48 Hours - A City of London Thriller Read online

  Andrew Cuthbertson had asked for it. He was weak, and he would have exposed Arthur and sent him to jail. As for Richard – well, the man was a pervert.

  The odd thing was that the person he had expected most trouble from was the foul mouthed Don Fisher, and yet the singer had paid up quickly and just let it go. The Peer certainly hadn’t been expecting Josh Hammond to begin a witch hunt for his blackmailer. For heaven’s sake! He’d only lost a quarter of a million. He would probably make that back in bonuses within a couple of years.

  The more he thought about it, the more he realised that Andrew Cuthbertson had been right; Josh Hammond was the real danger in this scenario. None of the others had called in the police or threatened Andrew Cuthbertson. His alter ego, Bob, hadn’t been worried about police involvement because he had covered his tracks expertly. No, it was Hammond’s fault that his life had begun to fall apart.

  Lord Hickstead felt the anger rising inside him, but concluded that submitting to rage now would be counter productive. He walked over to the drinks cabinet and poured himself three fingers of single malt whisky.

  Catching sight of himself in the mirror, he saluted himself with the raised glass and swore an oath.

  “I will not follow Jeffrey Archer out of the House of Lords and into prison.”

  ***

  An hour later the Peer had formulated a plan that he couldn’t execute, and so he recovered the ‘pay as you go’ phone he had been using for the purpose and pressed the only number on speed dial. The phone rang out at the other end in long continuous tones, unlike UK phones. Eventually it was picked up, and Hickstead spoke urgently.

  “You know who this is. I need your help and I’m willing to pay for it.”

  Chapter 57

  Ashburnham Mews, Greenwich, London. Friday, 11:30pm.

  I lay in bed looking at Dee’s back; she was wearing a short strappy nightdress, similar in style to the dresses that many young girls would probably have worn going out to a nightclub. Her neck and shoulders looked so smooth and inviting that I wanted to kiss them, but she was asleep and I didn’t want to wake her after another long and busy day.

  Despite the hectic day, we had spent the night eating, drinking, and what passes for dancing. We had just one more night left together before she moved back into her flat. We were both due to be back at our desks on Monday, and Dee had lots to catch up on at home during Sunday.

  Tomorrow night I would buy some take-away, chill some beers and we would snuggle up on the sofa before going to bed, where I intended to make love to her until the early hours of the morning.

  After that, who could say? Tentatively we had arranged to stay over at each other’s flats every weekend, but I had a feeling that it would not be enough for either of us. Was it too early to ask her to move in? I had known her for just a week or so, but it seemed like so much longer. And what a week it had been.

  I wasn’t sure how easily sleep would come for me tonight, but I guessed that it would come a lot more easily for me than for Lord Hickstead.

 

  Chapter 58

  Commercial Road, Tottenham, North London. Friday, 11:30pm.

  “You know, this is insane, Dave. We never do a job with this amount of planning. The reason we aren’t inside is because we strategise. We’re better than those gangsters in East London, that’s why they keep doing time and we get to go on holiday with our families.”

  Dave merely grunted in reply. He seldom knew what to say in these circumstances. Johnny was the more articulate of the two, and he made some really good points. Dave didn’t really know how to respond to them. But Dave knew that he was Johnny’s equal in many ways. After all, Johnny didn’t know how to blow things up.

  The industrial unit seemed dark and forbidding at this time of night. Dave’s kids would have referred to it as spooky. The overhead lighting was adequate, but that was about all. Deep shadows fell across the floor. At one time this place had been a service centre for the electrical generators which ran the London Underground, but these days it was a printing press.

  Dave and Johnny didn’t work on the printing presses; they provided more specialist services. The industrial unit was far too big for the printing machinery. It looked rather lost on the floor of the building, which was about the size of a soccer pitch and rose a good thirty feet to the apex of the roof. The grey cladded walls and roof were supported by yellow painted steel portal frames, and in one corner stood a two storey block which housed an office, kitchen and toilets on the ground floor, with an open tread metal staircase leading to two big offices and a bathroom above.

