“By signing this you are accepting legal responsibility for these firearms. Be aware you are liable for prosecution if they are used outside the scope of the law, do you understand?”
The warning from the firearms officer was clear enough as West put his name to the disclaimer form,
“I understand thanks.” He said, handing the clipboard back.
The clock struck 4:00pm as both West and Hudson emerged from the rear of Thames House heading toward the car parked up,
“I hope these gadgets the tech boys equipped us with work. I don’t like all this James Bond stuff.” Said John as they approached the vehicle,
“Don’t worry, it’ll work. You got your pistol?” Replied Jack,
“In my pocket.”
Getting in their car and putting the seatbelts on, West in the driving seat and Hudson in the passenger’s, they settled down for the drive to Southampton. Getting out of London will be a pain, but once out of the city, it should be no more than a couple of hours. Hudson switched on the satellite navigation,
“What was it again, Bond Street was it?”
“Yes Bond Street, Southampton.” Assured West as he turned the ignition key,
“Got it.” Said John as the car fired up,
“Ready? Then let’s go to Southampton.” Said West. The two men settled back as the car pulled out of the car park and into the afternoon rush hour traffic,
“So what’s this APF Industries got to do with David?”
“Well,” Said John as he had been doing some more digging up in the office, “It turns out that the address is registered to a man called Alan Finnin, Peter Finnin’s brother, and father of David.”
“So it’s family ties?”
“Yes, apparently David’s father is a wealthy businessman who owns a steelworks factory in Southampton close to the river Itchen. Seems like there is a London branch of APF as well, but it’s this one that was the original family firm.”
“Would explain why he went there.” Remarked West,
“If he is there.”
“We shall see won’t we?” West said rebuffing Hudson’s argument. They would soon find out as they drove down the street beginning their long trail to find David Finnin.
Chapter 9:
Southampton was an interesting city, from what the two men saw as they entered it. The satellite navigation very easily guided them toward their destination. Nestled in an industrial area laying just west of the River Itchen the place was not designed with tourists in mind. Arriving from the north, West turned left into Bond Street. The clicking of the indicator as the car negotiated the turn provided a sound backdrop against the scene before both men in the car,
“Pull up here.” Asked John as the navigational voice informed them they had arrived at their destination. Jack pulled over to the left,
“Well, here we are.” He said applying the handbrake and switching off the ignition. By now it was dark, although not completely, the dark royal blue tint of the sky heralded the very last hints of daylight left. The street shrouded in darkness, only lit from the occasional yellow street lights made direct observations difficult, immediately both men while still in the safety of the car, scoured through the poor light for the target,
“Look over there.” Said John, immediately pointing to what seemed to be a large warehouse type building to the left. The sign in the side bore the name of the business, APF Industries, Southampton,
“That’s our place,” Remarked West, “What time is it?”
John looked at his watch, “Just after seven o’clock.” He confirmed,
“Right then, let’s go.”
West undid his seatbelt and got out of the car, Hudson followed suit. The coast was clear, so the act of being seen was minimal. Locking the car so the contents were secure was the first job as a cool breeze swept down the street filling the evening air. Once done, both moved toward the warehouse in the hope of determining some kind of entry point. Walking round, even in the dark, it did not take long for them to find a chink in the armour,
“Look, there.” Said Jack pointing to a stretch of fence. The flimsy wire mesh stood tall, at over 6 foot high topped with rolls of barbed wire, but what stood out was that the connection between two exposed fence panels was not all that tightly bound. West approached with John in tow, a quick look around just to check the coast was clear was all the needed. Gripping the ties, he tugged and twisted with some force. The burning on his hands sent searing pain through his wrists, but the fence was coming loose. As John joined in the struggle, the strength of two men was too much and the fence panel partially came away,
“Got it.” Remarked a visibly breathless West.
They slid through the self-made gap to find themselves in the shadows beside an outbuilding. They were looking across a clearing strewn with industrial infrastructure, pipes, oil drums and the like. Reaching inside his pocket West pulled out a pair of dark glasses; not something one would normally wear at night, but this was no ordinary piece of eyewear. A gift from the technical department they stopped off at back at Thames House before embarking to Southampton, he slipped them over his eyes. Immediately the world before him turned white, everything looked like a negative,
“Whoa!” He said to himself,
“Strange is it?” Asked John,
“Yes. They’re infrared glasses. Very sensitive, can pick minute traces of heat. Amazing really.”
“Can you pick up a trail at all?” Asked John in a cautious way,
“Only just, takes a bit of getting used to though.”
West scanned the area looking for a pattern of infrared radiation somewhere. Looking across the clearing toward other outbuildings he could pick out a little dot, only one in total on the side of some building way off in the distance,
“There’s something over there?” He said. John lifting his arm up began to examine a large black watch on his other wrist. The display on the device lit up, another present from the tech department; it was a radar scanner,
“It’s a CCTV camera on the side of that building. We’ve got to be careful, there’ll be more.”
