A Servant of the Company

by Alan Cooke

  People were being evacuated from the hotel by staff as Ben said his farewell to Lily. His kissing noises into the mouthpiece went unheard. Lily had put the phone down.

  The sound of the fire engines excited him and his pace quickened when he saw they were outside the hotel, his moon face wreathed in smiles at the thought of being up close to all the action. He didn’t notice the dark haired girl appear from the side street as he walked into the building.

  Before he had taken three steps into the reception area, an employee stepped in front of Ben and directed him to the street explaining that there was an emergency and the building had to be evacuated. He attempted to continue with advice but Ben stopped him with a shoulder charge which left the man on the floor moaning in agony.

  A number of staff shouted at him but he was already at the lift entrance. Pressing for the fourth floor, the doors closed leaving behind the shouts of his pursuers.

  There was no-one about when he stepped out of the lift. He hadn’t liked the man trying to stop him, he was here on a job. Bill would sort them out, he would know what to do and the man would apologise to him. Talking to Lily, and then seeing the fire engines had given him great pleasure and that had been destroyed by the hotel staff. The sulks had returned and he plodded in his ungainly way back to Room 403.

  Taking out the security card to unlock the door he noticed that it was not properly closed. Pushing it open he saw Bill lying still on the bed. ‘The bloody door was open and I locked it when I went out. I checked.’ There was no response. Ben looked around the room and then into the bathroom. ‘Where’s the girl? I thought we were going to...’ He froze, the hypodermic syringe sticking in his brother’s thigh had his attention. It was a bad sign and Ben had difficulty coping with things which were out of the ordinary. This was extraordinary.

  Bill’s skin colour had changed to an off white colour and his face had an expression as though he had seen a ghost. Although his eyes were closed, his eye brows were unnaturally arched while his mouth was wide open but twisted. ‘Wake up, please Bill wake up for God’s sake.’ Ben walked around the bed from one side to the other continuously pleading with his brother to answer him. But no reply would ever leave Bill’s lips. Getting hold of the syringe, he was about to pull it from his brother’s thigh, when he heard loud voices coming from the corridor.

  The banging on the door and raised voices drew Ben’s attention away from his brother’s body and the syringe. As he turned, the figures of a fireman and the man who had tried to stop him on the ground floor entered the room.

  ‘The hotel is being evacuated, didn’t you hear the fire alarm? You’re putting our lives at risk as well as your own. Out now please.’ The men stood in the doorway expecting to escort the occupants to the fire exit when Ben made his first move. His leap at the porter was accompanied by a terrifying scream as the realisation of his brother’s death registered in his brain.

  Before this, his bulk had shielded Bill’s body from view. Now the sight of a naked body with a syringe protruding from its thigh shocked the rescuers as much as the collision with Ben which sent all three hurtling to the floor. The fireman stayed down, winded by the onslaught while the porter recovered and was on his feet ready to face his attacker.

  ‘Calm down now, calm down. It looks like we need an ambulance for your friend. He doesn’t look good at all.’ This was not a good situation, he was sure the man on the bed was dead and this one was a very dangerous individual. Seeing the large torch which the fireman had dropped, he bent down to pick it up. He knew another attack was coming and without a weapon he would stand no chance against the bigger man who seemed out of control.

  As his hand touched the torch he felt himself being picked up and carried across the room. The sound of a war cry filled the room as he was thrown against the large bedroom window which surrendered to the force against it. Another scream took over with the realisation that when he hit the ground his life would be over.

  Ben stood over his brother’s body and the tears started to flow down his cheeks. Now he was on his own and had no idea what to do. Bill would have known, he always made the decisions and life went smoothly. He wanted to talk to Bill but these people had stopped him. The figure on the floor started groaning and Ben walked over to it and kicked it hard in the ribs. The noise stopped, when he moved to kick again he stopped suddenly. ‘Lily, Lily why didn’t I think of Lily?’ Ben dashed out of the room, along the corridor and into the lift. On the ground floor he was met by more angry people shouting at him for using the lift. He heard not a word. The only thing on his mind was getting to the phone box and hearing Lily’s voice again. She would tell him what to do.

