The Network

by Ernesto H Lee

  “What day is it, sir? How long was I unconscious for?”

  “It’s Friday morning, Sean, you’ve been out of it for more than forty-eight hours. You were in surgery for nearly twelve hours, but the surgeon wanted to keep you under for a couple of days to aid your recovery.”

  “She saved my life, sir. She risked her own life to save mine.”

  “We know that, Sean. I’ve already put DC Swain forward for a commendation. There’s one for you as well, Sean. You’ve broken up one the biggest criminal conspiracies in English policing and judicial history. Those journals and recordings were just the tip of the iceberg. Once we got into the hard drive and memory sticks, the depth of the conspiracy was staggering. I also spoke to the Chief Constable yesterday and he gave me automatic approval for your promotion. Congratulations, Sergeant McMillan.”

  The news of my promotion is great news, but there are more important things to worry about still. “Thank you, sir, I appreciate that — you’ll forgive me, though, if I don’t stand up to shake your hand. What about DS Douglas and ACC Butterfield, what happened to them?”

  Morgan stands up and frowns as he says, “Don’t worry about them, Sean, they are no threat to anyone anymore. Get some rest now. I will be back in a few days to check up on you and give you a full update.”

  I take his hand and pull him back down. “No, sir, please, I’m okay — I need to know that this was all worth it.”

  “Alright, but just a few minutes more. I don’t want your number one fan coming in and ordering me out.”

  “Tell me about Douglas and Butterfield, sir,” I ask.

  “Warrants were issued for Douglas, Butterfield, Huntley, and Bellmarsh a couple of hours after we left you on Tuesday,” he explains. “I was actually in the process of arranging your transport to court when I got the call from DC Swain, so all resources were diverted to try to locate you.

  “Six hours after you went into surgery, DS Douglas walked into a police station in Coventry and handed himself in. The bastard sang like a canary and is demanding immunity in return for his cooperation.”

  “And where is he now, sir?” I ask.

  “In an ironic twist of fate, he is being held in Meerholt Prison.” Morgan laughs. “Unlike you, though, he is being held in solitary. Word got around quickly that Frank Butler is after him for murdering Paul Donovan. He wouldn’t last two minutes around the other inmates. I wouldn’t be shedding any tears, though, if they did manage to get to him. It would be an entirely fitting ending for him.”

  “You said he is asking for immunity, sir. Promise me that he won’t get it. He can’t walk free from this.”

  Morgan pats me on the shoulder and does his best to allay my concerns. “There is no way that he is going to get any kind of immunity. With all the evidence we have, we don’t need anything from him. I promise you, Sean. He is going to spend the rest of his miserable life in solitary confinement.”

  “Thank you, sir, and what about ACC Butterfield — is he also in custody?”

  “Ah yes, ACC Maurice Butterfield, unfortunately we didn’t manage to get him into custody.”

  “So, he’s on the run, sir? Have we circulated his picture to all the airports and ports? We can’t let him get away, he was the mastermind behind this.” My heart is racing at the thought that Butterfield could have slipped through the net and Morgan tells me to calm down.

  “He didn’t get away, Sean. We found him at home in his study.”

  “I don’t understand, sir, so where is he now?”

  “He’s in the morgue. We sent an armed response team to his home to arrest him. Before they could get into the house, he took the coward’s way out and turned his shotgun on himself.”

  I can’t say that this news bothers me, and it doesn’t seem to be concerning Morgan either. “Not the result we wanted, Sean, but he’s another one that I won’t be shedding tears over.”

  “And what about Desmond Carter, what happened to him?”

  Morgan shrugs and then tells me that Carter was able get out of the country. “That slippery bastard managed to get away to Spain before we could serve the warrant. Interpol are on to him, though, and it’s only a matter of time.”

  The door opens, and the pretty young nurse comes back in.

  “Okay, Mr. Morgan, that’s enough for now. Sean needs to rest again before his meds.”

  Morgan stands up to leave again, but I’m not finished. “What about Darren Phillips, Billy McGuigan, and the rest of the names from the journals?”

