by John Kerr
Jake very cautiously stepped inside. The small hallway had two doors both on the right-hand side; they were about three metres apart. The second one was open slightly. Jake stopped outside the first. He tried to remember every detail of Justin’s appearance: his height, his build, and, most importantly, his face. What exactly did he look like? Get his face inside your head, Jake; let’s not cock this one up. It definitely won’t look good, sticking a few rounds into the guy who’s taken your woman. Concentrate, son, concentrate. He pushed the side of his head hard against the door and listened…Voices - two, maybe three. Quickly, Jake removed a small charge from his pouch and fixed it against the door.
He felt for the detonator button in his top breast pocket stuck it to his left palm and moved to the second door. The voices from within were louder. Jake tried to get a fix on exactly where Justin was but heard nothing. Slowly he pushed against the door and it inched open. On the far wall he could clearly make out a large mirror which reflected the entire room. Two men faced towards the opposite wall and were bent over a table, oblivious to their live’s clock reaching its end.
Jake pushed the door open further and looked round. It was a kitchen with a door leading back through to the first room. On the left-hand wall was a large sliding door which was open. It led through to the main bank. In the blink of an eye Jake stepped into the room and towards the men. They heard nothing. He was almost upon them when simultaneously they either sensed him or saw him - it didn’t matter which. They gasped in horror as the MP5 growled into life. Tap, tap, tap. ‘One’. Tap, tap, tap. ‘Two’. Jake immediately lunged towards the closed door and kicked straight through it… CRUNCH… It sprung open and he was inside. He took two paces and knew instinctively there was no one else there. He ran back out and crossed the kitchen, went through the open sliding door and into a large storage area filled with boxes stacked to the roof. He passed through, running to the far end which opened up into an office area filled with desks and chairs. Each desk held a computer and a vast number of phones.
The shadows against the wall to his right gave their position away, along with the dark shape of the machine pistol. It was being levelled at Jake. Without dropping his pace, Jake screamed out,
‘Justin… WALL!’ Jake squeezed the trigger three times in quick succession. The rounds travelled effortlessly towards the massive black body. Justin felt the air move as the bullets passed only centimetres from his body and hit the man full in the chest. The man slumped to the floor, dead, as Justin’s body banged hard against the wall. Justin screamed in terror. Jake ignored him and continued running, making for the only remaining door in the room, his head turning left and right.
‘Justin, how many more are there?’ Jake roared.
‘How many are there, mate?’ The only sounds Jake heard were the sobbing noises coming from Justin as he slid down the wall and slumped on the floor. He could say nothing. All he could do was watch the blood as it flowed out of the dead man’s body and gathered at his feet. Jake moved through the last door and into the main bank. It surrendered no more targets… it was over.
Regis lay dead in the main office.
Max Shelton and Eric Alborz lay dead in the kitchen
Jake returned to the still shaking Justin, lifted him bodily off the floor and sat him on the nearest seat.
‘Okay, Justin, listen to me, mate. Where have they got Vicky? Where did they leave her?’
Justin said nothing, he just stared at the lifeless heap at his feet…Jake forced his head round and looked directly into Justin’s face.
‘Justin,’ Jake said, raising his voice.
‘Justin, where the fuck did they leave her?’
Justin dropped his head and Jake’s heart suddenly sank. NO!!!
‘Justin, you’ve got to let me know where she is, mate.’
He wasn’t Jake’s mate…he never would be, and Jake knew he would never consciously wish to have any dealings with him, but right at this moment he was all he had, the only connection between himself and Vicky.
‘If you tell me where she is, I’ll go and get her and bring her back to you.’ The words blasted into Jake’s ears and he couldn’t believe he was actually saying them. But Jake knew he would use any means of getting the information out of Justin before he went into deep shock, which right now was definitely how it was looking. Slowly Justin lifted his head and he looked at Jake through glazed eyes. His mouth opened slowly as he tried to say something.
‘Jake,’ he said, his voice almost inaudible,
‘Jake, what’s happened?… You did this… How could you do this?’
