The Front (46 page)

‘That’s Linda!’ Ged said, shocked to his core to see his daughter tearing across the road and launching herself at The Man. ‘What the hell is she doing here? And what the bloody hell does he think he’s doing to her?’ he added, growling.

       
Tearing the door open as he saw The Man roughly grab Linda by the arms, he heaved himself out of the car, yelling at the top of his voice: ‘
LINDAAA
!’

       
Hearing his voice, Linda stopped dead in her tracks. ‘Oh my God! My dad!’ she whispered, looking around, her face white with shock.

       
‘
Dad
?’ The Man said, holding her at arm’s length. ‘What d’y’ mean,
dad
?’

       
‘Yo! That’s the dude with the wallet!’ Max said as he recognized the man hurtling towards them.

       
‘Where?’ The Man asked, becoming more confused by the second. ‘What you talkin’ about? What the fuck is goin’ on here?’

       
Ged reached them at a run, crashing into The Man, almost knocking him down as he himself fell. ‘Get your filthy hands off my daughter!’ he yelled, rolling over and struggling to his feet.

       
‘Dad!’ Linda screamed. ‘Don’t!’

       
‘Yo! Yo!’ Max shouted, pulling the gun from his pocket and pointing it at Ged’s head. ‘Hold it right there!’

       
Ged stopped dead with his hands raised to strike, and for a second, the road became deathly quiet. Then they all heard the shout coming from the bushes behind them.

       
‘Go! Go! Go!’

       
The Man spun around. ‘What the—’

       
Jake turned on his heel and tried to run, colliding with Mal, who’d had exactly the same idea. They were instantly pounced upon and thrown to the floor.

       
In seconds, the pavement and road were teeming with armed police. Surrounding the group, they trained their guns on them as yet more officers swarmed through the gates of the park, barking at them all to put their hands on their heads and drop to the floor, face down.

       
Max felt the world close in around him as he raised his hands, the gun dangling from his finger. A second later he was face down on the ground alongside Jake, The Man, Ged and Mal. His hands were wrenched sharply up behind his back as three armed officers pounced on him and handcuffed him.

       
Linda screamed as an officer grabbed her arms, pulling them back behind her to clap the handcuffs on.

       
Ged twisted his head around, bucking at the men kneeling on his back. ‘Leave her alone!’ he yelled at the men holding his daughter. ‘She’s only fifteen!’

       
The Man cursed loudly. ‘
Fifteen
? Raas!’

       
‘Yeah, you stinking piece of scum!’ Ged growled at him sideways. ‘
Fifteen
!’

In the car, Lee and Sam had sunk to the floor, trying their best to hide as the police swarmed all over their friends. They both jumped, cracking their heads together, when the door was suddenly wrenched open.

       
‘Well, well!’ DCI Jackson crooned, looking down on them, and smirking gleefully.

       
Lee groaned. ‘Oh, no. Wacko!’

       
‘One and the same!’ Jackson grinned evilly. ‘Out you come!’ He stepped back, exaggeratedly waving them from the car.

       
‘I didn’t do nothin’!’ Lee said, climbing out, an arrogant sneer on his face. ‘You ain’t got nothin’ on me!’

       
‘We’ll see about that, me laddo,’ Jackson grinned. ‘Now, if you wouldn’t mind  . . .?’

       
Lee was convinced he could worm his way out of this because he hadn’t set foot out of the car during the disturbance. He became cocky as he turned to face the car, putting his hands back behind himself, ready for the cuffs.

       
‘I’m gonna love seein’ your mush when you have to let me go, Wacko,’ he jeered. ‘I’ll sue the bollocks off you for wrongful arrest! You just watch me!’

       
‘That right?’ Jackson snorted scornfully, snapping the cuffs on and turning Lee around by the shoulders. ‘You might think you’re out of this one, sonny – but what about that little job you pulled off last Sunday, eh? Reckon you’ll walk away from that, do you?’

       
Lee blanched visibly, then quickly pulled himself together. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he said, sniffing casually. ‘I ain’t done nothin’!’

