by Conrad Jones
chapter 11
Alec watched as bleary-eyed detectives gathered in the MIT office. There wasn’t time to summon a full briefing. This was an emergency gathering of the nightshift. The discovery that the dead body in the woods was Matrix criminal informer, Stuart Radcliffe had sent shockwaves through the building. Images of the crime scene flickered on the screens behind Alec.
‘This is Stuart Radcliffe. He was a CI for Matrix and he was found dead a few hours ago. This man, Brian Selby, was arrested near the scene and he has positively identified Radcliffe as the victim. Radcliffe and another man, Christopher Cornell, were members of an outfit from Page Moss headed up by Charlie McGee.’ He paused as murmurs passed through the gathering of detectives. ‘Although only a mid-level target, I can see some of you know the name. He was on the up and heading for the big league. Radcliffe and Cornell were working surveillance for Matrix after being busted in a drug deal last year. They were arrested with a kilo of cocaine and a firearm and Matrix turned them. We think Charlie McGee found out that he had a leak and has bubbled them. Brian Selby claims that he witnessed McGee shooting Radcliffe. He said that Charlie McGee told him after the shooting that he had killed him because Radcliffe was a grass. We need to find Charlie McGee and we need to find the remaining informant, Christopher Cornell.’ DI Jo West entered the room. She nodded to him. ‘Good timing,’ Alec said. ‘Finding Chris Cornell is the priority. He may still be alive.’
‘The ACC gave the green light. I’ve already sent a team to his home to bring him in,’ Jo said.
‘Excellent. I think we should pick up everyone involved in the Matrix sting. If we leave any of McGee’s men out there, we risk the chance of them running around making our witnesses disappear.’ He looked at Jo. Matrix operations were her call. ‘Agreed?’
‘Agreed,’ she said. ‘We’ll need uniform and armed response to back us up.’
‘How many do you think you’ll need?’ Alec asked.
‘All of them,’ Jo answered, sarcastically. ‘None of this bunch are going to come in quietly. We’ll need everything we have [EM14]got.’
‘Sorry to interrupt, inspector,’ a uniformed officer said, poking his head around the door. ‘We’ve just had a report of a shooting outside of Paradise nightclub.’
‘And?’
‘The victim is Charlie McGee.’
chapter 12
Rachel froze to the spot as she tried not to lose it in front of her daughter. Claire held her hand and clung to Bear, strangely calm as she watched the smoke creeping through the edges of the hatch. The attic would become their tomb if she didn’t move quickly. She had no choice but to go down into the house or choke to death and burn.
‘We have to go back downstairs.’
‘Okay, Mummy.’
‘You stay close to me and don’t let go of my hand, no matter what, okay?’
‘Okay, Mummy,’ Claire mumbled. She squeezed Bear harder, as if to pass the message on to him.
Rachel undid the bolt and pressed the release button. The hatch clicked open and the ladders began to extend. A thick cloud of choking smoke billowed through the gap, stinging her eyes and making them water. Her vision was blurred as she walked around the hatch and checked the landing. There was no sign of any intruders there. The orange glow of flames flickered on the far wall, coming from the downstairs.
‘Let’s go, careful on the steps now,’ Rachel said, leading the way. She paused halfway, scanning the bedroom doorways for danger. She could hear the flames crackling and the air was becoming hot. Breathing was becoming more difficult. When Claire reached the bottom step, Rachel picked her up and ran towards the staircase. Her makeshift barricade was still in place but now it was ablaze. The entire hallway was an inferno, the flames creeping quickly up the banister and stair carpet. There was no way down from there. She pushed Claire’s head into her shoulder and ran for the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Claire started to cry. She had tried hard not to but the time for being brave had past. Once the first sob had broken, it was followed by an uncontrollable flow of tears. She felt scared and tired and just wanted to lie down and sleep; she could not comprehend what was going on around her. Rachel grabbed a bath towel and turned on the tap. She soaked it in cold water and then put it over her head, covering Claire.
‘Mummy, I don’t like it!’
