Seven Degress (The Seventh Wave Trilogy Book 2)

by Lewis Hastings

  The London Fire Brigade had arrived with a portable lightweight ladder and were busy assisting with the extraction of Cade and Nicol. Two recently arrived police staff had stayed below to provide support to the paramedics who had earlier been lowered, with life-saving equipment into the brick-lined tunnel.

  Cade had wanted to stay in situ but knew he was in the way, and Nicol had tried his best to remain but in truth couldn’t wait to leave.

  They talked a few things through, a classic tactical debrief between a great leader and a willing follower. Nicol was sent up to the street to get cleaned up and allow himself, upon orders, to get a rapid check-up from another ambulance crew.

  Cade was on hand to help pull the rescue stretcher up and out of the dank water below. It was more a demonstration of his commitment to her than a show of strength. He was beyond fatigued – more than at any other time in his life.

  “Let her go now Jack. Incredible job. It’s down to her resolve and the skill of the medics.”

  Cade stopped the stretcher crew for a valuable few seconds and knelt down beside the lifeless body before whispering into her chilled and clammy ear.

  “Who are you? Eh? Why did you go down there? Whoever you are, thank you. I’m sure your parents are intensely proud of you. I know I am. You’d make a great member of my team…”

  He held her equally icy hand.

  He looked up at the senior paramedic. “Well?”

  He shook his head subtly. “I don’t think so, mate.”

  Jackdaw’s phone trembled in his hand. He was waiting for the call. He pressed the green button, breathed in slowly and spoke.

  “Yes. Speak to me brother, tell me only good news.”

  “I spent far too much of our money on a bottle of wine that I never finished. I stole a boat, caused chaos on the River Thames and rescued your two men before being shot in the arm. Then survived a boat crash and found myself being refused entry to Mr Hewett’s very nice Audi motor car. Which I believe we paid for. Then I spent a while convincing our friend Johnnie that he would take us all for a ride to Chatham and from there, home.”

  “It sounds boring brother. You are weary. You really shouldn’t be quite so specific.”

  It was a gentle warning to a clearly tired brother who had not considered that he might be the subject of audio surveillance.

  “Tell me, what else did you do whilst you were in London? Did you see the Queen?”

  It was code and one which only the two brothers knew.

  Stefanescu admonished himself.

  “Of course. She sends her very best wishes. Her servants have followed their orders to the letter. They are out in the kingdom now, making the most of the weather. The princes and princesses, butlers, horsemen, waiters, and court jesters, all of them, doing what they do best. Doing it all for their country.”

  “That is indeed excellent news. Soon we shall also feast like royalty. Your carriage awaits, you leave at four o’clock. Don’t be late brother. Oh, and give my regards to the driver.”

  Daniel’s phone battery was hot. He had made and taken countless calls in the last hour and expected it to go flat any moment. A quick text was fired off to his beloved – the key to any good police relationship always followed the mantra: ‘Happy wife – Happy life’ – and don’t forget the flowers.

  If all else failed, blame someone else.

  Hi. I’m running late. Blame Jack.

  “Right mate, we need to get somewhere we can hose you down because with all due respect…you stink. That’ll do nicely.” He pointed over to the Fire Brigade who had set up a Hazchem shower to rid their own staff of the stench of the tunnel system.

  “Mind if we borrow this for a second boys?”

  “Make yourself at home chief. Don’t drop the soap though!”

  Cade stepped under the water which by comparison to what he’d been submerged in was warm and luxurious.

  He exited, rubbing the excess from his face and gratefully accepting a towel.

  “They are still working on your girl Jack.”

  “Which one?”

  “Sorry. The girl in the ambulance, God only knows who she is and why…”

  “I asked her the same question John. Do we know anything about her?”

  “Not a clue. She’s got three pennies in her pocket and a season ticket to the underground. She got off the train here for a reason but we may never know why. It could have been her intended stop. She’s got some guts I’ll give her that. There’s no way she went down there by accident. She’s followed them deliberately.”

