Beyond Doubt:
the ULTIMATE vigilante
(Stuart Mills legal thrillers)
by Stuart Mills
published by publishmybookonkindle.com
© All rights reserved.
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY ONE
TWENTY TWO
TWENTY THREE
TWENTY FOUR
TWENTY FIVE
TWENTY SIX
ONE
The chattering of the courtroom fell silent as the presiding Judge entered. The Judge, in his late sixties who had been in this profession for almost forty years, sat down and addressed the Jury who were comprised of a mixed selection of people taken from all walks of life. “Ladies and gentlemen of the Jury. Have you reached a decision concerning the defendant”? “Yes, your honour”, came the reply from the chairman of the jury. “Then please pass your decision to the clerk”.
A small, carefully folded note, was passed from the chairman to the court clerk who passed it onto the Judge. He opened the note, read the contents, and then laid the note before him. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Having reached your decision concerning this case, how do you find the defendant”? “We, the jury, do find the defendant, not guilty of the crimes charged”.
Great cries of anger were heard throughout the court, and the judge had to bang his gavel to request silence. “You the defendant, Mr. Spearing, having been found not guilty by the duly elected jury, are now free to leave this court. Case dismissed”!
The defendant raised his arm in a clenched fist, his eyes staring fiercely and defiant, stepped down from the dock and walked into the crowd toward the main door, ignorant of the dissent of the crowd whose cries of ‘shame’, ‘unjust’ and other profanities failed to penetrate his hard exterior.
Once reaching the outside, he paused on the top steps, wallowing at the publicity of the press who were snapping photographs away at him, shouting questions, all wanting desperately to get his story for their own individual tabloid or spreadsheet newspaper.
During all this time, a small, well-dressed, quietly bespoken man, had remained in the courtroom, contemplating the jury’s decision. He had been present throughout the whole of this trial, listening fervently to all the evidence, both for and against. His thoughts went back to the initial incident that occurred two years ago which eventually, after months of painstaking groundwork by the police and forensic experts, collation of witnesses’ evidence, and at a cost to the taxpayer and general public in excess of £280,000. This perpetrator had not only been freed, but was now enjoying a new found lease, and would, at some stage, do a deal with one of the newspapers for his story for which, undoubtedly, he would receive quite a considerable sum of money.
Mr. Philip Martin Bradley stepped out of the now empty courtroom, save one or two of the lawyers and their aides who went about collecting their various files, and congratulating each other on their magnificent presentation, thinking to themselves of the big, fat fees they would shortly receive for their efforts.He walked through the gathering press and crowd, quietly and un-obtrusively, made his way down the steps where he hailed a taxi.
“Where to guv”? inquired the taxi driver. “27 Grosvenor Square” came the reply as he entered the rear of the taxi, his mind still churning over this final day’s event.
The taxi stopped, the fare paid with a decent tip, and Mr. Bradley entered his house which was both extremely prominent and exclusive. He made his way into his study, poured himself a blended whisky, and then moved over to his bureau, taking a red coloured key to unlock the roller top desk.
He sat down, and removed a black coloured file and opened it as he had done so many times previous, and glanced at the contents, frowning and shaking his head in total disbelief. He then took out his cheque book, wrote three individual cheques payable cash for £3,000 to each recipient, signed and placed them along with a short typewritten letter into each individual pre-addressed and stamped white envelope, and then walked outside his home to where a Royal Mail letterbox was situated approximately three hundred yards down the road. He paused slightly before he deposited the three envelopes in the post box, smiled and turned to walk the short distance back to his home.
“Now it is done”, he muttered to himself?
He entered his home, relaxed and satisfied that he had started the ball rolling so to speak in which to rectify some of the unjust that had occurred, and were still occurring within the British legal system, and hopefully, very shortly, he may be able to provide a possible deterrent against the major players of the crime scene.
That was his plan!
TWO
Owing to the expertise and efficiency of the Royal Mail, all three letters arrived at their different destinations on the following day, all within two hours of each other.
The first to arrive was addressed to Mr. Steve Walker. South Wales.
Steve Walker. Ex SAS. Served with the Regiment for over fifteen years.
Current Status: Unemployed. Divorced. Two children.
The second to arrive was addressed to Mr. Stuart Watson. Leicester.
Stuart Watson. Ex 1 Para. Served with 1 Para for twelve years.
Current Status: Security Adviser to National Security Company. Single.
The third to arrive was addressed to Mr. Geoff Hunt. Northampton.
Geoff Hunt. Ex S.B.S. Served with 40 Commando for 15 years.
Current Status: Chauffeur/Bodyguard to London Business man. Single.
Each letter, when opened, was read with anticipation by the recipients.
Dear Sir.
