Taking the negative and turning it into a positive the way he’d read to do in a management book on being successful, he started texting a reply.
‘Yeah, sure. I’m sure that’s a good idea. I’m in an industrial unit at the north end of the town. If you exit the café and turn left, you just need to keep going on the same road until you start to run out of houses. It’s about half a mile. When you reach a big MOT place on your left-hand side, you need to turn left …’
The instructions went on for a bit and were very precise. The message ended with advice that there was a lot of broken glass in the area and he should probably tie Rex up to the railing when he came into the yard. Albert felt sure it was a trap, but he was going anyway.
Meredith came over to collect his empty plate and teapot. ‘Would you like another cup, love?’ she asked.
Staying where he was to spend the day drinking tea sounded like a far better plan than willingly walking into an ambush, but if he was right, then Victor Harris needed to be rescued, and the man who had him was Albert’s best chance to exonerate Kate. A bright spark of an idea ignited in his head.
Giving Meredith a guileless face, he asked, ‘Do you have any teenagers in today?’
Ambush
Francis had a poor line of vision from inside the lockup. At best, he could peek through a crack in the door which was no good for luring the old man inside. His carefully crafted message to Albert laid the bait that Victor had remembered something he’d heard his attackers say the previous night and had followed it up to find the lockup. There Victor thought he might have found where his attackers had been hiding out; there were clothes and such, but he wanted Albert’s opinion before he called the police. He told Albert in the message that he spoke to DS Craig about Albert’s thoughts on the case and his sister’s likely innocence, but the detective had been unwilling to listen. Victor wanted to be sure the evidence was solid before presenting it. Francis knew all about Albert, Victor’s sister, and about DS Craig from the man cable-tied and duct-taped up in the boot of the stolen taxi now hidden from sight inside the lockup. It hadn’t even taken that much persuading to make Victor talk, just a few punches and the threat of a soldering iron – another fun little toy from the hardware store.
Francis needed to be able to see the old man coming, that was what drove him from the lockup. Victor got another check and another threat. He was well secured; both immobilised with the cable ties and duct tape and also cable tied to a loading ring in the boot of the car. However, Francis felt it couldn’t hurt to reinforce the concept of diabolical pain should he try to escape.
Thinking the old man must be on his way, Francis slipped out and closed the door, then stole across the yard to the main road where he could see anyone coming along the path toward him. Cars were going back and forth, and in the auto-shop place a hundred yards away, regular traffic came in and out. He had one moment of heart-stopping fear when a cop car drove past, but he managed to stop himself from looking at it and they just kept on going.
Two minutes passed, and in the distance, Francis could see a figure walking a large dog. It was the dog that stood out at first, but as they drew closer, the gait of an elderly gentleman became discernible and then his shiny bald head.
Francis pulled back, unwilling to let the man see him in case he got a good enough glimpse last night to identify him now. The next part was going to be tricky and required a little luck. There was no guarantee the old man would even step into the lockup so Francis needed him to get close enough that he could grab him. He also wanted the old man to tie the dog up and had gone to the trouble of taking out one of the overhead fluorescent light tubes in the lockup, smashing it on the courtyard outside to back up the claim that there was glass on the ground.
If Albert didn’t secure the dog, it might be a problem. It certainly was a big beast and scared the bejezzus out of him last night, but Francis had a plan for that too. It is a little-known fact, so far as Francis knew, that while carrying a knife is illegal, a machete bought from a hardware store is another thing entirely. Considered a garden tool, the one he bought this morning wasn’t the first in his life and being brand new, it was sharper than a politician’s suit. It fit into a canvas sheath which was strapped to his right leg with the handle at just the right height for grabbing if the need arose.
Ducking into an alcove opposite the entrance to his lockup, Francis could just about see the street where the old man would appear. His heart was beating faster than he expected, given how simple this ought to be, and he put it down to excitement over how close he was to taking the earl’s money.
Steadying his breathing, he settled in to wait the final minute or so.
In the street, Albert was feeling equally nervous. Wondering if he’d ever done something this rash before, he dismissed the notion of letting one of his children
