“She’s gone.”
Stone quickly stepped down and grabbed her by the hair with such ferocity that Carter stepped forward to intervene, but he stopped when he saw the anger in Eric’s face. Atkins squealed as Stone forced her to kneel.
“Where is she?” he asked through clenched teeth.
“How would I know?” she hissed, “I was with you,”
“Who has her?” Carter asked.
“I expect he has. Him and his gorilla bodyguards.”
“Names… Give me names!” Stone shouted, shaking her head.
“Eric!” Carter warned, “Ease off.”
Stone slowly let go of her hair, but his eyes retained their look of murderous intent. Atkins stood up shakily and looked at the two men, as if she were assessing her situation. Then she sighed.
“Look… he hasn’t got a name. We’re only allowed to call him ‘Boss’ or ‘The Fixer’. He has two bodyguards; they’re from Russia or somewhere. They’re identical twins. He calls them ‘Kitten’ and ‘Bunny’, but they’re big men, really big men — and nasty. If they’ve got her… ”
She shook her head.
Any other questions instantly went out of his mind, when there was a crackle from his radio earpiece. Linda’s voice spoke hesitantly.
“Eric?”
“Linda?”
“Eric — I’m so sorry, I was— Ahhh!”
Linda’s scream of pain made Stone’s heart skip a beat. A new voice came over the radio.
“Eric Stone?” The Fixer said in a calm tone.
“Who is this?”
There was a pause.
“I think you will address me as ‘Sir’,” The Fixer said.
“Listen to me you useless piece of sh—”
There was another scream. This time it was longer and louder.
“I said… ” The Fixer repeated slowly, “that you will address me as Sir. Is that clear?”
Eric understood perfectly. Things had gotten out of hand for the Wrecking Crew. Three of their people were down, and now they had lost Helen Atkins. The Fixer wanted to regain control of the situation, and by hurting Linda, he was trying to establish his domination over Eric. Grim faced, Carter indicated that he had heard the conversation on his radio. He nodded for Eric to co-operate.
“Yes, I understand… Sir,” Stone drew out the final word.
“Good. That’s better.”
The Fixer’s voice suggested that he had spoken the words with a triumphant smile on his face.
“As you may have guessed Stone, I have your little girlfriend here. Now… I’m in a bit of a rush, so I must insist that you do exactly as I say, or I will slit her throat and dump her lifeless body in the gutter. Is that clear?”
“Yes — Sir,” Stone said through clenched teeth.
“Excellent!” The Fixer said condescendingly, “Now look to your right, over by the entrance to the parking lot. Can you see a black BMW?”
Stone looked. About sixty yards away, just outside the parking lot guardrail, a car was flashing its headlights. The car was close enough for Stone to see the shape of a man and a small blonde woman, but too far away to make out the faces through the tinted glass.
“I see you.”
Instantly, Linda screamed again.
“You missed the magic word!”
“SIR!” Stone shouted desperately, “I see you, Sir. Please don’t hurt her… ”
“That’s better,” The Fixer said.
Stone shut his eyes. He felt sick with fear and anger. The Fixer spoke again.
“Now — do exactly as I say. Let Helen go. If you send her over to my car, right now — I will let your little Linda live.”
“Look… we’ll swap, I’ll let Helen go, and you release Linda… Sir,” Stone pleaded.
The Fixer laughed.
“No, you moron! There’s to be no negotiating here, I’m holding all of the cards! Let Helen go, or the girl dies!”
Stone hesitated.
“I’ll give you thirty seconds. Then I’ll slit her throat, dump her out of the door, and drive away. Afterwards you can run over here and try to stop the bleeding with your hands. It won’t work, but you can try.”
Carter spoke urgently.
“Eric, you have to do as he says. Do it NOW!”
“OK — OK, I’ll let her go!” Stone shouted, “She’s coming now.”
Stone pushed the woman towards the BMW. Atkins gave him a parting sneer of victory, and then she turned and walked away towards her freedom. In helpless frustration, the two men watched her walk across the parking lot.
When she was about twenty-five yards away from the BMW, Stone heard its engine start. Ten steps later, just as she entered the full glare of a streetlight, the car’s window slid down. Atkins suddenly stopped walking and held up her hands, as if trying to ward off some unseen menace. Stone clearly heard her say ‘Oh no!’, but as she began to turn away from the BMW, there was a pink puff from the top of her head. Like a puppet with the strings cut, she dropped to the ground. Half a second later, the muffled sound of a silenced gunshot confirmed what had just happened.
Before they could react, the BMW accelerated away, leaving behind the body of Helen Atkins, and a pink cloud of blood and brain matter, hanging eerily in the mist. Carter, ever the policeman, began moving towards the body — but Stone stopped him with a shout.
“Leave her, Ed! Quick, get in the car — we have to follow, before he gets away. We have to rescue Linda!”
With a nod of agreement, they jumped into the Audi. Fortunately, the key was still in the ignition, and the engine started first time. Stone stomped hard on the gas pedal and the tires scrabbled for grip as they shot forward. Almost immediately, he had to slow and put two wheels on the sidewalk, to get past the lifeless form of Helen Atkins. Then there was another frustrating delay, when they realized that they couldn’t get out of the parking lot without a validated ticket. It took three attempts to force a way through the guardrail. Before it finally yielded, they broke a front headlight, scratched the hood, and cracked the windshield.
A few seconds later, they came to the junction with Bridge Street, Stone stopped, and searched for the BMW. Left or right — left or right?
“Which way did he go?”
Carter pointed to the left.
“It’s a one way street, turn left. There he is… just ahead of the blue car!”
“Got it!”
Stone spun the wheel to the left and accelerated. In seconds, the powerful Audi topped sixty miles an hour, but then he had to brake hard, as the traffic ahead slowed for the traffic circle. Stone craned his head to see over the line of cars. The roof of the BMW was visible just sixty yards away. If the traffic had stopped, Stone could have jumped out of the Audi and run to the BMW in less than ten seconds, but the traffic kept moving, so he followed the line of cars.
There was a blinding light, and the impression of a massive black shape approaching from the right. With an enormous bang, the side window and door exploded inwards, showering Stone in glass. A black Toyota Hilux had driven fast out of a side road and deliberately smashed into the driver’s side of the Audi.
Even though the side impact airbag had deployed, Stone was winded and stunned. It took him a few seconds to understand that they had just been in an accident, and a few more to realize that the Toyota was still pushing them sideways. Over the huge hood of the Toyota, Stone could see the grinning faces and shaven heads of Kitten and Bunny. The tires on the Audi groaned as the Toyota continued to push it sideways towards the edge of the road.
“They’re trying to push us into the river!” Carter warned.
Stone looked to his left and saw that they were actually on a bridge. They were just feet from being tipped over the edge, and into the dark waters below. He stamped on the gas pedal to try to get away from the Toyota, but the impact had stalled the engine. As he turned the ignition key, a series of harsh clicks suggested that something important had broken.