by Jack Probyn
‘What’s this about, Pete? Does Liam know I’m here?’ she asked.
‘Your boyfriend doesn’t know a thing. I’m surprised he’s spoken to you since you went live with Danny’s information yesterday.’
There was a pause. ‘He hasn’t. I’ve tried but he’s not picking up.’
‘Giving you the tough love act, eh?’
‘We had a good thing going. If you fuck it up for us then I’ll never forgive you.’
Garrison placed his nails in his mouth. ‘You’ve got me quaking in my boots.’
‘I did exactly as you asked. And now I’m the one getting backlash.’
‘Not my problem. So long as you continue to do exactly as I instruct and don’t start showing any sign of deviating from the plan, everything’s fine. We can make sure your job is safe.’ Garrison placed his hand on the steering wheel and turned to face her. ‘But when it comes to your life, I can’t make the same guarantees.’
Tanya’s lips parted and she shifted closer to the door.
‘Don’t do anything stupid,’ he said as he locked the car from his driver-side panel.
‘Please… Why am I here?’
Garrison loved hearing women beg. Made him feel almighty and powerful – that they would do whatever he wanted at the snap of a finger.
‘I know you’re the reporter Danny Cipriano spoke to in witness protection. I know you’re the one he told all those dirty little secrets to. I just want to know exactly what he told you.’
Tanya inched away from him. He hoped she could see the menace in his face; he was making no effort to hide it.
‘Please… What are you going to do to me?’
He had something in mind – lots of things in fact. But one stuck out to him. Something he’d wanted to do for a long time.
‘That depends on how much you tell me.’ Garrison moved his hand to his groin. Tanya noticed the movement.
‘I… He… he… he didn’t tell me anything. He knew that he’d be killed if he said anything. But you guys went and did it anyway. He wouldn’t tell me any other names than the ones I already knew. I told him I knew about Liam… You… Drew. He only knew Liam by name but had recognised both you and Drew.’
‘How did you meet him?’
‘Through a police officer. She was in charge of getting him into the witness protection scheme. I’d done my research and approached DS Bridger, but he told me he had nothing to do with any of it. He’d passed that buck onto another officer – DC Danika Oblak, Surrey Police. She’s the only one in the country outside of the witness protection team who knows both Michael and Danny’s locations.’
Good little Isaac. The man had told the truth.
‘This next question is very important, Tanya. And I need you to answer it truthfully… Did you, or are you going to, meet up with Michael?’
Tanya shook her head violently. Small wisps of hair slapped her across the face yet her gaze remained fixed on his.
‘Danika wouldn’t tell me his address. She said she wanted to wait and see what happened to Danny. Now she probably knows… I can’t imagine she’d give it away easily.’
‘We’d better hope you’re right.’ Garrison paused and turned his attention to the dashboard, lost in the beauty of the engineering and the rainbow colours of the dials. ‘You know, usually, this is the time where I would either pull out a gun on you or have you followed and killed before you’re able to call your boyfriend and tell him what’s going on.’
Tanya let out a little gasp and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing but air came out.
‘But this is a brand-new car, and I don’t want to ruin it on its first day. Nor do I want to expend such resources on killing you through the appropriate channels, when there are bigger fish to fry, as they say.’ He faced her and then raised his hand. She flinched, but then as his hand moved closer to her face, she froze. He stroked her soft warm skin and caressed her hair. ‘I’m sure we can come to some other arrangement. A little secret between us.’
Garrison groped his groin again. This time he was certain she’d seen it and understood exactly what he meant.
‘No. I won’t. Liam…’
‘Liam doesn’t need to know. Our little secret.’
‘I can’t.’
Using his free hand, Garrison reached in the side panel of the car and pulled out a Glock 17. ‘Like I said,’ he continued as he set the gun on his lap, ‘we can come to an arrangement. I don’t want to have to use this, but I will if you force me to. Now, do we have a deal?’
