Banker's Draft

by Clive Mullis

  ‘Just in case there is someone there who could hear us.’

  Rose leant close again. ‘Do you really think I would be daft enough to scream out loud and bang a bloody drum?’

  Cornwallis jerked his head up suddenly and turned towards her; he mouthed the word “Sorry” and grinned awkwardly. Rose just raised her eyebrows and shook her head. The meaning left no room for misinterpretation.

  They entered the office and began to examine the wooden wall which seemed intact and without adornment, except for a few old pins, but anything that had hung on them had long since gone. There were a couple of sconces on the side walls but nothing else. Rose stepped forward and began to look closely at the connecting wall.

  Cornwallis stepped back and patiently let her look for a door. He felt relieved that she seemed back to normal now after the earlier outburst, he was worried for a time that she would change her mind and leave them, even up to a few minutes ago; and then came the indignation when he shushed her, and he felt the jolt of relief rush through him. He watched as she ran her fingers over the wall, her face full of intense concentration. She leant in closer and turned her head, feeling for a draught. He nodded to himself; she had worked all this out for herself.

  Rose turned her head towards him and beckoned him over, ‘Here,’ she whispered. ‘I can feel some air.’ She pointed at the wall and indicated with her finger the line of the draught.

  Cornwallis came close and checked; he could definitely feel something there. Their faces were almost touching, barely a hairs breadth between them and he could feel the warmth of her sweet breath on his face; a tingle of pleasure ran through him.

  ‘Jack,’ she said, very quietly.

  ‘Yes?’ he replied, equally quietly.

  ‘I know we’re friends and all that, but do you think you could take your hand off my arse.’

  ‘Huh?’ Cornwallis quickly whipped his hand away, not realising what he’d done. ‘Oh, Gods, sorry.’

  She shot him a sideways look, a half-smile playing on her lips. ‘That’s all right, but next time, wait for an invitation.’

  They both stood back and Cornwallis coughed quietly. ‘Er… perhaps we could, um… try one of the sconces, like the office with the trap door.’

  Still grinning, Rose went over to the first and tried to pull it. Nothing happened. So she went across to the other and tried that, still nothing. She tried twisting it, pushing it, but still nothing. She went back over to the first again and tried everything there too, still nothing. She sighed, and Cornwallis came and tried too, still nothing.

  Cornwallis looked closely at both sconces and noticed a little nodule at the base of one, so he shrugged his shoulders and flicked it. They heard a click, and his eyes opened wide. He grinned as he pulled the sconce again, and this time it gave. They heard another click, but this time it came from the wall. They both turned and saw a door shaped outline emerge.

  Rose got there before Cornwallis and put her eye right up against the opening to have a look. She peered into an office and out through an open door into Kintersbury’s warehouse where she could see lots of goods stacked in rows and rows. She could see men and a couple of bears busy loading various goods onto various wagons, presumably, getting ready for disbursement. Cornwallis tapped her on the shoulder, so she made way, letting him have a look too.

  ‘I wonder if we can make use of this?’ he said thoughtfully. ‘If we could somehow get Maxwell to come over, then we might have a chance to grab him.’

  ‘That’s if he is in there,’ responded Rose.

  ‘Well, there’s only one way to find out. Could you go and get Frankie while I have a think.’

  Rose hurried off, leaving Cornwallis to activate his brain; she sneaked through the little door on the side of the warehouse and ran forward but stopped when she got to the wharf. Frankie, over on the far side, had not yet seen her, so she waited for a while until their eyes met and she beckoned him over.

  ‘We’ve found a connecting door,’ she informed him when he arrived. ‘Come on, before he gets it into his head to do something without us.’

  ‘Yeah, he’s prone to that sort of thing,’ replied Frankie. ‘And I’ve just seen Maxwell walking around with a stack of paperwork.’

  When they got back in the warehouse Rose was relieved to find Cornwallis still there, he hadn’t tried anything without them and still seemed to be thinking. He looked up and nodded at Frankie.

  ‘Maxwell is there,’ said Frankie coming over. ‘I saw him about a few minutes ago, disappeared back inside though.’

  ‘Ah, good.’

