The Autumn Tree (DI Bliss Book 8)

by Tony J. Forder

  Bliss sucked his stomach in as she glared back at him, arms now folded across her chest. He was in decent condition for his age but could no longer deny the paunch he’d developed. He thought his partner might offer an opinion about his own choice of underwear, mocking his jockey shorts with their jade-coloured floral pattern. Instead, she dropped her own barely repressed irritation and returned the whistle and objectifying appraisal.

  ‘See what you could have had,’ he called over, indicating his own body with a sweep of his hand. ‘You’re going to be thinking of me next time you’re with Shrek, aren’t you?’

  Unable to help herself, Chandler cackled. She placed both hands on her hips. ‘You get a load of this, old man: your one and only chance to ogle at this fine specimen of womanhood. I bet it’s been a long time since you’ve laid eyes on anything this firm.’

  He had to laugh. ‘I’ll tell Emily you said that.’

  A poked tongue was her only retort this time.

  A red gate barred the way beyond the reception security area, and they waited at least five minutes while additional checks were carried out. Beyond the gate they had to pass through a further four doors, no more than two of which were ever open at the same time. On the first of two floors, the second room on the eastern spur was a designated legal team area. No cameras or listening devices were allowed within its cramped rectangular space, though the panic strip was prominent around the width of all four walls.

  A guard accompanied them through each separate section of the prison; at no point did they lay eyes on any of the prisoners. As soon as they entered the room in which they were due to meet with Lewis Drake, the guard spoke into his two-way radio and gave the okay.

  ‘I guess you’ve seen it all in your time, eh?’ Bliss said to the guard, a stout, muscular man who looked to be in his late forties. ‘The real dregs of humanity are kept in here.’

  ‘We’ve also had the likes of Assange and Archer,’ the guard said, offering a shrug that suggested it was all in a day’s work. ‘Not here in the HSU, of course. Behind these walls we’ve had men like Ian Huntley, Charles Bronson, even Ronnie Biggs. Huntley walked around with a target on his back, what with him being a nonce… IRA men were all the rage for a while; now it’s Islamists. I’m on the last year of my spell in this unit, and I couldn’t honestly tell you who was the worst. Your man Drake, though – he’s a real piece of work. Slippery bastard, so watch yourselves. One minute he’s charming you, the next he’s frothing at the mouth, wanting to tear your arms off.’

  Bliss glanced at the table bolted to the floor and affixed against one wall. The steel loops used to restrain the prisoners looked impervious to even the most violent of rages. ‘Thanks for the tip,’ he said. ‘But we know Drake well enough.’

  ‘Oh, so you’ve bumped up against him before?’

  ‘Yeah. We arrested him. We are why he’s in here.’

  The guard’s response was immediate. ‘I’m glad you mentioned that. It might well up his aggressiveness. He was in one of our other Cat A blocks originally, but his violent outbursts became impossible to manage. He’s a genuine escape risk as well, so the HSU is the best place for him. Odd thing is, since day one he’s refused all requests for visitors.’

  ‘We’re the first?’ Chandler said, her surprise evident.

  ‘Other than his legal team. Don’t know how you managed it, either, at such short notice.’

  ‘Friends in low places,’ Bliss told him.

  The guard chuckled. ‘Yeah. I guessed it was something like that. Well, you’re welcome to him. Just one thing, and I don’t mean to come across as sexist or anything, but you need to be prepared for him, DS Chandler. The man has been banged up in one prison or another for more than two years, and despite his appeal he knows he’s never walking out of here. That’s something to keep in mind at all times. The only women he’s laid eyes on since he’s been away have been guards. But they don’t count for much, because I don’t think he even regards them as human, let alone women. It’s good that you’ve chosen to wear trousers, and I’d advise you to keep your jacket fastened. If you have to look directly at him, make sure you break eye contact often. Anything else and he’ll see it as interest on your part. He won’t be able to reach you, but he has a foul mouth and he’ll be looking to get a rise out of you.’

  Chandler arched her eyebrows. ‘Thank you. I dare say I’ve heard worse. The day one of our more charming clients back home in Peterborough told me how much he’d like to cut my throat, wash my face in acid, set light to me, and then fuck my still-smouldering corpse, was a particular highlight.’

