Cold Courage (27 page)

The door was locked, but Paddy pulled from the inner pocket of his coat a jangling bundle of small metal implements, somewhere
between
keys and tiny tools. Lia recognised the bundle, since it was just like the one Berg had used to open the door to Gareth Nunn’s flat.

A moment later they heard a click and the door opened. Behind it were stairs leading upwards.

The door that opened onto the roof was unlocked. Running out into the light, they instinctively bent double as a wave of ear-splitting noise and pressure washed over them. A helicopter was landing on the middle of the roof.

The landing was not entirely smooth: the pilot was forced to correct his angle of descent several times before he dared set down the entire weight of the helicopter.

When the skids touched the roof, Paddy told Lia and Elza to follow him. He opened the side door of the chopper and they climbed up into the shaking and thudding machine.

Sitting on the benches, they fastened their safety belts as Paddy directed the pilot to take off.

Only after they had been flying through the skies of central London for about a minute did Lia realise that none of them had said anything. Paddy was concentrating on the route. Elza’s serious expression revealed that she was simply trying to keep her wits about her amidst all the confusion.

Lia herself was too astonished to speak. She had never flown in a helicopter. She stared at the London Eye to their left and the
skyscrapers
of the City to their right, which from this perspective looked new and smaller.

‘Two minutes,’ Paddy announced. He almost had to shout to make himself heard over the din.

‘I didn’t know that ordering a helicopter was this easy,’ Lia yelled back.

‘This is illegal. Or, the flying isn’t illegal, but the flight path and landings are. That’s what’s costing us. And the short notice.’

They passed over Marble Arch.

Might they get caught? Lia asked.

‘Of course. If anyone notices.’

Almost immediately the helicopter reached Shepherd’s Bush. It didn’t land on the shopping centre roof, since the sight from inside of a helicopter flying so low over the glass roof would attract
unwanted
attention, but the pilot found an appropriate spot on the top of a neighbouring building.

When the chopper’s skids touched down again, Paddy was already opening the door. Lia and Elza needed no admonition to move quickly. They were all out within seconds.

Paddy gave the pilot a thumbs-up, and he rose back into the air.

Then they ran to the rooftop door and down the stairs.

The block was another large commercial building, the top floor of which was used by an asset management company. The guard at the door stared at them as they charged down from the roof to the lift. But the lift arrived quickly, and they got away without any trouble.

Paddy took a few deep breaths and evaluated the situation. The building security cameras would have pictures of them, but the helicopter had touched down on the roof so quickly that that was unlikely to cause any problems.

‘The whole trick is that it has to happen instantly. So quickly that the air traffic control authorities don’t have time to start asking questions.’

How had he managed to hire a helicopter so quickly? Lia asked, still astonished.

Paddy explained that he knew the owner of the company. The firm had six helicopters, several of which were always either in the air or standing by on the ground. They could get a bird in the air over London anytime. Usually they ferried corporate coshes from one meeting to another, but Paddy sometimes ordered last-minute jaunts. Helicopters were only supposed to fly specific routes in
London airspace, and they weren’t allowed to land just anywhere, but for a special premium the owner was willing to take the risk.

Elza listened to the conversation, looking pale and glancing at her watch. Lia checked the time. They had three minutes left of their original two hours.

The lift arrived at street level.

‘Paddy and I shouldn’t be seen with you any more,’ Lia said to Elza. ‘You should go back to the beauty parlour alone.’

Elza nodded without saying anything.

She’s scared. She’s scared to death.

‘I’ll see you tonight in the corner shop on Vassall Road,’ Lia said. ‘I’ll be there around eight o’clock. We’ll meet there, and I’ll tell you what to do. All that’s required of you now is to stay calm.’

‘I’m not the one to worry about. The question is whether Henriete and Ausma can stay calm,’ Elza said. ‘Tonight, eight o’clock, at the shop.’ Then she crossed the street.

Lia and Paddy waited a few minutes. They saw a large, black van pull in to a space at the bottom of the stairs leading to the shopping centre. Lia recognised the driver: the bald man, Olafs Jansons. Unintentionally she flinched, drawing back behind Paddy as she remembered her latest narrow escape from the thug. Elza and three other women came out of the shopping centre and climbed into the van, which turned into the flow of traffic and disappeared from sight.

‘What happens now?’ Paddy asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Lia said. ‘I don’t have the faintest idea.’

Mari answered Lia’s call immediately. She listened for a moment and then interrupted. ‘How much time do we have? Until eight tonight? Good.’

