A Shot In The Night (John Harper Series Book 2)

by Edward Holmes

  Sliding across the floor, I grabbed the wall and pulled myself behind cover as more bullets flew towards me. Getting to my feet, I went around the other corner, hoping to stay ahead of the gunman. I raised my pistol at the sight of Kai Nelson wrestling futilely at a set of chains around the stairwell door.

  “Harper, don’t,” he said raising his hands above his head. The metal chains clunked against the door and I took careful aim and fired shattering two of the links. We had an escape route but unfortunately the gunman was too close for us to wrestle the metal wrapped around the door free as we could hear him coming.

  “Run,” I commanded and we both sprinted for the door to the elevators but our luck and speed ran out as two loud gunshots rang out and Nelson crumpled to the floor. My instinct to carry on running was there but it was overruled by the knowledge that if I continued on I would be dead.

  So I turned around and raised my hands, “So what now, Thompson?”

  Chapter Sixty Six

  The three people were at an impasse. The gunman stood in the hallway with a pistol pointing at Harper as Nelson lay on the floor bleeding. It would be sensible to simply fire on the two men and place the pistol in the hand of Nelson making it look like the detective had got the drop on the drug dealer and had been unlucky, that in the ensuing struggle both men had been mortally wounded. Harper knew that and the best way he had of surviving the situation was to try and delay till the police arrived.

  “Very clever, Harper,” Matthew Thompson said as he removed the mask, breathing in fresh air for what felt like an age, “now throw over your pistol.”

  Harper let the pistol dangle on his finger and he slowly crouched. He placed the pistol on the floor and he slid the weapon across the ground towards Thompson, who stopped the Browning with his foot. Harper then spun in his place and talked to Nelson putting his hand on the wound on his leg.

  “Harper, what do you think you are doing? Stand up and get away from that scum.”

  “I’m sorry, I was just trying to make his passing a little easier,” Harper said standing, his hands once again raised, “He is bleeding pretty badly.”

  Thompson smiled, “He should survive long enough,” he said as he crouched himself and picked up the detective’s pistol. He pocketed his own weapon and raised the Browning, “Did you get this gun off one of your drug dealing contacts? How fitting it should be then when I kill you with your own weapon.”

  Harper pulled off his gloves as he rolled his eyes, “Really going down that route, are you? This isn’t the first time I have been in this position. Thompson, you know that there is no way out of here for you. The police are in the building and it is only a matter of time before they arrest you.”

  “I know you, Harper, I know that you think if you talk long enough then you will be able to get close enough to me to use that knife you carry, just like you did in Hollingswood but you aren’t dealing with some kid here. I do my killing at range, I won’t let you get anywhere near close enough to me.”

  “You may not be a kid as you say but you are deluded if you think that you are going to get out of this. You’re not trained to do this but those men in the tactical unit are. They will come through that door, take one look to their left and see the gunman that has taken the lives of their brothers in arms and not hesitate to pull the trigger. For all the killing you have done, Matthew, the world will still turn and bad guys will still fall.”

  Thompson laughed, “And you’ve done your upmost to see to that, haven’t you? Even now you are protecting one of the people who you should be bringing to justice. Just take a walk down the streets and you see the destruction their livelihood brings to the community. I’ve made the people of this city, of this country, see that there is a cancer eating at the core of our society, and that those charged with eradicating it have been complicit in its growth.”

  “See I think that’s where your metaphor really falls apart. You killed police officers and civilians. Did Megan Reed and Craig Tunney deserve to be shot dead like rabid animals? When you pulled the trigger on Boulton and the others, were they really the henchmen who needed to die?”

  “I killed those police officers because they, just like you, are colluding with the drug peddlers that are ruining this city. The others deserved it just as much and I will continue to take lives till there is a change in this culture.”

  Harper couldn’t help but sigh, “Well, I think that is enough of your crap. You can't even offer a reasonable excuse for your deluded fantasies. So either shoot me now or drop your gun and put your hands up.”

  “You’re right, I’ve gone on too long. Good try though, Harper,” he said as he raised the Browning and pulled the trigger.

  Chapter Sixty Seven

  I did my best to slowly move in front of Kai Nelson whilst I was talking to Matthew Thompson. My hope was that he thought I was protecting the drug dealer from another shot. That was partially my aim but I was also blocking his view of Nelson who I had instructed to hold onto the talk button on the police radio he had taken from me. It was my hope that the police were waiting on the other side of the stairwell door.

  I couldn't be certain that they were there but I hoped I had given them enough time to get up to the fourteenth floor with all of the delaying tactics I had employed. Being chased around being shot at wasn't exactly my plan but it was all I could do at the time. I realised that I was running out of time when I spoke to him. I couldn't keep the exasperation out of my voice when I finally said, “Well I think that is enough of your crap. Either shoot or drop your gun and put your hands up.”

