‘Emma McDonald. Never thought I would see you again. You’re a ghost. There is nothing I can’t do on a computer but I’ve never been able to find you. And believe me, I’ve tried. But I knew you’d come back. They always do.’ Emma McDonald? Poor lad, he got conned as well. Unless that was her name and I was the one being conned. No, surely not.
‘Listen Blaine, I need your help. I am sorry about Moscow,’ she breathed, regretfully. Moscow? What the hell happened in Moscow?
‘Sorry? I spent eighteen months in a Russian jail because you messed up and you say sorry? I loved you!’ he shouted at her. This was beginning to feel like a bad idea.
‘That was eight years ago and you knew the risk. I made a mistake but I was young. We were young and I didn’t know what I was doing. But I am in danger and you’re the only one who can help me.’
I was now so far out of the loop I was starting to lose focus but I forced myself to stay with it. I was glad to hear that it was a long time ago at the very least. Focus Tom.
‘Why would I help you?’ he spat in disgust. He was beginning to be a bit too aggressive for my liking. He was ‘cruising for a bruising’ as my Dad used to say.
‘Please, do it for me. I know things ended badly between us but if you ever cared about me you’ll do it. My life depends upon it.’ Emma was beginning to look desperate.
‘Emma, I am snowed under at the moment so with regrets I am going to have to say no.’ He looked pretty smug with himself. Now he had gone too far. Emma had tried being nice. My turn.
‘Listen Blaine, she has asked nicely and she has apologised. Time to grow up and help out someone who really needs your help.’
‘Who are you?’ he muttered, as if seeing me for the first time.
‘Her husband.’
‘You two are married? I don’t see it.’
‘And I don’t care but the way I see it is like this. You have two options. Trust me; you are going to want to take the first.’
‘And they are...?’
‘Number One: You help us out and in return, we give you a hundred grand and you never see us again.’
‘And the other one?’
I pulled out my gun, jumped to my feet and held it inches away from his face. His smirk had gone and pure terror was now in his eyes.
‘Number Two: I shoot you in the head, dump you in the woods and use your flat as a base for our operations. It’s up to you.’
‘I see... I'll go with the hundred grand.’
‘I thought you might,’ I smiled. Not so cocky now.
‘So what do you need me to do?’ he asked nervously.
*****
Thirty minutes later we had come up with a pretty decent plan. I had threatened Blaine with every sort of punishment imaginable if he tried to cross us and I was pretty confident that he wouldn’t try anything. He was terrified. We had three and a half hours left to do this job and we had a pretty definite plan. We'd set out a route and made sure Blaine knew what was going on. He may have been a pathetic little weasel but when it came to technology he knew exactly what to do. He had given us a small example and left me in no doubt that he was the man for the job. Blaine could tell this job was a big deal and I think part of him wanted the reputation for pulling it off.
Next task: head to the man with the laser pen and convince him to give it to us. Quickly.
Blaine wanted to prove his abilities and assisted us with green lights the whole way back to West London. It took us half the time and that half hour saved would end up being invaluable, I had no doubt. Two hours gone. Three hours left. Emma was keen to see her friend again (who was called David, so I was told) but reminded me to refer to her as Jessica.
‘We have less than ten minutes if we are going to make this work,’ I said to her. She understood, probably much better than I did. I had to remind myself that she was the expert and I still had loads to learn.
Emma ran to the door and knocked loudly. Did she have a specific rhythm to her knock or was I reading too much into it?
‘Password?’ came a familiar voice.
‘Pluto is a dwarf planet,’ laughed Emma.
The door was pulled open quickly and there was warm embrace between the two of them.
‘Jessica!’ he smiled, hugging her tightly.
‘How are you David?’ asked Emma.
‘All the better for seeing you,’ he replied. He spotted me out of the corner in his eye and moved warmly towards me.
‘And you... I’m guessing you did it then, if little Jessica is still alive. Thank you for saving her.’ He hugged me tightly as well.
