Hidden

by Roger A Price

  She read the text from Babik and then told the others quickly, before replying: Ready with no probs re our guests and my man is on his way over. Extra job should be no worries x. Then she read her response to the others.

  ‘“Another job,” that’s a worry,’ Vinnie said.

  ‘We’ll find out soon enough.’ Sue said.

  Darlington had been at his desk throughout this conversation, and looked up straight at Vinnie. ‘Yes sir?’ Vinnie said.

  ‘I’ve just finished writing up all the authorities, to authorise you to act as an undercover officer and to carry a firearm. You can draw that from the armoury at the firearms training unit across at the training school. It’ll raise less suspicion there. In fact, you’ll need to stay away from Preston nick until this is over,’ Darlington said.

  ‘Any nick,’ Cath added.

  Vinnie knew this. Darlington then asked Cath if she would act as silver commander and he would act as gold. Vinnie knew that this meant that Darlington would oversee strategy, including any need for urgent changes to it, notwithstanding all they had all thrashed out over the last few hours. He knew situations such as this could become very fluid and unpredictable. Cath obviously agreed to be silver, as she would have the armed back-up resources available at a moment’s notice.

  ‘And will you act as bronze commander on the ground, Harry, and liaise with Preston in case we need extra resources or urgent intelligence checks,’ Darlington told him.

  Harry said he would work from his office at Preston, where he could better co-ordinate his side of things. Cath said she would work from the chief’s office, which also made sense.

  Roles and responsibilities sorted, it was time for a tea and toast before they all got moving.

  A surprised staff officer to the chief entered Darlington’s office and the chief constable took her to one side to explain things, before asking her to clear his diary for the day.

  ‘What about your eleven o’clock video conference call with the home secretary?’ she asked.

  ‘Damn, forgot about that, just tell her I’ve got the runs and you can deputise for me.’

  ‘Sir?’

  ‘You know more about the community cohesion report than I do, you’ll be perfect.’

  The staff officer made some comment about re-reading it and hurried out of the office. Vinnie didn’t envy her the task and was glad he was only a detective inspector.

  Then Sue’s operational phone buzzed again, but this time she announced that it was an incoming call from Babik. The room fell silent as she answered.

  After a few ‘yeses’ interspaced with silences, Sue looked directly at Vinnie. ‘Sure,’ she said, adding, ‘I’ll bring him to meet your first, just tell me where.’ A further silence, and then the call was over.

  ‘He says Boldo wants to meet me, but Babik wants to meet you first,’ Sue said, looking at Vinnie.

  ‘Excellent,’ said Darlington.

  ‘I’ll warm up the arrest teams,’ said Cath.

  ‘Any mention of the extra job?’ Vinnie asked.

  ‘No, and I didn’t want to push him over the phone, we’ll find out when we see him,’ Sue said.

  ‘Remember, we need to know where the women are before we move,’ Darlington said.

  Everyone acknowledged him.

  ‘Any idea where Boldo is now?’ Harry asked.

  ‘Apparently, Babik’s dropped him off, but didn’t say where.’

  ‘Any mention of the new girls?’ Harry asked.

  ‘No, but the mill is obviously where they are destined for.’

  ‘This is getting better, but we need Boldo’s location,’ Darlington said.

  ‘I’ll get an OP on the mill, but as you’re the only one who has been there, you’ll have to describe it to me,’ Harry said.

  Sue quickly did and added that as it was during the day Harry needed to get a position with a view of the fire escape at the rear. She then turned to Vinnie, ‘You ready?’

  ‘As I ever will be,’ Vinnie said, before checking his watch. It was ten o’clock already. ‘Come on, let’s go,’ he finished.

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Vinnie handed over a copy of the chief’s authority to arm to a startled firearms PC at the force training school’s firearms department. He seemed reluctant. Vinnie knew they never usually issued firearms for live operations from here. He just said it was for covert operational reasons, and the officer shrugged his shoulders before disappearing into the back. He reappeared at the reception desk with a Glock 19 handgun and two 15-round clips of 9 mm ammunition. He then reached under the desk for a shoulder holster, but Vinnie told him he wouldn’t need one. Having checked the weaponry over and signed for it, Vinnie asked to be shown to the training range.

