Influence (9 page)

Eavesdropping

Chapter Eleven

Drayson pulled up at the City Police Headquarter's gates and placed his warrant card over the electronic card system that read the chip within it, raising the gates when the system established he was an authorised person to enter the HQ. He drove up the drive in his 'company' Ford Focus towards the reception car park about two hundred meters from the entrance. Although Drayson liked being seen in his Mercedes, he generally kept it quiet at work that he owned one. For one he didn't want people to see it at work and then spot it in certain places where it should not have been. He applied the handbrake harshly on the Focus. In his opinion the car was a piece of crap but at the end of the day it was free to drive and abuse. Spending the public's money was never really one of his major concerns, unless he was trying to have an operation delayed or cancelled due to the implications for the tax payer; and more importantly, himself.

Drayson had tried his hardest to have Operation Spear called off by expressing his fake concerns about the Force's budget, which had been a good idea in theory and one that would not have implicated him. However despite the intuitive plan, it had ultimately failed and he was still left with the 'small' problem of the Gang either outing him or sorting him out when they found out the operation was still on.

Even though Bradford had threatened that he would only have a week to get things sorted, Drayson had somehow managed to avoid the catastrophe when the operation had been delayed for a couple of months, partly as a result of his challenge on budgets. The tactic although pointless in the end, had bought him time and allowed him to make out to Bradford that it had been called off.  But it hadn't, and now he was panicking more than ever. He knew that the Gang could find out he was lying at any moment if they caught wind that they were being watched and followed, and even if they didn't, he would still be in for if they were arrested and charged.

Drayson got out of his car and walked into reception and began instantly flirting with the blonde receptionist. Despite being a little past it, and perhaps never actually having it, he would move from one female member of staff to another displacing borderline sexual harassment behaviour. And yet somehow no one had ever made a complaint or challenged his inappropriate actions.

After making a few tea stops around the different departments at HQ, Drayson decided to attend the Tactical Firearms Unit office. As usual he didn't have any real police work, or any work for that matter to do but somehow he still managed to look busy, a rare talent that only a handful of people ever masterfully pull off. He had always been relatively well received in the firearms unit because of his 'down with the lads' attitude, and although he would never see it that way, he was basically a firearms groupie, someone who wished that he had followed the same career path, if Bradford had let him.

He placed his warrant card against the card reader of the Firearms unit's back door and waited for the electronic lock to disengage. Drayson then walked through the door and along the white washed corridor, passing the locker rooms after checking there was no one inside to chat to.

Just as Drayson was about to reach the main office door he could hear a pre start of duty briefing taking place. Being the nosey and sly character he was, he stood just shy of the door and listened in for any juicy gossip about jobs or fellow officers that would not have been said in his presence. In Drayson's eyes, if he knew the current gossip, he could make out that he knew more about it – trying to assert his rank over theirs. For once though, he could hear a serious topic being discussed and listened in with an acute interest.

Around the long oval briefing table in the Firearms Unit's office, the members of Blue and Red teams were discussing Foster with a few colleagues from another firearms team.

“Have any of you heard from Foster recently?” a member of the A section armed response team asked.

“Nothing! I've tried calling him over and over again, but he's not interested. He believes it's our fault that he's been pensioned out and that somehow we're all conspiring against him. He's not a well man” PC Allen replied in an exasperated tone.

“It gets worse! I spoke to a district officer the other day, who had to detain him under the mental health act after he went banzai in the Dragon Inn in West Ording. Apparently he really lost it and was lucky not to be nicked for assault or a public order offence. When I heard I tried calling him but he wouldn't answer so I went to the Dragon and spoke with a bar maid there who Foster and I used to chat to. I asked her how he was doing and she said that he allegedly been taking cocaine in the toilets, drinking like a fish, talking to himself in the corner of the room and telling anyone that would listen that he's being watched and followed by people and can hear their voices. He doesn't sound well at all!” O'Keeffe said appearing deeply upset at what had happened to his friend.

Drayson stood there, captivated by what he was hearing. He had come across Foster many times before in the past due to his involvement with the unit a Chief Inspector Silver firearms Commander. He had heard on the grapevine that Foster had been struggling but had not been aware he had been medically retired because of a mental illness.

