The Rubicon

by Andrew Heasman

  Jared cradled his injured hand, but seeing Adam retreat gave him the opportunity to counterattack. He threw a punch, catching him on the left side of the face. Recoiling from the blow, Adam fully expected more punches to follow. Without a second thought, he switched into fight or flight mode, launching an attack of his own. Two punches took out Jared’s head, closely followed by another two to the torso. He collapsed in a huddle, propped against the wall, only to receive a sharp kick to the body. He let out a cry of pain as the air was forced from his lungs leaving him rolling about clutching his injured ribs. Adam stared down at him, the adrenaline flowing, feeling satisfied that he had finally got retribution on the first of Turner’s sidekicks. He might have continued to rain blows upon him, but the voice of reason at the back of his mind told him to stop. Enough was enough. As far as he was concerned, Brown was merely a bit player. He would save the bulk of his rage for Aaron Turner.

  Adam had inflicted enough pain on Jared Brown, for now. A warning would be sufficient to ensure that he no longer interfered in his family’s lives.

  “Listen up! You’re gonna pass a message to Aaron for me. Tell Turner...”

  “Tell him yourself,” he shouted, belligerently.

  “OK – Where can I find him?”

  “Fuck off!” He was clearly not going to divulge that information. Little did he know that Adam already knew the answer.

  “How do you contact him?” It suddenly occurred to Adam that Jared would use his mobile phone. He might be able to gain more valuable information from it that could help in his campaign of revenge. “Where’s your mobile?”

  Brown refused to answer so Adam began patting him down until he located it in his back trouser pocket. He pushed the power button to activate the ‘Home’ screen.

  “What, no PIN protection? That’s careless of you.” Adam smirked at the boy. “Let’s give him a call, eh?” He began flicking through the various screens looking for his ‘Contacts’ list.

  Until that point, Jared had shown defiance towards Adam - despite cowering on the ground having taken a good beating - but as Adam inspected the contents of his phone, a look of fear slowly spread across his face. Had he suddenly realised that there was something on there that it would be best if Adam did not see?

  Adam came across a ‘Videos’ tab. Curious to see if his arrest footage was still there, he opened the page. He was not surprised to see that it was top of the list. However, as his eyes drifted downwards, he noticed other videos, and lots of them.

  “What have we got here then?” he said, more to himself than to Jared.

  He clicked on one of the other thumbnail images and the phone displayed a clip of him attending the hoax job at Nicholson House. He watched as it showed him falling to the ground and being warned to withdraw his evidence against Josh Turner. Adam’s rage was starting to build again. Why keep these reminders of his torment? Was it a form of trophy hunting, a memento of what they had done to him? Then it occurred to him that it was actually the perfect evidence of their crimes. It incriminated the whole group and was exactly what the police needed to prosecute them. Maybe I’d better keep the phone, just in case, he thought.

  Jared could not see the screen, but he could hear the voices on the footage. He knew exactly what Adam was looking at. He became agitated and scared, afraid that he might discover even more on his device. He attempted to get to his feet, but collapsed back against the wall.

  Adam barely noticed his movement; he was too engrossed in what he had discovered. He clicked on another video. This one showed the interior of a car with two people in the front seats. The camera was in the rear, looking at the backs of their heads, and beyond, through the windscreen. In the distance, there were two people walking along the pavement, their backs turned to the camera. The car slowed, matching their walking speed, and then a voice said, “Go on then, do it!” as it accelerated, veered to the left and mounted the pavement.

  What followed would haunt Adam for the rest of his life.

  The screen showed the image of his wife bouncing off the bonnet of the car, being tossed to the ground like a rag doll. His daughter was also struck from behind, her head disappearing from view beneath the moving vehicle. He heard the sickening crunch of bone on metal, and he had an overpowering urge to vomit!

  He continued to stare at the screen despite the footage having come to an end. He was in shock, not quite believing what he had just witnessed. He was stunned, the horror of the incident having been portrayed in vivid harsh reality before him. As he slowly rejoined the present, his emotions turned to rage.

  “You were there?” he roared.

  “It’s not what you...” Jared began, his words pleading, trembling with fear. He tried to get to his feet, to escape from Adam’s fury, and as he levered his weight against his right leg, Adam struck. He saw Jared’s foot pinned against the bottom of the wall, using it to push up from. Without thinking, Adam’s own foot slammed down onto his shin with momentum, his anger fuelling the force of the stamp. He heard the bone snap, like the breaking of a dry twig, only for it to be drowned out by the screams of pain and sobbing from Jared as he rolled into a foetal position clutching his distorted leg in agony.

  Looking down on him, Adam savoured the sight of his enemy’s suffering. It was no more than he deserved. Ignoring the cries of, “Help me...please...” he switched Jared’s mobile phone to video mode.

  “You like filming things, don’t you?” he said, not expecting to receive any reply. “See how you like this.”

  He began filming Jared as he struggled with his broken leg, rolling about on the ground. Once finished, he clicked the direct link, posting it onto his Facebook page.

  “Let’s see how funny your mates find it when they see you like this.” There was an evil overtone to his words.