‘Not.. .not yet. That’s why we are here Dave. We need your help.’
We discussed the bare bones of our plan, giving just enough information to make David feel included and, after a little persuasion, he allowed us to walk out of there with his laser pen.
‘Be careful. Hold the button down for no more than ten seconds or it may overheat. It hasn’t been safety tested yet!’
I smiled and put it in the trouser pocket, making sure to zip it up.
Two hours and forty-five minutes until we had to be at the warehouse. We were on schedule... just about. The plan was all set but it still seemed an impossible task. I was confident that Blaine would handle his end of the deal and David certainly believed the pen could cut through anything, but it would take a miracle to get it all together at one time.
There was something else to worry about. Something that was nagging in the back of my mind. A problem that had been there since I first found Emma but it was time to confront it. If we did pull off this job, there was no way the Kozlovs would just let us walk out of there. We knew too much and as soon as we delivered the final ewer, they would put a bullet in our heads for our efforts. This was the whole reason I had found Emma instead of fleeing to Mexico and waiting for her. Surely she must have a plan.
She didn’t. After we left David’s, we attempted to come up with one. It was difficult; Emma was completely focused on the task ahead and it was hard to get much out of her. She was worried now, more worried than I had ever seen her. I would have to come up with something. I ran my finger over my gun and considered it. No. I’m not a murderer. Not unless I absolutely had to be. I was going to beat them (once and for all) with my brain, not a gun.
We drove back to our flat to collect the last few things we would need, preparing ourselves in silence for what was coming. I changed clothes into something more appropriate. I slipped on some dark cargo trousers, a jet-black t-shirt and a light weight jacket, also in black. I wasn’t really sure why I dressed in black but people did it in movies and I look good in it. It would make me stand out less which was an obvious benefit as well. Emma reappeared looking incredibly sexy, in very tight, dark clothes. This was not the time to find her attractive, but it didn’t stop me. As Emma was much smaller than me, she was going to have to be the one to get inside the van when the time came. The tighter her clothes, the less likely anything would get caught.
As we were applying the final touches, my phone rang. I answered it and Emma used this opportunity to turn on the news and get a glimpse at what we were going after. There was no live coverage of the van but there were pre-recorded images shown on a loop on the news channels. She had a fair idea of what we were dealing with. I held the phone to my ear and spoke.
‘Hello?’
‘I’m in London,’ spoke Jack calmly.
This instantly made me feel safer. There was nothing Jack could do to protect me but it helped knowing he was here.
‘You want to fill me in with the plan?’ he asked.
‘No time but...’ Suddenly I had a new plan. Not for stealing the ewer, but for protecting us long term. It was mental (literally) but it could work!
‘I need you to listen,’ I said quickly. ‘I don’t have much time.’
Chapter Twenty-Nine
‘Change of plans. I need you... now!’
‘Blaine, we’re set! Count us in.’
I w
as talking to Blaine through a wireless earpiece on my phone, which picked up a remarkable signal considering I was underground hovering beneath a manhole cover. Half an hour ago we had ‘gone underground’, working our way through a complex network of underground sewage pathways until we were waiting under an agreed manhole cover. The manhole had a ladder built into the side of the wall and there was just enough space in it for the two of us to fit side by side. It was completely dark, save for the light flashing occasionally from my Bluetooth headset. We had almost 90 minutes to get to the warehouse with the final vase and with the van already in transit we estimated it would be above us in less than five minutes.
‘Blaine, where are we?’ I asked.
‘Sending them left on Gerard Way... now!’
They were getting close. If Blaine was doing his job right they were very close. He was blocking up several streets ahead of the van so they would look for an alternative route. When a clear pathway became available they would take it. So far it was working well. The hard part was going to be timing the lights perfectly to stop the van directly above us.
‘Watch the timings,’ I said nervously. ‘This all falls apart if it’s not above us.’
‘Easy chief, I’ve got it covered,’ Blaine replied. He was cockier now that I wasn't holding a gun to his head.