‘It will stop the smoke going in your eyes,’ Rachel said, opening the door. ‘We won’t be able to breath otherwise.’ The flames were near the top of the stairs, the heat was blistering the paint on the walls. It felt like stepping into an oven. She ducked beneath the smoke and ran across the landing to the spare bedroom. Something exploded downstairs. The house trembled for a few seconds. Rachel put her back to the wall and waited for the vibration to subside. The sound of the downstairs windows shattering spurred her on. She ran to the window and pulled at the handle.
‘No, no, no!’ she moaned. It wouldn’t budge. The window led onto their garage roof. Chris said it was a weak point where burglars would break in. ‘Keep it locked and don’t leave the key in the lock otherwise you might as well leave the fucking thing open.’ She looked around the room. The bedside table caught her eye. It was small but made from solid wood. She put Claire down and picked it up. ‘Stand over there!’ Claire stood in the corner. ‘Face the wall for a minute!’
‘I don’t want to!’ Claire shouted.
‘We don’t have time for this, Claire!’ Rachel snapped. ‘Do it now!’ Claire relented and turned away. She hugged Bear tightly to her chest. Rachel thrust the table at the glass as hard as she could. It bounced off and clattered onto the floor. ‘No, no, for fuck’s sake!’
She picked it up and held it by two legs, one in each hand. Stepping back, she swung it like a baseball bat, keeping hold of it on impact. The glass shattered. She swung it three times to clear the shards and then flattened the edges by stabbing at them with the table top.
‘Come on, sweetheart!’ she said, reaching for Claire. She lifted her through the glass and lowered her onto the flat roof. ‘Wait there,’ she said, coughing and spluttering as she cocked her leg through the window and climbed out. A jagged piece of glass slashed her inner thigh. She gritted her teeth and dropped down next to her daughter, feeling blood running down her thigh. They both sucked in deep gasps of the cold night air. Rachel looked to the road and saw blue flashing lights in the far distance and she wondered how they had known about the fire so quickly.
‘Is that the fire engine, Mummy?’
‘I think so, darling.’ Rachel hoped it was coming their way.
‘I knew you would come out this way, Rachel,’ a gruff voice said from behind her.
She heard Claire screaming for a second before a crushing blow to the back of her skull switched her lights out.
chapter 13
Jo and Alec arrived at the scene of the shooting and he slowed his vehicle at the police cordon, showing his ID to the uniformed officer who was standing on watch at the crime scene tape. He drove through a gap between two ambulances and navigated his way further up the street. Another marked police car arrived and four officers deployed. Alec parked the Shogun on the pavement behind them and turned the engine off. The street was bathed in flashing blue lights.
‘How many ambulances do you need for a shooting?’ Jo said, shocked. ‘There are way too many for just one incident.’
‘There’s something else going on here,’ Alec agreed.
The first detective on the scene spotted them and headed towards them[EM15]. He was joined by a uniformed sergeant who looked like he was not far from retirement. The rain had stopped but the cobbles were still wet and the neon signs reflected from them. Jo counted six ambulances and a seventh was just arriving.
‘DS Alec Ramsay?’ Alec nodded a silent hello while he assessed the scene. It was chaos. ‘DS Sampson from Coppice Hill. This is Sergeant Evans. We’ve got a right mess here. This is one for telling the grandkids, I can tell you.’
‘I can see there’s a
lot going on. What have you got for me so far?’ Alec asked. He was trying to pinpoint where the shooting had happened.
‘We got a call from a cabbie around three-thirty, who says that he witnessed a man being shot as he tried to get into his car,’ Sampson explained. Alec noticed that he was wearing a dark fur lined parka and trainers. The new breed of detective. ‘The shooter used a sawn-off shotgun. We’ve got a decent description of him and I’ve circulated it.’
‘And the victim?’ Jo asked, looking around.
‘A local man named, Charlie McGee, guv,’ Sampson said, not realising that they knew his identity already.
‘Where is he?’
‘He’s on his way to the Royal,’ the uniformed sergeant answered. ‘The paramedics treated him here, stopped the bleeding and then took him away. They left about ten minutes ago.’
