Dark Winter ns-6 Read online

  Tears had begun to fall down my cheeks. I panicked. I didn’t know exactly what part of this nightmare I was panicking about, but I just couldn’t help it. I couldn’t control it. The pain in the centre of my chest came back, and a heavy thudding soon joined it as I read the letter over and over again.

  I forced myself up, I had to get moving. I wasn’t yet sure what, but there were things I had to do.

  I folded the letter and put it into my back pocket with her passport and went into the kitchen for my two envelopes. Shoving them down my sweatshirt, I headed back to the bedroom for her kit and mine.

  49

  Heading north fast, I stopped the Vectra at a public call-box and made a frantic but hopefully calm-sounding call to Hughes’s office, bluffing it by asking if Kelly had called to say goodbye. Maybe she’d managed to escape and made her way to the clinic, or even left a message.

  They hadn’t heard a thing.

  I knew the Yes Man’s contact number would now be non-existent but tried it anyway. I was right. I thought about calling George, but what good would that do? He would have been part of anything the Yes Man was up to, for sure. I had to get back to where I belonged, the flat, and wait out as I’d been ordered. It wouldn’t be long before the Yes Man contacted me and gave me another little job that I couldn’t refuse.

  I parked in Warwick Square, trying to think of a way to get hold of the Yes Man. I couldn’t wait. I needed to know one way or the other. Then it came to me. I’d hit the panic button: that would get the QRF screaming round, with the Yes Man not far behind.

  A young couple walked past, Habitat bags overflowing with bamboo plants. I crossed the road, pulled the key from my leather bomber, and was running up the steps when I heard a clipped Asian voice spark up behind me. ‘Hello? Hello?’

  I turned. Grey had materialized from nowhere, same clothes on, smiling at me as if I was a lost child. ‘Do not be alarmed.’ He raised his hand. ‘Your daughter – go to the coffee shop, go now. Go, go.’

  He was almost apologetic, making it sound as if I would be doing him a favour. All I wanted to do was grab his neck and twist it right there to find out more, but that wouldn’t help her. ‘You talking about Starbucks in Farringdon?’

  ‘Yes, go there now.’

  I had to remain calm. ‘You know where she is?’

  ‘He will help you, go there now.’ With that he turned and walked away.

  I ran to the car.

  Why would the source know where Kelly was? Why would he even know she existed? Was the source fronting for the Yes Man? But at least something was happening. This is good, I kept trying to persuade myself. This is good.

  Abandoning the Vectra a block away, I ran to Starbucks, stopped, walked in, got myself a brew, and sat facing the front windows, wanting to be seen.

  Ten minutes went by and I needed a piss, but I couldn’t leave my seat. I couldn’t risk missing him.

  I pulled the letter out again and started to read it. That was a mistake. It went back next to her passport, and I concentrated on sipping the brew. Under the table, my heels started to bounce. I couldn’t control my legs – it was as if they wanted to be on the move, they wanted to be doing something. I needed him to fucking well turn up, and right now.

  Another couple of minutes and Grey walked past, right to left, eyes scanning the inside of the coffee shop.

  Two girls, juggling their coffees and cells in one hand and recent purchases in the other, came and sat at the table opposite. Then there he was. He walked past the coffee shop, right to left, and disappeared. I knew he’d seen me, I knew I had to stay where I was. He’d just be confirming with Grey that I hadn’t turned up with a big bunch of mates. As if. I didn’t have any.

  Less than a minute later I heard the door open from the courtyard. I didn’t turn round.

  A hand fell gently on my left shoulder. ‘Hello.’

  I turned back and saw Grey now covering the rear of the shop from the courtyard. Where was Navy? Was he with Kelly?

  The source continued walking past me to the counter and placed an order. We got eye to eye again as the steam machine hissed into his cup.

  My heels continued to bob as I watched him pick up his change, pass the girls sending texts, and come and sit directly opposite me at the small round table. He seemed to take for ever.

  I could smell at once he was a smoker.

  ‘What’s happening with my—’

  He held up a hand and showed me a mouthful of yellowing teeth. ‘Your daughter is safe.’

