Danny Dempsey and the Unlikely Alliance (10 page)

*

Beneath him, everything was pitch dark. Myles trained the powerful beams of his helicopter lights downwards. He allowed the craft to hover for a while in mid-air. How beautiful, he thought, all that cunningly constructed intertwining greenery. He'd already radioed of his arrival. Below him, four faint glows of phosphorescence suddenly appeared, as though fireflies were flitting amongst the trees. Strange, he thought, but dismissed it from his mind as the bright circle of light began to appear to reveal the helipad, the machinery employed by those entrusted the task having made the bushes concealing the pad slide to its outer edges.

Moran took the helicopter down to land on the bull's-eye painted in the centre of the circle. As the craft settled with the lightness of a feather, he turned off the engine and waited until the rotor blades came to a standstill. After he'd disembarked, he watched as his landing team reengaged the machinery to make the bushes ascend to form a canopy over the helicopter, while at the same time ferns rose up around it in a protective cocoon to shield it from sight altogether.

D
anny had to admit to the Superintendent that he hadn't had much luck yet regarding the assignment he'd been allotted. He'd been tailing Gerald Casey, sometimes walking Charlie in the form of a wire-haired terrier, sometimes as a black and white sheepdog.

‘He hasn't done anything out of the ordinary yet, Super,' Danny said, ‘but he definitely seems to be on edge about something.'

‘Guilty conscience more than likely,' the Superintendent replied. ‘Either that or he's waiting to be contacted by someone. All you can do is stick with it, Danny. Has he been paying a lot of visits to the bookmakers, by any chance?'

‘No more than the usual amount you told me he would. Yesterday I thought I was on to something when he was approached by two men when he was coming out of his house, but it turned out they were reporters. They even took a few pictures of him at his hall door.'

‘The big hero,' the Superintendent said sarcastically. ‘After outwitting the Russian Mafia the way he pretended, what can you expect? How did he take all the attention? Eh?'

‘He didn't look too happy about it,' Danny told him. ‘And from what I could make out, he didn't even want to talk to them at the beginning.'

‘All part of the charade. He was probably telling them he didn't want those big, nasty Russians to know to know where he lived after he'd escaped their evil clutches. What made him give in?'

‘I think they persuaded him by sheer persistence. I was too far away to hear what they were saying, but it looked like that was what was happening. I think they wore him down. I tried to manoeuvre Charlie to a lamppost nearer to them, but he didn't seem to be in the mood.'

‘I thought you could make him do anything you wanted,' Harrington said.

‘I can, but I didn't want them to hear me talking to him in our special language,' Danny said, grinning. ‘Gerald might have mistaken me for one of those Russians.'

‘You think Madam Noseybeak could help us on this one, Danny?' the Superintendent asked, making Harrington raise his eyebrows quizzically.

‘Who's she?' he enquired, looking from one to the other of them. ‘Another member of our nonexistent team?'

‘Something like that, Harrington,' the Superintendent replied ‘But we haven't time to go into it at the moment. What do you think, Danny?'

‘I don't think it would do any good going near her unless we'd a starting point for her to work from. At least I was able to tell her where we wanted reconnoitred when we were after those twin brothers. This time it's different. We've absolutely nothing so far.'

The Superintendent sighed in resignation. ‘I suppose you're right. We'll just have to wait until one of us gets a break. But it better be soon. The Government are having apoplexy. From what I heard on the grapevine, they've dragged Carter into half a dozen meetings already. And every time he comes out after being kicked around like a football, the first thing he does is phone me.' He did his best to remain serious and professional, but couldn't prevent the shadow of a smile play around his lips ‘Isn't that terrible?'

‘Very unfortunate, sir,' Harrington agreed, being unaware of what the Superintendent thought of Carter. ‘It must be awful for him.'

‘But not a tenth as awful as it must be for the victims of the kidnappers, Harrington.
That's
what's important now! Not you or me or Danny or Carter! Heaven knows what sort of suffering they're undergoing at the moment! So let's all get the lead out and try a little harder all round! Right? Eh?'

The Golden Retriever nodded as if in approval, though it's possible it may have been merely bobbing its head up and down to discourage a few midges buzzing around its nose.

