Go Out With A Bang! (5 page)

'A
handful of wires here,' said Morris. 'And bingo. They all end up
right here.'

'Outa my
way,' growled Hancock. He reached into the controls, grabbed a
handful of wires and pulled hard until they all yielded.

'Got
them all?' asked Morris.

'We
might just find out in five, four, three, two...'

There
was a clicking sound in the middle of the controls as from
somewhere, a remotely controlled button was pushed and the triggers
were activated. They closed their eyes and prayed. Nothing went
boom.

'Yeah.
It looks like I got them all.'

Totally
exhausted, the four men made their way outside. As they crossed the
lawns to where the others waited, Andersen's phone went off.
'Andersen. Mr Goldstein. Is that right? You and your brother
decided not to pay up after all. No shit. Yeah. I'm cool with that.
Goodnight, Mr Goldstein.'

Chapter 12

'The
Ferret? You saw him?'

'Yes,
Chief,' said Andersen. 'At least we are fairly sure it was him. He
was wearing a Tactical uniform. We didn't see his face.'

'And he
gave you this note?'

Morris
said, 'He gave it to me, Sir. Then he sort of vanished
again.'

'What
the hell is he playing at?' said the Chief.

Crowe
said, 'I think he took time out from whatever he's doing to tell us
that he'd figured out what was really happening at the
hotel.'

Andersen
added, 'Saving millions in damage.'

'Sounds
like him,' said Bernie. 'I have to tell Poppy.'

Andersen
said, 'Chief. He must have a reason for not doing that
himself.'

'My
Niece is crying herself to sleep every night, Dale. She's a mess. I
have to tell her at least that her husband is alive and still
saving the world.'

'You
have to be the judge of that one.'

'I will.
Have you heard anything from Andy Carter yet?'

Andersen
said, 'The Scene of Crime Team are still at it in the hotel. Andy
called me ten minutes ago. Nothing to hang a hat on
yet.'

'Hardly
surprising,' said the Chief. 'This gang is very professional, but
if anyone can find anything, Carter can. Think they'll strike
again?'

'I do,'
said Andersen. 'They've come away empty handed so far. My guess is
they will rethink their tactics and try something a little
different.'

Morris
said, 'My concern is that they'll be more determined to make their
efforts pay and they might do something rash and things could get
nasty.'

Crowe
added, 'I tell you something for nothing. I for one won't be
walking into a building wired to blow up again. So if anyone asks
me, be prepared for disappointment.'

'Too
right,' said the Chief. 'In future, leave the heroics to Tactical.
You three stay right out of action like that.'

'No
worries, Chief,' said Crowe, relieved to hear the Old Man say
that.

The
Chief got up. 'Dale. Work with Carter and keep me in the loop with
anything significant. If you're just hanging around though,
concentrate on finding Ducket. I'm off home to talk to Poppy. God
only knows how that's going to go. '

Chapter 13

The
Chief changed into his jeans and sweatshirt and transformed himself
into Uncle Bernie. The two characters were usually well defined,
but sometimes the lines were blurred. This was one of those times.
His partner Debbie was out at work, so it was just him and Poppy at
home. His niece was at the dining table, staring at her
laptop.

'Coffee?'

'Hmm?
Oh, yes please.' She hadn't taken her eyes off the
screen.

Bernie
took two coffees to the table and sat with her. 'Working on a
website design?'

'Just
checking emails.' It had been the third time in the last hour she
had checked them.

'Anything?'

'Nothing. Not from Fred, anyway.' She turned the computer off
and closed the lid.

Bernie
sipped his coffee, trying to find the words. Poppy was a mature,
intelligent young woman. He took her hand. 'I may have news for
you.'

'Fred?'

'We
think so. I have something here.' He took out his wallet and from
that got a folded sheet of A4 paper and handed it to his
niece.

With her
hands shaking slightly, she unfolded the sheet. 'The hotel is
empty. F. I don't understand.'

'First
things first. Do you think that's Fred's handwriting?'

Poppy
studied the paper. 'Yes. I always said his handwriting is the worst
ever. No doubt about it. Where did you get this?'

'It was
handed to Detective Morris. They were at that hotel last night. It
was something of a standoff. A man in a Tactical uniform handed
that note to Morris. Then he vanished.'

'You
think it was him? You think it was Fred?'

'He had
a visor over his face. But yes. I do. We all do. It was
Fred.'

'I don't
understand what this note means?'

'You'll
see it all on the television news later. It was the Ferret saving
the day again. Realising the significance of the message, my men
went in and literally defused the situation. The bad guys they had
assumed were in the building weren't. Fred was on the money, as
usual.'

'He can
do that and he can't send me a damn email?'

'Poppy.
I don't know what to say. I wish to God I did. but at
least...'

'Oh,
yes. He's alive. He can't be bothered to contact me, but he can be
out there solving major crimes. What am I to him?
Nothing?'

'Hell,
no, Poppy. You know you are everything to him. Never doubt
that.'

Poppy
wiped away her tears, tipped her head back and stared at the
ceiling. 'So what is going on, Uncle Bernie?'

'I have
a theory.'

'Go
on.'

'Now I'm
not saying this is what's going on, but it's the only thing that
makes any sense.'

'I'm
listening.'

'This
thing going on with this gang. Targeting buildings worth millions
and extorting money from their owners is a pretty big case. It's
also a perfect case for the Ferret to apply himself to and help
apprehend the bad guys.'

'Right.
So you think he's sort of going undercover to get them?'

Bernie
shrugged. 'Hmm. Not quite the way I was thinking, but I suppose
that's a possibility.'

