Night In London (Night Series Book 2)

by Casey Christie

  “Enough! Michael! Yes, I may not have been there today but I’ve been there before and I sure as hell know that alcohol won’t make those things we’ve seen any easier to deal with, in fact it makes it worse! Sure you may feel better now, for an hour or two, or perhaps the entire evening, if you drink enough, but tomorrow all that nastiness will intensify to a shit storm in your mind, weakened by the long term effects of this poison.”

  The General stood up and put his own glass down before walking over to Night and taking his glass away.

  “Enough of this poison for the evening, Michael.”

  The General walked to the door, opened it and asked his housekeeper to bring them a pot of tea before retaking his seat.

  “Tea! Have you lost your mind, Amos!”

  “No, Michael. I have not. You’re probably too under the influence right now to understand the danger you’re in, the danger we’re in. You shooting those poor bastards today has the potential to put a big bloody spotlight on us and that’s the last thing we need!”

  “I couldn’t just stand by and watch two human beings being whipped and burnt to death, Amos! I gave them the easy way out, a humane, quick, death!”

  “I know, Michael. Every officer that was there knows that. Hell even Colonel Maputo knows that, and he’s a by-the-book station commander but the fact remains the you effectively killed those men, don’t you understand that!”

  The General’s words sunk in and Night finally let the truth of his actions take hold. He took in a deep breath and sunk into his chair.

  “So what now, do I present myself to the Bramley detectives and surrender myself for murder?”

  “I’ve thought about that, I even discussed with the Colonel about how we would do it. But it wouldn’t work. You’d effectively tie the rope that hangs you. No, though I have another idea.”

  The police officers sat in silence as Mavis set down a pot of tea and poured the men a cup each and then left.

  “So what’s your idea then, Amos?”

  “Leave it to me, you won’t like it, I don’t like it but it’s the only choice we have left to us that might just pull your arse out of the fire, this time.”

  Night wanted to press the General on what his plan was but knew better. Amos Arosi had saved him and his crew from similar problems with the letter of the law previously. And he was in fact too tired, too drunk and too highly strung to care at the moment, all Night wanted was a large meal and a bed.

  “You said that we’re in danger?”

  “What I am going to have to do to clear your name will potentially bring more eyes on us and after all the Gaddafi news in the papers over the last few days that’s the last thing we need.. which brings me to my next point - you’re going to have to go to London sooner than I would’ve liked, Monday next week in fact. It will serve two purposes: Firstly to deal with this Englishman that’s been so interested in our last endeavour, so interested in fact that he sent thugs to my home, and secondly to get you out of the country while this whole Jungle Justice mercy execution saga settles down.”

  Night sat up in his chair his mind alive with questions.

  “And what exactly will I do in London, Amos?”

  “As we have discussed at length previously you are to go there to begin the process of getting your accreditation as a security contractor. Then later on you’ll also train with some former members of the British SAS in Close Protection and Surveillance.”

  “With all due respect, Amos. I need no more training in Close Protection.”

  “I know that, but it’s mandatory for the security licence you will need to acquire. Besides these guys are heavy on the surveillance side of things, something you’re lacking. They were 14 Int working in Northern Ireland so they’re the best in the business.”

  Night nodded his head in agreement, always willing to add to his skill set.

  “And when I find this Englishmen, what do I do?”

  “Perhaps you won’t have to do anything, I have another man working on it, someone you know. But that conversation we shall have another night. Perhaps Sunday evening after you have the weekend to yourself. Stay here tonight, I have had a room prepared for you. Finish your rotation tomorrow and then perhaps go fishing over the weekend? I still have my little time share.”

  For the first time that evening Night smiled to himself as he thought about Wamba.

  “I have somewhere else I’d rather be, with my boy.”

  “Ah, Wamba, how is that great big, dangerous, sloppy bastard?”

