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)

by Kevin Bradley

By the time Anna came round, she was lying on the bed in a room at the back of the house. All of her clothes had been removed, including her underwear. The bed had an old, thin mattress on it, covered by a grey coloured cotton sheet. It was constructed from a metal frame, and it was to this that they had tied Anna.

  Hedge had found some rope in a shed just outside the back door, and he had cut off four short lengths. Her hands and feet were tied securely to the metal frame. She looked very vulnerable lying there. Hedge found that he couldn’t stop looking at her. He wasn’t sure if he felt terrified or slightly aroused. Either way, he wasn’t quite sure what Cole had in mind for her.

  Cole had been finishing off his drink when he noticed that Anna had woken.

  ‘Great cup of coffee that thanks Hedge, pity you couldn’t find any sugar but never mind.’

  He threw the mug into a corner of the room where it hit the concrete floor and smashed. He then picked up his Glock and moved over to the bed. He sat down next to Anna. He pushed the barrel of the gun into her left eye socket forcing her to move her head to one side. Cole laughed, and pushed the barrel of the Glock hard against her cheekbone.

  Anna said nothing, her eyes stayed fixed on Cole. He moved the barrel down to her throat and pushed forcibly against her skin. She coughed, but other than that she remained silent. Next, Cole started to circle her breasts with the cold surface of the gun. When he got to the centre of each breast he pushed hard against the nipples, and each time Anna made a small exclamation of pain, but still said nothing.

  Cole seemed to be enjoying himself, and Hedge carried on watching. He had to force himself to breathe as he was finding this whole experience quite intoxicating, and he hadn’t realised he had been holding his breath.

  Anna was staring directly at Cole, her breathing was quick and ragged, and each time she inhaled her breasts rose. She must have been cold, or nervous, as her nipples stuck out hard. She looked almost childlike with her pale skin and her wide open slightly slanted eyes.

  Cole now had the barrel of his Glock slowly moving down towards Anna’s stomach. He passed this area, and then rested the gun against the mound at the top of her legs. There was a small bush of dark hair here, and Cole circled the end of the barrel around this area. He moved the gun down further between her legs and used the barrel to part the lips of her vagina. Her legs had been tied to the ends of the bed frame, so they were spread widely.

  Anna continued to stare fixedly at Cole. Her face was hard as steel and her eyes now looked terrifying. Still she said nothing, but as Cole forced the barrel a little way inside her, she took a small gasp of air and bit her lip.

  ‘Just think how messy it would be if I pulled the trigger right now,’ Cole said. He was smiling at her, goading her to respond.

  Still she remained silent and just continued to glare at him.

  He pushed the barrel further inside her turning it slightly as he did so. She winced and then tried to spit at him, but her mouth was dry and only a small amount of spittle landed on his shirt. Next, he slowly pulled the gun out from inside her, raised it to his mouth and licked the end of it with his tongue. ‘Tasty,’ he said, ‘but too salty for my liking.’

  Cole looked up at Hedge. ‘Go and fetch me that kettle. Our friend here is just about ready to talk to me.’

  Hedge came back carrying the electric kettle that he had found in the kitchen earlier. He had filled it to the top before boiling it, and it was still near full. The only water taken from it so far had been that used to make Cole his mug of coffee.

  Cole took the kettle. He held the spout over Anna’s stomach and started to tilt the spout downwards. He stopped before any water came out.

  ‘Now, I need to know what you have done with the money, which companies are you using to hide it, and who is helping you to look after it.’

  Anna looked up at him, still with the menacing stare, and she spoke for the first time. ‘Go fuck yourself.’

  Cole leaned the kettle forward and a stream of hot water poured from the end.

  Around ten minutes ago when the kettle had automatically turned itself off, the water would have been at approximately one hundred degrees Celsius – its normal boiling point. In the intervening time, the water had cooled slightly, maybe down to around ninety or ninety five degrees. In the average household, if you run the hot water tap and place your hand under it, you may well be badly scalded. That water is likely to be at around fifty to fifty five degrees. Ninety five is a whole lot hotter than that.