Mari was at the Fitzroy Museum and asked Lia to meet her there. Paddy got a few hours off, which he was glad to take.

When she reached the museum, Lia purchased a ticket and walked up to the hall between the fourth and fifth galleries.

Mari was sitting in her usual place, on the bench in front of
Double O
. Her concentration was total as she watched the circles of film flitting in the air between the enormous fans.

Here she can be at peace no matter what happens
.

Lia sat down beside Mari and told her about the events of the day so far.

Mari listened in silence, and Lia noticed that her expression didn’t change at any point. She seemed indifferent to the price of the helicopter ride.

Lia handed her Daiga Vītola’s picture. She did not need to say who it was. Mari looked at the picture for a long time and then lifted her eyes to the whirling piece of art.

Her face was serious, and when she finally looked at Lia, Lia could see the deep sorrow in her eyes. Mari still did not say a word.

What is she thinking? I can’t make it through this by myself.

‘All we have are hard choices,’ Mari finally said. ‘I’ve been trying to think whether we have any way to handle this so that Vanags will definitely end up in jail and the women will definitely go free. But we don’t.’

It was possible that the police would find evidence against Vanags, but there was a serious chance that they would not be able to connect him to the murders. Having Vanags remain at large would be dangerous for them all.

Mari had also attempted to clarify what the Latvian women’s status was in Britain. She had called a lawyer who specialised in immigration rights. The situation was difficult and ambiguous, the solicitor had said. Daiga Vītola’s family and the Vassall Road
prostitutes might not be allowed to stay in Britain and might be deported to Latvia.

If the women did not make their presence known to the
authorities
and attempted to stay on in the country on their own
recognizance
, their lives would remain difficult. They would have to stay in hiding, and they would not be able to keep in contact with relatives or friends. If information of their whereabouts got out, Vanags would be able to find them.

Lia understood. There was no expedient that would resolve the women’s situation outright.

Is this what this is like? We research. We plan. We risk our own safety. But even with all that we can’t do any good.

‘Can’t we help them get away to somewhere else?’ Lia asked.

‘Of course we can. But where do we draw the line? If we help them, why don’t we help the women at the three other brothels as well?’

They could give the women money to get by for a while. They could help them engage lawyers, but none of them were going to be granted asylum. People in Latvia were not living in extremis.

‘Latvia is a perfectly reasonable place to live. At some point our assistance has to stop,’ Mari said.

She motioned to the installation in front of them.

‘We have to remember that the Baltic is also like this. They have art, artists, normal life. Perfectly normal people. If Elza and the others return to Latvia, their life there might be just fine.’

These women had been injured in a way that had changed their lives. The prostitutes had all taken a risk coming to London, and that gamble had turned out badly. Lia and Mari could ameliorate the situation somewhat but not completely.

They could not ensure these women a good future. That they had to do for themselves.

‘This is a question of fairness,’ Mari continued. ‘We dispense
fairness
, not justice.’

Lia realised that Mari was speaking from experience.

She has been in situations like this before.

But they had to get the women out of mortal danger, Lia insisted. The most important thing was to get the prostitutes and Daiga’s
family to safety. Everything else would happen if it happened. Perhaps Vanags would be convicted for his crimes.

‘We’ll help the women out of danger, and then they can decide what to do. At least they’ll get to choose themselves,’ Mari said.

She stood up.

‘Have you also been thinking about Fried all this time?’ Lia asked.

‘I’ve been thinking about everything.’

On the way to the Studio, Mari sketched out the strategy.

They called Paddy in to talk it over. By six o’clock, the plan was ready.

Lia wondered whether she could go home for a bit to take a breather, but time was too short. She stayed at the Studio and found a place to rest in the Den. Lowering one of the hammocks from the ceiling of the dining area, she climbed in.

She could see a strip of dark sky and the industrial buildings across the way. A warm light shone on the walls, coming from the large windows of a warehouse that had been converted into a gallery.

She heard the sounds of work echoing through the Studio. Mari walked from room to room, talking to the others. She conversed quietly with Berg, giving him instructions for the following day.

Lia thought about what she would soon have to do. Just a little while before it would have frightened her, but now she was strangely relaxed.

Just after seven o’clock, Lia set off towards Oval. On the way she received a call from Paddy. According to the plan, he had followed Kazis Vanags and checked that he would no longer be on Vassall Road when Lia arrived in the area.

