by Hatchett
“Where exactly are we going?” Damian asked.
“Not far. He lives about ten miles away in a village called Ewhurst.
There was far more traffic on the road that morning so what should have been a twenty-minute journey took almost an hour.
John turned the Transporter into a long, curved gravel driveway past a set of open gates. After a few hundred yards, the trees on either side of the drive fell away and he drove onto a large circular forecourt with a fountain at its centre. Robert was waiting at the top of the steps in front of a large three-story mansion, so he’d obviously picked them up from his CCTV cameras at the gate.
As he slowed the Transporter and swung it around the fountain, he heard Jess speaking to him.
‘DON’T STOP! GET OUT OF HERE, HE’S ONE OF THEM!’
Although shocked, John didn’t hesitate and eased his foot down on the accelerator and completed the circuit of the fountain before heading back down the drive.
“What are you doing?” Paula asked with a frown on her face.
“Jess told me he’s one of them,” John replied, increasing the speed of the Transporter.
“Shit, what do we do now?” Damian asked from the back seat.
“We go home and re-think things through,” John replied. “Actually, we’re going to take a detour to the Mercedes garage so we can pick up the new van.” As he finished, his mobile phone rang, and he answered it after a couple of rings.
“Hi Robert,” he started. “Sorry about that. Something else has come up, an emergency, and I need to deal with that first,” he explained.
“Are you alright?” Robert asked, clearly puzzled. “Anything I can do to help?”
“No, you’re ok. Sorry to have wasted your time. I’ll catch up with you soon and buy you a drink as an apology.”
“You don’t need to do that. As long as you’re alright, don’t worry about it. See you soon.” With that, Robert ended the call.
“Right, Mercedes garage here we come,” John announced as he headed back towards Guildford.
18
The Right Honourable Robert Mason Stephenson MP, conservative MP for Guildford County Constituency in Surrey – Robert to his friends and Mason to his Laakuu brethren – stood on the top step outside his front door and replaced his mobile phone in his pocket.
“That was weird,” said Declan as he, Archie and David joined Mason on the steps.
“Yes, something very fishy about all that,” Mason agreed. “He was about to stop when suddenly he speeded up and left. What can be that urgent that he’d leave without even saying ‘hello’ or explaining the situation? Even more surprising was why he was in that godawful vehicle. Never seen that one before, he’s usually in one of his expensive marques. Doesn’t make any sense.”
“It might if he had people with him,” Archie suggested.
“I could see his wife Paula in the passenger seat but didn’t really look to see if there were any others in the back and I’d have had trouble seeing them if there were any because the windows were tinted. Wait a minute…”
Mason dashed back into the house, closely followed by his colleagues. He went straight to his study and switched on his computer before pulling up the CCTV footage from the gate. He had a number of cameras stationed there; some at head height so he could see the occupants of a vehicle and others a few feet higher so he could see over and around any vehicle at the gate. You could never be too careful these days.
Mason found the footage of John arriving and paused the replay before zooming in. He could clearly see John and Paula in the front seats, and although the picture wasn’t crystal-clear, he could identify three occupants in the back; what clearly looked like a man, a woman…and a smaller woman. Mason zoomed in some more, focusing on the smaller woman.
“That can’t be…” Declan suggested, but was cut off by Mason who was thinking exactly the same thing.
“There’s only one way to find out.” He took a screen print, zoomed back out and took another screen print. He then attached the two images to a message which he sent to Joshua with the caption ‘Do you know these people?”
“How would John and Paula know this girl?” Mason pondered as they all waited for a response from Joshua. They didn’t have to wait long.
‘They’re friends of the Richardson’s, the ones who have been paying for everything. They’ve been with them at the hospital looking after the girl. How did you get a picture of them?’
“Shit!” Mason exploded. “The girl was in the back of that van and now they’ve gone.” He ignored the question raised by Joshua. “We need to find them quickly, it’s obvious they’re all in on it and believe the girl. That’s why John was coming to me. He thinks I could help but now he thinks I’m the enemy.”
Mason dialled another number on his phone and waited a few seconds before it was picked up on the other end.
“Chief, it’s Mason. I need a favour.”
“What can I do for you Mason?” asked the Chief Constable of the Surrey Police.
“We have a problem.” Mason then quickly outlined the problem and requested that the Chief use his considerable resources to track down the five people he identified. “It needs to be kept quiet,” Mason warned.
“Leave it with me,” the Chief replied before hanging up.
“What now?” Declan asked.
“Now, we wait,” Mason replied.
19
John finished his dealings with the Mercedes garage’s sales manager and exited the building with a new set of keys jangling from his hand. He strode over to the Transporter and got in.
“We all set?” he asked as he passed the new set of keys to Damian.
“Yes, I think so,” Damian replied. “Are you sure about all this?”
“As sure as I’ll ever be,” John replied with a smile.
