County Lines Rider

by Samantha Bassett

  “They can’t just vanish?”

  “Well, there are other ways out of the building, we need to check the other exits like A&E and maternity, they have separate entrances. They could have gone to another floor, crossed to a different wing and left that way.”

  I wanted to scream, however, I knew that the only way we would find them would be to check all of the cameras. Perhaps if we saw them being taken out of the building we could get a number plate to check or at least a description of the men better than the rapid glance I had seen in the lift.

  The security team were going through the cameras, it was taking a frustratingly long time as images of different areas of the hospital flashed up on the screens. Eventually, with a shrug, the head of security said that they could not be found. They had checked the lift landings on each floor as well as the other entrances and key cameras.

  “Oh for Christ’s sake! They cannot have just got into a lift and not got out?” Dan sighed.

  “What about estates?”

  “What you think they got out in a car? Don’t be stupid.”

  “No…” The young security officer stood up. “The estates’ department, they are in the basement. There are plant rooms, the morgue, the kitchens. I don’t think the camera feeds are working down there.”

  “Shit… You’re right.” Head of security turned to Dan. “People smoke down there, they damage the camera cables so they don’t get seen.”

  “How do we get there?”

  ***

  We stepped out of the lift. The basement was like a maze. We walked with the security guards through plant rooms and storage areas. I gulped as we entered the morgue, I looked away as they pulled open the refrigerated drawers and peered into body bags. There was only the kitchen left. We stepped inside, Dan showed his warrant card to one of the cooks.

  “Oh for Christ’s sake! I’m trying to prepare meals for the whole hospital, I have already had your men try to destroy the place. And when am I going to get my blast freezer back?”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Dan looked at the freezer door, tugging at the handcuffs. “Shit!”

  ***

  Crammed behind the shelves I was sure I’d not been seen. The door swung closed with a thud and the room went dark, there was a roar as fans started, the temperature starting to drop rapidly. I could hear Adam leaping up, pulling at the door handle.

  “Shit!”

  “What?”

  “The doors stuck…” I could hear the rattling of the door handle over the whirr of the fans.

  “Hang on.” I heard footsteps and a thud followed by Adam crying out in pain.

  “Adam, are you okay?”

  “Yeah… My shoulder. I tried to force the door… Shit… We’re trapped.” I slithered forward on the icy floor, finding Adam sat down. He reached out for me. “Oh goodness, you’re cold. Here.” I felt something being placed around my shoulders. I tried to hand it back but he forced it onto me. “Keep warm.”

  “Adam… Are we going to be okay?”

  “Kate… I told you, we’re survivors.”

  My teeth chattered, the temperature seemed to be falling by the second, glancing up I could see a small red display which was ticking down numbers, it was reading minus thirty-nine degrees. I hugged Adam tightly.

  ***

  “The officer said that the scene of crime people needed to see it. He locked it so that we couldn’t use it, but I need it to freeze off…”

  Dan was running, he entered the plant room and reached for the large wrench he had seen earlier. He approached the freezer. “Stand back!” He slammed the steel wrench into the door handle.

  “What the hell are you doing!” The cook yelled as Dan smashed the lock with repeated blows. There was a snap and the handle snapped clean away from the door, Dan pulled it open. The cook yelled out…

  “Don’t just stand there… Get them out.” The sight of Adam and Kate crouched in the darkness was too much. My legs started to buckle. Their skin was blue and mottled, there was frost across their bodies. Adam was still, Kate whispering.

  “He gave me his coat…”

  I was lunging for them, feeling the deathly coldness of his skin, desperately trying to drag them from the freezer. Dan pulled me back, forcibly holding my body, as the paramedics attended to them.

  ***

  I felt the breeze on my face. I woke with a start, crying out.

  “Shh…” The warm hand touched my cheek. “There, there… Take it easy.”

  “May?” Confusion flooded my body. Where was I? I looked around my bedroom, the farmhouse. “Adam!” I tried to struggle out of bed but was held down.

  “Please, Amanda, be calm.” She turned away, speaking to someone else. “Maybe another dose, just to keep her calm.” May placed something in my mouth. “Here, take a sip of water…” I drunk, swallowed the pill she had given me. “You’re my brave girl. You’ll be strong, but for now, you need to rest.”

  Rest? How could I rest? Yet, my eyelids were so heavy, maybe just a moment. If I could just rest my eyes for a moment things would feel better.

  ***

  “You have nothing on me…” Patrick sneered.

  “You’re bloody deluded. We have witnesses that you tried to kill them and now CCTV footage of your leaving a crime scene. I don’t know how much you bribed the judge to get bail, but it will not be happening twice. You will be going down for a long time.”

  37

  Family Ties

  “Her stats are normal now.” Voices, a steady beep and hissing of air. I flutter my eyes open. I try to move. “Hang on… Kate… Hello Kate?” I see a face in my field of vision. “Stay where you are babe. She’s waking up.”

