The Conspiracy 4

by Jack Probyn

  ‘I think so…’ PC Mooney said, nodding, uncertain of himself. ‘Leave it with me. I’ll sort it out. When do you need it?’

  ‘Ten minutes ago.’

  PC Mooney started off, speaking into the radio pack on his shoulder. He was authoritative and calm and, to Pemberton’s surprise, able to concisely tell the person on the other end what they needed. A prison transport vehicle. Of course it was, idiot.

  Pemberton wandered back to Candice, who was still sobbing and pleading on her knees.

  ‘Pl-Ple—’ she began but was cut off by Pemberton’s hand.

  ‘Stop. Just stop. We’re doing everything we can for you. God knows you don’t deserve it,’ Pemberton added. She had lost all prudence in her voice; it was now filled with disdain. She no longer cared for the spite and malign in her words. ‘I’ve had an idea that’s going to get you out of that thing.’

  Candice looked up at her; her eyes were beady and bloodshot. ‘What is it?’

  ‘We’ve received reports that your sons have stolen a vehicle, shot a police officer, opened fire on a family and—’

  ‘Oh my God,’ Candice whispered, her voice trembling as it turned into a whimper. She tried to move her hands, but they were still wrapped behind her back.

  ‘We figured,’ Pemberton continued, ‘that because you’re a part of this, you know where they’re going. You know what their next moves are.’

  Candice shook her head frantically. ‘No. Honestly, I don’t. You think they were going to tell me anything after they’ve done this to me? I was never going to get on that ferry with—’ Candice’s face bulged.

  Pemberton smiled. She made no mistake in showcasing her smugness.

  ‘Which ferry are they getting on, Candice?’

  Candice muttered the word ‘shit’ under her breath, then shook her head.

  ‘I can’t remember.’

  Liar.

  ‘Do you remember when I told you that I had an idea?’

  Candice nodded.

  ‘Your survival hinges on your next choice. Do you understand?’

  Candice nodded again, but this time she pulled her gaze away from Pemberton.

  ‘We have a special vehicle we can transport you in. Now, we would usually move you to the station, but these are extenuating circumstances. And I’m the person in charge of making the decisions for said extenuating circumstances. How lucky you are.’ Pemberton was enjoying this; she felt like she was getting payback on the woman who had betrayed her. ‘This vehicle… it’s safe, robust and will keep you isolated. It’s got a lot of petrol inside it, and it’s fast. Do you know what that means, Candice?’

  Candice didn’t reply. Pemberton eyed her for a moment before continuing. A part of her wanted to leave Candice there, stranded, helpless. To use it as a form of punishment. It was what she deserved. It was her own fault for becoming an accomplice in such a heinous crime in the first place, regardless of her motives.

  ‘It means that we can transport you to wherever your sons are. You might want to protect them but remember who put you in this situation. They did. So it’s in your best interest to tell us where they might be, because if we can find them, we can find the key, and if we can find the key, we can get you out of this – and then you’ll be able to live longer than the countdown timer indicates. How does that sound?’

  Candice opened her mouth and voiced something, but it was weak, inaudible.

  ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Yes what?’

  ‘Do it!’ Candice screamed, thrashing her body left and right. ‘They were talking about boarding a ferry in Portsmouth sometime in the afternoon. They needed to give themselves time to get there.’

  ‘And were you supposed to be joining them?’ Pemberton toyed between placing her hands on her hips or folding her arms. In the end, she went with the former.

  ‘Yes. I’m s-s… I’m sorry.’

  ‘It’s a little late for that now.’

  PC Mooney arrived behind her.

  ‘Ma’am,’ he said, hovering a few feet away. ‘I’ve just spoken to HQ. The vehicle you requested is on its way. ETA five minutes.’

  | EPISODE 4 |

  CHAPTER FOUR

  ONCE AND FOR ALL

  Jake’s experience driving at high speeds was limited; he had only been in the force two years and had seldom encountered such driving circumstances in the middle of gridlocked London. But, according to his satnav, he was fifteen miles away. He was on the M27 heading south towards Southampton with mile upon mile of open road. He blitzed the first twenty miles in just over ten minutes, only having to brake heavily on a couple of occasions, chiding the cars that decided to pull out in front of him. Their driving was irresponsible and reckless.

