Crystal Jake: The Complete EDEN Series Box Set (31 page)

How foolish I was to think

That I could catch a butterfly?

—
Butterflies
, Shiv Kumar Batalvi

Lily

A
t twelve I take a cab and direct it to an Indian restaurant in Notting Hill. I go into the restaurant, slip the waiter a twenty pound note, and he gladly escorts me out through the back door. I walk quickly along the back street, take a left and walk up the road to the NCP car park. Inside, I keep pressing the key remote in my hand until a car lights up and clicks open.

I get in and drive to the safe house, where I find a parking space, pay the parking charge and get out, locking the car. It is a small building of six flats in a quiet street. At lunchtime hardly anyone is around. I access the apartment block through the street entrance and climb briskly to the second floor. My heart is thudding hard, but I am not in a panic. I know I haven’t done anything wrong. I think I am more bemused than anything else.

I check the concealment of my recording device—all seems well—turn my key in the door, and push. Inside, I’m met by the strong, disagreeable smell of cigar smoke. As soon as I close the door I can see up the hallway and into the living room. DS Mills is lounging on a sofa with his feet up on the coffee table. He is sucking on a cigar and holding a large goblet of brandy in his hand.

He looks at his cigar. ‘You are late,’ he says.

I glance at my watch. ‘By a minute, Sir.’

‘Arrive before I do, in future. I’m a busy man.’ He gestures condescendingly with his finger to the sofa opposite him. ‘Sit down.’ Even beyond the office environment, his arrogance is breathtaking. I’ve heard that he is married, but I can’t imagine the state of the long-suffering wife sitting at home waiting for him. I do as I am told.

‘Spit it out then. What’ve you got for me on Eden?’

On the way here I’d thought of all the different ways I could tackle the subject with Mills, but face to face there is no easy way, so I just blurt it out.

‘The information I have is not about Jake, Sir. It’s about Robin.’

Mills’ eyes narrow dangerously. He carefully places his cigar to rest on the side of his ashtray, and asks coldly, ‘Is this some kind of bullshit joke, Strom?’

I stay strong. ‘I’m afraid not, Sir. I have information that Robin has been seen in the Pilkingtons’ clubs and I believe he might even be working with or for them.’

‘You want me to believe this ludicrous accusation verbatim because?’ His sarcasm and irritation are obvious. He gets up onto his feet and walks around the sofa.

‘I trust the source, Sir.’

‘I’ll be the judge of that. Who the fuck is your source?’

‘A dancer from the club. She’s seen Robin and Tommy Saunders, Billy Joe Pilkington’s number two man, together at the club a few times. That is highly irregular and should be looked into.’

‘A dancer?’ he scoffs.

I swallow hard and sit upright. ‘My duty is to put out any information I uncover so that any future investigations can be informed by it.’

‘Robin can visit any damn club he wants. It’s not against the law.’

I flush. ‘My instinct tells me something more is going on, Sir. The dancer made some serious accusations. A girl he had gone out with went missing.’

‘Do you think I’m going to take the word of some anonymous, two bit stripper over one of my best men? Have you and Eden cooked this cock and bull story up to save his ass?’

‘That’s not fair, Sir,’ I snap back. ‘I followed your instructions to the letter. No one, not even Jake Eden, knows about our arrangement.’

‘I can’t believe you dragged me up here for a bit of stripper gossip.’

‘Have you got a magic crystal ball, Sir? Do you know exactly what is happening at all times and you never ever get anything wrong?’

He glares at me warningly. ‘Watch yourself, Strom, I’m your commanding officer.’

But at this point I don’t give a fuck anymore. He is just a bully. And I don’t care if I never work in the force again. ‘I’m just curious why you would not be even slightly intrigued as to why Robin might be fraternizing with well-known gangsters.’

‘What are you implying, Strom?’ Mills stops suddenly in my face. His face looks like it might explode among the bulging veins.

I remain outwardly calm and smile. ‘I’m sure you can deduce the implication yourself, Sir.’