  ‘Why have you—’

  ‘Everything is OK.’ He tried a sip of coffee, but it was too hot so he put the cup down.

  ‘What the fuck do you mean, everything is OK? I’ve just been to the house.’

  He nodded slowly. ‘Oh, I see.’ He looked down at his cup, as if considering another sip, then back at me. ‘Have you informed anyone about this?’

  My feet stopped jiggling, my heart stopped beating. Even if I had done, I would have lied. ‘No, nobody.’

  Two teenaged boys arrived and waved to the girls. We waited for them to settle down. I knew I had to stay calm and listen to every word he said. I normally did in these situations, but it wasn’t so easy now it was so close to home.

  He pushed his cup gently to one side and leaned forward. ‘I need to keep her while you do something for me. It is a very simple task. You will go to Berlin, collect five bottles of wine and deliver them to me tomorrow night.’

  Aggression wouldn’t help her, but a bit of it would help me. ‘Why can’t one of your fuckers go and get them?’

  ‘Because life is difficult now for dark or slant-eyed men trying to bring duty-free into this country – I’m sure you understand why.’

  ‘How do I know she’s OK? How do I know I’ll get her back alive?’

  ‘You don’t. But what choice do you have? It is a very simple task, and therefore a very simple threat. If you betray me or fail to deliver, you will learn what it’s like to see your child killed like an animal.’

  He kept his eyes fixed on mine as he pulled a creased white envelope from his pocket. ‘Tell them you’ve been sent from London. They’re expecting you.’

  He tapped the envelope with his right forefinger. ‘Call me once you are back. I have a new number, just for you. Just make sure I have those bottles before two a.m. Tuesday morning.’

  ‘To give you time to prepare the fourth bag before the morning rush-hour?’

  ‘Ah, you understand.’

  I took the envelope. ‘Berlin been cancelled? Just the US now, unless I give you some help?’

  His smile told me I was right. ‘My brothers in Berlin are experiencing a problem that means their martyrdom will prove swifter and less glorious than they had planned. They are disappointed, of course, but will experience Paradise all the same. And there are still nearly three million journeys a day taken on your tube system. A target worth the effort. As I’m sure you can appreciate.’ His bloodshot eyes narrowed. ‘Let me ask you something. How did you find out about King’s Cross? Did you meet Yasmeen?’

  I said nothing and drank my brew.

  He nodded slowly, his lips pursed. He was angry. ‘I warned them I’d be telling you people about the house once they had left.’

  ‘So that you could continue to be best mates with my boss?’

  ‘It was important to sustain my credibility, and keep your eyes away from what was really about to happen.’ He sighed. ‘Poor Yasmeen. So intelligent, so dedicated, but so unthinking in some areas. I told them to write their messages before leaving, though I do not approve of such gestures myself. Actions speak louder than words, do you not agree?’

  I did, and wanted to give him a demonstration this very minute.

  He took another sip and smiled. The fucker was actually enjoying this. ‘They feel they have to do it, because you people know nothing. The West is all about the here and now, it is all about nine/eleven. Up there, on the walls, Yasmeen and her brothers and sister talk about th
ings that happened in the fifteenth century, but you don’t have a clue what they’re talking about, do you?’

  I looked away. This wasn’t getting us anywhere. It certainly wasn’t getting me any closer to Kelly.

  ‘We’re all on a journey, and I am near the end of mine. We in JI are the architects of a new world. You people are still in the old, lovers of the Jews and the US. You still want to control Asia. The only way to stop you is with jihad , the Holy War. And so Bali, and now this.’

  ‘Why are you fucking about? Why didn’t you just warn them we were coming to King’s Cross? You knew what was going to happen, you gave them up. Why are you playing these fucking games?’

  He interlocked his large brown hands and rested his forearms on the table. ‘I never play games. I have kept up this pretence for you people because you have threatened my family. I have two sons and I have been made to do things I would never have dreamed of to keep them safe.’

  He waited for some kind of acknowledgement, but I didn’t have any to spare.