  ‘Yes, it is,’ said Rose, ‘and I’ve been thinking too. What if I went in and asked to see Maxwell and waited just here?’ She indicated the office on the other side of the wall. ‘When he came over you two could, well, surprise him, so to speak. I should think most of the workers are legitimate so they might not get suspicious.’

  ‘No,’ replied Cornwallis. ‘I can’t put you at risk. Me and Frankie will just go in and drag him off and hope for the best.’

  ‘Oh come on, don’t be so stupid. If you haven’t thought up anything better than that, then my idea is the best, and you know it.’

  ‘Maybe, but I don’t want to risk you. Maxwell has probably had a description of you; he might even have seen you at the docks.’

  ‘All the better then, it makes us even.’

  Cornwallis made a bit of a mistake by hesitating, so Rose just smiled, took her jacket off and then let down her hair. She wore a loose shirt, so she tucked it tighter into her trousers then undid a couple of buttons, revealing a promise of things to come. The effect left Cornwallis and Frankie open-mouthed.

  ‘That should do the trick.’ She smiled and winked. ‘Now, I’ll go and ask a nice man if he can go and find Maxwell for me.’

  She went through the connecting door before either Cornwallis or Frankie could say a thing, and grabbed a couple of bits of paper from the desk in front and shuffled them around; nobody had seen her yet, so she walked to the open door and stood there, looking bemused.

  It didn’t take long before a man wandered over; she thought he looked quite handsome in a rugged sort of way and hoped he wasn’t one of Maxwell’s henchmen. As he approached, she noticed that a lot of the other men had now noticed her too.

  ‘Can I help you, Miss?’ asked the man, smiling.

  Rose smiled back. ‘Oh, I do hope so. I’m looking for a Mr Maxwell as something seems to be wrong with my delivery.’ She bent her head and shuffled the papers in her hand. ‘I’m ever so sorry, but when I came in everybody seemed so busy and no one seemed to notice me.’

  ‘Really?’ The man seemed surprised. ‘Well, my good fortune then. Mr Maxwell is over the other side, I’ll escort you across and we can have a nice little chat as we go.’

  ‘No, I don’t want to get in the way. Could you ask him to come over for me, only I slipped and hurt my ankle, you see.’

  ‘Oh no, that is unfortunate. Do you want me to have a look for you? Maybe I could rub it better.’ He smiled lecherously and then winked.

  She bit her lip coyly, she could tell where his eyes were aimed, and it wasn’t at her feet. ‘Maybe after, I’d rather speak to Mr Maxwell first.’ She breathed in deeply and it had its effect, this one was too easy.

  The man’s eyes lit up at his turn of luck. ‘Don’t go. I mean don’t move away, I won’t be long,’ and with a last lingering look he rushed off to find Maxwell.

  Rose found that she had become the centre of attention as all the eyes in the warehouse seemed to be turned to her, she had hoped for a reaction like this, and with the amount of people looking she felt sure that if it all went wrong then Maxwell would be limited in what he could do. Behind her, she could tell that Cornwallis and Frankie were now in the office, hiding, just behind the door.

  ‘When you see Maxwell coming, tap your foot,’ instructed Cornwallis behind her. ‘Then walk in here. We’ll grab him as soon as he comes in.’

  Rose thought it
best not to reply, so she put a hand behind her back and twitched her thumb in acknowledgement that she’d heard.

  Cornwallis legs felt uncomfortable crouched down, and he supposed that Frankie probably felt the same. They had been waiting for a while now, and the pain behind the knees began to indicate its presence; it had got to that exquisite stage, where it took a great deal of conscious effort not to move. Frankie began to shuffle a little, and Cornwallis opposite, gave him a warning glance.

  Rose watched and waited with an ever increasing anxiety; she could feel her heart beating faster, and then it nearly missed a beat as she saw Maxwell emerge from between the rows together with the man who went off to look for him. She tapped her foot as she watched them approach. He looked even more brutish close up than when she had seen him through the periscope, and she thought that perhaps they had bitten off a little more than they could chew. She took a few steps backwards, still keeping Maxwell in her view, until she felt the rim of the desk on the back of her legs. As he came closer she saw the look of recognition dawn on his face, and a smile played on his lips; but the smile was not a pleasant smile at all. He stopped briefly and then sent the man with him away; who cast a last look of longing and disappointment as he trudged back to work. She swallowed, desperate to look down at Cornwallis for reassurance, but sense got hold of her and she kept her eyes firmly fixed ahead. Maxwell continued forward and came to a stop just beyond the door and stood there, regarding her with his gimlet eyes, staring at her, undressing her, and she stifled the shiver that shot down her spine. Maybe playing the vamp was not such a good idea after all.

