Debits by Peter Thwaites - HTML preview

To get through the now open window seemed an impossible task, but this was probably the only means of escape and when desperate, anything is worth a try. About a hundred yards ahead the traffic was beginning to slow as it approached a series of road works. Never before was he so happy to see the traffic come to a halt through road works. Rick felt that this was the opportunity that he had been looking for. The car in front had slowed to a halt to allow three workmen to pass across the stream of traffic towing lines of Optical cable probably for a new telephone network. Rick’s car also came to a halt, and realizing the opportunity that may now present itself to Rick, the DCI raised the open window.

“Damn and blast” thought Rick, but noticed the roof light was partly held open only by a small plastic clip.

Rick was never an agile man. He preferred the diplomatic approach to any confrontation rather than to physical effort, especially where some athletic ability was required. To even conceive diving through an open roof light seemed ludicrous, but a partly closed one. A miracle was needed.

It had to be now, so throwing himself upward through the roof vent, the window smashed open and bouncing of the car, Rick landed face down onto a pile of builder’s sand some two meters from the car.

Stunned, the DCI was struggling to get the door open. “For Christ’s sake, open the bloody doors. I can’t get out”

Picking himself up, Rick could see that his hosts were also leaving the car (albeit using the more traditional method) and would soon be on him.

He sprang to his feet (his agility even surprising himself) and headed for an open trench that ran parallel with the road and about two meters deep. Glancing behind, Rick saw that the two guys had somehow mastered the sand, and were entering the trench not far behind him. About thirty meters ahead the trench entered a steeply climbing concrete culvert that carried the cables under the road, and as the culvert was unfinished, approximately twenty meters ahead stood a cable drum on a wheeled platform ready to be moved forward as the culvert work continued. Rick reached the drum just as his captors entered the culvert and from behind, using every ounce of remaining strength; Rick released the drum break, and pushed the drum back down towards the two men.

Neither of the two men had a chance of escaping from the culvert in time and were both caught by the steel cable drum as it gathered speed. Forcing themselves against the side of the culvert they could do nothing but watch as Rick made his escape through an open escape hatch. In the midst of all of the confusion, the irate drivers caught up in this event and the many rubber neckers passing by, Rick was able to merge into the crowd and disappear.

Once Rick had made his escape from the now totally congested main road, he found himself in a narrow back street seemingly going nowhere. Hiding himself behind a large blue plastic waste bin, he decided that a plan of action was required, otherwise he would be undoubtedly caught again, and sooner rather than later.

First of all, who had arranged for him to be picked up? It wasn’t the normal plod, and in any event what had they expected to find out from him. As far as Rick knew he had not done anything that would have sparked such a response, unless it was all connected with the hostage situation and his being shot at in the bar.

It was still reasonably early in the morning, so there was still only a few people about and would be easily spotted if he tried to get back home now. Who did he know in this area who would put him up for a few hours until the dust had settled. A few years ago whilst on a vaguely similar fraud case, he had met up with a young woman whom he remembered did have an apartment quite near here. Maybe she would remember him. Even after all these years he hadn’t changed much, except for the loss of hair, and the concerned ‘lived in’ look on his face.

Nicole was her name, and quite a stunner, or so Rick remembered. It would be good to see her again. Brushing his clothes down to remove traces of sand from the building site, and dust from the       tidy-bin, Rick made his way to the apartment block, and approached the entrance door. Each apartment was protected by an intruder alarm and a call button was available for each occupier. Scanning the list of names, Rick recognized Nicole’s and pressed the button.

“Hello” came the voice through the speaker.

“Can I help you?”

“I sincerely hope so. Is that Nicole?” Enquired Rick

“It might be. Who’s asking?” Why are people so afraid these days? It’s not natural.

“Nicole, it’s me, Rick Shore. We met a few years ago. I could really do with some help about now. May I come in?”

“Rick. Is that the copper, Rick?”

“Yes, that’s right - may I come in?”

The door buzzer sounded and Rick could hear the lock release. Opening the door he walked into the foyer and searched for the lift.

Nicole lived on the sixth floor and Rick had no intention of using the stairs. The lift doors were concealed behind a small colored glass screen that was reflecting rays of colored light on to the white painted ceiling and walls producing a sort of kaleidoscopic effect. As he approached the lift the doors slid open and a well-dressed couple entered the foyer. They were both in their early fifties and seemed anxious not to be seen as they slipped quietly into the street. Rick entered the lift, selected the sixth floor, and wondered what would happen next.

As the doors slid open, Rick could make out a smart blue carpeted area with matching wall and ceiling decorations, and an assortment of pictures and ornaments dressing a pair of ornamental side tables. There were four doors opening on to the landing and Nicole’s was immediately to his left. As he approached the door, a very attractive young woman opened it, probably in her late thirties, immaculately dressed in a light blue blouse open at the neck and a pair of slim-fit jeans. She was bare foot and her long brown hair hung way past her shoulders. If this was Nicole then, God, I must look old, thought Rick. This woman was delicious, a sight for sore eyes, everything a man could ever want, and here was Rick, hoping that she would help him out of a difficult and dangerous situation.

