The Jackdaw
Authors: Luke Delaney
HarperCollins
Publishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published by HarperCollins
Publishers
2015
Copyright © Luke Delaney 2015
Luke Delaney asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
Cover layout design © HarperCollins
Publishers
2015
Cover design © HarperCollins
Publishers
Ltd 2015
Featuring ‘Houdini’ the jackdaw kindly posed at The Raven Haven in Crowthorne
Photography: Henry Steadman
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This is entirely a work of fiction. Any references to real people, living or dead, real events, businesses, organizations and localities are intended only to give the fiction a sense of reality and authenticity. All names, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and their resemblance, if any, to real-life counterparts is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780007585687
Ebook Edition © MARCH 2015 ISBN: 9780007585700
Version: 2015-02-18
I dedicate this book to my three kids – DJ, JJ and NB.
To DJ, an inspiration to us all, who has already overcome so many obstacles in such a short life and proved to us all what we can achieve when we show some real grit and determination. A personality the size of the Empire State Building – funny, sometimes a handful, great company, a magnet for other children and always in the centre of the action, DJ’s a genuinely unstoppable force of nature. If anyone can make all their dreams come true it’ll be this kid.
To JJ, a beautiful and gentle child – the polar opposite of their older sibling. Clever and resourceful, but shy and thoughtful. Bright and independent, but never boastful or bragging – JJ continues to develop into a wonderful young person, doing things their own way, blissfully untouched by convention and the need to be like everyone else, seemingly unaware of their Hollywood good looks and million-dollar smile. JJ grows and grows as a person – happier and happier with each passing day. A very special child.
To NB, known to my wife and I as our little gift. Super smart and fiercely independent, but very cuddly and funny too. Their thirst for knowledge is like something I’ve never seen and long may it last, although everything has to be done their way and watch out anyone who tries to stop them. There’s no point in telling NB ‘it’s the taking part that matters’ – this kid’s in it to win it. NB is the definition of steely-eyed determination. We already know NB will be anything they want to be.
In many ways my kids are like a flock of jackdaws – intelligent and chatty, brave and loyal to each other – mischievous and inventive – not to mention sometimes troublesome. But we’d have it no other way. You are our everything. So thank you, guys, for all of your awesomeness.
All our love,
Mum and Dad
Contents
The thick hood was pulled from his head and Paul Elkins squeezed his eyes closed tightly against the bright, white light that tried to penetrate his pain and fear, but the agony of the duck-tape being ripped off his mouth fired them open as wide as if he was being electrocuted. As the shock of the pain receded, his eyes blinked the room into focus, his chest heaving with panic as the sweat poured down the sides of his face and back. His arms and legs were bound with more duck-tape to a heavy, old wooden chair that creaked as he struggled, but didn’t move. He bucked and kicked in the chair until the futility of his efforts overwhelmed him and drained him of his strength and determination, the desperation of his situation becoming increasingly undeniable.
The details of the room that was now his prison seeped into his consciousness. It was painted entirely white, with portable lamps providing too much light. Sheets of black plastic hung from the walls where he assumed there were windows, so no natural light penetrated the room. In front of him the man who’d abducted him from the London street in broad daylight stood straight and strong – confident and in control, his face concealed by his black ski-mask and wraparound sunglasses, his hands in black leather gloves, the rest of his clothes also all black. Only his mouth was partially visible, slightly obscured by a tiny microphone held in place by a head-strap and connected to two black boxes attached to his chest – one about the size of a hardback book, the other the size of a cigarette packet. The man didn’t speak. Behind him a foldable table stretched out – upon it a collection of laptops, cameras, phones and other equipment Elkins didn’t recognize, all of which were connected to a portable electricity generator.
Elkins stared at the man through his brown eyes for what seemed an eternity, waiting for him to speak and explain his motivation – to tell him why he’d been brought to this intimidating place. But the man said nothing. In all his fifty-one years Elkins had never been treated with anything other than respect and sometimes fear, but now that counted for nothing. Again his slim, fit body writhed in the chair before once more surrendering to futility. He forced some saliva into his dry mouth, moving it around with his tongue before speaking.
‘Do you know who I am?’ he demanded, but his voice trembled so much he hardly recognized it himself. The man said nothing. Did nothing. ‘I know a lot of powerful people. The people I work for will happily pay you whatever you want, if that’s what this is about.’ The man slowly turned his back on Elkins and began to switch on the various computers and cameras on the table, all of which Elkins noticed were pointing directly at him. ‘What are you doing? What’s this about? Are you sending a ransom demand?’