  “Agreed. Just need to find out why.” He finished drying himself as best he could before tossing the towel into a black bag. Blinking out the last of the water he focused on his boss.

  “Christ, John what is going on?”

  It was a fair question.

  “Well, I can tell you that my division has never been so bloody busy Jack. I’m beginning to wonder what it is about your blanket that attracts quite so much shit. I know we’ve done this before but we need to whiteboard this and start at the beginning. What we know is we have a team, or teams that have worked out how to exploit our financial systems, but importantly, somewhere in amongst that nest of vipers is a leader and a hierarchy – and a traitor or two.”

  “Two?”

  “Yep. Call it gut instinct” said Daniel, doing his best to ignore the osmotic effect taking place in the hems of his much-loved suit trousers, whilst trying to find a clean corner on a borrowed towel and absentmindedly wipe something noxious off his shoe onto a nearby kerbstone.

  “I’m not with you?”

  “One of them is your man Copil. We still don’t know why or even if he has turned, but if he has and if we act with caution, he could be our ace card. Or, he could lead us away from the action.”

  Cade nodded, starting to feel vaguely human again.

  Daniel carried on. “Talking of which there have been four explosions in the last twenty-four hours around Greater London, all connected to banks, over a hundred ATM attacks and we’ve even had a report about a supermarket in Essex being the victim of a point-of-sale device being swapped. This is a clever team Jack but there’s more to this.”

  “You can say that again. They’ve also got some nasty bastards among the hierarchy you alluded to. I’ll bet what’s left of my reputation that they’ve chalked up a few murders in the south of England, shot at our staff and ripped thousands of innocent bank customers off via the ATM jobs. But all that aside I think this is a cover for something bigger. I have done for a while now and on that, I think you and I agree.”

  He knew he was tired and hoped he was making sense. “They know too much JD. Got any ideas?” He leaned back against the bright red fire tender and closed his eyes, willing them to stay closed.

  Daniel continued the conversation.

  “Jack. I think we are having the same thoughts. I’ve probably been around a while longer than I should have been, but my instinct never betrays me. I know that they’ve got someone close. I’m hearing some chatter on the human source channels suggesting the involvement of diplomats. But it doesn’t compute. As it stands I haven’t the slightest idea where they could fit in, and why. We’ll figure that in time. But for now, one of our priorities is to identify our problem child. Assuming it’s not you, which I think we can take for granted, and it’s certainly not me, and it’s none of the team.”

  Cade shook his head vigorously, guzzled a welcome and hot and sweet cup of tea as quickly as he could and said “Agreed, one hundred percent. It’s none of our lot.”

  Daniel grabbed what was left of Cade’s tea, almost emptying it in one swig then flicked the rest across the pavement.

  “And finally, with those two poor buggers in hospital I’m happy it’s not Jason that’s our Judas, and something deep down in here says it ain’t poor old Carrie.”

  Cade’s eyes opened immediately.

  “Bloody hell John. I need to go and see her. I’m a V12 engine running on four cylinders
and someone has filled my tanks with diesel.” It wasn’t funny, but he giggled inappropriately, his blood sugar levels had plummeted and he was on the verge of collapse.

  “Let’s get you cleaned up first Jack, and get some food into you, then we’ll go. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

  “I somehow doubt that, Chief Inspector. Every other female I seem to come into contact with leaves me alive and miserable, or happy but dead.”

  The door of the ambulance burst open causing Cade to rock back into life.

  “We’ve got a pulse. Heading to St. Thomas’. Well done. Seriously.” The paramedic’s animated thumbs up was a massive boost. The brightly marked rear door of the ambulance was closing as it edged into traffic and lit up, announcing its presence to all and sundry. ‘Please move out of my way – this might be you one day.’

  Daniel slapped Cade on his shoulder a few times. “Well, perhaps that young lass is about to change your success rate.”

