‘Why?’ Vinnie asked.
‘Because he took my phone from me before I came in.’
‘Why?’ Harry added.
‘Because it was Babik’s idea that I come walking in here and claim to be an undercover officer.’
‘So it is all bull?’ Harry said.
‘No, but he doesn’t know that,’ Grady responded.
If Vinnie thought he’d heard the best tale so far, he obviously knew nothing. Now she was claiming to be an undercover officer pretending to be a bent cop in order to snare Babik, but because of the murder, she had told Babik that the real cops would now suspect her of being really bent. But Babik wanted her back in play in the police station, so had come up with the plan for her to walk into the nick and pretend to be an undercover officer; without, of course, realising how perversely true his plan actually was. Vinnie glanced at Harry, who was just shaking his head, which was becoming red.
‘So you are an undercover officer deployed into Babik who thinks you are a bent cop,’ Vinnie started.
‘Yes,’ Grady said.
‘But as he thinks you are now blown, you should pretend to be undercover in order to un-blow yourself?’ Vinnie said.
‘Yes,’ Grady said again.
‘But doesn’t he think we’d check?’
‘I told him that in an effort to test him, and he said you wouldn’t be able to check. He didn’t get it absolutely correct, but near enough to worry me that he has some serious inside knowledge of the workings of undercover operations and their operatives,’ Grady told him.
Vinnie looked back over at Harry, who now had his hand over the top of his head and was giving it a serious rubbing session.
‘This is just getting beyond belief,’ Vinnie said.
‘Won’t nicking Babik prove what I’m saying?’ Grady asked.
‘Possibly, I suppose,’ Vinnie said.
‘Well, come on then before we lose him, but you’ll have to go in carefully,’ Grady warned them.
‘Why?’ Vinnie and Harry said in unison.
‘Because he’s taken a woman hostage.’
Chapter Twenty-Three
Vinnie had hurriedly called in as many cops and detectives as he could muster at short notice, together with the three armed response vehicles that were currently on duty. They were briefed that they would be attending up to three addresses, and each would be a covert armed approach. A knock at the door by a man with a clipboard. If the door was opened, happy days, he or she would declare who they were and put an armed challenge on whoever answered the door as the other armed officers rushed in. If there was no answer, then the clipboard-carrier’s job was to gather as much intel as possible and assess whether anyone was in.
Grady had said that it should be her job to knock and enter and then call the cavalry in, but neither Vinnie nor Harry trusted her. She still couldn’t tell them how Babik would know that they’d been to an empty address. She’d just said that he had eyes and ears everywhere. They had left her locked in their office for the moment, and after briefing what staff they had, sent them off to the forward advance point.
Fortunately, all three addresses were within a couple of minutes’ drive of each other, and the advance location would serve all three. It was a large retail outlet car park, and even though it would draw plenty of attention, no one would know why they were there and in any event, they wouldn’t be there long. At least all the local drug dealers’ water meters would go into hyperdrive as thousands of pounds worth of drugs would no doubt be flushed away.
That was the thing about being a criminal; whenever they saw a cop, they assumed that they were the target. A mixture of arrogance and paranoia.
As soon as the main office had emptied, Vinnie and Harry gave themselves a minute before collecting Grady.
‘What did Darlington say?’ Vinnie asked.
‘Well, after he got over the shock, he said he wished we could put the raids off until we could get enough staff to hit all three simultaneously. But was worried a delay could prove fateful for whoever the hostage is. Though I do have an intel officer keeping watch on the front of addresses two and three.’
‘Any signs of life?’ Vinnie asked.
‘Not as yet.’
‘Do you believe Grady when she says that she has no idea why Babik has taken a hostage?’ Vinnie asked.
‘No.’
‘Other than for insurance, but insurance against what?’ Vinnie said.
A young analyst named Debbie then interrupted them. ‘Sorry sirs, but we have no one reported missing from home matching the information you gave me.’
‘What I was able to give you was vague, are you certain?’ Vinnie asked.