‘Jake,’ Justin said again, as he turned and stared at the corpse before him. Jake could feel his patience running out.
‘It doesn’t matter, Justin. The only thing you’ve got to remember is that right now I’m possibly the only person in this world who can save Vicky’s life, but I need your help.’
The very words stung Jake deeply and he couldn’t stop his head falling…this was the worst nightmare ever.
‘Now, I’m going to go outside for a few minutes to get some help, okay?’ Justin lunged at Jake and threw his arms around his body.
‘No, Jake, don’t leave me, don’t leave me!’ he cried.
‘Justin, it’s over, mate, they’re all dead.’
‘No… there are more of them, Jake, at least another two.’
‘No, Justin, I killed them too… Now you just stay here while I go and get some help.’ Jake quickly made his way outside and gave Peter and Bob the all-clear.
‘There are two in here and another one in the main office,’ he said, as they walked through the kitchen.
‘How’s Justin?’ asked Peter.
‘I think he’s going into shock and if we don’t get the holding area from him with the next few minutes I think we are going to be well and truly fucked.’ They returned to find Justin still slumped in the office chair.
‘Okay, mate, let’s have it… Where did they take you both when they first lifted you?’ Jake could see Justin now had a distinct far-away look in his eyes.
‘Justin!!!’ The anger was building inside and Jake wanted to shake him hard. Justin again lifted his head and looked at Jake. Only this time there was something different in his eyes.
‘Jake… he raped her…he raped her, Jake.’
‘What?…What did you say?…Say that again!’ Jake said, knowing that they were words that he really didn’t want to hear again.
‘Yes, yes, yes,’ said Justin. ‘He raped her… the South African … he did it in front of me, Jake… I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to watch but they made me, they made me, Jake… I could hear her. I could hear her screaming. It wasn’t good, Jake… it wasn’t good.’ Now it was Jake’s turn to drop his head. He closed his eyes… he couldn’t believe it. They had taken away his soul mate, that was bad enough, but now - much, much worse - they had hurt her…and they had hurt her badly.
‘Jake… While it was happening I heard her call out your name, Jake…it was very quiet, but she definitely called out your name.’ Jake stood up and walked away. He was empty, drained; whatever death felt like, it couldn’t feel any worse than this. The silence filled the room but Jake could only think of Vicky. She was out there somewhere and she was on her own. Jake had failed to protect her, had failed to watch over her and had failed to look after her. He hadn’t been there when she needed him most and he couldn’t shake the thought that he had let her down…and let her down badly. She was left on her own with a bunch of psycho killers who thought they were above the law and could do whatever they wanted. Whenever they wanted…No that’s what he was here to stop. They had him to contend with and if only he could find out where they were he’d show them what real violence was all about.
FIFTY-SIX
Jake suddenly snapped out of it…self-pity would have to wait.
‘Justin, cut the shit, mate. Tell me anything about where they took you before they brought you here. What was it like? Was it a small hous
e? A big house? Describe it to me, Justin.’ Jake tried not to let him hear the panic in his voice. Justin took a long deep breath before speaking and Jake hung onto every syllable.
‘It was a small house, just off a bumpy road. The road… it was full of potholes, and there were only lamps inside the house I… I don’t think there was any electricity,’ he finally said.
‘Was the house on the right-hand side of the road or the left?’
‘On the… right, I think… yes, on the right as we drove up to it,’ he replied.
‘Any trees around it?’
‘There were trees to the… left-hand side as we went in… I think,’ said Justin, his voice gradually disappearing into a whisper.
‘Single storey…was it a single storey house?’
‘Yes… No… I mean, it wasn’t a house.’
Justin was completely confused and Jake could feel himself begin to panic. He thought hard and fast.
‘It’s a cottage… Is it a cottage, Justin? Is it a cottage, mate?’ Jake watched for any reaction. For a while there was none, and then very slowly Justin began to nod his head.
