by Suzy Shearer
I had a surge of anger, but I knew my boss. He’d have me arrested in a split second if I didn’t agree to his terms.
“I understand. I’ll play good.”
“Make sure you do. Someone should be there soon to give you a weapon.”
“Thanks, I owe you big time for this.”
His voice actually softened as he said, “Call it payment for all the years of service. But behave.”
I glanced over at the two senior guys. One held a briefcase. He came over to me—an inspector, and handed it over.
“I’m Inspector Paul Clemson. I’ve been asked to give this to you. I’ve also been informed you will fully cooperate. You will give us all you know and we’ll return the favor.”
It was pretty obvious he wasn’t happy but his orders had come from the top.
“Thank you, Inspector. I appreciate it. Do you know any more?”
“We have people going over CCT now. We’ve pulled it from everywhere we can, including private security cameras. Who has Miss Rowley? My officers tell me you know.”
I couldn’t deny the obvious. I nodded and said, “Fucker named Arthur Riley. Wanted in the UK and Europe, very dangerous—a multiple killer.”
“And he’s here because?”
Shit, this is my fault and this cop knows it!
“He and I have met on several occasions, unfortunately, I missed.”
He nodded and exhaled loudly. “I’m waiting on—”
His phone rang and he held up a hand. The conversation was brief, but he gestured for a pen and paper. While he scribbled notes, I waited until he spoke to me, the phone still connected.
“Okay, we’ve got the registration plate—it’s a rental. Good news is it has a GPS tracking device in it, one of the few in the company. They’re sending the information through now.”
He looked at Charlie. “What’s the fax number here?”
Charlie rattled it off and the officer relayed it to the person on the other end of the phone. Several more police officers had turned up while this was going on and the bridal salon now seemed like a police convention. The fax machine spat out a page document and all eyes turned to Clemson.
“Got it.”
He let me read it after he did. The car was parked at an address in Gosford, and apparently it was an old industrial estate.
He stepped away from me and I heard him speak to someone on the other end, arranging to have various units sent to the scene and telling them to secure the area. Finally, he hung up and scrutinized the room. He ordered several of the officers to remain at the boutique in case the kidnappers rang and the others to come with him.
“Let’s go,” he instructed, showing the address to the other officers.
I elected to ride in the back with the inspector. We took off, sirens blaring. I opened the case he’d given me earlier. Inside were two guns—a Glock 22.40 caliber semi-automatic pistol and a Glock 23. I stuck the 23 in the back of my pants waistband after checking the action and then loading it. Wasn’t how I like to be armed, but it was better than nothing.
“Got Kevlar for you.”
His voice was still brusque as I accepted the vest from a cop in the passenger seat. I took off my jacket, making sure my mobile was still in one of its pockets in case Anabelle—or that bastard Riley rang. I wrangled it on in the speeding car. Then I slid the 22.40 into the holster after loading it and dropped the spare magazines in the vest pockets. I was as ready as I could be. I checked the dash clock—6:46. Anabelle had been in Riley’s hands since sometime around ten.
I steeled myself. I couldn’t allow my love for Anabelle get in the way, but I knew the odds that she was unharmed or even alive were pretty slim. I had to push all thoughts of her away so I could do my job safely. We’d been traveling for close to thirty minutes when the inspector spoke to the officer in the front passenger seat. He picked up the two-way.
“Cut the sirens.”
Clemson glanced my way.
“About five minutes. Gosford has units surrounding the area. TOU have arrived, but they are under orders not to go in yet until we discover the kidnapper’s demands—they don’t like the place, says the area’s a rabbit warren of buildings.”
“I know the kind of people we’re dealing with and they don’t play nice. Tell your people these pricks won’t respond to negotiation and they’re wasting their time if they think any sort of negotiation will be effective.”