*

Superintendent Clifford's words regarding the suffering the victims were undergoing hadn't quite reached the point he imagined it had. At least, certainly not at the precise moment he'd uttered them. In fact, he'd have been more than surprised had he had a crystal ball, and could conjure up the scene as it was now in Moran's hideout. Especially if he'd been able to see into the games-room.

Anna Conway was competing on one of the computers with Lily Cartwright. They were trying to outdo each other by manoeuvring through an intricate labyrinth without being pounced on by the monsters lurking in the darkness, ready to spring out to devour them. Level one had successfully been negotiated by both of them, though Anna had had some scary moments along the way. Lily had encountered no such difficulties, breezing through with a dexterity which displayed an alertness of mind and keenness of eye quite exceptional for one so young.

Anna was struggling in her wake, whether intentionally, or because she had less of an aptitude for the game, was open to question. It could have been that her real role was to keep her young charge in a reasonably contented frame of mind. Anna had been instructed to do so at all costs when the plan to abduct the child and her grandfather was being hatched. Either way, Lily appeared to be enjoying herself, even if she was still puzzled as to why her Mommy had asked for her to be brought to such a remote locality.

‘I'm afraid you're much too good for me, Lily,' Anna sighed, as out popped a terrifying ogre with open jaws to swallow her character. ‘That means I have to go back to the start of level two again, doesn't it?'

‘Of course, Mrs. Stevens,' Lily replied. ‘That's the whole object of the game. Once you're eaten on any level, you have to go back to the beginning of it again
. Everyone
knows that.'

Anna smiled at the child's forthrightness. Such innocence and trust had long ago deserted her own personality. Ever since her Father had one day left the house on the pretext of going for a newspaper and never returned again. Anna was nine years old at the time. She adored her Father, as she thought he'd adored her. She was an only child, and her Father's disappearance had a devastating effect on her. She'd been aware that he hadn't been getting along with her Mother for a couple of years before he left, but had never in her wildest dreams imagined he'd have walked out on the two of them.

Nothing was ever the same again. Her Mother's bitterness turned everything in their lives sour and rancid. She died of a broken heart when Anna was only fifteen. After that, Anna didn't care about anything any more. Her aunt and uncle, who'd taken her in after her Mother's death, did so more out of duty than anything else. They were a cold and unloving couple, unable to provide her with the support and understanding necessary to restore her faith in humanity. Anna ran away and fell in with the wrong crowd, slept in squats, living from hand to mouth wherever she could, sometimes dreaming of when she was a little girl.

Of times when her Father would hoist her up on his shoulders and go galloping along a stretch of beach whenever they visited the seaside, Anna clinging to his neck and laughing hysterically every time he whinnied like a horse. She dreamed of her Mother in happier days, the three of them together on a visit to the Zoo, her Father taking photographs of her in Kiddie's Corner, she stroking the fleece of a lamb, or holding a white rabbit in her arms, or him waiting to catch her safely as she slid down the red spiral chute in the playground into his strong embrace.

But when she woke up in some squalid, derelict house, the realisation that he'd deliberately deserted her only served to harden her heart that little bit more. And in those moments of awakening, Anna knew that there was nobody in the world she could trust apart from herself. Until she came into contact with Myles Moran.

*

Anna was twenty at the time, and already had a string of petty convictions behind her. She'd already spent a three month sentence in prison for shoplifting, had escaped on numerous occasions with a severe ticking off for begging in the street, and was again up in court for her latest offence of stealing two handbags nestling invitingly against the legs of chairs in a fast food outlet a couple of women had placed there as they were having their meals. They were so engrossed in conversation, neither of them were aware the bags were gone until an alert assistant spotted Anna making off with them. She was apprehended not ten minutes later in an alleyway as she rifled through the handbags for cash or credit cards.

It was sheer coincidence Myles Moran happened to be in court the day Anna's case was being heard. Hers was seventh on the list, and the judge wasn't in the best of humour if his expression was anything to go by. He was a rotund individual with a large red face. The day was clammily overpowering and, to add to his discomfort, the air conditioning had broken down earlier that morning. He'd already presided over three drunk and disorderly cases, one careless driving offence, and two mugging charges. The judge found it necessary to wipe his brow on several occasions to prevent perspiration running into his eyes. By the time Anna's case was brought before him, he felt as though he was melting where he sat. To his credit, he did his utmost to listen patiently to the details of her offence, though at the same time couldn't but visualise himself under a cold shower the second he got home after this wretched day was over.