  The sign above the doors read Tottenham Press (2005) Ltd, mainly because the owners had allowed the old Tottenham Press to go bust to screw their creditors, only to set up in business again the following week with new directors.

  During the working week the press turned out brochures, magazines, business cards and letterheads at almost cost price, but at the weekend it was a different story. On a Saturday and Sunday the special presses were running, the ones which produced forged tickets for pop concerts, sporting events and Premier League Football matches. It was no surprise that the forgeries looked just like the real thing; they were printed on the same type of press.

  Their most successful coup to date had been producing fifty thousand National Lottery tickets for Spain, all carrying the price of ten Euros. The Tottenham Press had done themselves proud. The serial numbers, the metal strips, the watermarks and the foil pictograms had all been masterfully reproduced. It was even rumoured that it had been one of the forgeries which had scooped the main prize, but that was probably just an anecdote.

  Johnny assembled the kit he had gathered from various lock ups in the area and placed them into the boot of the impressive car with cloned number plates.

  “Dave, are you done with the Jelly?”

  “Johnny, how many times have I told you we are in the twenty first century now? We use RDX high explosive. Gelignite probably hasn’t been used in London since the 1970s.”

  “All right, smart arse, when will the RDX be ready?” Johnny asked, placing undue emphasis on the initials.

  “Two minutes. I’ll put it in the car boot with the other gear. Anyway, why aren’t you going on this job, Johnny?”

  “Because they’re bringing their own team. We’re just providing logistics, see?”

  “Apparently I’m going.”

  “Dave, you’re the best man in London for a box job. And on this occasion I think you count as logistics.”

  Ten minutes later the two men were closing the shutter doors and taping the laminated printed notice on to the outside. It read: “Closed for Holidays – Reopens after the Bank Holiday.”

  Chapter 59

  Citysafe Depository, Cheval Place, London. Saturday, 3pm.

  The sleek silver Lexus moved slowly down Cheval Place, the driver clearly looking for an address. After a minute of uncertainty, the luxury car with darkened windows pulled up level with the uniformed policeman guarding the entrance of Citysafe Depository.

  The policeman watched as a man in a smart chauffeur uniform stepped out of the car, which was carrying diplomatic number plates and colourful sticker representing one of the new states which had sprung from the breakup of the Soviet Union. Constable Davenport was familiar with most of the diplomatic flags - you had to be if you were a policeman in London - but he couldn’t place this one. He scoured his memory banks for the country whose flag had a sky blue background and a bright yellow sun in the middle. He felt sure it would be one of the ‘stans’ but he wasn’t sure which one.

  “Excuse me, officer; we are looking for Citysafe Depository.” The chauffeur was now standing by his side waiting for directions. The young policeman smiled as he looked at his own reflection in the man’s large mirrored sunglasses.

  “You’re already here,” he answered politely.

  The chauffeur opened the car door and bowed slightly as a middle aged man stepped out of the car. He had one blue eye and
one brown eye, disfiguring scarring on both cheeks and very prominent Slavic cheekbones.

  “This is His Excellency Mr Muravi Dumatov, Ambassador to the United Kingdom representing Kazakhstan, and he would like to make a deposit.”

  “Good afternoon, your Excellency,” the constable said respectfully. “I’m afraid that, owing to some additional security measures this weekend, I will have to accompany you to the vault. You will of course enjoy the same privacy as usual, but I will be guarding a particular box.”

  “Thank you, officer. Does your presence suggest my valuables may be at risk?” His Excellency made a determined effort to speak perfect English, but there was still the trace of an accent lingering.

  “I can assure you that your assets are safer than ever,” the constable said in a voice that he felt offered reassurance.

  His Excellency Mr Muravi Dumatov reached into the car for his briefcase. It was an old battered leather case with two handles at the top which held it closed.

  “Alexander, pass the treaty papers, please. You may wait for me in the car; I will be perfectly safe with the police officer.” The man in the back of the car handed a banker’s box to the chauffeur.