On the way over to the Mercedes garage they had talked through their options and their next steps. John had been sure that his so-called friend would have suspected something wasn’t right and for all he knew, Robert might well have seen the occupants in the Transporter despite the tinted windows. Robert had friends in very high places so it wouldn’t just be Doctor Raven trying to chase them down now. Their homes were likely to be under surveillance already.
“Are you sure it’s worth the risk going back to your place?” Di asked.
“Yes, I have to. There are a few things I need to pick up.” John replied. “It’s time we got going.”
Damian got out of the Transporter and climbed into the gleaming new white Mercedes Viano. He adjusted the seat, steering wheel and mirrors then started it up and pulled it up alongside the Transporter. He then got back out and went around to the side door of the Transporter as John got the wheelchair from the boot. Damian carefully lifted Jess and placed her in the wheelchair before clicking a button on the key fob. The large rear door of the Mercedes opened upwards and at the same time a ramp unfolded and lowered itself to the ground. Damian pushed the wheelchair up the ramp until it nestled between the two rear seats and locked it in place. He then returned to John, hitting the fob for a second time to lift the ramp and close the rear door.
“That’s fantastic,” Damian acknowledged as he shook John’s hand. “Thank you and good luck.”
“Thanks Damian. You just make sure the ladies are safe and I’ll catch up with you later.”
With that, John got back into the Transporter and Di and Paula switched across to the Mercedes. There were a few quick waves before Damian put the Mercedes in drive and left the garage.
20
John fired up the Transporter and followed Damian out of the garage before turning in a different direction and headed for his home.
Once he arrived and had gone through the gates, he made sure they were closed behind him before he drove up to the house. Luckily there had been no one waiting for him at the gate and he hadn’t seen anything suspicious.
John quickly parked the Transporter and went into the house. He headed for his opu
lent study and sat behind his large mahogany desk. He opened the bottom left-hand drawer with a key off his keyring and brought out a large metal box and placed it on the desktop. He then lifted the lid and rummaged around through a mountain of keys, looking at the tags on each set.
John was from a working-class background and his family had never had much money. He had grown up in a small council house on a large council estate and his family lived week to week on his father’s wage. He left school at sixteen with few qualifications, but he was determined to become a success. He started out working as a labourer on building sites, learning the various trades and saving as much of his earnings as he could. After a couple of years, he had saved enough money to put a deposit down on a house and borrowed the rest. It was not any old house, it was completely run down, but John saw it as a bargain, especially as he was getting more for his money due to its condition. When he wasn’t working on the building site, he worked on his house and on some occasions managed to cajole some of his workmates to help him out. He turned the hovel into a very desirable property and sold it for a healthy profit.
John then bought another run-down property and did the same thing, and once he had done this three times, he was mortgage-free and able to fund future properties with his own money. He continued developing and within three years he had left his job on the building site and had set up his own property development company, taking a number of his workmates with him. The development of one house at a time became the development of two then three then four. The business expanded and then he was into buying up development land and building blocks of flats or commercial buildings. The money rolled in and the company grew. A couple of his original workmates became shareholders in the business and between them they continued doing what they were good at. By the time he was twenty-six, ten years after leaving school, John had made his first million and was well on the way to his second.
During this time, he had met Paula. She was the daughter of one of his suppliers and for him, it had been love at first sight. For her, it had taken quite some time and a lot of perseverance before she accepted a date. John was not the best-looking guy around, but he was funny and generous, and she slowly fell for his charms. Once he had his hooks in her, there was no letting go and they were married by the time he reached thirty.
Over the years, John had retained a number of properties rather than selling them on. He now had a large portfolio of properties around Surrey and Hampshire and the rental income each month was significant. He’d never have to work another day in his life if he didn’t want to, but John had always been a ‘hands on’ person and wouldn’t know what to do with himself if he wasn’t working.
By the time he had finished with the metal box, there were keys scattered all over the desktop, with a particular pile set to one side. John scooped up all the other keys and returned them to the metal box and put it back in the drawer. He then pulled the remaining pile of keys towards the centre of the desk, spread them out and counted them. Seven sets of keys. Seven currently empty properties. He doubted he would need that many, but it was better to be safe than sorry, so he collected them together and threw them into a duffle bag he had retrieved from a side cabinet.
Next, John went to the wall and moved a replica painting of Salvador Dali’s ‘The Temptation of St. Anthony’ before opening his safe. He didn’t understand the painting but was fascinated by it and surrealism in general. From the safe he took bundles of cash and added them to the duffle bag.
As he was closing it, the intercom beeped. John moved back to his desk and looked at the monitor. He could see a policeman looking into his gate camera, with the squad car idling behind him.
What to do? He decided to do nothing. The policeman pressed the intercom a couple more times and John continued to ignore him. What would the copper do? He couldn’t just barge in without a warrant and John had done nothing wrong. He had an uneasy feeling about all this. For all he knew, the copper was just another one of them.
John waited patiently and eventually the copper re-joined his colleague in the car and they turned around and left.