We pulled in alongside a few dozen cars. A senior Tactical Operations Unit—TOU—officer came over to us. The name on the vest read Cooper. Clemson did the introductions and Cooper studied me as if I was a piece of dog shit. Obviously, he’d been directed to allow me full cooperation.
“They’re still inside. We got four people on the Range-R, our handheld Doppler radar device. One person is not moving, and we’re guessing it’s our vic. Seems like the vic is on top of a table. The other three have been moving back and forth. One is in a different room here.”
Cooper pointed out on a map of where in the building people were. Clemson and I nodded our understanding.
“We could hear the vic screaming earlier on but nothing for the past fifteen minutes, and they haven’t moved at all since then.”
My whole body went numb.
Cooper continued his briefing, “We’ve got the place surrounded with our men and then GD cops are in a secondary ring.”
This was all bullshit.
I spoke up. “Right, I’m going in. If I don’t come out in ten minutes, you can send in the cavalry.”
“Alone?” Cooper gave me a sarcastic sneer. “I can’t allow it.”
“Sorry, mate, but I’m going in.”
“Fuck you, I don’t care who the hell you are! You are not in charge, we are.” Cooper sprayed spittle as he shouted at me.
“I’m better alone. I’ve done this more times than any of you’ve had sex.”
He gave a snort of derision and said, “Not negotiable.”
“Fine, Slick. But we do it my way.”
He jabbed me with a hard finger. “Listen, you might be a big shot back in the UK, but I don’t give a flying fuck. I’m under orders, and I have to let you come, but you’ll do exactly as I say or I handcuff you now and throw you in the back of a wagon and then conveniently forget all about you for a fucking week! Got it, Pommy?”
Fuming, I could only nod. Somehow, I had to get it through to these people. This was no game. Riley was one of the most dangerous men on the planet, and on top of that, he was insane.
“Listen up, Slick. Riley is dangerous. He doesn’t give a fuck about killing anyone, enjoys torturing. I’m pretty sure at least one of the others will be Frank Carruthers, and he’s even meaner. Likes to fuck before he kills, doesn’t give a shit if it’s a man or woman or beast. Between them, those two have killed at least fifteen and that’s what we know of. They’re wanted in the UK and on the Continent.”
I looked at the two, hoping this was getting through. Cooper nodded and I could see him take in everything I said.
“They won’t come easy. They won’t give a fuck that the place is surrounded. Their intention will be to take out as many of us as possible before they escape or die. Listen carefully. Don’t play the hero. Shoot first.”
“You one hundred percent about negotiation?”
“Won’t work. Been tried with these two before and it always ended with them getting away. Last time three people were dead and another two seriously injured. I can assure you they will simply draw this out for days then shoot their way out, if they don’t do that first.”
“The brass want us to negotiate first. If that doesn’t work, they want us to go in early first light in the morning.”
“She’ll be dead by then,” I said, my insides going cold at the thought of losing her.
“You do realize there’s a good chance she already is.”
“Of course I fucking do, Slick!” I shouted, my anger, my terror for Anabelle taking hold for a moment. “You think I don’t
know what’s happening in there? I know more than you ever will. Neither of those pricks give a shit! They’ll kill her without a second thought. That’s what I fucking know and I fucking know what else those bastards will do to her before they kill her!”
I was screaming—both in fear and frustration.
“You one hundred percent sure, Pommy? You sure they won’t negotiate? You sure they’ll fight their way out if they can and take as many of us as possible?”
“A hundred and ten percent. Ring your Commissioner. I’m sure by now people in the UK would have filled him in on who you’re dealing with.”
Cooper walked away and I saw him talking to someone on a phone. Finally, he came back.
“We’ve got permission to go in.”
I noticed they had night gear on. That gave me an idea.
“Got spare night vision?”
Cooper gestured to an officer who got me a set.
“Can you cut the electricity to the building?”
“Yes, I’ve already got men ready to do that when we go in.”
“Okay. Ten minutes to get in place then your man cuts the power. We hope the fuckers don’t have any night scopes and we wrap them up quick. Can you get that garage door open once the power’s off?”