  ‘You’re Cornwallis’ tart, aren’t you?’ The voice matched his persona, harsh, grating, with a hint of menace. ‘What’s he sent you here for then, eh? Has he lost his bottle?’

  Rose felt the shiver return. ‘I don’t know what you mean, who’s Cornwallis?’

  Maxwell’s smile widened. ‘Don’t take me for a fool, girl. I’ve heard all about you. You’re here, which means he’s been looking for me; his enquiries have made a return at long last. I reckon he’s behind the hidden door there that you left slightly open, should think he’s waiting until I come in and then he’ll spring out, am I right?’

  ‘No,’ she replied in all honesty.

  Maxwell laughed mirthlessly. ‘Well, even if he isn’t, I won’t take the chance. Turn around girl and push it closed, and then push the desk right up against it.’

  Rose hesitated for a moment and then did as he asked. Somehow, she succeeded in not looking at Cornwallis and Frankie, despite the overwhelming urge. When she’d closed the door, she turned back around and stood waiting.

  ‘That’s better,’ said Maxwell. ‘Now you and I can have a little fun, no prying eyes, you see. You can tell me what you want, and then I will tell you what I want, and seeing as you’ve already got everything hanging out, I think that what I want is pretty obvious.’ He stepped forward and pulled the door to as he went through.

  Frankie moved first. As the door closed he launched himself upright with his fist bunched and aimed at Maxwell’s jaw, Cornwallis moved a split second later and went to wrap his arm around the throat. Frankie’s blow made a sick crunching sound as the slack lower jaw met the solid upper and sent the head whipping back, Cornwallis’ arm snaked around the neck and then he threw a punch into the kidneys, just as Frankie let fly with his second blow to the side of the head. Maxwell grunted, and then collapsed in a heap on the floor.

  ‘Oooh, that was easier than I thought,’ remarked Frankie, looking down. ‘I’d a thought he would’ve put up a bit more of a fight than that.’

  ‘Well, I’m not complaining,’ replied Cornwallis. ‘The easier the better as far as I’m concerned. You all right, Rose?’

  ‘Yes, thank you. What a horrible piece of shit he is, I’ve half a mind to cut his bollocks off for what he just said to me.’

  ‘You can as far as I’m concerned, but we need to get him to the Yard; and if you’ve whipped his bollocks off it might make walking him a bit difficult.’

  ‘Do it later,’ suggested Frankie. ‘You’ll enjoy it more if he’s conscious when you do it.’

  Cornwallis pulled out a pair of cuffs and clapped them on, they weren’t his normal ones as they were still at the Yard; these were an old pair that he had picked up when he left the cells, and he looked at them with a degree of distrust. ‘I’m not sure about these you know, they look a bit rusty.’

  ‘They should still do the trick though,’ said Frankie. ‘We’ll just have to keep a good hold of him as well.’

  Maxwell groaned, then someone knocked on the door and Cornwallis and Frankie froze.

  ‘Are you okay, Mr Maxwell? asked the knockee, ‘only I thought I heard voices.’

  Maxwell groaned again and Cornwallis thought quickly, he beckoned Rose over and said quietly. ‘Pant, and very loudly.’

  Rose’s eyes widened at the request, but Cornwallis urged her on. Frankie just grinned and then sat heavily onto Maxwell’s back, which elicited an even louder groan. It suddenly dawned on Rose what they wanted her to do, so she began to pant rhythmically, and in time to Frankie’s bouncing. It very nearly became too much for them all, as they could hear the person outside push up against the door in order to hear better. Maxwell groaned, Rose panted, and Cornwallis and Frankie dissolved into hysterics. With tears streaming down her face, Rose carried on for a couple of minutes longer, getting slowly louder and more desperate sounding. Frankie had got well into the rhythm now, and then Cornwallis decided to make things worse by playing the conductor. The crescendo approached at a pace, until Cornwallis indicated a last long note and both Frankie and Rose obliged.