  Having had enough of watching Jared suffer, Adam stepped to the side and picked up the knife that had been dropped during the struggle. He was careful not to smudge Brown’s fingerprints on the handle as he carefully placed it in his jacket pocket.

  Showing the mobile phone to him, he said, “I’ll be taking this with me.” He smiled. “Tell Turner that he messed with the wrong person. I’ll be coming for him soon.” He looked Brown in the eyes to ensure that he got the message. “And don’t even think about telling the police about me breaking your leg. Just remember - I’ve got your phone - I’ve got footage of you and your mates intimidating me. And if I happen to pass it to the cops, it shows you attempting to murder my family.” He gave him a cold hard stare. “You’ll all be spending a bloody long time with your mate, Josh, in prison! Got it?” After a short pause, he added,” You’ve been warned.”

  Adam turned and walked casually towards the Tesco car park. Turning to look back at his victim, he said sarcastically, “You’d better find a way of getting to a hospital, boy. That leg looks nasty!” He laughed as he strolled into the distance.

  Chapter 26

  07:00 – Thursday 13th December.

  DS Carmichael held the double doors open.

  She was beginning a twelve hour shift and had just arrived at Bury Street Police Station. Standing to one side, she allowed Sgt Turner, the Town Sergeant for the off-going night shift, to pass. He was dressed in civilian clothing having already changed out of his uniform after completing his handover to the early shift’s on-coming supervisor.

  “Morning, Bev.”

  “Morning, Brad. Did you have a good night shift?” They stopped for a second to chat. Brad Turner’s eyes were rimmed with red. He was exhausted and could feel the draw of his bed calling him to head home.

  “Yeah, not too bad.” He smiled. “Oh, we did have one strange incident that might be of interest to you.”

  “Go on...”

  “We found a lad who’d been assaulted. He had a nasty-looking broken leg. Claims that he fell, but he’s talking bollocks. I’ve passed it to CID to follow up on during the day shift, but I mention it because his name was flagged as being of interest to you in
relation to the assault on PC Johnston and the Greenwood intimidation stuff.”

  “Really? Who was it?”

  “One Jared Brown, off the Glebe.” Bev Carmichael mulled over the name.

  “Interesting. I think maybe I’d better go pay him a visit.”

  “He’s been admitted to Barrington General – Sykes Ward.”

  “OK, thanks for that. Anyway, you’d best get off home for some shut-eye. See you tomorrow.”

  By eight O’clock, DS Carmichael was at Jared Brown’s bedside, interrogating him as to the cause of his injuries. He appeared to be in a pretty bad way with fresh bruising to the face, a heavily bandaged hand and ribs, and a leg that was encased in a white plaster sleeve and was elevated slightly.

  It became abundantly clear that he was in no mood to talk. Initially, he stuck to his story that he had fallen, but when pushed, he admitted that he had actually been mugged by persons unknown. That in itself was nothing extraordinary, it happened a lot on the estate. But Bev had the distinct impression that he was hiding something. She had a hunch that it was connected to the Turner gang. Had there been a falling-out? Had he been attacked by a rival gang? Both were possibilities, but something definitely did not feel right about it. Was she missing something?

  ...

  Adam had been unable to sleep.

  He had spent a large part of the night pacing back and forth, wracked with guilt. He was inherently a good man and attacking Jared Brown had gone against the grain. Admittedly, it had been Brown who had threatened him with a knife causing him to defend himself, but snapping his leg had been pure spite, retaliation for discovering that he had been complicit in the hit-and-run. It had felt good, though. As they say, “Revenge is sweet.”

  With nothing better to occupy his time, he had taken an early morning drive to Churston to check on Jenny at the County Hospital. With no changes to her condition, he had popped in on his in-laws for breakfast, and to visit Sarah who was staying with them. Needless to say, nothing was mentioned of his extra-curricular activities from the previous evening. In response to the question, “How did you get that redness to the side of your face?” he simply stated that he had slipped at work and bumped it against a doorframe. Sarah seemed to accept this reasoning, but there was still a definite tension in the air. Had she not forgiven him for bringing the criminal underworld to their front door? He did not know, but now was not the time to ask.

  Adam had always found that driving gave him the opportunity to think clearly. It relaxed him, he could switch into auto, and he could let his mind wander. The journey back to Barrington was the ideal time to ponder the dilemma that he now faced following last night’s incident.

  On the positive side, he now had irrefutable proof of Turner’s involvement in both the intimidation and the hit-and-run. Jared Brown’s phone footage incriminated him, as well as other members of the gang, and although Turner was not actually shown at any of the recorded incidents, Adam knew that he was the one orchestrating events. However, what should he do with this new-found evidence?

  The logical approach would have been to give the mobile phone footage to the police as it was exactly the type of evidence that they needed.

  However, there was a big BUT.

  The first question that they would ask him was how he had come by the evidence? If he was truthful, he would not only leave himself open to prosecution for assaulting Brown, but the actual phone, and everything on it, would be inadmissible in court. Effectively, he had stolen it whilst robbing Brown (who would be regarded as the victim and not the offender). Even if the phone miraculously appeared at the police station, anonymously, any good defence lawyer would have it thrown out of court by introducing reasonable doubt as to its credibility. Besides, it would only take Brown to mention how it was actually obtained, and Adam would find himself in the same predicament that he would have been in had he handed it to them himself.

