Betrayed (Powell Book 4) (11 page)

Powell didn’t have long to wait before he heard the key turning in the door. He was hoping that less than three people would come through the door but it wasn’t turning out to be his lucky day.

Tommy led the way, his arm extended with gun in hand and alert to any danger. Seeing Powell and Hattie where they had been left, he relaxed and allowed his arm to drop to his side. Roger followed close behind, weapon also in hand and last through the door was the unarmed Scott.

At the bottom of the steps the three of them approached in a line before stopping a couple of feet away. They looked relaxed and Tommy in particular, had a smile of self-satisfaction.

“We have some questions for you, Powell,” Scott said. “Tell us what we want to know and we can put an end to this unpleasantness.”

“The only thing unpleasant here is the bad smell since you all entered the room,” Powell replied.

His words had the desired effect. Roger reacted first and took a step nearer, aiming a vicious kick at Powell’s legs. Powell was faster and as Roger’s foot was in mid-air, Powell swept the standing leg away, sending Roger and his gun, crashing to the floor.

Powell was on his feet in an instant, lashing out and connecting with Tommy’s knee, causing him to cry out in pain and also drop his weapon, which bounced noisily on the concrete floor.

Scott took a step backwards but Powell was on him with a roundhouse kick that connected with the side of his head and sent him spinning to the floor.

Tommy swung at Powell but as the fist made a wide arc towards Powell’s chin, he easily stepped inside the punch, grabbed Tommy’s arm and threw him to the floor.

Roger was climbing to his feet so Powell delivered a further kick to his head, which sent him sprawling backwards.

Powell was reaching for Tommy’s fallen weapon when he heard the warning.

“Fucking touch that Powell, and I swear I’ll shoot you in the back.”

He slowly turned around to find Hattie was pointing a gun directly at him. He assumed it was Roger’s weapon. Her hands were shaking a little and he assessed it was probably the first time she had pointed a gun at anyone.

Would she actually shoot him? Despite her nervousness, he thought there was a better than fifty per cent chance, she would pull the trigger. There was too much distance between them and her automatic reaction to any movement on his part, might well be to fire. She was aiming at his chest and he didn’t like the odds. She was close enough, she wouldn’t miss. He stood still. 

“Well done Hattie,” Scott said, climbing to his feet.

“Everything becomes clear,” Powell said. “You never overheard them talking in the basement. There is nowhere in here you could have stayed out of sight.”

There had been other pointers, he could now see with great clarity. The Hattie he knew, would have turned the air blue when they were taken prisoner. She would have demanded to know what was going on. Instead, she’d said nothing and he’d thought she was scared but she kept quiet because she knew what was happening and why. It was also why she was so adamant Scott wouldn’t harm her.

Tommy had slowly regained his feet. He picked up his weapon and advanced towards Powell. His knee was damaged and he dragged one leg as he walked. “Pretty fancy with those feet of yours aren’t you?” He didn’t expect or wait for an answer. He held the gun up close against Powell’s inner thigh and pulled the trigger.

Powell fell to the floor clutching at his thigh. Blood was seeping out of the wound but the bullet had exited the back of the thigh and it was only a flesh wound. Tommy knew what he was doing. He’d left the bone alone. It wasn’t a life threatening wound but it did hurt like hell.

“That will slow him down,” Roger said, laughing. 

“The only reason you are still alive is because we have some questions for you,” Tommy threatened, standing above Powell. “I hope you refuse to answer because I’m going to enjoy making you talk.”

“He’s already told me most of what we want to know,” Hattie interjected.

Powell remembered how willingly he had answered all of Hattie’s questions and felt a bloody fool. He was pressing down on his wound trying to stop the flow of blood. His skin felt clammy and his heart was beating rapidly. He knew he was suffering from shock. At home the remedy would have been a stiff scotch but that wasn’t an option.