  The phone was answered immediately, Lily’s voice the epitome of Massage Parlour finesse. ‘Lily, it’s me Ben. Bill’s dead,’ he blurted out. ‘Just lying on the bed with that thing sticking out of his leg. Those men came in and bothered me and I wanted to talk to Bill.’ He was getting more confused and as he tried to remember what had happened, Lily cut in.

  ‘Calm down Ben, how do you know Bill’s dead. Who killed him?’ She had to say something but wanted to get off the phone and with luck never see Ben again. It was not her place to get mixed up with this. It was a pity that Bill’s hand would no longer be pushing bank notes into her bra, but that’s life she thought. No more money, no more need to bother with Ben who was becoming something of a pain anyway.

  ‘I don’t know what’s happening. What shall I do Lily?’ The tears were again pouring down his cheeks as he hopped from one leg to the other. ‘I don’t know what to do.’

  ‘Look Ben, the only thing you can do is call the Police. They will sort it out. They will find out who’s responsible. Just do that there’s a good boy and everything will be alright. Look I must go now, there’s work to do, so do as I’ve told you and you will be fine.’ She had to get off the phone or he would talk forever and she wanted to close the book now that the money had dried up. ‘Must go now Ben, sorry about your brother. Goodbye.’

  He was in shock, Lily had not waved the magic wand he thought she would. The phone was still in his hand when the Police arrived. Handcuffs were put on his wrists without a struggle. Ben had entered into a world where no-one would find him. The voices were just noises and meant nothing to him. The tears had stopped and his face had acquired a foolish grin as he was gently ushered into the back of the Police car. The nearness of the warm body next to him was a comfort and he heard nothing of the conversation happening around him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

  The call to the ex-Army Warrant Officer brought a smile to his face. ‘Well done, there will be five thousand in your account as promised. Give me a call when you get to the shopping precinct and I’ll give you final instructions.’ He had been busy, it had taken a few calls to get the situation under control and now he was satisfied. Looking at his watch he congratulated himself on his organisational skills, Carol Barcroft should be now well and truly screwed, filled with heroin and ready to be picked up by the undertaker. Very satisfying.

  He had ignored Steven Henderson’s call, estimating that he had now arrived back in Manchester after a fruitless trip to Glasgow. He would need to speak to him but only when all arrangements were in place. Now was that time. The phone was in his hand and he pressed the buttons to make the connection. Henderson would be confused, and it was too early for him to have learned of Carol Barcroft’s demise so this was just the right moment to play his winning last card.

  ‘Now for some very fine acting.’ His call was answered immediately. ‘Hello Henderson,’ his voice had a note of panic about it. ‘I don’t know what’s happening but I think we’re in deep shit. Someone up the ladder has it in for us and I’m worried, really worried. Has anyone tried to contact you or have you seen anyone acting suspiciously?’ If he could create an aura of fear he hoped his message would once again make Henderson malleable.

  Steve was confused. Was this part of the plot against him or was his boss calling to warn him of tro
uble on the horizon. He could only take the call on face value for the moment.

  ‘There was no-one at Queen Street, I waited inside and checked outside several times but no-one showed up. They can’t blame us for that. You carried out your instructions and I did mine. Who do you think is after us and why?’ Steve looked at the girls, putting his finger to his lips indicating that they should stay quiet. A second warning was not needed.

  ‘I told you how secretive the Company was didn’t I? There must be some infighting further up the chain of command and they are looking for a scapegoat. Look we’ve got to meet for our own preservation. To tell you the truth, I’m frightened. That’s something I have never said before in my life. I think you too should take extra care wherever you go until we meet.’

  Pausing before answering, Steve spoke in a subdued voice. ‘You talk about us meeting but do you realise that we have been colleagues for weeks now and I don’t even know your name. I’d feel much better if I did.’ Would he give it, and what difference would it make if he did?