  In addition to that, Adam had lost all faith in the police. They seemed more concerned about covering their own backs, and in their personal agendas, than they did in helping him. Certainly Bream appeared to be holding a grudge against him from way back.

  NO! That idea would not work. He dismissed it totally.

  That left only one other solution – to use the phone footage as leverage against Aaron Turner in some way. Adam had already crossed the line when he chose to take the law into his own hands; what difference would a bit of blackmail make once added to his other crimes?

  That was clearly the way ahead, but not just yet - Aaron Turner could wait. There were other members of his gang, people just like Brown, who had caused his family misery and pain; they would be the next ones to face his wrath. However, for the moment, Adam’s mind was too muddled to formulate a plan of action. The best thing that he could do, once he arrived home, would be to analyse the acquired mobile phone, save the video footage to an external source (for safekeeping), and see what information he could discover in its data relating to his other intended targets. He needed names, addresses, contact details, photos, anything that might help his quest in the future.

  As things stood, Jenny was under police protection and his wife was safely secreted away with her parents; that just left him at risk. After the events of last night, he fully expected some sort of reprisal, but he did not care, he had become reckless with regard to his own safety. Bring it on! But you’d better be quick, ‘cause I’m coming for you! In Adam’s mind, the best form of defence was to attack, and in order to achieve that, the old adage - divide and conquer - gave a clue as to his intended tactics.

  At around lunchtime, Adam received a call from Lloyd. He apologised for not helping previously, but thought it pertinent that he let Adam know that the police were investigating an assault against Jared Brown from the previous evening.

  “He was found dumped in an alley with a broken leg. He’d taken quite a beating, by all accounts. Anyway, the detectives are working on the basis that there was some sort of rift amongst the gang members. If they were involved in the hit-and-run, like you suspect, it’s possible that this was some sort of fallout as a consequence.” He paused when Adam did not respond. “Anyway, I just thought I’d let you know what’s happened and that our side are still looking into the gang in relation to your case.”

  After thanking him, Adam picked through what he had just been told. Clearly Jared Brown had chosen NOT to implicate him in the attack. That was a good thing. However, he would almost certainly have told Turner what had really happened. He would be forewarned and expecting him to strike back.

  So be it.

  ...

  Sykes Ward, Barrington General Hospital, was a mixed surgical ward consisting of six beds. The lunchtime visiting period meant that it was busy with family members chatting to the sick, the injured, and those recovering.

  Jared Brown lay on his bed at the far end of the room, absently gazing out of the window at the helipad on the adjacent rooftop. He was not expecting any visitors and wished that the visiting hour would come to an end so that he could resume his rest and recuperation.

  He glanced towards the entrance to see Aaron furtively loitering in the doorway, sniffing, and looking at him from the corner of his eye. Another member of the gang was standing in the corridor, watching him. Aaron looked decidedly uncomfortable in the hospital environment. He plucked up the courage to enter the room and slowly shuffled towards Jared’s bedside.

  “Who did this to you?” He showed no sympathy. He was curt and businesslike, speaking in a hushed whisper to avoid being overheard. “I saw it on your social media. Some fucking idiot filmed you after you’d been beaten up.”

  Jared looked around the room to ensure nobody was listening. “It was Greenwood!”

  Aaron looked surprised. “Really? Looks like he’s grown a pair since I last saw him. He obviously doesn’t know when to take a hint, does he? We’ve put his wife and daughter in hospital, and now he decides to retaliate? Well, he’s gone too far. It’s his turn to feel some pai
n now!” There was a sparkle in his eye as if he was enjoying the cat and mouse battle.

  “Aaron, there might be a bit of a problem.” Jared sounded hesitant. Should he tell him the whole story?

  “Why?” snapped Aaron.

  “He took my mobile off me. It’s got videos of him nicking Josh, us intimidating him, and footage of the hit-and-run. He said that if I told the police that it was him, he’d take the phone to the cops and we’d all be facing attempt murder charges.”

  Aaron took a moment to ponder this information.

  “But if he did go to the cops, he’d be looking at getting done for GBH on you. It’s a bit of a stalemate really, isn’t it?” He paused. “Maybe we’d better force his hand; see what he chooses to do?” He looked over his shoulder at the other member of his team and said, “Find him. Get the lads to track Greenwood down.”

  “He said to let you know that he’d be coming for YOU. You might not need to go looking for him, he might come to us himself,” Jared interjected.

  Turning back towards him, Aaron added, “As for you, you idiot; how many times have I told you about filming everything that we do? You’ve handed the proof to Greenwood, and if the cops get their hands on it, you’ll have shafted the lot of us! You’re a bloody idiot! Don’t think you’ll be getting away lightly with all of this; I’ll deal with you once you get out of here.”

  With that, Aaron and his minder turned and marched out of the hospital.

  Chapter 27

  18:30 – Thursday 13th December.

  Adam had decided that his next two targets would be Smith and Danson.