  The water landed with a splash in an area from her stomach to her breasts. As it touched Anna’s body, red blotches immediately appeared and her skin seemed to burn and shrink. Anna screamed like a wild animal and the noise she made reverberated around the room. There were no houses in the immediate area, as if there were her screams would have certainly been heard. Her shrieking continued as some of the water ran between her legs and scorched that sensitive area around her vagina. A little of the near boiling water had splashed across the nipple of her left breast and it turned red instantly and appeared to expand and crack painfully. Small fissures had appeared elsewhere on her body as the steaming water continued to do its work. Some of these had started to bleed.

  ‘I need you to talk to me,’ said Cole. ‘Start by telling me who you work for? Who is your leader? Was it the guy in the hall? Do you work for him?’

  ‘Do I work for him? That’s funny. You don’t know shit about us, do you scumbag.’

  ‘No but you can enlighten me.’

  ‘You can go to hell,’ Anna screamed at him.

  Cole lifted the kettle above her again, hesitated a second to see if Anna would react, then started to pour more water onto her body.

  Anna moved like someone possessed. All the muscles of her body stood out as her arms and legs bucked against the ropes holding her. She was screaming at the top of her voice. Such was the strength of her movements that her right arm came free from the rope holding her. Whether the rope had snapped, or she had somehow pulled her hand out from the binding, it wasn’t clear. It took Cole by surprise, and he fell back off the bed desperately trying to avoid the remainder of the water that was now spilling from the kettle.

  Anna meanwhile had reacted instantly and reached out for the gun that Cole had accidentally dropped at the side of the bed. Her hand took hold of the grip and she turned and faced where Cole was now lying dazed on the floor. She aimed the gun and squeezed the trigger.

  A split second earlier Cole had rolled to his left and the bullet ricocheted off the concrete floor. Anna moved the weapon to find Cole once more and prepared to fire. Cole had lunged forward meanwhile and landed heavily on top of her. The gun went off again and there was a loud shattering noise as the bullet hit the bedroom window. Anna and Cole struggled with each other on the bed, both trying to get hold of the Glock. Anna still had her hand on the grip of the gun and she managed to push it around so that it now pointed straight into Cole’s stomach. He was desperately trying to pull her hand away but she was stronger than he imagined. He looked at her lying underneath him, and a smile spread across her face. She tensed her arm in readiness to pull the trigger.

  Then, there was a loud boom as a bullet hit flesh, and tore into muscle and bone. The grey sheet covering the bed seemed to turn red in an instant.

  Cole’s body went limp.

  Chapter Forty Two

  When Anna had first managed to get hold of Cole’s Glock, Hedge had stood motionless and just watched.

  Then he had reacted. Immediately after she had fired the first shot he was pulling his own gun from out of his sock. He had been worried when he heard the second shot, as Cole was so close to Anna, and he wondered how it had missed him. It was only when Hedge heard the window shatter that he breathed a sigh of relief. He realised he had to act instantly if he wanted to help Cole. So he had raised his Glock, aimed at Anna’s head and squeezed the trigger. The distance was only a few feet, but he had missed his intended target. Instead the bullet had hit her in the
left shoulder, passed through the muscle and tendon in her upper arm, before crashing through into her chest cavity and causing massive damage to her heart.

  Once this vital organ had been effectively destroyed, the joint effect on the body of shock and blood loss caused death very quickly. So it was that it was Anna’s blood that was now soaking the sheet on the bed.

  Cole lifted himself up off her body and stood next to the bed facing Hedge.

  ‘I guess I should be thanking you for saving my life, but she isn’t going to be telling us very much now.’

  Hedge didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what to think, in fact. He had never killed anyone before. He often wondered what it would be like, but he didn’t imagine this. He felt numb. He felt lifeless. The gun seemed heavy suddenly, and he dropped it on the floor. He wanted to cry but no tears came to his face.