       
‘Well, I hope you’ve got a good alibi for Sunday night,’ Jackson said. ‘Not that it’ll do you any good when our eyewitness pulls you out of the line-up!’

       
‘What you talkin’ about?’ Lee sneered disbelievingly. ‘You ain’t got no eyewitness! No one saw—’

       
‘Lee!’ Sam muttered sickly.

       
‘No one saw what?’ Jackson asked, grinning jubilantly. ‘Didn’t see you down at the supermarket at approximately twelve thirty-five on Sunday night?’

       
‘I ain’t saying nothin’!’ Lee blurted out, only too aware of the blunder he’d made. ‘I want my brief!’

       
Jackson snorted with amusement. ‘Of course. You’re entitled to a solicitor. You’ll be able to call one when we get you to the station.’

       
‘What about me?’ Sam asked.

       
‘No doubt you’ll be wanting a solicitor too,’ Jackson said. ‘And the same thing applies – you can call one when we get you down to the station.’ He peered at Sam hard. ‘I don’t think I know you, do I?’

       
Sam shook his head. ‘No.’

       
Jackson shook his head. ‘Well, if you will keep company with this little villain, we were bound to meet at some point, weren’t we?’ Turning back to Lee, he smiled sarcastically. ‘Here we go again, eh?

       
‘Lee Francis Naylor, I am arresting you  . . .’

29

It was almost three in the morning before they had all their prisoners booked in. Jackson, Mac, Paul and Eddie travelled back together, and stayed to the bitter end, determined not to miss one second of the action.

       
Too shaken to drive, Vanda and Jane were driven to the station in Vanda’s car by a uniform. They gave their statements, then Jane gave a separate one about Lee’s visit to the casualty department – although she refused to make a formal complaint about the indecent assault, wanting to get the ordeal over with in one go rather than face the prospect of a separate court case. Apart from anything else, both women were due to start their shifts at the hospital in just three hours, and they wanted to get home for a bit of sleep.

       
Paul walked them out to the car and thanked them for their help, promising to ring Jane the next day to let her know what happened.

Back in Jackson’s office, the mood was one of elated exhaustion.

       
‘Well, that’s what I call a good result,’ Jackson said. Then he turned to scold Paul once more for his foolishness. ‘Which is not to say I endorse your methods, lad. You should have put your and your friends’ safety first. But all’s well that ends well, I suppose. We’ve got some good stuff here, and a belting chance of making it stick.’

       
Mac yawned noisily. ‘What exactly have we got?’

       
Jackson read from the printed sheet on his desk.

       
‘Maximilian King we’ve got by the proverbial short and curlies! Armed and endangering life. And when we get the results from the lab, we’ll know if the shooter we caught him with was the murder weapon. We’ve still got him for possession of firearms if not, and we’ll be searching his house first thing – see what else turns up.

       
‘Lee Francis Naylor,’ he went on, grinning. ‘Scummy little sod! We’ll have him and his mates in a line-up tomorrow, see if our Mrs Lilley can’t put them at the scene.’

       
‘I thought she only saw three men?’ Mac reminded him. ‘He might worm his way out of it.’

       
‘You think his mates are going to let him walk away scot-free?’ Jackson asked, smiling. ‘I don’t think so! I reckon when we get them positively ID’d, they’ll all start talking. Anyway, we’ve got that blood we took from the scene. If that matches Naylor, we’ll have all the evidence we need to place him.’

       
‘What about the girls?’ Paul asked.

       
Jackson looked back to his notes. ‘Linda Grant’s been released to her mother, and we’ll be interviewing her tomorrow. Her dad’s staying in, and we’ll see if he’s the big one Mrs Lilley saw running to the car that night.

       
‘The other one, Suzanne Edwards. Obviously not involved in the murder, but she did go later. We’ll see what she’s got to say about that. Threaten her with conspiracy, see if we can’t get her to finger the others, eh?

       
‘Now then, Samuel Donaldson and Malcolm Kenny. Donaldson I don’t know, but Kenny’s a regular little villain. Petty stuff: drugs, burglary, an assault and battery – young girl, dropped the charges.’