  As Jake passed over the River Hamble, his mobile rang. He answered on the handsfree.

  ‘This is DC Tanner,’ he said, peering into his wing mirror, glancing to see if there were any cars behind him.

  ‘Jake?’ It was Elizabeth.

  ‘Liz? What’s wrong? Is everything OK?’ At once his paranoia erupted; they had a rule whereby she would only call him during a shift if it was an emergency.

  ‘Can you talk?’ she asked slowly. He sensed, from the reticence in her voice, that she was hiding something.

  ‘Of course I can. I’m driving, just in case the signal drops out. What’s happened?’

  ‘It’s Maisie. She’s still throwing up. She’s got worse.’

  ‘OK…’ Jake said, concentrating equally on the road as much as the conversation with his wife. He didn’t want to have to choose a priority. ‘Have you spoken to your mum? What’s she said?’

  ‘She… She’s not here. She couldn’t come. She had something with work,’ Elizabeth explained.

  ‘I thought she was on leave. What did she need to do?’

  ‘I don’t know, all right? I didn’t want to ask too many questions.’

  Jake paused a beat and sighed. ‘Probably still dealing with the Detson Tower fire backlash.’

  ‘Leave it, Jake. Our daughter is more important than your issues with my mum,’ Elizabeth said as Jake slowed behind the car in front of him. He sounded the sirens and immediately the car veered across the lane.

  ‘What other symptoms has she got?’ Jake asked, returning to his previous speed.

  ‘Fever. She’s gone a bit pale. And she’s been vomiting.’

  ‘Any diarrhoea?’

  ‘Lots.’

  ‘What has she had for food?’

  ‘We just had some baby food a couple of hours ago.’

  Jake’s mind raced. He tried to recall everything he’d learned at the antenatal meetings about childbirth and having a first child and what to expect. He tried to remember everything he’d learned from the books on becoming a father for the first time. He drew blanks on both. Their baby was precious. She was their Little Miracle, as they liked to call her, and he didn’t want anything to ever happen to her.

  ‘Can you come home?’ Elizabeth asked. Now the fear in her voice came flooding out in droves.

  Jake hesitated before responding. ‘I can’t, Nelly. I’m sorry. Something big’s come up.’

  Nelly was his nickname for Elizabeth. After she’d told him that her favourite animal was the narwhal, it was the first thing that came to mind. Nelly the Narwhal.

  ‘Where are you?’ Elizabeth asked.

  ‘Portsmouth.’

  ‘Are you driving alone?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘God. Please be careful, Jake. I don’t want something to happen to both of you. Not in the same day.’

  ‘Everything’s going to be fine. Keep calm – we don’t know anything is seriously wrong with Mais. Have you called my mum?’

  There was a pause on the other end that told Jake all he needed to know.

  ‘Give her a ring. She’s only ten minutes away. Five if the roads are quiet. She’ll be the first to help – and, more importantly, she’ll be the first to know what’s wrong with her; she raised
three kids. Just don’t tell her I called her an expert.’

  ‘But I feel bad—’

  ‘Listen,’ Jake said as the car topped 85mph, ‘before Maisie was born, I told her we’re going to need all the help we can get. She’s going to be on call 24/7 and she’s fine with that. That’s what mums are for. Shame the same can’t be said about yours.’

  ‘Jake!’

  ‘Sorry, Liz. I’d love to come back and help – it’s killing me that I can’t. But there are things I’ve got to take control of first. It’s my first day and I’m dealing with some old friends.’

  ‘Old friends?’

  Jake paused a moment before continuing. He checked both his mirrors and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. ‘The Crimsons. They’re back. And this time they’ve killed someone and taken a hostage.’

  ‘Please be careful… don’t put yourself in any unnecessary danger. I want you home in one piece.’

