“Trust me, it will blow your mind. I've got information on a paedophile gang. Not just peds but prostitutes in general. Everything. Names, dates, amount charged even the addresses used but the best bit is that I can prove, without a doubt, that Thanos is involved!” he felt vindicated that after all these years he would prove to them that he was right.
There was a moments silence at the other end of the line as the information was absorbed. “Word has it that you've taken up with one of the Mets most wanted!”
Morton raised his eyebrows, “And who might that be?” enquired Ernie.
“The infamous Morton! Thanos`s right-hand man!” she paused giving him the opportunity to comment. “Well! Is it true?”
“What gave you that idea?”
“You were seen together at hotel near the south coast where there was a bit of trouble. The sort of thing that one would associate with Morton! Tell me, what’s going on. Maybe I can help?” she sounded concerned for her old friend.
“We're not exactly working together. He's my informant!” Morton shot Ernie a dark glance. He had already deviated from the plan.
“Morton! An informant! Why do I find that hard to believe? Just come in. I'll meet you in person. I'm sure that we can sort this out!”
Ernie was puzzled, “Sort what out?”
Commander Lewes took a deep breath, “It's been kept quiet, so far. The newsboys haven’t caught wind of it yet but once they do, well, I'm afraid there’s not much anyone can do for you!”
“What are you going on about?” asked Ernie puzzled.
“The young couple staying in the same hotel as you. Why were they killed? What did they see or did they overhear something?”
“Young couple?” echoed Ernie. He remembered Morton mentioning a young, unloving couple. His nostrils flared as he glared at Morton thinking the worse. Morton shook his head trying to indicate his innocence.
“We can always say that you had nothing to do with their murders. You didn’t know anything about it? Morton's a maniac. Killing is second nature to him and with his track record no jury in the land will think twice about sentencing him. We can work this out! Meet me tonight. Not at the office. Somewhere quiet so we can talk!”
Morton touched Ernie on the arm and mouthed silently “Call her back!”
“Let me think and I'll call you back.”
“Tell me where you are and I'll come to you,” Commander Lewes urged.
“No, I'll call you back in a few minutes.”
“What about the reporter, Francesca Bianchi! Is she still with you?” the statement surprised Ernie, “do you really want to put her life in danger?” she carried on quickly desperately trying to convince him, “The young whore with Morton. We can trade with her! Her co-operation in exchange for her freedom!”
“I'll call you back!” He stood up quickly the back of his knees knocking over the chair and confronted Morton. His livid stare said more than words.
“They were alive when I left them!” Morton said calmly. “How did she know I was there?”
“Your profile and image is required study material for every officer on the force. You are probably one of the most recognised thugs on the streets of London!”
“We weren’t in London!” he stated simply.
Ernie realised immediately what he meant. “Maybe your record has been sent nationwide?”
“Well, has it? If anyone should know you would!” Ernie was silent. His mind was blank. He had nothing to say. “How does she know about Francesca? Has she got a mugshot as well that's been circulated around the country?” he was driving his point home.
Ernie was thinking fast, “They could have got her name from the hotel!”
“Did you tell anyone your name at the hotel,” Morton shot the question at Francesca.
She thought hard before answering, “No. I don`t think so! I didn't really talk to anyone!”
“So how does she know?” he rounded on Ernie again. “Kim? How does she know she’s a whore? How does she know who she is?” Francesca flinched at the casual way he referred to Kim as a whore.
Ernie walked across to the window and forced his analytical mind to clear and think rationally. He had to consider the painful and unbearable reality. He and Madeline went back years. She had been serving a year longer than him when they first met as young constables. Over the years they had developed a close, personal non-sexual friendship and he had readily confided in her, trusting in her judgement to help him come to difficult decisions especially after she started to climb the promotion ladder.
“The inside man at the yard,” he mumbled, “it wasn’t an inside man at all. It was an inside woman!” he felt numb at the realisation that a close and trusted friend had been duping him for all these years. “Did you know?” he asked Morton.
He shook his head slowly, “No! Whenever you gave us trouble Thanos made a phone call and the problem went away but he dealt with that. We didn’t know who the contact was.”
“I need to talk to her. To find out why! She was a good copper. I’d like to know what changed her!” He needed to believe that she was still a good friend that had just gone bad and not someone who had used him.
“You've got to be joking! Meet her? Where? Unless you meet at the office or another cop-shop you’d be a sitting target and the odds are that they’ve made things look bad for you. Even your own kind will nick you on sight! You're like me, now. Stuck on the outside!”
Ernie turned way from the window and looked across at the sleeping form of Kim on the bed, “Why do you call her a whore? I thought she meant more to you than that!”
“We are what we are. She knows what she is and knows that I don't hold that against her the same as she doesn’t hold my past against me.” Francesca was sure that his eyes softened whenever he looked at Kim. “We are what we are!”
“I’m going to meet her!” he announced suddenly, “I don't believe that she’s one of them!” he was speaking from his heart and not his brain and he knew it but he could not believe that one of his oldest and most trusted companions was a criminal.
“Your funeral!” Morton replied.
