Blood Money (36 page)

Ending the call, Bill lifts his head. “I feared he might say that, but I still think we should give Slater one last chance before we begin damaging the fabric of a listed building. And it's probably a smart move to have him there when we open it, because if he booby-trapped the vault he might also have booby-trapped his security office too. In fact, I'd be a lot happier if Eddie were to be the first person to enter once we break through.”

Taking less than a second to think about it, Vincent clearly agrees. “Bill, you've made a good point there, –tell you what Steve, I know this is a bit unconventional but I'd really appreciate it if you could help us cut through a very strong steel door. Of course I'll see to it that you receive an appropriate compensation for your time and trouble.” Steve nods eagerly.

“Bill, arrange for Eddie to be taken over to Lombard Street, but give it a good hour or so. I want us to be all set and ready to go. He needs to see we mean business. Then if he still refuses to cooperate I'm sure Steve here will be able to demonstrate just how good he is at working on reinforced steel.”

“It'd be my pleasure to assist, but I'm going to need John to help me with some of the equipment if that's alright. As I cut into the steel I'll need a second pair of hands to clear away the slag and bend the metal away. And as with all ‘hot works', there may be a fire risk and I trust John implicitly to keep everything safe as I work, if that's ok?”

“Seems pretty reasonable to me. John, you're welcome to join us down at Kronos HQ so long as you don't do anything to antagonise Edward Slater.”

*

Once inside the grand entrance hall, Gibson begins carrying in the gear whilst Kavanagh busies himself by changing into his welding overalls. He swaps trainers for steel toe-caps and puts on his metal-working smock. He then gets all his equipment arranged, including buckets of sand, fire blankets and several extinguishers. Steve then begins to take a look at the door in question and the surrounding wall. He makes a careful examination, tapping it in several places and testing the wall with magnets. After a minute of scrutiny, he steps back to give the policemen his assessment.

“Well, I can see why the locksmith was out of his depth. It's constructed from toughened steel. And I'm not just talking about the door; I'm talking about the walls as well. What they've built here is a ‘panic room'. Everything is reinforced (probably even the floor and the ceiling) and you'll notice that there isn't even a single window. I could drill away all afternoon at this lock with tungsten carbide bits and not get anywhere. All it would achieve is to ‘work-harden' the steel, making it even more impregnable. And it looks like that electronic lock on the door is very similar to the type they build into safes, so in my opinion, flame cutting is the only way you're ever going to force your way inside.”

“Let's stick to the plan” is Vincent's response. “We'll give Eddie one last chance to do the right thing and then you can cut away to your heart's content.”

Ten minutes later, a scowling Eddie Slater is escorted into the foyer. Two burly policemen manoeuvre him forward despite his evident reluctance. His surly face smirks at the sight of so many men frustrated in gaining entry into his private office.
“Having a bit of trouble there lads?”

But Eddie's snarling sarcasm suddenly stops when Vincent and Bill move aside so he can see the two men who are ready to use a heavy-duty oxy acetylene cutting torch on the door. Eddie recognises both men instantly as the fiancé and the brother of the FSA girl he knifed to death in the street. His sneering lips begin to quiver in panic. His brutal face suddenly looks nervous and vulnerable.

John Gibson stares back at the thug with cold, calm hatred. It's a look that tells Eddie everything he needs to know about the situation in an instant.

Vincent impatiently asks one more time for the code. “Well are you going to open this thing for us or not?”

“I ain't never gonna help the filth!”
Eddie lunges forward and even the strong arms of the attendant policemen struggle to hold him back. A well placed kick to the back of Slater's right leg brings him down to the floor and before he has a chance of hurting anyone Bill and Vincent join in the melee to help subdue the prisoner.

Whilst everyone else is occupied in the pandemonium, Steve leans across to John Gibson to check on his facts “So I take it that this is the guy you were telling me about, the one we owe?” John nods and whispers his reply. “Yeah, and he's definitely hiding something pretty bad in there, so I reckon we'll be getting even with him very shortly.”

With Eddie still writhing around, the assortment of officers get his wrists and ankles mechanically restrained with cable ties, leaving him face-down on the tiled floor. Once he's completely immobilised, Vincent gets up and whilst dusting himself off he gives Steven Kavanagh the nod to proceed.

Lighting-up the cutting torch, the steel-worker adjusts the gas mixture to transform the large smoky yellow flame into a sharp-edged blue dart. Steve and John lower their visors and turn their backs on Slater.

Holding the flame millimetres away from the skin of the door, it soon begins to heat-up. At the first sign of a molten puddle forming Steve hits the oxygen lever on the torch, increasing its intensity ten-fold. He now begins dragging it smoothly just above the surface in an unhurried motion, and as he does so a smell of burning metal fills the air. Once the first vertical cut has been made Steve lifts his visor to inspect the progress. Seemingly satisfied that he's sliced all the way through without causing a fire on the other side, he lowers his visor once more and begins cutting horizontally to continue cutting-out a large panel in the bottom half of the door.

Once three complete traverses have been made, Steve gets to his feet and turns off the torch. “Ok John. It's your turn.”

Relishing the opportunity to swing the twenty pound sledge hammer, Gibson pounds at the panel on the inside of the cut-line, breaking away any residual bonds and dribbles of slag that are still holding it in place. It begins to bend backwards into the room and after many repeated blows it falls onto the floor just inside the darkened office.

Steve pats his best mate across the shoulder, then looking back at Vincent he tells the senior officer. “All yours sir…but I'd give it a few minutes if I were you. That metal will still be red hot and you might as well let the smoke inside clear a little.”

Having waited five minutes, an impatient Vincent Burrows instructs the guards to cut the cable ties securing Eddie's ankles, allowing him to be thrust inside. Having shoved the bodyguard through the rectangular hole, the two uniformed officers follow and immediately have to wrestle him down to the ground once more. Once the light has been turned on, Vincent himself enters and peers around the windowless chamber through the clearing fumes.

As the smoke dissipates it becomes possible to see that the walls display a highly organised arrangement of photos. They appear through the haze like ghosts coming back to haunt the man who put them there. Near the centre of the wall is a picture of Rebecca Kavanagh, her throat having been defaced with a horizontal line from a thick red marker pen. Beside her is a picture of John Gibson himself. On either side there are pictures of senior staff at the FSA, police officers, journalists, and many more besides. Underneath each is a highly detailed list of personal details and there is also an individual assessment and grading as to the risk each poses to the Kronos organisation. Vincent, Bill and John stand silent, aghast at what they are seeing. It doesn't take long to absorb the significance of it all. Several of the pictures have been crossed-out in red pen.

Vincent looks across at the thug of a bodyguard being pinned to the floor nearby, the brute of a man is unmoved and unrepentant. “We haven't even started searching, and it's already pretty obvious why you didn't want us seeing inside. This isn't going to end well for you Eddie…not well at all.”