  “Thankfully he pulled through, Amos. Shaka’s extended family worked some kind of Zulu magic on the little guy. I’ll speak to Daniel and see if they’ll let me stay the weekend with him in Ermelo on their farm.”

  Amos Arosi bared his teeth as his lips parted into a wide smile.

  “Now that’s good news, Michael. And perhaps you can tell me exactly what sort of Zulu Muti helped save your boy while we eat a well deserved supper?”

  As the two men stood and walked towards the door Amos put a hand on Night’s shoulder as though he had just had a thought…

  “And Micheal, make sure that tomorrow’s shift is a quiet one, eh?”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Norwood Police Station 08:05

  As Night pulled his Lumina into the station parking lot he saw the three figures of Shaka, Kalahari and Dlamini standing in a knot, scrutinising a newspaper.

  Night parked his vehicle seemingly still unnoticed by his crew and opened his boot to retrieve his long weapons. As he lifted his kit bag a voice from behind him made him hit his head against the open boot in surprise.

  “Good morning, Captain.”

  Night turned to see his immediate commander, Colonel Lembedi, and stood to attention and smartly saluted her.

  “Not sure if you keep doing that on purpose, Colonel, but one of these days you might just give me a heart attack!”

  “Nonsense, Captain. You’re a young man in no danger of having your heart stop from fright. Anyway I like to keep my officers on their toes.”

  Night didn’t reply but simply looked at the station commander curiously as she had a strange look in her eyes. Then Night remembered that she cared about him and thought it best to say something before he came across as being insolent or rude.

  “Colonel, you have that look in your eyes, is there something I don’t know?”

  “I don’t suppose you’ve read the newspapers yet. But I’m sure your crew over there will fill you in…” Colonel Lembedi nodded to the three men who were now watching them intently.

  ‘Ah shit, now what?’ thought Night to himself.

  “In future I expect that after events such as yesterday you call me immediately and inform me of such incidents.”

  “You mean the jungle justice thing, Colonel?”

  “I mean you putting two men out of their misery with your service pistol, a very stupid thing to do, Captain. Even if you gave those men a better way out.”

  “With all due respect, Colonel, I made a lengthy Occurrence Book entry on the entire situation. You had already booked off once we had arrived here after spending hours with the detectives on scene, the duty officers and then at Bramley Station booking the suspects in, we only got here at around 1900, Colonel.”

  “That’s good, that’s to be expected, doing things properly and by the book takes time, but when do I read the OB? When I arrive at the station the same time as you the following morning. That’s not good enough, Michael. In future you call me as soon as it is possible and you give me a full brief on what has happened.”

  “Once again, with all due respect, Colonel…”

  “NO! Night! I will not hear any more of your bullshit excuses. In future you call me personally and tell me what has happened. I also hear that Dlamini discharged his firearm killing a suspect, that is the type of information I need to know! Do you understand me?”

  “His shooting was totally justifiable and moral, Colonel…”

  The Colonel put h
er hand up stopping Night and the look in her eyes brooked no further explanation.

  “Do. You. Understand me, Captain Michael Night. Yes or no?”

  “Yes, Colonel Lembedi. I fully understand you.”

  “Good. And if it happens again that I have to find out through my husband and the newspapers what my officers have been up to while on duty under my command I will have you suspended without pay and will look to bust you back down to Warrant Officer! Am I clear?”

  “Crystal, Colonel.”

  ‘Finally, she’s acting like a commander I can work with’ thought Night.

  “Good and you’re lucky it happened under Colonel Maputo and Bramley’s jurisdiction or you’d be in a cell as we have this conversation.”

  The Colonel’s last words caught Night completely off guard and he straightened his back and involuntarily took a step backwards.

  ‘So she’d throw me under would she..’

  “Good, I finally have your full understanding on just how seriously I view this matter. Now, once you have greeted your friends and prepared yourself for duty have them booked on, and on the road and then come and give me a full debrief of exactly what happened. It will take some time as I need to know every detail if I am to protect you, Night. Dismissed.”