‘Five hundred euro fine,' he pronounced after he'd been made familiar with Anna's grand larceny ‘Or four months imprisonment upon failure to pay same. Well, which is it to be, young lady?'

Anna shrugged indifferently. ‘How about a life sentence in the monkey house in the Zoo,' she said contemptuously, making no effort whatsoever to conceal her distain for authority. ‘You can come along with me if you like.'

There were titters from the body of the court. The judge looked as though he was about to have a heart attack, though his face couldn't have become much redder than it already was. ‘What did you say?' he managed to bellow, at the same time banging his gavel several times on the bench to still the rising tittering. ‘Silence in court! Silence, I say!'

The laughter gradually subsided. ‘You heard me,' Anna said as soon as silence once more prevailed. ‘You know very well someone like me couldn't pay a fine like that. All you want to do is send me to prison for stealing a couple of measly handbags. Well, why don't you do a proper job of it and make it life!'

The judge drew several deep breaths. His head, he felt, was about to explode. He was being made a laughing stock of in his own court, but he was about to show this-this
person
who was going to have the last laugh. He did his best to compose himself. To show all and sundry who it was had the real power and was in total and absolute charge of proceedings. ‘Young lady,' he said with all the dignity he could muster under such trying circumstances, ‘do you realise you are now in contempt of court?'

‘And have been since first laying eyes on your big ugly mug,' Anna replied nonchalantly. ‘Just get on with it, can't you? Do whatever you have to do. I don't care.'

‘Take her down!' the judge shouted angrily at the two policemen who were on duty, both of them striving to keep their faces straight. ‘Where she's to remain in custody until she's come to her senses and made a full apology to the court. I'll make a further ruling on her sentence tomorrow morning.'

Everyone in court knew what that meant. Anna's sentence was going to be at least trebled. But only after she made a grovelling apology to both the court and the judge himself. Otherwise, she'd remain in prison for a very long time indeed.

Myles Moran, sitting in one of the back rows, had felt like applauding. Never had he seen anyone show such utter derision in open court before. Sullen faces and discontented mutterings were commonplace amongst those receiving their convictions, but telling the judge to his face he'd a big ugly mug was something else again. Reckless and foolhardy, he had to admit, yet in his eyes, one of the most courageous displays of disregard for the forces of law and order he'd ever witnessed. With the proper guidance, Moran decided, the young lady in question could be of enormous benefit to someone like himself.

It was certainly a stroke of luck for Anna that Myles had been attending that particular day. He made a point of visiting court sittings every so often, sitting quietly at the back, listening to the cases, assessing the defendants and their behaviours, judging for himself if any of them were worthy of employment in Moran Enterprises. He found it quite amusing to use the building where justice was dispensed as his personal Recruitment Centre. Dapper Dempsey's and Needle's potential had been immediately evident to him in the past. Neither Dapper nor Needles knew of each others existences at the time.

Their trials were separate ones, one four months prior to the other. On each of the days they were due to be sentenced, both had been acquitted of all charges. They'd been more surprised than anyone when their free legal aid briefs had been replaced by one of the most high-powered defence attorneys that money could buy. Who quickly brought to the presiding judge's attention the shoddiness of the police paperwork concerning their cases.

There were glaring errors and omissions which he was amazed hadn't been pointed out to His Worship by the dismissed briefs of each defendant. And which he was more than happy to bring to the court's attention so that
true
justice could now be served. As soon as Dapper and Needles hit the street, a Moran Enterprise recruitment member was waiting to offer them lucrative employment in return for their special skills.

The judge who was to pronounce sentence on Anna the following day received a phone call that evening about an hour after he'd stepped out of the heavenly cold shower he'd been looking forward to as he melted behind his bench earlier. He felt so much better he hardly knew himself. He'd replaced his sweat-soaked suit for a pair of light cotton trousers and a cool, short-sleeved silk shirt. As he reclined in an armchair of his luxurious lounge sipping a pre-dinner martini, he gazed out through the large window overlooking his back garden.