Nothing left to lose

by Stuart Allison

  ‘I thought we were friends Mr West, why try to run away from me?’

  ‘It could be something to do with my aching ribs since your last visit.’

  ‘Oh come now, that was a love tap compared to Karl here, if you upset him. And struggling like that will upset him, despite its futility.’

  ‘What do you want? I got your message from the last visit.’

  ‘Ah well, that was a warning, now it seems that my friend himself wants to see you personally. You are very privileged.’

  ‘I’m ecstatic. Who is your friend?’

  ‘He’s a very important man. You’ll know him when you see him.’

  ‘Tell Sinclair that if he wants to see me, he can come here, not send his Storm 45 thugs to fetch me.’

  ‘So you do know more than you should.’

  ‘I would have thought it was clear from the papers you stole from me, so don’t play games.’

  ‘I’m not playing games; I have not seen the contents of the folder that you so kindly lent to us. Only my superior is privy to their contents. That is why he would like to speak to you.’

  ‘I’ll say it again, if Sinclair wants to speak to me, he can phone me and make an appointment.’

  ‘Very amusing, but I’m sorry, it doesn’t work like that Ian. I may call you Ian?’

  ‘Do I have a choice?’

  ‘Not really, nor do you have a choice about accompanying us. Either you get into the car, or Karl here will pick you up and put you in the boot. The choice is yours.’

  I gave up and allowed myself to be escorted to the rear seat of the BMW, crammed in besides the monolithic Karl.

  Chapter 33

  The car sped off down the road. I watched the familiar surroundings flash by outside the tinted windows. I tried hard not to show the fear that was gnawing away inside me. I had been severely shaken by my encounter with the suave, nameless thug seated in front of me. I was a teacher, totally unused to this sort of thing and the unknown element was as frightening as the physical threat. The car pulled up at traffic lights in the busy town centre.

  ‘This is my chance.’ I thought. If I could get out of the car, they surely couldn’t kidnap me in front of so many witnesses. My hand moved surreptitiously to the handle set into the door. I yanked it back and threw my weight at the door. Nothing happened, except for the pain that shot from my injured ribs. The door remained shut and the car pulled away as the lights changed.

  ‘Please, save yourself the trouble, the child lock is on that door, it can only be opened from the outside. I really would prefer it if you would stop treating me as if I was a mindless thug Ian. I would wager that my degree is as good, if not better than your own and probably from a better university.’

  ‘If that’s the case, what are you doing caught up in this?’

  ‘That’s a long story. I studied politics at university, rather like your daughter.’

  ‘Leave her out of this!’

  ‘As you wish. Anyway suffice it to say that my involvement relates to a passionate philosophical commitment to a certain political credo. I want to see my country regain its past greatness. I like to see myself as a patriot.’

  ‘Samuel Johnson was right then.’

  ‘Don’t be offensive Ian. Patriotism is not the last refuge of the scoundrel; it is an essential duty and noble belief.’ He turned in his seat and I could see the fanaticism in his blue eyes.

  ‘If that’s the way you seek to justify your actions, far be it for me to challenge your beliefs; especially when I’m sitting next to this Neanderthal of yours.’

  ‘Now, now Ian, you wouldn’t want to hurt Karl’s feelings, he might get upset. That is if he had any idea what the term meant. Thought is not Karl’s strong point.’

  ‘I’d never have guessed.’ I sneered sarcastically.

  ‘I admire your guts Ian. Not many people in your predicament would have the balls to answer me back like you are doing. I respect that.’

  ‘You mistake apathy for courage. The only things I value are beyond your reach, I have nothing else to lose.’

  ‘Oh you do Ian, you have your life.’

  ‘I said of value. If you had done your homework thoroughly, you would know that my life was destroyed when my wife left me. There’s nothing frightening about you threatening to kill me, when I’ve seriously thought about doing it myself. I don’t want to face the life that stretches out in front of me, so go on, do me a favour. In fact if you’re clever enough, everyone will believe that I killed myself.’

  ‘Come, come Ian, surely there are things that you value.’

  ‘Yes there are, Lucy, Rob and Lisa, but they all have their own lives and they’re all beyond your reach, so you have no hold over me.’

  ‘Interesting we must resume this conversation at some future point.’ He turned back in his seat, leaving me to contemplate what was in store for me in the immediate future. What I had said, I thought was bravado, but the more I thought about it, the more convinced I became. I had nothing worth living for, but the protection of those I loved, and it was something worth dying for, if that was what was necessary.

  The journey took half an hour. From the dual carriage way, we took an A road for a time, then turned off along a narrow country lane. Finally the car turned left onto a track that ran through a small wood towards a cluster of isolated farm buildings. I estimated that we must have been in the vicinity of the Suffolk/Norfolk border. The BMW bounced along the track, lurching into potholes and more than once I was bounced into the immoveable bulk of Karl, with an ensuing stab of pain from my injured ribs.

  I looked at the farmhouse itself as we pulled into the farmyard. It was a well maintained, red brick two storey structure, topped by a brown tiled roof that was streaked with moss. Around the farmyard stood low buildings of the same red brick construction, closing the remaining three sides of the farmyard.