  The Colonel turned away and left, heading for her office, without waiting for a response.

  Night joined his men as they stood waiting for him. They stood to attention and saluted their Captain.

  “Good morning, guys.”

  “I guess she’s not too pleased about not being the one in the spotlight then?” said Kalahari.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You mean you don’t know? Here… look.”

  The Warrant Officer handed Night the copy of The Citizen newspaper that they had been reading earlier. Night took the paper and followed Shaka’s finger to a small article on the front page.

  Hero Cop Puts Rapists Out Of Their Misery With A Mercy Bullet To The Head

  Night handed the newspaper back without reading the full article.

  “Aren’t you going to read it?”

  “No, just tell me what it says and does it mention my name?”

  “It says what is says in the headline, that you put those scumbags out of their misery while being burned alive and beaten by an angry mob after you were shot at by them and then saved the woman they were raping. Or something like that, but it’s all positive. And it has a quote from the Provincial Commissioner saying that he fully supports your actions…”

  “Does it mention my name?”

  “No. It just says a Norwood Police Captain.”

  Night relaxed a little.

  “It’s in most of the newspapers, Mike” said Shaka.

  “The same article? And is my name in any of the others?”

  “No. Well almost..”

  Kalahari elbowed Shaka in the ribs hurting himself as he connected with an edge of one of the Sergeants heavy level III bullet proof ceramic plates – making the entire BP vest weigh in at just under 30 pounds.

  “Ouch, man.. tell him, Zulu..”

  The Sergeant looked at the Warrant Officer and clicked his tongue in irritation.

  “Your name’s not mentioned in any of them except the one, The Times…”

  Sergeant Shaka then produced a copy of the paper from under his BP vest.

  “Here, you better read it yourself, Mike.”

  Night took the offered paper and didn’t need to have the article pointed out to him as it was the main headline.

  Captain Night Of The Notorious “Black Bastards” Police Unit Of Norwood Executes Suspected Rapists In Cold Blood

  As Night was about to take the newspaper and read the full article a police siren caught his attention and he and the rest of the men turned to see a three vehicle convoy of smart jet black BMWs with blue lights enter the station parking lot and stop right outside the entrance. The men of November Whisky Fifty watched as what looked like the top brass of the South African Police Force exited the middle vehicle and entered the station.

  “Fok me! Is that who I think it is?” asked Kalahari.

  Night took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair.

  “The National Commissioner?” asked Shaka.

  “Looks like my meeting with Lembedi isn’t going to be without company. You guys take my kit… get in the vehicle and book on duty and hit the road and make yourself scarce.”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice, I’m fokken allergic to that kind of Rank, Dlamini let’s roll, boy!” said Kalahari.

  Night turned to leave but Shaka took hold of his arm.

  “My brother, I’ll come with you and face those bastards by your side?”

  Night looked his friend in the eye and nodded his thanks at the man’s loyalty and show of support.

  “Thank you, my brother. But I created this mess for myself and I need to explain my actions and be judged for them. Better now than with this kind of shit hanging over my head.”

  The men locked forearms before Shaka left and Night turned, tidied his uniform and prepared himself to be suspended from the force and charged with murder.

  1100 – Norwood Police Station

  November Whisky Fifty pulled up to the front of the police station and Shaka stopped the vehicle just long enough for Night to hop in the back before pulling off. To the annoyance of everyone in the vehicle the police Captain didn’t say a word.

  “Cappy, what the hell happened in there? Are you still Captain? Are you under arrest, do we have to book you into the cells?” asked Dlamini.

  Night looked across at the young man and was uncertain to whether he was joking or not.

  “Fuck off, Dlamini.”

  “Just kidding, Cappy… but seriously though, it’s all these two trees have been talking about the entire time we’ve been on duty. The white Warrant told the Zulu tree that you were fuc..”

  “Dlamini, shut it!” Kalahari glared at the student daring him to say another word.

