The Maggie Bainbridge Box Set

by Rob Wyllie

  That sounded a reasonable assessment of what had happened, but it didn't really help Frank work out what he should do. Somehow, the gunman had to be overpowered before he could fire his weapon, but how? That could only happen if someone in that room was prepared to act. The risk would be enormous, but perhaps he could cause a distraction that would at least give them half a chance.

  But first, he had to make them aware of his presence, and that itself carried some risk. He couldn't simply knock on a window pane, obviously. Somehow he had to signal to one or more of them, catch their eye if he could, and pray that they didn't inadvertently give him away by their surprise. Right away he ruled out Maggie. From where he was, her line of sight to him was obscured by the gunman, and in any case, it would be nigh impossible for her to make any move without putting her son in danger. Jimmy would be his favoured choice, because he knew that already his brother would be working up an escape plan in his mind. He'd been in far worse situations than this during his time in the army and he wasn't going to let some second-rate football hooligan get the better of him. The problem was, he was now standing side-on to the window, his eyes seemingly focussed on Maggie and Ollie. Which only left the girl. Elsa, that was her name. Czech, he remembered now.

  He dropped onto his stomach and began to crawl towards the kitchen. The ground was cold and muddy, the grassed area reaching right up to the doors. A couple of seconds later he was lying under the right-hand window, tight to the wall. After taking a moment to compose himself, he made his first move. As slowly as he could, he pulled himself up, edging his head above the window sill so that he could once again see into the room. Excellent. He had a clear sight of her, still wearing her defiant expression. Now, slowly, he raised an arm and then almost imperceptibly began a wave, his hand moving no more than two or three centimetres in either direction, and at a snail's pace. He watched her carefully for a sign that she had noticed, but there was nothing. So he tried again, moving his hand a bit further and a bit faster, his heart racing, his mind overflowing with the terrible consequences should it all go wrong.

  And then he saw it. The slight change to her expression as she caught his eye. But not enough to give anything away. Good girl. Now it was in her hands and all he could do was wait and be ready. For what seemed an age, nothing happened. He guessed like Jimmy she was working out her options. Or maybe, out of fear, she had decided to do nothing. But then suddenly she started to scream at the top of her voice, loud enough for Frank to make out every word through the thick double-glazed panes.

  'I don't want to die, I don't want to die. I want husband and baby and home. You can kill these but not me.'

  'Shut the fuck up,' the gunman shouted, gesticulating with the pistol. 'Shut the fuck up bitch, or I'll blow your fucking head off.'

  She took a step towards him. 'I will do anything you want. I good in bed, make all fantasies come true. Please don't kill me.' Now. Frank leapt up then steadying himself, smashed a foot against the gap between the doors, just below the handle, giving it everything he had. With a crack, they burst open, his momentum propelling him into the room and sending him barging into the gunman. Momentarily disorientated, he was taken out by Jimmy's huge fist slamming into his face, jerking his head back and sending him crashing to the floor onto his back, the gun spinning harmlessly across the floor.

  'Nice work bruv,' Frank said, raising his hand to proffer a high-five. 'And Elsa, what a performance. Brought tears to my eyes it did.' Kneeling, he took out a pair of handcuffs and slipped them onto the prone figure.

  It seemed as if the disturbing events had had no detrimental effect on Ollie, although he was careful not to let go of his mother's hand. 'Did you see that, mummy?' he said, his eyes sparkling. 'Uncle Jimmy biffed that man, and he fell over, and he dropped his gun, and then we were all safe.'

  'Yes, well done Uncle Jimmy,' Maggie said, the relief tangible in her voice. 'But do you see who it is?'

  'Aye, I do.'

  Elsa had flung his arms around him and was nestling her head on his chest. Without thinking, he kissed her gently on the forehead, causing her to snuggle up even tighter. 'It's Morgan's security guy. I remember him from that do at the Hilton. He was the guy who chucked McGinley out, wasn't he?'

  Maggie nodded. 'I met him later at that fast food place, with Morgan and Jasmine. His name's Vinny.'

