Hello. Anybody in there? by W H Hilton - HTML preview

Chapter 38

 

Saturday May 1^st 8:31 am

 

Nicole had made her excuses and told Hartley that she wouldn’t be going into Hatton Garden this morning, but promised that if she finished her ‘so called’ shopping trip early enough, she’d try to get in.

But to be honest, he didn’t really care either way.

Both Victorian and Becky would be there to look after whatever customers there were, so his wife’s contribution wouldn’t make that much difference anyway.

Benny had told Caroline that he needed to take the car back to the garage. He’d said that they’d found the problem last night, but didn’t have time to fix it. So he had to get it in there first thing.

Alf on the other hand, was just sat cradling a cup of coffee at the kitchen table. He hadn’t had the best of nights sleep, and was starting to get rather nervous.

By nine fifteen the three of them were in the house waiting, not so patiently, for the first of their two blackmailers.

‘What are we going to do when George arrives?’ queried Benny, ‘he’s not going to be exactly pleased if he’s put on hold why we wait for Woodbridge, is he?’

‘Don’t worry,’ replied Nicole, ‘we’ll let Alf open the door to let him in. I think it would be best, as he already pretty familiar with who you are. And the minute he’s in the lounge, I’ll pull the Sig on him. He’ll have no option but to sit and wait.’

‘OK.’ Alf frowned as he was walking around, constantly pulling the curtains back slightly, and taking a peek through the window, ‘But what do we do when the other bloke gets here? Is he not going to cause ructions, as soon as he walks into the room and sees George being held at gun point?’

‘I do wish the pair of you would keep calm,’ Nicole was shaking her head; ‘I’ve got everything under control. As soon as they’re both here, and they’ve been informed that they’re not getting any money. And once I’ve told them that they should have kept their noses out of our business, I’ll blow them both away.’

‘You make it sound so simple.’ said Benny, ‘What if something goes wrong. What if either one of them has got a contingency plan worked out.’

‘Stop panicking, and for fucks sake, sit down,’ said Nicole, glaring at Alf, her voice raised, ‘you’re making the place look untidy. I’ll deal with whatever comes, OK.’

An uncomfortable silence filled the room.

 

Saturday May 1^st 10:26 am

 

An expected but still a surprising knock came on the front door.

Benny and Alf seemed to freeze.

‘Take a look then.’ whispered Nicole, looking Alf straight in the face, as he was stood close by the window.

Cautiously he pulled the curtain back a touch.

‘There’s a man stood at the door, and he’s looking around as if he’s expecting to see somebody else.’

‘Do you know who it is?’

‘How the hell should I know,’ he replied, ‘you have a look Benny, is it the bloke who’s supposed to be here?’

Carefully Benny walked over, pulled the curtain open a little further, and took a look.

‘Yes. That’s George. And right on time.’

‘Go on Alf,’ said Nicole, ‘open the door, and don’t worry I’ll be ready.’

Nervously he walked out of the lounge, and into the hall.

George knocked again, sounding impatient.

As soon as Alf had started to open the door, George pushed it open, causing the door to force Alf backwards.

‘Wow, hang on.’ he shouted as he stumbled, and landed on his arse.

‘Where’s my fucking money?’ cried George.

‘It’s in here.’ Nicole’s raised voice called from the vicinity of an open door further down the hallway.

Without waiting for Alf to get up off the floor, he headed straight into the room where the female voice had come from.

‘Well,’ he remarked hurriedly, ‘wheres my…’

He was staring straight at Nicole, who had the pistol pointed directly at his head.

‘Hang on a minute,’ George was sounding terrified, ‘I only wanted to get hold a bit of extra cash. I didn’t want to end up being confronted with a gun, or worse still - dead.’

‘Where’s the proof that you claim to have?’

‘Here, it’s all on this pen drive.’

Benny reached over and snatched it out of his hand.

‘Is this the only copy?’ he queried.

‘Yes. I didn’t think I’d need another one.’

‘Sit down, and shut up.’ Nicole pointed to the arm chair located over near the window, but not in full view from the door.

He did as he was told without any further objections.

Benny glanced down at his watch.