  I look around me, there are medical machines, tubes and wires, I had a mask covering my face, I try to remove it, but my hands are pinned beneath the sheets. I’m so tired, wracked with pain, my body stiff. Have I been in an accident?

  ***

  “Annie?” I sit up in bed, looking at the silhouette standing in my window. She turns and I see that it isn’t a dream, she rushes towards me her eyes red, tears rolling down her cheeks, embracing me.

  “Oh, I missed you, sis.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  She smiles, looking away, deliberately avoiding eye contact. “With what happened.” She breaks down crying again, her embrace tighter than ever.

  ***

  “Miss Gibbs?… Are you awake?” I look up, a policewoman is sitting beside my bed. The mask and most of the tubes and wires have gone. My body is still sore and stiff but I feel considerably more human.

  “Hello?”

  “I’m WPC Clarke, how are you doing?”

  “Better than I was.”

  “I need to ask you some questions…”

  ***

  I sit at the kitchen table flanked by May and Annie, it was just like being back in Wiltshire.

  “We thought you needed some support. I’m sorry we weren’t here sooner, but as you had never told us where you lived.”

  “I’m sorry… So how did you find me now?”

  “Mandy you’ve been in all the papers. ‘Stable owner’s attempted murder at sea’, it wasn’t hard to find you when your life story is in every tabloid. You seem to court danger in your life.”

  “I don’t want it anymore… I’m tired.”

  “I imagine you must be…” May took my hand.

  ***

  “I need to know about Adam!”

  “Calm down miss… He was in a bad way. He had no pulse when he was found. The medics attempted CPR.”

  The words make no sense… I stare at the policewoman who is sitting beside me. I hear the sound before I realise that it’s me making it. The wailing, a cry of pure agony. I feel myself being restrained, the prick of a needle in my arm and give myself up to a dreamless sleep.

  ***

  Amanda

  I heard your news, I am so sorry for what has happened to you and your f
amily, your friends.

  You may not believe it of me, but I am not totally heartless. I wish I could be there to comfort you in your hour of need.

  Be strong, I know you always have been, but you will need it more than ever now.

  Your friend, forever

  Edwin

  ***

  “Come home.” May takes my hand.

  “This is…” I stop myself, I can’t see this as home, this was a folly. Adam had been right, I should have run away just as Sean had, found a bolt hole on the other side of the globe and hidden. The stupidity of coming to Cumbria, of course, it had only been a matter of time and I would have spent my whole life looking over my shoulder, expecting the inevitable. I had been doomed by my own actions from the very beginning and my only sadness was all those I had hurt along the way.

  “Look, your working pupils can look after the stables for a while. They are very able from what I can see. You can take time, decide what you want to do. You know, you are always welcome. I mean it when I say it is your home.”

  I look up into the eyes of May, the mother I had never had and Annie who had been overjoyed when I transitioned from staff member to sister. I had so much to think about, decisions to be made.

  ***

  “You have every right to feel proud, both of you. Anderson, your tenacity was amazing, the evidence you gathered has helped us build a strong case. Willoughby, I haven’t forgotten that it was you who put the ringleader away on a long stretch and now we can expect the same for his protégé. This is a major collar, you have, between you, put a major dent in county lines drugs operations in the South East and London. We have been able to round up most of their people and they are all very willing to speak so I am confident that we will have them off the streets for a considerably long time.”

  Dan sat back, surveying the scene. Here he was, a local cop from what the Met would have called a country backwater, in the office of the Chief Constable, overlooking the Thames, he had every right to feel proud. The street value of the drugs which had been seized had run into hundreds of millions between them and it was clear that the organisation had also suffered some internal funding issue which had caused many of the associates to be more than willing to speak out against their leaders.

  There had been talk of a change of scene, promotion to save ‘wasting a valuable resource’ as he was now seen in the eyes of his superiors. However, there was something at the back of his mind. He had not as much as had a date with Amanda, to do so would have been gross misconduct as she was both victim and, for sometime also a suspect. However, he was falling in love with her, and had a feeling this was mutual. Did he really want to move to London without at least having an opportunity to know more about her? At the very least he felt he should comfort her as she recovered from what had occurred.

  A leave of absence would be good. The idea grew in his mind as the Chief Constable spoke, sometime away before he made a final decision. He smiled warmly.

  ***

  “Kate this is May and Annie…” They hugged and we sat down, the wood burner glowing, giving off a comforting heat.

  “I’ve heard all about you.” May smiled. “It’s good to see you, how are you feeling now? I am sure you are glad to finally be out of the hospital.”

  Kate smiled politely, nodding. Even May realised we were all out of small talk.

  ***

  The slamming of the cell door, the blond-haired man looked up with terror in his eyes.