O'Keeffe continued by telling the other team that Foster had ended up getting himself barred from the Dragon as a result and was now drinking in the Cliffe Pub in Cliffe Road, West Ording which was a fairly rough town ten miles to the west of the City. He explained to everyone around the table that although they may have wanted to help Foster, he was best left alone until he was feeling better and approached them first. The combination of cocaine, alcohol and his mental health condition meant that he could be volatile if provoked or stressed, and especially if he saw someone from the unit that he believed had conspired against him. The consensus around the table was that he was best avoided for the moment.

The most bewildering part of the update to members of A section was how the custody doctor who had assessed him after he was detained under the Mental Health Act, had blamed his aggravated state on drugs and alcohol and that once sober his mental health condition would be stable. He was after all supposedly on strong medication. The lack of foresight from the doctor had been ill advised at best. There was one thing that was for certain though; it wouldn't be long before Foster came to light once again.

Drayson didn't walk into the office and instead turned around and headed out of the door. He had an idea, a potentially fool proof one to rid himself of his problem with the Gang, but it wasn't going to be easy to pull off, even if he could find the bottle to go through with it. He slowly walked back up the stairs and out to the car park where after he climbed into the driver seat of his Command Focus, and took a moment to reflect on what he had just overheard. It could not have been just a coincidence that he stumbled on the conversation that the firearms officers were having, it had to have been fate; it was time to have a chat with someone who could help him with his plan.

The Briefing

Chapter Twelve

On Monday 22
nd
July 2013, Anaura walked into the briefing room on the fourth floor of the Central District Police Station with Richards, Valera and Usher. For the coming months at least, the Vice unit's huge work load would be well and truly at the back of their minds. They entered the large airy room that had a row on windows on the right side that provided an amazing unobstructed view across most of the City and the sea. After admiring the view for a second, something Anaura always did, he headed past the rows of officers from Surveillance, the technical support unit and the Intelligence Unit to the front of the room and took a seat next to Steiner who was looking a little excitable. He had not been exaggerating when he spoke about the budget, there was twenty plus officers in the room who would be doing nothing except chasing the Gang on a daily basis. Maybe this could be the operation that finally gets the Gang, Anaura thought to himself.

Richards, Valera and Usher sat down at the back of the room which made Anaura shake his head at them as they had fed him to the wolves by leaving him at the front of the room without their morale support. Anaura knew that to start with, a few of the SOCU surveillance officers would not be happy with a Vice Inspector running the show over one of their supervisors. At the back of the room there was no such problem as Valera and Usher were set upon by the male officers that surrounded them. In her element Valera set about using her feminine charms to sell Anaura to the officers to help his cause a little bit. As a result of the hot July weather she was wearing a light weight grey suit with a white blouse underneath; an open white blouse, which was open just enough so that when she leant forward or to the side, her lightly perspiring and tanned cleavage could be seen pushed up in her bra. Usher on the other hand, flirted but didn't go to the same lengths that Valera would to get attention. As the males officers flocked to seat nearby, Richards sat there smiling to himself as none of them had a chance, although this wouldn't stop them trying.

As the testosterone in the room reached fever pitch and was threatening to set off a sexually crazed riot in the heat, Steiner stood up and introduced himself, much to the disappointment of the male officers who were each convinced they were about to get Valera's number. Steiner directed the room's attention to the front where they was a smart board with a slide show presentation waiting to be viewed. The first slide displayed the name of the operation which each officer duly wrote in down in their pocket notebooks. As the slides continued the four faces of the Gang suddenly appeared on the screen creating a few nudges and comments from the around the room. Prior to the slide  presentation they'd had no idea who they would be investigating due to operational security protocol dictating that no one should be made aware until after the briefing where the names of all the officers present would be recorded to prevent any possible leaks to the subjects. Things like that rarely happened, rarely, but not ever though, precautions had to be taken, even with police officers. With the slides passing on one by one, the operation became clearer to the officers, watch the Gang, hound them, attempt to break up their network, and lock them up for a very long and happy time.

Steiner finished the presentation and introduced Anaura who stood up to address the room, but not before Usher received his introduction with a round of applause and cheering which drew a stunned and shocked look from Steiner. Usher being Usher though, didn't care how the outburst looked to anyone else.