  “All under control, Sean. Phillips is out of intensive care and doing well and Mcguigan was released yesterday and we have him in a bail hostel. Jean Monroe is working on both of their cases and their part in this will be taken fully into account.”

  The nurse interrupts us again and is more insistent this time. “Okay, that’s enough — please, you have to go now and let him rest.”

  Morgan turns to leave, but adds, “Arrest warrants have been issued for all of the other suspects, four have already been taken into custody including the two chumps from Meerholt. We are working our way through the list, but rest assured, Sean, one way or another, we will get them all. The Network is finished. Now, do as this young lady asks and get some rest. Great work, Sergeant McMillan.”

  As Morgan leaves, my nurse friend approaches my bed and adjusts my bed sheets. “Try and get some rest, Sean. I will be back in a couple of hours to top up your pain relief.”

  It’s probably just her normal bedside manner, or it could be the effect of the drugs, but I’m certain that she is flirting with me. It would be bad form, though, to flirt back without knowing the name of this angel.

  “You have me at a bit of a disadvantage, nurse. You know my name and have probably seen me in all my glory, so how about you even the score a bit?”

  This makes her smile and she leans provocatively towards me and puts her hands across her chest and onto the buttons of her dress. For a second, she fiddles with the top button and then she smiles again and laughs, pointing to her name badge.

  “Calm yourself down, Casanova, I don’t want your stiches tearing. It’s Nurse Samuels. Karen Samuels. Now rest, please. There is a call button next to the bed if you need anything.”

  My smile gives away my thoughts and she raises her eyebrows. “I mean anything important, Sean, and by that, I mean anything medicinal.”

  Over the next few days, I have a constant stream of visitors including colleagues, my family, and a succession of senior officers, all keen to congratulate me on a job well done. There are also requests from journalists for interviews, but Morgan keeps them all at bay and Nurse Samuels is ever present to make sure that nobody overstays.

  By Monday morning I am strong enough to get out of bed and walk around and for the first time in nearly a week, I eat a solid meal in the hospital canteen to build up my strength for my next round of visitors. I have been following the developments of the case on the TV news and Morgan has been bringing me the newspapers, but the news I want most is to know that Cath is fully on the mend.

  Morgan has been updating me on her status during his visits, but I am excited to be seeing her today. I finish my meal and, as if from nowhere, Nurse Samuels appears by my side with a wheelchair.

  “Okay, back to bed, Sean, you’re not Superman. Get in, please.”

  The reference to Superman reminds me of Maria and my promise to make things right for her and Ben. I haven’t decided yet how I am going to make things right, I just know that it’s something that I need to do. I reflect on this as Nurse Samuels wheels me back to my room and then I put the thought aside when I see Catherine waiting for me.

  She is as glamorous as ever but, despite the makeup, her face is still swollen and the cast on her ankle is almost comical against the high heel on her other foot and she picks up on my smirk.

  “Don’t you bloody dare, Sean McMillan! Sergeant or not, and incapacitated or not, I will kick your skinny white arse if you say anything even remotely sarcastic. I t
ried a pair of flats, but you know that’s not me.”

  She reaches over to hug me, but then we both laugh as we simultaneously flinch in pain.

  “Sorry, Cath, my shoulder is still giving me a bit of trouble.”

  “Ditto, for my ribs,” she replies. “You look even worse than you do normally, Sean. I heard from the boss, though, that you have an admirer. Is she the one that just wheeled you in?”

  “If by admirer you are referring to Nurse Samuels, then yes that was her. It’s purely a professional relationship, though, and shame on you for thinking anything else. Now sit down before you trip on those heels.”

  “Hmm, whatever, Sean,” Cath replies. “I’m just happy to see that you are getting better. You’ve probably been following the news, but I kept hold of all of the papers for you anyway.”

  She places a pile of newspapers on my bed and we both smile as I read through some of the bolder headlines including, ‘Murder Cop In Prison Escape Shoot out’, ‘Gun Toting Female Crimefighter Takes Out Kidnappers’, ‘Top Cop Takes His Own Life To Escape Justice’, and ‘Detective Duo Busts Ring Of Corruption Wide Open’.