My sarcasm causes him to erupt violently. He thrusts a finger in my face. ‘I’d be very careful, if I were you. You’re walking on extremely thin ice.’

‘I’m not afraid of you. I haven’t done anything wrong. Yes, it was a lapse of judgment to sleep with my target, but I confessed, and offered to resign.’

Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, out of nowhere, it comes to me. I see it clearly, the thing that had eluded me all this time, the thing that I had missed. I stare at him with shocked eyes. My eyes are riveted on him, equal parts fear and disbelief. My voice is a whisper. ‘You showed no curiosity or surprise about the shipment coming in on the sixteenth. You knew about it before I told you, didn’t you?’

He sighs. ‘You stupid, stupid bitch. All you had to do was open your fucking legs and distract Eden while we laid our plans. But you couldn’t just do that, could you? Oh no, you had to be a little Miss Marple, running around poking your fucking nose into things that have nothing to do with you.’

Suddenly I am afraid. I
have
been running around playing at being detective without any idea of what was really going on in the shadows. Jake is not the gangster. This man is. I see it in his cold, pitiless eyes.

The door
. I have to get to the door. ‘I’m not listening to this,’ I say as calmly as I can manage, and getting up, head for the door. My knees are trembling so hard I am afraid I will not get to it. Almost there. I’m there… But before I can pull it open, Mills’ big palm slams down on it.

I jump like a startled cat, a scream rattling in my throat.

‘You’re not dismissed yet,’ he murmurs so close to my ear that I rear back in terror. He smiles at me and a shiver runs down my spine. There is something truly chilling and frightening about this smiling side of him. He is almost unrecognizable. I can hardly believe it is the same person. ‘Back to your seat. I’m not quite finished with you.’

He is six feet plus and sixteen stone so my racing mind decides that it is best to placate him until I can think what to do next. I sit back down and watch him, frightened to my core. He goes to the window, takes his mobile out of his belt holder and dials. While he waits for his call to be answered he keeps his eyes trained on me. I think about running to the door, but I know I won’t make it. He is too fast. Too dangerous.

‘Things have moved faster than expected,’ he says into the phone. ‘I’m going to need some help with dispatch.’ A pause. ‘No, no disposal necessary this time.’ He listens again. ‘Yes. Right now! Don’t forget to knock three times, so I know it’s you, and don’t shoot you by mistake.’ He laughs.

Oh my God! Oh my God. I am a dead woman… I have dug my own grave by doing such a good job of losing my tail. If Mills has his way, I will disappear without a trace. I think of Jake and everything he means to me…. God! He’ll never know that I love him with all my heart. Oh God! I’ve been so, so stupid. What a mess I have made of everything.

Mills ends the call.

I need to think. I’m starting to feel out of control and hysterical. My mind tries to analyze the situation. Who has he called? Robin? Or maybe Tommy Saunders?

‘Who have you just called?’ I ask.

‘That should be the least of your worries, I would have thought, Lily.’

Hearing him call me by my first name makes a wave of nausea roll into my stomach.

‘You don’t have to get rid of me. I’m off the force, anyway. Just let me go and you’ll never hear from me again. I beg of you,’ I cry. By his disgusted expression I know I sound whiny and pathetic, but I don’t want to die. I want to live, I want to be with the man I love and watch our children playing in the meadows like Jake did on beautiful spring days.

‘Don’t be pathetic, Lily. We both know that’s never going to happen. There’s too much at stake for everyone concerned.’

Helpless and frightened tears run down my face. I start wailing.

‘All right, I’ll let you go.’

I stop and stare at him. He’s playing games. ‘You’re going to let me go?’ I know it is nonsense even as I say it.

‘Yes, if you call Jake and ask him to come here now. It’s not you I want.’

A strange kind of calm washes over me. There is not a single cell in me that can be persuaded to do that. I’ll never hurt Jake. Not intentionally.

‘I’d rather die than do that.’

Mills breaks into what can only be described as demonic laughter. All the hair on my arms stand. ‘That’s funny,’ he says, getting a hold of himself. ‘I’ll just have to call him myself.’