‘Afraid so sir, in fact we have had no reported MFHs at all in the last 48 hours.’
Vinnie cursed inwardly but thanked Debbie with a smile, before telling her, ‘Just keep an eye on it in case one comes in.’
‘I have all the comms rooms briefed,’ Debbie said.
Vinnie thanked her and waited until she had walked away before turning back to Harry. ‘So, no MFHs, no intel matching this boneheaded accomplice, and no intel on any of the addresses.’
‘Don’t forget that the landlord of all three addresses is suddenly uncontactable,’ Harry added.
‘I don’t like it,’ Vinnie said.
‘Me neither, but there is only one way to find out. Come on, we’d better get moving.’
Then Vinnie’s phone rang. It was Christine and he took the call, saying, ‘You’ll have to be quick, I’m just in the middle—’
Christine interrupted him with a garbled precis of what had happened over on Queens Drive in Liverpool.
‘Bloody hell, are you OK?’ he asked.
‘OK now I have the girls at my place, I’m just awaiting for the local cops to turn up.’
‘Look, I’m really in the middle of something I can’t get away from, but if you’re safe for now, that’s the main thing. The cops will just record the details and send a detective over to you, as well as social services. This will take a couple of hours at least, by which time I should be free.’
‘I’m frightened to let these women back into the system after what has happened,’ Christine said. ‘Will they let the women stay with me overnight, until things can be sorted properly?’
‘I would think they’d be glad of your offer. Soz, got to go, but ring me if you need me. Otherwise I’ll ring you later,’ Vinnie said, before ending the call.
‘Everything alright?’ Harry asked.
‘Ish. I’ll tell you later, when we can talk.’
Twenty minutes later, they were parked up outside the first address, an end terrace house split into two flats. The downstairs was unoccupied and the upstairs was the one that Babik had used. The street was a dimly-lit side street off New Hall Lane, which was a major thoroughfare in and out of the city from the eastern side. The street was occupied on one side by pavement-fronted houses, but with a few small garden-fronted ones at its dead end. Most of the opposite side of the street was open land where textile mills had once stood, and although the narrow road was tarmacked, it had several potholes uncovering the cobbles from yesteryear.
They were in Harry’s car, he was driving and Vinnie was in the back with Grady. He’d no intention of letting her further away from him than an arm’s reach.
‘I wish you’d let me go first, he’ll answer it if he sees me,’ Grady said.
‘Not safe, you’re unarmed,’ Harry said. Vinnie knew that wasn’t the real reason.
‘But I don’t need to be, I’m not a cop, as such. Anyway, he’ll be keen to know how his plan has worked, whether you believed me when I told you that I was undercover.’
‘Quite,’ Harry said, as his handheld radio announced that Alpha-one-foot was approaching the address. Alpha-one-foot was the plain clothed firearms man with the clipboard.
Then the observation post came over the air to announce that the OP had a ‘visual on the friendly as clipboard man approached the ad
dress.’ Vinnie could see there was a light on upstairs, so they were hopeful. The main firearms team announced that they were in position, which meant they were all behind the gable end of the address. Seconds away from the front door. There was a small carpark opposite the address, which was where they were parked. Vinnie had told Harry to park his car facing away from the street, to add to their cover. He turned and looked out of the back window, which was starting to steam up. But they dare not turn the ignition on, as the dashboard would light up and make them obvious.
Vinnie could just make out the outline of the man with the clipboard as he approached the door.
‘Alpha-one-foot to the team, knocking now,’ the officer whispered over the radio.
Silence. Twenty seconds passed. Then, ‘Knocking again,’ he whispered.
The sound of loud banging could be heard over his speech as he transmitted. Silence again. A further 20 seconds passed before the OP took up the commentary. ‘OP with the visual, confirming that Alpha-one-foot is away from the target premises. Update, Alpha-one-foot; soonest.’