  ‘Bloody hell,’ the guard said, his voice no more than a stunned whisper.

  ‘That was one of her better first dates,’ Bliss said.

  The three laughed; it was preferable to showing their anxiety. Chains or not, the thought of being trapped inside a room with somebody as psychotic as Lewis Drake was enough to set anyone’s pulse racing.

  The door opened, squealing theatrically on its hinges. A moment later, wearing a yellow T-shirt and standard maroon jogging bottoms, in stepped the man himself – all five-eight and barely twelve stone of him. Even with a freshly shaved head and contact lenses having replaced his glasses, Drake was not an imposing figure.

  His reputation for explosions of vicious and untamed violence, however, preceded him. Even without having interviewed him previously, Bliss would recognise this man for what he was: monstrous, and entirely lacking in either morals or conscience.

  Thirty-One

  The look of twisted amusement on Drake’s face was worthy of a photograph, to be used in a training exercise at a later date. Even after the prisoner managed to get a grip on his emotions, Bliss still detected a faint twitch of the lips and a pulsing tic beneath the man’s left eye. Drake’s legal team had informed him of the interview request, and against their advice he had chosen to go ahead without representation. Having those responsible for his incarceration in such close proximity once again appeared to be giving him some kind of perverse thrill. After giving Bliss no more than a cursory glance, his eyes alighted on Chandler and remained there while he sat and had his cuffed hands chained to the steel loops on the table. The guard who had brought him to the room remained standing by the door.

  Bliss sat upright, swallowing down his earlier unease. ‘Hello, Lewis. I’m sure you remember us, but for the record, I’m DS Bliss; this is my colleague, DS Chandler. We’d like a chat with you.’

  The prisoner didn’t so much as blink, nor did he look Bliss’s way. ‘Is that right? Well, I suggest you leave me and Sergeant Chandler here all alone for ten minutes while we get reacquainted.’

  ‘Most men only last two minutes with me, Lewis,’ Chandler said. ‘I’m that good. I reckon you’d need no more than thirty seconds. At best.’

  Drake leaned forward across the table, seemingly unruffled. Light bounced off the thin film of sweat covering his head. ‘You think it’s wise to disrespect a man like me?’

  Chandler grinned. ‘Why not? I helped put you in here, after all. Besides, what are you going to do from there?’

  This time it was Drake’s turn to smile. He wore a relatively new set of false teeth, and Bliss wondered if he’d lost his own in some random act of violence. ‘You think my reach extends only as far as these chains?’ Drake rattled the cuffs on his wrists for emphasis. ‘That would be a big mistake.’

  Chandler opened her mouth to respond, but Bliss caught her attention and gave an almost imperceptible shake of the head. He understood her motivation: proving she would not be cowed by such a man. But he needed her not to take it too far. He wanted information from Drake. Also, the prisoner was not wrong about his influence outside of this prison.

  ‘I think any talk of respect is premature,’ Bliss said. ‘That has to be earned. And it cuts both ways. So, are you happy for us to continue?’

  The corners of Drake’s mouth curled upwards as if drawn into a smile by an invisible string. ‘I’m never exactly happy
when I’m in the same room as the filth, but I’m up for it, yeah. I can handle you pair of arseholes, that’s for sure.’

  Bliss eyeballed him. The gamble of forcing Drake into a corner seemed to have paid off, the man’s ego taking charge as he’d intended. The voice was raspier than he remembered it, and he wondered if that was due to lack of use. But he was talking, and Bliss hoped that would continue. Moreover, he needed to make sure the man remained in the room long enough to listen.

  ‘Good. We’d like to talk to you about one of your old businesses, Lewis. And let me make it perfectly clear that we don’t expect you to rat out any of your family or friends or even those workers you don’t give a toss about. If you don’t believe me, or you suspect we’re trying to take you for a fool, let me ask my questions, after which you can choose to answer them or not. How does that sound?’

