Impeding Justice (18 page)

‘
What the fuck are we
dealing with here, Lorne? Christ, every stone we turn over is
soaked in depravity and fear. They’re fucking animals! Oh, sorry… I
mean, well…You must be feeling like shit… We’ll crack this. I
promise you. We’ll crack it and Charlie will be brought home safe
and we’ll see to it The Unicorn and Abromovski spend the rest of
their days rotting in prison!’

Lorne couldn’t feel so sure or settle the
swimming pit of fear in her stomach.

Chapter Thirty-Seven.

‘
It’s done.’

The Unicorn engrossed in the news coverage on
the TV of his successful bombing didn’t take in the meaning of what
his guard had said and without taking his eyes of the screen
demanded, ‘What’s done?’

‘
Sasha’s family. They’re
dead.’ Gary told him.

The Unicorn turned. ‘Problem, Gary?’

‘
No, boss. Just
tired.’

The Unicorn glared long and hard. He enjoyed the man’s
nervousness; it made him smile. He took great pleasure when those
around him showed discomfort. It empowered him and kept his men on
their toes.
Power, what a
truly magical possession!

‘
When this is all over, you
have my permission to take off for a week. Go somewhere hot, screw
a few girls, gamble away some money, you deserve it. Me? I’ll be
lazing on a beach in the Caribbean whilst you are on an overcrowded
beach in Malaga, or somewhere distasteful like that.’

Was that a twitch of annoyance he’d seen
around the smirk of his guard’s lips?

He checked his watch, ten minutes to ten.

‘
Have the video ready for
eleven. We’ll all watch it together, you, me and the girls. Now,
bring one of them to me, I fancy a bit of fun before the main
event.’

‘
Any preference,
boss?’

He didn’t answer immediately, but thought it
over. For a moment he considered asking for Sasha, just to confirm
what he thought was going on in Gary’s head and piss him off more
than he could see he was already, but held back. What he needed to
do often ended in death for whoever he chose to do it to. He
couldn’t risk that with Sasha. He needed her intact or at least
able to stand and walk. What was in store for her would be his
ultimate revenge on her.

‘
Nah! Any slapper will do,
except those chosen for the job we have to do, of course. I have a
lot of pent up emotion I need to take care of, if you know what I
mean? And, stay on hand to mop up after me.’

His laughter echoing in his own ears sounded
like that of a madman. This further amused him, especially as he
saw the effect it had on Gary.

As Gary left, The Unicorn pulled his thoughts
together. They centred around Gary and the weakness he’d detected.
In days gone by he hadn’t flinched if the games played with the
whores ended in strangulation or a broken neck, he’d just wrapped
the body and taken it away, laughing his head off and joking about
it being fish food by morning. The thoughts strengthened his
resolve to keep an eye on this guard he could no longer trust.

* * *

The monotony of the last few hours had
dampened down Charlie’s fear. Some of her pain had subsided, or
hovered behind the cloud inside her head, which Sasha had said,
would be the effect of the drugs.

She remained on her bunk close to Sasha and
when they weren’t dozing they chatted about how their life had been
before their capture, but for the last few minutes they had been
lying back and not talking.

The crashing sound of the doors opening
catapulted them to an upright position. Three of the guards came
in. One of them she recognised as one of the men who had been in
the room when The Unicorn had injected her. Her fear erupted into
her chest and tightened her throat. Her head cleared as her body
went into flight mode. Sasha held her arm and kept her still.

‘
Get up, come on. Get up!’
Their shouts rendered the girls rigid with fear until slaps around
the face and hair being pulled sank the message. Then, as if they
were one, those not yet punished, jumped off their beds and stood,
their bodies quivering as they stared at the men.

The one she recognised sauntered down the
space between the beds towards them. When he reached them he stood
a moment and gazed into Sasha’s eyes. Sasha gave him a faint smile,
but embarrassed he looked away. His head motioned to the other two,
and then, he pointed at the girl in the bunk above Charlie and
Sasha’s.

The girl’s hollers of distress tugged at
Charlie’s heart, until, when dragged past them she spat in Sasha’s
face. ‘This is your fault, bitch. You should have stayed upstairs
where you belonged, you cock-sucking whore!’

Putting her arm around Sasha, Charlie allowed
the change in her feelings and knew a pleasure at the girl’s
plight. Though, unaware of what that might be, for what she’d just
done to Sasha, she thought the girl deserved what she had coming to
her.

The girl’s screams filled the room. Her body
twisted and turned and her fists lashed out at the men. Some pity
seeped into Charlie, but it mixed with terror for herself and Sasha
as the man bent over them. The moment froze. Not even a prayer came
into her blank mind. When he moved she shrank back. Sasha remained
still. After a moment, the man laid his hand over Sasha’s and
squeezed it.

Charlie tried to read his expression, but
couldn’t. Abruptly, he withdrew and left the room. The door closing
blocked out the girl's screams and pitiful cries.

Charlie turned to Sasha. Saw the shock
registered in her eyes. Knew nothing like that had ever happened
before.

‘
Are you all right,
Sasha?’

‘
Yes, but I ‘ave no clue
what that was all about, why did 'e do that?’

‘
I don’t know, it was like
he was trying to tell you something.’

Lowering her voice Sasha whispered, ‘Do you
think ’e was trying to tell me everythin' will be okay? Is ’e going
to 'elp me escape? ’E did seem to be trying to convey somethin' to
me. I am afraid. Somethin' is going on, but what?’

Charlie couldn’t even speculate. She had no
understanding of the way these people worked. But, Sasha, who until
now had been so together and there for her, had an air of
uncertainty about her and this left her feeling bereft of
support.

Chapter Thirty-Eight.