He needed to focus on finding a way out of the current mess. By the time Brian became worried about the lack of contact, Powell doubted he would still be alive, especially if Tommy had any say in the matter.

“Sit him in the chair,” Scott instructed.

Roger picked up the single metal chair from the side of the room and placed it close to Powell. Then he and Tommy grabbed Powell under each arm and roughly pulled him into the chair. Tommy took further plastic ties from his pocket and tied Powell’s arms and legs to the chair.

“Now, if you’re sitting comfortably, we’ll begin,” Scott said, sarcastically. “Start at the beginning and tell me why you ever wanted to join our commune.”

“I’d been struggling getting a girlfriend and I heard you believe in free love so it seemed a good way of getting some action.”

Scott smiled. “Glad to see you still have your sense of humour. Tommy, please show Powell this is a serious discussion and he should refrain from any more frivolity.”

With an evil grin, Tommy landed a punch on Powell’s nose.

“Hit him again,” Hattie encouraged.

Tommy followed up by leaning his hand on Powell’s thigh. His finger found the entry wound and Powell reacted by screaming at the top of his voice.

Tommy stepped back, shocked by the noisy onslaught.

A few years earlier, Powell had spent one Summer in Japan, studying martial arts, trying to expand his skills beyond Kickboxing and been shown the value of Kiai, beyond the simple grunt when delivering a blow. He was taught that K
iai is more than an explosive voice sound; it represents the projection of sound fused with energy or spirit that blends with the energy or spirit of the opponent, thus having an effect.

Powell had been a bit sceptical at first but kept an open mind and this was the first time since, he’d tried out what he’d been taught.
Powell’s novice like scream had nothing like the power and impact he’d seen demonstrated by a teacher but it had caused a startled reflex action in Tommy, causing him to step away and providing Powell at least a temporary respite from the pain. 

“We’d better gag him,” Tommy suggested.

“Then how the fuck is he going to tell us anything,” Scott pointed out.

Powell allowed a small smile to cross his lips. Tommy wasn’t the brightest spark. Powell’s thigh was once again oozing blood and his nose felt like it was broken but he took comfort from having caused at least momentary confusion.

“I’m hungry,” Hattie suddenly announced. “And thirsty. I missed dinner, tied up down here. Will this take long? While you lot were no doubt enjoying a drink upstairs in the warm, I was freezing my bum off down here, trying to get information out of Powell.”

Scott was thoughtful for a second. “Okay, let’s go eat something and you can tell me everything you learned from Powell. Then we can come back here and finish the questions.”

“What’s for dinner?” Powell asked.

“Think you’re a comedian?” Tommy answered. “You won’t be laughing come the morning.”

The four of them left Powell sat in the dark. He was relieved to have some respite from their questions, even if it was only temporary. He could only hope Brian would be prompted into action by not being able to get hold of him.

Powell also hoped they were all as hungry as Hattie and took a very long time over their food. He wasn’t looking forward to them returning and asking more questions. He needed to come up with a reason why they should keep him alive.

Scott led the way to the kitchen and they all made sandwiches and grabbed cold drinks from the fridge. They decided to eat in Scott’s study so they wouldn’t be disturbed.

“Midnight feast?” the girl asked, as they rounded a corner.

“We missed dinner,” Hattie explained.

“Who are you?” Scott asked pleasantly.

“This is the new girl I mentioned earlier,” Hattie answered. “Anna meet Scott.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Anna said as she extended her hand.

“Don’t believe a word of it,” Scott joked. “I’m really a very nice person, whatever Hattie’s been telling you.”

“I’m sure you are,” Anna smiled. “Hattie tells me you are our leader so it’s good to meet you at last.”

“Leader sounds far grander than the reality. Sorry, I’ve been busy all day. I promise I haven’t been avoiding you.”

“Perhaps we can spend some time together tomorrow?”

“I’d like that, very much.”

“I’m off to bed now,” Anna said.

“Where are you sleeping?” Hattie asked.