  After a moment that seemed to last an eternity, Drake’s narrow shoulders rose and fell. Still he did not avert his gaze, his eyes fixed steadily on Chandler, who had remembered the advice not to try matching the stare.

  ‘Excellent,’ Bliss said, adjusting himself to get a little more comfortable. The tension in the room was palpable. ‘I’m going to begin by reading out a few names. When I’m done, I’d like you to tell me what your current connection to them is. That sound okay, Lewis?’

  ‘Just get the fuck on with it. I haven’t got all day.’

  ‘Somewhere else to be?’

  This drew the man’s gaze. His eyes formed tight slits. ‘Yeah. Chess club. And Pointless is on the telly later.’

  Nodding, Bliss read the names printed on a sheet of paper he’d taken from his breast pocket. ‘EZEscorts. Galaxy Escort Agency. Glamour Pussy Escorts. Dark Desires.’

  Only the last provoked a reaction. It came and went in an instant, and you had to be looking for it – which Bliss was. What he saw bothered him enormously.

  ‘What’s in this for me?’ Drake asked, stretching out his legs. ‘I’m not sure what you hope to get out of it, but I’m bloody certain there’s fuck all reason for me to say anything to you.’

  ‘I’d say that depends on how cooperative and useful you are, Lewis. Even in this unit you’re allowed certain privileges. I can have a word in the right ear to ask about extending one or two of those for you.’

  He had Drake’s attention. Being in jail stripped a man of so many things, and high-security units like this one took away even more. Gaining something significant in exchange for giving up so little was an offer worth considering. Bliss thought of sweetening the pot, but instead opted to go another way. Drake might not believe him if he offered too much in one go, but honesty was a currency all prisoners understood.

  ‘I’m making no promises. You need to understand that. But if you open up to me, I will do what I can.’

  Drake’s chest expanded as if he’d plumbed himself in to an air pump. He held the breath for a moment before releasing it in one long sigh. ‘All of those except the last one are familiar to me. They were my agencies. Legit businesses, I’d remind you. Various members of my organisation run them for me in my absence. But you already knew that, so why ask?’

  ‘Let’s call it a test. To see how upfront you’d be. Banged-up villains aren’t usually the most trustworthy of people, Lewis. And the ones who murder young women by slipping them into drums of acid tend to be stone-cold liars.’

  Drake sat back and went to fold his arms, the chains pulling tight against the steel loops. Anger erupted like a rash across his face, but he quelled it swiftly and soon relaxed again.

  Bliss was surprised by the man’s strength of will. ‘What about Dark Desires?’ he prompted.

  ‘I don’t know nothing about them. Never heard of them.’

  ‘Are you sure, Lewis? See, that contradicts what we’ve been told. Our understanding is that Dark Desires is one of yours, only even more seedy and repulsive. And perhaps the most secretive.’

  ‘I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. What is it, even?’

  Bliss had been leading up to this since spotting Drake’s initial reaction to the name. If he was wrong, he would be handing Drake the advantage; if he was right, he might be adding fuel to an already raging fire.

  ‘It’s another agency, Lewis. Only with this one you get to pick girls for the most vile and dangerous acts you can possibly think of. Real degrading, abhorrent stuff.’

  Drake shook his head. ‘Nah, I don’t have nothing to do with shit like that.’

  ‘Of course not. You’re such a humanitarian,’ Chandler muttered.

  Drake spun his head. ‘Stay the fuck out of this, darling, or jump at shadows the rest of your natural.’

  ‘And here I was thinking this was going so well,’ Bliss said, keeping his cool. ‘No need for threats, Lewis. You may not care for my colleague’s remark, but she’s not wrong to sneer, is she? You’re a despicable man who wouldn’t turn his nose up at anything, however unsavoury or sordid, if it meant buying another beach house in sunny Florida.’

  Drake laughed, his head bucking backwards. ‘You know how many fucks I give what you think of me?’

  ‘I’m guessing that would be none.’

  ‘Well, aren’t you a clever copper? Brightest of the bunch, are we? I’m guessing DS Chandler there is for eye candy. I can see why, mind. I’d do her – at a push. I mean, she is getting on a bit.’