John knew he probably didn’t have much time, so he quickly left the study and dropped the duffle bag by the front door. Next, he went into one of the side rooms, unplugged the electric wheelchair, folded it up and put it next to the duffle bag. He then went upstairs to his bedroom and quickly filled a case with some of his and Paula’s clothes and toiletries. This he added to the growing pile in the hallway. He then entered the kitchen and walked over to his row of car keys. Which one should he take? The Porsche 911 was impractical, as was the Aston Martin. He needed a decent sized boot to get everything in. He opted for his Marina Bay Blue metallic BMW M5; four doors, five seats, large boot and went like shit off a shovel. Perfect. He grabbed the keys and went back to the hall, moved his stuff outside and locked the door. He then jogged to the M5 and drove it over towards the front door and loaded his gear. He got back into the car and flicked through the menus on the touch screen until he found the one which connected him to his gate cameras. He scanned each of them in turn to ensure that the coppers had really gone and there was no one else loitering around the vicinity.
It seemed all clear, so he sped down the drive, pressing the remote to open the gate as he went. Once he was through, instead of tuning left and taking the usual direct route back towards town, he turned right instead and took off up the road. This would be a roundabout way to his destination, but he thought it was sensible as he was unlikely to encounter anyone who might be looking for him.
An hour later he reached his destination.
21
Damian, Di, Paula and Jess were sitting in one of the inter-connecting suites of the Four Seasons hotel situated in the countryside just outside a little village called Dogmersfield in Hampshire, around twenty miles from Guildford.
There was a knock on the door and Paula cautiously rose from her seat and checked through the spyhole before opening the door wide to allow John to enter.
“We were worried about you. Everything ok?” Paula asked, giving John a quick kiss and a hug.
“Everything’s fine, but the A31 Hog’s Back was a bloody nightmare,” John replied. “There’s been a crash by the Puttenham turning so the road was down to one lane, and it’s not good at the best of times. Oh, and we got a visit from the police.”
“What did they want?” Paula asked in concern.
“No idea, I didn’t answer the intercom and they eventually buggered off.”
“Well, at least you’re here safely, that’s the main thing,” Paula commented. “Would you like a drink?”
“A large scotch would be great.”
“Ok, come and sit down.”
John moved into the sitting area of the suite and shook hands with Damian before giving Di and Jess a kiss on the cheek. He selected a chair and sat down heavily as Paula handed him his glass and returned to her own chair.
“So, what have you been up to?” John asked.
“We came straight here after we left you,” Damian explained, “and we’ve been here ever since mulling things over.”
“Have you come to any conclusions?” John asked.
“Sort of,” Damian conceded.
“Well, let’s hear it.”
“To start with, we had to consider who we could approach,” Damian began.
“Yes, someone who might believe our far-fetched story,” Di added.
“Before you go on,” John interrupted, “are we sure there are none of them here?”
“I THINK ITS CLEAR.” Jess replied. “DAD PUSHED ME ALL AROUND THE PLACE SO I COULD SEE AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE AND I DIDN’T SEE OR FEEL ANYTHING. IT DOESN’T MEAN THEY’RE NOT HERE. WE JUST HAVE TO BE CAREFUL.”
“Anyway,” Damian continued, “we thought about going to the police and discounted that immediately for the obvious reasons. Then we considered the press, but again, they probably wouldn’t believe us and, for all we know, they could be controlled from highe
r up. So, we decided that what we really needed was to find people who’d willingly believe us rather than us having to convince them.”
“And?”
“Well, Jess had the idea. I’ll let her tell you.”
“LET ME ASK YOU A QUESTION FIRST. WHO IS LIKELY TO BELIEVE OUR STORY OR ACTUALLY WANT TO BELIEVE OUR STORY?”
John thought about it for a few moments but couldn’t come up with anything. “No idea.”
“CONSPIRACY THEORISTS.”
“You’re joking, right?”
“NO.” Jess had a frown on her face. “THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THEY’VE BEEN WAITING FOR…AND WE NEED HELP.”
“But aren’t they just a bunch of crackpots? I know it might be a bit unfair, and I don’t want to tar everyone with the same brush, but I always considered them to be nutty individuals or long-haired weirdos, druggies, scaremongers, people who just conjure up conspiracies where there simply aren’t any.”
“Like Neil Armstrong,” Daniel pointed out. “He was supposedly the first man to walk on the moon in 1969 but conspiracy theorists claim it was faked by NASA and they point to the USA flag blowing in a breeze when there shouldn’t be any, and that the shadows in the pictures were all wrong.”
“Yes,” John agreed, “or the shooting of President John F Kennedy in 1963 in Dallas. The conspiracy theorists believe Lee Harvey Oswald was the scapegoat and that JFK was actually assassinated by the CIA or the KGB or one of hundreds of other people or organisations. The list of conspiracies is endless. But the one more appropriate to our situation is the supposed UFO crash on a ranch in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947.”
“WE HAVEN’T GOT TIME FOR HISTORY LESSONS,” Jess interrupted.
“Quite right, apologies,” John replied. “But once you get into these things, you just can’t help but be intrigued. So how do we take this forward?”