Another agonising wait of 10 or more seconds passed before Alpha-one-foot came over the radio, speaking more loudly now. He said there were lights on and he thought he had heard noises from within. The OP added that they thought they had seen the upstairs net curtains twitch, but were unable to confirm if they had been moved by a person.
Vinnie knew that OP’s view would be very limited, peering out from the rear of a van. They had all the intel they were likely to get. It was decision time.
‘Harry?’ Vinnie asked.
Harry didn’t answer, but put the radio transmitter to his mouth, ‘This is Zero Alpha to the OP; permission to speak?’
Vinnie knew that in surveillance radio discipline, whoever had the eyeball had control, and anyone who wished to speak needed their permission; even the detective superintendent. It was intended to prevent things happening which the eyeball could not make the rest of the team aware because someone was hogging the airwaves. Only one voice can transmit and be heard at one time. Rank was irrelevant.
‘Go ahead, Zero Alpha,’ the OP replied.
‘Zero Alpha to Firearms Alpha and all the firearms teams — Strike, strike, strike,’ Harry said.
There was a quick acknowledgment from each of the firearms strike teams and Vinnie then used his arm to clear the condensation from the rear window. He could just make out the silhouette of several figures as they crept from the gable end of the house under a garden wall to the short path which led to the front door. A pause, and then he saw the figures rush at the front door. A man with a battering ram had the door in in a second. Several figure rushed past him with their weapons drawn. Harry had dropped his driver’s door window and Vinnie could hear the clear shouts of “Armed Police” followed by more silence. And then…
‘Firearms Alpha to Zero Alpha,’ sounded over Harry’s radio. Harry answered, followed by Firearms Alpha, saying, ‘No sign of the suspect, sir, but we do have a body.’
Chapter Twenty-Four
‘Oh my God, we are too late,’ Vinnie said, as he reached for the door handle.
‘Zero Alpha to Firearms Alpha, are we sure the lady is dead?’ Harry asked over the radio.
‘The body’s definitely dead,’ Firearms Alpha replied. ‘But it’s not female.’
Vinnie and Harry looked at each other. Harry opened the boot of his car and directed Vinnie to a cardboard box containing white forensic suits and overshoes. He told Vinnie to check the scene but not to hang about. He’d make contact with the two intel officers at the other two addresses and send the rest of the teams over to whichever looked favourite; he said he’d catch a lift and leave his car for Vinnie to use. As Harry turned away and started to give his instructions over the radio, Vinnie quickly suited-up and told Grady to do so, too.
Vinnie then grabbed Grady by the arm and walked her over to the front door as the firearms officers were starting to leave the premises. Vinnie grabbed one uniformed PC standing outside and told him to start a scene log and secure the area as soon as they had left, adding that they wouldn’t be long. Vinnie entered and was met in the hallway by the firearms sergeant — Firearms Alpha — who told them to follow him. They did, and a moment later both stood in the living room of the upstairs flat.
Seated at an old formica kitchen table, with his head face down on its surface, was the body of a bald male in his thirties, or so Vinnie estimated. ‘I suppose we should be grateful it’s not the hostage, wherever she is, but then again, he is someone,’ Vinnie said, as he carefully grabbed the hair at the rear of the head and lifted it out of the pool of dark red blood that was still spreading slowly across the table.
Vinnie had a quick glance at the face, but didn’t recognise the deceased. He asked the firearms sergeant to take a quick photo of the face with his phone to help them ID the dead man as quickly as they could.
Vinnie noticed that the head was hard to keep under control; it moved about too easily, almost as if it was attached to the neck by some sort of universal joint. Then he realised why. The poor man had had his neck cut from one side to the other. It looked as if the cut had gone in a long way and it was probably only the man’s spine that had prevented a full decapitation. Vinnie gently laid the head back down upon the table, so as not to disturb too much, and then said they should all now leave and head to the next address.
Outside, the firearms sergeant rushed off to join his team and once back at Harry’s car, Vinnie and Grady started to remove their protective garments.