  In the silence that followed, they could only hear footsteps walking forlornly away from the outside of the door.

  Rose, Cornwallis, and Frankie looked at each other, all three biting their lips as their shoulders shook. Frankie desperately waved his hand trying to get the other two to stop laughing, which largely proved unsuccessful. Quite a few minutes passed before some form of decorum returned and they could all speak properly.

  ‘Oh, Gods,’ remarked Cornwallis, wiping his eyes. ‘That wasn’t fair.’

  ‘No, it wasn’t,’ replied Rose, grinning. ‘Just think what his reputation will be now; you made it go on far too long.’

  Frankie creased up again, but only for a few seconds. ‘Oh Gods, I love this job,’ he said at last.

  As Maxwell began to regain consciousness, Frankie felt him begin to move beneath his knees; he clamped a hand quickly over the mouth to stifle any shouts that might come and then looked at Cornwallis. ‘Search him, Jack, I bet he’ll have a stack of weapons.’

  Cornwallis found a knife, a cut-throat razor and a garrotte, which he thrust into his pockets. ‘The door, we need to find the trigger mechanism,’ he said, suddenly jumping up. ‘It’s going to be the sconces again. Come on, Rose, you that one, me this. Don’t let go of the bastard, Frankie.’

  It was one of the sconces, and Rose found the catch and the secret door clicked. Cornwallis pushed the desk out of the way and flung the door open wide, and then went to help Frankie drag Maxwell through. Once back in the deserted warehouse they shut the door and began to breathe a little more easily.

  Maxwell lay on the floor and jerked around as he came fully to. ‘Bastards,’ he snarled. ‘You’re going to regret this; you’ve made some really powerful enemies now.’

  ‘Yeah, right,’ replied Frankie, wanting desperately to kick the shit out of him. ‘As if we care what you say, a few nights banged up might let you find out who your friends really are.’

  ‘Come on,’ said Cornwallis. ‘Let’s get him away, you can carry on your friendly conversation later; down at the Yard.’

  As they had cuffed Maxwell with his hands behind his back, Frankie and Cornwallis had trouble dragging him upright. He didn’t help them much, using his weight to cause as much as a problem as he could, but finally, they got him to his feet and marched him across the warehouse to t
he little side door. Cornwallis looked around to Rose, motioning that perhaps it might be a good idea to sort out her shirt. She looked down and gave a little squeak of horror at what she showed; with everything that had been happening she hadn’t noticed that another few buttons had come undone. Quickly she covered up, making herself respectable once more, with Maxwell watching with undisguised lust.

  Rose led them out and down the side of the warehouse into all the activity on the wharf.

  ‘It ain’t going to make a blind bit of difference if you yell and shout,’ warned Cornwallis to Maxwell, as they stopped. ‘You’ve been arrested, and even your friends next door won’t be able to lift a finger to help. Do what you want, but all you’ll do is show yourself up as the coward you really are.’

  Maxwell turned his head and sneered at Cornwallis. ‘You’re going to be very dead, very soon, so make the most of your time left, because it ain’t gonna last much longer.’

  Cornwallis laughed at him. ‘We’ll see, Maxwell. You’re just shouting hollow threats.’

  They marched out onto the wharf and away from the warehouse and a few of the workers turned to look as the little group went by. Rose took the lead with the others coming on behind; keeping an eye out for a likely mode of transport that they could commandeer to get them to the Yard. Maxwell wasn’t making it easy for them; he kept struggling and fighting, trying to get free. The workers blessed him with catcalls and jeers as they watched his vain attempts to resist arrest, then suddenly that changed into a collective sharp intake of breath. Cornwallis sensed that something had gone wrong just a split second before he felt a knee thump into his thigh. Frankie had sensed the change too, and found out why when a fist smacked into his face. Maxwell had broken free and bolted forward to the gasp of the onlookers.

  Rose only realised that something was wrong when she felt an arm wrap tightly around her waist and heard the gasps of the crowd.

  ‘Gotcha now, you little tart,’ hissed Maxwell into her ear as he spun her around to face Cornwallis and Frankie.