  I thought that was enough of a warning for not only the armed unit but also for Thompson. When he raised the pistol though, the thought running through my head was that maybe I should have tried delaying him even longer. Thompson had been getting angered by my words and although he had offered some explanation, it was not the usual monologue other people tended to offer when they're given the chance. Of course there were a large number of the criminals who I had put behind bars who never said anything bar their overriding hatred for me and what I had done.

  I could barely hear the words Thompson said when he pulled the trigger as my pulse raced. Turning my back I covered Nelson as he lay on the floor. My Browning clicked in his hand. Thompson hadn't counted how many shots I had fired, unlike myself. Luckily for me my plan worked as the door to the stairwell burst open and a flashbang exploded.

  The confined space made the detonation even louder than usual. Once again my hearing was damaged that night and since I was on the job I was tempted to put in one of those claims that you hear on the radio about loud working environments.

  Even the disorientation was not strong enough to hinder Thompson. He turned and pulled out another pistol and directed it towards the door. Unfortunately for him the armed police were ready and fired two shots hitting Thompson square in the chest and he flew backwards towards me. I turned over and went to the man on the ground even though I heard the shouts of the armed men to stop and raise my hands.

  I checked his pulse as he spluttered, blood covering his lips, “Come on Matthew, don't you die yet, you bastard. You've got a long time in prison yet.”

  He laughed and his blood and spittle landed on my face as I put my hands to his wounded chest. Both shots had hit him within the space of a fifty pence piece. My hands were covered in his blood and he wheezed out a reply which was a guttural laugh which ended in more coughing.

  “Alright if you are going to the light just answer me quick; you killed Boulton, didn’t you?” he nodded at me, “Thanks, but more importantly now; why the hell did you kill those civilians? Tell me!”

  More coughing as the armed police officers came over to us. One pulled me away as another went to apply pressure like I had. My hands were pulled behind me and the sharp edges of the plastic cuff bands went around my wrists as my head was pushed to the ground, orders being shouted at me as I watched Thompson’s face.

  His head slowly turned to me and looke
d me squarely in the eye and said, “Who said I did?”

  Epilogue

  “So in the end they let me go once Spencer was on the scene. My ID was still in my jacket pocket and Nelson was in no state to tell me where it was. To be honest I wasn’t that keen on going back into the building,” I explained, whilst staring at my comfortable new Loakes loafers that rested on the edge of my desk.

  “But you got it back afterwards anyway, right?” Rich asked me his face remarkably tanned compared to my own pale complexion. He was wearing a black suit and white shirt mirroring myself, which only served to highlight the difference in our skin tone.

  “Yeah otherwise I wouldn’t have got my winning betting slip. My dog romped home at five to two which was rather annoying since I was hoping for a better price. The money Saul had placed on it shifted it significantly at the end. I had a grand on in that little shop at four to one and couple more contacts placed some bets for me. All in all it was another successful day; winning bet and serial killer locked up.”

  Rich stood to one side in my office and shrugged his shoulders against the cold. His fingers rolled around a set of darts as he took aim at the dartboard that hung opposite him, “Will Matthew Thompson make it?”

  “I don’t know, they’ve been rather good at keeping me informed about his condition but the armed response team did their job. It was only because he was moving that they missed Thompson’s heart. Still he lost a lot of blood, one lung was turned completely into mincemeat and there is some spinal damage. As of right now all I know is that he is in a medically induced coma. Nelson lost a kidney and one of the bullets broke his femur but he’ll live. Which is rather good because they’ve got him on a couple of weapons charges and all those drugs in the flat that is registered to him. That’s the difference between the likes of Saul and Nelson the bigger they are the better their planning. Saul would never have anything in his name like that. Apparently Nelson is saying he didn’t know anything about them but his record speaks for itself there.”

  Rich delivered three darts into the twenty segment on the board, two of them into the red paint, the other narrowly missing, embedding itself on the other side of the wire, “Could Saul have had it planted there?”

  “Wouldn’t put it past him,” I said as I stood up and pulled the darts out of the board. I put my left little finger in my ear and moved it around trying to relieve the ringing noise and pain. My darts weren’t as good as my friends but they still scored one hundred points.

  Rich pointed at my ear, “You still suffering?”

  “Yeah but I’m doing better than a lot of the people Thompson targeted. The officers he killed were the first to die on duty in the city for over ten years. Also the helicopter he fired upon was really lucky; one of the shots narrowly missed something important I was told. There’s only four of them at the North West Regional Air Support Group so losing one would be a major blow to the area,” I elaborated as I sat on the windowsill and wiped away the condensation to have a look out onto the cold wet Manchester street below.

  My friend was busy throwing his darts, “So you haven’t told me how you cracked the case yet. How did you know it was Thompson?”