  ‘Why, you forgotten how to use one since your last requalification shoot?’ the PC asked.

  ‘Just show me,’ Vinnie said, ignoring the sarcasm.

  Vinnie put on a pair of ear defenders and then fired two rounds.

  ‘Still goes bang, doesn’t it?’ the PC added.

  Vinnie said nothing but put the weapon in an inside pocket, minus the magazine which he put with the spare in an outside pocket.

  ‘Oh, one last thing,’ Vinnie said.

  ‘Yes,’ the PC answered.

  ‘Mention my visit here to anyone and the chief constable says you’ll be walking the streets of the east Lancashire hills for the rest of your service.’ Vinnie then turned and left without waiting for a reply.

  Sue drove her car and as they left the compound she asked him why he had fired a couple of rounds.

  ‘Proves it’s been used,’ Vinnie answered.

  ‘Nice one,’ she replied.

  ‘Now, where are we meeting Babik?’

  ‘I got a text whilst you were on the range; he wants to see me at Brockholes.’

  ‘Does he know I’m coming?’

  ‘Not yet.’

  ‘Where is Brockholes?’

  Sue then explained that it used to be a major quarry site on the eastern fringes of Preston, near the M6 motorway junctions, but was now a wetland attraction with the world’s first floating village visitor centre. A great spot for a meet. A good job they’d turned down Darlington’s offer to have a surveillance team behind them; as good as they undoubtedly were, it would be a nightmare to cover such a place. Or at least, cover it closely.

  Thirty minutes later they pulled up at the Brockholes site, which had one road in and the same road out, Vinnie noted. The car parking areas were vast and mostly empty at this time of the day. Sue had started to drive around its outer edge when Vinnie noticed a blue saloon car, parked up about as far away from the main entrance as possible. He was about to point it out when he saw its headlights flash. Sue drove over. She parked up several car spaces away from it and told Vinnie to stay in the car. He wound down the passenger window so he could hear should Babik get out. He doubted that would happen, but kept his right hand inside his jacket where he could feel the reassuring lump of his Glock.

  He watched as Sue slowly walked over to the car. It was side-on to them and Vinnie couldn’t see inside it clearly, due to the daylight reflecting from the vehicle’s glass. He could see someone at the wheel, but that was all.

  Sue opened the passenger door and got in. Vinnie glimpsed a swarthy-looking man in the driver’s seat, probably in his forties, but it was hard to be sure. She was in there for about five minutes, but it seemed a lot more. But when Sue did get back out, so did the driver. He then waited at the front of his car, where Vinnie managed to get a better look at him as Sue returned. In his forties, dark hair, rugged complexion, looked a handful.

  Sue whispered through the open window as she approached, ‘He wants to meet you.’

  ‘Any problems?’

  ‘None. I took the liberty of saying that you had offed the two women earlier and had them moved to the coast where they will be soon keeping the bottom-feeders happy in Morecambe Bay. OK?’

  ‘Not a worry. ‘But what is the secon
d earner he wants me to do?’

  But before she could elaborate Babik called over, ‘Come on you two, I’m busy man.’

  Vinnie got out and followed Sue to the front of the blue saloon, which Vinnie noted had recent damage to the front bumper.

  Greetings over, Babik seemed to be eyeing Vinnie for what seemed an age before he spoke again. ‘You work fast, Mr X. I’m sorry, but Sue wouldn’t tell me your name.’

  ‘Safer for you that way, so Mr X will do fine. And yes, I had to,’ Vinnie said.

  ‘Why is that?’

  ‘A friend of mine has a trawler in Fleetwood and was delayed going out into the Irish Sea this morning, due to fog. The timings were ideal.’

  ‘I like resourceful people,’ Babik said, adding, ‘you trust this trawler man?’

  ‘A relative; and he’s a she,’ Vinnie told him, noting that Babik had raised his eyebrows. Then he added, ‘We are all equal and she is the only person I have trusted over many years. Let’s just say that the fish get excited whenever they see her boat approach.’

  Babik smiled and said, ‘OK, if Sue here trusts you, then so do I. I’ll pay five large for each of the women and five extra for any more.’