‘He’s alive?’ Jo asked, surprised.
‘He was wearing a vest,’ Sampson said with a shrug. ‘He’s got pellets in both his upper arms, his neck and a couple in his face but he’ll live. The vest took the brunt of it.’
‘Has he got an armed escort?’ Jo asked, concerned.
‘Yes,’ the sergeant answered. ‘When I got here, I patted him down for ID. He was out of it. I found a Smith and Wesson revolver in his sock and a large amount of cash. Forensics are bagging everything now,’ He said pointing to a CSI unit, who were parked a way down the street. ‘I called in an ARU to escort the ambulance. It was a madhouse here. Apparently, it had kicked off in the nightclub about the same time as McGee was shot and the doormen lost control of the situation. It spilled out onto the street there and all hell broke loose.’
‘That’s why all the ambulances are here?’ Alec said.
‘That and the second victim, guv,’ Sampson said, pointing to Paradise. Alec and Jo looked at each other.
‘Nobody mentioned a second victim,’ Alec said.
‘We’ve only just found him, guv. When the nightclub situation had calmed down, one of uniform went looking for the manager. They found a body in the office. Walter Ricks, goes by the name of Jaz. He found him shot dead in his office with three bullets in his chest and the safe empty. I was waiting for you to arrive before going up there myself.’
‘Okay, good,’ Alec said, walking towards the nightclub. ‘Let’s go and have a look before forensics get in there.’
The three detectives weaved through the emergency vehicles and entered the club. The foyer looked like a tornado had twisted its way through, broken glasses, bottles, and bar stools were scattered everywhere.
‘The cleaners are in for a shock,’ Jo said, looking around. She pointed to the ceiling. ‘I wonder if those cameras are recording.’
‘Surely, they will be,’ Sampson said.
‘During operating hours, I doubt it very much,’ Jo replied. She picked her way through the debris to the double doors and pushed them open using her elbows. ‘Jaz and his goons turn a lot of blind eyes in this dump. They’ll be on when the place is shut but not while the dealers are trading.’
They walked up the stairs to the office in silence, each one scanning the area for something out of the ordinary. When they reached the office, Sampson passed them some gloves and they put them on before entering the room. The smell of blood and excrement drifted to them.
‘That is Jaz,’ Jo said. ‘No doubt about that.’
‘Yes, that’s him,’ Alec agreed. ‘It looks like karma came in here and bit him on the arse.’
‘Three to the chest from close range and an empty safe.’
‘McGee comes up here, makes him open the safe and then shoots him?’ Alec said, with a frown.
‘Bit too much of a coincidence to think anyone else did it, isn’t it?’ Sampson mused. Alec knew why he hadn’t been made an MIT detective yet.
‘So, McGee shoots Jaz, robs him and then gets shot on the way to his car. His pockets were full of money so whoever shot him wasn’t robbing him,’ Jo said, shaking her head. ‘They just wanted him dead.’
‘Must have been personal,’ Sampson said, raising his index finger. ‘Somebody had it in for him.’
‘No shit, Sherlock,’ Jo muttered under her breath. Alec raised an eyebrow and grinned. ‘Couldn’t have happened to a nicer man.’
‘How many men are on him at the hospital?’ Alec asked.
‘Two armed response and two uniforms,’ Sampson answered.
‘Good, double it,’ Alec ordered. ‘As soon as the doctors are sure he’s not in danger, I want him out of that hospital and in a cell.’
‘Yes, sir,’ Sampson said, reaching for his radio. He turned to walk away.
‘It’s time to round them all up, Jo,’ Alec said, turning to her. ‘Before they kill each other – and our witnesses.’
‘Wouldn’t that be a crying shame if they killed each other,’ Jo muttered as she walked back towards the stairs. The urge to get out of the nightclub and have a long hot bath was overwhelming.
chapter 14
Rachel woke up with a sickening headache and a sore throat. She felt like she had swallowed powdered glass. Her eyes flickered open and they felt red, raw, and gritty. She could only see blurred outlines. Sounds drifted to her. The sounds of animals in distress. Not random animals – pigs. She could hear them squealing. The cloying odour of animal waste floated on the air, so thick that she could almost taste it. She could sense death all around her. It filled her senses. The memories of the night before drifted back slowly in pieces and she panicked.
