“You Bitch!” Aliesha went to slap Else, but Diane had risen and executed a neat block, grab and twist, spinning ‘Leash’ into the chair.
Else continued, “… he’s lied to her and she believed him. It’s typical really and somewhat predictable. He’ll have known they’d find her so why didn’t he kill her…?”
“He wouldn’t have killed me. He loves me! We’re in love!” Diane looked at Else again.
“Hmmm yes that is a sensible suggestion. Though he more likely likes the idea of having a girl with him, perhaps he’s getting past his prime. She does love him though or rather she’s smitten, little girls can’t tell the difference.”
“ off you bitch.” ‘Leash’ hugged herself and yet managed to look like a cornered cat.
“That hit home. Okay Else thanks you can go. Sorry to wake you, but this was crucial.”
“Don’t make a habit of it Diane.”
“Is that it?” ‘Leash' asked stunned.
“No.” She paused as Else left the room. “She’s something of an expert. Rarely wrong. Now I know the situation we can get down to what you can tell me… oh and before you say you haven’t committed a crime you’re an accessory to the theft of a motorcycle okay.”
“He had the keys how was I supposed to know it wasn’t his.”
Diane ignored her. She opened the brown file and spread pictures on the desk. There were crime scene photos from Beech Bottom Dyke, The crushed Volvo 440 with clear images of the dead officers’ lifeless bodies at odd angles in the blood spattered carnage of the dumped vehicle. The shots were enough to turn anyone’s stomach over. ‘Leash’ turned her head away.
“Look at them!” Again the whiplash voice which this time pulled her head round, but there was no trace of shame.
“He said you’d lie to me. Say he was a murderer”
“Really, we’ve got his DNA off your bed and any minute now I will be able to link it to the bodies and when we’re done we’ll have him for any other assassinations he’s done here or abroad.”
“He’s going where you won’t be able to get him.”
Diane laughed.
“Really?” She said drily.
The door opened and a plain clothes detective came in and put a sheet in front of Diane. She looked down and the looked up with clear hard eyes. Then she dealt out what she knew would be the winning hand.
She slid the sheet with the DNA results in front of ‘Leash’.
“Look at it!” Even the plain clothes man winced when she spoke.
‘Leash’ looked at it.
"Pick it up Aliesha and read it.”
'Leash' picked it up and read it. The two bars of data on the sheet matched. Her eyes rose slowly from the paper and then she went to place it on the table to see two pictures, family pictures, a man with two children, a girl and a boy, and a woman and a her husband in portrait with a cute blonde two year old boy.
Diane’s voice was soft and motherly, tender and emotional.
“That’s Stewart Mitchell and his two kids. His son Antony is fourteen and his daughter, that’s her with her dad’s hand on her shoulder, she’s eleven; she’s twelve this Saturday coming.”
Diane paused. ‘Leash’ stared at the picture then watched Diane’s manicured finger point to the second photo.
“That’s Moira Brown with her husband and their two year old son.” ‘Leash’ unable to bear it looked away. Diane slid the photos of the Stewart Mitchell’s blood coated face, neck twisted when his body was pitched around by the dumping of the police Volvo and Moira’s bloodied face with the bullet wound clear and grim where her eye should have been.
“Look at it!” ‘Leash' didn’t respond. “Look what he did because they’d tried to stop him. Two unarmed police officers and he killed them. He’s here for a reason, he doesn’t love you he just wants to use you and he’s going to kill at least one more time, now you’ll be responsible for the next person he kills as well if you don’t help me stop him…”
‘Leash’ had begun to sob.
“I’ve got a daughter about your age. How old are you Aliesha? Twenty, twenty-two?”
“I’m twenty.”
“My daughter’s a year older. She goes to clubs. I’d hate to think of her being tricked so badly by a killer. He used you and he lied to you Aliesha. What do you know?”
“Will you call my dad?”
“Yes love. I’ll call him.” She turned to the officer.
“She named him as next of kin on the checking in form. You’ve got a number.” He left the room.
“Well?” Diane asked in a once again harsh voice.
“I think he got attached to me, he seemed friendlier in the early hours when he left. I thought his name was Marc. He had a gun…”
“Probably the one that belonged to one of my men; he’s in hospital, lucky to be alive by all accounts..” Diane interjected.
“I was excited, he’s very manly. He said he had a job to do, big money then he was going to a non extradition country. He said he’d call for me… he said you’d lie… that he’d been a soldier… that people die all the time…”
“They’re good at deception Aliesha.”
“I think he meant it though, really I do.”
“Yes perhaps he did. Perhaps he wants to settle down with his ill gotten gains and you appealed to him. You are attractive and to a man his age… well… but what do you think would have happened when he got bored with you or a settled life?”
“I know. I… I’m sorry for those people really I am.”
“Did he say anything else anything at all?”
“No… I ‘m sure… wait, in his sleep he said some name like ‘Jon’ and the word ‘Priory’… twice… I wondered if he’d killed a priest in the past, he was having a bad dream…”
“Guilty conscience and wounded psyche does that. Else counsels our people who have to kill anyone. They get checked. Killing’s unnatural.”
