Random Targets

by James Raven

  ‘What is it?’ she asked him. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’

  ‘Because you need to wise up, Megan. Everything has changed. I think maybe we should cut and run.’

  Her eyes widened. ‘Are you really serious?’

  ‘Deadly.’

  ‘But what about the money? You killed thirty people so that you could get your hands on it.’

  ‘Don’t you think I know that? But we won’t be able to spend a penny of it if we’re banged up in prison for the rest of our lives.’

  He didn’t have a back-up plan because he didn’t think he’d need it. He assumed the police would simply accept the evidence in front of their own eyes and that would be it. With hindsight it had been a big mistake.

  ‘Do you really think they’re on to us?’ Megan said.

  He looked at her. Her face was as white as a sheet and he could see that it had finally dawned on her that they wouldn’t be sailing off into the sunset with over two million quid in the bank.

  ‘We have no choice but to assume they are,’ he said.

  He went to the fridge and took out a beer. His hands were shaking and he could feel the adrenaline gushing through his veins.

  He sipped at the beer as he walked over to the window. He peered out, hoping and expecting to see that the view hadn’t changed.

  But it had.

  Several police vehicles were blocking the road out front and men in dark uniforms were piling out of them.

  CHAPTER 58

  TEMPLE RECOGNIZED THE five-storey block of flats in Portsmouth as soon as he pulled up outside it in his car. He’d driven past it only a few days ago on his way to meet Ryan Addison in a local café.

  Addison was wearing the same clothes then that he had on when he was caught on the police video emerging from the house next door to Megan’s.

  Temple had been shocked to see him. After all, the former squaddie was the very person who had first raised concerns with the military police about Renner’s state of mind. And he’d also told Temple that Renner’s landlady was pregnant.

  There was only one conclusion Temple could draw from this: Addison had wanted to stitch Renner up and he had gone to elaborate lengths to do so. Temple was now convinced that Addison was the sniper and had wanted to pin the blame on his army pal. Addison must have shot Renner and got blood on his clothes in the process and then left a trail of it on the carpet as he scrambled up into the loft.

  But a couple of things still mystified Temple: motive for one. Why on earth would Addison kill so many people in cold blood? He hadn’t come across as a dangerous psychopath; quite the opposite in fact, but then who could ever tell what goes through the mind of any battle-scarred soldier?

  And then there was Megan Trent. Was there a link between her and Addison? Surely there had to be. It would explain why she seemed to be holding something back.

  Addison’s flat was on the second floor facing the front. Seconds after watching the video on DC Marsh’s PC, Temple had contacted Portsmouth police and asked them to put it under surveillance.

  A few minutes later they confirmed that there was a light on in the flat and that someone had been seen looking out of a window.

  So the armed response team had been warned to expect resistance as they stormed the building.

  Temple followed them inside and up the stairs. It was a grim place, with muck on the floor and graffiti on every wall. But he hadn’t expected it to be any different. This was cheap accommodation in an insalubrious part of town.

  The raid was carried out with slick efficiency. Armed officers rushed up the stairs and moved silently along the landing before breaking down the door to flat number seven.

  They rushed in, yelling at the tops of their voices, their guns at the ready.

  But much to everyone’s surprise and disappointment the tiny flat was empty. There were only a couple of rooms so it took mere seconds to search it. Portsmouth police had been watching the building from the front and rear. They were confident that no one had left it since the person was spotted at the window.

  ‘We need to check upstairs,’ Temple said.

  Two of the team were way ahead of him and were already bolting up the stairs. There were three more flights and Temple was out of breath by the time he reached the top landing.

  ‘All clear,’ one of the officers shouted.

  But a second later the same officer drew Temple’s attention to a door just to the right of the lift. The wood next to the handle was splintered and it looked as though it had been forced open.

  ‘It must lead to the roof,’ the officer said.

  Temple fell in behind the officers and mounted the concrete stairs two at a time. They had to pass through another unlocked door to gain access to the flat roof. It was dark up there and Temple felt the crisp air enter his lungs.

  All three of them stood for a moment getting their bearings. Traffic howled below them. Above them stars filled the sky. About ten yards away stood a small brick structure that probably housed the power supply to the building. It was the only object that provided any cover.

  ‘We’re police,’ one of the officers shouted into the night. ‘We’re armed and we strongly advise you to show yourself.’

  There was an immediate response and it was totally unexpected. Two figures appeared suddenly from behind the structure. Temple recognized both of them.

  Ryan Addison and Megan Trent.

  Addison was holding Megan in front of him with one hand around her neck. The other held a large kitchen knife and it was pointed at her throat.

  CHAPTER 59

  ‘IF YOU COME any closer, I’ll kill her,’ Addison said in a cold, calm voice.

  Temple moved forward cautiously and raised his arms.

  ‘Take it easy, Ryan,’ he said. ‘The building is surrounded and you’re going nowhere. Just let her go.’

  ‘Fuck you, Temple. I mean what I said.’

  ‘I’m sure you do,’ Temple said. ‘You’ve already murdered thirty innocent people so I don’t suppose you’ll hesitate to kill one more.’

  Megan let out a moan as Addison applied pressure on her throat. Her eyes were bulging from their sockets and tears were streaking down her cheeks.

  ‘So let’s talk about it,’ Temple said. ‘Tell me why you did it. Get it off your chest. I’m curious to know.’

  Addison grinned. ‘I’d have thought that was bloody obvious,’ he said. ‘We did it for the money. The reward. Why else?’

  Temple shook his head despairingly and his hands balled into fists.