  ‘But now that you and your woman have discovered my brothers and sisters before they could carry out their operation, I must do it myself. It wasn’t a difficult choice to make. You see, I could have warned them, and of course they would have escaped. But what would have happened then? What action would have been taken? Close the system down, heighten the state of alert? You see, they had to die once you had discovered where they were. I simply took a bag from them before you arrived. They knew nothing then, but now they are in Paradise and understand the reason for their sacrifice. God understands what I have done to carry on the fight, and that my family will be killed by you people.’

  His right index finger straightened and pointed at me. His eyes were fixed on mine. His voice had become very calm. ‘That is the reason we will win, and you will lose. You are all about now, wanting to live, wanting your child to live above all things, and that is what makes you weak. That is because you have no understanding of what lies beyond this world.’

  He was right about life, but wrong about winning.

  He got to his feet. ‘I will not detain you any longer.’

  He turned and departed without another word, leaving me to gaze at his back, and then at the envelope on the table.

  I pulled up the flap. It contained a Polaroid head and shoulders of Kelly in her Old Navy T-shirt, hair glued to her face with dried tears. I could only just make out her red and swollen eyes. Her head was resting against a TV showing BBC 24. There were several glass and brass religious ornaments lined up along the top of the cabinet.

  The time bar in the corner of the screen said 8:47 and today’s date. I’d been watching this programme at exactly the same time her picture was taken. I turned it over. Handwritten in felt pen were his cell number and an address: Apartment 27, 22 Bergmannstrasse.

  50

  I sat where I was, nursing my coffee as the boys big-timed it and the girls laughed and kidded about. My mind was spinning. How had he known where Kelly was? Grey and Navy must have followed us back to the safe flat, then tracked me, Jimmy and Carmen back to the bungalow.

  It was pointless rushing around or going ballistic. The first thing to do in these situations is accept that you’re in the shit. Stop, take a deep breath, get yourself into some kind of order, then work out what to do. Flapping wouldn’t help me to sort out this nightmare, so it wouldn’t help her either. I took a mouthful of brew, deliberately slowing myself down.

  Did this still have to be done without any help from the Yes Man, now that it seemed everything was OK in the state of Spookdom? My legs had stopped bobbing about. I had no energy to waste now: my head needed to suck up everything it could get.

  Fuck worrying about whether the Yes Man could help. Of course he could, but I wasn’t going to ask him and risk a fuck-up as he sacrificed Kelly to get DW and the source.

  I needed to stay focused on what to do next, but I couldn’t. I looked at the Polaroid again. Not knowing what was happening to her, that was the worst feeling of all. I thought about her being scared, hungry, thirsty, maybe tied up after the picture was taken and dumped somewhere dark and derelict. That strange thudding pain came back in the centre of my chest. As the teenagers discussed where to go clubbing tonight, I stroked her frightened face with the tip of my thumb.

  I went to take another gulp of the brew but realized the cup was empty. I put away the picture and pulled over the source’s from across the table. I had no option: delivering the bottles was my only chance of making contact with Kelly. The best way to help her was to get myself over there and do what was required of me – then work out what the fuck to do after that.

  I put the cup back down on the table. All I knew for sure was that I had an address to go to in Berlin, stuff to pick up, and a cell number to call once I got back. All right, I could do that. I could bring DW into the country. The real problems would arise when I tried to lift Kelly and make sure that shit didn’t get chucked about the Underground. If I fucked up, we’d both be dead.

  I slumped against the seat, totally shattered. When I got back from Berlin, I’d need someone to back me. I’d be thinking on my feet, and four were better than two. My only hope was Suzy. There was a strong chance she’d refuse, possibly even go straight to the Yes Man. At least that bit was easy. At the first sign of hesitation, she’d be spending some time locked in the boot of the Vectra.

  If I found her, that was.

  More people came into the café and the steam machine went into overdrive. I felt a little better now there was some sort of plan.