’Good, well done. Now, were there any vehicles, any cars parked outside…either when you arrived or when you left? What kind of transport did they use? Did they carry both of you together or separately?’ Jake knew full well that he was overloading Justin just a little too much. Justin slowly shook his head and Jake watched him almost resigning himself to the fact he would probably never see Vicky again. The thought stung Jake like a searing hot knife piercing his chest.
‘Come on, Justin, just a little more, just a little more, mate…Think, mate, think.’ Jake heard himself pleading with the dishevelled figure of Justin Lowe slumped on the floor.
‘Van…they had an old van. I think they carried Vicky in it but it was too dark, Jake. I can’t remember, honest.’
‘Okay, mate, well done. Now, the journey from there to here, how long did it take?’ asked Jake, as he carried on with his relentless questioning.
‘Can’t… remember Jake, just… can’t remember,’ replied Justin. Jake could feel Justin begin to give up, but Jake knew he never would.
‘An hour?…Ten hours?…Twenty hours?…How long, Justin? How long?’
‘It was longer than an hour, maybe two,’ said Justin, as he slumped forward for the very last time. Jake watched as the man sitting in front of him gave up completely and knew without a doubt he’d get no more information out of him. It was now all down to Jake. All the information was rushing through his head. Think! Think! Think! Jake was trying to make some kind of sense out of it all. Peter and Bob studied Jake intently as he paced up and down clicking the fingers of his left hand. They watched like a couple of expectant fathers waiting on a new and longed for child and threw a lightening fast look at each other as Jake worked through it slowly and systematically…
‘Got it! Fucking got it!’ Jake screamed.
‘Where?’ asked Peter.
‘Got it, got it, got it, he repeated over and over as he clicked his fingers louder and louder.
‘Where is she Jake? said Bob with a calmness Peter found strangely re-assuring.
‘Elfin, it can only be Elfin cottage; the distance is about right, the single-track road is definitely correct and there’s no power up there. I say we take a chance and get up there as soon as possible.’
‘Okay, let me organise some back up. I can’t have you going into this one on your own. Not with Vicky at the other end,’ said Peter.
‘Organise whatever you want.’ proclaimed Jake before going on.
‘Just lets get our arses in gear I’ve a little lady to bring home safely. Bob, you stay here with Justin, and after this place has been cleared away you can bring the troops up to Elfin. I’ll give you the grid. Peter and I will do a quick recce and I’ll work out an attack plan for going in when they get there. Everyone okay with that?’
Peter and Bob nodded, knowing that Jake’s judgement, even on this one, was probably the correct decision. Jake threw the map down on the nearest table, pointed out to Bob the exact location of Elfin cottage and said the grid out loud…‘020 370’.
‘Okay, after I take a quick look we’ll meet about a kilometre from the house. I’ll give the guys a quick briefing before we go in. Right, let’s go, Peter.’
Jake instinctively grabbed his kit gave himself a shake then suddenly froze as his eyes fell on Justin who lay propped against the wall. Peter held his breath and knew something which was not normal was almost certainly about to happen. He glanced over at Bob without moving his head then watched as Jake in one slow deliberate movement removed his Browning and took the two steps which left him directly above Justin. Jake slipped the half cocked weapon into his left hand pulling the hammer fully to the rear and filled the room with the sound they all knew well. In the time it took for the sound to fade Jake had the muzzle resting against the crown of Justin’s head which never moved.
Peter exhaled slowly and felt his body twitch as he fought to stand completely still knowing that his heart rate had risen considerably. He again threw a glance at Bob hoping the man who knew Jake best would say or do something. No luck, Bob seemed completely at ease with the whole situation and simply let out a small sigh as he lowered his arse onto the table and crossed his arms expectantly. Peter felt the tension rise then rise even more as he struggled inwardly to make any sense of what was about to happen.
He felt sure everyone in the room could hear the pounding his own heart beat was making deep inside his head. The seconds ticked by so very slowly, one by one, again and again for what seemed a lifetime. Suddenly he saw Jake take up the first pressure on the trigger and got ready to close his eyes, there was just no way he wanted to watch Jake cold bloodedly execute Justin. No way did he want to see Justin’s scull empty its contents all over the back wall. He’d seen it before but sure as hell had no desire to see it again.