“Yes, my men are already in position to do exactly that. We were working on the very same plan when you arrived as a fallback in case negotiation didn’t work. I intend to throw in a smoke grenade as we enter. We do know how to run an operation, Pommy.”
Somehow, we’d both crossed a corner and gained a certain amount of respect for each other. Cooper handed me a mic and I hooked it up. Then he gave me a night-vision mask. He called over the rest of his men who weren’t involved in surrounding the building and went through the plan. He pointed to one of the other TOU officers standing with us.
“This is Henderson, he’ll grab the hostage.” He nodded at Henderson. “Your job is the hostage. Nothing else. We get inside, and you get to her. I want her out of there immediately regardless of whether she’s dead or alive. Understand?”
Henderson nodded. “Yes, sir.”
I’d been eyeing off the building and could see our point of entry. I pointed it out to the others. There were broken windows and one was underneath an industrial bin. We could climb on top of it and pull ourselves up and inside.
“We get inside there and Henderson does his thing.”
“I agree.”
Finally, Cooper and I agreed on something useful.
“Small team. Henderson’s grabbing the hostage. Wilson, you and Black watch his arse. Stephens with me and”—he glanced at me and jerked his thumb in my direction—“with me and the Pommy.”
“Questions?”
They all shook their heads. I needed them to understand these pricks wouldn’t go nicely.
“Once we get in and they see us, they will start shooting. Enter low and get out of any back-light as quick as you can.”
“Stop trying to teach us how to suck eggs. We know.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, I don’t doubt it, but these two will want as many of you dead as they can. Make sure you remember that. They get their kicks killing.”
Cooper looked at his men and said, “Let’s go.”
Cooper spoke to one of the other men standing nearby. He went off into the darkness. As quickly and quietly as possible, we climbed up and found the dirty window previously seen from the ground. It was broken and the grill covering it had been torn off, probably druggies or homeless using it as a squat.
Cooper stuck his head in for a quick recon, and then beckoned me.
“Catwalk here,” he whispered in my ear while pointing.
Luckily for us, that metal catwalk ran the length of the building. Cooper went in first, then me, and we waited until the others landed softly alongside. Cooper signaled for everyone to follow him down to the stairs.
We crept carefully along and then slowly made our way down the stairs. Cooper pointed to the open door furthest away from us, indicating that was the one the three heat signatures had been in. We could see light spilling out onto the factory floor. I checked my watch—two minutes until blackout. Cooper signaled to the others and we crept to the side of the door and waited, our night-vision goggles and masks on, our weapons ready.
Suddenly, the light went out and we could hear shouts of anger from inside.
“Fuck!”
“Frank, keep cool, I’m getting Smithers. This’ll be the cops. We knew this would happen sooner or later. Remember, kill as many as you can while you get out. We’ll rendezvous at the Hornsby unit.”
I knew that voice—Riley, and it confirmed my suspicion that Frank Carruthers was with him.
Cooper held up his hand and counted down to three. Then he rolled in through the open door at the same time he threw a smoke grenade.
I’d already decided my target was Riley. I didn’t dare to even glance toward the table where I thought Anabelle was. I kept my eyes focused on the prick inside. As soon as he heard our movement, he’d started firing indiscriminately, but I’d already darted inside and to the left. The TOU guys returned fire but only one shot found its mark—on Carruthers. I knew this because he shouted to Riley he’d been shot in the left arm. The good guys took shelter from the hail of bullets while Carruthers fired wildly in every direction through the smoke.
It began clearing and I saw Carruthers spin about and ducked down as another bullet found its mark.
