The Front (45 page)

       
‘What should I say if he is?’ Suzie asked, not relishing the idea of talking to Mal.

       
‘Just find out if he is, and tell him you’ll be home soon so he should stay in, yeah?’

       
‘All right,’ she whispered, tapping out the number.

       
‘An’ mek sure y’ don’t say nutt’n else!’ Jake hissed at her. ‘Y’ don’ wan’ lose dat pretty face, eh?’

       
Suzie shuddered, but The Man silenced Jake with a warning glare and he didn’t say anything else.

       
‘It’s engaged,’ she said a second later as the tone beeped down her ear.

       
‘That’s cool,’ The Man said, taking the phone from her. ‘At least we know he’s in. You can try again in a bit, just to make sure he stays in, yeah?’

       
Suzie nodded, edging closer to him as Jake looked at her with narrowed eyes.

Back at the flat, Elaine was having a great time by herself. Lying on the rug, with the fire turned up full and the phone stuck between her shoulder and her chin, she chattered on, oblivious to the fact that Suzie was trying to get through.

       
Earlier, she’d made a neat pile of Lee’s money on the coffee table and had then counted it – over and over, whooping with delight each time. The things she would do with this money! She had Lee wrapped around her little finger – whatever she asked for, he was sure to give. But just in case he decided to be stingy, she’d peeled off several hundred for herself, stashing it at the bottom of her bag.

       
As she was counting it for the fifth time, she’d decided to help herself to a bit of Mal’s coke from the bag she’d seen him put in the sideboard drawer earlier. The generous line she gave herself lifted her spirits massively, but it also left her with a raging desire to tell someone about her good fortune.

       
So, fetching the phone from the table, she’d dialled, feeling ridiculously pleased when Tommy had answered – although he hadn’t sounded overly pleased to hear her voice.

       
He’d soon cheered up when she’d told him about her money.

27

The Armed Response vehicles were in place, the men huddled around their commanding officer as Jackson explained the situation.

       
Mac politely interrupted to inform Jackson that PC Dalton’s car had just turned the corner. Jackson excused himself for a moment and followed Mac to the car.

       
‘Oh, oh!’ Eddie hissed as they struggled up from the floor. ‘He doesn’t look best pleased!’

       
Paul lifted his head and climbed out just as DCI Jackson reached them. ‘Sir—’ he began, but Jackson stuck a hand up, silencing him.

       
‘What the bloody hell did you think you were playing at?’ he barked. ‘You put your own life in danger, that of one of your fellow officers,
and
the lives of these ladies!’ With flaring nostrils, he nodded curtly at Jane and Vanda, who were standing beside the car, clutching at each other in mute terror.

       
‘Well?’ he barked, still glaring at Paul.

       
‘I, er, thought I was doing the right thing,’ Paul stuttered.

       
‘Well, you bloody weren’t!’ Jackson blasted him. ‘There are procedures to follow in cases like this, and doing a Starsky and bloody Hutch is definitely not part of that procedure. Do I make myself clear?’

       
‘Yes, sir!’

       
‘Good! Now get these ladies out of harm’s way, then get your arse back over here and tell me what’s going on.’

       
Turning, he marched over to the unmarked car he’d come in and radioed in to the station to inform Superintendent Clarke that the PCs were present and unharmed.

       
‘That’s why they call him the Dragon Master,’ Eddie muttered to Paul under his breath. ‘See the flames?’

       
Paul let out a shaky breath. ‘I can understand why, though,’ he said quietly. ‘It was a pretty stupid thing to do.’

       
They led the women over to another unmarked car and left them with the driver, then went back to DCI Jackson with dread in their hearts.

       
Paul immediately apologized for his rashness, explaining that it was the only thing he could think of doing since he hadn’t wanted to let the cars disappear from view. Jackson told him they would discuss that later. For now, he wanted a complete rundown of everything that had happened.

       
Paul explained all about seeing the two cars together, and the men bringing out the redhead Mrs Lilley had ID’d. Then he told him Jane’s story about the driver of the Escort.