Nicole spoke first

“Rick, goodness you have changed since we last met. What on earth have you been doing to yourself?”

“I don’t believe it. Are you really that young boyish woman that helped us with a case so many years ago? You look wonderful,” exclaimed Rick, moving towards the door. “Always the charmer. Come on in. Tell me how I can help. You look as though you could do with a drink” and she gestured for Rick to enter her apartment.

The apartments were not large, but had all of the normal facilities and were very well designed to make use of all of the available space. Nicole obviously had a feel for design as the rooms were carefully decorated and furnished to produce a feeling off calmness and quiet, and yet alive and vibrant. A new CD system was playing a series of ‘Nice and Easy’ tunes and it was very difficult to remember that they were so close to the main road.

“Sit down Rick” suggested Nicole pointing to an easy chair close to the window.

“Thanks, Nicole. I must explain. If any of it makes you feel uncomfortable, let me know and I will go. Please, sit down”

“Firstly Rick” replied Nicole as she made for the chair “Would you like a drink?”

“Maybe later, but I must ask for your help”

Rick took a deep breath and began to explain what had happened over the past few days. Starting with the hostage assignment, to being shot in the bar, dumped in the river, picked up by the police, and the final escape to her apartment. Rick even described his meeting with Sam and the subsequent explosion.

Throughout the describing of the recent events Nicole had kept a serious but concerned look on her face, but this changed with the announcement of the explosion, and death of Sam Hodgkins.

Suddenly Nicole’s tone changed and she became very agitated. “Are you sure that Sam is dead?” She asked. “Has his body been found? Could it not be someone else?”

Rick rose to his feet and slowly walked over to her, placing his hand on her shoulder which had started to shake with emotion.

“No, I’m sorry Nicole, but the body has been identified by the police as that of Sam. I am sure there is no doubt. I’m very sorry. Did you know him?”

“Sam was my father. We hadn’t really got on since my mother left us for some gigolo lover, but he was always there when I needed him. We had just begun to get to know each other again. I really thought that we were making progress. Why did it happen Rick, Do you have any ideas?” Nicole was now trying to pull herself together again but could not hide the tears that were running down her beautiful cheeks.

“In all this time, I never knew that he was your father. I am really sorry. If there is anything that I can do” comforted Rick and held her even closer.

“Do you think his death had anything to do with your visit?” asked Nicole wiping the tears with a tissue gained from her jean pocket. “Maybe it was more serious than you thought”

“I just don’t know” said Rick as he moved to sit down beside her “The more that I see and hear makes me wonder if the entire past few days are not connected in some way, but what, and where do I start?”

“For the time being I need somewhere safe to stay...”

“Of course you can stay here” interrupted Nicole “For as long as you like. You were good to me those many years ago, and I would love to be able to repay the favor. Maybe I can help in other ways as well”

“How do you mean” cut in Rick, somewhat relieved that at least he had somewhere safe to stay whist he tried to make some sense of all of this.

“Let me show you something” replied Nicole, pointing Rick in the direction of a room at the end of the hallway.

Opening the door Rick was amazed to see a suite of six top of the range computers and a series of junction boxes, printers and switched hubs. There was also several filing cabinets, each carefully labelled a couple of easy chairs, and a small desk.

“This is where I work” indicated Nicole, introducing Rick to the various sets of equipment “and it may just help answer some of your questions”

“What is it that do you? I would never have guessed that you would be so technically minded?” Queried Rick, somewhat impressed with the sight he saw.

“I am paid, quite handsomely I must admit, to uncover information on people or companies, in fact anything at all. You would be surprised at what people will pay to discover secrets that were previously hidden away.” Nicole’s eyes were beginning to recover their twinkle once more, and she continued “I have independent one megabyte broadband Internet connections to each of these six computers and have written a software application that zips any up or download package into six separate items. Each item is handled by each of the computers that unscramble the package on arrival. As each broadband connection is made in series I have the use of effectively a seven hundred and twenty megabyte connection.

Impressive huh!”

“Very” chipped in Rick “But how does this help me?”

“Given time I will write a spyder application that will continually troll the internet for any credit or debit transfer at any moment in time, and will then analyze the time lapse between the debit and credit transfer. If there is any discrepancy in these times, my spyder will trace the account to which the funds are being temporarily credited against and we should have your man” “How long will this all take? Not that I’m rushing you, but if all this is connected I want to get my hands on the guy who shot me” “Tell you what,” said Nicole “Give me twenty four hours and we can give it a crack” This was very good news and at last it seemed that he was getting somewhere. Rick felt exhausted and asked if it would be possible for him to take a shower and perhaps a short nap.

“Of course Rick. Get yourself into the shower and I will bring you a towel and clean clothes. You’re about the same size as my old dad. You can have some of his clothes. He won’t be needing them anymore”

Rick was guided to the bathroom and very soon was luxuriating in a warm soapy shower. All of his worries were being washed away and for that short moment in time he felt happy and content. Rick heard the bathroom door open and through the steamed up shower cubicle saw Nicole place some clothes and a towel on the side table. If only he was twenty or so years younger. If only...