“How's everyone doing? Before we get down to business, I just wanted to say that I know some of you feel uncomfortable about me being in charge as opposed to one of your own, and I can understand that. But, as it stands I am running this job and I need all of us to be singing off the same hymn sheet alright? I know a lot about the drugs trade in the City from the roots up to the fruit, therefore you need me as much as I need you. So let’s try and get along and do a bloody good job on these dick heads!” Anaura said with a mix of warm smiles and serious expressions. If any of them weren't taken in by Anaura's presence at the front of the room, they soon would be by his personality, and failing that he would give them a few verbal slaps if necessary to enforce the matter. No matter how much someone resisted him, they would soon yield to him as a result of his friendly personality or his aversion to take shit from people. The open and honest approach that Anaura had employed during the introduction had appeared to have proven effective as he was greeted by open expressions and nods that indicated that the officers were thinking 'fair enough'.

“Ok, any questions?” Anaura asked.

“Where are we going to be working out of?” one of the surveillance officers enquired.

“We're taking over the ground floor of Shoreton Police Station. New blacked out secure doors have been fitted which only allow authorised people to enter, reception hours have also been really reduced to limit the amount members of the public coming in. Of course you guys and girls from Surveillance will be doing your usual and starting off from designated points; but if you're lucky, we might let you come pop in now and then for a spot of tea!”

Anaura's light hearted comment helped the SOCU officers warm up to him even more.

“Sir, will we be having firearms support?” Another officer asked.

“Not on a week to week basis, no. At this stage we will not be moving in on anyone, and generally speaking the Gang and their minions don't carry guns as standard, unless someone needs knocking off! However that being said, I have liaised with Inspector Balham of the Firearms Unit and he has agreed to providing a standby MAST team of plain clothed SFOs who will be ready to support any part of the operation if required” Anaura said. MAST firearms officers were plain clothed Specialist Firearms Officers who supported Surveillance Operations whenever there was a threat of a weapon or intelligence to suggest it. When the time came to apprehend the subject, the MAST team would be the ones who would be steaming in on foot or in with an unmarked vehicle to take them out at gun point. Anaura waited for the next question.

“What's the overtime code sir?” An officer called out, resulting in him being verbally assailed by his colleagues. If there was one thing that would be asked at an operational briefing without fail, it would be what the overtime code was. And every time it was asked about, it always managed to piss off the command team no end. If there was overtime, the code to claim the extra pay would be provided, asking for it just made the enquirer sound like an idiot who wasn't really interested in the operation itself but was more concerned with how much money it could make them. It was hardly a valid question that would help with expanding the officers' awareness of how the operation would play out over the coming months. The question was, as it sounded, bloody unprofessional. 

“I'm not even going to grace that with an answer! But for those of you who are a little more restrained with your questions about financial implications, the overtime code will be posted on a board in the operational suite.” Anaura replied in an exasperated tone.

Anaura nodded at the officers and noticed Valera and Usher at the back of the room silently cheering him on by waving their arms about wildly. He gave them a pretend frown as he went to sit down again next to Steiner. He was going to have his work cut out keeping these two in check each day. Normally he only saw them a couple of times on a daily basis but now he was cringing at the thought of what these two partners in crime would get up to during the operation. Anaura inwardly laughed to himself as he realised that whatever they got up to, he would soon find out due to working closer with them on Op Spear and having a tighter leash on them. In front of them Richards repeatedly turned around to see what they were up to before spinning back around and attempting to contain his laughter at their antics. 'Oh God' Anaura thought to himself as he came to realise that Richards was in on the jokes as well. It looked like it was going to be a case of, if you can't beat them, join them.

Steiner thanked Anaura once again and retook charge of the closing stages of the briefing by directing the room's attention to a table where there was a large number of operational information packs for each of the officers which reiterated everything that had been explained during the briefing. Steiner knew full well that most coppers had the attention span of a gold fish when it came to long briefings, and by this stage of it, half of them would have to be reminded where they were and what day it was. Especially the ones who were imitating the nodding dogs you see in the back of cars, trying their damned hardest to remain awake. No matter he thought, they would get the job done when it counted; even if they were asleep. Steiner repeated a couple of vital points and told everyone in the room to get their 'house' in order in preparation of relocating to Shoreton District Police Station over the coming days.