I kept my eyes on Carruthers. Obviously, Riley had left the room in search of the missing Smithers, whomever he was. I saw Cooper quickly head toward an open door as I crept around a stool, noting that Henderson had someone hanging limp in his arms and was heading out with Wilson and Black behind him, firing in the direction of Carruthers. I hoped it was Anabelle and prayed she was alive. Pushing that thought away, I found Carruthers down, leaning against a cabinet, gun out, facing away from me, shooting in any direction. I took aim at his heart and let loose a single shot. He froze as if in shock then fell forward.
Most of the smoke had cleared from the room now. I had no intention of leaving any of them alive as I heard rapid gunfire coming from the other room, I took a quick scan of the area before sheltering behind the door. I had seen Cooper shielding himself behind a massive packing crate and Stephens behind a cabinet. One person lay on the floor, the other was shooting any which way—Riley.
Using an automatic weapon, he was shooting madly anywhere and everywhere, shouting at the top of his voice.
“Fuck you, Jennings! Come and get me, you bastard!”
Riley was spraying the whole room, laughing like the maniac he was. Cooper and Stephens were pinned down as barrage after barrage of shells ripped into the packing crate and the cabinet.
Riley started laughing. “I killed your fucking bitch just like you killed my brother, you fucking bastard. Hear me, Jennings? She’s fucking dead! But I let Carruthers have fun with her first. She loved him fucking her. Hear that, Jennings? You should have heard her begging him to fuck her over and over before I killed her. He had his cock up her arse and his hairy arm deep in her cunt. I killed her and Carruthers kept fucking her even after she was dead.”
He sounded maniacal as he laughed and laughed.
“Hear that, Jennings? She was dead and he’s still fucking her!”
My heart turned cold as I crouched down and lay on the floor. Wriggling to the open doorway, I took aim and fired off a round. He jerked in response and stopped firing. I kneeled up and fired round after round. I had no idea how many times I hit him. His lifeless body jerked and flopped over and over as I kept my finger on the trigger and continued to fire mindlessly until Cooper grabbed my gun arm and pulled it down.
“He’s dead, leave it.”
Cooper spoke through his mic and suddenly the lights came back on. Riley lay in a pool of blood. I had an irresistible urge to kick him but instead I simply turned and walked out. It had been a textbook exercise with no casualties on our side. The other room was
empty, except for Carruthers’s body.
Pulling off the face mask and goggles, I tore through the building and outside as the remaining TOU guys stormed in. I could see several ambulances and raced toward them. All I could hear was Riley’s voice in my head, telling me he’d killed Anabelle and what Carruthers had done. Tears streamed down my face.
I thought at that point my heart had stopped beating.
Chapter Twenty-Five
John
Henderson stood at the open door of one of the ambulances. He nodded at me but his face grimaced as it filled with pity. She couldn’t be dead!
I threw the goggles and the mask at Henderson’s feet. I refused to believe she was dead as I clambered into the back of the ambulance where she lay on a stretcher, two medics working on her.
“Anabelle!” I shouted.
One of the medics glanced up at me. I demanded to know how she was.
“Who the fuck are you?”
“Her partner. Please, please tell me she’s alive. Tell me she’s going to live.”
My heart plummeted again and faltered. She looked bad. Her body seemed a bloody mess and I was sure she was dead.
“Anabelle,” I cried desperately, and weak with grief, I almost fell.
My Anabelle!
Suddenly, her eyes fluttered and she groaned as the medic nodded. I grabbed the side of the ambulance to stop myself from falling with relief.
“She’s alive. Has a broken nose, I think possibly broken ribs. She’s been savagely bashed and burned. There may be internal injuries. She’s not out of the woods and… I’m sorry, but I think she’s been raped.”
I screamed to the heavens.
“Fuck! No, Anabelle!”
I wanted to get to her, but the two men were in the way. Cooper had come out of the building at some point and now took my arm, pulling me from the ambulance. I kept shaking him off but finally allowed him drag me out.
“Let them work on her, Pommy.”
I didn’t know what to think, what to do. Shit, I was a man who was always in control and now I was a blubbering wreck. I stared blindly at Cooper.
“Give me your guns.”