‘Only about twenty minutes to go, before the fun starts.’

‘I wouldn’t exactly call it fun.’ laughed Alf, with no humour intended.

‘Why,’ stuttered George, ‘what happens in twenty minutes.’

‘I thought I told you to shut up,’ growled Nicole, ‘because if you don’t do as instructed, I can always pull the trigger.’

His eyes enlarged with fear, his lips were now quivering, but shut.

Alf remained by the window, cautiously keeping a look out for Woodbridge.

While Nicole and Benny sat on the couch, watching George’s every movement.

‘Shouldn’t we tie him up?’ queried Benny.

‘No,’ replied Nicole, ‘I don’t think he’s going to try anything. Are you?’

George stayed silent but shook his head in confirmation.

 

Saturday May 1^st 10:59 am

 

Even though it was just a short wait, the twenty minutes seemed to take forever.

But then at bang on eleven o’clock, there was a knock on the door.

‘I think its him.’ said Alf.

‘Do you want to do the honours,’ remarked Nicole, ‘considering he’s your boss?’

Benny smiled, stood up, and made his way to the door.

He turned the Yale lock, and as he opened the door, he was looking straight down the barrel of a pistol.

‘Shit.’ he thought. ‘I didn’t expect this.’

‘Turn round and head to the room where your buddies are waiting.’

Benny obeyed.

‘Everything alright?’ shouted Nicole.

‘Err.’ Benny didn’t know what to say.

If he warned them about the gun which Woodbridge was holding, pressed up against his spine, he couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t use it, and he’d be the first one to go.

Within five seconds Benny was easing the lounge door open.

Nicole could tell with the look on his face that something was amiss, so she redirected the Sig towards him.

Woodbridge had just crossed the door line, when he saw George sat on the armchair.

This threw him.

‘George,’ he was dumbstruck, ‘what the fuck…’

As Benny glanced at Nicole he could see where she was pointing her gun, and he quickly dropped to his knees.

Not wanting to kill Woodbridge before they’d got the information he was supposed to be holding, Nicole put a bullet into his right kneecap.

He went down like a bag of shit.

‘Fuck.’ he shouted as he fell, dropping the gun in the process.

Benny grabbed Woodbridge’s weapon, and stood up.

‘I think you fucked that up Clive, didn’t you?’ grinned Benny. ‘Now where’s this evidence you claim you’ve got?’

‘In my pocket.’ He used his head to indicate which pocket.

‘Lift it out,’ growled Nicole, ‘unless you want another lump of lead in your other knee.’

Woodbridge struggled with his left hand to get the pen drive out of his right hand side pocket, as he was holding his kneecap with his right hand.

‘You bastard.’ he said as he handed the information to his, by now former employee.

‘Is this the only copy?’ queried Nicole.

Woodbridge suddenly thought. If he said no, then such a reply could save him, or at least prolong the situation to give him more time to try and escape.

‘You don’t think I’d come in here with the only piece of evidence, and not keep something back for insurance.’ he replied. ‘If you think that, then you’re dafter than you look, you fuckin’ idiots.’

‘So where’s the rest of your proof?’ asked Alf, wanting to get in on the act.

‘Like I’m going to tell you.’ Woodbridge laughed.

‘I know.’ George chirped in nervously, clearly wanting to save his own neck.

‘Where?’ said Nicole.

‘I’ll tell you when I’m clean away from here.’

‘You’ve no idea where I’ve hid the other copy,’ claimed Woodbridge, ‘so how the hell are you going to get it for them.’

‘Oh yes I do,’ replied George, ‘how do you think I got hold of it for myself. So that I could do exactly the same thing that you’d planned on. Blackmail.’

‘You said copy,’ remarked Benny, ‘which indicates that we’ve only got one other piece of evidence to worry about.’

‘If that’s the case,’ Alf chirped in, ‘why don’t we just shoot Woodbridge, take our chances, and....’

‘What’s that?’ interrupted Nicole.

Silence enveloped the room, as everyone glanced at her.

‘I thought I heard something outside.’

‘What like,’ replied Benny, ‘I didn’t hear anything.’