The officer came back in.
“He’s on his way.”
“Did he say anything?” ‘Leash’ asked.
“Just that he was on his way.”
Diane collected the photos into the file and got up.
“Let her go, but have her watched and by armed police, protection,” she turned to ‘Leash’ ”and you young lady build some bridges with your father. Family life is important and it’s what good society is built on, the bedrock. Make the most of your time with your father.” She tapped the brown folder. “There’s a girl in there that’ll long to see her father every day from now on, but especially Saturday next. He won’t be coming home though. Make the most of the time you have, it may run out much faster than you expected.”
When Diane got outside the cell she leant against the wall, took a hankie out of her sleeve and wiped away the tears that she had controlled in the room. She blew her nose, pushed the hankie into her sleeve and got out her ‘sat phone’.
“It’s Diane. Run the word ‘Priory’ through the computers and compile a list of places. It may be nothing, but there’s not much to go on… yes she did…silly little mare… she’ll be fine… daddy’s on the way to make it all better for her.”
Chapter 84
Torquay Harbour
5 a.m.
April 19th
Torquay was an open harbour, walls around, but no blocks to entry. Stanton was nearly out of fuel when he entered the seaward gap. It was dark and the sun wasn’t due to rise for at least an hour. He turned on the light on the top of the boat and steered his way into an empty berth. There were three empty berths near the sea wall. There was a heavy bump as the prow of the boat hit the wooden jetty. Stanton had cut the engine when he’d steered it in, so there was no reverse power to hold off hitting the woodwork. He switched off the light, ran to the back of the boat, grabbed a line and tied her up.
Stanton stood quietly on deck looking and listening. The harbour was quiet. Some distance away there was an inner harbour with smaller boats. There was a little traffic on t
he road, lone car lights, the street lamps polluted the pre dawn dark, aside from that there was nothing.
Back in the cabin, aware of time as he was Stanton took a break to eat and drink. A pack of digestive biscuits from a cupboard and a large mug of tea helped him feel stronger.
Refreshed he gathered some useful tools in a bag and walked the jetties looking at berths. There were plenty of yachts and most had engines. He couldn’t really sail a yacht, not alone. There were very few cruisers. There were five sprigs of floating walk ways and along the third he found what he was looking for. There was a clean looking Fairline Phantom 38 three berths in from the walkway.
Stanton climbed aboard and broke through the back door using a crow bar. Glass shattered as he levered the door open, he was acutely aware of the noise as it echoed off the water. The harbour seemed unwatched and no alarm went off when he broke in. He was twenty minutes getting to the wires behind the control panel. He found the starter wires and fired up the engine, it started first time. He went to the back, cast off and as the boat began to drift he gave it power and steered his way carefully around the sprigs of jetties and into the open sea. He checked the electronic panel, fuel tanks were full. It was a nice little boat, lounge, berths, kitchen, very plush, but unlike the Nelson Landguard 33 there was no ‘autopilot control system’, he’d have to steer it all the way.
To that end he motored around the bay, checked the depth sounder and anchored just off Oddicombe beach, just under the Babbacombe cliffs. He took of the aft cabin doors and threw them over the side, putting the back covering up. He cleaned up the glass and checked the boat over. He found no clothes left there except for a blue Berghaus coat with a hood and a woolly hat.
It was lovely really, a real floating home. He found the paperwork for it in cabin storage, the berth ticket for Torquay and owner’s papers. Not for the first time he blessed the complacent laziness of the average human being. They hadn’t thought that anything would happen to them. In his line of work you spent everyday assuming that bad things were going to happen and watching out for them. The alarm system hadn’t even been switched on. At last clear that he could pass muster with a harbour master at Dover, as he knew he’d be arriving in daylight, the Torquay ticket showing he hadn’t come from abroad, he could cruise in, tie up and wait until nightfall to get out and head for the Thames estuary.
It was getting on for six am and there was a pale light in the sky to the East. He hauled anchor and pointed the boat out of the bay and into the channel. The Fairline could do 30 knots and Stanton pushed it as hard as he could, knowing channel traffic would slow him around the Dover area.
Chapter 83
Dover
6 a.m.
April 19th
The darkness surrounded him, there were screams and cries, lights flashed showing images of shadow figures pointing guns, the muzzle blast was bright orange and in the light women children and men were shot, then the light flash ended, darkness taking the bleeding victims away as the shadow gun men faded away too. David ran to the flashes of light to help the people who’d been shot; he was fearful of the shadows with guns, terrified that the light would shine on him and he’d be shot. He struggled to pull his own gun from the folds of his coat and light after light came on and more and more people were shot by the shadow men. He rushed from place to place to help, trying hard to fight. Finally he got his gun out and the light shone on him. He spun in a circle sweating and in a light further away Beaumont stood, called to him and was shot. David ran towards him suddenly reaching the end of a railway platform. David pointed the gun into the dark beyond and a figure marched out pointing a rifle, David fired just as the shadow figure emerged into the light and David saw that it was his father falling to the ground and the view changed to one of himself as one of the shadow men looking into the pool of light at his father’s bloodied face…
“Father!” David shouted as he woke, hands tangled in the duvet and soaked in sweat from head to toe. David breathed as if out of breath. He started as Mary’s hand touched him on the back.