  Constable Davenport, pleased with himself for recognising the flag and for reassuring the Ambassador, led the way up the steps to the Depository. At the top he pressed the buzzer and looked at the camera. The door clicked open. Weekends at the Depository were generally quiet, but security was paramount as usual, and so whilst one burly guard manned the desk, two more presented an intimidating presence in the lobby.

  The fourth man on duty was downstairs in front of the vault.

  The chauffeur placed the banker’s box on the desk beside the Ambassador’s battered briefcase.

  “This is His Excellency, the Ambassador for Kazakhstan,” the policeman announced, hoping that no-one would notice that he had forgotten the man’s name.

  “Welcome, Your Excellency,” said the guard, with little deference. “May I scan your Citysafe security card, please?”

  “Of course,” the Ambassador agreed, reaching into his briefcase. He did not extract a card, however, but rather he flourished a Czech Scorpion Machine Pistol. At the same time the chauffeur dipped his hand into the banker’s box and took out a matching model. The Ambassador covered the policeman and the guard behind the desk, whilst the chauffeur covered the remaining two.

  “Hands on your heads. No alarms, silent or otherwise, or we kill you all. No interference from any one of you or we kill you all. Are these rules simple enough for you?” They all nodded in shocked silence. No-one in that room was paid enough to willingly give up his life.

  “OK, now all of you kneel against the far wall, facing away from me.” The men did as they were told and the chauffeur set about hooding all four and then tying their hands with plastic cable ties. The hoods had drawstrings which were pulled tight so that the men could not remove them easily. Now that they were secured, the two men from the car joined the fray.

  The man posing as the Ambassador opened his mouth wide and removed two prosthetic fillers from his cheeks and his Slavic cheekbones disappeared as his face regained its natural gaunt look. Carefully he picked at his sideburns and peeled off a transparent sheet imprinted with pock marking and scarring. When he had removed both sides, his face was smooth and clear. Finally he popped out the brown contact lens, placing all elements of his disguise into the empty banker’s box.

  The three intruders in the lobby pulled on ski masks. By now the one dressed as a chauffeur was standing at the iron grillage that separated him from the last security guard and the vault. The man hadn’t noticed him approach, as he was busy listening to live commentary of West Ham versus Chelsea on the radio, which was strictly against company regulations.

  The intruder coughed, and the security guard looked up.

  “Sorry, sir,” he said, hurrying to the gate. “Can you scan your security card on the panel, please?”

  The intruder reached into his jacket and retrieved his weapon, which he pointed through the bars at the guard’s face. The guard seemed so terrified that the intruder thought he would faint.

  “If you don’t open the gate in five seconds, I shoot you and we blow it open anyway. You choose.”

  The gate was open almost before his last syllable had died away. He hooded and tied the guard, securing him to his chair. The radio was still on, and the crowd cheered as Chelsea scored.

  “I hope that you are not a West Ham supporter,” the chauffeur laughed grimly.

  ***

  Dave, the safecracker or box man, was inside the vault placing his prepared charges. Plastic explosives worked to a strict chemical formula which Dave only partially understood; nonetheless, he was brilliant at shaping charges to blow inward or outward for point detonations or flat detonations. Dave was, quite simply, a natural.

  Gregory had broken into the control room and found the server and the hard drive that stored the video from the CCTV cameras. He could have dismantled the hard drive and taken it, but this was a quick in and out job, so he placed one of Dave’s charges on the server and closed the door.

  Upstairs the fake Ambassador was talking to his captives whilst destroying the CCTV cameras. He lifted the ID card from the man who had been sitting at the desk; he would need it later. He placed it next to the phone.

  Downstairs, Dave and Gregor were pushing the giant safe door towards the closed position. Whilst it was heavy it was so beautifully counterbalanced that it moved easily. Leaving a small gap to allow positive air pressure to escape from the vault, Dave pressed the remote control.