‘I can save you some time with the ID-ing of the deceased,’ Grady said.
Vinnie turned to look at her, and she continued. ‘His name was Bonehead, I never knew his real name, but he was Babik’s right-hand man. He was also the man who drove the motorcycle when Watson was killed.’
Vinnie was startled to hear this; perhaps Grady was on the level, after all. He thanked her and asked her to think of anything which might help them identify Bonehead formally. He then asked what she thought had happened, and where was Babik?
‘Bonehead was a loyal servant but not the brightest, he was often letting Babik down, perhaps he just went too far this time. It would also explain why Babik’s done one.’
Vinnie hoped that the search of the two further addresses proved fruitful. He looked sideways at Grady as he drove Harry’s car, she looked as if she was contemplating something; then spoke.
‘I’ve just remembered an earlier conversation we all had, in that very room where Bonehead died.’
Vinnie told her to go on, and she recalled a discussion where it became apparent that Bonehead had loaded the Uzi that Babik used to kill Watson. ‘What, you mean the magazine? Because we have the weapon.’
‘No; well yes, but I was referring to the ammo. Apparently, Bonehead loaded the magazine by hand without gloves some time before the murder. It was only when they needed the weapon that he put his gloves on, to put the magazine in,’ she added.
Vinnie thanked her, and then concentrated on navigating his way through a large council estate on the southern side of New Hall Lane. All the side roads looked the same. What Grady had just told him was very useful, he was sure that some of the empty ammo cases had already been recovered from the murder scene, plus there would be unused rounds in the weapon itself. He’d make sure that further searches were done until they had recovered all that they could. They only had to be lucky with one of them, not that it greatly mattered now, Bonehead wouldn’t be standing trial. But it would still be good supportive evidence against Babik. Grady’s testimony would tie them together. He was starting to feel more relaxed about Grady, now.
Vinnie was still looking for the side street which contained the nearest of the two further addresses when his mobile rang. It was Harry. He pulled over to take the call.
‘Don’t bother attending.’
‘Why?’ Vinnie asked.
‘Because the second address has just gone up in flames. I’ve just arrived but the intel man a
t the front saw nothing before the flames. Hang on.’
Vinnie could hear Harry’s radio in the background but couldn’t make out the speech, other than to notice that it sounded hurried and urgent. Then Harry came back on the line.
‘Did you get that?’
Vinnie said he hadn’t and Harry told him that the third address, which was just around the corner from the second, was also on fire.
‘I take it, nothing from the guy at the front?’ Vinnie asked.
‘No, he must have clocked the watchers and approached from the rear. This guy is not taking any chances. I just pray that our hostage isn’t in one of the houses. Particularly this one; it’s well alight. God forbid that anyone is in there, because they are a lost soul if so. Comms have directed the fire service to go to the other place first. How did you get on?’
Vinnie quickly filled Harry in on Bonehead, including what Grady had said. He sounded pleased. They both agreed to head back to the office to get started on what was now a second murder enquiry. He just hoped that there were no surprises in the other properties.
As he restarted Harry’s car, Vinnie could hear the sound of emergency vehicles approaching, and as he turned back into New Hall Lane to return to the city centre, a succession of fire engines passed them going the other way. At least they would soon be there. ‘I hope there are no more Boneheads at the other addresses,’ he said.
‘I think he just used them as storage, or meeting places. All my dealings with Babik were at the first address,’ Grady said.
‘I was referring to the hostage,’ Vinnie replied.
‘Sorry, I didn’t think,’ Grady said, ‘but I’ve only ever seen her at the first address.’
‘He must have moved her somewhere,’ Vinnie said.
‘Like I said, the second and third were just buildings for storage or meetings; there isn’t even any furniture in them. I wouldn’t have thought he’d have taken the hostage there, let alone leave her behind.’
‘I hope you’re right,’ Vinnie said. ‘I wonder why he didn’t set the first address on fire, if that’s his thing?’
The Badge & the Pen Thrillers Page 64
