The man with the pistol had stopped laughing at last.
He looked down and saw Hedge’s reaction. ‘That was a lucky escape. The impact of the bullet seems to have made her arm swing a few inches downwards. I could say I thought that would happen when I shot her, but that would be a lie. More of a calculated risk really. She appears to have shaved off a few pubic hairs but that’s about it.’
He chuckled to himself once more.
Hedge was starting to get irritated by just how funny this guy found the whole situation. He was about to say something in protest, but the man moved towards him and offered his outstretched hand.
‘Pleased to meet you, my name is Cole, and my colleague here is called Fuller. You had better go and get yourself cleaned up as you owe us both a drink!’
Hedge climbed tentatively off the bed, and stumbled the short distance to the bathroom and locked the door. He was still in a state of shock. He stepped into the small shower cubicle and spent a few minutes desperately trying to release himself from the plastic wire. When he finally did so, a bolt of pain shot through his testicles as blood started to flow back into his groin. He turned the shower on and let the lukewarm water wash over him. He stayed like that for several minutes. There was a lot of blood that needed to be washed off, not his blood he thought with relief. He watched the red coloured shower water as it ran down the drain, until it turned lighter in colour and then eventually ran clear.
He stepped out of the shower and towelled himself dry. He checked his wrists to see the damage, they looked much worse than they felt. He dressed with the fresh clothes that had been provided by his rescuers – his own clothes had been ruined when Monica had cut them off him.
He came out of the bathroom nervously, only to find Cole arguing with an older man dressed in a smart, dark grey suit.
‘How did you manage to lose her, that’s complete incompetence,’ Cole was shouting.
‘Well you were told not to kill anyone, but look over there and tell me what you see, a dead girl. How the hell are you going to explain that?’
The older man had the air of a high ranking official, although if he was, then Cole did not seem to respect his position.
‘Fuck you,’ Cole said as he turned away from the older man.
Cole looked across at Fuller. ‘Come on, let’s get out of here. Bring our new friend here.’ He nodded towards Hedge as he said this.
Chapter Sixteen
An hour later, the three of them were sat at a corner table in a small coffee shop close to Regents Park. Cole and Fuller had taken off their black jackets and over trousers and stuffed them into a large, green holdall they had bought with them. Hedge assumed that they had also placed their weapons in the bag. The pair of them looked and acted very casual, almost as if they had just returned from playing a round of golf. In fact, they had just rescued him from a potentially painful death and executed a young girl while they were about it. They both looked completely untroubled.
Hedge on the other hand was tired, frightened and still somewhat confused by his ordeal. A waiter approached and Cole ordered three coffees.
‘Actually ..... I’ll have a tea..... please,’ Hedge stuttered.
‘Certainly,’ said the waiter, and he walked off.
Cole and Fuller chatted to each other while they all waited for the drinks to arrive. Hedge was still amazed at how relaxed they seemed to be after what had just happened.
Eventually the waiter returned and placed two coffees on the table. Then he put a china cup down in front of Hedge, followed by a white teapot and a small jug.
The waiter leaned over the table. ‘Allow me to make the tea for you,’ he said, and he started to trickle some cold milk into the cup.
Hedge looked horrified. ‘Stop, no no,’ he shouted, and moved to place his hand over the cup. He then pushed the cup away from him, and it tipped over and split the milk on the table.
‘What the hell! I don’t need that right now,’ he shouted.
The waiter pulled the milk away, with an apologetic air. He produced a damp cloth and started wiping up the spillage.
Cole and Fuller were both looking at Hedge. They couldn’t believe how he had overreacted to the waiter pouring out the milk. Hedge was trembling, and his breathing had gone quite erratic. He eyes were looking very distant, and his lips had turned blue.
‘It’s just a bit of milk. No need for all the fireworks,’ Cole said.
‘Are you ok? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,’ said Fuller.
Hedge was still shaking, but he slowly managed to get his breathing under control.
‘I’m okay. It’s just been a very stressful day, that’s all. It’s nothing. I’ll be fine in a moment,’ Hedge said quietly. He wasn’t about to tell them how much milk sometimes unsettled him. They would have thought he was an idiot. They had laughed at him enough for one day.
Cole and Fuller started to drink their coffee. They both studied Hedge as he slowly calmed himself down.
Cole finished his drink and began to give Hedge some background on the events of the day. He explained that they had been tracking the girl known as Anna ever since she had entered the UK two weeks ago. The woman was on an MI5 watch list and her name had been flagged up as she passed through immigration at Heathrow. It turns out that she had been contacted by an old friend who they now knew was called Monica. They had run a background check on Monica, with the help of the Metropolitan police, and they had discovered that she came from a family with a criminal background. She was well-known in the escort business, or prostitution if you prefer to call it that. Cole and Fuller had trailed Monica to the Royal Hotel, while MI5 officers had offered to keep Anna under surveillance.
They had hoped to be able to capture Monica and try to interrogate her, but Cole and Fuller were under strict orders not to let any civilians come to any harm. Hence they decided to act when they suspected that Hedge might be seriously injured, or possibly killed.
