Authors: Kevin Ashman
‘It is truly beautiful,’ he said in awe.
One of only six,’ said Rubria, ‘Use your contacts to sell it back to the Temple of Vesta. They will pay a king’s ransom to have it back where it belongs.’ She left him staring at the gem and rejoined her fellow travellers to pack their things.
An hour later the three fugitives sat in a small boat below the imposing bow of the merchant ship, bobbing gently in the swell. The Captain looked down at the fugitives.
‘Head for the mouth of the river,’ he shouted down. ‘I am told the tribes are quite friendly along its banks. North lies Londinium, South is the unknown.’
‘Thank you, Captain,’ shouted Rubria, ‘Safe journey home.’
‘One more thing, Priestess,’ he shouted, and threw something down into the boat. Dragus’s reflexes were quick and he caught the necklace before it landed, holding it up as the reflection of the sun bounced off its surface. Rubria looked back up at the Captain.
‘Why?’ she shouted.
‘It may be yours to give, Priestess,’ he answered, ‘But it is not mine to take.’
Dragus handed over the necklace to Rubria and took his place at the oars. Rubria looked up one last time.
‘I will be forever in your debt, Captain,’ she shouted, ‘The blessing of Vesta be on you and your crew,’ She stared at the man for a long time as Dragus’s powerful arms rowed the boat away from the ship and towards the shore. Finally she turned her gaze to the looming shoreline.
‘Take a good look at your new home, Priestess,’ said Dragus, between breaths, ‘We could be here for a long time.’
----
England 2010
Brandon carried his overnight bag down to the hotel reception and paid for the rooms. He took a seat in reception and read the complimentary paper as he waited for India. Fifteen minutes later he called her on her mobile, but when there was no answer, he approached the desk once again.
‘Excuse me,’ he said, ‘Could you ring room thirty one please, and remind Miss Sommers I am waiting?’
‘Oh, I think Miss Sommers left earlier sir,’ said the receptionist, ‘A few moments before you came down.’
‘Left?’ quizzed Brandon, ‘Did she leave a message for me?’
‘No, sir, but it seemed she was in a hurry. At least, the gentleman she left with was.’
‘She left with a man?’ snapped Brandon.
‘Yes, sir, he was waiting for her when she came down and gave her a note. I do recall she seemed distressed and left with him immediately.’
‘I don’t suppose you know who this man was?’
‘No, sir, sorry’.
‘Do you know where they went?’
She shook her head.
‘
Shit
!’ cursed Brandon, ‘Do you know which way they went?’
‘I believe they left in a taxi,’ said the receptionist, looking towards the rank outside the door.
‘How could you see them from here?’
‘I had to leave the desk to pick up the note Miss Sommers threw on the floor,’ she said.
‘Where is the note now?’ he asked
‘I put it in the bin.’
Brandon strode towards the bin and reached inside.
‘Blue!’ said the girl as she watched him unwrapping various bits of crumpled paper.
He picked up the only blue paper, tugging at the edges so he could read the words better.
‘
India, Something urgent has come up
,’ he read,
‘You can trust this man, he is one of us. Go with him and we will meet up later
.’
‘
Shit!
said Brandon again and returned to the desk.
‘What taxi company do you use?’ he snapped.
‘Sorry?’
‘The taxi rank outside, who has the license?’
‘It’s open access, sir, anyone can pick up.’
‘Do you have CCTV?’ he asked.
‘Yes sir, we do, but can only show it to the police.’
Brandon leaned forward.
‘Miss,’ he said, with urgency in his voice. ‘I believe that Miss Sommers is in danger and has been abducted. I would call the police but have no time. All I need to know is what taxi they got into.’
‘I don’t know, sir,’ she said nervously, ‘My boss…’
‘Needn’t know,’ said Brandon. ‘I don’t want to see the footage, what if you just tell me the cab company?’ He put a twenty pound note on the counter.
The girl looked around before taking the note and adjusted the CCTV under the counter.
‘United Cabs!’ she said eventually.
‘Can you see the man she left with?’ he asked urgently.
‘Yes, sir but as I said…’
Brandon vaulted the desk and pushed the girl out the way.
‘What do you think your doing?’ she hissed.
‘Sorry, love, someone’s life is at risk and I don’t have the time to piss about any longer.’ He stared at the paused picture of a young man looking back up at the camera. He had expected to see someone similar to the dead Greek he had killed back at his house but didn’t recognise his face.
‘
Shit!
’ he said for the third time in as many minutes, and jumped back over the counter.
‘I should call security!’ said the receptionist indignantly.
‘You should,’ said Brandon, ‘But you won’t.’
‘Why not?’
‘I can think of a hundred reasons,’ said Brandon, dropping a pile of notes on the counter.
She looked back up at him in surprise.
‘We cool?’ he asked.
‘Cool!’ confirmed the girl sweeping up the money and watched as Brandon ran from the hotel.
----
Brandon avoided the first two cabs and ran to the third in line.
‘United cabs?’ he asked through the window.
‘Yup!’ said the driver.
‘Great!’ said Brandon and tried to get in the back.
‘Those two are in front of me,’ said the driver, ‘Have to use them first.’
‘I only use United,’ lied Brandon, ‘Won’t use anyone else.’
‘Don’t know!’ said the driver, ‘They wont be very happy. Business is a bit slow today.’