’You don’t have his number.’

‘No, but you do.’

‘I’ll never give it to you.’

He starts walking toward me. I go rigid with fear. When he is about two feet away he reaches into his jacket, pulls out a gun and, after calmly screwing on the silencer, presses the cold metal to my cheek. I emit an involuntary cry. ‘Tell me,’ he orders. My eyes swivel sideways and I stare at him in terror.

‘Tell me or I’ll blow your brains out.’

‘No.’

He swings his hand in a wide arc and cracks the barrel of his gun across my temple. The blow sends me flying off my seat onto the floor, pain exploding in my head. I lie sprawled and stunned under the coffee table as he yanks my bag from my clenched fists. Through a haze of pain I see him search for my phone. I try to stand but he presses the heel of his shoe down on my chest and grins down at me.

Warm blood streams down my face. I start mumbling and begging him, ‘No, please. Don’t bring him here. Leave him alone.’

He walks away from me with the phone to his ear. I feel like I’m losing consciousness, but I know that I must stay awake no matter what. I must warn Jake, if it’s the last thing I do. I hear him talking, but I can’t make it out through the excruciating pain. Mills is coming back toward me.

He stands over me and calmly presses his heel into my hurt temple.

I scream.

‘Is that proof enough for you or do I have to hurt her again?’ he asks into the phone. I clench my teeth to stop myself from crying out and try to listen to Mills’ side of the conversation. ‘That’s right. Get the key from under the mat and come in. Don’t try anything funny or bring anyone else with you, or you’ll be in time to see her skull explode.’

Mills ends the call and tosses my phone away. He then walks to the drinks cabinet and pours himself another brandy. He goes back to his chair and relights his cigar. He puts his gun in his lap and his feet up on the coffee table. He has assumed the same position I found him in. I hold my throbbing temple and remember my surveillance device. If I don’t make it I need his confession on tape. Perhaps someone else will find it and put this corrupt bastard away.

‘Why?’ I ask. ‘Why are you after Jake?’

He takes another mouthful of brandy. ‘Why? Why anything, Strom? Territory… Money… Power… And a gangster I can control.’

‘A gangster you can control?’ I repeat.

He watches the smoke rising lazily from his cigar. ‘You see, Lily, the real problem here is Eden. He’s a fucking dinosaur and there’s just no place for people like him in this industry.’

He takes a puff, blows out another plume of smoke and stares at me, his eyes dark and totally devoid of emotion. ‘The people I work with can’t have large swathes of prime real estate in the hands of someone like him. By running his clubs as if they’re part of a legit business operation he’s holding back progress.

I make a small sound of disbelief. ‘You mean Jake was telling me the truth! He really isn’t a gangster?’

‘Gangster?’ Laughter erupts from his mouth. ‘He’s fucking soft in the head. With him out of the way the clubs will be run the way they should be. With the right working girls, and our own security people controlling the flow of drugs there’s a fortune to be made.’ He shrugs. ‘I had a different timeline for our takeover, but with all your meddling and interfering you’ve pushed it forward. After today we’ll have it all.’

‘Just how do you plan to get away with this? You can’t simply make Jake and me disappear. There’ll be CCTV images of me and Jake coming here and questions that will eventually lead to you.’

Mills shakes his head. ‘My dear naive Lily. It will be my team and me who will be investigating. It’s really terribly simple and straightforward. Obviously, you discovered evidence of drug dealing. You came here to pass the information to me. Unknown to you your criminal husband followed you here. A gun battle ensued between him, my associate and me. Eden died. Unfortunately, Strom, you did too. Honorably in the line of duty. A real police hero. So young and good looking too – the papers will love it. We’ll award you a medal for outstanding services or something. Your parents will be quite proud of you. The public will mourn the death of a brave officer. Obviously I take the credit for the bust, and Eden, a notorious criminal, is forgotten very quickly.’

I feel my stomach shrivel up inside my body as I hear his voice lay out the future so confidently. But when I speak my voice is full of contempt. At least I will die knowing that Jake is not criminal. He was being set up.