       
‘So you see, sir,’ he concluded, ‘it all matches what we know of that night.’

       
Jackson digested the story, and contemplated the likelihood of these being the right men. He had to agree that it was far too coincidental for there not to be some connection, but they had a problem now. They couldn’t just arrest anyone without some sort of hard evidence to substantiate the suspicion.

       
As he considered it, one of the men from the ARU sprinted across to tell him that something was happening and Commander Oliver wanted to speak with him.

       
‘I’ll be right there,’ Jackson told him. Then, turning back to Paul, he threw him the bulletproof he’d brought along for him.

       
‘Put that on and stay out of the way,’ he said. ‘And you’d better ask one of the unit boys if they’ve got a spare for Hutch, here!’ He thumbed towards Eddie Walker, then walked away, shaking his head.

       
‘Spark’s worse than his flame!’ Mac whispered to the PCs before trotting off after him.

Jackson approached Commander Oliver. ‘What have we got?’

       
Oliver led him to the edge of the park fence. ‘Not quite sure yet,’ he said. ‘But there’s been movement. I’ve got some of my men inside the park heading in that direction. We should get word back soon if it looks like we’ll have to go over.’

       
A light suddenly started to flash on his radio receiver. ‘Yes?’ he hissed into the tiny mouthpiece.

       
Jackson couldn’t hear what was being said as the message was relayed to the Commander via an earpiece. He waited patiently, feeling a tingle of relief that something was happening – with luck, something that would justify his request for the ARU.

       
‘Seems one of your men from the second car has approached the others, and they’re having an argument,’ Oliver told him at last. ‘Looks like it’s getting heated, so we’re going to get into position in case there are any weapons involved.’ With that, he turned and ran – Jackson was impressed how silently – along the fence to a gap, where he ducked through and disappeared.

       
‘I wish we could get a bit closer and see what’s going on,’ Mac said.

       
‘We’ll know soon enough,’ Jackson said, rooting through his pockets for the cigarettes he’d left on the table at The George. ‘Damn!’ he said when he realized. ‘Give us a fag, Mac.’

       
Mac flipped his pack open and tutted. ‘Four left. It’s gonna be a long night!’

       
‘Stop moaning!’ Jackson said, reaching over to take one. ‘I’ll buy you a pack when we get back to the station. In fact, I’ll buy you a whole carton if we pull this off!’

28

Incensed by the proof of Suzie’s betrayal, Mal had managed to get the car door open. Dodging past Ged’s grabbing hands, he had jumped out and stormed towards the group on the pavement, screaming Suzie’s name.

       
‘Oh my God!’ was all Ged could say, as Lee’s mouth fell open and Sam dropped his head into his hands.

       
None of them moved an inch as Mal ran towards the group, seeming even smaller than usual the closer he got to the taller, broader men.

       
‘Raas!’ Max said, putting his hand into his pocket for the gun.

       
‘Max!’ The Man hissed. ‘Not here!’ He turned to Suzie. ‘Who’s this, Red?’

       
Suzie’s face had drained of all colour. ‘It’s M-Mal,’ she stuttered, completely confused to see him here.

       
‘Your boyfriend?’ Jake asked with a sneer.

       
Suzie nodded, too shocked by Mal’s unexpected appearance to say anything. She flinched as Mal threw himself at her, but The Man quickly blocked his path, knocking Mal down to the ground and advancing on him as he struggled to his feet, looking all around to make sure there were no witnesses.

       
‘How did you get here?’ The Man hissed down at him. ‘Eh? You follow me, claat?’

       
‘Yeah, I fuckin’ followed you!’ Mal spluttered, crazed by paranoia and too strung out by coming down from his coke high to realize the danger he was in. ‘That’s my girlfriend!’ Jumping to his feet, he pointed an accusing finger at Suzie. ‘I got every right to follow me own bleedin’ girlfriend when she’s slaggin’ about! You dirty bleedin’ WHORE!’ he screeched at Suzie, struggling to force his way past The Man.

