***
“We’ve seen Smith entering the stables.” The officer brought up images from the covert CCTV cameras they had installed.
“Perfect…” Willoughby laughed. “We just need to see someone collecting the packages and we’ll have him nailed.”
***
And so, we were properly a couple. Initially, it was strange living in Edwin’s house, even though now that I was sharing his bed as well as his home. Coming downstairs each morning to find Maria having prepared a full breakfast before I left for work, leaving Edwin asleep was a pleasure and being driven to the stables was amazing. Edwin wanted to find me a better job, but, as I explained that the stable was more than just a job to me. He’d shrugged and told me I could do what I wanted.
There were some petty jealousies from the other girls, however, these were soon put aside with the delivery, at Edwin’s insistence of weekly deliveries of food and treats. I had even invited them all to dinner and we had enjoyed a raucous night of food and drinking, however, I felt somewhat sad when I had to say good night to them at the end of the evening. I was still part of the family, however, I felt now more like a distant relative.
***
Willoughby approached the door and knocked. “Come.”
“Sir.”
“I may have underestimated you, Peter.” The Chief Constable gestured to a chair and Willoughby sat down. “I have been reviewing your report and the observations. You have identified the persons who collected the drugs.”
“Yes, sir and we have identified them as being directly involved with Smith.” He paused.
“We have a tip-off that there will be another delivery tomorrow morning at about four am. I have a team ready to pounce. We’ll hit the stables and all of the other addresses at once.”
“Peter. I don’t usually have to apologise, but when I’m wrong I admit it, and I was wrong. You were on the right track.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“And Jackson, tell her she could be in line for a promotion. That was good policing.”
“I will, thank you, sir.”
***
Anne poured the last of the sedative into the pot on the hob, adding a large dose of chilli sauce to mask the taste. She hated doing this, but as she had been told, the risk of one of the girls waking and coming out to see what was happening. She had already had to sacrifice one of them and that hurt, but Liz had been asking too many questions. She just hoped that Amanda would keep her mouth shut for her own good.
She looked at her watch, she needed to be back at three-thirty. She would have a little drink to settle her nerves and then come back.
***
Edwin walked into the smell of cooking, he stepped into the kitchen and saw Maria sat at the breakfast bar and Amanda cooking. “What’s this?”
“Oh, I wanted to surprise you!” I smiled, hugging him. “Maria’s been teaching me. Sit down, it will be ready in a moment.”
“Oh, you will make a perfect wife…” He laughed, I loved his beautiful laugh.
My heart skipped a beat. It had only been a few months but we felt like soulmates. Could it be true, would my life be with him at my side? I turned to the stove, eager to hide my blushes.
***
“All quiet?”
“Nothing yet, but we aren’t expecting anything until later. Everyone’s in position.”
“So just a waiting game…” Willoughby smiled.
***
The crash at the door woke me with a start. Edwin sat up quickly, there was a thumping then men in the room. I screamed as I was grabbed and thrown to the floor face down, my hands roughly cuffed.
***
“Go, go, go…” The radio crackled to life and the officers raced onto the yard grabbing the truck driver and the two other men. They were cuffed and taken to Police vans before they could even speak. Willoughby looked down, there were hundreds of packages being dumped. This was the big one, if all went well they would have almost the whole network.
***
Anne woke with a start and looked at her watch. “Shit!” She stood up, staggering to her feet. Late, she would need to get a cab.
It was almost an hour later when she pulled up at the end of the street, there were police cars and vans everywhere and floodlights illuminating the stables. She paused for a moment, just as an officer turned and was about to ask her what she was doing she turned on her heel and walked rapidly away.
14
Questions And Answers
“So tell me again…”
I was scared, I’d been dragged from my bed and forced into a police car. The officers had warned me I was being arrested, I’d been flung in a cell, quite literally as I had fallen and hit my head on the edge of the bed. What seemed like many hours later I was taken to an interview room, I sat there, in my pyjamas facing a male and female officer. They had been questioning me for hours, but I couldn’t answer their questions and had spent most of the time crying. “I don’t know what to tell you. I’m a riding instructor, Edwin is my.” I paused, even now it seemed strange to say it. “He’s my boyfriend. I love him…”
“Oh for Christ’s sake. You’re the girlfriend of the most prolific drug dealer in the UK, are you telling me you knew nothing.”
My eyes widened in shock. “Drug dealer?” I gulped. “He owns restaurants?”
“Your boyfriend is single-handedly responsible for flooding the Capital with millions of pounds of Class A drugs from the Far-East, much of which we found at the stables you work at. Do you think that this is just a coincidence?”
“He’s just come back from Hong Kong?”
