“Is that the five ten? Only I’m getting that as well.”
“It is,” Ian confirmed. “Haywards Heath is the second stop. Perhaps you’d like to come back to our place for a drink?”
Connor couldn’t believe his luck. He had accepted the offer of a drink because he remembered the cops would be looking for a man on his own. He needed some company and it looked like he’d just found it. He would change his mind about going for the drink when they arrived at Haywards Heath station. He would feign tiredness or some other excuse. Connor lifted his whisky to his mouth and downed it in one.
“I’d love to come for a drink. I’ll just visit the bog and then I’ll be with you,” Connor said. Then he added with a grin, “We can have a bit of a party.”
Ian and Simon both smiled at Connor’s last remark. Connor smiled too at the thought of how disappointed they would be when they didn’t get their threesome.
Jones was shocked to hear about the shootings at Ashdown’s home. He didn’t like being kept in the dark. He should have been told. He had no moral problem with trying to kill Ashdown. Any sense of morality he might have once possessed, had long since been replaced by the overriding need for self-survival. He was pretty certain Connor was responsible and decidedly angry his own plans had been put in jeopardy. Connor was a necessary evil but also a liability the longer he was roaming the streets. Unfortunately, this morning’s early raid on the hotel where he’d been staying, had revealed the bird had flown the nest. That was not part of the plan. He was supposed to stay holed up in the hotel waiting to hear from Jones. In an ideal world he would then have been shot resisting arrest but in any event there was a trail that clearly laid the blame for Bancroft’s death at Connor’s feet.
It had been an uncomfortable couple of hours at the office wondering what the hell had happened to Connor, before the news came through that an anonymous tip off was naming Connor responsible for the events in Brighton. Although unplanned, this would seal Connor’s fate. Every police force in the country would shortly be looking for him and there would be no hiding place. Fortunately the timing of Bancroft’s demise was such that it appeared Connor had murdered him and then after gone directly to Brighton intent on also killing Ashdown.
Jones did wonder who was responsible for the phone call. He assumed it was the woman that the hotel had reported was staying in the room, where they were supposed to find Connor. Perhaps they had had some falling out. Anyway, he wasn’t concerned with solving unnecessary puzzles. He was just grateful how things had turned out well in the end. The arrival of Connor had handed him the perfect way to solve the problem of Bancroft. Jones had removed Bancroft and planned Connor should take the blame. Now Connor was branded guilty of two murders, it could hardly have worked out any better.
Jones had not wanted to hand Connor details of the route by which they would be taking Murphy to Court but he had had little choice. It had been that way for a long time. He despised himself almost as much as the likes of Connor and his Chief, for passing across secrets but he had a family and couldn’t bear the shame of the truth coming out. He was enduring a life sentence and he could see no way of getting remission on his sentence. He knew he would end his own life though before ending up in a real prison.
He had grown to hate Ireland and especially Belfast. It was a city torn in two and madmen roamed the streets carrying out terrible atrocities in the name of religion. He had been caught up in the worst of it many years earlier, when he was much younger and had allowed his desires to get the better of him. The Irish were to blame for all his troubles then and still today.
He thought of himself as a fundamentally decent man but he knew, if judged by his peers, his actions sometimes said something different. He hoped that by removing Connor he would avoid the information he had passed ever being used. He did have some misgivings that with Connor not yet apprehended he might still make an attempt on Murphy but it seemed unlikely. Connor’s face had been released to the press and was already appearing on every television news broadcast. If he hadn’t previously known he was being hunted, he did now, and undoubtedly the rat would be buried in some sewer planning the fastest way out of the country.
Jones felt able to relax a little. If they could find Connor quickly that would be an end to it. Connor must be the Chief’s best man. There wouldn’t be time to send someone else. Fortunately Jones also believed Connor was unlikely to ever be taken alive. If he had read him correctly, he would rather die in a shootout than surrender. At least Jones was hoping that was the case. And if he was wrong and Connor was taken, he was confident he would never disclose Jones existence. On the one hand he was old school who wouldn’t dream of being disloyal to the Chief but more importantly, he would keep quiet and hope Jones could use his position of influence to help him escape. That would prove to be a false hope.
For once Jones had done as he was instructed and been well paid for it but his conscience may not have to suffer the burden of being at least indirectly responsible for further terrible deeds. In fact, he could be instrumental in removing a nasty piece of work in Connor from the streets. With a bit of