Enclosed, please find a cheque made payable for cash which is non-returnable. We have never met, but I seek to employ you to form a team of which will comprise of four people, and your name has been provided me via my contacts with a governmental establishment. It is of great importance that we meet, and I have booked a suite at the London Hilton hotel, room 306 for one day as from 1100hrs 20th June 2003. If you decide to attend, simply present yourself to the desk clerk at 1100hrs, and you will be shown to my room. However, if you decide not to accept my offer, there will be no hard feelings, and the cheque will remain valid with no ties.
I anticipate in looking forward to meeting you, and kindly regard this letter in total confidence which request you destroy immediately after you have read the contents.
Yours sincerely. (Unsigned)
All the recipients of the letters read it twice, and looked at the enclosed cheque of £3,000 made payable cash to their own name. They did however, all come to a very similar conclusion. That there was to be a covert operation in which their special skills, training and experience would be required by the sender of the letter. They could just keep the cheque and forget about the other instructions and no one would be the wiser, and, at the end of the day, they would be each £3,000 richer!
The next few days, discreet telephone calls and meetings were held by Steve, Stuart and Geoff, none of them knowing anything about each other as they telephoned their various Military contacts to see if any of them could throw any light upon this mysterious benefactor, not mentioning the contents of their letter, all without fail.
As the date nea
red for the meeting, the three had individually made decisions, and as all ex-soldiers, were both slightly intrigued and cautious about their forthcoming meeting at the London Hilton Hotel.
They all made inquiries to British Rail regarding the times of trains from their respective local railway stations to London, and made arrangement that they would catch these connections, Steve departing from Cardiff Central. Geoff from Northampton, and Stuart from Leicester. The trains arrived at their respective London terminals within one hour of each other, and although arriving on time, the three ex-soldiers were slightly early for their appointment at the Hilton hotel, so they visited the Special Forces Club which is situated directly behind Harrods in Kensington, where they had time enough to enjoy some breakfast, tea or coffee, and hopefully, ‘bump’ into some of their old mates as this club was the ‘watering’ hole for most Special Forces, and where gossip, updates and information, especially regarding contracts, new or forthcoming employment vacancies, could be discovered simply by talking to the right people.
There was also a notice board which openly advertised vacancies and world-wide contracts, some even depicting possible earnings, depending on how dangerous the position was. Many of the positions advertised were based in either African or South American countries, the majority to do with Oil companies as ‘Security Advisers’, either personal close protection bodyguards to the Director or Manager of the company, or to train up a ‘rag-tail’ army which was financed by the oil company, in which to patrol and protect their oil installations and pipelines families and staff.
Although the financial rewards in filling these type of vacancies were huge, there were such a lot of disadvantages, like the lack of other European association. Long and arduous hours, and the main gripe, no job satisfaction. After six months continual work, you were granted three weeks paid leave with free return air-ticket to anywhere in the world. This leave period was more than welcomed by the employee, which was spent most of the time ‘clubbing it’ and getting drunk every night unless you were married. In that case, you would be expected to return back to the U.K. and to spend the next few weeks with your wife and kids, going to boring and monotonous parties where you would be expected to give informal talks of your exploits to civilians who did not have a clue what you were discussing.
These situations normally ended up in a fight between them and some arsehole who had spent a few years in the Regular Army, and by illusions of grandeur, thought that they could easily do the job that you were doing. The majority only becoming employed with Securicor as they would take anyone.
Eventually, when you returned to your employment after your well-earned leave, major transformations had occurred during your absence. Half of your trained ‘rag-tail army had deserted and had gone over to the rebels for one reason or another. The Director or Manager had been replaced during your absence, and now he had brought in his own ‘Security’ adviser. You were now made instantly redundant!
Unknowingly, the men made their way across London to keep their appointment.
THREE
Steve Walker, Stuart Watson and Geoff Hunt, had all arrived at the foyer in the London Hilton, and had sat down in different areas. One of them picking up a paper, not reading it, but scanning the people as they passed to and from.
The other two actually sat on the same sofa, and did not acknowledge each other, but gazed furtively across the room, ensuring that their eyes did not make contact. At precisely 1055hrs, all three of them made their way to the receptionist, and Steve, who had arrived just one step in front of the others, said, “Room 306 please”. The remaining two just looked at each other, and as the receptionist led the way to the lift, the others fell in behind, all four personnel in one lift, joined by a smartly dressed man of about forty years of age.
“Are you all room 306” inquired the lift operative?
“Yes” came the reply.
All three men now looked each other over for the first time without talking. The lift stopped, and the door opened, and as they left the lift, the other man stepped forward and requested all of them to simply `follow him` to room 306.
“Well gentlemen. I was told to expect the three of you, so he will not be disappointed”.