  I smiled and waved my hand, “Not much to crack in the end. I just tracked the man down.”

  “Yeah, but you knew who he was or had your suspicions.”

  I threw my darts, my last hitting the bullseye, and I turned and winked at my friend, “Sometimes I do get my target. Matthew Thompson had access to weapons and his role in the community meant that he knew a lot of the players. He knew how they operated, where their stashes were located, everything really for him to damage operations. Once he hit the small fry he knew eventually Saul would come and try and solve the problem and taking him out would have been the perfect plan, although it would never stop the drugs being in the city.”

  “But you intervened.”

  “Yeah it was after that when I first really started doubting he was as well trained as people made him out to be. The football pitch was a target rich environment and taking out the people he did should have been easy for military sniper.”

  Rich nodded as he took a sip of tea from his mug on the desk before gathering the darts, “Most of the best hit ninety eight percent of their targets.”

  “Well not only did he miss but there was a sloppiness the more he escalated. That attack was brilliant in that he not only used a vehicle to shoot and escape but also managed to frame someone with the shell casing in the tinned up house.”

  “That was impressive, throwing us off like that but how did he know we would go after Leo Ambrose?”

  I rubbed my chin, scratching the stubble I’d allowed to grow as I thought about what Rich asked, for what was the hundredth time since the shooting, “I don’t know how he knew about Leo. It’s probably going to have to wait till Thompson wakes up, if he ever does. Maybe there was a website they bragged on because at the moment there is no connection in an organized way. Thompson wasn’t in any rifle club so I don’t know how he would know anything about the man’s weapons. Getting into the house was apparently easy due to his connections on the council. He managed to get a set of keys that allowed him access to the houses that are part of the empty homes regeneration strategy.”

  “He could have been doing this for months, hell even years, if he had places to hide and plan.”

  “That’s the worrying thing. I can take some solace in that. Now if I was in his situation I would not have even attempted the attack on the station and if I did I would have left the area after hitting the van and car, not wait around for more.”

  Rich nodded again, “The attacks on the first responders were perfect in maximizing casualties, it was a good plan but he was far too close. If you are going to use explosives and be tactical in your planning then why stay and shoot?”

  “Because, like most snipers, he got off on the power he had. Having the ability to take lives at the pull of the trigger without the victim even knowing where you are can be very intoxicating. It became less about the message, which was completely distorted anyway and more about what he could get away with.”

  “But he wasn’t going to get away with it was he? Did he think he could escape completely?” he hurled the darts with great strength. They thumped into the board and I struggled to remove them.

  I shrugged my shoulders, “He thought he could frame Nelson and his crew, I’m sure of that. I’m sure he would have planted enough evidence after the house or just called the police and said that he saw someone going into Oak Tower. Once the police raided it he could have just gone out as yet another resident or even a victim especially if someone saw his wounds. No one would think anything of seeing him in the building since his job meant he was often in the area. If I hadn’t been there it might have been different. Mister Miller, the owner of the house opposite the police station, would have been the patsy and it would have given him long enough to get away and plan his next attack.”

  “Still doesn’t make a lot of sense though, his rampage etcetera.”

  Putting the darts on the desk next to me, I picked up my tablet, “I did a little research into the man. Turns out he was attacked when he first came to the city and has had an inherent hatred of drug dealers and gang members ever since. The slight military training he had was from a short stint in the Officer Training Corp at university. He also did a lot of reading on tactics and history but that’s as far as he got.”

  “Probably would have been better off joining the service.”

  “Got enough psychopaths and sociopaths in there as is,” I said with a smile.

  Rich laughed, “Nothing wrong with a psychopath.”

  “True. Still would have been better if Thompson had focused himself on something other than cleaning the streets like that. I’ve investigated a few people like him who acted like dedicated members of society and then turned out to be killers. I’m just glad he won’t be hurting anyone ever again,” I said with a sigh.

  “And the Bo
ulton shooting? I mean the only reason you were ever involved was to help out an old friend.”

  “Saul managed to get word to Tommy in prison who has since recanted his confession and obviously the radio had Thompson saying he was the shooter. Hopefully that’s enough for all to end the year well for Sheila Harrison.”

  “So what now then, John?”

  “I’ve got some questions that still need answers to be honest mate, so I’ll be sticking around here for some time.”

  Rich simply rolled his eyes, “Sometimes you don’t know how lucky you are. Look, you got the bad guy, you saved the day, take some time off and come with me to the pub. Some of us need to relax.”

  I looked at my friend with his tanned features and sardonic smile. I owed him for his help, not only in the information he had provided but in the Browning which had saved my life. Exploiting our friendship was never my intention so I relented, “Just a couple. Some of us need to work for a living and at this rate I’ll be open till Christmas.”