‘Double the meter!’ said Brandon.
‘What?’
‘I’ll pay you double the meter, in cash.’
‘Where are you going?'
‘Don’t know yet,’ said Brandon, ‘I’ll find out in the next few minutes.’
‘What’s this about?’ asked the driver.
‘Triple the meter!’ interrupted Brandon, upping the ante.
‘Get in!’ said the driver, unlocking the central locking system.
‘Thanks,’ said Brandon, and dropped into the back seat, slamming the door behind him. The driver pulled out and passed the two cars before him in the queue, answering the shouts from the other drivers having a cigarette break with an extended middle finger as he passed.
‘What’s your name, driver?’ asked Brandon, as soon as they cleared the hotel.
‘They call me Murray,’ answered the driver, ‘Where we going then, guv?’
‘Murray,’ said Brandon, ‘About ten minutes ago one, a friend of mine got into one of your company’s cabs outside that hotel. I need to know where they went, and I want you to take me there.’
‘Don’t know if I can do that,’ said Murray, ‘Customer confidentiality and all that.’
‘Murray,’ said Brandon, ‘For all I know they could have gone across bloody London. I don’t know how far that is, but at triple time it could be very lucrative.’
The driver paused, considering the opportunity.
‘What’s her name?’ he asked eventually.
‘Sommers,’ answered Brandon, ‘India Sommers.’
Murray picked up his radio mike.
‘Control this is Two-Three,’ he said, ‘Come in.’
‘Go ahead Two-Three,’ came the reply.
‘Control, one of our cars picked up a lady at Premier inn, Watford about ten minutes ago. Do you know where they went?’
‘I can find out, why, what’s the problem?’
‘She dropped her purse and I was wondering if they were local so I can return it.’
‘Hang on,’ came the disembodied voice and the Radio went silent for a few seconds before bursting back into life.
‘It was car Three-Seven, said the voice, though they are probably too far away now. Just bring it into the office later and we will return it.’
‘No problem,’ said Murray, ‘Where did they go anyway?’
‘Victoria Station, do you want me to give Three-Seven a call and let them know?’
‘Nah, don’t bother said Murray,’ seeing Brandon’s shaking head in the mirror, ‘She was a bit of a moody cow anyway.’
‘Okay,’ said the voice, ‘Control out!’
‘Victoria Station,’ asked Murray to the mirror.
‘No, I don’t think so,’ answered Brandon, ‘They will be long gone by the time we get there.’ He thought for a few minutes before speaking again. ‘Murray, do you know a place called Tockenham??’
‘Tockenham, Swindon?’ asked Murray.
‘That’s the one. There’s a church there called St Giles. Take me there.’
‘You do realise that’s the best part of eighty miles away?’ said Murray.
‘Yes,’ said Brandon, ‘Though you had better stop at a cash point on the way. I’ve got a feeling this is going to be a very expensive taxi ride.’
‘Five hundred quid’s worth of taxi ride,’ said Murray with a grin, ‘Up front, in cash, if you please.’
‘Like I said,’ answered Brandon, ‘You had better find a cash point.’
----
Ten minutes later Murray felt the comfortable bundle of fresh twenty pound notes in his shirt pocket before pulling out into the traffic. Behind him, in the rear seat, his new customer, who obviously had more money than sense, was busy speaking into a phone.
‘Mike,’ said Brandon, ‘I need you to do me a favour. Can you get the CCTV footage in Victoria station checked out for the last hour?’
‘Why?’ asked his colleague.
‘My contact was abducted about half an hour ago. Apparently she was taken to Victoria station and I need to know where they have taken her.’
‘Brandon, the case is closed, just tell the police.’
‘Mike, it’s a bit of a coincidence, don’t you think? I start following some leads and my main contact is abducted.’
‘Brandon, you’re not listening to me. The case is closed, savvy? Get your things and get back to Stirling.’
Brandon thought furiously.
‘Listen, Mike, have you booked me back in yet?’
‘No, why?’
‘Then pretend you couldn’t get hold of me. As far as anyone else is concerned, my phone was off. My next report is not due until next week, so there is nothing unusual in me being offline for a while,’
‘I don’t know,’ Brandon said his friend.
‘Mike, I need this from you. You are my oldest friend and I have no-one else to turn to. This girl is, well, she means a lot to me and I will not abandon her. All I need is to find out where they have taken her.’
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds before Mike spoke again.
‘Brandon, I am not putting my career on the line for this, but I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I will refer your request to the CO and ask his permission to extend your posting. I know he’s going to an officer’s mess bash tonight, and has a couple of days leave after that, so he won’t get the request until Monday. I am sure he will pull the plug, but until he does, I will keep you online. That gives you just over three days.’
‘What about support?’
‘We’ve already got a team on stand bye anyway, so I won’t stand them down until you come in. Make sure your beacon is armed.’
‘Will do,’ said Brandon.
‘I hope she is worth it, matey,’ said Mike, ‘Now, I need descriptions, locations and timings.’
Brandon gave his colleague what info he had, knowing that Mike could draw on no end of intelligence and contacts to scour the CCTV network.
‘Got it,’ said Mike, ‘Anything else I need to know?’
‘No that’s it, I think.’
‘Right, give me a couple of hours, and I will get back to you. If you find yourself in the smelly stuff, hit your beacon and we’ll come running.’