Fuller interrupted Cole. ‘Then our friends at MI5 managed to lose sight of Anna. What experts they are! So she has now disappeared and we don’t know where.’
Hedge was trying to follow the explanation. It wasn’t easy to concentrate after what he had been through. The tea was helping to calm him, but he still felt unnerved. What had happened to him still felt like a dream, perhaps he was going to wake up from all this at any moment. He tried to focus on what they were saying. He moved his pot of tea to the left side of the table away from his cup, and turned the handle on his cup so that it faced directly to his right. That felt better. He relaxed a little more.
‘Why didn’t you capture both of them in the hotel room, surely that would have been easier,’ Hedge said.
‘We were under orders not to intercept Anna. She is the one who could help us to track down the members of a group we are trying to break. We need to find the brains behind this gang. They are carrying out some high level extortion activities, and the government is getting worried about how effective they have become. They have blackmailed various people to the tune of several million pounds, and amongst other things, we have been asked to recover the money. Some very high ranking officials are mixed up in this and we want to ensure this story doesn’t leak to the press.’
Cole went on to explain that they believed the group Anna belonged to were using some sophisticated techniques to hide the money they had extorted, and then transferred these funds abroad via several overseas bank transfers. The cash was proving difficult to track down. The gang were clever and knew that they could only withdraw the money in small, usable amounts without being detected. They had never managed to identify the leader of the group. Cole and Fuller were hoping that Anna would help them with that.
A senior office in MI5 had given them a profile of the gang leader. He was known to be highly intelligent, and it was believed he was from overseas originally but probably now lived somewhere in the Middle East. He had used several aliases in the past, and although they had no name for him, he referre
d to his group as the Palindrome Cult. The use of the word ‘cult’ apparently derived from his devout religious connections. People who said they knew him talked of his belief that he had been anointed by god for some divine purpose. Once enough money had been amassed, he would be using it to show the world how powerful his god was. His fellow gang members were his disciples, and hence he referred to his group as a cult.
Cole wasn’t sure how his contact in MI5 had managed to put together these facts, especially as they had no name for this man. In his view, they were just a criminal group, making money from extortion, and he had been given the task of hunting them down. Fuller was even more derisory of the background information that MI5 had supplied them. At the initial briefing he had accused them ‘making stuff up just for the fun of it’.
Hedge had been listening intently to all this. ‘Why do they use the name Palindrome?’
‘Well we have managed to resolve that at least,’ Cole replied. ‘A palindrome is a set of numbers or letters that mean the same when reversed. It appears that all the bank accounts we have traced so far that have been used by the gang have been such a sequence. For example, we tracked down a small deposit of Euros that belonged to the group to a numbered account in Switzerland. The account was labelled with a ten digit code - 8790220978. You will note that it is the same forwards or backwards. The leader is obsessed these kind of sequences apparently.’
Hedge was still trying to take all this in. The top area of his neck had begun to hurt, probably the start of a headache. He often developed migraines when he was stressed.
Cole stopped talking and ordered fresh coffee and Hedge took the opportunity to quiz him. ‘So where do you guys fit in? Who are you working for, the British government?’
Cole laughed as he replied. ‘Not the government as such. We are not part of any official organisation. Let’s just say we work directly for a very high authority. In fact we have to go and report in to our boss. He’s in a meeting at Downing Street right now.’
‘So you’re not with MI5 then?’
Fuller’s face grimaced. ‘No we are not with those wankers. They would lose their own shoes if they weren’t tied on with laces.’
Hedge laughed nervously, and was about to ask something more, but Cole cut him off.
‘We need to get going, the boss is waiting. He wants to meet with us, all of us, so guess who is coming along?’
Hedge realised who Cole was referring to. Somehow he sensed the day’s activities for him were not over yet. They gathered up their belongings, paid the waiter for the drinks, and left the coffee shop.
The three of them took a black cab taxi to Westminster and walked the last four hundred metres to Downing Street. They approached the huge, wrought iron gates at the entrance to the most famous road in London, and presented themselves to the police guards. An armed officer checked the identity cards of Cole and Fuller, and then made several calls to his superiors regarding Hedge. He, of course, had no identity card in his possession, as when he had set off for work that morning he was not expecting to be paying a visit to Downing Street.
They stood patiently and eventually were allowed to pass through, and they then walked the last two hundred metres to number ten. At the front door identity cards were checked again by armed police officers, and more phone calls were made. All three of them had to be patted down and electronically scanned. Cole and Fuller handed over their silenced pistols and these were taken away by the police. Finally they were shown in through the solid black door of number ten Downing Street. They were led through a large hallway by a police guard to a room at the back of the building. This part of the house looked unused and seemed very quiet. The police officer knocked once on the door, waited for the reply, and then ushered the three men inside.
Cole walked straight up to the desk in the middle of the room and held out his hand. ‘Hello again Sir, I hope you are well. May I introduce you to Tom Millar, or Hedge, as he is more commonly known. Also this is my colleague Fuller.’
