by Ted Tayler
Colin knew from experience that this was typical; the country was paralysed by drugs and the people who peddled them were laughing at the ineffectiveness of the police and the courts to tackle the problem. He remembered telling his first wife Karen that he had his own solution. He wondered whether he might find an ally in Alastor or maybe Minos that would bring about some direct action that really made a difference.
The judge had probably sat through dozens of criminal cases where drugs had been the prime element. His son Harry had killed himself with a drug sold openly on the internet with no control over the age or mental state of the person buying it.
In addition, he would have sat in court over the years and watched the CPS and the police screw up cases to the extent that he had to dismiss them. He would have been forced to follow sentencing guidelines handed down to him by a judiciary that was ever more liberal and limp wristed. Colin could easily appreciate how Minos might enjoy poring over court transcripts; identifying criminals who had got off scot-free or only received a pathetically short custodial sentence and highlighting them to Erebus and Athena for further action.
Then there was Athena herself. Colin thought back to each of the occasions they had crossed swords yesterday. Why was she so ‘prickly’ with him? Why did he find it necessary to wind her up as soon as he had a chance? Was it because she was so attractive? Before he had been brought to Larcombe Manor, he would never have rubbed shoulders with someone like her. He would have thought she was a ‘rich bitch’; he didn’t see many of those on the Greenwood and Westbourne estates when he was growing up.
In the few months since he had returned to these shores, apart from a night spent scratching an itch with his landlady in Aberdeen, which had been a liaison best forgotten, the only other woman he had really connected with had been Therese Slater. The lusty barmaid from Manchester was more his style; a great body and she knew how to use it. Colin wished he still had his mobile; for the life of him he couldn’t remember her number.
His daydream was rudely interrupted; one of the guys from the armoury arrived at the double, in his now familiar white t-shirt, black combat trousers and boots.
“Morning Phoenix!” he called out, running on the spot at the bottom of the steps. “Off we go then, we’re ready for your next training session; follow me!”
“Where are we off to?” wheezed Colin as he trailed along in his wake.
“Sounds like you’re unfit Phoenix” the man shouted over his shoulder “in a week or two you’ll be able to have a normal conversation after a six mile run.”
“Six fucking miles!” cried Colin “that’s a bus ride not a bloody run.”
“Try to get your breathing under control Phoenix; you can’t shoot accurately if your chest is heaving like that. We’re putting you through your paces for the rest of the morning, target practice, stripping down and cleaning your weapon; then reassembling the item followed by more practice. Pretty much everything you’ll need in the field when you receive an assignment.”
“Good, that will make a change from all that running, lifting and swimming.”
“I’m glad you think so Phoenix; the only difference tomorrow after breakfast will be the choice of weapon; and then when we’ve exhausted the weapons you’ve been specified as likely to need, we’ll go back to the top and start all over again. No rest for the wicked; or practice makes perfect. Take your pick!”
Colin groaned. Erebus hadn’t warned him his training regime was going to be so extensive. Despite the discomfort he knew awaited him, he was quite looking forward to a spell in the medical centre!
In fact, the next three months passed fairly quickly; Colin grew fitter and stronger, his shooting with several handguns was now deemed ‘excellent’ by his instructors. Several other techniques were drilled into him by personnel engaged in other activities in the ice house facility. He learned how to convincingly portray a different character which was all new to him. It was stressed time and again that the aim was for him to do a job and get out without anyone knowing that it had been done. Colin was used to being invisible and not drawing attention to himself, so some elements of the training came as second nature to him.
Learning advanced computer skills and picking up a couple of foreign languages was another story altogether. It was a long time since those heady days when Colin had achieved an A grade or higher, in every one of those eleven subjects he had taken at the end of Year 11.
He spent many hours in the company of Rusty an SAS veteran who had been in the first intake of the Special Reconnaissance Regiment in ’05 before being shown the door in ’09 after a fight with a superior officer; Rusty taught him to drive like a lunatic, how to fight with concealable weapons, the art of breaking and entering and most frightening of all for Colin, how to use explosives.
Colin was briefed on procedures if he was used on operations overseas; he would have a fake cover identity, or multiple identities; he would be armed and in plain clothes. In other words he would be on his own! There would be no chance of Olympus helping him overtly; the organisation had to be protected at all costs, so if something went tits up, and they weren’t able to pick him up without the foreign security services being aware of it, he would be abandoned.
Rusty didn’t spend a lot of time training Colin in techniques to withstand interrogation; he just shrugged and told him “If you get caught Phoenix, tell them what you know; we’ll change all our codes and so on anyway, so anything you tell them won’t do them any good. In a lot of countries they’ll kill you whether you talk or not, at least that way you won’t lose any fingers.”
Throughout his training he was isolated from Erebus and the others; after he had completed his first session in the ice house he was escorted to the stable block where the crews’ quarters were. All his clothes and other items had been moved from the bedroom he had occupied on his first few nights. The routine was relentless; exercise, skills training, canteen, skills training, canteen, sleep, blessed sleep.