  Cade looked up at a brightening sky and put his head against Daniel’s shoulder.

  “Perhaps there is a God after all John? Let’s get cleaned up and get to hospital, we can kill three birds with one stone, seeing as my presence in your fair city put them all there.”

  “Sounds like a plan. I need to talk to you en route. I’ll drive, you can close your eyes and listen.”

  He turned to Jennings. “Andy, mate, thank you. When this has calmed down I’ll come and see your team with a cake or two. Top work all round. Can I leave it with you?”

  It was an iconic phrase among police specialist units – the subtle handover from a suit to a uniform that was always rhetorical. This was a great manager, Jennings could tell and for once, having it left with him was actually flattering.

  They returned to Daniel’s vehicle got in and set off for the hospital. Daniel turned the heating on full and drove through traffic until he got to a petrol station.

  “You stay in the car, you stink! I’ll get some food and a couple of fresh coffees. Stay warm.”

  Cade put the passenger seat back a few notches and closed his eyes. He was quickly drifting off into a head-snapping sleep, his neck jolting him back into an awakened state at least three times as he fought to keep his eyes open. He stared at Daniel, queuing up for refreshments and realised he was looking at a naturally gifted leader. As he stared through the windscreen, he remembered that he had wanted to speak to him about something but at the time had declared it as unimportant.

  “Ever the diplomat John.”

  His stomach rolled, and he felt nauseous but sleep beckoned once more, washing over him, drawing him in, until his eyes gently closed and this time his head dropped against the passenger window. He was gone.

  His eyelids were fluttering, already in a deep sleep, his dreams surfaced once more. Under water, reaching out, clutching, grabbing hold but not quite accomplishing his goal. Surrounded by obscure shapes, some almost human, others fishlike, swimming just within reach and then gone, scurrying like alarmed small fry into the dark green weeds and out of harm’s way.

  He turned around in the water, trying to find a more advantageous way to see them, to see their faces but it never got beyond this point, as the scene replayed over and over again until the sense of frustration was palpable.

  He could hear Daniel talking – distantly, but he knew, even in the depth of his dream that it was Daniel.

  “They know too much Jack.” It was his own words but spoken by his boss.

  The current began to quicken, carrying Cade deeper, down towards the river bed where myriad obscure shapes lay. He felt that he wasn’t alone, that eyes were watching him, even in such a cold and miserable place. The deeper he went, the darker it became until all available light had vanished and he was alone.

  He was struggling against the tide, forcing himself to turn, fearing something, but desperately unaware what. He began to cry, his tears coloured the black water and then dispersed into the aquatic mire. Voices, from somewhere, began to shout his name, almost rhythmically, but it was a slow fractured chant, not with any discernible beat, just over and over again.

  He looked up to where he thought the surface was and began to push up and away from the bottom of the river, for every stroke up he was dragged two back down again. His chest began to pound as he forced himself to conserve the last of his remaining air.

  It was becoming easier to just inhale.

  A shape appeared alongside him. Its body was human without any doubt, but its face was non-descript, androgynous, a void. It held out its hand. Cade could see through it, through every limb, the skin began to peel away, rotting before his eyes. It was hideous. But as he swam upwards towards the surface, the body began to take on a new form. Its skin appeared to heal, its hand grew stronger and more opaque and now it led him towards a strengthening light source, pushing through the plants, shoals of inquisitive fish flashed here and there and he knew that he needed to continue. This was far from a simple nightmare. It was tangible.

  Within feet of the surface, Cade turned and looked at the figure. Its face had transformed and no longer alarmed him. It was someone he knew and in his presence he had always felt safe. The figure was now much stronger, definable and physically too, it propelled Cade up towards the sun. He turned to look back, but the figure was drifting downwards once more. Its face was now unblemished, handsome in an old-fashioned way and recognising its task was complete it simply smiled and nodded, gently holding up its right hand as it blended back in with its surroundings and as quickly as it had appeared had departed.