Tanya’s eyes glistened. Garrison admired and respected her. She was a tenacious journalist, always doing the best to seek out a story and report every excruciating detail. But she’d got involved with some of the wrong people – through no fault but her own – and now she was going to have to suffer the consequences of it.
‘How?’ she asked.
‘I think you know how.’
Garrison placed the weapon back where it came from, unzipped his trousers and pulled them down to his ankles. The air-conditioned air tingled his testicles. He hadn’t bothered to shave – in fact, he hadn’t bothered to shave in years; his wife hadn’t touched them in over ten – so she was going to have to make do with it. He gave her a nod and then, closing her eyes, Tanya leant over into his lap. It had been a long time since he’d last had his dick sucked, and for a moment he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to get it up, but as soon as Tanya touched it, he was rock hard. A sensation he hadn’t felt in a long time washed over him. He tilted his head back against the headrest and settled himself in. The best start to his new car’s life he could have hoped for.
As Tanya set to work, he reached across and grabbed his phone from the dashboard. While placing one hand on her head, to keep her pinned down, he made a call.
‘Yes?’
‘Michael Cipriano. DC Danika Oblak. You have to get through her to get to him. But keep her alive until he’s been taken care of. I’ll leave the logistics and flair up to you.’
CHAPTER 44
ETERNITY
The house was somewhere in North Ockendon, a small town just on the outskirts of the M25. Situated in a cul-de-sac called Fen Lane, the building was the fourth out of five. All the houses were evenly separated from one another and looked as though they’d been built by the same bloke. Almost identical, but not nearly as identical as some of the new builds that were cropping up everywhere nowadays.
Jake parked at the bottom of Fen Lane and wandered the rest of the way on foot. He stopped at the front door and knocked. Less than ten seconds later, a figure appeared. He was dressed in a gilet, his hair slicked back, and he wore a couple of rings on his fingers, with a Rolex sparkling in the light. To Jake, he had an air about him that suggested he was an Essex millionaire – living out the luxuries of a purely material existence – rather than an officer left in charge of an informant’s safety.
‘You, Jake?’
Jake nodded.
‘One of Garrison’s boys?’
He hesitated. For a split second, he almost told the man no. But then he remembered where he was and who he was supposed to be.
‘Yeah,’ he replied. ‘One of Pete’s guys. Can I come in?’
The man seemed flustered, his behaviour slightly erratic, jumpy, like he was nervous. Or on something. Perhaps it was the confirmation that he was one of Garrison’s men. But why did he ask about Garrison? I thought it was Liam in charge of all this.
The interior of the house was bleak. There was no colour in the walls nor flooring, and very few windows, save for a skylight at the top of the landing that illuminated the property. A flight of stairs was immediately in front of him that circled to the top. To his right was an open-plan living room. To his left a bathroom and, beyond, a dining room.
‘I’m Isaac by the way,’ the witness protection officer said. He held out his hand nervously; it felt moist as Jake took it. ‘Just in case Garrison asks who you dealt with.’
Jake nodded, unsure what to say. The l
ess time he spent pretending to be someone he wasn’t, the better.
‘Where is he?’
‘Oh. Yes. Michael. Sorry. I forgot! H-He’s upstairs in the office. Playing Grand Theft Auto.’
Jake followed Isaac up the steps. As they climbed higher, the sound of Michael shouting and yelling at the television, and the sound of heavy machine-gun fire and explosions grew.
Isaac entered the room without knocking.
‘Micky, you got a visitor.’
‘Who?’
Michael was already on his feet when Jake entered and baulked at the man’s appearance. It was like he was staring at a new man. His hair was long, wavy, and shaggy, pulled off his face and slicked behind his ears. He’d grown a beard, which was as dark as his hair but not as full; there were patches around his jawline and the chin was sprinkled with specs of grey. His eyes looked deep and hollow, darkened by bags that underlined them like words on a page. His muscle mass had seriously depleted, and what had once been a thick body with thick shoulders and even thicker arms had been reduced to… normal. Probably less than normal. It was frightening.