  Chandler acted amused. ‘You’d have to be the last man on earth, and I’d have to be dying. And I’d still put up a good fight rather than endure one touch from you.’

  ‘I’m sure part of that can be arranged, darling.’ Drake chuckled, not rattled at all by any part of their conversation. The sick bastard was enjoying himself. Worst of all, Bliss believed him when he said he knew nothing about Dark Desires. Even so, he had one last move.

  ‘Let’s say we take your word, Lewis, and Dark Desires is not yours. Why do you think we are hearing otherwise?’

  ‘How should I know? Maybe it’s Fuck With A Copper Week. Oh no, wait a minute. That’s every week, yeah?’

  Bliss remained impassive. ‘Nice one. You got us there, Lewis. But you know what I’m wondering?’ It was time to follow up on that initial reaction he’d seen in the man’s eyes.

  ‘No. And I don’t give a fuck, either.’

  ‘I’m wondering if somebody inside your organisation is running Dark Desires without your knowledge. From what I hear, the punters visiting that site pay a lot of money to get their jollies. It’s an extremely lucrative part of the enterprise, Lewis. A shitload of money coming in, and apparently you’re not seeing a single penny of it. That can’t be right, can it?’

  This time Bliss knew he’d struck a blow. Again it showed in the man’s troubled features, but his entire body also went rigid. Drake stuck his chin out and both nostrils flared.

  ‘What’s up, Lewis? You not liking the idea of someone pulling a stroke like that behind your back? Have to say it surprises me. Looks like you’re not the big-time Charlie you thought you were.’

  ‘Is this for real?’ Drake managed to say through a mouth that was virtually clamped shut. ‘Or are you pair of wankers winding me up?’

  ‘Why else would we be here? We came here thinking you might be able to give us some specific information about a Dark Desires client. Turns out you weren’t even aware of its existence. Didn’t take much time to cut you out of the loop, did it?’

  Drake said nothing for a good twenty seconds. Eventually he jabbed his head in the direction of the door. ‘On your way now, Pinky and Perky. If I can think of a way you pair of useless shits can scratch my back, I’ll consider scratching yours. Might take me a day or two, though. So off you trot. I’m missing chess club.’

  Finished with the interview, Bliss kept his eyes fastened on Drake until the man flinched and narrowed his own gaze. ‘Just so’s we’re clear,’ Bliss said in a low voice. ‘That shot you took at my colleague about her jumping at shadows the rest of her life had better be bravado on your part.’

 
Drake smirked. ‘Yeah? And why’s that?’

  ‘Because she happens to be more of a lunatic than I am. If it were me, I’d have the authorities punish you for that threat by taking away some of those privileges we spoke about earlier – whereas my sergeant here has her own unique style and substance. She has a way of creating her own shadows. The world outside is a vast place, Lewis, but that’s not the case in here. In here, you can be got to. In here, every shadow is a potential threat.’

  The man made no reply. He faced Bliss for a long time, before shifting his focus. ‘Let’s call it quits, eh?’ he said. ‘No need for either of us to hold a grudge, is there, darling?’

  ‘I don’t hold grudges, Lewis,’ Chandler said, getting to her feet as Bliss also rose. ‘I get even. Usually long before I have anything to get even about.’

  ‘You’re a hard-arse, eh?’

  Chandler’s eyebrows arched then fell. ‘Pray you never have to find out.’

  ***

  Mobile phones were not allowed inside the prison, so when Bliss retrieved his and switched it back on, a series of text messages and voicemails came in. As he and his partner walked across the car park, he selected one from Bishop and listened carefully to what his colleague had to say. When he was finished he turned to Chandler, a wide smile illuminating his face.

  ‘We got the go-ahead to use the undercover legend. It’s already in play. Bish used the card – and the legend held up, because he got back the spreadsheet and the directions. It worked a treat. He said typing Enter into the A1 cell ran something that brought up a link in that buried cell further down the sheet. The password came in another separate e-mail, and they’re in.’

  ‘How bad is it? Did he say?’

  ‘No. Just that we were in and work had already begun on monitoring.’

  ‘Perhaps this was a wasted trip.’