“Oh and just in case it wasn't obvious enough, please don't bloody leave any of the Op information packs lying around. And please, please, please don't discuss this with anyone outside of this room that means other nosey command officers too. You have my permission to tell any of the superintendents or assistants chiefs; and even the Chief Constable to Fuck off if they try to find anything out about the operation! If they go mad, tell them that I ordered you to say that and that it's none of their business; that's a joke by the way before anyone considers being a smart arse at my expense. However all joking aside they shouldn't be asking, if they don't know, they don't need to know! Right, let’s get moving then!” Steiner said with enthusiasm.

The newly appointed officers of Op Spear began pouring out of the room group by group with their obvious enthusiasm clear to see by everyone in the station. Whenever there was a big briefing on the fourth floor everyone that was inside the station would be desperate to learn what they were doing and who they were after. In fact Anaura himself had been in their shoes when he had been a probationer on the City's Neighbourhood Response teams, and would watch the specialist officers preparing for an operations with green envy too. From the very day he joined, Anaura wanted to be at the sharp end of policing, to catch the big boys. However after finishing his probation and enjoying getting stuck into emergency Grade 1 calls and investigations, he had lost some of the awe he possessed for the tactical specialists. When the time came to decide which route he wanted to take, Anaura had decided on being a detective as he was too noticeable for Surveillance, firearms wasn't his bag and he had been told by the Driver Trainer Unit instructors, that although he was a very quick driver, he lacked restraint and was too ragged to be an Advanced driver, so that was Traffic out of the equation as well! Investigations was the speciality where he belonged and besides the other units came with a lot of job losing risks, you only had to take a look at what had happened to the Firearms Unit the year before to understand that. Although Anaura would have loved the action and probably been good at tactical policing, he just wouldn't be able to stomach the proverbial hitting the fan when something could inevitably go wrong. No, he had seen enough firearms and traffic officers have their careers ruined or thrown out of the job for decisions that they only had milliseconds to make.

Anaura tapped Steiner on the shoulder and told him that he would catch up with him later before he joined Richards, Valera and Usher who were heading back to the Vice office to pack their stuff up.

“Awwwwww, this is a wicked job sir!” Usher blurted out the second they got back into the office.

“I know Naomi, just keep the excitement down, I don't want to make any of the team feel bad when they see that you and Jennifer were picked over them!” Anaura implored her.

“Sir, I've got a bit of a random question!” Valera said, causing the three others to look at her with shock. A serious question was hardly something you could expect from Valera on a regular basis.

“Can I take my chair with me? I sometimes get a sore bum after the gym and this one seems to be the only one that has a decent cushion.” She asked with not a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

“Erm, yeah of course Jennifer! I'm sure..............we can have that arranged!?” Anaura replied with a confused expression as he tried to fathom out whether Valera was taking the mickey.

Richards and Usher looked at each other with smirks of disbelief and asked her whether she was actually suffering with piles before bursting out laughing. Valera faked a smile before replying that she didn't whilst shaking her head. It still was not clear whether she was telling the truth or winding them up or if she did actually have haemorrhoids. However for whatever reason, she wanted the seat, as strange as it may have sounded. Valera's normally cool exterior began to slip somewhat as she stood there, her olive cheeks turning crimson red with embarrassment which drew even more questions from Richards and Usher as to her real reasons.

“Leave her alone you two! Anyway, at nine am tomorrow we're shipping out to Shoreton, so spend the rest of the day finishing up here please” Anaura's defence of Valera's sore muscles; or piles, made her smile at him in a less flirtatious way for once.

Underneath it all Valera was not the man-eater she portrayed herself to be and had actually been distraught when her boyfriend of five years had dumped her for someone else a few years before. By the time she arrived on the Vice unit from CID two and half years previously, she had transformed from a conservative girl into a quasi-member of the Pussy cat dolls to hide her deep insecurities. As a result of his ability to read people like a book, Anaura knew this and empathised with her, despite playing along with her act. Valera was an incredibly attractive, intelligent and caring girl that most decent men would die for, she just needed to be herself and drop the compensatory overly confident act, or she would keep attracting the losers.