  ‘Those were my instructions, I always played by the book that’s why I can’t understand what’s going on. Now it doesn’t matter, we are both on the outside. The names Charles Crichton, just call me Charles and I’ll call you Steven. Is that alright by you?’

  ‘O.K. by me Charles, now when can we meet?’ Steve nodded to the girls. He was getting somewhere. Charles certainly sounded scared and he would have information, maybe not much but certainly more than he had.

  He’d done it, Henderson was about to present himself on a plate. Justice would be done. ‘Steven do you know the Trafford Shopping centre, it’s huge and a great place for us to meet in safety. Loads of people coming and going, we should be safe there. Is there anyone who could give you a lift there, a neighbour or one of the locals we could pay to do it?’ He checked his nails, reminding himself that a cut was overdue.

  ‘I’m sure I can rustle up a lift, the locals are quite friendly. It would be near to eight o’clock before I could get there, at the earliest.’ Raising an eyebrow at Sue, he acknowledged her thumbs up at the timing to get to the precinct.

  ‘Right Steven, I’m in a black B.M.W. estate, you can’t miss it. Once you’ve arranged a lift, ring me with the car description and registration number and I’ll watch out for you. Any problems let me know. I’ll wait to hear from you.’ He switched off the phone and settled to wait for the parcel in his bottom of the range hatchback hired from a dubious car dealer. The delivery would arrive well before eight o’clock. It had just turned seven when the phone rang, it was the call he wanted. His instructions were precise, the aisle and position on it where the driver was to park were received and understood. He was to approach the car from behind, the hatchback would be open and the package was to be placed in the boot. The operating system was to be relayed to the driver who would be sitting in the front seat. He would not turn round to be recognised, but would acknowledge the instructions once they were clear to him.

  For five thousand pounds, the ex-Army man had no problem in carrying out the orders to the letter. He parked as ordered and saw in front of him the car with the hatch open.

  ‘Evening,’ he grunted, the response was a raised hand. He would only speak if it was absolutely necessary. ‘There are two items, one is fitted with a strong magnet. Best place for maximum results is under the petrol tank. It won’t fall off believe me. Once there it will stay until you operate item two. There is a switch which is in the off position now, all you have to do is turn it to on, and when you think the time is right, press the red button. Make sure you are at least a hundred yards away or you might catch some debris. The maximum operating range is one hundred and fifty yards, anything beyond that and it won’t work. Any questions?’ He watched the driver’s back as a raised his hand and gave him the thumbs up sign. His job was complete, it had been a rush but he had not lowered his standards and the Company would have no cause for complaint. ‘Enjoy.’ His remark to the driver made him smile as he closed the hatch door, turned and returned to his van.

  As the van left the precinct area, he watched as it joined the stream of traffic heading for the motorway. ‘What an excellent fellow.’ He spoke quietly to himself as he retrieved the items from the boot. Examining them closely he placed them carefully under the passenger seat. In less than two hours time Henderson would no longer exist, this would be his second and final victory of the day. It was going to be a time for consolidating those enterprises which were working well and applying pressure to any which were sluggish. The supply from Mr. P could be kept on hold until a replacement for Henderson could be found, or maybe he would incorporate it with an existing unit. He would think it through later. Tonight was for pleasure, just to think of Henderson as small pieces of debris falling from the sky was enough to make him smile.

  Steve put the phone back onto the desk, ‘Well there’s a turn up. Now we have another name, Charles Crichton. He’s given up using Clive Andrews and sounds quite panicky. Things are going from bad to worse. He thinks we are both being targeted, but has no idea why. Now he wants to meet up to discuss things. You gathered the place and the time?’ He looked at each of them in turn inviting comment.

  ‘Do you think you can trust him Steve? Remember he arranged to meet Carol and look what happened there,’ Sue continued. ‘There isn’t a logical reason why things have suddenly gone so dreadfully wrong. I mean, what has anyone done to warrant a death sentence?’ She shook her head, nothing made sense. ‘All you can do is keep the appointment and see what turns up. At least that huge car park should be safe. Now we’ll have to think this out carefully.’ Checking her watch Sue tapped the glass. ‘Time will soon run out so let’s get our act together. I think we should take two cars, mine and yours Carol. If you take Steve, Anthea can come with me and we will follow at a discreet distance. How does that suit?’