‘Take a look through the window Alf.’

Quickly but cautiously he pulled back the curtain just enough for him to see outside, hopefully without being noticed by anyone who could be out there.

‘Shit.’

‘What is it,’ whispered Nicole, ‘what can you see.’

‘There are at least two cop cars out front, and it looks like they’re starting to surround the house. I can see a couple of Police helmets making their way down the side, behind the privets. And there’s two more cops taking cover at the side of your car.’

‘OK, which one of you two shopped us?’ Nicole said sharply.

No reply was forthcoming.

‘How the hell do we get out of here?’ mouthed Alf, as much to himself than anyone else.

‘You don’t.’ laughed Woodbridge. ‘You’re right in the shit now, aren’t you?’

‘Not as much crap as you’re in.’ stated Nicole, as she swung the Sig round, pointed it straight at his upper body, and pulled the trigger.

With already being wounded, arse on the floor, his body could only squirm, as the life blood oozed out of his chest.

Woodbridge slumped forward, and he gasped his final breath.

‘What the fuck did you do that for?’ shouted Benny, ‘we’ll never get out of here now. Every bastard in the area will have heard that shot.’

‘Not with the silencer on, you daft cunt.’ Nicole replied.

 

‘Drop your weapons, and come out with your hands up.’ was the instruction, clearly being voiced through a loud haler. ‘You are surrounded.’

‘Think.’ thought Nicole out loud.

‘What’s there to think about?’ laughed Benny without any humour in it. ‘We’re nicked.’

‘Not yet,’ Nicole remarked, with a slight hint of confidence, ‘we’ve still got George. He’ll make a good hostage.’

‘And how long do you think that’ll last,’ said Alf negatively, ‘there’s no way the cops will let us just walk out of here, whether we’re holding him or not.’

‘Oh yes they will,’ continued Nicole, ‘they won’t want another body on their hands. They’ll do everything they can to keep him alive. It’s good for PR.’

‘PR my arse.’ said Benny. ‘Like Alf said, they’ll never let us get out of here. You might as well face up to it Nicole, we’re fucked.’

‘You’ve got ten seconds to come out of there,’ the loud haler sounded again, ‘or we’re coming in.’

‘We’ve got a hostage in here,’ shouted Nicole, ‘and if you don’t let us leave, then I will take great pleasure in shooting him right through his fuckin’ head.’

There was a moment’s silence. Then they heard a different voice.

‘You might as well give it up Nicole. There’s no way out.’

It was Hartley.

‘What the hell’s he doing here?’ she remarked, frustrated. ‘How did he find out what was going down.’

Nicole, Benny, Alf, and even George froze, as the front door was kicked in, and the Police burst into the house and surrounded them.

With the speed of the Police action, nobody even had time to think.

Nicole stood there staring, as Hartley walked in behind the officers.

‘How did…’

‘I became suspicious when I couldn’t find the keys to this place. I wanted them to give to Proudlove’s so they could value it.’ interrupted Hartley. ‘Then when Clive came to the shop, it made me wonder why, especially as he didn’t buy anything. What’s the point going to a jeweller, and leaving without a purchase. Then when he turned up again and asked me to hold on to a small package, and said that if anything happened to him, I was to let the Police have the contents, it made me even more curious. I was probably out of order, but I opened the package, and watched the DVD that was inside. It was quite a show. And I wasn’t going to let you get away with murder and robbery, so I went to the Police.’

‘Nicole Granger,’ the voice appeared to be coming from a distance away, she was so dumbfounded. ‘I’m arresting you on suspicion of murder, among other crimes. You will be given the full list of charges once we’ve concluded our investigations.’

The room went deadly quiet.

‘Do you understand?’

Silence, as Nicole stood in shock, still staring at her husband.

‘Do you understand?’ the officer repeated.

Still silence. Nicole was in a daze, and couldn’t believe how this was turning out.

She was supposed to end up being a multi, multi millionaire and set comfortable for the rest of her natural. But here she was, on her way towards an extremely lengthy time in a woman’s prison.

‘Shit.’

‘Hello. Anybody in there?’ said the raised voice of the arresting officer.