  He looked down at Anna’s body and surveyed the carnage. There was a gaping hole in the side of her arm and what appeared to be a lot of bruising to her upper body. He couldn’t believe all the blood. It was everywhere, soaking through the mattress and dripping onto the floor. He could see small bits of flesh and bone fragments around the wound, and still more blood pumping out from inside.

  Anna’s head had turned so that her face was pointing in his direction and her eyes seemed to be looking at him, but there was nothing behind them, they just appeared vacant. Her mouth had opened slightly and a small trickle of blood was dribbling down her jaw.

  This wasn’t how he imagined that a body would look like after it had been shot. What should it look like? He didn’t know. Not this messy maybe. He walked gingerly over to the side of the room and sat down against the wall. He looked at the floor and tried to make sense of how he was feeling, but he couldn’t. He felt dizzy. The room appeared to be spinning and his head started to hurt.

  Cole came over with a cup of cold water which he had fetched from the kitchen.

  ‘Drink,’ he said.

  Hedge drank the water. Cole patted him fatherly on the shoulder and then left him to be by himself.

  Hedge sat for what seemed a long time. He felt confused and lost. He should be pleased that he had helped his friend, but that didn’t seem important to him right now.

  Eventually he fell into a deep sleep. He hoped he wouldn’t wake up from it, as he wasn’t sure he would be able to deal with being awake ever again.

  Sometime later when he eventually stirred, he found a towel in the bathroom and washed his face in some cold water. He felt a little better.

  ‘You did what you had to do, and you saved my life in the process,’ Cole said to him in a matter of fact way.

  Cole had cleaned up the room while Hedge had slept. The body, mattress and blanket had all gone. There was a fire in the back garden and what was left of the bedding could be seen still burning. He had also cleaned up the hallway. A shovel was propped against the back door and he could see a fresh looking mound of dirt near the boundary wall.

  ‘Four feet of dirt was all I could manage. Bloody ground is as hard as nails. Still that will keep the bodies away from prying eyes for a reasonable time hopefully,’ said Cole.

  ‘Did you see what she had written on her arm,’ said Hedge.

  He had noticed some words tattooed on her upper arm when he had been surveying the damage to her. Such had been his shock at the time that he hadn’t been able to take in what the four words were.

  ‘Live not on evil,’ said Cole.

  ‘Not very appropriate is it, considering her line of work.’ Hedge looked confused. ‘What do you think it means?’

  ‘Not a clue,’ said Cole. He sounded like he didn’t care either.

  Hedge tried to picture the words in his head. It felt somehow like it should tell him something, but nothing came to him.

  He looked up from where he was sitting. ‘So what do we do now?’

  ‘Now we investigate this.’

  Cole was holding a grey A4 size box file. It had no labels or writing on the outside and was held shut by a small catch. He had found it in the house. He had done a thorough search after cleaning up and burying the bodies, and he had already been through the file to see what it contained. He explained to Hedge that within the file were several bank statements, along with some other interesting correspondence. The bank statements all related to a company called Reviver (BVI) Ltd. The letters were all from the same person whose address was that of a small Trust Company based in Road Town.

  ‘I have been checking some of the bank account numbers from the statements,’ said Cole. ‘I believe we have definitely found the accounts used by the so-called Palindrome Cult. Look at this one here. Account number 23911932. That seems to be their trademark palindrome type number.’

  ‘It’s a bit of a giveaway with a name like Reviver also,’ said Hedge.

  ‘Yes indeed, I missed that one. Well spotted. So it’s not just the numbers they like to play around with.’

  He looked across at Hedge still sitting against the wall. ‘Come on then, let’s get you out of here.’

  The two of them left the house and walked to the car, before driving back into Road Town. The road twisted slowly down to the coast, and in the distance several other islands could be seen nestling together in the calm waters. The deep blue colour of the sea was broken in occasional ripples of glaring white as the sun's reflection bounced off the surface.