‘Listen Blaine, I think you’re doing a great job (and I’m not accusing you of anything) but if you double-cross us I will find you and rip your head off with my bare hands. Am I clear?’
He went silent for a second before replying, ‘I’m not going to screw up. But you better give me my hundred grand!’
‘It’s yours when this is over. How long?’
‘Less than a minute. Get ready.’
I looked at Emma, sensing how she was feeling, although I couldn’t see her face through the darkness.
‘You ready?’ I asked.
‘You?’ she replied.
‘Definitely!’ I lied and she agreed.
‘Ready when you are, Blaine,’ I muttered.
There was silence for about thirty seconds. It was quite possibly the slowest thirty seconds of my life. We stayed perfectly still and silent, meaning all we could hear was each other’s breathing. At long last the call came.
‘Go,’ Blaine shouted down my ear. The noise shocked me into action and at once I lifted up the manhole cover an inch or two and moved it to the side. It was brighter outside but we were not hit by sunlight. We must be covered. We were underneath something at the very least. I raised myself up one rung on the ladder until my head was in the fresh air up to my nose. I looked around quickly, checking if anyone could see me. I doubted it. We must be under the van. It was fairly high off the ground, riding on large wheels and it stretched on for some distance. I could see the wheels of motorbikes on either side but there was no way they could see me. Blaine could hold us here for a minute maximum, before people started getting suspicious. No time for messing about.
I pulled out the laser pen and held it to the bottom of the van. There was a tangle of different pipes underneath and, although I’m not a mechanic, I quickly found a space I thought would be easy enough to burn through without destroying the movement of the van. I pressed the button and a wave of heat hit my hand, flying into my face. It was just warm air but it was a heat I hadn’t experienced before. It made a crunching noise but was so intense that it was cutting through the van with ease. I had made half a circle before the heat became too much. I bit my tongue to stop myself from screaming out as I burnt my hand. I'd held it down for more than ten seconds. Idiot. I had no time to stop so I switched hands and completed the circle with only a few momentary pauses. I was sweating to the point where I was wet through but I carried on. The hole was cut. I bent my knees and forced my body up into the new circle. The cut-out was no longer attached to the rest of the van and the force of my body was enough to push the shape up into the vehicle. We were in!
‘Alright baby, you’re up,’ I whispered and took her by the arm to help her up. She didn’t need any help from me. Within seconds she slithered past me and was halfway through the hole. I'd judged the hole acceptably but I hadn’t given Emma a lot of space. Luckily she was used this sort of thing and she used her upper-body strength to pull herself inside. She was quick, but even so we were falling behind schedule. I looked at my watch and could see it had already been a minute, I could hear the first few beeps of frustration with drivers using their horns. Please hurry Emma!
The worst part for me was the waiting. I couldn’t see inside the van and had no idea how it was going and whether she was going to be able to do it. We had agreed with Blaine that ninety seconds was the limit before he moved the lights on. Anymore and the authorities might start checking the system. We couldn’t risk it. However, Emma now had twenty seconds to be back here with the ewer: she wasn’t going to make it.
‘Blaine we may need some time. No sign of Emma,’ I whispered. No reply. ‘Blaine! Blaine can you hear me?’ Still nothing. I continued to call for him but I was getting nothing. Shit! I pulled my earpiece out and looked at it. It was a completely different shape to the way it had started. The heat from the pen must have broken it!
‘Emma, you have ten seconds! Get out!’ I shouted, hoping no-one else would hear us. After three or four more seconds she reappeared, holding the ewer. Thank God! She was smiling for the first time in ages. It was a great thing to see, but time was against us.
‘Hurry!’ I said.
‘Catch,’ she replied and dropped the ewer down to me.
‘Are you mental?’ I called back to her, lucky enough to be holding it still in one piece. Emma smiled her cheekiest smile and sat on the edge of the van dangling her legs out.