       
‘Obviously a favourite pastime of his,’ Mac muttered. ‘You see the bruises on Edwards’s face?’

       
‘Mmmm.’ Jackson frowned. ‘We’ll see if we can get her to press charges, eh? I don’t want him getting off. The arrogant little bastard winds me up.’

       
‘He needs slapping down!’ Mac said. ‘I’d love to wipe that smug look off his face!’

       
Jackson nodded. ‘Anyway, that leaves Jake Costello and Simeon Marchant. Marchant’s been released already. He’s totally clean. No weapon, wasn’t at the murder scene, isn’t wanted. Claims to know nothing about the disturbance tonight and, to be honest, we can’t prove otherwise. Says he was visiting Marie Sinclair when the others kicked off, and she’s confirmed, so that’s the end of that. We’ll wait and see what his mates are saying, but I doubt it’ll make any difference.’

       
‘What about Grant’s allegation that Marchant had a sexual relationship with his daughter?’ Mac asked. ‘Sex with a minor. We can have him for that!’

       
‘She’s denying it,’ Jackson said. ‘Can’t try him on suspicion, can we? But don’t worry, I’ll be keeping a close eye on him.’

       
Putting the paper down on the desk, he pulled his drawer open. ‘Well, I think we’ve got enough for the time being. How about a celebratory drink?’ Pulling a bottle of Scotch from the drawer, he sent Eddie Walker to the canteen for some plastic cups.

       
‘What about Jake Costello?’ Paul asked while they were waiting for the cups. ‘Has he been released?’

       
‘Not yet,’ Jackson said. ‘I’m just having something checked out.’ He tapped the side of his nose. ‘You’ll just have to wait and see.’

       
Eddie came back with the cups and handed them to Jackson. He told him, ‘The Super wants you to go down to the interview room, sir. Suzanne Edwards volunteered to give a statement, and he thinks you might be interested to have a listen. Apparently she’s – and I quote – “singing like a lark”!’

       
Jackson poured the drinks and took a tiny swig from his own before jumping to his feet. ‘I don’t want to miss this! Stay and finish your drinks, gents,’ he said to Paul and Eddie. ‘Mac, you coming?’

       
Paul and Eddie waited until the senior officers had left the office, before jubilantly yelling: ‘YES!’ Clashing their cups together, they toasted their successful night.

30

Clutching her bail note tightly in her hand, Suzie ran from the station as fast as her legs would carry her. She was so relieved to be released – relieved it was nearly all over.

       
She felt sick with guilt about grassing Mal up, but the old policeman had frightened her. Sixteen years he’d said she’d get if she covered up for them. Sixteen! She couldn’t do that – she’d die! Anyway, he’d been right when he said it was too late to play the loyalty game. Mal was doomed no matter how hard she tried to help him. She realized that now. He was his own worst enemy, and lying for him now wouldn’t help him – or her.

Jackson watched from the doorway as she ran hell for leather down the road. He felt truly case-hardened for frightening a statement out of the poor kid. And that’s what she was, after all – a kid. Just seventeen years old – and look at the losers she’d got herself tangled up with. He shook his head sadly. Men like Malcolm Kenny really got his goat.

       
When she’d run out of sight around the bend, he went back inside and slapped a very tired Mac on the back. ‘What a night, Mac! What a bloody night!’

       
‘What a result!’ Mac yawned, grinning happily.

       
Suzie had told them everything they needed to know about Sunday night, putting Mal Kenny and Lee Naylor firmly in the frame. She’d explained all about being sent back for the mask, and then again to see if Lee was all right, and Jackson had no reason to believe she was lying. She’d been scared shitless. Her statement, along with Ivy Lilley’s, and the blood sample – as long as it was a match, and he had no doubt that it would be – would go a long, long way towards securing a sound conviction.

       
It was highly unlikely Suzie would be prosecuted, as he’d eventually explained to her – much to her relief. Because of her co-operation, she would probably walk away from the whole experience unscathed – if a lot more careful about the type of man she got herself involved with!