Chapter 3

It felt fantastic standing in the shower, the hot perfumed jet seemed to wash away all fears and concerns and left Rick feeling refreshed and invigorated. It was as if standing in the womb. Innocence and freshness. Safe in the care of your mother. As Rick became engulfed in a mist of sweet smelling steam, he felt that at last a turning point had been reached and from here on in things would improve. Reaching through the screen for his towel it felt soft and comforting and as he began drying himself he realized the great loss of not having a loved partner with whom he could share his life and experiences, both good and bad.

“Hey Rick, would you like some breakfast. I’ve already got the coffee on, but how about some bacon and eggs. How do you feel”

“Oh yes please, I had forgotten how hungry I was. That would be great, thanks” replied Rick, pulling on the borrowed clothes that did, surprisingly, fit him quite well.

“Well, when you’re ready come into the dining room and help yourself to the coffee.

The food won’t take long”

The dining room was attractively designed with an antique oak dining room table and six bow rounded chairs all hand carved in a sort of mock Regency style. The floor was covered with a thick pile dark blue carpet and there were heavy velvet curtains to match. Decorating the walls were several individually lit designer framed watercolors depicting scenes of the ocean, on a light blue flocked wallpaper.

On the elegant oak side table stood a coffee jug and several gold rimmed glass coffee mugs, similar styled milk and sugar bowls, and a selection of wrapped chocolate biscuits. Rick carefully helped himself to a coffee, added a drop of milk and a single spoonful of sugar. Declining Rick’s offer of a coffee, Nicole entered the room carrying a plate of bacon, eggs and fried bread and placed them on the table in front of Rick. She returned to the kitchen and re-appeared with some cutlery and her own coffee that she had taken earlier. Rick needed no second reminders and eagerly tucked into the breakfast.

Whilst eating, Rick was listening to Nicole as she explained how she would begin working on the computer program straight away, and should have it ready for testing later that evening. In the meantime it would be a good idea if Rick would take some time to recover himself and perhaps summarize what had happened to date. Possibly some of the pieces may start to fit together.

Six floors down, in the street below, Rick’s two captors were still desperately trying to locate their quarry with very little success. Having scoured the entire area surrounding the point where Rick had left the car, they very soon came to the conclusion that somehow Rick had gone to ground. It was now sometime since he had made his escape so it was very unlikely that he would be found now, at least with only the two of them looking.

The only thing left to do was to return to base and take whatever consequences were forth coming.

As the day went on, the weather appeared to brighten, and shafts of bright sunlight began cutting through the large glazed screens of the apartment like lasers. Looking up from his bed, Rick could see clouds of light dust rising from the floor caught in the beams of light. It was very difficult to imagine the horror of the past few days and he hoped that it had all been a very bad dream.

The sun began to fall below the horizon of office blocks and apartments and the room fell dark. Shadows began to form in the corners and between the items of furniture and reality began to return. It was almost nine o’clock in the evening when Nicole announced that she had completed the program and they were ready for a test run. Would Rick like to come and watch?

He pulled himself from the comfort of the bed and headed back into Nicole’s office. Nicole had switched on the six computers and they were humming impatiently, waiting for the next command. Each screen had a bright blue background and in the top left hand corner, the cursor was flashing expectantly.

Rick took a seat alongside Nicole at one of the computers and once again realized that she was no ordinary young woman. Here was a very attractive woman, a body that any warm-blooded man would die for, and eyes that seemed to melt in your gaze and yet were strong and determined. A woman who knew what she wanted and would do anything to get it.

She inserted a CD into the drive and waited as the computer began to take instructions. The screen was soon filled with thousands of symbols of all shape and form forming an endless scroll. Nicole explained that her program would search the Internet for any debit transfers and then check to see which of these did not immediately arrive at the creditors account. These would be the ones that had been temporarily diverted. Given enough information it would then be possible for her program to trace the actual account that these funds were diverted to. Nicole reckoned that the process would take about two hours but after that the results should start coming in.

It had been some time since either of them had had a meal so agreeing to leave the systems running they made their way to an excellent and intimate French restaurant close to her apartment block.

The restaurant was situated in a small back street just off the main road and within about one hundred yards from the entrance to her block so was reached fairly quickly without any problem. There didn’t appear to be anyone watching the area and the restaurant was empty as they entered the dimly lit building. Rick moved to a small table facing the window and helped Nicole to her seat.

There were four main courses available and using Rick’s schoolboy French they managed to interpret them as being a choice between Chicken, Pork, Rabbit, or Beef Steak all served with a selection of vegetables and appropriate sauces. Between them they decided to order the Staves of Rabbit in a Field of Turnip and Carrot, with Cabbage Potato and a rich Cranberry Sauce. Sounded delicious and washed down with a bottle of ‘Pinot Noir’ would certainly fit the bill.

As the waitress left to pass on their menu choice, Rick gently took Nicole’s hand and gazed into her eyes. Expressing any sort of emotion following the news of her father’s death seemed impossible and probably not appropriate anyway. All that Rick could do was to assure Nicole that he was around if she ever needed someone to talk to or confide in. Nicole appeared to understand and sat silently deep in thought. Save fo