A staccato dong, dong, dong noise filled the air as the galvanised gardening tool made short work of putting all three men down. Basic, in many ways, is the exact opposite of me. His body is made of huge lumps of blocky muscle and his head looks like a piece of granite. In a magical world, he would be a troll and live under a bridge. I have no idea how strong he is but would not be shocked to find he could bench press more than me. The biggest difference being he could then eat the bench.
The wheelbarrow continued its swing to an accompanying ‘Hur, hur,’ from the man holding it by one handle. When the arc it prescribed carried him around in a circle, he launched it at another duo.
They got a nanosecond to accept they were about to be in pain before it bowled them over like twigs in a tsunami.
This was much more like it.
Basic cheered and laughed and shouted to me, ‘I got der number! Granny found it on the fridge.’
Armed with that fresh piece of information, I did what I knew I ought to do and chose to call it a draw. For now. They were still armed, there were still more of them, and Jane wasn’t getting saved while we were here fighting these idiots.
Gritting my teeth because I really wanted to hand out a beating now, I shouted, ‘Let’s go!’
Basic ran to my car, meeting me there as I yanked the driver’s door open and clambered in on top of the broken glass. The window could get fixed later, right now we needed to be elsewhere.
Shouts and threats followed us as we ran away, my wheels leaving a trail of burning rubber when I stamped hard on the accelerator. I swear I almost stopped the car so I could return to finish the fight, and it was only the greater demands of the team that stopped me from doing so.
Once clear of the carpark, I checked my rear-view to see if we were being pursued. It was a genuine disappointment that we were not.
‘Where do we go now?’ asked Basic, still fighting to get his seatbelt on.
‘Back to the office,’ I told him. ‘They will want that number. We just have to hope they can do something with it.’
I allowed myself a moment to get my breath back – the inevitable adrenalin caused by fighting still coursed through my body, making my pulse rate high and my breathing fast. In that quiet moment, I thought more about what Flat Top and Smiler said.
They not only made the chance encounter in the alleyway sound planned, but he also said we were all going to pay. What did he mean by that? Who were they?
Tempest. A Breakthrough, Finally. Friday, December 23rd 1746hrs
Having dismissed their colleagues within minutes of their arrival, Constables Wainwright and Biggs now wished they hadn’t. I was trying to leave, and they very much wanted me to come to the station with them. That just wasn’t going to happen.
‘Sir, you need to record an official statement and allow our detective branch to become involved. If, as you say, there are similar crimes going back years, and there is a serial killer in the area, they will need to know.’ Both officers were blocking Harry’s doorway to stop me leaving.
‘Gents, your own Chief Inspector Quinn knows what I believe. I already told you that. Now I am going to leave and the only way you are going to stop me is if you choose to arrest me. I have a friend in trouble, and I am going to do what I can to help her.’
‘I think you should let him go, chaps,’ said Harry helpfully. ‘It does sound like the police have been somewhat remiss in handling my neighbour’s reports. Besides, Mr Michaels has a tough night ahead of him tonight and no doubt about it.’
My phone rang just as I was about to test the Constables’ resolve and I paused to check it.
Seeing Amanda’s name on the screen, I stepped back a pace and answered it.
‘Amanda, have you news?’
‘Tempest where are you?’ Her voice came through loud and clear in the quiet hallway of Harry Hengist’s house.
‘I’m at Karen Gilbert’s neighbour’s house. I’m just about to leave,’ I flicked my eyes to the cops, daring them to challenge me.
‘Good. Big Ben and Basic just got back. They found all of Jane’s things in her car. It was parked in Aylesford right by her gran’s house, but it looks like that was where the Sandman grabbed her.’ The three men in the hallway with me were all silent, each straining their ears to be able to hear Amanda’s voice. ‘There was no sign of a struggle according to Ben and her car was left unlocked. There’s something weird though.’
I hitched an eyebrow – weird was where we started, so what did Amanda have to report that was weirder than normal?
‘Go on,’ I prompted.
‘They were attacked.’
I snorted a laugh, imagining the pile of bodies Basic and Big Ben might have left behind.
Hearing me Amanda added, ‘According to Ben they only just got away. There were a lot of them, and they were armed. He thinks it was planned.’
‘Planned?’ I repeated, failing to understand what she meant.
Big Ben’s voice suddenly filled my ear. ‘Tempest, I don’t know who they were, but I think they chose to pick a fight. One said something about making us all pay – I don’t think he meant just me and Basic. They also said they wanted to take me off the playing board. Any idea what that might mean?’
I was silent for a beat, my brain whirling with different ideas.
‘Any idea who they were?’ I wanted to know.