  ‘We’re here.’ Announced my captor unnecessarily as the car slowed to a stop. He opened my door. ‘You can get out, but don’t do anything silly like trying to escape. Firstly, that would be a waste of time and secondly, it might tend to make Karl testy. We wouldn’t want that would we?’

  I held up my hands in submission. To tell the truth, curiosity was becoming as strong an emotion as fear. I really wanted to hear what Sinclair wanted, for I was sure it was Sinclair that I had been brought to see. I did not think that they simply wanted to kill me. It would not have been necessary for them to take the risk of bringing me all the way out here, when I could have just as easily been killed in my own home. I was ushered in through the door of the farmhouse.

  ‘This place belongs to a supporter. He has lent it to us for a few days for a “retreat”. It’s quite isolated; I doubt there’s another human being within three miles. So your meeting will not be disturbed. I’m sure you will find that most reassuring.’

  I did not, but refrained from saying so. He turned in the doorway.

  ‘Wait here please Karl.’ He said to the behemoth, who waited passively, arms folded, blocking my only exit from the building. ‘Do step this way Ian, your host is waiting for you. He opened the door into a comfortable living room. Seated in an armchair was the figure I had expected to see, Richard Sinclair.

  ‘Thank you Nick, if you wouldn’t mind waiting outside so that I can talk to Mr West privately.’ The well- dressed thug nodded in acknowledgement and closed the door behind him.

  ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ I blustered. ‘I thought you were supposed to be a respectable politician, not some sort of gangster who arranges kidnapping and beatings.’

  Sinclair looked up at me and sighed.

  ‘Can we cut the crap West? Sit down. I’ve read your notes and it’s clear you have a good idea about my origins and I understand from Nick that you have some insight into what we are trying to achieve and how we are doing it.’

  ‘If you mean that the way even your Nazi war criminal father was concerned that your ideas and beliefs were too extreme even for hi
m, then yes. You are trying to perpetuate the biggest con in British political history, seizing the balance of power by carefully understated racism; appearing to be oh so respectable, whilst you use those Storm 45 thugs to help you achieve your ends!’

  ‘You have been busy. Look West, I’m first and foremost a businessman. What will it take for you to hand over the journal and just go away? One hundred thousand? A quarter of a million?’

  ‘Do you seriously think I’m that stupid? You’re not going to simply let me walk away with your money, in exchange for the journal.’

  ‘Why not? Once I have the journal, you cannot harm me. You could no longer prove anything, and no paper would print the story for fear of legal action. I have a reputation for being somewhat litigious. It’s a useful way to make sure that editors are…sensitive to my feelings?’

  ‘And what if I tell you to stuff your money?’

  ‘That would be a real mistake.’

  ‘I’ve already explained to your lackey. I’m not scared of you, I don’t care if I die, I’ve been toying with the idea of suicide, and it would just make up my mind for me.’

  Unfortunate things might happen to those you hold dear. It would just go to show what I have been saying in my speeches about the failure of the government to maintain law and order.’

  ‘Again, I told your minion that all the people I hold dear are beyond your reach. My son and daughter are abroad in parts unknown, as is Miss Mann.’

  ‘And your wife?’

  Jane, I had not thought about Jane. I had successfully moved everyone else beyond Sinclair’s reach, but due to our split, I had not thought about Jane. If he really threatened Jane, then I would collapse like a house of cards. Despite everything I still loved Jane. She might not want me, but I had to protect her. The only thing I could do was bluff.

  ‘Go ahead. The bitch left me and has run off with another man. She’s destroyed my life and is about to take my home. You’d be doing me a favour.’

  ‘Really? Perhaps if we arranged an accident for your wife, you might...’

  ‘Forget it! I wouldn’t go out of my way to harm her, but I don’t care enough that your threats to her will make me cave into you.’

  ‘Perhaps not, but there is still your daughter Lucy and Miss Mann. They have to return to Britain some time; I doubt they’ll remain in hiding forever. Your allegations might damage my political prospects, but I assure you, I will avenge myself. You really would not want to know what would happen to the young ladies, if I had them picked up and handed over to Nick’s Storm 45 lads. Some of them I believe could be categorised as sadists. They’re such attractive young women; it would be a real pity. The choice is yours.’

  ‘I don’t have the journal; I only had access to it.’

  ‘You surely don’t expect me to believe that? That bloody journal. I cannot believe that the old man could be so weak. He had blood in his veins once, but it turned to water as he got older. That old fool Father Donovan didn’t help, feeding him all that bullshit about confession and saving his immortal soul. When my father told me about his past, I was proud of him. He was a warrior, who had done what was necessary to defend the things he believed in. Who cares if a few anarchists or Czechs were killed? Who cares if some of the property of a few dead Yids in Auschwitz came into his possession?’

  ‘One and a half million is rather more than a few.’

  ‘I thought you were supposed to be a historian West. Yet you’ve fallen for that Zionist claptrap about a holocaust. The holocaust didn’t happen. Yes a few Jews died in camps, they were not used to real work, but the holocaust was the invention of the Nazis enemies to blacken their name. The idea has been perpetuated by Jews to morally blackmail the world ever since.’