  'Well, we're not going to be seeing much more of Vinny when we've finished throwing the book at him,' Frank said, grinning. 'He'll be looking at twenty years just for this alone. Anyway, just give me a minute to summon reinforcements. I want this guy locked up in a nice comfy cell before he can do any more damage.'

  'Just a minute,' Maggie said. She bent over the gunman and pulled open the bomber jacket. 'Yeah, here it is.' She took his phone and began to scroll. Then, under her breath, she let out an explicative, which Frank just managed to catch. Swine. He watched as she tapped something into it and then threw it across the room.

  'Could you make us some tea Elsa please?' she asked, composing herself with a visible effort, 'and squash for Ollie.' With obvious reluctance, the girl released Jimmy from her embrace and forced a smile. 'Yeah, sure. I put kettle on now. Come Ollie, come over here and help me.'

  Maggie turned to Jimmy and Frank. 'Let me show you something.' Lying on her kitchen table was a glossy sales brochure, opened at the centre spread. Looking for all the world like a school photograph, thirty or so young men and women lined up on the front steps of The Oxbridge Agency.

  'DCI Ahmed let me take this away. D'you see? Last year's cohort, I think that's what you would call it.' She pointed to a figure standing in the front row.

  'Recognise her?'

  'Whoa,' Jimmy said. 'That's Lotti.'

  'Except it isn't,' she said. 'According to the caption, this is Griselda Hauptmann, aged twenty-three years old. BA, History of Art, St Catherine's College Oxford.'

  Frank was peering at Maggie through narrowed eyes. There was something in her expression which told him, even before she said another word. Something about that phone message and that brochure. She's worked it out. Maggie Bainbridge's worked out everything.

  Chapter 28

  Frank barked the instruction into his radio handset whilst, barely in control, he steered with the other hand. 'We need an armed response team mobile pronto. Forty-seven Bedford Gardens, Kensington. Over and out.' Short and sweet, as he raced the Mondeo along another rat run, siren wailing and the flashing blue lights clearing the way.

  'So come on Maggie, what's this all about?' A black cab emerging from a parking space was signalling but not looking, causing him to jam on the brakes. 'These cabbies think they own the bloody roads,' he shouted, banging on the horn.

  'Calm down mate,' Jimmy said, grimacing. 'Don't want you having a heart attack before we get there. It's only five minutes or so from here.'

  'We can't wait for the response team,' Maggie said, urgency in her voice. 'They're going to kill Yazz, if they've not already done it. I think that would have been Vinny's next job, after he'd killed me.'

  'Who's they?' Jimmy said. 'Who are they? And why did they want to kill you?'

  Before she could answer, a shrill ring filled the cabin, the car's infotainment panel displaying the name of the caller. DCI Jill Smart.

  'Crap! She must have just heard the news,' Frank said. 'This'll be the call that tells me not to do anything stupid and to wait for the armed boys to turn up.' It continued to ring as Frank swung the car into a sharp left turn, the tyres squealing in protest.

  'Aren't you going to answer it?' Jimmy asked.

  'Stuff that.'

  He let it go through to voicemail. 'Frank, it's Jill. Please listen to what...'

  'Aye, whatever,' he said, prodding the end call icon. 'You can tell me later.'

  'So come on Maggie,' Jimmy said, 'Why did someone want to kill you? Was it something to do with Lotti?'

  'Griselda you mean. No, I don't think so, not directly. Actually I'm not a hundred percent sure about any of it, i
n fact I might be one hundred percent wrong. But we'll find out one way or the other in a few minutes.'

  'Hang on guys, this might get a wee bit hairy.' Frank gave another blast of the siren as he hammered off Sussex Gardens and into Lancaster Terrace.

  'One way street mate,' Jimmy shouted, alarmed, 'and in case you haven't noticed, you're going the wrong bloody way.'