‘Claire!’ she gasped, her voice was hoarse. ‘Claire!’
‘Mummy!’
‘Where are you?’
‘Over here, Mummy!’
Rachel tried to rub her eyes but her wrists were tied together. Her vision wouldn’t clear. She leant forward and wiped them on her knees. It wasn’t perfect but it was better. She turned towards Claire and saw her sitting on the floor nearby, her hands tied behind her back. Black smudges spread beneath her eyes and around her mouth. Next to her was her husband, Chris. His face was swollen and bruised, his lips split and scabbed. Congealed blood clung to his nostrils and top lip. He was gagged but his eyes were open. Tears streaked his face. He was sobbing uncontrollably and he was trying to communicate but she couldn’t understand his muffled message. There was something different about his eyes. They looked desperately sad. She thought that he was trying to say sorry but she didn’t know why. Nothing that she had experienced that night made sense. The break in was bad enough, the fire worse but this place was the stuff of nightmares.
‘Mummy!’ Claire called out again. ‘I want to go home, Mummy.’
‘I know you do, darling. Don’t cry. I’ll get us out of here and we’ll go home soon.’
‘Hurry up, Mummy!’
‘What the fuck have you done, Chris?’ she whispered. Chris read her lips and shook his head and closed his eyes tightly, his body shaking. ‘What the fuck have you done, you fucking idiot?’ she shouted, losing her temper. ‘Why is our daughter tied up?’ Chris kept his eyes closed but the tears continued to roll from the corners. ‘What did you do to them? They burned our fucking house down!’ she screamed.
She heard a motor kick into life and the clank of metal on metal. Hooks automatically attached to a large hopper and tilted it towards a huge funnel. It took her seconds to recognise that the hopper was full of pigs, their heads, legs and feet. Claire covered her eyes and began to scream as the hopper was tipped and the stinking contents slopped into the grinder. In her brain, she was asking why the fuck anyone would bring them to a place like this and the answer was unthinkable. The sound of the cogs whirring and bone splintering filled the air. A stream of pale pink mince began to fill a hopper below the machine. There was only one reason that they would subject them to seeing this. She knew what they were planning to do. She looked at Chris and shook her head.
‘Oh my god, what did you do to them?’ she shouted.
‘Mummy, stop shouting!’ Claire began to sob again.
‘What did you d
o for us to deserve being treated like this?’
‘Mummy!’ Claire wept. ‘Stop it!’
‘Shut up a minute, Claire!’ Rachel snapped. ‘Why are we here, Chris?’
‘I can answer that question for you,’ Justin approached from behind them. Two men shadowed him. They were big men, their eyes dead like a shark’s. There was no empathy in them. Rachel could feel their eyes on her body and they leered at one another. The captives fell silent as they stepped in front of them. Justin had removed his balaclava but still had a black jumpsuit on. Rachel didn’t think that the fact that he was showing his face was a good sign. He was no longer hiding his identity. That made her shiver. ‘Your husband is a grass, Rachel. Simple.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Tell them it is true, Chris.’ Justin kicked him in the midriff. ‘Nod your head and tell her that you’re a fucking snake.’ Chris nodded.
‘Don’t hurt him like that, you fucking bully!’ Rachel hissed. ‘I don’t care what he has done. His daughter is watching!’
‘Daddy!’ Claire sobbed. Justin stepped back and smiled coldly.
‘Apologies,’ Justin said with a grin.
‘Thank you. Now tell me what you mean that he is a grass?’ Rachel asked, astounded.
‘Simple. He is a police informer.’
‘What on earth has he informed about that could justify burning down my home and frightening the life out of my daughter?’
‘What could he have informed about?’ Justin asked, shaking his head. ‘Are you joking with me?’