  A series of detonations filled the area with dust and debris, but the overhead fans soon cleared the air.

  Gregor could see that the server was in ruins as the door was hanging open on one hinge. He, the chauffeur and James set about clearing the six largest boxes in the vault. As part of their haul they picked up a holdall and a large titanium case from one of the boxes.

  They had been in the vault for two minutes when the reception phone rang. The Ambassador blew a whistle before he picked up the phone. The guys downstairs knew that they now had two minutes to get out.

  ***

  The fake Ambassador picked up the phone.

  “Citysafe, how may I help you?”

  “Is that Chris?”

  “No. It’s Pete Maxwell. Chris is in the men’s room.” The intruder had assumed the identity of one of the lobby guards, Chris being the reception guard.

  “You need to get Chris out of the bog right now and get him to the phone.”

  “OK, I’ve sent someone to get him. What’s the panic?”

  “You’ve gone offline. All your security lines are down. You are unprotected.”

  “No we’re not. I’m looking at the screens now. The gate is locked, all personnel are on camera, and the vault cameras are showing green lights on all boxes.”

  “It must be the server, then. Is the server flashing red?”

  “Hold on, I’ll ask.” the Ambassador said, leaning back in his chair and looking at his watch. “Yes, it is flashing red. Does this mean it’s a false alarm?”

  “Not necessarily. I can reboot the security system from here, but security protocol means I need Chris to give his secret data and the eight figure password before I can do anything.”

  The three men from downstairs were each laden down with bags when they passed through the lobby, nodding at their colleague at the desk.

  “Hello, Chris here,” the Ambassador said, moderating his voice and pitching it slightly higher.

  “Chris, before I can reboot I need to ask the security questions,” the technician said, on the verge of panic.

  “Fire away,” the intruder said, as he laid the handset on the reception desk and walked out of the building.

  “Right, Chris. I have your details on the screen in front of me. The first question is, please provide the second and fourth characters of your mother’s maiden name.”

  The tec
hnician was still awaiting a reply as the Lexus drove away towards Brompton Road.

  “Hello? Chris, are you there? Hello?”

  Chapter 60

  Citysafe Depository, Cheval Place, London. Saturday 4:30pm.

  Inspector Boniface drew his family car up to the police tape and parked, showing his warrant card to a uniformed officer. He was dressed in chinos and a colourful golf shirt which carried the logo of the PGA on the left sleeve. The crime scene was bustling. There were four police cars, an ambulance and a police van inside the cordon.

  Boniface had been with his children in the park when the call came. The Superintendent told him he wasn’t needed at the crime scene and that he had been called merely as a courtesy. Nonetheless, he had wanted to see the scene for himself, and so he dropped his two kids off at home, with his long suffering wife, and drove into central London on one of his precious days off.

  He looked around to see whether DCI Coombes had made it to the crime scene and he spotted DS Scott, wearing denims, trainers and a brightly coloured Harlequins retro rugby shirt. In truth he was hard to miss, with the heady mix of blue, red and green adorning his torso.

  DS Scott spotted him and waved. The young sergeant finished instructing the uniformed officer he was talking to and turned to walk towards Inspector Boniface.

  “Inspector, I’m afraid we haven’t tracked down DCI Coombes yet.”

  “Sensible fellow probably has his phone off. Well, Sergeant, this is a bit of a mess.”

  “Yes, sir, it is. We didn’t see this coming, did we?”

  “I’m not sure that we saw any of it coming. It seems to be spiralling out of control. What have we got so far?”

  DS Scott flipped open his notebook and proceeded to explain that four or more armed men had gained entry by posing as Kazakh diplomats. They had blown open six boxes, removed the contents, and left the policeman and the guards tied up. The Citysafe central controller initiated the Metropolitan Police RVH Protocol, and the first squad car was on site four minutes later, with the first armed response vehicle arriving seven minutes later. The Robbery with Violence potential Hostage Protocol was initiated by a code word given to a police operator on a dedicated line, hence the quick response.