After his stint was completed, he went into the medical centre. Erebus had left instructions that only a minor facial reconstruction was required, which was done and dusted in a fortnight. Colin hadn’t had an eye test for a few years and on examination it was found that he needed glasses. They gave him blue contact lenses, which changed his appearance dramatically and also some clear glass spectacles to wear in the field to assist in masking his true identity.
He hardly recognised the face in the mirror when he got ready to return to the main house for a meeting with Erebus. As he walked across the lawn he wondered; was his first direct action just around the corner? If it was; happy days!
CHAPTER 12
Colin made his way into the main building; he looked around for any sign of Athena or the Three Stooges. All was quiet. As he drew closer to the dining room he heard several people in conversation. He had been awake for an hour or so and had already grabbed a quick snack in the canteen before walking across the lawn in time for his appointment with Erebus.
He knew better than to barge in and see if Erebus was ready to start. Far better to stay in the corridor and wait for the boss to come outside; that way he could listen for any titbits of news to pass back to his colleagues in the stable block; unless, of course, the people in the dining room were discussing him, in which case he would keep schtum!
As he strained to pick up what was being said, Colin heard footsteps nearing the door; it was Erebus.
“Ah there you are old chap” said the old man “let’s go to the orangery for a bit of peace and quiet. We can order a pot of coffee later if you like?”
“That would be great, sir” replied Colin.
The two men walked the rest of the way in a companionable silence. Inside the orangery the décor was as tasteful and understated as in the rest of the house. Erebus looked around the room in admiration, as if he hadn’t been there for some time and was remembering just how wonderful it was.
“You have divided opinion among us Phoenix” said Erebu
s as he eventually found a seat he seemed to like; Colin sat next to him and wished he had been able to overhear who was for him and who against among the prime movers of the Olympus group.
“That wasn’t my intention Erebus” said Colin.
“Let me say right away Phoenix, that your performance over the past three months has been exemplary. As far as your fitness, both physical and mental, is concerned you have applied yourself to every task thrown at you with commendable effort. You are undoubtedly ready to undertake a direct action operation effective immediately!”
“Thank you, sir” said Colin “it was hard work but I’ve never been fitter and I feel more like thirty three than forty three! So why are there misgivings about me among the others?”
“That was my fault I’m afraid, old chap; I remember there being a few items of unfinished business on your summer tour. I proposed we let you loose for your first operation on a target you had researched in detail previously. A quick job to get you back in the swing of things was all I suggested. Athena wasn’t in favour though; she thought I was indulging you undeservedly. The lads were of the same opinion as I was; get you out in the field and back doing what you do best.”
“What’s the final decision?”
“You have a green light Phoenix! You must start refreshing your background on DCI Richard Armitage (SOCA London) as soon as this meeting is over. You have been issued with a laptop already which is in your quarters no doubt? I’ve arranged for our IT people to pass you their files on Armitage. The police have all the material you gathered previously; we lost that edge when they found your Land Rover in the car park across the road from the Pavilion, but that can’t be helped.
There haven’t been any signs of the police focussing on your non-appearance in the river; it’s too soon to assume it’s a closed book, but on balance we believe you can proceed in the field, with caution. Remember Phoenix, it is imperative you complete your task without leaving any clues for the authorities as to your identity.”
“Nor my links with Olympus” said Colin “yes Erebus, I‘ve had that drilled into me quite enough over the past twelve weeks. I understand.”
Erebus took his mobile phone from his suit jacket pocket and rang for their refreshments. Five minutes later they were enjoying a deliciously hot cup of coffee while they chatted over the basic details of the Armitage case. Colin recounted everything he had learned during his planning for the ‘hit’ while on tour with Maiden’s Hair; Erebus listened carefully; he was impressed with the level of detail that Phoenix had gone into, plus how much of it he still remembered despite the three months gap since he had access to his own files on the matter. If Athena was here, listening to this conversation perhaps some of her misgivings would be allayed; unless she had reservations about some other aspect of Phoenix’s nature. He would have to keep an eye on these two; the old man wasn’t blind to the sparks that flew whenever these two came into contact with one another. He was old; but not that old!
Richard Armitage had served with Sussex police for sixteen years and was based at their headquarters in Lewes; in April ’07 he had joined the Serious Organised Crime Agency in London. He had been involved with teams targeting the drugs gangs operating across London and the south-east; a pretty thankless task, but one which the public expected to be carried out diligently and by officers who acted with honesty and integrity; men and women who never compromised or abused their position.
During his time in London, Armitage was promoted to DCI and on the face of it he was a model policeman. In 2010 however, the forty five year old officer was accused of shaking down drug dealers for cash and guns, planting narcotics on them and then arresting them; he was further accused of falsifying police reports. The charges against him included conspiracy, official misconduct and theft.