  ‘Don’t forget we have to get to Sue’s to pick up the car, we’d better move. We can discuss it on the way.’

  As they were leaving, Steve picked up the mobile phone. He must let Charles know about the silver VW he would be in when he arrived at the precinct.

  Twenty minutes later two cars moved off from Sue’s house, with Carol leading. Before entering the precinct, Sue would hold back and allow a few cars to distance her from the V.W. They would aim to park reasonably close to their target. Charles would surely acknowledge Steve from his BMW. She would then park behind Carol’s VW where they would have a reasonable view of everything that was going on. They had driven along all of the aisles and had not come across one black BMW estate.

  ‘He can’t be here yet, we’ll just have to park and hope he finds us.’ Steve was feeling anxious as he scanned the car park for new arrivals. ‘If he’s not here by eight, I’ll give him a call that’s possibly the best solution.’ There wasn’t much else they could do Steve thought. Sit tight and wait.

  Sue had stayed well back from the VW, only moving forward once it had parked. As more cars were continually arriving, she got into a space two rows behind Carol and Steve. The view was partially blocked by a van but it was too late to move, there were no longer any more convenient spaces. They would have to be patient and with luck the van’s owner would appear and move it.

  His pulse was racing, the VW had arrived and he had recognised Henderson being driven by a young woman. When it stopped in a parking space he moved his car to a more advantageous position in a row behind and to the left of the VW. Once the owners of one of the cars either side of the VW returned they would hopefully be encumbered with a mound of shopping. That’s when he would act.

  Minutes later a family of four returned to their car pushing two laden trolleys. He picked up the magnetised portion of his equipment and waited until confusion reigned as the shopping was transferred into the car. The children were arguing, the parents were arguing and all manner of items were being hurled into the boot and onto the back seat.

  ‘Couldn’t be better,’ he whispered to himself. Moving forward, h
e stopped beside the family, bent down as if to tie his shoe lace and swiftly placed the package under the VWs petrol tank, the magnet holding it secure. Certain his movements went unnoticed he walked on towards the supermarket. The couple in the VW were deep in conversation and hadn’t noticed anything other than the noise from the family loading up their car.

  Picking a newspaper from a stand he joined the queue which was being held up by people buying Lottery tickets. There was no hurry, everything was set, all that was needed was another telephone call and the final act could be played out. He didn’t look at the paper, if he had, the headlines would have given him a shock. ‘Men dead in city hotel. Brother held.’

  Undoing her safety belt, Anthea looked cautiously at Sue, ‘I’ve got to go to the loo, I should have gone before we left but things happened too quickly for me to even think about it. If I dash into the supermarket there’s sure to be one there. If the worst happens and things start to move before I get back, just go off without me. I have my mobile and can keep in touch.

  It’s quiet so far Anthea, if you’re quick it should be O.K.’ Sue hoped that she sounded more confident than she felt. Things were getting a bit scary as far as she was concerned, who was this Charles character? His sudden panic didn’t hang together and maybe this was a trick to get at Steve. There again, would he have chosen such a public place to do something unpleasant. The more she thought, the more confused Carol became. ‘Do hurry up Anthea,’ she muttered to herself, immediately regretting her impatience when she saw her approaching the car. She soon settled back in her seat. ‘Has anything happened yet? I got a bit lost on the way back, the aisle number slipped my mind. Sorry I took so long.’ Looking at her, Sue was pleased she had returned. ‘All quiet on the Western Front.’ She smiled at Anthea, it won’t be long now before the wretched BMW arrives then it’s anyone’s guess what will happen. ‘I have hardly taken my eyes off the entrance and now I’m beginning to doubt what I have actually seen. Concentrating for five minute spells checking the entrance will help to relieve the stress factor.