“You said that before.”
“Yeah, and I was right!” there was no smugness in Morton's reply.
Chapter 36
Thanos was sitting at his desk when the figure entered the room. Startled, he jumped up sending his leather office chair crashing back into the wall behind him and then relaxed slightly, “What the fuck are you doing here, you fucking slut?” he demanded as he stormed across the room heading for the door. “Oi, arsehole! You're not supposed to let anyone in, you fucking cretin! Where the fuck are you!”
From inside the recesses of the baggy sleeve of the overlarge coat the figure produced a long-bladed knife with a serrated edge. As Thanos walked past the knife swished through the air from right to left, its razor sharp blade easily slicing its way through the skin and muscle tissue of the lower back, its progress only halted as it hit the solid bone of the spine. The hooded figure viciously twisted the knife before pulling it out and, driving it in the other side of the spine, again twisting the knife shredding the kidney before yanking the blade out.
Thanos fell to his knees in almost silence. His mouth was opening and closing making small, insignificant gulping noises that were not loud enough to alert anybody within the house. He looked up as the figure stepped in front of him and with a long, slashing blow calmly sliced through his throat almost decapitating him.
Anja Madinsky removed the hood covering her pretty face as she walk sedately along the road. She calmly lifted the lid off a dustbin and dropped the blood-covered knife into it. A satisfied but sad smile appeared on her face as tears rolled down her cheeks.
******
Morton made a phone call before joining the others in the car. “I still don't like this,” he told Ernie.
“I need to know!” Morton could understand that but at the moment he thought it was not a risk worth taking as there was nothing
to be gained. “She must have her reasons.” Ernie prayed that he was right.
******
The supermarket car park was almost empty except for five parked cars and a burnt out wreck that was probably stolen and dumped here by its juvenile thieves. Two of the cars were parked directly outside the main entrance to the closed store with the third parked about sixty feet from them in the same row. Nightshift, assumed Morton as he drove slowly past getting as close as possible trying to see if anyone was inside them. The fourth car was parked at an angle across several bays as though it has been left in a hurry but again he could see no-one inside it. The fifth car was parked as far away from the store as possible and again was empty.
They parked along the road from the store and waited. At just before two-thirty a black BMW turned into the long, straight access road to the store.
“That's her,” said Ernie recognizing the car. Morton slowly drove in behind her and circled her car cautiously before stopping parallel to the BMW and about twenty feet away.
Ernie got out of the car. “Madeline,” he was strangely nervous.
Morton's mobile phone, set on silence, vibrated in his pocket and seconds later a familiar voice spoke in his earpiece. “You've got company. To your right on the rooftop. And the bastards got a bigger gun than me!” Willy grinned to himself as he lined up the sniper in his own sights.
“There’s got to be more. Find them!” Morton’s voice was calm and barely above a whisper.
“Ernie,” he looked at her attire. He had never seen her wearing jeans before. Trousers, yes, plenty of times but never tight jeans. He was surprised that, for the first time, he noticed that she had a good pair of legs, “how are you?”
“Okay, considering!” his eyes wandered over her body. She had lost quite a bit of weight. “You’ve lost weight.”
She smiled sweetly, “Thank you. I never thought you looked!” She paused before carrying on. “Do you have the information on you?” her attitude was suddenly very businesslike.
Ernie felt an uncomfortable twinge. His police instincts warned him to be on his guard, “Not on me, no. Why?”
“You said this information would blow my mind. I just want to see it before we go in.”
“I`m not going anywhere until you explain something to me,” he had been giving this a lot of thought on the drive over and had a speech worked out in his head but as he stood facing her he forgot it all. He just wanted answers, “Why did you do it?”
“Do what?” she countered but her face gave away her lies.
“All these years I've trusted you. Told you all my theories, shared information with you and all this time you…” he finished unable to say what needed to be said.
“What are you accusing me of?” she tried to sound hurt but the feeling was alien to her now.
“How did you know about the hotel? How did you know about Francesca? Kim? Morton?” the accusation was there even though it remained unspoken. “Tell me!” he demanded softly.
Commander Madeline Lewes knew that her secret was out. He had finally worked it out. It had always amazed her that one of the finest analytical minds she had ever met was unable to see through her. “There is more to life than working against an unmovable force. Have you ever stopped to think exactly what, if any, difference we make? In the short term we may make a local difference. We put away the occasional bad boy. Stop drink drivers. Occasionally, very occasionally we may get to put away a very serious bad boy but has it ever occurred to you that only the stupid ones get caught. The real big boys are sitting out there in their million pound homes, driving around in their executive cars enjoying expensive holidays every year while the rest of us work ourselves to death for what? A pat on the back when things go right but more likely a bollocking when things go wrong and let’s be honest, things usually do go more wrong that right in our job!”
Ernie stood frozen to the spot. His mind still refusing to believe that one of his oldest and most respected friends was dirty. “All for money!” he finally said.
She smiled sweetly at him, “No, darling! Not just money. It’s about another life. A life most people can only dream about.” She watched his face carefully and then asked the question that she already knew the answer to, “Work with me! You and him,” she nodded at Morton, “With what we know and his remarkable ability to handle physical situations think what we can do!”