He turned around and motioned for the other two to step forward. ‘Hedge, Fuller, I’d like you to meet the British Prime Minister.’
Chapter Seventeen
Hedge was still feeling lightheaded. Perhaps it was from not having eaten anything since lunch time, or maybe it was all the strange events of the day. It was probably a mixture of both, he concluded. He walked across the carpeted room and cautiously took the hand of the Prime Minister.
‘Pleased to meet you sir,’ he said.
The Prime Minister shook his hand and gave him a warm smile. He then sat down and suddenly became more business-like. ‘Everyone sit please. Cole, I need a full briefing of what has happened since we last met’.
Cole went through the story in some detail, explaining how, with the help of MI5, they had been tracking the woman known as Anna since she had entered the country. He then explained how Hedge had been lured into the hotel, and finally he told how he’d been forced to act and terminate the woman called Monica.
The Prime Minister listened carefully, he was well known for his powers of concentration, and to Hedge it seemed like he was soaking up every detail.
Eventually Cole stopped talking and the Prime Minister spoke directly. ‘Regrettable having to kill the woman, but as you say quite necessary it appears.’
He turned to Hedge. ‘Thank you for your part in this young man. I expect it has been somewhat of a traumatic time for you?’
Hedge nodded briefly, but didn’t reply as he felt like it wasn’t really a question, more of a statement of fact. The Prime Minister then asked if he could rely on Hedge to keep this incident totally confidential. He nodded again in response. The Prime Minister went on to say to Cole and Fuller that he wanted this matter concluded as soon as possible.
‘Find this woman Anna, locate the leader of this criminal gang and recover the missing money. Use the resources of the security services, but be clear that this is an operation that I am personally in charge of. Cole, you have my full authority in this matter. Make sure that you keep me personally up to date on events, you have my private number. The three of you must work together, use all available resources.’
Cole interrupted. ‘With respect sir, but you said the three of us? Hedge here is just a civilian, and so he isn’t part of our team.’
‘He is now, he can recognise this woman Anna up close,’ said the Prime Minister. ‘From what you have told me, he also understands something of international financial transactions. Use all available resources,’ he repeated sternly. ‘Come back and see me when it’s all wrapped up, not before. Remember this has added importance as the US Ambassador, the distinguished Robert Mallam, is one of the victims of the gang. Robert is a very good friend of mine. He wants this resolved and I want him to get his money back. We don’t want this to sour our relationship with the United States. Members of my own government team, including senior Ministers, have also lost money in this unpleasant business. Make sure MI5 give you a full list of the victims. Go and resolve this please. This meeting is over. Good luck.’
The Prime Minister showed them to the door and let them out of the room. The police guard returned with them to the main entrance of the house. Once back on Downing Street the police gave back Cole and Fuller’s weapons. They were then led out through the high, black gates at the end of the road.
As they headed towards a row of parked taxis, Cole turned to Hedge with an amused grin. ‘Looks like you are now a member of our team. Like it or not, those are the PM’s orders. I hope you know what you have got yourself into.’
Cole and Fuller both laughed, but Hedge didn’t reply. He felt like he was being carried along on a fairground ride over which he had no control. He needed to get away from all this and recover from his recent ordeal, but he wasn’t sure if that was going to be possible.
Hedge was told to return home and pack a few things, including his passport. If anyone asked what he was doing, then he should tell them that he is working on a project related to o
ffshore finance for the government Treasury department. He needed to be ready to go in one hour as they didn’t want him hanging around at his home address. He wondered why, but then remembered that during the course of his interrogation by the two women, he had told them where he lived. That thought made him nervous, and he asked the taxi driver to see if he could speed up a little. Isaac, his cousin, would have been home by now and he was keen to explain to him some of the events of the day. Cole and Fuller decided to come with him to make sure he did as he was asked.
The taxi eventually pulled up outside a small terraced house with a metal gate and a square of gravel outside the front where Isaac had parked his car. Hedge jumped out of the taxi and headed for the front door. It was unlocked, which wasn’t unusual as Isaac would normally be home by this time.
Hedge walked into the hallway and shouted for Isaac. There was no response, although the kitchen door was open and the light was on.
Hedge called out again. ‘Isaac, are you there? What are you up to?’
Again, there was no reply.
Hedge carried on down the hallway and pushed open the kitchen door. Isaac had arrived home as Hedge had expected.
Unfortunately for him, it looked like someone else had also paid the house a visit.
Chapter Eighteen
Isaac sat on the kitchen floor leaning against a white painted cupboard. His eyes were wide open and his hands were laid down by his side. There were small patches of blood down the front of his shirt and his right hand was a mess of red blotches and purple bruises.
Hedge leapt over to where Isaac sat and he knelt down next to him. ‘Bloody hell, what has happened to you?
The Palindrome Cult: A gripping, page-turning, crime suspense thriller, its fast pace takes you from London to New York, via Dubai and the Virgin Islands. (Hedge & Cole Book 1) Page 7