  Frank shrugged. 'No worries. Police emergency. They'll get out the way. Almost certainly.' The engine roared as he dropped a gear and floored it. 'Best get it done as quickly as we can, eh?' Jimmy glanced over at the speedometer. Touching seventy, in a thirty mile an hour limit and going the wrong way. That must be worth twelve points on the licence at least. Fortunately though the late evening traffic was light and somehow they made it on to the Bayswater Road without incident. Less than a minute later, they had arrived.

  'It's that one,' Maggie said, pointing as they leapt out of the car. 'With the red door.'

  'You've been here before then?' Jimmy said.

  She didn't answer.

  'Right,' Frank said. 'I'll ring the bell, give it a minute, and if no-one comes to the door then we break it down. Ok with that bruv?'

  'They'll answer it,' Maggie said. 'They're expecting Vinny back. I texted a thumbs up from his phone. And let me lead the way, because as far as they know, I'm now dead.'

  He pushed the bell and waited, each of them silent. And then the door opened and without being invited, Maggie stepped into the hallway.

  'Hello Griselda.'

  'But you're...you're...' The young woman stammered over her words, the shock of this unexpected development severing communication between brain and mouth.

  'Dead? I'm afraid I'm very much alive.' She grabbed Griselda Hauptmann by the wrist and twisted her arm behind her back, causing her to let out a yelp of pain. And then twisted it again.

  'Where is she? Where's Yazz? Tell me.'

  'She's... she's in the basement.' She nodded her head in the direction of a door.

  Maggie pushed the girl up against the wall. 'Frank, we need to make this one secure. She's up to her neck in it. She was there. At Kings Cross.'

  'Aye, nae bother,' he said reaching for a pocket. 'I always carry a couple of pairs with me. Goes back to my old days in Glasgow. Never know when they might come in handy.' He took out the handcuffs and slapped them on one wrist.

  'Ok let's go, he said, giving the girl a shove in the back, 'and don't even think about shouting a warning, or I'll break your arm, got it?'

  'I didn't know,' Griselda said, looking as if she was about to cry, 'that it would go this way I mean. This isn't what I signed up for.'

  'Yeah sure,' Maggie said briskly. 'Let's leave the hand-wringing for later, shall we?'

  'I'm going to lock her in the car,' Frank said, 'and don't do anything until I come back, ok?'

  'Sure, but maybe I should go in first anyway,' Jimmy said. 'I'm trained for this sort of thing, remember?'

  'Aye, but back then you were wearing full body armour and holding an assault rifle,' Frank said. 'You can go first if you want to, but just wait for me, ok?'

  'They won't be armed,' Maggie said. 'That was Vinny's department.'

  Frank returned a minute later and they made their way through the doorway and down the steep steps, Jimmy leading the way, the two brothers unsure of what awaited them. But Maggie knew. She knew who would be there and she knew precisely what had been planned. She just hoped they were not already too late. Too late to save the lives of Yazz Morgan and Robert Trelawney.

  But she was not expecting this. Two tall barstools had been placed in the middle of the room. Yazz and Trelawney had been blindfolded and gagged, and were each now balanced precariously on top of a stool, their hands tied behind them. Suspended from an exposed beam in the ceiling hung the nooses that had been placed around their necks. Between them stood Felicity Morgan. And contrary to expectations, she had a gun.

  'Miss Bainbridge,' she snarled, looking up, 'this is an unexpected pleasure. Oh yes, I know who you really are, do you think I'm a fool?'

  'It's over Felicity, come on,' Maggie said, her voice calm. 'You don't really want to kill her, do you? Your own daughter for Christ's sake. How can you do that? Look at her, she's an innocent child.' Frantically processing the situation in her mind, it wasn't long before she reached a conclusion. It wasn't looking good.

  'Over? But that's where you're quite wrong,' Felicity said, her eyes blazing with menace. 'Not yet. Not until I've decided which of these two to kill first.' She gripped a leg of Trelawney's stool and began to shake it. He gave a low moan as he struggled to keep his balance.

  'You see, men are such pigs, aren't they? You should know that Miss Bainbridge, after everything you've been through. Oh yes, I know all about that. Just like you, my husband thought he could just throw me away like yesterday's newspaper, but now he's beginning to understand that actions have consequences.'