  “Some real winners there, Cath, I’m not sure which is my favorite, but I do like the Gun Toting Female Crimefighter — she sounds hot. Do you think I could get her number?”

  We both laugh and then Catherine puts me back in my place.

  “Dream on, Sean. I heard that she is well out of your league.” And then she adds, “Besides, she would never get past Nurse Bulldog. She seems to have staked a claim on you.”

  We both laugh at her comment, but then her expression changes and her tone becomes more serious.

  “I’m so sorry that I didn’t get to you sooner, Sean. I bloody knocked myself out in the crash. The shots woke me up and I got to you as quickly as I could. I don’t know what I would have done if he had killed you. I couldn’t have lived with myself.”

  Her voice is breaking up and tears are welling in her eyes and I squeeze her hand.

  “Cath, it’s okay, you did get to me and that’s all that matters. You saved me, Cath. Without you I wouldn’t be here now.

  I will be forever grateful for what you did for me and I couldn’t ask for a better partner.”

  Through her tears she smiles and asks me if I mean it.

  “Really, Sean? I let you down. Do you really mean that?”

  “Of course I mean it, Cath. The thing with DS Douglas meant nothing. There are plenty of cases waiting to be solved and when I get out of here, there is only one person I want to work with.” Then I add a bit of humor to lighten the mood, “Well actually, what I meant to say is that there is only one person that I want working for me. Now that I’m a sergeant, I mean.”

  She lets go of my hand and feigns offence.

  “Oh it’s like that now, is it? Don’t make me regret saving you, Sergeant McMillan.”

  I pull her towards me and despite our shared pain, we hug again and share an unspoken moment that is only ended when Nurse Samuels comes in.

  “Sorry to disturb you, Sean, you have two more visitors, if you are up to it? I can ask them to come back tomorrow if you need to rest.”

  Cath stands up and I ask Nurse Samuels who the visitors are. I am not up to any more fawning from senior officers that I have never heard of and I tell her to send them away if it is anyone from the police. Before she can answer me, Maria and Ben appear in the doorway carrying flowers and a brown paper bag. Catherine hugs them both and asks how they are, and then she kisses me on the cheek and excuses herself.

  “Take care of yourself, Sean. I will be back in a couple of days to check on you again. It was good to see you, boss.”

  Maria takes Catherine’s place and Ben stands behind her holding the bag.

  “That looks interesting, Ben. Grapes?”

  Maria frowns and nudges Ben.

  “Sorry, Sean, I told him that you wouldn’t be allowed it, but he insisted.”

  I look to Ben and he lifts a cold can of Stella out of the bag.

  “I thought you might need a cold one, I got you a four-pack, though, just to be sure.”

  It hurts to laugh, but I can’t help it and I tell Ben to put them in the fridge. “Thanks, maybe in a couple more days. Put them at the back where they can’t be seen.”

  While Ben goes to the fridge I stare at Maria and am reminded again just how stunningly beautiful this woman is.

  She has changed, though. The last time I saw her she was still carrying the pain of the last twenty-four years on her shoulders, but somehow now she is different. The spark I saw in 1994 is back and she looks reborn.

  “You look well, Maria. I’m sorry you had to go through all of this, but I hope now that you can start to rebuild your life.”

  Her smile is enough to bring a corpse back from the dead and the touch of her hand on mine sends a jolt of electricity through me and I find myself blushing.

  “Because of you, Sean, I already have my life back. For the first time since I can remember, I can get up in the morning without having to worry about Ben or myself. I can’t ever thank you enough for what you have done for us. Not just for us, but for my mum and dad as well. Mum didn’t live to see Dad’s killer brought to justice, but they can both rest in peace now.”

  She leans in and gently touches the bandage on my forehead and then she kisses me on the cheek. “God bless you, Sean.”