As he opened up the door he said, “Lunch and refreshments will be brought up at 1200hrs, and you can help yourselves to the mini-bar as everything has been paid for in advance”, as he turned and left them alone in the luxury of the Penthouse.
On entering the Penthouse, the were overwhelmed at the opulence and luxury that lay before them, and they sat down to wait for their host.
After a few minutes, they soon discovered that they had all been brought to this place by the same letter, and started talking about their military connections, and what was going on. Who was this person to give away £9,000 to total strangers, and what was it all about?
The door opened, and in walked a smartly dressed young man of about twenty-five years of age. He entered the room, said good morning, and went toward the T.V. where he inserted a Video, handed the remote control to Geoff, and without speaking another word, left. “What a strange fucker”, said Stuart. “He’s given us a video to watch. Maybe our host is going to be late. I hope it’s a good film and not one I’ve seen before. Put it on”. Geoff switched on the control, and they lay back to see what the video held for them.
The video was switched on, and the face of the person talking was disguised in a ski-mask.
“Good morning gentlemen, and I thank you all for attending as your numbers have already been confirmed. Do not worry about my appearance. I have no mysterious disease or affliction in which to frighten you, and as you are all late members of the Special Forces, you should be used to seeing these type of masks. It is purely for security purposes only”!
“You will by now, have introduced yourselves to each other, so we can get directly to the reason why I have brought you all here together. Over the last twenty years, I have been extremely fortunate in my various business fields. So much so, that I have amassed a huge wealth, which is continuing to increase even while I speak. I have always abided within the law, and have supported the judicial system of this country whenever I could. Providing funds through various Lawyers and Barristers to defend the innocent who have been accused wrongly, ensuring that they get a fair an equal trial. All the accused that I have helped have been scrupulously and thoroughly checked by me personally, each one having a secret file upon them which I read before I make my decision on whether or not to help them. I have over one hundred people that I currently employ to investigate and to collect any evidence appertaining to each individual, for there are no marks for any error. Once I have made my decision, that person receives the very best legal aid, advice, service and top representation in the Court of Law. Without boasting, out of thirty two people that I have decided to help, thirty one have been cleared of their supposed crimes. What happened to the other one I can see you are already thinking about. Sadly, on the final day of her trial, she was knocked down and killed by a hit and run driver, who, to this day, has never been caught and arrested, despite my exhaustive efforts to find him.
You, as all former soldiers, have seen service in many parts of the world, and you have fought and killed to what you believe to be right”.
The speaker stopped while he reached for a glass of drink.
“To continue. You are aware that the whole British Judicial system is on the point of collapse, mainly caused by a combination of various things. In-sufficient numbers of good Police on the streets. Too many hours wasted in offices, and the main fault, is the C.P.S. who have created a shambles of the whole system by red tape and their inconsistency in not allowing the Policeman on the street to do the job that he was trained for. Murderers get let off. Rapists are freed. Muggers never get to trial. Robberies are now a part of this daily way of life. Degenerates and filth roam our streets, driving terror into whoever steps in their way. Child pornography is easily available, and paedophiles are out in the open
plying their evil and sick trade. The Police authorities have openly admitted that they can longer cope with this vast increase of crime, and the majority of crime is now drug related and also drug funded.
Drug money is both collected and used from such things as prostitution, gambling, extortion, illegal immigrants, child pornography and every other crime that you can think of. It is my personal aim to reduce these hideous crimes, and that perpetrators of these crimes be found where they will receive a closed trial, where they will be given an opportunity to hear all the evidence against them, and also an opportunity for them to defend themselves. If, at the end of the trial, which will be conducted with a High Court Judge presiding, the Judge decrees that the defendant guilty as charges, his decision on the sentence will be final.
Your role will be to find these people, even to penetrate their organisations, which will create danger to you all, and to bring these people to a pre-selected spot at a certain time where they will stand trial individually. Their crimes will all be read out before them. Upon the final decision of the High Court Judge, if they are found to be guilty as charged, each one of you will be required to carry out their immediate summary execution.
If you accept this proposition, you will each receive the sum of £5,000 per month, which will be deposited directly into a new, private bank account which will be opened up with new names for each of you. If you decline, then I will have to select another new team in which to replace you immediately. Very shortly, one of my employees will bring you in some files on certain people. I want you to read these files very slowly and carefully, as when you have read them, you will get an insight into some of the incidents and crimes these vermin have carried out over the past ten years.
The pictures enclosed with each case are extremely graphic, showing the full extent of the injuries, pain and suffering that their victims endured whilst under torture or rape. There was no compassion, feeling or remorse by any of the accused. They continue to roam these streets daily, still carrying out crimes, mostly violent, and without pity of their victims. Read the files”.
Beyond Doubt: the ULTIMATE vigilante (legal thrillers) Page 1