  ‘I’ll be safe, I promise. I’m going to end this once and for all.’

  | EPISODE 4 |

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ON THE OTHER SIDE

  Within minutes, they’d reached the end of the A3 and were on Queen Street, right in the epicentre of Portsmouth. The streets bustled with life – students, families, groups of teenagers, boys, girls, men, women, children, all enjoying the sun and summer temperatures in their t-shirts and shorts and skirts. Directly ahead of them was a tower block that jutted out of the flat skyline like a pimple on a teenager’s face. To their right, was HMS Nelson, Portsmouth’s home to the Royal Navy. Danny glanced out of the window and glimpsed a short view of the base’s gate. A sense of elation washed over him. The finishing line was in sight. Everything that had happened up to this point was paying off. Everything that they had done had led them to this moment. It had all been necessary, even if nobody else believed it.

  As they sped down the road, nearing the end of Queen Street and the block of flats that towered against the skyline, Danny pointed to a junction a few hundred yards away. ‘Swing a left up here.’

  ‘I thought we needed to go straight,’ Luke began.

  Before he knew it, they were at the junction, and Luke showed no sign of following his instruction. Danny lunged forward between the seats and yanked on the steering wheel. The car swerved to the left, and the two brothers fought over control.

  ‘I said turn left,’ Danny hissed. ‘There’s been a change of plan.

  ‘What do you mean, change of plan?’ asked Michael, twisting in the seat. ‘Since when?’

  Danny ignored his brother and pointed to another sign ahead, hidden behind a tree. ‘There’s a car park up there. Follow the signs for it.’

  ‘Danny – what is going on? Where are you taking us?’ Michael repeated.

  ‘Shut up and wait,’ Danny snapped.

  A few seconds later, Luke pulled into the car park. It was old, disused and riddled with potholes. At the back of the car park was the rear fascia of a car wash. Luke found a free space in the centre of the park and slowed the car to a halt. He cut off the engine and waited. The air around them fell silent, save for the pounding pulse in Danny’s neck which drowned out the sound of sirens and helicopter blades in the distance.

  ‘You’ve got some explaining to do,’ Michael remarked.

  ‘We’re not getting the ferry here,’ Danny said plainly.

  Both brothers looked back at him, eyes wide. Michael opened his mouth, ready to unleash an expletive, but Danny allayed him with a wave of the hand.

  ‘Let me explain, before you start kicking off. The police aren’t thick – they’ll have worked out where we’re going by now, you get me? Even with our help from the inside. It’s not long until this place will be on complete lockdown – they’re already above us. So, we needed another way out of the country. And I took the liberty of booking another set of tickets for us.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘Southampton.’

  ‘Southampton?’ both brothers repeated.

  ‘All we need to do is get out of this shit heap, change our clothes, hop on a bus and get on the boat. Perfect escape. The police will find this thing, immediately search it and the rest of Portsmouth Harbour for us, and then look on the ferry. By the time they’ve done all that, we’ll be long gone,’ Danny explained. He felt the smile on his face growing larger. But he was the only one smiling.

  ‘You lied to us, Dan. When were you going to tell us?’ Michael said.

  ‘I just did?’

  ‘Yeah, right at the last fucking minute. What else aren’t you telling us?’

  Danny’s fingers ran over the key in his pocket.

  ‘What about Mum?’ Luke asked, his voice weak, almost childlike.

  Danny clipped him round the back of the head with his free hand. ‘Don’t call her that. That woman has never been a mum to us. Just because she turned up now and helped us with this, doesn’t mean she gets that privilege.’

  Michael twisted in the seat and glared at Danny, his nostrils flaring. ‘Answer the question, Danny. What about Candice?’

  Danny broke away from Michael’s gaze and stared into his own lap. ‘She was the one who came up with the idea. Well, both of us did. She knew about it all along. I told her not to mention it to either of you.’

  ‘Unbelievable.’ Michael rolled his eyes. ‘So, you trusted her more than you did us? When’s the ferry leave?’