“Bad dream Davey?”
“Aye.”
“Get up and write it down straight away then you can get me a nice cup of tea.”
David went downstairs found a piece of paper and wrote the dream down, he heard the toilet flush and Mary appeared, heavy and round in her pregnancy, the belt of her dressing gown under the bump like a fat man’s belt under a gut, the dressing gown didn’t quite cover her.
“Not long now Mary McKie eh?”
“No I’ll be glad when she comes out.”
“Sit down I’ll get you some tea.”
Mary watched him leave the room. He was tall, broad shouldered and his biceps stretched the edge of the T-shirt of his ‘pyjamas’, his legs in the shorts showed defined calves. She wondered that such a formidable man, strong and intelligent should struggle with his emotions. She knew he’d been troubled by the lorry of immigrant bodies he’d told her he’d found one time in customs work. She knew though that most of his life he’d feared little. When Connor was born David had been there strong and assertive, but when the baby came out he’d cried, with joy of course. It touched her that such a man was attached to her. She was unsure though of the path his life was taking and feared that his ‘secret’ life would drive a wedge between them. David came back with two mugs of tea.
“Conor still asleep.”
“Yes.”
“What was your dream?”
David told her.
“That’s very Freudian I’d say, killing your own father. Didn’t Oedipus do that by accident?”
“Yes. What do you think it means?”
“Something to do with control I’d say. Maybe you feel that things have got out of control, you know, the parent, the controller being killed, safety gone, feeling unsafe?”
David grabbed her hand and kissed it.
“My word you’re a clever lass aren’t you. Maybe you should counsel me eh?”
“I’d like that. I don’t want to be on the outside.”
“I don’t want that either. We’ve always been close.”
She squeezed his hand.
“What happened at the bus station?” She asked.
“I’m not supposed to talk about what I do.”
“I’ll not tell, anyway no matter what you signed with them you made promises when you married me and my claim on you pre-dates theirs. I won’t tell I promise.”
David’s face broke into a big grin. “You’re right. No-one will know and I’ve always told you about my work. I don’t see the problem in us sharing it. Maybe you could help.”
He told her the situation, what had happened and the story, what he knew of it, of the five men. Mary sat rapt in attention until he finished.
“My God, that’s incredible. There are three more out there?”
“Yes.”
“Davey it’s just as well you shot that man Wheeler. He’s an evil man and no doubt.”
“Who’s evil mummy?” Conor had come into the room.
“The Hamburglar at MacDonald’s wee man. Want to go to the Harbour today and get Old MacDonald’s?”
“Yay. Please dada, can we sit and watch the boats?”
“Sure sweetie.”
“I’ve to take him out this afternoon. Mona and Terri asked me over for a coffee and their boys will be there. You want to play with Leighton and Hadley this morning Conor?”
“Yay. Can I watch Teevee mummy.”
David rose.
“I’ll get breakfast. Log on and check my mail, do my CCTV survey for a bit and then I’ll take wee man down the harbour.”
“It’d do you good. Bit of father son bonding, red meat, fries and fresh air.”
“Perfect.”
David went to the kitchen and got out the cereal boxes.
“What do you want for breakfast Conor?” McKie felt relieved, more in his comfort zone. Talking to Mary had helped and his role as family man was a ‘suit’ of clothes he felt sa
fe in, the traumas of the past days faded to the back of his mind. He went to the fridge and got the milk out.
Chapter 86
Claridge’s Hotel Mayfair London
7 a.m.
April 19th
Cobb had asked for an alarm call and breakfast in his room. He showered, dressed neatly but comfortably and whilst waiting for breakfast he took out the police issue Heckler Koch MP5, stripped it, cleaned it and armed it. He did the same for his PSS and tucked that in his waist band at the back of his trousers.
Breakfast arrived and he sat down to enjoy ‘ham and eggs’ British style. The coffee was strong and the kind he liked. Betty still hadn’t stirred and he wondered how he was going to deal with her.
Across the city Tony Deany had risen from his duty team stopover room’s single bed, washed, dressed and after eating a good breakfast and gone down to the office assigned for him for the two weeks. He was surprised to find Ellie already there.
“Early riser?”
Not usually, it’s hard to sleep knowing these men are out there. I mean twelve dead, the mayhem at Gatwick, sorry to remind you, then the mayhem at that club.” Ellie paused and looked up from her screen.
“It’s not so hard to sleep when you need to. I always rise early, did whilst I was a cop and always do now, no matter how much sleep I’ve had. I suppose I don’t like to waste a day knowing how short life could be.” Tony sat down and logged on. Ellie turned back to her screen and then cast him a sideways glance.
“You know that sounds good to start with and then becomes really quite grim at the end.”
Ellie looked at him. Tony looked back and took in her face. It was a clear skinned, pale oval, set with a wide mouth, a small neat nose and heavy lashed pale blue eyes. Her hair was black and cut in a long ‘bob’. She smiled and he smiled back
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