  One thing went right for me. The Vectra hadn’t been clamped. Sitting behind the wheel, I tried to remember everything she’d said about where she lived, and Bluewater was the obvious start point. I jumped out again and went to a phone box. Directory Enquiries gave me the number, and I was soon talking to Bluewater’s information desk.

  ‘I want to do some serious shopping, but I don’t know where you are.’

  The girl recovered swiftly from her astonishment, and slipped into auto-waffle. ‘Well, sir, it’s very simple and convenient to travel to and from Bluewater. We are located one mile east of the M25 and one mile west of the A2-M2 interchange. Signposting is clear in all directions.’

  ‘So you’re in Kent?’

  ‘Yes, sir. We have a very wide range of shops for your convenience and enjoyment. Parking is—’

  Cutting her off in her prime, I got back in the car and headed east towards Docklands and the Dartford crossing, probably driving over the Thames estuary at about the same time that the remains of the ASU would be flowing under it. I checked traser, and it was just after two. What if I didn’t find her? It was mental slapping time: ‘Just shut the fuck up and get on with it.’

  I’d have to fix a cut-off time for the first flight tomorrow morning. After that I’d be on my own.

  As the gleaming towers of Canary Wharf went past on my right I stopped at another phone box and called Directory Enquiries again. ‘Air Berlin, please.’

  A minute later a crisp, fast-speaking female voice fired a barrage of German at me. I cut in. ‘What UK airports do you fly to Berlin from, and what’s the earliest flight tomorrow and the latest back?’

  The German instantly transformed into far better English than I’d ever be able to speak. ‘The first flight leaves London Stansted at 0730 and arrives at Berlin Tegel at 1005. The latest return I have is 1905 from Berlin Tegel, arriving at London Stansted at 1940. Would you like to make a reservation?’

  ‘Yes, please. One seat.’

  I shoved a hand down my sweatshirt to get out my Nick Stone docs, and my new German girlfriend booked me a flight.

  Back on the road, I was soon being directed into the right-hand lane for the M25 and the Queen Elizabeth Bridge. Pretty soon I couldn’t move for signs to Bluewater, just as I’d been promised. I just wished there had been one saying, ‘Bovis house with half-built conservatory and kitchen window overlooking Bluewater’.

  The complex was one
big car park, as far as I could tell, radiating out from a huge central mall, surrounded by high ground of sorts. The developers had moved in big-time. This was Commuter Central: if you didn’t want to drive to London on the M25 for a day’s work, Gravesend station was just a few miles away.

  I cruised through Bean, Greenhithe and Swanscombe, scanning passers-by just in case my six numbers all came up and Suzy walked past with a bag of bananas and organic muesli bars.

  Every building company on earth was throwing stuff up around here, and for all I knew she might have been using Bovis generically. I drove around a few of the huge estates. Each had a single entrance, which branched into a cul-de-sac with a name like Chancel View or Orchard Way, but without a church or apple tree in sight. Some of the houses were so new that the front lawns were still just piles of rubble.

  I spotted two carpet-fitters coming out of a semi and pulled in. ‘You know where the Bovis estate is, mate?’

  The older of the two lit a cigarette and conferred with a younger lad in an England shirt with his hair pushed forwards in a gelled fringe. It didn’t look promising. ‘Not sure.’ He took a drag. ‘All these fucking places look the same to me, know what I mean?’

  I waved my thanks and did a three-point turn to get me out of the estate. A service station appeared and I took the chance to fill up with petrol and a meal deal, cheese and pickle sandwich, crisps and a bottle of Coke.

  The traffic built up as I made my way back towards Bluewater; hundreds of cars seemed to be streaming out of the car parks. I finally found a space.

  The inside of the mall looked and sounded much like any other – piped music and acres of glass, rubber plants and escalators. Getting online was easy: there were BT Internet phones dotted about on each floor. I shoved my 50p into the machine and logged on to Google. The Bovis homes site it took me to was stuffed full of pictures and sales pitch; there were any number of developments in Kent, but none around here. The nearest was on the border with Surrey. I played about, trying to see if someone like the Department of the Environment had a register of construction under way around the county, but came up with nothing.