  I hadn’t noticed, but Ben is back and he looks embarrassed as she sits back down. He doesn’t say anything about the kiss, though. Instead he also thanks me.

  “Thanks for everything, Detective McMillan, for me and for my mum.”

  “It was nothing, Ben, just doing my job,” I reply. “Thanks again for the beers, it was very thoughtful. Is it that obvious that I’m a Stella kind of guy?”

  For a second, he is embarrassed again and almost looks like I have asked a question to try to catch him out, but then he smiles and answers without any hint of emotion.

  “Just a wild guess, most guys enjoy a Stella. So, how are you feeling?”

  We chat for another fifteen minutes about the case, speculation in the newspapers, and how soon I expect to be released from hospital, and then Nurse Samuels once again appears and breaks up the party.

  “Okay, folks, that’s enough for today. My patient needs to get some rest, so please finish up now.”

  We say our goodbyes and Maria kisses me on the cheek again. My mind is working overtime and I feel ashamed as my body responds to her scent and the touch of her lips on my skin.

  My returning libido is a clear indicator of my recovery and I know that whilst physically I am still far away from being the man I was, in my dreams partial disability is no barrier to holding Maria in my arms one last time.

  I need the touch of a woman badly and it surely can’t hurt to replay a scene that has already happened? What’s the worst thing that can happen?

  For the next few hours, I picture the first time I met Maria in my mind over and over again, until I can replay the entire scene perfectly.

  I need a stimulant, though, and my current prescription won’t be enough.

  Due to my progress, the doctors have been gradually reducing the dosage of my painkillers, so now I need to take advantage of Nurse Samuels’ obvious infatuation with me.

  Just before my final medication of the day, I get out of bed and strip off my hospital gown and clean myself up. Morgan brought me a fresh set of clothes a few days ago along with my wallet and other belongings and I take them from the bedside locker and get dressed and then put the gown back on, before getting back in bed.

  A few minutes later, Nurse Samuels appears and asks how I am feeling.

  “Actually, Karen, I’m not so good, the pain relief doesn’t seem to be working today.”

  She looks surprised and checks my pulse and blood pressure. “Your numbers are consistent with your progress, Sean. But if you are sure, I can increase your dosage a little and we can review it again in the morning.”

  I no
d and thank her.

  The increase in dosage has an instant effect and I am worried that I might pass out before I am ready. Nurse Samuels leaves the room and as quickly as I can I remove the bandage from my head. The stitches over my eye were taken out a few days ago, and the doctors have done a good job to limit any long-term scarring, but the area around the wound from Huntley’s revolver butt is still red and bruised.

  It’s still better, though, than walking around in 1994 looking like a car crash victim. I get back into bed and close my eyes and just for a moment I consider changing my mind about travelling.

  I am worried what might happen if the Skinheads get the better of me on the train. If that happens, everything else will change.

  I mull the options over in my head, but then the effect of the drugs and thoughts of making love to Maria gives me renewed confidence.

  “Fuck those assholes, even like this they are no match for me.”

  I close my eyes again and chant my way back to find Maria: 13th October 1994, 13th October 1994, 13th October 199…

  The Past – Thursday, 13th October 1994

  I pick up a copy of the Staines and Egham News and I smile when I see the story about the landing of the space shuttle Endeavour and then, after a quick glance at the date for confirmation, I turn to pay before the Boyzone lookalike behind the counter can give me any shit.

  He looks me up and down suspiciously as I hand over payment for the newspaper and then points to my head as he hands over my change.

  “That looks nasty, mate. You should be careful around here or you might get done in again.”

  I know exactly what he is referring to, but I give him a look of innocence anyway and he looks at me as if I am stupid.

  “Gay bashing, mate!” he exclaims. “With those fancy clothes and weird fucking haircut, you need to be careful. Is that what happened? You must be gay, am I right?”

  I pretend to turn away, but then I turn back quickly and before he can react, I grab his collar and pull his head down onto the counter and pin him down with my elbow.

  “You really should watch your mouth. If I wasn’t such a nice guy, I might just be tempted to break your greasy little neck.”