  “Patrick.” Edwin shook his head. “You have disappointed me. I realise there is no honour amongst thieves, however, you took it to a new level.”

  “I had to keep the operation running, for you.”

  “Do you think that I care about money, drugs, influence? I have influence here, how do you think you were allocated to the same prison as me, the same cell block. This is not a coincidence, it is a show of my, influence. My only concern is for the one I loved. I know I’ve lost her, but I feel somewhat responsible for her welfare and you hurt her. Now, I feel that it is time that you understand the ramifications of this.”

  “So you’re going to kill me?”

  Edwin laughed. “Oh Patrick, such melodrama. Of course not, how would I do such a thing? No… I am going to make you understand. I will ensure that you know that you are never safe, you will never know what will happen to you or when. Killing you would bring me no satisfaction. Watching you for the next twenty years as you wilt and suffer as she did, that will make me immensely happy.”

  “She was just some stupid slut!” Patrick spat.

  “Maybe, in your eyes. Maybe that was all you could ever see, amongst the greed and pain. I saw something different, something you will never see. You could never see beauty, and you never will again.” Edwin stood up as the cell door swung open.

  The two men grabbed Patrick, the screams were muffled as the door closed, a warden started to run towards the cell, but Edwin stopped him. “You didn’t hear that sound, you were attending to a matter elsewhere. When you return you will call for the medics. If you are quick, you may even save his sight.” Edwin started to walk away. “Don’t rush back…”

  38

  Jump to it...

  I opened my eyes, the sunshine and warmth. Oh good, I was at a show, a summer afternoon in late August, only another few days before I would have to return to school so I had to make the most of it, the last hurrah before winter crept in and there were dark mornings in the rain and long, boring nights. Sweat ran into my eyes, if I did well I would ask for ice cream, just needed to jump clear and clinch the win.

  The ring steward waved me on and I pushed my pony on, cantering around the arena. It was busy, the waves of crowds lined up behind the rope, some sat with picnic blankets others with foaming beer in hand. This was the county show, a win here was a stepping stone to bigger and better things. I imagined how I looked, my immaculate hacking jacket, the Pony Club tie and brilliant white jodhpurs finished with my polished boots. I knew that my mother despaired that I could so easily prepare for a show and look handsome, but would look a mess in school uniform. I tried to make her understand, this was my passion, this was my life.

  I had plans. Schoolwork was irrelevant, I was going to keep improving my riding, maybe get a working pupil position with one of the great riders, one of the Olympic show jumpers who would take me under their wing as their new protégé. From there, owners would fall over themselves to give me their best horses to ride, I would rise up through the ranks. The local, national and international events and then, of course, Olympic gold, team and personal, naturally.

  People at school didn’t understand, they laughed, said that riding was for girls. However, I knew. I was an athlete and focused on my goal. This was a stepping stone, these people would look back and think ‘I remember that day’. When I have my front cover of Horse and Hound, youngsters looking up to me, then I will know that this would have been worth it.

  Concentration, I bring myself back to the moment, blocking out everything but the fences and my horse. I know the course, I know what to do. The bell rings and I turn. Fence one, it’s a simple starter two red and white crossed poles, simple. I push on and we clear it with ease, but calm, it’s a tight turn into fence two a spread, somewhat more challenging, wider and more daunting but still, nothing we haven’t done before. I count the strides. Three, two, one and we are over. Onto the next, a vertical. I know he has pulled out of these before so I maintain the impulsion, a half halt to calm his pace and get the stride right before we pounce and clear it with room to spare.

  There’s a ripple of applause, obviously, we are looking good, but I bring myself back to the ring. Concentration is everything. The gate is forth, turn, stride and jump. Clear, we are getting there. Onto a double upright, this is painfully open with space to run out if I don’t concentrate. I am visualising my strides, counting them in my mind as I clear the first, two strides and then over the second element before turning quickly towards the water jump. It’s a simple
Liverpool under an upright, it shouldn’t be a challenge but almost every other rider has had a pole down here. I pull back, slow the pace and we are clear.

  A quick turn and then down the straight, there is a double oxer against the rope. We approach, a small dog charges across my line, I pull up as it rushes away as the audience gasp but I kick on, and with a cat leap we are over the first element. The strides are out, but I have confidence and we clear it.

  It’s a final race to the cross pole to finish, half halt and we are over. There is applause and cheering, I hear my name called over the Tannoy and I know I have done it. The only rider clear. I see my sister, I am sure she will be jealous of my performance, but I was always the better rider.

  I wave as I leave the ring. To me, this is Olympia and Hickstead all rolled into one, not just a county show. I have ambition and drive. There’s nothing that can stop me.

  39

  Waiting Time

  “He looks so peaceful.” Kate looks up to me, she promised to be brave but we both want to cry, I feel tears pricking my eyes. She reaches down and touches his hand.