The man turned to him and finally spoke. ‘No,’ he answered, his voice warped by the voice distorter that hung around his neck, electronic and distant – un-human. ‘No ransom demand. I’m summoning your jury.’
‘What?’
‘Your jury, Mr Elkins.’
Elkins blinked in confusion. ‘You know who I am?’
‘Of course.’
‘Then what do you want?’
‘Justice, Mr Elkins. All I want is justice.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘You will,’ the man told him before turning his back to examine a computer screen, speaking without looking. ‘It appears we’re attracting some attention. Just a few hundred people, but this is only the beginning. You are the first, but you will not be the last. In the future thousands will log in as jurors. Thousands will see justice being done. Justice for the people, where money and power can’t corrupt the system. Where your influence means nothing. Are you ready to be judged, Mr Elkins?’
‘I haven’t committed any crime.’
‘Is that what you really believe? Why don’t we let the people decide?’
The man spun quickly on his heels and walked to Elkins’s side, filling his chest with air before beginning to speak in that unearthly voice. He addressed the hundreds who watched from their homes and offices, bus stops and trains – all of whom had stumbled across the live-stream of Elkins taped to the chair while searching the Internet for cheap holidays, news updates, amusing homemade videos and God knows what else. He spoke directly into the camera connected to the computer.
‘All of you should know this man you see here is a criminal,’ he accused. Elkins bucked in his chair, a look of disbelief spreading across his face.
‘I’m no criminal. I’ve never even been arrested.’
‘No. No you haven’t, because your type never do get arrested, do they, Mr Elkins? They never get brought to justice, are never punished for their crimes. They are above the law. Not any more. It’s time for the people of this country to judge you.’
‘I’ve never done anything to anyone,’ Elkins pleaded, his words stuttering and desperate. ‘Why are you recording this?’
‘I’m not just recording it,’ the man explained. ‘This is being transmitted live, so people like me can finally see justice being done.’
‘I haven’t done anything. You’re not the police. This isn’t a court.’
‘Haven’t done anything?’ the man asked, his electronic voice calm. ‘Then let me explain your crimes – your crimes against honest, hard-working people who lost their jobs, had their houses taken away from them, lost their wives, husbands and their families while you grew richer and fatter on their misery. You paid yourselves millions in bonuses despite your incompetence, leaving the people to pay for your mistakes and your greed.’
‘What?’
‘But as your banks came close to collapsing was it you who financed their survival? No. It was
us
.
The people
. And when the government was emptying our bank accounts and stealing our jobs, did you or any of the other pigs at the trough stop gorging yourselves? No. The feeding frenzy continued whilst we suffered. Some of us lost everything. Many others took their own lives to escape the pain and misery you caused. You continued to not only protect your wealth, but grow it, while we could barely feed our children.’
‘Christ. Is this what this is about – the banking crisis? For God’s sake, that was years ago.’
‘And still we suffer and still the bankers grow fat refusing even to loan us our own money – investing it in houses across London that most of us could only dream about, stealing our money just as surely as if they’d robbed us in the street – and you dare to ask what your crimes are, dare to say you’re no criminal.’
Elkins tried to defend himself, but the man talked over him, resting a gloved hand on his shoulder. ‘You are Paul Elkins, correct?’
‘Yes.’
‘You are the CEO of Fairfield’s Bank, correct?’
‘So?’
‘A bank that lost billions because of its failure to properly supervise its own staff – a staff who were knowingly selling mortgages to people who couldn’t afford them?’
‘We made mistakes, yes, but …’
‘Because they’d been promised bonuses of tens of thousands of pounds if they met their greed-driven targets?’
‘No one was forced to take out one of our mortgages.’
‘Weren’t they?’ Elkins didn’t answer. ‘Decent people sold into poverty, homelessness and bankruptcy by you.’
‘I didn’t sell anyone a mortgage.’
‘You were the CEO,’ the electronic voice snapped at him. ‘You were responsible. You were supposed to prevent it from happening, but you didn’t, because the money kept rolling in – right into your pockets. And when it went wrong, when the walls of your bank almost came tumbling down and you had to be saved by the government, by money that rightly belonged to
the people
, did you lose your job like we would have? No. You kept your two-million-pounds-a-year salary and even had so much contempt for the rest of us that you paid yourself a three-million-pound bonus. A three-million-pound bonus for failure.’