by Jack Probyn
‘Candice,’ Pemberton began just as relaxed as the firearms officer. ‘This is DCI Nicki Pemberton from Surrey Police. We’re going to need you to stay exactly where you are until we tell you otherwise. I need you to remain calm. We’re here to help you.’
‘Please!’ came the hysterical response on the radio. ‘They said it was like a b-bomb. They said it was going to k-kill me. But I don’t know when it’s going to g-go off.’
‘We’re here to help. Everything is going to be OK,’ Pemberton said.
‘No, it’s not. I’m g-going to d-die if we don’t st-stop it.’
A moment of silence fell on the vast driveway. Jake grabbed a pair of binoculars from Pemberton’s car, tiptoed forward to the edge of the driveaway and squinted to inspect the device strangling Candice. A thick piece of circular metal was wrapped around her neck, like a giant handcuff. Attached on the bottom was a small metallic box, resting atop her collar bone. At the bottom of the metal box, on the underside, was what looked like a countdown timer and four holes.
‘Mother of God, what is it?’ he whispered to himself, afraid that he already knew the answer.
Candice replied, almost as though she’d heard him, ‘It’s a spike bomb. Th-th-they stuck it to my neck,’ she stuttered. Her hands shook as she grabbed the bomb and attempted to yank it free.
‘What does it do, Candice?’ Pemberton asked as she joined Jake’s side by the front gates.
‘They said there’s sp-spikes inside it. When it g-goes off, the sp-spikes are going to k-kill me.’
‘Who put it there, Candice?’
‘Th-They abducted me and sh-shoved me in the back of the van. And this other guy. They brought us into my house and… and… they stuck it round my n-neck. They said it would go off in a couple of hours. Please, you have to help me! I don’t want to die.’
‘Are you on your own here, Candice? Where’s the other person who was abducted with you?’ Pemberton asked, her voice clear, distinct.
‘Gone. Ran away. As soon as they d-disappeared, he left me here to die.’
‘OK, Candice, I’m going to need you to remain calm. Do you know who did this to you?’
‘The Crimsons!’
At the mention of The Crimsons’ name, Jake sensed a change in Bridger out the corner of his eye. The man took a slight step further away and reached into his pocket for his phone. A small wave of elation rolled over Jake – he had been right about his allegations – but it was soon dismissed as the severity of the situation slapped him back to reality. The Crimsons had upgraded their methods. Never in any of their previous heists had they abducted someone – let alone two people. And never had they used anything as devious and evil as a spike collar bomb.
‘Are you sure it’s them, Candice?’ Pemberton asked.
‘Yes. They told me it was. They said people were going to r-r-remember their name forever.’
‘What else did they say?’
‘They said it was booby-trapped. Consequences. Shouldn’t be tampered with.’
Pemberton nodded and moved closer to Candice. She moved gracefully across the stones, looking as though she hovered above them a few inches. When she came to a stop halfway between the gates and the ring of armed officers, she continued.
‘Did they say how to defuse it, Candice? Did they give you any instructions?’
Candice nodded, the whites of her eyes shimmering in the sun overhead. As she moved, the device bounced up and down on her chest.
‘They left a note with some instructions on it. It’s in the house. I can g-g-get it.’
Candice started to climb to her feet, but as soon as she moved, the armed officers raised their weapons.
‘No!’ Pemberton shouted. ‘Stay where you are. Do not move. We’re setting up a perimeter, and we need you to remain perfectly still. Just wait until I give you some instructions on what to do next.’
Pemberton twisted and spoke directly to Bridger. ‘Get uniform to look for Roger Heathcote,’ she called. ‘He’s got to be out there somewhere, and he might be able to help us track The Crimsons. Give them the witness report Mr Heathcote’s wife gave us. And call in forensics and the bomb squad. I want them to confirm this thing around her neck is live and detachable.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’ Bridger nodded and walked to Pemberton’s car, just out of earshot. He dialled a number and spoke into the phone rapidly.
Then Pemberton turned her focus to the nearest armed officer. ‘I want you and your team to search the outskirts of the property. Make sure nobody’s hiding in the bushes in the garden.’
At once, the armed officer adjusted his helmet, whistled to the other officers, waved his fingers in the air and headed down the right-hand side of the building into the garden. In the distance, Jake thought he saw the metal handrail of a swimming pool strutting out of the ground.
‘You ever seen anything like this before, Jake?’ Pemberton asked, distracting him.
Jake shook his head. ‘Never. You?’