At a quarter to eight, Lia found herself a dark spot across the road from the corner shop.

Time passed slowly. Eight o’clock arrived with no sign of Elza.

At six minutes past the hour, Lia saw Elza walk down the street and enter the little shop. Lia quickly followed.

Between the shelves, Lia related her suggestion in hushed tones. The plan was simple. Elza listened carefully. When Lia was finished, Elza had only one question.

‘And then what? Where do we go?’

‘You’ll have to decide that yourselves.’

Elza nodded. She took Lia gently by the shoulder.

‘Thank you,’ Elza said, embracing her.

She turned and began filling her shopping cart with cigarettes and fruit. In her hand she held a white piece of paper with a list.

Cigarettes. Tabloids. Bananas. And something for starting a new life,
Lia thought.

The next morning at 9.40 they set the plan in motion.

Lia was sitting with Paddy in a car on Vassall Road. First thing that morning she had rung
Level
’s company doctor to report she had the flu. The female doctor had ordered three days’ sick leave, which Lia accepted without guilt.

The signal came from the top floor of number twelve. A window opened and a hand appeared holding a small white towel. The hand waved the towel several times.

Lia watched in the rear-view mirror as two men climbed out of the vehicle behind them. Large, both in jeans and leather jackets, Alan Scott and Fergus Anderson were security professionals whom Paddy used regularly.

Paddy got out of the car and went with them into the stairwell. Lia stayed in the car and counted the seconds.

Up the stairs, twenty seconds. To the door. When Elza opens it, quietly inside.

Regroup outside the toilet, ten seconds. Charge in – five seconds, maybe ten.

They surprised the Vassall Road guard sitting on the toilet.

The signal at the window had come from Elza. They took down the guard in the unlocked bathroom, not giving him a chance to grab his weapon or call Vanags.

At 9.47 a.m. the window to the flat opened again. The same white towel was waved.

Lia exited the car, locking it. After climbing the stairs to the top floor, she waited outside the door. She didn’t ring the doorbell, to prevent the neighbours from noticing that anyone had called.

Paddy let her in. On his right temple was the beginning of a bruise, apparently from a fist.

The mood in the flat was tense. Elza and the three other women were standing in the middle of the large front room staring at the guard, who was lashed to a chair. Elza looked relieved, the others startled and frightened. They hadn’t known in advance what was going to happen.

The guard was a young man of compact build. His trousers hung
open, and his face also bore the marks of a struggle. Fergus Anderson had covered his mouth with three layers of thick duct tape.

Getting that off is going to hurt.

The guard’s eyes roamed nervously, moving from woman to woman and then focusing on Paddy and his broad-shouldered
sidekicks
. Lia he looked at most intently.

He’s thinking that because I came last, I’m in charge of all of this.

Lia pulled out her mobile and rang Berg.

‘Two minutes,’ Berg said.

Elza spoke to the women in Latvian. Lia could not understand the words, but knew what Elza was explaining. The women had to decide now, quickly, what they wanted to take with them.

Where are we going? they asked.

Elza had ready the response Lia had given her. To a safe place for a few days. After that they would have to take care of themselves.

The women collected their belongings in a state of shock, but Lia could see that the sight of the guard, bound and cowed, had done them good. It was a signpost to freedom.

At the window, Paddy motioned for Lia to come and look. They watched as a large, white camper van rolled onto Vassall Road. Amidst the cars it looked like a ship gliding along. There was still space for it to park though, because at this time of day many
residents
had already departed for work.

The move from the flat took place in a tumult of tension and confusion. Originally they had planned that Paddy and his assistants would leave immediately. But now Paddy had changed his mind.

‘That bloke is so slippery that he might get out of those ropes pretty quick.’

They decided that Scott and Anderson would stay to guard him for at least half an hour. No customers usually came to the flat that early.

Lia led the women down the stairs. Knowing the seriousness of the situation, they did not make a sound.

They carried their hastily packed bags to the camper van, where Berg was waiting. Paddy watched their progress and then went to his own car, ready to follow them.

Berg beamed at the women.

‘Welcome aboard! We’re going to have a lovely couple of days together,’ he said loudly.

Despite her tension, Lia had to smile. Berg was the perfect contrast to what the women had just left behind.

Berg watched while they all found seats, and then he moved up front. Lia started to come up next to him, but Berg shook his head.

‘You’re needed back there.’

Of course. He’s right.

Lia returned to sit with the women. As the vehicle started and glided slowly forwards, she introduced herself. ‘I’m Lia. From Finland.’

