by Carl Andrew
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Leon was holding Abby’s hand tightly, enjoying the warmth of her touch and the contact between their bodies.
Abby was reciprocating and gave Leon’s hand a little squeeze. She was as excited as he was but didn’t want to show it. That was part of the game.
They were around 10 yards away from the entrance to their building.
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Ben walked back into the ground floor lobby area of the building and got the fire alarm key out. He put it into the slot at the bottom of the fire alarm unit and turned it…
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Steve pursed his lips and started breathing slowly, steadily.
He tilted his head and positioned his eye by the telescopic sight.
He put a little more pressure on the trigger.
Almost there…
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Leon lifted his hand up to guide the key to the lock on the entrance door.
Abby, stood behind him, waiting in anticipation to get inside the building, out of the cold.
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Ben tried the key again, nothing. He opened the unit and checked the battery. Dead…
He replaced it.
It was lucky he came, he thought to himself.
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This was it, the target was right in the zone and Steve had no more than five seconds in which to pull the trigger.
The girl was standing in the way but he still had a visual on the targets head.
Now…
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Ben replaced the cover on the fire alarm unit, inserted the key and turned it to test the new battery…
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Steve put more pressure on the trigger and was about to make the final squeeze when…
Suddenly….BEEP NANANANA BEEP NANANANANA BEEP
A loud noise interrupted him. It was an alarm. The shock made him jerk his arm as he squeezed the trigger. The bullet left the rifle chamber, travelled down the barrel and was released into the air.
It careered towards the target zone.
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Abby heard the fire alarm from the disused building behind them. She turned around and saw a face in the window.
It was hidden by some trees but she could make out a face and then a puff of smoke from what looked like a gun.
She pushed Leon to the floor…
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The bullet travelled towards the target but the jerk of his arm had meant Steve had shot too high.
It sailed over the target’s head but the girl had seen him. He had to get out. He had to abort.
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The fire alarm checked out. Ben made his way to the stairs to check the ones on the upper floors. As he rounded the corner to start his ascent a man in a suit carrying a suitcase bounded down the stairs at a frightening pace.
Steve ran straight into Ben knocking him off his feet. Before he knew it, he was out on the street travelling quickly towards the tube station.
As he moved, he pulled off his wig and fake moustache and tossed them into the rubbish bin.
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Abby helped Leon up from the ground.
“What the hell happened?” He was visibly shocked.
“I don’t know. I think someone tried to shoot us,” Abby was shaken up also. She looked above the entrance door and saw a small round hole that looked like it had been made by a bullet.
“Look, look at that hole. He shot at us,” she cried out.
“He, who? Who shot at us?” Leon demanded.
“The man, he was up there in the window. I saw him when the alarm went off,” she said.
“What? Quick, get the fuck inside,” he forced the key into the lock, opened the door and pulled Abby inside with him.
They bounded up the stairs and burst into their apartment. They didn’t stop to look around, they just bolted.
Inside, Leon picked up the phone and called the police. Within ten minutes his apartment block was surrounded and officers were searching the opposite building.
An unfortunate maintenance man was hauled down to the police station for questioning. It was a day he would surely never forget.
He didn’t know it yet but he’d just become Leon’s guardian angel. Ben the maintenance man just wanted to finish his job list and go home. He didn’t want to be a hero.
The visit to Leon’s parents place happened quicker than Abby thought. That evening they were taken under police guard to Bolton. It was not the way Abby had planned to meet Leon’s parents for the first time.
Awkward first meetings with each other's family were quickly becoming their thing.
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A few days later - Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire
Jennifer had received bids from several companies to develop the liquid chips. The decision panel was meeting today to shortlist candidates.
The panel had increased by one after the Prime Minister insisted on being involved.
He cited the issue of too many cock ups as the reason he needed to be included.
It complicated things a little but was manageable and wasn’t something they could necessarily alter.
It meant that there were four people on the panel and that could result in a split vote. It also meant that if that occurred, the Prime Minister would no doubt have the deciding say.
All the while, Jennifer had Abby’s safety clouding her thoughts. She’d been told about the incident and was assured of their safety but it was still a huge concern for her.