  ‘At three. It’s a cruise.’

  Michael checked his watch. ‘Just under two hours. What are we going to do in the meantime?’

  ‘We’ve got to get there,’ Danny said. ‘The bus’ll take fucking ages.’

  ‘You want us to take a bus?’

  ‘What about Mum?’ Luke repeated. Danny suppressed the urge to clip him round the head again. ‘Will she make it in time?’

  ‘Of course she will, mate. They’ll have found the keys by now and removed the collar. They’ll interview her for a bit, make sure she’s not involved with anything, maybe give her a once over by the medic or ambulance staff, and then they’ll send her on her way. Our man in office will help expedite her experience.’

  For a split moment, Danny believed his own lie.

  ‘How do you know? What if they don’t find the keys?’

  Danny leant forward, placed his hand on Luke’s shoulder and squeezed.

  ‘I know you’re worried about her, kid. But she’ll be with us. Give the police some credit – the keys are piss-easy to find. I mean, Grandma Paula could find them, and she was almost as blind as you are,’ Danny said with a smile. ‘Remember when she’d try and make us a roast? Absolute fucking carnage, but she still knew where everything was, eh?’

  Luke chuckled, bearing his white teeth. ‘Yeah, I guess…’

  One brother down, one more to go.

  Danny turned his attention to him. ‘Micky? You coming?’

  Michael sighed. ‘Not got much choice, have I? I’m having my fair share of this money regardless of where we end up.’

  ‘And you’ll get it. Down to the last penny.’

  Danny waited until his brothers had started to undress themselves before he began. He unzipped the front of his overalls and rolled the top half over his shoulders. As his hands ran down his arm, he massaged the brown and yellow bruises on his skin. He pulled the overalls down his waist in the small confines of the back of the Audi and stuffed them into the footwell. Beneath his overalls he’d been wearing a pair of jeans and a hoodie. He reached into the pocket of his overalls, removed the final collar bomb key and slid it into his jean pocket. It rubbed against his skin, pinned next to his wallet.

  ‘What are we doing with those?’ Michael asked, pointing to the machine guns by Danny’s lap.

  ‘Those? Keep them here. Leave everything except for the bags.’

  Danny opened the car door and slung the bags containing the jewellery over his shoulder. As he was about to close the door, he gave one last look at the red devil mask. It held many memories. It had been with him from their first heist to
now. And it had served him well. He’d enjoyed witnessing the horror on the faces of those he was robbing. He was born into nothing, and he adored the anonymity that it invoked – and now he was going to spend the rest of his life overseas, hidden further beneath that cloak of anonymity.

  Luke slamming the driver’s door shut brought him back to reality. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Then on his other. Luke and Michael were either side of him.

  ‘Time to leave this world behind us, mate,’ Michael said. ‘For good.’

  ‘We’ve got another one waiting on the other side of the Atlantic.’

  Danny said his goodbyes and started off towards the nearest bus stop at the Hard Interchange, on the water. Danny and Candice had done their research beforehand. The X4 bus from Portsmouth to Southampton ran every half an hour.

  | EPISODE 4 |

  CHAPTER SIX

  CAR PARK

  Jake was situated on the side of the street by Victoria Park, one of Portsmouth’s breathing lungs. He had been waiting for over twenty minutes for his colleague to arrive, and with every passing minute, his fear and apprehension that The Crimsons were getting further and further away from them multiplied. They were always one step ahead, just out of reach. To pass the time, Jake leant forward, resting his elbows on the steering wheel, and peered out at the majestic St John’s Cathedral ahead of him. The gothic building was a clay red construction made entirely of brick, and the two spires at the head of the cathedral reminded him of a meat fork used for barbecues. Jake wasn’t one for religion – he was a believer in natural selection and the Big Bang – but he always managed to appreciate the architectural prowess of religious buildings. The most overwhelming one he had ever been to visit was St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, closely followed by St Paul’s in London. Other than that, he was resigned to looking at them on the Internet and social media whenever they appeared in his news feed.