Four witnesses appeared in court to testify that Armitage ‘robbed people, planted drugs and violated his oath of office’. His defence barrister argued his client’s arrests had been legitimate; and that his career had been devoted to getting drugs and guns off the streets. One of his accusers had been a former colleague who had been dismissed from the force in ’08 for corruption and received a custodial sentence; the others were career criminals who had been brought to the court from prisons across the country.
It was their ‘human nature’ to lie he said. He told the jury they should reject the evidence they had given. The defence barrister told the court that Armitage’s former colleague had only agreed to testify against DCI Armitage in exchange for a reduction in his sentence. The jury listened to the men lined up to accuse the DCI; they heard those witnesses being discredited and the unblemished record of Richard Armitage over two decades and found him not guilty.
DCI Armitage had declined an offer to return to duty with SOCA, and had taken up a post in his old stamping ground on the south coast. He was now a Superintendent working in Corporate Development.
Erebus looked up when he realised Colin had reached the end of his account.
“What opinion did you form of his case Phoenix?” he asked.
“He was as guilty as hell” replied Colin.
“I agree; if you take advantage of the most up to date data we have for him you will discover he has very large sums of money salted away in bank accounts his superiors have no idea about. He appears to be seeing out the next few years in a cushy ‘non-job’ until he takes his pension at fifty, then I expect he’ll retire to Spain or Portugal and play lots of golf; that appears to be his main pre-occupation, from what our surveillance has thrown up.”
“I’ll take a look at the new data and start planning when and how to deal with Mr. Armitage; no time like the present! Thanks for the coffee Erebus; and the green light!”
“The ‘how’ is up to you Phoenix; the ‘when’ is within a week preferably” said Erebus as Colin stood up and prepared to leave the orangery.
Colin grinned. “The clock is ticking; tick tock.”
With a spring in his step Colin strode across the lawn towards the stable block. Once inside his quarters he checked out his laptop; sure enough he had some additional files in his inbox forwarded by Giles; one of the IT guys who had tutored him in the dark arts of computers.
Colin couldn’t help recalling those first tentative keystrokes back at Shaw Park Mines and how long it had taken him to figure out how to send an email. It seemed a long time ago now; he had become a lot more proficient in Africa, he had time on his hands for one thing and a thirst for knowledge. Knowledge was paramount; the more he could discover about the people he was tracking, the easier the task of taking them out would become.
Colin spent the rest of the day studying the files. He had various CCTV photos of DCI Richard Armitage in London and Lewes; he was confident he would recognise him when the time came. Colin reviewed a lot of information that he had gleaned himself about the policeman’s early career and his fall from grace on the mean streets of London.
It was gratifying to see that Olympus personnel were only finding the same incriminating evidence that he had already detailed during his own meticulous planning stage earlier this year. He hadn’t missed anything; except the handful of items they had included over the past three months when he was running, shooting and going under the knife!
Analysing the bank accounts that Giles and his friends had traced showed that Richard Armitage had around half a million stashed away; his two bedroom, end of terrace house on Chapel Hill in Lewes, was worth a little under four hundred thousand. It was as close to the golf course as he could get without having a caravan behind the nineteenth hole. “What is the fascination?” thought Colin.
Colin knew Armitage had been married until ’09, but his wife had disappeared with a personal trainer half her age while Richard was feathering his nest in London. If she’d known how much he was adding to his pension pot, who knows, maybe she would have stuck around. “Women are fickle souls” he said out loud, but nobody was listening.
The family home, a detached four bedroom prope
rty on the outskirts of Lewes had been sold off and Mrs. Armitage had snaffled her share of the proceeds and moved to Margate, where her new beau Carlos wanted to open a fitness studio. The kids had moved out long since and were scattered around the South East of England. As with most of their generation, they didn’t really ‘get’ the family thing and rarely visited their father or mother. Colin could understand not going to see Mum; nobody would want to go to Margate unless they had to.
The time passed quickly; Colin was back in harness, doing what he did best, planning in minute detail the manner in which he would carry out the removal of a bad apple from the barrel. One bad apple can ruin the whole crop as we all know; the police service had several such poisonous articles in their midst. Colin in his guise as ‘The Phoenix’ would help them clean up their act; an improvement was long overdue and Colin could find only scant evidence that they were capable of doing the job for themselves.
He glanced at his watch; it was close to midnight! Food would have to wait; sleep was the next thing on the agenda. Tomorrow was another day and he needed to check his itinerary with Erebus. If he got the all clear then he could get kitted up with the items needed for the trip and arrange for the transport section to run him into the city. He saved his work on the laptop, closed everything down and crashed out on his bunk. Sweet dreams.
Colin had been awake since six o’clock. He had showered and got dressed, then had trotted over to the canteen for a hearty breakfast. After reading through his proposed programme for the direct action against DCI Armitage and satisfying himself everything was in order, he had contacted the main house and asked for a meeting with Erebus. It was now the appointed hour and he was sat with his boss in the orangery.