  Shaka pulled the vehicle off onto the pavement of a small side street and turned to face his friend.

  “For fuck sakes, Mike, tell us what happened?”

  Night shrugged his shoulders before saying “Basically I’m not out of the shit just yet but the Commissioner and Lembedi have my back. But ultimately the decision on whether to charge me or not will now be in the hands of the District Attorney and Public Prosecutor.”

  The Warrant Officer and the Sergeant looked at one another in disbelief.

  “I must admit, Mike, I thought that bastard was going to serve you to the courts and to the press as an example of how he deals with trigger happy cops or something...” said Kalahari.

  “Quite the contrary, at first it looked like Lembedi was going to have me charged but when the Commissioner started showing his support she changed her tune, very subtly though.. or perhaps I was being too cynical but she looked as relieved as I felt when he said he supported my actions. In fact it seems that dealing with mob justice is something he’s been looking at for quite some time and is going to use this as an opportunity to introduce a new three month training course on how to deal with it in the future…”

  “Any November Whisky vehicle for a 32 Alpha in Highlands North come in for control.”

  Not knowing the area that well Kalahari immediately picked up the mic to take the call but stopped as Shaka told him they were a little wide.

  “Let’s see if anyone else is closer as Louis Botha will be jammed at this time of day and it will take us at least seven minutes to get there.”

  Sure enough, another November Whisky unit responded, stating that they were already patrolling the Highlands North area.

  “Thank you, November Whisky Ten.”

  “That’s old man Jacobs and his female crew, we better head over their sharpish anyway” said Night before continuing over the radio to control. “Control, November Whisky Fifty also en route.”

  “Control, this is Yankee Six Six we are
very close and also attending.”

  “Ah, that’s Snyman and Demon. They should be able to handle it, whatever it is. Now, I almost forgot… Shaka get us back to the station, Lembedi wants to see Dlamini and debrief him after his shooting yesterday.”

  Dlamini made to protest but Night raised a hand to silence him.

  “Trust me, Steven. Now is not the time. And be prepared for her to pull you off the road, she even mentioned that she will want you to go for counselling.. apparently they’re rolling it out in Gauteng first, dealing with the young ones before.. you know, you become bosbefok…”

  “What, like us!” said Kalahari.

  “Something like that… it even looks like they are going to send me for some, you know from after seeing those men torched and necklaced…”

  Night’s final words trailed off into barely a whisper and neither Shaka nor Kalahari replied.

  Night took the opportunity to look across at Dlamini and sensed that the boy was actually relieved at the news.

  “How did you feel this morning, Steven?”

  “Like I’d been drinking for a week and had a hangover from hell.”

  “The Captain calls that the Violence Overdose Effect or V.O.D.E, Dlamini. Happens to all of us after a contact. Totally normal, right Mike?” said Shaka.

  “Yeah, totally normal.”

  A few minutes later and student constable Steven Dlamini had been left at Norwood and was on his way to report to the station commander when November Whisky Fifty’s radio erupted with an urgent call for backup from Yankee Six Six.

  “Shots fired! Shots fired! We need backup in Highlands North, Louis Botha corner of Athol Street, control, it’s a CIT robbery and we need back..”

  The sound of multiple gunshots could be heard as the radio went dead.

  “That was Demon on the radio, floor it, Zulu!” said Night.

  Control announced a channel-wide call for backup as November Whisky Fifty raced toward the scene.

  Seven minutes later and surprisingly November Whisky Fifty was one of the first vehicles to arrive on scene. The traffic jam created by a mixture of the time of day and the backup caused by the Cash In Transit heist, with the main intersection blocked off by the criminal gang and the CIT vehicle on its side in the middle of the road made navigating the traffic on Louis Botha almost impossible. Even some of the side streets that the police officers tried to take to by-pass Louis Botha were jammed with traffic as other people, particularly lawless taxi drivers, had the same idea.