Michael Cipriano was the middle brother. And the biggest of the three of them. It was often cited that, during their heists, The Crimsons would use him to act as a deterrent to anyone trying to be a hero.
‘The fuck’s this prick doing here?’ Michael hissed.
‘Good to see you too, old friend.’
Jake turned to Isaac before Michael had a chance to launch another verbal assault on him. ‘Could you leave us? I need to speak with him in private.’
‘Of course.’ Isaac dipped his head. ‘I’ll be outside in the car. Call me when you’re done.’
With that, Isaac left. As he disappeared and descended the steps, Jake and Michael locked onto one another. Even though Michael looked as though he was weakened and nutritionally deprived, Jake was almost certain that he would still be able to beat him up. Despite the couple of inches that separated them, Jake was certain all it would take was one right hook from Michael Cipriano and he’d be out cold on the floor.
‘How you keeping?’ Jake asked in a vain attempt to warm the frosty mood.
It didn’t work.
‘The fuck d’you think you’re doing here?’
Jake swallowed before continuing. ‘I suppose… I suppose you heard about your brother.’
‘Half the world knows.’ Michael moved over to the sofa, fell onto it and picked up his controller.
‘How’d you find out?’ Jake asked as he hovered in front of the corner of the television screen.
‘The same way as the rest of the population. The news.’
‘Nobody from the police told you?’
Michael turned his attention away from the video game. ‘I think you already know the answer to that question. Good riddance, if you ask me. He was already dead in my eyes. Worthless piece of shit. Probably deserved it.’
‘Do you wanna know why he died?’
‘Go on then.’
‘Because he started talking to someone he shouldn’t have. The Cabal and the rest of them had him killed.’
‘Never could shut his mouth. That was Danny’s problem. Always was. Especially when he fucking told everything to that bitch Louise.’ Michael shook his head in derision. ‘So why’re you here? I doubt it’s ’cause you wanted to tell me about my brother.’
‘I’m here to protect you.’
Michael scoffed and shook his head. ‘You ain’t gonna be able to make that happen.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because you just told me what they done to Danny. They can easily do the same to me.’
‘Not if I can stop it,’ Jake said, stepping closer to the centre of the television screen so that he had Michael’s full attention.
‘You ain’t gonna be able to stop it. Even bigger and better people than you have tried and failed.’
‘I need information,’ Jake said bluntly.
‘What?’
‘I need to know everything,’ Jake said, realising that it was a long shot as he spoke. ‘Names of the people you worked for. Places. Dates. Events. Times. All the details. From the very beginning to now.’
‘What makes you think I’m gonna do that? I ain’t dumb. And they ain’t either. As soon as I tell you, they’ll find out and they’ll kill me. Just the same way they done Danny.’
Jake stepped directly in front of the television and moved closer to Michael. Michael paused the game and set the controller on the coffee table.
‘I can help you. I can protect you. Trust me,’ he said.
‘Why would I do that? You’re the one who fucking put me in this situation in the first place.’
‘Things have changed. I’ve changed.’
Michael eased into the sofa and rested one foot on the other knee. ‘You’ve joined the dark side? After all this time?’
‘So long as the people that matter believe that, yes.’
‘The great Jake Tanner; bent. Never thought I’d hear those words.’
Jake sighed. Michael was blowing things out of proportion, and he didn’t want that.
‘Can you help me or not?’
‘I wish I could, fella, but I never knew any names. I never knew any faces. Places, dates, times – all the juicy little details you want. I don’t know any of them. I mean, we were propositioned back in the early days. A bent cop scouted us and signed us on. We called him Desmond. Used him for our next few heists in exchange for a cut of the takings. They took fifty per cent while we split the other fifty between us.’
‘Do you know who it was you dealt with?’