       
The Man easily held him at bay, laughing at his futile fury. ‘So you think your girl’s been chattin’ with me, eh?’ he asked. ‘Raas, you’re a dumb fucker! An’ y’ got no respect for your lady, dude! That’s a special little lady you got there, an’ what do you do, eh? You treat her like a ho’, disrespecting her in the street! You got no shame?’

       
‘Don’t tell me about my girl!’ Mal squawked. ‘She’s mine! Not yours!’

       
The Man shook his head, grinning at Jake and Max. ‘What we gonna do with him?’

       
‘Saved us a journey,’ Jake sneered. ‘Let’s tek ’im somewhere quiet, eh?’

       
‘You’re not taking me nowhere,’ Mal snorted indignantly, totally unaware that they’d been about to come looking for him. ‘
I
’m taking
her
– home!’

       
‘That so?’ The Man laughed again, amused by the little squirt’s feeble struggling. ‘Listen up, junkie bwoy—’

       
‘I’m not a bleedin’ junkie!’ Mal yelled. ‘You bleedin’ arsehole!’

       
The Man reached out and grabbed Mal’s throat in his huge hand. ‘Don’t cuss me, bwoy!’ he snarled menacingly, shaking Mal like a doll. ‘See, the trouble with you junkie dickheads, you don’t got no respect for your betters! I seen how you think you is a big man.’ He pointed at the slowly fading bruises on Suzie’s face. ‘But that don’t mek you a hard man. That jus’ mek you a piece a shit!’

       
As The Man’s voice got louder, it reached the others in the car. Lee started to freak out.

       
‘We’ve got to do something,’ he groaned, looking to Ged and Sam frantically. ‘We can’t just leave him on his own out there! They’ll kill him!’

       
Ged shook his head. ‘He deserves everything he gets, the bloody idiot!’

       
Sam sighed heavily. ‘I agree. What good’s it going to do if we go out there now? If he’s lucky, they’ll just give him a kicking and let him go.’

       
‘What if they don’t?’ Lee moaned.

       
‘It’ll be worse if we go over,’ Ged said. ‘We know they’ve got a gun. If they think we’re coming after them, they’ll probably use it on us all.’

Inside her flat, Marie was watching TV. Hearing raised voices out on the street, she flipped the volume down and went over to the window to see what was happening. When she saw who it was, she called Linda over.

       
‘Here, Linda! Come an’ look at this! Simeon’s got some little farty bloke by the scruff of the neck, ragging him like a dog!’

       
‘Simeon!’ Linda squeaked delightedly. ‘Where?’

       
She ran to the window, squeezing in beside Marie and pulling the net curtain up over her head. It had been days since she’d seen Simeon, and she was desperate to put things right with him. Spotting him, she started waving like a lunatic. Marie laughed, pulling her hands down.

       
‘He can’t see you, luv, and you’re blocking my view! Anyhow, shut up, ’cos I can’t hear what they’re arguing about, you giddy moo!’

       
As they watched, The Man suddenly threw the little man aside and put his arm around the girl who was standing beside him with her back to them. Linda’s excited grin dissolved in an instant.

       
‘Who’s that tart?’ she screeched indignantly.

       
Marie pulled her head back, giving Linda an amused look. ‘Whoa there, green eyes! What’s all this about?’

       
‘That – that . . .!’ Linda spluttered, pointing out of the window furiously. ‘I’ll rip her flaming head off, the bitch! Where’s my shoes?’

       
She ran from the window like a mad woman, throwing things aside as she searched for her shoes, muttering and cursing as she found them and dragged them on.

       
‘He won’t thank you, luv,’ Marie told her, watching the jealous display with amusement.

       
‘I don’t care!’ Linda yelped, jumping to her feet and rushing for the door.

       
‘Wait, Linda – wait till he comes up!’ Marie shouted. But it was too late. Linda had wrenched the door open and was already racing down the stairs.

       
Marie shook her head and turned back to the window. Seconds later she saw Linda hurtle out of the downstairs door and fly across the road, screaming: ‘
Simeoooon
!’