  Cade reached the surface which was shrouded in a still-dark veil, it almost ensnared him, unwilling to let him make the last part of his journey, but he was damned if he was going to give in now. With a final push, he broke the surface and hauled air into his lungs.

  He shuddered violently and was awake.

  His heart was beating rapidly as he took a moment to look around and saw Daniel sat in the driver’s seat, quietly sipping on his coffee.

  “You OK there old son?”

  Cade exhaled. “Yep. Just fine.” He wiped a tear from the edge of his eye.

  “Strikes me you were having one hell of a dream Jack.”

  “I was, I have it a lot lately.”

  “Anything you want to discuss?”

  Cade thought for a second before speaking, “No John. Thank you. I’m fine. I think I just need a holiday but we both know that won’t happen for a while.”

  He picked up his coffee and began to slurp its scalding hot contents through the aperture in the lid. Daniel started the car, looked over his shoulder, indicated and merged with the traffic.

  He motioned towards a hot sausage roll. “I’ve eaten one whilst you’ve been asleep, I thought I’d save that one for you.”

  Cade managed to raise a smile. “Thanks. I think.”

  He stared out of the window as they whipped through the comparatively light traffic that was beginning to build, taking the commuters south and home once more. He was lost in the middle of it all, trying to focus but fixating on a familiar tail badge of the car in front – for a moment he could have easily fallen asleep again but quietly pinched the skin on his thighs in order to stay awake.

  As he took another sip of the liquid, he realised who the dream figure was.

  Exhausted, his mind wandered again and his eyes were soon glazing over as he fought to focus on the depth of the London skyline. He knew he had to be buoyant when he visited his team in hospital, however despite willing himself to concentrate he was drifting again. He jolted as he spilled some of the coffee onto his leg.

  “Bastard!”

  “Thanks, you can buy your own in future you miserable northern twat!”

  “Bollocks to you, Chief Inspector.”

  “And bollocks to you too, former Inspector!”

  “Touché!”

  “You deserved it. You know I only ever look out for your best interests Jack. And besides I bought you a sausage roll too…” He pointed towards the microwa
ved offering as if it were made of gold.

  “You call that food?” He held the oil-stained paper bag aloft.

  “Oh, trust me I’ve eaten worse.”

  “Oh trust me, so have I. I once ate a live sea slug for a bet and it probably tasted better than that bloody thing!”

  Daniel winced, raised his index finger and continued.

  “Ah. But when you are married to one as adorable as me, who is an absolute whizz in the bedroom and even better in the kitchen then you learn to appreciate the finer things in life kid. I learned to tread very carefully when it comes to complimenting Mrs Daniel and her catering. She has a dream of opening a nice little restaurant one day. In some far-flung land.”

  “And I suppose you pamper to her every desire boss?”

  “Au naturel Jack, au naturel.”

  “Ever the diplomat John…”

  He took a bite of the food and confessed that it actually tasted superb. As he savoured its flavour he stopped, hastily swallowed and turned to Daniel and began to quote verbatim from his meeting with Nikolina Petrov at East Midlands Airport.

  “You see Jack, what Alex learned – he’s a fast learner – was that if he found the right people, he could get more passports, and more passports means more fake diplomats and more diplomats…” He finished swallowing the last of the food. “Means…more money.”

  “Jack I have no bloody idea what you are rambling on about!”

  “Of course!” He clicked his finger and thumb together loudly.

  “OK. Are you going to let me in on this or do I have to tell everyone that you cry when you dream?”

  Cade looked at Daniel, a man who he trusted implicitly.

  “You’ve just crossed the line John.”

  The look that accompanied the sentence spoke volumes and Daniel knew he’d overstepped the mark.

  “Fair play. I apologise unreservedly.”

  “It’s not a dream John. It’s a bloody recurring horror movie. I can’t take control, I’m adrift in deep, dark water. Black water. I can see a way out but I can’t ever get there. There’s always a figure waiting in the half-light…”