  Vinnie wasn’t sure if Babik knew that Sue had told him of the other job, so he decided to pretend that he didn’t know. ‘The women are a freebie as an act of good faith, but I’m afraid the next one and any more will be ten large each.’

  Babik didn’t answer right away but looked to be eyeing Vinnie again. Vinnie hoped he wasn’t overplaying his role.

  ‘Many people will do my bidding for far less,’ Babik said.

  ‘True, but with me you get a total professional, as I hope this morning’s work has shown. But if you wish to part company, then just pay me the ten you offered for the two women and I’ll shake your hand and walk away.’

  Vinnie looked at Sue and caught a look in her eye. But he knew Babik needed him for another job, and at such short notice he hoped that put him in a good position. There was a legal reason why he was negotiating with Babik, too. He knew that in many similar prosecutions for contract killing jobs, a common defence was that the undercover officer incited the criminal into a course of action that he actually really didn’t want to go through with. This negotiation would kill that one off from the start.

  Several seconds passed before Babik spoke. ‘Is your trawler lady going fishing again soon?

  ‘She can go whenever I ask.’

  ‘You carrying now?

  Vinnie nodded.

  ‘Show me, but with two fingers.’

  Vinnie carefully removed the Glock and stood close to Babik, chest to chest as he showed him the weapon.

  ‘Lift it up for me to see,’ Babik said.

  Vinnie lifted the gun up to head height.

  Babik appeared to be examining it and nodded as he did so, it became clear that he was a fan of Glocks. He asked Vinnie if this was the weapon he used on the women, and Vinnie nodded again.

  Then, Babik smelled the end of the barrel, smiled and told Vinnie he could put the gun away.

  ‘OK, Mr X, I agree, but I want you to do another job for me, and it has to be today.’

  ‘No probs,’ Vinnie said, and stuck out his hand. Babik shook it warmly and added that Sue would cash him up later.

  ‘What’s the next job?’ Vinnie asked.

  ‘It’s tied up in the boot of this car. Gagged and not very happy. I want you to take my car and do what you do best, then burn the motor. Sue will collect you when it’s done.’

  Vinnie hadn’t seen this coming, but held in his surprise and just nodded once more. Babik then took hold of Sue’s arm and started towards her car.

  Chapter Sixty

  To say that the occupant of the boot was not very happy was an understatement. But nothing could have prepared Vinnie for the surprise awaiting him when he lifted the boot lid.

  He’d waited in the car for five minutes to make sure Babik was gone and was not coming back, and then double-checked that no one else was around before he got out and opened the lid. Inside, trussed up like an oven-ready chicken, was Christine. His heart bottomed as he realised who it was. As carefully as he could, he removed the gaffer tape from her mouth.

  ‘Ouch, that hurt! Good God Vinnie, what the hell are you doing here?’

  ‘You wouldn’t believe it,’ he said, as he stated to remove the gaffer tape around her arms and legs. ‘But I could ask you the same question.’

  ‘As much as this is starting to become too much of a habit, I am mightily glad to see you,’ Christine added.

  Vinnie didn’t need reminding what had happened to Christine when they worked on their last case; and being locked in the boot of a car had not been the worst of it. He quickly brought her up to speed as she rubbed her wrists back to life.

  ‘And you weren’t going to involve me?’ she asked.

  ‘Later, yes, just haven’t had the chance. I knew you were safe at the hotel, or thought you were. Anyway, what the hell happened?’

  Christine told him how June, her editor, had called her over breakfast and she needed to get back to her office in Manchester. So Christine decided to keep hold of the hire car and drop it off at an outlet near her office. She’d only got as far as New Hall Lane on the east side of Preston, heading towards the motorway, when Babik rammed her from behind. Of course, she hadn’t realised who he was at that stage, she just thought it was an idiot driver. She’d got into his car to exchange details, and that was when he pulled a knife on her, drove her around the corner to the edge of a large social housing estate, and put her in the boot.

  ‘In broad daylight! The cheeky bastard,’ Vinnie observed.

  ‘I don’t think it being daylight mattered, it was one of those streets where nobody ever sees anything,’ she said.

