police officer turned and smiled at the children. ‘You won’t be going to prison or getting expelled from school. We just need to ask you some questions, that’s all.’

  ‘Where are you taking us then?’ Shay asked.

  ‘Barkingside police station. It’s not far,’ the officer replied.

  ‘Will I be able to make a phone call when I get there?’ Melissa asked.

  ‘Not immediately. But later you will.’

  Melissa had watched lots of police dramas on TV and knew she had rights. ‘But I’m allowed one phone call. It’s the law.’ She planned to ring Simon. He would know what to do in a situation such as this, surely? She didn’t even know the number of a decent solicitor and had no idea if Jason did either.

  ‘Not if you’re being held incommunicado, it isn’t,’ the male officer chirped up.

  ‘And what the hell does incommunicado mean?’ Melissa asked angrily. This was beyond a joke now.

  ‘It means you aren’t allowed to speak to anyone.’

  ‘But why? I thought everybody who was arrested had the right to a phone call.’

  ‘In a nutshell, your property wasn’t the only one raided this morning. Your old man’s cronies’ homes have been turned over too. So until we know all your husband’s pals are safely in our care, nobody gets to make any calls. Got it now?’

  Melissa felt like crying. This sounded far more serious than she’d realized. Far more serious indeed.

  Still in handcuffs and flanked by two officers, Jason watched miserably as the Old Bill raided his shop. He had lots of hooky stuff in there, items that he knew had been burgled or fallen off the back of a lorry, but he doubted they were interested in those. He’d covered his arse with false receipts for most of the clobber anyway.

  ‘I need to use the toilet. I’m busting,’ Jason said.

  ‘Check the khazi, make sure there’s no way out. Help him undress an’ all. Do not take the handcuffs off,’ Chatham ordered a colleague. ‘He’ll have to drip dry,’ he added.

  Jason stared miserably at his handcuffs. He’d thought when the Old Bill had smashed the door down in the ferocious way they had that they’d somehow got wind of the painting. Thank goodness they hadn’t. That was well hidden elsewhere, along with any clues that might lead the police to it.

  ‘I think we’re done ’ere, guv,’ said the officer who’d brought the two sniffer dogs in.

  ‘You checked thoroughly out the back?’ Chatham asked.

  ‘Yeah. Nothing.’

  ‘Right, let’s get Rampling over to the station then, see what he’s got to say for himself.’

  Jason gave Chatham the evil eye. He was only in his early thirties, Jason reckoned. A cocky, bolshie type with a face only a mother could love. ‘No comment, no comment, no comment,’ Jason goaded. He was furious they’d taken Melissa and the kids in for questioning. There’d been no need for that whatsoever.

  ‘Drag him up and chuck him in the van,’ Chatham grinned. ‘He’ll talk when he finds out what evidence we’ve got on him. Case of
having to.’

  Melissa had to wait a couple of hours before making her phone call, then couldn’t get hold of Simon. So she agreed to let the duty solicitor sit in on the questioning, but refused to take his advice of replying, ‘No comment.’ She had nothing to hide and wanted to get home as quickly as possible. She had been told the children were free to leave provided a family member could collect them, but Melissa had asked if they could wait there for her. The police had agreed to this and to her request of bringing Donte and Shay sandwiches and drinks. The poor mites hadn’t eaten since last night.

  DI Parkes, the female office, was by far the nicer of the two asking the questions. Her colleague, DS Carling, was a gruff Scot and Melissa could barely understand him. His intense stare unnerved her too. Parkes had apologized for involving Shay and Donte, but had explained that it was a big operation and they’d had to bring all family members in who were present at this morning’s raided addresses to ensure no word of the raids got out.

  ‘Let’s go back to your husband’s finances, Melissa. Have you ever had a joint bank account since you got married?’ Parkes asked.

  ‘No. Jason gave me cards and I used those. He has always dealt with our finances.’

  ‘Did you not enquire from time to time what your husband had in his accounts?’ Carling asked.