“I’m not sure yet,” Anna answered coyly. “It’s difficult being the new girl. Where do you suggest I should sleep?”

“It depends.”

“On what?”

“On what sort of a night you want.” Hattie had fancied Anna from the first moment they met and knew Scott would also approve. “If you hang around for a bit, I’ll finish eating and then come find you. We can probably have a nightcap with Scott and talk further about what sort of night you want.”

“Okay, I’ll go back to the games room. If I’m not in there, I’ll be in the library.” Anna turned and walked away. “

“She’s gorgeous,” Scott said after a few seconds. “A nightcap sounds a great idea. After the day we’ve had, I could do with some unwinding.”

“I think Anna would be up for that.”

“Sounds like a plan. She seemed very taken by you. I hope she likes men as much.”

“She does,” Hattie confirmed. “What I’m not sure about yet is if she likes girls as much.”

“I assume you’re planning on finding out later?” Scott laughed. “Come on, let’s go eat and then we can get back to the cellar and finish with Powell. Then we can have that nightcap with Anna.”

Hattie repeated what she had been told by Powell, while they ate their sandwiches. The others listened mostly in silence with just an occasional question for clarification.

“We might have to rethink our plans,” Scott said, when Hattie finished speaking. “We may be better off handing him over to our friends in the police.”

“Can we afford to do that?” Roger asked. “Surely, he’s seen and knows too much.”

“Anything he says can be dismissed as wild allegations to try and save his own neck. The drugs and the weapon were found in his car and he’s trying to blame someone at the commune but he hasn’t a shred of real evidence. He saw a suitcase being handed over but admits he has no idea what was inside. We just deny ever meeting.”

“Why can’t we just kill him and throw him in the sea?” Roger asked.

“You are joking?” Hattie queried. “I was all in favour of teaching him a lesson for snooping into our business but killing him! That wasn’t ever on the agenda.”

“You were prepared to shoot him, in the cellar,” Roger replied.

“I was stopping him from attacking all of you. That’s different to killing him in cold blood.”

“The end result is the same,” Roger snapped.

“Stop arguing,” Scott demanded. “I agree with Hattie.”

“And I agree with Roger,” Tommy said.

“This isn’t a bloody democracy,” Scott retorted.

“Why can’t we make it look like a suicide?” Tommy asked. “Powell kills himself because of all the trouble he’s in.”

“And how do you explain the bullet in his leg? People intent on suicide don’t tend to shoot themselves in the thigh,” Hattie pointed out.

Tommy fell silent.

“We have a tough decision to make,” Scott continued. “But I think a dead Powell may cause us more problems than if we let him live.”

“How do you work that out?” Tommy asked.

“Because if he’s dead or disappears, then his friend in MI5 will almost certainly know we are responsible and will come after us. MI5 aren’t like the local coppers. They may not all be James Bond types but we can’t afford to have that lot on our backs.”

“But if we let him go, then he will tell his friend what’s happened and surely that’s just as bad?” Tommy asked impatiently.

“We’re not letting him go. The police will lock him up and this time he won’t get bail. He isn’t going to be able to do much from inside a prison.”

“And how do we explain the bullet in his leg?” Tommy quizzed.

“We don’t have to. Our police friends are going to apprehend Powell in the grounds here. Powell was armed and in a wrestle for the gun, he gets shot. Resisting arrest and trespassing will simply add to his catalogue of crimes.”

“But he’ll tell his MI5 friends the truth and they still might come after us,” Roger said.

“There’s a risk attached,” Scott agreed. “But we won’t be wanted for murder. MI5 are busy in other directions. They will leave it to the police to sort out.”

There was silence in the room for a few seconds.

“That might just work,” Tommy admitted.

“I’ll make the call,” Scott stated.

“Am I needed anymore?” Hattie asked.

“No,” Scott confirmed. “Keep Anna happy and I’ll catch up with you later.”

“I bet you will,” Hattie grinned.