“Sell little girls!” the words hit hard like a slap around her face but she had her answer.
“Ernie, there’s only one way for this to end! Think about it. These people are very powerful with friends in very high places,” the emphasis on the second very was not lost on him. “You can’t beat them. What difference do you think you'll make? So, you’ll close them down for now. Cause them a little inconvenience but that’s all you are. A small inconvenience! They’ll start up again, I’ll retire to some out-of-the-way Caribbean island and be replaced by another high ranking officer and things will carry on!” she sounded exasperated as though she was desperately trying to justify her rational. “It’s the way of the world. For every action there’s a reaction. If there were no bad guys we would be out of a job!”
“I’d rather be unemployed than sink to your level!” the contempt in his answer palatable, “Come with me. We can go see the Commissioner together. I’m sure we can work something out. You said it yourself, you have information to trade!”
Commander Lewes shook her head sadly, “You and the Commissioner are two of a kind. Cut from the same cloth. Goodbye, Ernie!” and turned towards her car. She never saw her executioner. The silent bullet hit her an inch above the centre of her eyes.
Morton realised that something was wrong a split second before she fell to the ground. “Get in!” he yelled at Ernie as he gunned the engine. “Get in!” he yelled desperately again louder this time as Ernie stood and watched her fall his anger blinding him to what had happened. Slamming the car into reverse he stamped on the accelerator sending the vehicle violently backwards about four car lengths before stopping abruptly before surging forwards stopping between a stupefied Ernie and the fallen body of his once close friend and colleague. “For fucks sake, get in!” the urgency in Morton's command brought him back to his senses.
As he turned he fell awkwardly to the ground his right hand automatically reaching round for where the excruciating pain was.
“Shoot the bastard!” Morton barked his order to the unseen Willy but he already had his itinerary worked out. The sniper on the rooftop died without even knowing that he was being watched. He then swung his night scope around searching for the next gunmen.
Morton leapt from the car aware that somewhere out there was another unseen gun. A bullet ricochet off the roof of the BMW just as he reached the stricken Ernie and passed harmlessly over his head.
His plan to help Ernie changed as he heard another car approaching its headlights coming straight for them at speed. “The car!” he shouted into his headset.
On the roof of the adjacent office building Willy was already ahead of him taking his time he carefully lined up his sights on the driver and as the car had slowed down, presumably to give its two gunmen on the passenger side more time to take aim, he fired.
The car swerved violently to the right as the bullet lodged itself in the drivers shoulder before coming to a skidding halt. Willy spotted the second sniper as a sudden glint of light reflected off his sights giving his position away.
“Aaargh!” Ernie winced loudly as a searing hot pain shot across his buttocks. Every movement brought with it renewed agony as the bullet moved as he tried to get back to the relative safety of the car.
Morton reacted instinctively realising that, faced with two hitmen, their chances of all of them surviving was slim even with the aid of his own unseen gunman. Jumping back into the car he aimed at the newest danger and accelerated.
The powerful engine threw the car forwards quickly covering the short distance between the two cars not giving the gunmen much time to re
act. The gunman in the front seat made the fatal mistake of opening the door and trying to escape but misjudged the speed of the oncoming BMW. The unmistakable sound of crushing metal reverberated around the empty car park. Glass shattered and the engine of the BMW gave one last defiant roar before dying. Only the screams of the trapped gunman could be heard over the noise as he felt the bones in both his legs break, crushed between the two vehicles his screams died off as he slumped unconscious over the crumpled bonnet of the BMW.
Another bullet zipped through the air taking out the second sniper on the roof of the store. His weapon fell from his dead fingers and landed with a loud, metallic clatter outside the store’s main entrance as Willy turned his attention back to the car.
Francesca jumped from the car screaming as she saw the blood pouring from his leg. “Get back in the car!” Ernie roared as, on his hands and one good knee, he dragged his injured leg along as fast as he could but his order fell on deaf ears as she reached him and placing her hands under his arms dragged him along helping to quicken his progress towards the safety of the car.
With a matter of feet to go he looked up in time to see Kim trying to climb from the back of the car to come and help him, “Stay in the car! Stay in!” he yelled desperately, knowing that in her weak and injured condition she would be more of a liability. Even so, as he got to the car the injured girl mustered the last of her remaining strength and helped haul him in despite the incredible amount of pain it must have caused her.
He winced involuntarily as Francesca joined them on the back seat landing on his injured leg. Without thinking he immediately pulled her down into the gap between the front and back seats grabbing Kim and forcing her on top of her and then, using his own body as a shield, lay over both of them.
The shooter on the rear seat had seen the oncoming danger and threw himself between the front and back seats. The impact jarred him considerably but at least there were no real injuries apart from being momentarily stunned. Forcing the back door open he crawled and fell out and rolled over twice on the floor before climbing groggily to his feet. Disorientated he held out his free hand trying to find anything solid to steady himself on as the world around him spun slowly.
The Qadesh Club Page 25