  ‘No. Occasionally Jason would tell me to rein in my spending if he was going through a bad patch, but so long as the business was doing well I could buy what I liked and all our bills were paid on time, so I had no need to ask. My dad always took care of my mother financially. She never used to worry about bills or money, so to me Jason looking after everything was normal.’

  ‘Really? Even when you were separated?’ Carling asked disbelievingly.

  A short balding man in his late fifties, the duty solicitor reminded Melissa, ‘Any question you aren’t sure of the answer, it’s wiser to say no comment, dear.’

  Melissa nodded, then met Carling’s stare. ‘My husband is a generous man. Nothing changed financially when we separated. He’s always kept me and our children. Paid the mortgage, the bills, and the school fees.’

  ‘Can I ask you why you separated in the first place, Melissa?’ Parkes enquired.

  ‘Jason had an affair, but it wasn’t all his fault. We’d been through a tough time. I gave birth to a stillborn son and neither of us dealt with it very well. I pushed him away and into the arms of another woman.’

  ‘I’m very sorry to hear about your loss,’ DI Parkes said sympathetically.

  ‘Was that last question at all relevant?’ the solicitor asked coldly. He hadn’t expected to be working today, was meant to be taking his wife out for her birthday later, but because of the raids, the police had needed reinforcements.

  ‘Yes. It was, actually,’ Carling replied with more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He pushed a piece of paper towards Melissa. ‘This is a copy of your husband’s bank statement dating back to March this year – 2002, to clarify things for the tape. There is a £250,000 withdrawal made on March twenty-eighth. Have you any idea what your husband purchased with this money?’

  Mouth wide open, Melissa shook her head.

  ‘You need to speak up for the tape,’ Carling urged.

  ‘No. I don’t know anything about the money. But I do know my husband. He isn’t perfect – what man is? – but no way would he ever be involved in what you’re insinuating. Jason is the most anti-drug person I know.’

  ‘If that’s the case, what else could Jason have used this cash for, Melissa?’

  ‘I honestly don’t know,’ Melissa replied.

  ‘My client needs to take a break now,’ the duty solicitor insisted.

  Parkes glanced at Carling and nodded. ‘We are going to take a break. I am stopping the tape at 11.14 a.m.’

  In another room at the same police station, Jason was being asked similar questions. Like Mel, he hadn’t managed to get hold of Simon either and was being represented by a duty solicitor.

  ‘If you don’t want to spend months on end in prison awaiting your trial, you had better start talking, Jason. What did you need the two hundred and fifty grand for?’ DS Chatham asked.

  ‘No comment,’ Jason said, for what felt like the hundredth time.

  DI Singh leaned forward. ‘You really aren’t doing yourself any favours, Jason. Because if you cannot tell us what you used that cash for, we will assume that you are one of the ringleaders and used it to purchase the drugs that are now in our possession.’

  ‘No comment.’

  Singh picked up an envelope. ‘For the benefit of the tape, I am about to show Mr Rampling two photographs. Who are these two women, Jason? Bear in mind, your wife is still being questioned and we could always ask her.’

  Jason stared in horror at the two snaps. One had been taken in Margate the other day. He and Darlene were clearly holding hands on the beach. The other was even more troubling. He had a snarl on his face and a hand around Tracey’s throat in her porch. ‘No comment,’ he stammered. All he could think of was thank God he hadn’t got hold of Simon. Si had a pal who was a top solicitor and how would he have explained the Tracey photo if word got back to Si?

  The solicitor whispered in Jason’s ear and his client nodded dumbly. ‘Mr Rampling and I would like to take a break now.’

  Chatham grinned at Jason. ‘While you’re taking your break, have a good think. We have got quite a photo collection of you. Not sure Melissa would be impressed with any of ’em, to be honest.’

  Singh winked at his prey. ‘We are now going to take a break. I am stopping the tape at 11.42 a.m.’

  Melissa and the kids arrived home shortly after 1 p.m. She still couldn’t get her head around what had happened. She expected to wake up in a minute and realize it was all a bad dream.