Michael shook his head. ‘I never knew his real name. Always dealt with Freddy, and then Danny after Freddy got nicked.’
‘So Freddy knows?’ Jake asked, his pulse racing. A glimmer of hope, perhaps?
‘Yeah, but you ain’t getting it outta him. Ever. These people are smart, man. I mean, they’re cops for fuck’s sake. Some of the most dangerous people I know. They know everything about you. And if they don’t, they’ll find it. And as soon as they found out Freddy had a kid… Man, they’ve been holding little Sammy hostage ever since. That’s why Freddy ain’t saying a word to no one. So long as he still gets to see his son – thanks to you, I hear – he’s staying schtum.’
Jake sighed and looked at an empty beer can on the floor. The one person who knew the potential identity of The Cabal was the same person he’d helped put in jail. And now he wasn’t saying a word to anyone. Jake’s own tenacity and hard work had been responsible for shooting himself in the foot.
‘Is there anyone else?’
‘Yeah. The same bent cops you’re pretending to work for. But bear in mind, right, that if they find out what you’re doing to them, they’ll fucking kill you. All bent cops are the same – they only wanna look out for themselves, and they ain’t afraid to hurt you if it comes down to it. The only reason I’m alive still is because I don’t know nothing, and I intend to keep it that way.’
‘So you’re not going to help? You’re going to live the rest of your life in the witness protection scheme, hiding.’
‘Hey,’ Michael said, holding his hands in the air in mock surrender, ‘it’s an easy life. And the easier the better.’
‘What if they come for you?’
‘They have no reason to…’ Michael hesitated for a moment. Then he leapt off the sofa and lunged at Jake. ‘I don’t fucking believe it. You cunt. You set me up?’
‘Wh-What are you t-talking about?’
‘They’re gonna find out you’ve been here, and they’re gonna assume I’ve done the same thing my brother done. They’re gonna fucking come for me, aren’t they? That prick Isaac ain’t afraid to grass on no one.’
Jake didn’t like to admit it, but he had just bargained with Michael’s life.
‘I told you, I’m working for them. If they ask what I’m doing here, I’ll tell them I was making sure you stay quiet, that you don’t tell anyone else anything. They’ll believe i
t.’
‘Nah, I don’t like this. I don’t fucking trust you as far as I can throw you.’
‘Let me help. Danika – the same woman who sent me here – can help you. We can move you to a different location. Somewhere they’ll never find you.’
‘I ain’t running. I’ve done enough of that in my time. Fuck that. I ain’t doing it again. Nah, you need to leave. You need to get outta here before Isaac starts to get suspicious.’
Michael grabbed Jake by the blazer and hefted him out of the room, carried him down the stairs and to the front door.
‘I swear to fucking God,’ Michael continued, ‘if anything happens to me, I’m cursing you and your family for the rest of eternity.’
CHAPTER 45
CONVERSATIONS
Liam’s office was submerged in darkness. The blinds were pulled, and he only had the light coming from his laptop screen to illuminate the room. He was on a mission – and had been for the past hour – burying himself into Charlotte Grayson’s life. Something still wasn’t sitting right with him. Sure, Assistant Commissioner Richard Candy had told him that she’d been sent in from Croydon to assist with the investigation just to appease Oliver Penrose, but what if that wasn’t the case? What if she was working in the upper echelons of The Cabal’s organisation and had been sent in to report back? Worse, what if she was working for the DPS or the IPCC?
He didn’t know, but he was going to have to satisfy his paranoia. No matter how long it took.
And so far: nothing.
Everything about her checked out. All her documentation was above board and had been filed officially. Her record was immaculate. She was a good detective and had been her entire career. Been in the service for nearly ten years. Seen and done a lot. Achieved the promotion to DI only a few months ago. Hard worker, go-getter. All the other adjectives. Received high-praise from the commissioner and there was even a request to transfer to Greater Manchester Police, like she was part of a Premier League football team.