Each of the panellists went through the bid applications before collecting in the main office and discussing their thoughts.
After about two hours of discussion and decision, out of a long list of ten they had managed to get it down to a shortlist of three.
One bid stood out above the others for Jennifer. It was a company called Interface Science Labs based in Cambridge.
They specialised in human anatomy based technology products and were a leading light in the development of digital pills for coronary heart disease.
Jennifer hadn’t heard of them before but they had a lot of expertise overseas and had only recently set up UK operations. They white labelled their previous products for larger Pharma companies but were looking for expansion under their own name now they had credibility in the industry.
Their bid was the only one that really showed a thorough understanding of the solution and the objectives of the strategy.
The turnaround was necessarily short and they invited the three shortlisted organisations to present to the panel in two weeks’ time.
This was huge for the companies. The contract to produce the liquid chips was worth billions. That also meant that the decision was crucial for the panel to get right.
Jennifer knew this wasn’t going to be easy.
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Silicon Fen – Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
A familiar ringtone echoed through the corner office on the third floor. The man in the casual shirt walked over to the safe, in the cupboard by the far wall, opened it and pulled out the mobile phone.
He pressed to answer.
“What the hell is going on? How come he’s still alive?” screamed the voice on the other end.
“There was an unforeseen situation. The operative couldn’t have possibly planned for it. He’ll keep quiet if caught,” the man in th
e casual shirt replied.
“And what about the blogger,” he asked.
“I’d recommend leaving it. We’re through to the shortlist stage of the bid and we should focus on that. That will change everything and you won’t have to worry about your blogger friend again.”
“I’m not happy about this. I want him dealt with eventually but with where we're at it can wait. We’ve got more important things to think about,” the response came, much calmer now.
“We could always make the operative an offer in case he gets caught to ensure there is nothing linking back to us,” the man in the casual shirt added.
His counterpart thought for a moment.
“Do it,” he said.
Chapter 22:
Two weeks later – Bolton, Lancashire
The police report had been inconclusive. They couldn’t confirm that Leon or Abby were the target for the gunman. They could only confirm that a bullet had been fired.
Leon’s dad had insisted his son and girlfriend remained with them regardless. If he had his way, it would be indefinitely.
Leon was trying to argue that it was likely a mistake and that he and Abby had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Meanwhile, Abby was getting to know Leon’s family, albeit in rather strange circumstances. Leon’s brothers both instantly took to Abby, mainly because she kept their brother in order and was quick to take the mickey out of him.
Leon’s mum was glad that he had found someone at last. She thought that Abby was lovely and they had a few things in common which made conversations easy and, to a certain extent, enjoyable.
The blog was fed with regular updates but in truth, they had both taken their foot off the pedal recently as a result of the incident that they were still trying to get over.
Jennifer had been on the phone constantly to Abby. She was glad her daughter was safe but wished it was with her. She understood that theirs was a relationship still under repair.
It would take time for Abby to turn to her mum in a situation where she was looking for reliability.
The last couple of weeks had flown by but neither had raised the topic of returning to London. That was still a way off, but they knew at some point they would have to face that reality.
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10 Downing Street, London
It was bid presentation day and the venue had been moved to 10 Downing Street on account of prior engagements for the Prime Minister on the same day.
His involvement was already having an impact.
Russell and Vanessa had pushed a special order through the upper and lower house so they could circumvent the usual bid process in order to expedite proceedings.
Commonly, a bid process could take many months but due to the high priority nature of the Anti-Social Behaviour Bill and preceding Act - after it had been voted on and agreed in Parliament - it was agreed that the usual framework could be bypassed for an ‘emergency’ Act.
It essentially meant that they could, if things go well, arrive at a final decision today and have it ratified by the relevant committees by the end of the week.
That was good news as far as Jennifer was concerned. Production of the liquid chips needed to happen while the public were still on board.
The testing areas had been announced as Manchester, Bath, Norwich, Derby, Aberdeen and Reading. These would be the first places to witness the impact of the liquid chips in practice.
There was excitement along with reticence in equal measure. It was one thing to support something radical on social media but when it’s about to become a reality closer to home, it’s uncanny how people can change their minds.