  They were both lost in their own thoughts as the car headed east towards the islands capital. Cole was thinking about Fuller and the times they had shared together - good memories. Hedge was reliving the moment when he had pulled the trigger of the Glock, sending a burning hot lump of metal into the soft flesh of the girl. He tried to put the memory out of his mind.

  Both their thoughts were broken as they came into the busy main town of Tortola.

  Chapter Forty Three

  ‘We need to find the office of the Island Trust Company. I think the address is one of these side streets down here on the right,’ said Cole.

  Hedge was looking ahead at some advertising boards. ‘It looks like it’s the next turn according to the sign there’.

  Cole indicated and turned off to the right. He pulled up halfway down the street and parked the car in an area of the car park marked as being for visitors. Immediately in front of them was a modern two storey brick building with a black wooden door. Above this entrance in large gold coloured letters it stated boldly ‘The Island Trust Company (BVI) Limited’.

  Cole walked up and tried the handle of the door, and it immediately swung open into a small reception area. A young girl, with dark skin and glossy red lips sat at the desk in front of them.

  She looked up over the top of her black rimmed glasses. ‘Can I help you gentlemen’?

  ‘We're here to see a Mr. Robinson regarding a very urgent matter,’ replied Cole.

  They were directed to a seating area where they were asked to wait. A few minutes later a bright faced man with a European looking face entered the waiting area. He clearly wasn’t a native Virgin Islander, Hedge thought to himself.

  ‘James Robinson at your service,’ he said, as he held out his hand to each of them in turn.

  They shook hands and followed him through to his office. They both took the glass of water he offered to them - it was another hot and dry day, and then sat down in soft leather chairs.

  ‘How may I help you today?’

  ‘We need to ask you about a company called Reviver,’ Cole said directly.

  Robinson’s expression remained placid, almost as if the name meant nothing to him. Many years of working in the offshore finance business had taught him never to react in a situation like this. Everything must appear to be ‘above board’. Confidentiality and trust must be maintained at all times.

  ‘Can I ask the nature of your enquiry please, as you will appreciate that I cannot disclose any information to unauthorised parties,’ said Robinson.

  Cole stood and walked to the window. He turned to face Robinson. ‘I’m
going to get straight to the point. We are working on an investigation involving the British government and MI5. This is a very delicate issue and one involving national security.’

  ‘Let me stop you there,’ said Robinson, more seriously than before. ‘The British government has no jurisdiction here. Our company operates under BVI law and we are duty bound not to disclose client information. We would be happy to cooperate with the British government, but you would have to go through the proper channels.’

  Cole walked back to the desk and sat down.

  He spoke calmly and without any hint of menace in his voice.

  ‘I must inform you that I also have direct authorisation from the United States Treasury department to undertake a full audit of your operation here. You will be aware that the BVI territory utilises the American dollar as its currency, and so the US Treasury has the ability to override local regulations on this matter. I would like to call a meeting of your company’s board of directors within the next twenty four hours to discuss how we should manage the audit process. I have a team of Treasury officials standing by to fly in from Miami before the end of the week to commence the audit. Thank you for your time, we will be in touch again later today.’

  With that Cole stood up and headed for the door.

  Robinson pushed his chair back, reached forward and buzzed the intercom button on his desk phone.

  He spoke calmly. ‘Grace, can you bring the Reviver files into my office immediately. Thank you.’

  He looked up at Cole. ‘Can I offer you a private room so you can review the files? I'll arrange for tea and biscuits also’.

  Cole smiled and nodded.

  Three hours later they were back in Robinson’s office. Cole laid the Reviver files on the desk.

  ‘Well, did you gentlemen find what you were looking for?’ said Robinson.

  He seemed as calm as when they had first met him.

  ‘Indeed we did,’ Cole replied. ‘Are you aware that the funds being held by this company are the result of extortion and fraud? In fact, one of the victims involved in this crime is the United States ambassador based in London.’