'So not
that?'

'I don't
think so. That's a serious crime, but at the end of the day, it's
just a crime. If it were just that, I've no doubt Fred would be
shoulder to shoulder with Morris and Crowe. Whatever it is he's
into is huge. I have no idea what, but it is scarily big. Him
saving the day yesterday was simply an aside for him. Time out from
the big one.'

'Jeez.
How bloody big is it what he's working on?'

Bernie shrugged. 'I don't know
for sure. Like I said, just a theory. But before I tell you my
theory, are you sure
you
can't think of anything?'

'No. How
would I know of...oh.'

'Poppy?'

'No. Not
that.'

'Tell me
what you think, for God's sake.'

'No.
You'll never believe it.'

'Try
me.'

Chapter 14

Poppy
said, 'It goes back to that witch case. Damn. I don't even want to
think about it.'

'Morris
and Crowe risked disciplinary action by not saying what happened
that night. D I Andersen was livid, but those three detectives are
his best team and he...we trust them completely.'

'Uncle
Bernie. I'll tell you what happened. But you have to promise me
you'll never repeat it.'

'But if
it's a way to find Fred, I'm not sure I can do that.'

'Then
forget it.'

Bernie
had to know. 'Okay. I promise. Tell me.'

'Shannon
Le'Vin. Remember her?'

'I never
met her, but she was amazingly beautiful I heard. She was also a
high priestess with a witches coven, I believe?'

Poppy
nodded. 'I think I was a little in awe of her. I never met anyone
like her. She had this self confidence that made her just glow. I
went to her home to supposedly help her with her computer and also
to learn a little about witchcraft, for a book I wanted to write.
It was all a trap.'

Bernie
was stunned. 'A trap? For you?'

'No. I
was just the bait. She wanted Fred. She may have drugged me. I
don't think she needed to. She was so powerful. I remember sitting
with her at her computer, going over her new website, having fun.
Then I was out of it. The next thing I remember was being naked,
standing on a chair with a noose around my neck.'

Bernie
was horrified.'My God. Why didn't you say anything?'

'Because...oh, Uncle Bernie. It's complicated.'

'Wait a
moment.' He got up, opened a bottle of bourbon and poured two large
measures. He placed one in front of his niece and sat back down.
After a decent mouthful of booze, he said. 'I'm ready. Go
on.'

Poppy
sipped her neat bourbon, winced and took a deep breath. 'Fred
filled in some of the gaps later. I was sort of aware of everything
that was going on, but unable to move or speak. I could see Morris,
Crowe and Fred. There was also that warlock. Felix Farnham. There
was something else. It was...'She drained the glass and shuddered.
'I can only describe it as pure evil. Not human.'

'Not
human?'

'This is
where you'll just have to accept what I say. It
happened.'

'Poppy.
You were probably drugged up to your eyeballs. Hallucinating or
something.'

Poppy
collected the glasses, went over to the bottle and poured them both
another drink. 'I knew you'd say that. It wasn't like
that.'

'You
said yourself you couldn't move or speak. Sounds like you were
drugged to me.'

Poppy
sat back down with her uncle. 'Fred wasn't drugged. Morris and
Crowe weren't drugged. They saw and heard what I did.'

'Sorry.
Go on.'

'I
remember hearing...what do they call them? Incantations. From the
witches. In front of me, this...thing appeared. Just from nothing.
It was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in my life. I
could even smell it. It was huge, and its leg, one leg, was like a
bird. It scratched the floor as he stomped around. He...it was
summoned by the witches. They called him the Lord of Revenge and he
was to do their bidding.'

Poppy
stopped, sipped her drink and looked her uncle in the eyes. She
needed to know he accepted what she knew was an incredible tale and
wasn't thinking she was crazy. He held her stare; his kind blue
eyes full of love and care for his niece. He believed her. She
continued.

'This is
where it starts to get weird.'

'Starts?'

'Weirder. Shannon Le'Vin and Fred go back a long, long way.
Hundreds of years. Fred was a witch finder. He had Le'vin hung. It
was all about revenge and making him suffer.'

'How? By
watching you suffer?'

'Yes. It
would have been easy for them to kill Fred, to kill all of us. She
wanted more than that. This had been festering for centuries. She
was using our love against us. Fred begged her to let me go. He
said he would willingly take my place. And he did.'

Bernie
put his hand up. He had to sit quietly and think about what Poppy
was telling him. He had enough imagination to picture the scene in
his mind, but it stretched what he could accept as the truth to the
absolute limits. He had been in the police force for all his adult
life. He knew lies from truth. This was the truth. He nodded for
her to continue.

'That
monster, the creature. He agreed. They got me down and Fred stood
on the chair with that noose around his neck. Uncle Bernie. He
would have given up his life so that I could live. The creature
spoke. It said, Fred's heart was too pure and his love for me too
strong. There was no place for him in hell.'

'It let
Fred go?'

'Yes.
Instead he took Le'Vin and Farnham. He took their hands in his and
they vanished.'

'I never
understood what happened to them. Prime suspects in the witch
murders, and Morris and Crowe refusing to tell me and D I Andersen
where they were.'

'Now you
know why. All that was left were two small piles of ash. That thing
had taken them straight to hell.'

Bernie
got up and stared out of the window at his back garden. He would
have to mow the lawns soon. It looked like rain. 'Hell's a good
place for them. Poppy. Never doubt Fred. He would have gladly died
to save you. There is no deeper love than that.'

'I
know.' She got up and hugged her uncle. 'But could the witches
still be after him? Is that what this is all about?'