After a small delay, the Prime Minister had finished his morning engagements and had joined the rest of the panel, including Russell, Jennifer and an academic named Professor John McGuire.
The first company was called for. They did a good job. Very professional and slick but the judges agreed almost instantly that there was something lacking.
They were looking for a very specific bid but the first organisation just didn’t hit the mark.
It was down to two…
Organisation number 2 was Interface Science Labs. As they presented, Jennifer recalled how impressed she was with their initial bid application.
They had a lot to live up to and the expectation was high. They duly delivered. It was an excellent presentation and they knew exactly what to focus on.
Interface Science Labs had nailed it.
It was almost cruel to put the final company through what was, in Jennifer’s mind, a foregone conclusion.
The other panellists had also been impressed by Interface Science Labs but then that just made the final decision easier. Russell was almost adamant that Interface Science Labs should win the bid. He was outspoken in his support for them.
It had taken no more than half a day to arrive at a decision costing the country a potential £2.3 billion. Jennifer almost felt like she had cheated the role she had agreed to take on but there was no disputing the stand out company.
All that was required from this point were the verification checks followed by support from three Cabinet committees for it to be a done deal.
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Two weeks later, early March - Silicon Fen, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
The man in the casual shirt arrived early for work that morning and expectantly waited for the post to arrive.
They had been informed that they had won the bid and had celebrated into the early hours a week or so ago but today was the official confirmation correspondence. Once this was received, the decision couldn’t be disputed.
It was a huge day for him and his company. The tech business that took over the office from the failed app developer a short while ago was not well known among the other tech companies that neighboured them, but about to become renowned by tech companies around the world.
The letter arrived by person, an envoy from the Department of Social Behaviour who worked closely with Minister Russell Brooks.
The man in the casual shirt opened the letter, studied the Portcullis design at the top and read the contents before framing it.
His new world had begun. The hard work started now.
As part of the bid process, they had agreed to the timeline of six months to produce the liquid chips for the test areas. Soon, the sparsely populated office would be teeming with new people.
They had already agreed to take over the lease of the larger unit down the road. The opportune result of another tech company's bravado and eventual misfortune.
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C&G Mechanic Shop, Coventry
The phone rang but the shop was officially closed. It usually only rang for one reason after hours and that was to offer an outside job and provide instructions.
The mechanic shop was a base for the gang to get together. It was where they got their next jobs from and where they devised their reign of chaos.
Usually, the phone would ring and a guy who they never met and knew no detail of would let them know their assignment, where they were to hit next.
Sometimes the jobs were big, sometimes they were small but it was always conducted in the same way.
The job was done and the money came. No questions, no meetings, no greetings necessary.
Tonight though, things were different. The phone rang the same as always but the message had changed.
The boss came back into the garage area.
“It’s done, we have instructions that there’s to be no more jobs, no more violence, no more affray,” he said.
“What do you mean no more jobs? Who said?” one of the crew asked.
“This has come from the top. We get paid one more time and I’ve been told that if anyone steps out of line they will be dealt with,” he replied.
They knew not to mess around with this. The mess
age was clear and the message was final.
Up and down the country, the same message was conveyed in snooker halls, pubs, back yards, bookies and the like.
The assignments had been handed out to almost every underground gang for the past five years in a bid to cause as much disruption throughout Britain as possible but they always knew there would be an end point.
That end point was now.
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Late March – Bolton, Lancashire
The police had continued their investigations and it was found that there was no connection between the gunman and either Leon or Abby.
They had located the gunman in Birmingham through a few other cases they were pursuing. He had confessed to all he was accused of and confirmed that the Finsbury Park job was a case of mistaken identity.
What the police didn’t tell Leon was that due to, what they were told was a technicality, the gunman was given a heavily reduced sentence. They reached the conclusion that he must have someone looking over him.
Unaware of this, Leon used the information from the police as an opportunity to move back to London. The effects of diabetes on his dad was not getting better but wasn’t getting any worse so he didn’t feel obligated to stay.
There were many protestations from his dad, mum and brothers but to no avail. In typical Leon fashion he had made his decision and wouldn’t be changed.
As much as Abby was getting on with the family, the closeness over such a long period of time was a little too much to handle so she was happy to head back home.