It was a strange drive.

The women peered out the windows at London. They had all been in the city for years, but still they pointed at the famous sights as if they had never seen them before. Soon Lia understood what was new to them: they were driving through it all for the first time as free women.

Now they look like places they could actually visit some day.

They headed for Catford. On Sangley Road, Berg parked the camper van a little distance down from number 182 for safety’s sake.

Lia and Berg asked Elza to accompany them, and Paddy joined them on the street.

‘Mr Helicopter,’ Elza said in greeting.

‘Just call me Paddy.’

At this, Lia realised that they had never had time to be properly introduced.

Paddy said he had just called Rico, who was in Leyton keeping an eye on the Eastern Buffet. Everything was in good order. Kazis Vanags was in his shop.

They circled the building again to the back garden. With Paddy in the lead, they approached the rear door of the house cautiously.

Lia nodded to Elza, who knocked on the door. Elza only managed to say her name and a couple of sentences before a cry came from within.

They all jumped. Then they realised that it was a joyful noise. Daiga Vītola’s daughter Ausma began speaking.

‘They want out right now,’ Elza said. ‘They’re just afraid because they were told that the doors and windows are primed with
explosives
.’

Lia glanced at Paddy and Berg. They had remembered the threat as well.

‘I still don’t believe it,’ Paddy said.

They had described the place to Berg earlier, and it did not take him long to come up with a solution.

‘Inside there has to be a fuse box with a mains breaker. Ask them to turn it off,’ he told Elza.

While the women searched for the master switch, Berg fetched one of his tool boxes from the campervan. This one contained more gadgets than his basic tools.

From inside the house, the women announced they had switched the electricity off.

Berg pulled out the small device Lia had already seen him use at Gareth Nunn’s flat. Berg pointed the gadget at the house, and lines appeared on the small display.

‘Since the mains electricity is off, there shouldn’t be any sources of current inside. Unless the bomb has its own battery or its power is connected somewhere else,’ Berg explained.

Slowly he scanned the door and windows. No sign of an
electrical
field showed up on the device, just the same flat line.

‘Clear,’ Berg said.

Of course it was possible that a booby-trap that didn’t require a power source had been attached to the door or window. But no one really used anything like that any more. They were
bloody-minded
systems that tended to decide on their own when to explode.

‘I’m ready to bring them out.’

From his pocket, Paddy produced the set of lock picks he had used previously to open their route to the helicopter. After looking at the lock, he chose a tool.

The lock resisted. Paddy worked intently, and a minute later came a click as the bolt opened.

Paddy pushed the door wide open, and they looked at the two women standing together, wrapped in each other’s arms in fear.

When no explosion came, the women’s expressions relaxed. The younger of them let out a shriek and threw herself at Elza.

The older woman stared at them all. Then she burst into tears.

Getting the situation calmed down and Henriete and Ausma Vītola out of the house took about ten minutes.

At first they were talking so feverishly with Elza at the back door that Paddy led them all inside to avoid attracting additional
attention
. Then they had to collect their things. They did not have much, but they hadn’t packed since they had not known when they would be getting out.

Before leaving, Henriete also wanted to thank Lia, who was embarrassed by the outpouring of gratitude. After shaking Lia’s hand several times, Henriete took her in her arms and hugged her.

Lia stood in the unfamiliar house, which had been these women’s prison for so many months, and embraced Daiga Vītola’s mother. She had to wipe tears from her eyes.

Now I know why I had to do this. If only for this one moment.

When Henriete and Ausma were finally ready, Paddy carefully closed the back door of the house. They moved back to the
campervan
. Elza and Henriete were speaking together seriously.

They’re talking about Daiga. And about what will happen now.

When the three women waiting in the vehicle saw Ausma and Henriete, a renewed wave of frenzied conversation and hugs ensued. Everyone was talking over everyone else.

Lia could see there was no point in attempting to convince the group to sit quietly in their seats. Elza noticed her concerned
expression
.

‘You sit there in the front seat,’ Elza said. ‘We need a little time to work some things out, and no one will have time to translate for you.’

Lia abandoned the commotion in the back to sit with Berg up front.

Berg started the camper van, and this time Paddy drove ahead of them, as if to break a trail, leading them towards the main road that would take them out of London. When she glanced in the rear-view mirror, Lia saw the group of women sitting close together talking, holding each other by the hands, laughing and crying.

If only for this one moment.