‘Jake,’ Said Bob.
‘Jake,’ Bobs voice had a forcefulness Peter had almost forgotten existed.
‘Jake…… Vicky wouldn’t want you to do this mate. You know she wouldn’t want this’. The silence that followed was almost as bad as the preceding one as Peter studied Jake watching for his reaction.
‘I’m doing this for me….. I really need this for me Bob, not you, Peter, the boss or anyone else out there Bob, this is mine and I think I have the right to ask for it.’ Jake never lifted his eyes from the top of Justin’s head.
‘Of course you have Jake but you know at the end of the day your going to have to explain it to Vicky, she’s going to ask you why you put her man in a body bag.’ Bob turned his back and began to fold the map before stuffing it inside his half opened jacket. Time moved nowhere fast, no-one spoke. The only sound that could be heard was the clock as it ticked away the seconds on the far wall.
Peter could see Jake as he fought the overwhelming desire to end Justin’s life and his own suffering there and then with one small 9mm round. He never moved he just stood above the forlorn figure and seemed for once to be unsure which path to take. Suddenly, without a word Jake lifted the weapon high into the air, flicked his hips and started the pistol down towards Justin’s head with a force that Peter knew would almost certainly kill him. Then at the very last second he re-adjusted his body slightly and the pistol butt missed his head by only a whisker.
Peter made a sudden move towards Jake then in the same instant just managed to stop himself. He knew Jake was again all on his own and didn’t need any help only this time he had made the correct choice. Jake then crashed the pistol butt off the wall directly above Justin’s head. Once, twice, three times only this time the number he called out was one and the same.
‘One, one, one.’ he said quietly.
Small pieces of plaster dropped from the large dent Jake had made in the wall onto Justin’s head but he neither felt anything nor moved a muscle. Silence shrouded over them once more but the tension now had lifted completely with no-one more relieved than Peter
. Jake slowly holstered his browning and as he lifted his Heckler and Koch MP5 in both hands he pulled it close like he was holding a small injured bird. Peter knew now was the time for them not to be there so decided for once to take the lead.
‘Listen, Bob,’ he shouted across the room,
‘Get on the phone and let H.Q. know you’re here. Get them to clear this up and let the boss know there’s a bit of urgency about this one. Tell him the state of play.’
‘Go…Go,’ said Bob, as he lifted the phone and waved both of them out of the room and into the dark, wet street behind the bank. As they quickly made their way out to the car, Jake appeared to be back to his normal self. He looked up at the rain-filled sky.
‘This rain has been on for fucking hours and it’s not going to stop… there’s a lot of angry clouds up there,’ he shouted above the noise of the rain on the road.
FIFTY-SEVEN
They jumped into the car and made their way out of the village and onto the dark moors, on a job harder than anything Jake had ever encountered before. No words were spoken until they were well out of town.
‘You going to be okay with this, Jake?’ asked Peter, more than slightly worried. Jake thought deeply for a few moments. It was all he could think about. Then, with total reservation in his voice, he said,
‘I think I’d better be. You know, I could be going into a house, like a hundred other houses I’ve done in the past. With people very willing and able to end what life I have left. In the past, although I’ve known the danger was there, it hasn’t really bothered me. They all wanted to kill me, all needed me dead. But I never really cared, because I’ve always known that I was better than they were. They were just bad through and through. It was that simple. If I ever met Mr and Mrs Joe Public in the street then I knew that they could get on with their lives and do whatever they wanted. There was very little chance of them being blown into small pieces by a fanatic who hated their very way of life. That was down to the fact that a few days earlier I had entered a house and put a few rounds into the bodies of some people. People who to all intents and purposes were actually better off dead. That has always been the reason why my job was important to me. Why I would always make sure I did everything to the very best of my ability… there has never been anything I wouldn’t do for this country of ours. They point me in the right direction, light the blue touch paper and get the fuck out of my way. That has always been how it was, and for that, Peter, I have asked for nothing in return.