  Vinnie knew what she meant; they used to call them ‘house-to-house hellholes’ — nobody ever saw anything. ‘But why?’ Vinnie asked.

  ‘He said I’d been sniffing around the girls who work Fletcher Road asking about things that don’t concern me.’

  ‘The mill?’

  ‘Exactly.’

  ‘Well, at least we now know where it is, thanks to Sue,’ he said.

  ‘Still can’t believe she is one of the good guys,’ Christine said, and added, ‘so, where is this damn mill then?’

  ‘Off Deepdale Mill Street, in a clearing. Apparently, it’s a working textile factory during the day. The brothel is upstairs. Easy to see and disregard. Quite clever.’

  ‘My God, that girl actually pointed me in the right direction, before blowing me out to Babik!’ Christine said.

  ‘So why blow you out, that is, if it was her?’ Vinnie asked.

  ‘Had to be her, she’s the only one I talked to. But maybe she resented the mill. And got herself a double payday.’

  ‘I guess,’ Vinnie said. ‘Come on, let’s get you to safety.’

  ‘Then what?’ Christine asked.

  ‘Then you sit tight at the hotel until I tell you. And before you complain, remember you are supposed to be dead.’

  ‘I’ll buy a wig.’

  ‘Not funny—’ Vinnie started to say, before Christine interrupted.

  ‘I wasn’t trying to be.’

  ‘No,’ Vinnie continued, ‘it’s not safe. Don’t worry I’ll brief you properly later. You’ll get your scoop.’

  ‘Now you’ve gone and used the S-word,’ she said.

  Vinnie just smiled, and told her to duck down until they reached the hotel.

  *

  Twenty-five minutes later, Vinnie pulled into the Premier Inn car park and told Christine she could sit up.

  ‘Where are you going now?’ she asked.

  ‘Going to dump this motor on the outskirts and ring Sue up to come and get me. As soon as we can confirm the new girls have safely arrived, we can call in the arrest teams.’

  ‘I don’t suppose I can observe the arrest bits?’

  ‘No, as I’m undercover and have no one else I tru
st who can work with you,’ Vinnie said.

  ‘Harry?’ she asked.

  ‘He’s keeping watch on the back of the mill.’

  Vinnie kissed Christine and promised he’d come and get her as soon as the job went down. Even stage the arrest scenes afterwards, so she could recreate some ‘live footage’.

  Then, he watched Christine walk through the hotel main doors before turning his car around and driving off.

  *

  Christine glanced over her shoulder and watched Vinnie drive away, before making her way to the reception desk. She asked the receptionist to arrange for a further hire car, taking care to ensure they rang a different company this time. Her original motor wasn’t due back for several hours, so they wouldn’t come chasing her just yet.

  The receptionist put the phone down, saying the rental car should be there in 30 minutes. Just long enough for her to freshen up and change her appearance. She knew she’d promised Vinnie she’d stay put in the hotel, but it was his fault; he should have never mentioned the S-word…

  Chapter Sixty-One

  ‘I’m impressed; really impressed,’ Babik said, as they drove away from Brockholes.

  ‘Why, thank you, sir, I’m not just a pretty face,’ Sue answered.

  ‘Oh, I know that, and perhaps when we are all sorted and Boldo has gone back, we can have some proper chill-out time. Just you and me?’

  ‘That sounds nice,’ Sue said, and winked at him. Babik had never made a serious play for Sue, things had gone too mental of late, but the more he got to know her the more he liked her. That wink told him all he needed to know. He’d surprise her when the business was all sorted.

  ‘Talking of Mr Boldo, when do I get to meet him?’ Sue asked.

  ‘I’ve told him about you and was planning to arrange lunch but as we’ll probably be busy, I thought we could go and see him now.’

  ‘At the other hotel?’ Sue asked.

  ‘No, he’s at the mill, plus I get the impression he won’t be hanging around once this morning is sorted. But when we get there, leave the motor at the front. We’ll use the fire escape.’ Babik was conscious that it was daytime and therefore the downstairs textile part of the mill would be in full operation. Gill acted as manager for the business and as far as the workers were concerned, she lived on site in a flat upstairs. It was the perfect arrangement.