“I’m guessing so.”
Scanning the ground, the glasses West wore picked up ground disturbances; the spacing between them indicated a pattern.”
“There are footsteps there.” He said, “Come on.”
“Can we be sure these are David’s?” Asked John,
“No, but we won’t know unless we follow.”
They both broke cover, stealthily, and trying their upmost to make as little noise as humanly possible, West took the lead, following the footsteps toward a platform running along the side of a small shed. Following the platform seemed like the only logical choice for a route further into the complex. Being ever mindful about the spotted CCTV, as well as others, they route took them behind another hut. Now in the total dark West’s infrared glasses proved their ultimate worth in the darkened shadows. Picking up the footstep patterns on the floor proved that they were still on the right track. Probing further they made their way to the far corner, peering round to make sure the coast was clear West clearly saw, albeit with one eye exposed round the side of the wooden structure, a small footbridge,
“What can you see?” Asked John,
“A bridge, but its raised.”
Scanning round the only thing West could see was a small hut,
“The controls must be in there.” He said,
John peered out and looked at his watch, waiting anxiously for any blip on his screen,
“There’s nothing ahead, let’s go.”
Both running out, they arrowed toward the small hut. They couldn’t be sure what was inside, but there seemed no other way round. Fortunately it wasn’t manned so access was easy. The window on the left hand side provided clear view of the raised structure,
“John, go out to the bridge, tell me if it’s lowering or not.”
He complied without delay. West turned toward the controls in a bid to figure out the mechanism,
&
nbsp; “I hope this doesn’t make too much noise.” He thought to himself.
Trying every button and lever he could find made no real difference. Constantly looking through the window at John sanding out beside the bridge gave him the best possible chance to find out if the bridge was operating. John’s shaking head was all Jack needed to know that whatever he was doing wasn’t working at all. Coming back to join Jack, John confirmed what was already the obvious,
“It’s no good. There’s no power at all, it’s not moving an inch.”
Jack began to accept the inevitable, “Looks like our friend somehow cut the power.”
John tried to console his friend, “Look these types of bridges have power switches from either side. It covers a small access road down there, he couldn’t have gotten over without activating it and then cutting the power once across. There must be a power source here.”
They both began to search. Being confident there was nothing on the control panel itself, West immediately knelt down to see if there was anything underneath. The poor light made their task ever more difficult, and the risk of getting caught didn’t help either.
“Nothing here.” Said West,
“I’ll have a look around.” Said John. Leaving West in the hut, Hudson went searching carefully around another building nearby. Even though it was pretty dark, orange floodlights punctured the darkness like beacons. It wasn’t much but it did allow for some leeway in the ability to search. Taking his time, John probed around the side of what appeared to be a small storage shed looking for a way inside, if that is where the power controls were located. Moving carefully round a corner to the rear of the building a white floodlight above some kind of mechanical apparatus caught his eye,
“What’s that?” He asked himself.
Gingerly, but promptly he made his way over to the machinery. Ever mindful of CCTV cameras and probable security guards the equipment became clear; it was a power transfer box.
“Hmm, let’s see.” He thought to himself as he approached it. The lid on the front of the box was tightly locked, as it should be,
“Looks like it’s a power source for this warehouse. If so, it might be connected to that bridge.”
He certainly hoped so. Pulling out his set of keys in a flash of quick inspiration, he wedged the thinnest one underneath the catch. A bit of brute force and gentle, twisting persuasion in an attempt to prise open the lid took seconds that seemed like minutes. Eventually managing to pull it open Hudson hesitated for a fraction just in case someone might have happened to hear, but they did not. Relieved he continued to open the door,
“Fuses.” He said to himself.
He wasn’t a master of electrics but he had a go. Checking each one making sure they were of the right amp all seemed in order. But at the top there was a series of breaker switches, the master switch had been kicked into the off position,
“Alright, here goes.” He said as he flicked it upwards to the “ON” position. A slight hum filled the box as it fizzed into life; he wasted no time whatsoever, closing the box in a way that it didn’t look disturbed he promptly made his way back to Jack.
Jack, standing in the hut suddenly saw the panel flicker with tentative lights,
“We’re in business.” He commented quietly.
The console now has a couple of red lights on it indicating that power was flowing to the electronics. He began again setting off the buttons hoping to activate the bridge. It only took him a few seconds to find as the bridge suddenly, but not loudly began to lower. As Hudson joined him he could see the structure move, with them both looking on as the walkway moved downwards, but it suddenly stopped. West, perplexed, wondered why that happened,
“What the-?” He said,
“That bridge is controlled by a fuse box, the breaker switch was the fault, but it must have kicked back off again.”
Jack saw the bridge, partially lowered looking like a crane. A desperate thought entered his mind,
“Think we can jump it?”
John looked on with some scepticism, the gap between the partially lowered bridge and the other side could not have been more than two meters, but it was around a two metre drop from the edge,
“Let’s do it.” He said.