One leg was almost within touching distance when I realised something. The car horns had disappeared and in their place was the sound of engines roaring. The traffic was moving. Looking up I could see the van creeping into life. If she tried to drop now Emma would either get run over or cut in half.
‘Watch out!’ I cried, reaching up and pushing her leg back inside. In a second she was gone and I managed to drag the manhole cover over me with a millisecond to spare. I heard the rumble of traffic overhead and soon enough the van was gone.
What the hell was I going to do now?
I slid down the ladder and placed the ewer down carefully. I ripped the phone out of my pocket and checked if it was still connected to Blaine. It was.
‘Change of plan... I need you now!’ I bellowed.
‘What’s up? You didn’t get it?’ he asked, sounding worried.
‘No, I got the ewer but Emma is still stuck inside the van. I need you to find another manhole for them to stop on.’
‘I can’t... they're close to the airport mate. How are we going to find another one in time?’
‘Blaine, you’re the best. I know you can do it. I need you. I will double your money if you can do this. I believe in you.’
There was a pause for a second.
‘I’ll slow them down for a moment while I think. Give me time,’ he replied.
‘Be quick,’ I said and waited patiently. I found the rucksack we had brought and, using the light from my phone, I wrapped up the ewer and placed it carefully in the bag. I slipped it on my back and filled my pockets with all the loose items we had brought with us. I was ready to move.
‘Shit! That could work,’ he shouted suddenly. ‘Listen, I have found somewhere but they are going to be there in less than five minutes and it’s not a straight pathway for you. You better run.’
‘Tell me where,’ I replied, ready to go.
He pulled up a map of the sewage works and began guiding me.
‘Go to your left. The way the van went. Run. I’ll track you through your GPS on the phone.’
I didn’t wait for a second invitation. I started sprinting, using all of my energy and control to stay upright on the slimy footpath. It was incredibly dark but I ran my hand along the wall the whole time, letting me
know where the corners were. My eyes were adapting to the light a little and, whilst I wouldn’t say I had twenty-twenty vision, I could just about find my way.
‘There is a sharp left coming up. Take it.’
I did as he asked and pushed on. The air down here wasn’t the cleanest and my lungs were beginning to burn. There was no way I was going to stop, but it didn’t stop my legs filling with lactic acid. They were aching beyond belief; I really did need to work on my fitness. Three more minutes passed and I wound my way through the underground passage, pushing my body as hard as I could. I had taken several more directions from Blaine and according to him I wasn’t far.
‘Go now! They are almost on top of the manhole. Turn to the right and up the ladder.’
I bent round to my right and caught my hand on the ladder. Climbing the rungs was incredibly painful as it burned in my legs but I was marching on through it. I reached the top and burst the manhole cover away, breathing the fresh air in.
The van was once again above me but the hole was not lined up with the manhole.
‘Don’t move the traffic until I say,’ I said to Blaine and I pulled my body up on to the street until I was lying under the vehicle. If anyone looked at the van they would be able to see me but I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to lose Emma again.
I dragged my body along the floor until I was directly below the hole. I wanted to shout out but the roads were quieter here and I couldn’t risk the police escorts hearing us. I took the pen out and threw it through the hole. Moments later, Emma’s face appeared, looking completely amazed.
‘You came back for me? What about the Kozlovs? We're running out of time.’
‘Well, you better hurry up then!’ I whispered back.
I moved out of the way and she slipped out behind me. I dropped down the hole and felt Emma just behind me.
‘Blaine, move the traffic,’ I said down the phone, completely exhausted. Emma shuffled in next to me and pulled the manhole cover over us once more.
Presently the traffic rumbled off, in the direction of Heathrow.
We had done it! The fifth ewer was in my bag and now all we had to do was get to the Kozlovs in record time and hope my plan for survival worked. No pressure.
We gathered our breath quickly and Emma kissed me before we set off in a run along the pathway. We had positioned our car near the previous manhole cover and just had to find our way back to it. For the first time in a long time I felt like things were finally going my way.