Back in the squad room, leaving Abromovski
with his solicitor, Reynolds safe and seething in the cells and
with instructions given to the other interviewers to capitalise on
the footballer’s testimony, Lorne had been briefed on what the
current position and intelligence was. As soon as the Chief joined
her with her father, who had been given the okay as far as his
blood pressure was concerned, she brought them up to speed.

‘
On the question of what is happening in London today: There
are a few insignificant rallies, the usual thing, a group of
pensioners moaning about their high council tax and a bunch of
students marching in protest of their outrageous student loans.
However, there is a demonstration about the war in Iraq to which we
give more importance. It doesn’t appear to be a run of the mill
type demo either. There’s expected to be ex-front bench members,
scientists and financial bods marching side by side with the
general public. Word has it, that they see this march as a way of
pushing the Prime Minister out of office. We also have information
that the bomb which went off earlier was a small incendiary device,
the type a student could have assembled in a chemistry lab at
college. Maybe they had. And it isn’t beyond the realms of
possibility that it could be down to the students taking part in
the rally today. The device had been on a timer and it went off in
the doorway of the building. Probably planted to cause as much
panic as possible. Why, is anyone’s guess. My thinking though, is
that it
was
The Unicorn’s work, but what point he
was trying to make or what he was trying to achieve is anybody’s
guess.’

‘
Right, the demonstration
protesting about the Iraq war, where is it going to take place?’
her father asked.

‘
As it happens, it’s due to
pass the Houses of Parliament sometime between twelve and half
past.’

‘
Jesus, now you mention it,
I knew about it! Damn I should have made the connection!’ The Chief
thumped his forehead with the heel of his hand.

‘
Well, that’s what comes
from being a deskie! No, joking apart, there’s no point in getting
too upset about it, it’s in the picture now…’

‘
You’re right, Sam. I take
it there is a good police presence arranged? There usually is when
the demo concerns a red rag to a bull subject and there are plenty
of fors as well as againsts in this issue.’

‘
Yes, plenty have been
drafted in. It is a well-controlled, planned event.’

‘
Good. From what I remember about the briefing on it, it is
due to end outside No.10 with a petition. What’s your
instinct
tell you, Sam?’

Lorne surprised them by saying: ‘I know what I would do.
My
instincts
tell me to get down there straight
away. We should stop wasting valuable time on the likes of
Abromovski and his
esteem
clientele and
find out what’s going on down there at the Houses of Parliament. I
know the Superintendent insists they’ve swept the place, but I have
my doubts how thoroughly it was checked over. If it had been
wouldn’t they have found the device next door?’

‘
Not necessarily, no. We
don’t even know who planted the damn thing, yet. However, I do
think you have a point. We’re simply banging our heads against a
hundred foot wall around here. I’ll let the Superintendent know
we’re going down there. I wanted to see if he’s got the all clear
on you carrying a gun anyway. Give me five minutes,
okay?’

‘
I’m not usually a betting
woman but I bet you a months wages the outcome remains the same,
they’ll refuse point blank. No pun intended.’

‘
And I’d be right with him
on that one, Lorne.’

‘
Come off it, Dad, this is a
one off occasion. After what happened with Pete, I would be far
happier and feel much safer having some form of protection. Given
the circumstances, even you can understand that,
surely?’

Sean Roberts left them and headed for his office.
Coward
she
thought at her
bosses avoidance of the expected argument.

‘
So wear a vest. How many
times have I told you, as a precaution you should be wearing one
every time you go out there. This Unicorn fella isn’t the only
dangerous criminal out there. In case you hadn’t noticed, Lorne,
London is a very dangerous place to police.’

‘
That’s
precisely
my point,
Dad. And, the vest argument doesn’t hold, there is no vest to
protect your head.’

‘
It’s just wrong,
Lorne….’

‘
Oh, I know. I know all the
arguments against and agree with some of them, but remember, I’ve
just lost a partner in circumstances I needn’t have done if we had
been armed. What were we supposed to fight back with,
pebbles?’

Forgetting where he was, he grabbed her and
pulled her into his arms and whispered, ‘I’ve lost your mother,
Lorne, I couldn’t bear having to grieve for you too. My heart
couldn’t cope losing something so precious a second time.’

Lorne looked up and saw tears welling in his
old, tired and bloodshot eyes. It was her turn to try and lighten
the mood between them before she too broke down and cried.

‘
Don’t be silly, old man.
You’ve got everything to live for. Any day now Jade’s going to
present you with another healthy grandchild for you to coo over in
your old age.’

He
pushed her away by the shoulders and swallowed hard before
declaring, ‘Before I can even consider thinking about my
new
grandchild, I’m going to do everything in my power to bring
Charlie my
first
grandchild home safe and
well.’

‘
Let’s hope we find her
soon, Dad. I don’t know how much longer she can survive out there
by herself.’

‘
She’ll be fine, sweetheart.
After all, she’s her mother’s daughter.’

Lorne stepped into her father’s loving arms
again and gave him a squeeze that reaffirmed how much he meant to
her, should he be in any doubt.

‘
Sorry to barge in, but
we’ve been given the all clear, Lorne.’ The Chief said.

‘
To carry guns?’

‘
Yes, the Commissioner has
given us both special dispensation, he wants The Unicorn off the
streets as much as we do and he has finally realised what a
dangerous man we are dealing with.’

‘
If it’s not too cheeky to
ask, sir, can you actually fire a gun?’

‘
I take it you didn’t see me
practicing in the lane next to you down at the range,
then?’

‘
You weren’t!’

‘
I guess that’s another
little mystery for you to solve, Inspector. Maybe, you’re not the
only one with secrets around here!’

‘
I’d say, watching you two,
it’s a bloody shame nothing further worked out for you in the life
partner department and not just the working partnership… Not that I
am displeased with the one you did choose, Lorne, of
course.’