Both men climbed the bridge running up the ramp to the edge. Leaping off the edge, both men felt the adrenaline rush as they flew through the air, their collective heartbeats pounding away. Landing on the other side was a bit heavy, Jack landed on his feet, almost, and John hit his side, but they seemed to be no worse for wear,
“Ankles OK? Nothing broken?” Said West,
“No, you?”
“I’m fine. Come on lets follow this trail.”
By now West had taken off the glasses. He pulled them out of his jacket pocket and put them on again. The footstep trail seemed as clear as ever,
“The trail goes to that building over there.” He said. Before them lay a brick structure with a green wooden door before them. It certainly wasn’t new, probably pre-war given the look of it. They move closer, no CCTV danger in the area,
“Bloody hell!!” West remarked sharply, “Hide!!”
He pushed Hudson into a side alcove shrouded in darkness,
“What on Earth-?” He asked
“Wait.” Ordered West,
Lest than a second later the door opened, a security guard wandered out. The dark blue uniform, jumper and trousers smelled of authority. He paused then began to patrol, taking a route away from West and Hudson’s location,
“I saw his heat signature through the wall.” He explained, “Come on, that’s our chance.”
Acting on the spur of the moment, and risk was all part of the game in the intelligence business; they silently slipped out of the alcove and made for the door. Their hearts pounding once again, prying that they weren’t going to run straight into another guard. Fortunately the door was quite heavy and took time to swing back closed, and this gave the two men those vital seconds in which to slip through. Making it just in time John just about crossed the threshold as the door clicked shut behind his back. Turning round they noticed that the door was a safety mechanism,
“That’s a safety door. It looks like it’s locked from the outside.” Remarked West,
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that we probably can’t get out this way again. Not without help.”
“Onwards then.” Remarked John cynically.
As West removed his glasses, they found themselves in a maintenance workshop, a garage for on-site vehicles. Scattered around were the various tools for jobs, toolboxes, workbenches car jacks and the like. The garage space itself however was empty; no vehicle needed servicing at this time. A large door dominated the frontage but thankfully the shutters were fully shut, but this seemed like the only way out,
“We need to force that door open.” Said John
“I’ll try and find something to prise it open. It’s likely to be locked.” Jack responded.
He moved around some of the work benches, there had to be something here, a tool of some kind to force the garage door ajar,
“Here we are,” He said walking over to the side and picking up a long dark object, “This crowbar will do.”
They moved toward the door, fitting one end underneath a catch in the middle, Jack was all set to lever the door open,
“Hang on.” Interrupted John while looking at his watch. In sensible foresight he thought best to check through the radar built into the wrist device,
“There are contacts on the other side of that door.”
“How many?”
“Two.”
West hesitated slightly, in the silent gloom he could hear footsteps and general chatting coming from outside. It was getting louder as the proximity between the security guards and the two intruders became ever narrower. The heart beats of increased palpitations almost deafened Jack as he waited, pressed up against the garage door, hoping and praying that this was not their ultimate destination.
; But is wasn’t, the sound of the guards receded as they passed, John’s watch radar keeping tabs on them all the way,
“OK, now.” He said. West took the chance in the split second window. Prising the latch, the door came ajar ever so slightly, just enough for the two men to slip through. Being careful to cover their trail, John brought the garage door back to its shut position as they surveyed their surroundings. Refitting the glasses on his face, West’s infrared spectrum glasses picked up a trail once more,
“Come on, down here.” He said.
They followed the footsteps down a path that lead to an internal road. It appeared to be some kind of transportation line bringing raw materials from one part of the site to another. There didn’t appear to be any other vehicles in the vicinity so they followed it anyway. It led them to a gate blocking access to a yet another bridge this time over a drainage outflow close to the river’s edge. Unlike last time this bridge seemed to be a little more of a challenge,
“Now what?” Asked Hudson,
“Wait a second,” Replied West, “Let’s see if that gate is locked.”
Making his way up to it he had to try it just in case,
“Wait a minute!” Warned John, Jack stopping in his tracks turned to his partner,
“What?”
“Up there,” He said pointing to a high wall on the side of a pre-fabricated building, “CCTV camera, it’s trained on the gate.”
West cautiously stepped back as it clearly it did not matter now if that gate was locked or not. There had to be a way over there. Then the brainwave came; gingerly moving sideward he examined the side of the bridge in poor light. It had a ledge; the way forward became clear,
“Looks like we’ll have to climb round the side.”
John looked anxious, “What? Oh now come on-‘
“Do you see another way round?”
“Well no but-‘
“Then that’s settled, come on follow me.”
West took a wide birth and crawled onto the side of the bridge. John followed suit, he wasn’t happy about this, crawling along ledges in the dark. Very hazardous to say the least. Taking their time they shuffled further and further along. Each step a tremendous risk, one foot out of place, the slightest misjudgement could spell disaster. Fortunately the bridge and the drainage ditch below was not very wide and they managed to reach the other side with no problems at all,
Three Faces of West (2013) Page 12