  I looked at him with contempt. This was a long way from the moderate, reasonable Sinclair. This was the man his father had feared.

  ‘I should have known that holocaust denial would be part of your credo, a part of history to be rewritten. What’s the matter; is real history so inconvenient for you that you have to espouse that bullshit? Strange that you never mentioned it in your speeches or interviews.’

  ‘I’m not going to debate my political beliefs with you West. I want that journal. Where is it?’ I just looked at him. ‘Nick!’

  ‘Yes sir?’

  ‘I want you to uncover where Mr West has secreted his daughter and Miss Mann. When you do, you will tell me where they are and unless Mr West co-operates, your boys can have them to play with. Go away and find them.’

  ‘Yes sir, I don’t suppose it will take long. We should have some leads by morning.’

  ‘Right, lock Mr West upstairs, he can spend the night contemplating the fate of his womenfolk if he does not give me the journal.’

  I was hustled out of the room and half pushed, half marched up the stairs.

  ‘Oh dear Ian, it looks like you’ve succeeded in upsetting the boss, I cannot tell you what a bad idea that is.’

  I was forcefully shoved into an unfurnished bedroom and I sprawled on the floor. The door was locked behind me and in the fading light I could see that the window was too small to facilitate an escape. I was trapped.

  Chapter 34

  I barely slept that night. Sometime around midnight I heard the BMW pull away down the rutted track. Doubtless Sinclair was off to more comfortable lodgings. The pain of my ribs combined with the discomfort of the floor and my fear and apprehension to ensure that the night was long and sleepless. I paced the room trying the door handle; I opened the window and tried unsuccessfully to squeeze through. It was no good, there was no escape. I sat on the floor trying to think of a way out of my predicament. How could I protect Lucy and Lisa from the vile threats of Nick and Sinclair? I was not worried for myself, but I was scared for those in my life who meant so much to me. My mind went round in circles, if I gave Sinclair the journal, what were the chances that he would keep his end of the bargain? Was there any way I could fashion deal that would keep Lucy and Lisa safe? Why had I got involved in all this? Had Sinclair bought my bluff about Jane? Only this last question seemed to have an answer. He had ordered Nick to trace the girls, he had made no mention of Jane, she would be free to pursue her new life without me.

  As dawn broke, I gave up trying to sleep and sat on the floor with my head in my hands, only then did I drift off into a light doze for an hour or so. The sound of the door unlocking roused me. I looked up to see the golem-like Karl standing there.

  ‘Downstairs!’ he in said a curiously high pitched, almost strangled voice.

  ‘Good morning Karl, talkative as ever, I see.’ He scowled at me and I decided that provoking him was probably not a wise course of action.

  He escorted me down and thrust me into the living room. Once again, Sinclair was sitting in the same arm chair, only this time he was flanked by Nick, who stood close to the open window.

  ‘Sit down West. I trust you have had ample time to reconsider your situation. Nick here has just been reporting on his efforts to trace Miss Mann and your daughter. I thought you might like to hear what he has to say. Go ahead Nick.’

  ‘We have not traced their exact locations just yet; it’s just a matter of time. Miss West left Manchester airport at 7.30 last night bound for Malaga, there are a lot of hotels in the area, but we have men following up leads as we speak. Miss Mann was a far easier matter; she flew out of Stansted at 11.15 yesterday morning on a flight to Prague. I have discovered that her boyfriend is currently working there, so it’s a reasonable assumption they are together. I expect to uncover her exact whereabouts by midday.’

  I said nothing, trying hard to keep the terror from showing on my face. I thought I had been so clever in moving them out of Sinclair’s reach, but I had seriously underestimated the length of that reach. I could not believe that he had tracked them down so quickly. My options were becoming more limited by the minute. Sinclair was looking at me with a smug expression.

  ‘Well Mr West, nothing to say?’

  ‘A
lright, you win; I’ve not got any choice. I’ll take you to the journal, but I want guarantees about Lisa and Lucy’s safety.’

  ‘What? You don’t trust me?’

  ‘What choice do I have? You hold all the cards. I’ll just have to accept that your word.’

  ‘Excellent! I told you yesterday, I have no need to harm anyone once I have the journal and the rest of your research. Once the journal is in my hands, you will be able to prove nothing. If you try to tell anyone, you’ll be dismissed as a left-wing crank. So first of all, the journal, where is it?’

  ‘I’d have to show you. It’s in the safe keeping of a third party. I can’t see him tamely handing it over to you. I’ll need to be there to persuade him.’

  ‘And where is this person?’

  ‘The Thames valley, I’m not prepared to be more precise than that.’

  ‘So close to home, unbelievable! You can drive me there this morning.’

  ‘Do you seriously expect me to chauffeur you around, whilst you are threatening the people I love? Dream on.’

  ‘I do not propose to take Nick, Karl or anyone else. The fewer people, even my people, who know the contents of that journal the better. So it will be just you and me Mr West. Since I cannot keep an eye on you and drive, my choice is simple. Either you drive, or you travel locked in the boot and I drive. What will it be?’