‘That makes two of us. You still think it’s your guys behind this?’
‘Honestly… I don’t know what to think. They’ve never done anything this… merciless. But regardless of who it is, we need to find those instructions.’
‘We can’t enter the property until bomb squad have had a look at the device and confirmed it’s safe,’ Pemberton said.
‘How long could that take?’
Pemberton twisted her neck backward and watched Bridger, who was pacing from side to side at the end of the driveway. He held his phone to his ear and appeared to bark orders into the handset. ‘What’s taking him so long?’
A few seconds later, Pemberton had her answer.
‘Ma’am,’ Bridger said, returning. ‘Forensics are on their way. ETA fifteen minutes. Bomb squad are going to take even longer.’
‘Why?’
‘They’re having to come from Reigate. And there’s backed-up traffic on the M25. RTC involving a lorry and a busload of children.’
‘My goodness. Is there no one closer?’
‘Sorry, ma’am,’ Bridger said, pursing his lips and shaking his head.
Pemberton sighed as she returned her focus to Candice. The woman was distressed, her eyes beading, and her hands still clung to the collar bomb. Jake had never seen one before, and he hoped he never would for the rest of his career. They were evil, malignant devices, dooming the person captive to certain death.
‘What do we do now?’ Jake asked.
Pemberton hesitated a beat before answering. ‘Candice,’ she said into the radio, ‘a team of explosive experts are on their way down to help you.’
‘You don’t understand. There’s a timer on it, and we still need to find the keys.’
‘Keys?’ Jake and Pemberton repeated simultaneously. ‘What keys?’
‘To unlock it. There are keys. F-Four of them.’
‘Where?’ Jake asked. He swallowed deeply.
‘Everywhere. There’s one in the house, but I… I can’t find it… and then – then the rest are around Surrey. Please, we have to find the keys before this thing goes off.’
———————————————
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Also in The CID Case Series
The Conspiracy (June 2020)
Organised crime group, The Crimsons, commit their final jewellery heist before they try to escape the country. One man stands in their way. But with a bent copper working against him, can Jake Tanner stop them in time? Or will it be too late?
The Community (July 2020)
When bodies start turning up under similar circumstances, Jake and the rest of the Major Investigation Team suspect they’ve got a serial killer on their hands. But when enemies from Jake’s past come back to haunt him, he’s distracted. How many more bodies will appear before Jake realises his priorities?
The Confession (September 2020)
The body of an old enemy is found buried beneath a tonne of concrete in the middle of the Olympic Stadium construction site in London. Who did it and how did they get there? Jake Tanner makes it his mission to find out. But what he uncovers will change his life — and career — forever. In The Confession, the stakes have never been higher.
The Cadre (October 2020)
Henry Matheson runs east London. Especially when it comes to drugs. Untouchable, formidable, he thinks he can get away with everything — even burning a man alive on a lamppost. But, then again, he’s never met Jake Tanner. Until now.
The Company (December 2020)
When Jake is the victim of a fraudulent attack that leaves him with nothing, he makes it his mission to find the people responsible. What he discovers is something more harrowing than he could have ever imagined: a company that runs on the local currency of human bodies and flesh.
The Cabal (Feb 2021)
Famous criminal lawyer, Rupert Haversham, and his family, are killed in their stately London home. But something isn’t right. Jake thought he’d put The Cabal saga behind him… Are his worst fears about to come true?
ABOUT JACK PROBYN
Jack Probyn hasn’t experienced the world. He’s never even owned a pet. But he’d like to; there’s still time. His twenty-two years on the planet have been spent in the United Kingdom, with a few excursions overseas — a particular favourite of his was Amsterdam. Or Norway. Both of which were lovely.
But what Jack lacks in life-experience, he more than makes up for in creative ingenuity. His Jake Tanner series is the birth child of a sinister and twisted mind, and a propensity to assume the worst will happen in even the most mediocre situation.
Finding himself pigeon-holed as a millennial, Jack decided to stick with the stereotype and do things his own way. After all, he felt entitled and he wanted to destroy industries.
Enter: writing.
The love of writing was rekindled in Jack’s life when he (briefly) entered the corporate world, and the passion snowballed from there. No more will the millennial writer find himself working 9-5, indulging in the complexities of business life, or wearing a M&S suit.
He will take the world by storm with his pen(keyboard) and his ability to entertain and enthral readers.
Why not join him (and his future dog)?
Keep up to date with Jack at the following:
- Website: https://www.jackprobynbooks.com
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