  The state of the house confirmed that it was no bloody nightmare. Everything had been left as it was after the police finished carrying out their search. Nothing was in the right place, even the furniture was all skew-whiff.

  ‘Do you think they will let Dad come home soon too?’ Shay asked.

  Desperate for a glass of wine, Melissa remembered she’d poured it away, so instead put the kettle on. She needed a clear head anyway. She’d asked after Jason before leaving the station and was told he was still being questioned. ‘I don’t know, love. But your dad is no drug dealer, I know that much. I would be amazed if there isn’t some mix-up, but who knows. The police must have something on your father to raid our bloody home.’ She couldn’t help but wonder where all that money had gone. Because he had never spent it on her.

  ‘I’ll get it, it might be Dad,’ Shay said when the landline rang.

  ‘Who is it?’ Melissa asked as Shay handed her the phone.

  ‘Simon.’

  ‘All right, Mel? I was in a meeting and had missed calls from both you and Jase.’

  ‘Oh, Si. Something terrible’s happened, can you come round?’

  ‘Erm, yeah, I suppose so. What’s wrong?’

  ‘The police raided the house this morning and arrested us all on conspiracy to supply a Class A drug. They’ve let me and the kids go without charge, but Jason’s still being questioned. Do you know anyone who fits front doors too? Ours is ruined. They said they’d made it safe, but it isn’t. It’s an eyesore.’

  ‘Holy shit! Don’t panic, I’ll sort it. I’m in Herongate at present. I’ll be with you soon as I can.’

  Back at Barkingside police station, Jason was in deep thought. If the police had been watching him, which they obviously had, chances were they’d have photographs of him and Craig together. Darlene would be the one to dig him out of that hole. He would say Craig has paid him a visit to tell him about Darlene’s illness. He very much doubted the Old Bill had any evidence of him meeting Craig a second time. It was remote, that car park, and he certainly hadn’t been followed that day as he remembered checking his mirrors as he turned right at Chigwell Row and there hadn’t been a soul behind him.

  The missi
ng money was the big problem. He could hardly tell them about the stolen painting, so how the hell was he meant to explain two hundred and fifty grand being withdrawn from an account? It was from a bank in Jersey too, which made it look even more underhanded. He and Simon knew the bank manager in Jersey double well. They played golf with him. Gavin Rodgers was a shady bastard himself. He asked no questions and could somehow make large withdrawals or lump sums of cash going into the bank look perfectly respectable. He charged a hefty fee for his services, and Jason was sure he wasn’t the type to spill his guts. Simon reckoned he had plenty of corrupt clients.

  Resting his head in his hands, Jason sighed. He was short on readies, would have to sell his belongings to afford a decent solicitor. Pretending he was a heavy gambler seemed the best excuse. If he had to appear in court, which seemed likely, he could create a story about becoming addicted to gambling after he split up with Mel. A good pal of his owned greyhounds, he’d back him up.

  Shutting his eyes, Jason said a silent prayer. The one thing he had no excuse for was dropping the key off at that flat in Dagenham. If the Old Bill had been watching him or the flat that day, he was in major trouble.

  Melissa was running on autopilot until Simon arrived, then she broke down.

  Simon awkwardly put his arms around his pal’s wife. ‘Don’t get upset, Mel. Your Jason could talk his way out of a paper bag. Where are the kids? Are they OK?’

  ‘They’ve been better. Shay’s gone out and Donte’s upstairs in his room.’ Melissa had felt so sorry for her son she’d given him his computer back. Donte searching for his father was the least of her problems right now.

  ‘Sit down, Mel, and tell me exactly what happened. I’ll make us a brew.’

  Melissa explained everything in fine detail. ‘It was awful watching the police ransack all our belongings. I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared as when they barged into my bedroom. I thought we were being burgled at first. Jason talks to you, Si. Please tell me what he’s involved in? You must know.’

  Simon had already made his mind up to say as little as possible. He was a loyal friend and it was Jason’s duty to tell his wife what he wanted her to know. ‘He never told me he was up to no good, Mel. I’m as shocked by all this as you are,’ Simon lied.