“Look, you’re just going to have to trust me on that,” repliedKent.
“That’s what you said about that suspected burglar we pulledin last week who turned out to be a window cleaner,” retorted Hannah.
Kent could feel his blood pressure rising. He had forgottenabout the window cleaner – yet another embarrassing cock-up. It was obviousHannah thought he was hopeless. He was just going to have to try harder topersuade her.
“Look, Benson, I don’t like your tone. You’ve been at thisstation all of five minutes and already you’re questioning my authority. Thatbusiness with the window cleaner was a genuine mistake. I can’t help it if someshort-sighted old granny saw a man up a ladder and dialled 999, can I? We have tocheck these things out.”
“Yeah, he could have been armed and dangerous with a sponge!”joked Adrian.
“And you’re just as bad, Johnson. In fact you’ve got a lotworse since she arrived. You two need to remember who is in charge here andshow the appropriate respect. Perhaps I ought to think about splitting you twoup. Maybe one of you could do with an entire week out on traffic duty while theother stays here.”
“You make it sound like we’re at school,” commented Hannah.
“Well stop acting like it, then,” barked Kent.
God knows what he had done to deserve these two. Yes, theywere good at their jobs and he was grateful for that, but did they have to takethe piss out of him all the time?
He glanced at his watch. It was past 1pm. He needed to getthings moving quickly if they were going to have everything in place in time. Hewould have to win them round quickly. As long as he could reassure them that hehad all the bases covered, he could get them to fall into line.
“I never intended it to be just the three of us, but I don’twant the regional crime squad and every other Tom, Dick and Harry getting in onthe act and stealing our thunder. If I tell Oxford there are guns involved thenthat will be it. They will take over the whole operation and we’ll be left on thesidelines.”
“Might that not be for the best?” suggested Hannah. “This ispretty big stuff, after all.”
“No,” replied Kent, firmly. “Look, this is our town and thisshould be our moment of glory. Get this right and it’ll be major Brownie pointsfor all of us. You two are young; something like this on your CV won’t go unnoticedin the years ahead. I do understand your concerns, though, so this is what Isuggest we should do.”
He outlined a slightly amended version of his earlier plan,which they reluctantly agreed to. Then it was time for action. There wasn’tlong to wait.
At five to three, Kent, Hannah and Adrian were holed up inthe back room of the charity shop next door to the betting shop. He hadcommandeered the room from the shop’s manager who was under strict instructionsto keep it business as usual out the front and to say nothing to anyone. Toshow his gratitude, Kent had stuck ten quid in the charity box and promised tocome back later and buy some fair trade coffee. He didn’t bother asking for areceipt for the tenner so he could claim it back on expenses. He would have somuch money by the end of the day, he wouldn’t need it.
The charity shop was the ideal place for them to base themselves.It meant they were nearby but not anywhere to be seen in the vicinity of the bettingshop, front or back, before the robbery actually began. It was vital thatnothing put the robbers off. Kent had also arranged for a police van to be onhand, ready to stop directly out the back of the shop at exactly 3pm.
The van was parked just up the road in a pub car park, outof sight and manned by four officers. He had called for backup from Oxford andgiven details of the crime that was to take place. He had conveniently left outany mention of the guns, for the reasons he had already given to Hannah andAdrian.
The D.C.I. in charge at Oxford had wanted to come up himselfto oversee the operation. Kent had managed to persuade him that he could handleit, based on his local knowledge and the tight timescale involved. His superiorhadn’t sounded convinced, aware of Kent’s past record, but had reluctantly agreed.
A squad car was also on standby with another four officers on-board.It was all ready to stop outside the front of the shop seconds after 3pm, justto ensure the robbers couldn’t escape that way if they realised their initial escaperoute had been compromised.
Kent was pretty sure he’d covered all the bases but couldn’thelp feeling nervous. After his long history of career disappointments this wasthe one big chance to get it right.
He didn’t have to worry. This time, everything went like adream. At 2.57pm he radioed the van up the road to tell them to get into position.At the same time, he, Adrian and Hannah left the charity shop via the tradesmen’sentrance. They walked down a short tarmac path bordered by a six-foot-high red brickwall to the right. It was on the opposite side of this wall where all theaction was to take place.
The wall ended where the path reached the road that ran alongthe back of the shops. On the other side of the wall was a large loading areaabout the size of a tennis court where vans stopped to make deliveries to a numberof shops on the High Street.
The loading area was almost empty, with no deliveries currentlytaking place. The gang had prepared well. They knew that the stores didn’t takeany deliveries after midday on a Saturday. The last thing they wanted was toget blocked in by an Iceland lorry full of fish fingers.
There was just one vehicle in the car park, a silver BMW,which Kent was delighted to recognise as the getaway car. The driver sank backdown in his seat when he saw the three of them come round the corner, initiallymistaking them for ordinary civilians in their plain clothes.
