Vigilante

by Brian Cain

CHAPTER TWELVE

  Bevan Stanwell the Australian Prime Minister was sitting at his desk in Kirribilli house in Sydney studying the reports he had demanded. He occasionally rubbed his wide nose and shrugged his head from side to side. He ran his hand across his thick, grey hair opening his eyes wide occasionally. He squinted and read some things twice. He placed the reports on the desk in front of him and rubbed his hands up and down his face hiding his wrinkled features, then rubbed them together in front of him. He looked at his Defence Minister Ben Porter and immediately raised his voice and threw the reports at the wall. "When exactly were you planning to tell me we lost fifteen truck loads of defence property! Have lost an AFP officer, an ASIO officer right under my nose here in Kirribilli! Have a British warship powering down the east coast heading here and the New South Wales state police were wanting to arrest John Stanton, a bloke who could ream the arse of every major government in the west in five minutes!" Stanwell calmed his tone. "Do I look like a mushroom Ben?"

  "No Bevan, let me expla..." Stanwell interjected with a roar.

  "Bullshit! Where the hell did fifteen truck loads of arms and ammunition just disappear to Porter?" Porter played nervously with his black, heavy rimmed glasses, cleaning them with a handkerchief from his top suit pocket. "I just put the phone down from Graham Black, does the name ring a bell?"

  "Yes, the British Prime Minister of course Bevan."

  "I’ll tell you what I’m convinced of Ben. Some bastard in our ranks is draining off arms and selling them on the black market. How else would a unit of British soldiers find a swag of them in the hands of the Taliban in north Afghanistan a couple of weeks after we lose them? The idiots even left the serial numbers on the assault rifles. Now, why has half of Stanton's family had to be sent to England and hidden away? I’ll tell you why Porter, because some intellectual here; and I use the term loosely, handed Stanton a sanction on his own wife who uses her maiden name which even I am familiar with. Correct me if I'm wrong."

  "No, you're correct."

  "I want to know everyone who was in the meeting where the question was asked by Jodi Simpson on the missing arms."

  "We are a bit pushed; we have over half our operatives in Perth. They just collared two containers of heroin and cocaine, some five hundred million dollars worth this morning. We have over twenty people in custody. Most others are tracing leads here in Sydney we have acquired regarding some underworld figures. We should have them in custody by the end of the week. I’ll pull Princeton in and have him look into it immediately."

  Stanwell's desk phone rang and he answered it. "Stanwell speaking, really, do we know why? Porter’s here I’ll get him onto it. Keep me informed." Stanwell put the phone down. "They’ve been looking for you. The Westminster has put about and is headed back to the China Sea. The UN force there has gone on alert; the North Koreans are playing games again. They would like us to bolster our presence there too."

  "I’ll get the Adelaide and the Anzac to re-route there; they just left Port Brisbane for the Gulf, hopefully all be over by the time they pass by and can continue with their deployment."

  "Excellent idea. Now leave Stanton be, I have been assured he can find the culprits. I'd love to be present when he does. However I want them found first. I want them put through the system and paraded for all to see. There is an election next year and this could really hold the electorate for us. Phillip Clyde will be pushing this nuclear ship visit for all it’s worth in question time this week. The Greens are already on the bandwagon, waving banners round all over the place. This Korean thing will be very handy, bit embarrassing for Clyde to mouth off then immediately have the North Koreans come to our aid. Make sure you issue a press release regarding our bolstering of the UN force in the China Sea. May just shut Clyde down. Shame Jodi Simpson's not here, be a no brainer for the front page."

  "We do have a bit of a problem Bevan."

  Stanwell looked blank. "There's more?"

  "Stanton found Graham Billet with his ex Jodi, she's been seeing him."

  "Billet’s a married man with a family."

  "Yes, that's probably where she got her information on the missing arms."

  "Check Billet right out."

  "Billet’s clean, the brief he’s got was from ASIO and he was as shocked as I was."

  "Mm…, hope his wife is broad-minded."

  "That's not all, Stanton broke Billet’s arm."

  "Only his arm? I’d call that luck."

  "He wants Stanton arrested for assault."

  "We have quite a few things on Graham, get him in and lay it on the line. If he doesn't comply we will have to act. At worst give Stanton information on Billet’s intentions and the problem should go away."

  "Stanton would never do away with anyone unless they were his own creed and operating out of line. Billet comes nowhere near that, in fact Stanton would probably protect him. He probably broke his arm because he was angry, if he intended to kill Billet we wouldn't even know."

  Stanwell looked down at his desk top. "Yes you're right of course." He looked back up at Porter. "Could you imagine trying to get the state police to arrest Stanton in Newcastle? They have hardly done a day’s honest work for over two years. There's not a crim in the country game enough to live there. Send Billet to China on some coal industry junket, keep him out of the way till he calms down. Keep the Jodi Simpson thing quiet, Billet’s a good man with a great family. When he calms down and comes to his senses I'm sure it will end up under the carpet. I'm sure you've thought about Jodi Simpson at times Ben, I'm sure I have. One dose of that and the habit could be very hard to kick. She wears those low cut dresses at press briefs and the mini skirts she wears - I don't know why she bothers. I bet she's blown more members of cabinet than any other reporter."

  "There was that Gail Johnson Bevan."

  "It wasn't my fault; I gave up drinking after that."

  "I think everyone's lucky she passed away."

  "She went bankrupt and shot herself Ben. She lived fast."

  "This is all a bit sad, lucky we learnt from things like that. I wouldn't forgive myself these days."

  "We all grow up at different speeds, I've been twenty five for oh…" Stanwell looked at his watch. "For about thirty three years now." Porter burst out laughing. "Get everyone off Stanton’s arse Ben, we need him to sort this out. Do all we can from our end as well. How about Princeton tail Stanton to make sure he's not harassed."

  "Stanton would consider Princeton his own creed and sanction him. He trusts no one. I always send Holmes to see him but Holmes is just not up to it. He sent Holmes back to us the other day to make it clear he wants to be left alone."

  "We can't let Stanton just run amok; he must be monitored."

  "I met Stanton once; he scared the living shit out of me. We don't have a shred of evidence that he ever harmed anyone or caused any trouble. There is not a shred of information on him anywhere. I felt like an idiot questioning him on delicate matters. He's cold as ice and his face remains emotionless."

  "I've heard the rumours and stories. If half of it’s true then it’s no wonder he is like he is."

  "Whenever he worked for us we never knew it happened, the problem just went away. He knows more about our systems than we do."

  "Well he did put them together Ben."

  "Yes and we can't find anything better for now."

  "Whoever amongst us has done this thing? Turning on Stanton's wife will be the biggest blunder they ever made. I don't think this is a bad thing. Jodi Simpson using her maiden name may have saved a lot of people, one of them me. Had this not happened we would be none the wiser. Let him go, cleaning up the mess will be easier than causing it. I'm here for the Australian public and what is in their best interest. I’m gutted that there’s someone in our midst that would do what has been done. Stanton and his skills are currently in the interest of the Australian public. Only when someone brings me evidence to the contrary and plenty of it would I consider questioning his motives and act
ions."