  Jesus, he thought. Thirty people had been killed so that this evil bastard could benefit financially.

  There was a time when Temple would have been shocked that an individual would commit a series of murders purely for gain. But not anymore. For a great many people life held little or no value. Such people were not hindered by a conscience. Their minds were filled with dark matter that allowed them to rationalize any action, no matter how heinous or immoral.

  Temple had no doubt that Addison would have no problem living with what he had done.

  ‘So you calculated that the more people you killed over the course of a single week the higher the reward would be,’ Temple said.

  ‘It was a good plan,’ Addison said. ‘And it would have given us a better life. But you had to go and fuck it up.’

  ‘You were never going to get away with it,’ Temple said.

  ‘How did you know it wasn’t Renner?’

  ‘You made a few mistakes,’ Temple said. ‘You left a footprint on the embankment above the M27. Your feet are bigger than his. You left bloodstains on the carpet in Megan’s house after you shot him. And you should have made sure you weren’t being filmed when you let yourself out of the house next door.’

  Addison muttered a few curses and shook his head. At the same time he lost concentration and loosened his grip momentarily on Megan’s throat. She seized the opportunity to struggle free.

  He tried to hold on to her, bu
t she threw herself forward and fell on to her face.

  In the same instant one of the officers let off a shot and the bullet pummelled into Addison’s right shoulder. The knife clattered to the floor and he was sent staggering backwards.

  ‘Hold your fire,’ Temple screamed out.

  Addison managed to stay upright, clutching his shoulder, and as Megan scrambled to her feet he yelled out to her.

  ‘I’m really sorry, babe. It wasn’t meant to end like this. Please take care of our child.’

  Then Addison turned around and stumbled unsteadily away from them. His intention was obvious. He was going to throw himself off the building and deny justice to his victims.

  Temple reacted before either of the officers. He rushed forward, determined not to let the bastard take the easy way out.

  Addison’s wound had sapped his strength and was slowing him down. He almost tripped over his own feet as he lurched drunkenly across the roof.

  Temple was still trying to catch up when Addison got to the edge of the roof and stopped briefly to raise his arms in a diving motion.

  It gave Temple the fraction of a second he needed to reach the man before he plunged over the top.

  But as he lunged forward and grabbed Addison around the waist he almost sent them both over. Addison tried to wrench himself free by twisting his body around. Temple was thrown off balance and his right shoe scraped over the lip of the roof. For a moment he thought they were going to topple into oblivion.

  But then he felt a hand grab his left arm just below the elbow and pull him back.

  ‘I’ve got you.’

  It was one of the officers and he had a firm grip on him. The other officer managed to seize Addison by the hair and drag him away from the edge.

  It took a moment for Temple to regain his equilibrium. Then he inhaled deeply and yelled at Addison, who was on his back, his face scrunched up in pain.

  ‘Now you can bloody well answer for what you did, you no-good piece of shit.’

  CHAPTER 60

  ADDISON SPENT THE rest of the night in hospital under armed guard. The bullet had caused extensive damage to his shoulder and he’d lost a lot of blood. But the wound was not life-threatening.

  While they waited for him to recover enough to be interviewed Temple talked to Megan Trent who was in a real state and couldn’t stop crying.

  But after she told him the whole story he had absolutely no sympathy for her. As far as he was concerned she was as culpable as her boyfriend.

  He took great pleasure in formally charging her with being an accessory to murder and he told her he would do all he could to make sure she spent the rest of her life in prison.

  Addison later confirmed everything that Megan Trent had said and he went on to describe in detail how he’d carried out the attacks.

  He showed absolutely no remorse and talked about his many victims as though they were members of an opposing army.

  Temple charged him with five counts of premeditated murder and warned him that more charges were to follow.

  EPILOGUE

  ANGEL WAS DISCHARGED from hospital five days later. She was still in pain from the injuries to her lung and ribs and had been told to get plenty of rest.

  Thankfully she’d had no more seizures. The blood clot in her head had got a little smaller, but she was going to have to continue on the medicine for many more weeks.

  She was upbeat despite living with the threat of further complications suddenly developing. She was determined to return to work eventually.

  Temple was still trying to come to terms with the fact that he had almost lost her. The thought of it gave him palpitations, but fate had been kind to him for once. Angel had survived and would recover fully in time. So he knew he had a lot to be grateful for.

  Yousef Hussain and his accomplices had been charged with various offences under the Terrorism Act and DCS Vickery was heading up the case against them. He was also involved in making arrangements to reschedule the memorial service for police officer Joseph Roth.

  The sniper attacks still dominated the news agenda. And not just in the UK. It continued to be a major, ongoing story around the world.

  At the same time there was a growing realization that someone else might eventually do what Ryan Addison had done. After all, he had managed to cause mayhem across the country with very little effort.

  The government was called upon to take action to make the motorway network safer. In response the Prime Minister had decided to set up an enquiry.

  But everyone knew it was a waste of time. A ghastly precedent had been set. It meant that in future anyone travelling on Britain’s motorways would always be vulnerable to attack from a psycho with a gun.

  By the Same Author

  Rollover

  Urban Myth

  After the Execution

  Copyright

  © James Raven 2014

  ISBN 978 0 7198 1637 6 (epub)

  ISBN 978 0 7198 1638 3 (mobi)

  ISBN 978 0 7198 1639 0 (pdf)

  ISBN 978 0 7198 1366 5 (print)

  Robert Hale Limited

  Clerkenwell House

  Clerkenwell Green

  London EC1R 0HT

  www.halebooks.com

  The right of James Raven to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988