  'You're off your bloody head,' Jimmy said. 'You won't get away with it you know.'

  'Ah Miss Bainbridge's trained monkey. You are a cute little thing aren't you? Well, maybe I am crazy. So what?'

  'There's going to be a response team here any minute,' Frank said. 'I'd hand myself over now, if I was you, because they'll shoot first and ask questions later.'

  'It'll be all over by then,' she said. 'In fact, let's get the party started, shall we?'

  Now she was shrieking like a demented witch, jabbing a finger in Maggie's direction. 'Don't think I don't know about your sordid little tryst with my darling Robert, you little cow. I've been having you watched you see. Both of you. It's just a shame that Vinny wasn't able to take care of you earlier, but well, you're here now, aren't you? But first, it's his turn. Goodbye my darling Robert.'

  Viciously, she kicked out, causing the stool to spin across the room. There was a crack as the beam took his full weight, his body plummeting towards the floor then being arrested as the noose tightened, breaking his neck. Leaving him spinning like a sack of grain.

  'Christ!' Maggie yelled, involuntarily turning her head away, the shock robbing her of breath,

  Instinctively, Jimmy took a step forward but was stopped in his tracks as Felicity raised the pistol and pointed at him.

  'Let me help him,' he said quietly, even although he knew it was already too late. 'Please. You don't want this Felicity.'

  'That's where you're wrong, this is exactly what I want,' she sneered, her eyes burning with hatred. 'Actions have consequences. Everybody has to learn that.'

  Maggie turned to face her, struggling to choke back her disgust and horror. She didn't know how, but somehow she had to get her talking, to buy some time until the response team arrived. Although god knows what they would be able to do when they got here.

  'You've already succeeded Felicity, you must know that. Hugo will never have another happy day in his life, you've made sure of that. He's paid a huge price for what he did to you. That's what you wanted isn't it? His reputation is in ruins and his beloved Rosie is dead. Killing Yazz won't make it any worse for him.'

  'But it will make me feel better,' she snarled. 'He turned them against me. My own children. They had the choice and they chose to live with him. Have you any idea what that feels like?'

  'But they loved you. Rosie told me. Both of them loved you. They loved you very much. And Yazz is just a little girl. She doesn't deserve this. She's so lovely. You know she is.'

  'But she loved him. She loved him more than she loved me. It wasn't fair, after what he did to me. It wasn't fair.' For a moment Felicity was distracted, wallowing in self-pity. And Maggie saw her chance. Shooting a glance at Jimmy and Frank, she began to creep towards her, speaking softly.

  'It'll be alright Felicity. It'll be alright. Let's put an end to this now, shall we? Please, give me the gun.' The other woman stared straight at her, her expression a confusion of sadness and pain. Then with an almost imperceptible shake of her head, she let the gun drop to the floor.

  But then as Maggie sto
oped to pick it up, Morgan gave a spine-chilling scream and lunged blindly at Yazz's stool. As if in slow motion, she saw Jimmy leap forward and thrust his strong hands under the little girl’s armpits, holding her aloft to support her weight just as the stool collapsed from under her. At the same time, Frank yanked Felicity's arms behind her and pushed her on to the floor, face down, his knee in her back.

  'Maggie, you need to get up on the stool,' Jimmy shouted. 'Get the noose off. I don't know how long I can hold her. Quickly.'

  'It'll be easier if you climb on my shoulders,' Frank said. He grabbed a handful of Morgan's hair and yanked her head up. 'And don't you dare make a move, got that?' He pushed her away from her, causing her face to smash into the cold flagstones of the floor.

  Now he was alongside his brother and down on one knee, allowing Maggie to swing her legs around his shoulders. 'Up we go now. Hold tight.' Slowly he pushed himself up until he was fully standing, squeezing her legs tightly against his chest.

  'I think I've got it,' Maggie shouted, struggling to balance as she reached out to grab hold of the noose. 'Yazz, you'll be ok darling. Let's get this thing off you, shall we?'