Bad Tidings

TEN

Even allowing for the time taken to swap the police van for his own Audi, Henry still managed to get to Blackpool within twenty-five minutes — some going, even on roads virtually devoid of traffic. He seemed to be making a habit of breaking all world land speed records across the county.

He exited the M55 at Marton Circle and headed into Blackpool along the A583. His house was on an estate over to his right; more importantly, the council estate that was his destination was on his left.

He turned, slowed right down, his heart still pounding at the memory of the 140 mph he had managed to coax out of his car. Both he and the Audi had loved it — until he lost his nerve and slowed to a more respectable ninety. He entered the estate and slowed to a crawl as a police patrol car came slowly towards him. He flashed it and the cars stopped alongside each other, the drivers opening their windows for a chat. Henry had already asked for an immediate high-visibility presence on the estate to discourage anything that might happen, but Blackpool section was as strapped for staff as everywhere else in the county, especially now — in the early hours of Boxing Day. One car was as much as could be mustered: one cop, one car, police sign illuminated. Still, better than nothing.

The PC driving the car knew Henry. ‘Boss.’

‘Pete — happy Christmas. . anything doing?’

‘You too, boss. . not so far, all quiet on the western front.’

‘Anything happening at the Costains’?’

‘Party time. Banging music. Youngsters hanging out the door and windows, flashing Vs at me, usual shite. But not the only party on the estate. Whole place is heaving.’

‘Let’s loop around and have a drive past.’

Shoreside: an estate Henry knew well. It had a terrible reputation for public disorder, criminality and unemployment. Some figures claimed that seventy-five per cent of adults on the estate were out of work and that a benefits culture was endemic. Despite many initiatives, most of which involved throwing truckloads of cash at the place, nothing seemed to change.

The only row of shops on the estate had been systematically destroyed and was now a memory. A community centre was first firebombed, then resurrected only to be completely flattened by kids using a stolen bulldozer, driven two miles onto the estate from a building site.

It was as if the estate was cursed by a death wish.

And lording over it all by means of terror and intimidation was the infamous Costain family. Claiming, spuriously, descent from Romany gypsies, they had landed in Blackpool almost fifty years earlier and settled into a life of crime which grew from almost honourable thieving and burglary through to drug dealing and armed robbery.

Henry had dealt with them for more years than he cared to remember. Perhaps his greatest victory over them was that one of their number — Troy, now sadly deceased — had been Henry’s informant for a good number of years prior to his demise. Henry had also dealt with the deaths of other members of the family, including old man Costain who had died in a drive-by shooting completely unconnected with his position as the family godfather. But they survived and prospered. To the best of Henry’s knowledge, old man Costain’s younger brother — Runcie Costain — had taken over at the helm and piloted them to new levels of criminality. This obviously included expanding their empire across the county.

Henry drove slowly past the Costain home, two semi-detached council houses knocked into a single huge one. It was alive with festive cheer. A group of alcohol-fuelled teenagers in the front garden jeered at Henry and the police car behind. One of them threw a bottle of WKD at them, which landed and shattered between the two cars with a pop. Henry dipped his accelerator automatically and the police car behind swerved to miss the broken glass.

They drove out of sight and pulled up for a chat, leaning against the police car.

‘Heard you’ve had a busy night, boss,’ the PC said.

‘Understatement,’ Henry said.

‘Reckon there could be repercussions over here?’

‘Every chance. But where, I’m not certain. . if there are a few higher level Costains here, this could be a target.’ He bit his bottom lip. ‘I think I need to go and knock on the front door.’

‘I’ll come with you.’

‘No, you just hang on here and watch the cars. I don’t want to wind them up unnecessarily. . but come like the wind if I yell, obviously.’

‘Obviously.’

He strolled around the corner, wondering if he should have kept his stab vest on. That would have been like a red rag to a bull and someone would have had to try it out.

He walked confidently to the house, passing the group of teens — or were they kidults these days? — who’d lobbed the bottle. They watched him with snake-suspicious eyes. Henry wished them the season’s greetings, and was told to fuck off in reply.

The front door was wide open, but Henry was canny enough to stay outside. He knocked. Youngsters pushed past him rudely in both directions.

A couple on the stairs in front of him were locked in an embrace. The lad’s hand was down the girl’s panties, hers down the front of his jeans. Some very frantic rubbing was going on, more likely to ignite a real flame than produce unforgettable orgasms.

Henry knocked again, the sound lost in the thump-thump of the music and sounds of revelry emanating from the house. The second time in only a few hours that he had turned up unannounced on the doorstep of a criminal family, both for good, honest reasons. Mostly.

First time because he suspected one of them might be a victim of a serial killer. This time to warn of the possibility of some very nasty reprisals. He then had a thought: the news that two of their family had been taken out in Blackburn might fire an uncontrollable reaction from the Costains, either against him as the messenger or in retaliation against the Cromers.

Suddenly his impulsiveness in knocking at the door sent a shimmer of uncertainty through him. This was not the time to be delivering such news to the family, even if they already knew that Stuart and Benji had gone out tooled up to cause mayhem thirty-odd miles to the east.

The thought that he might just be stepping into a cow-pat of conspiracy to murder now struck him.

It was highly likely that Runcie Costain had sent them on their task. They wouldn’t have done it off their own bat.

And — again, Henry thought — had Freddy been used as a lure to draw Terry Cromer out into the open and kill him? Had that been their strategy: kidnap and lure?

Too many questions, not enough answers.

Henry now wanted to reverse out of this situation and reappraise things. He had been acting on impulse, which was often his downfall.

But he also didn’t want anyone else to lose their lives.

The words ‘rock’ and ‘hard place’ sprang to mind.

The Costains needed to know about the deaths in the family (if they didn’t already know), and it was Henry’s responsibility to tell them. But at the same time, Runcie might well have been the person who effectively sent them on the mission that led to their deaths.

Question was — should he now execute a flawless, unobserved exit, or finish what he’d started?

In his mind he sifted through this dilemma in milliseconds, signals surging through the dendrites in his head like a mini electrical storm.

His decision was to get out, regroup, then return with backup so that he would be in control of the situation, not be one cop versus a bunch of drunks likely to kick off just for fun.

He needed to establish a very visible police presence on Shoreside to dissuade Terry Cromer from attempting anything. He also had to get a few detectives together and come up very quickly with a well-structured plan. And he needed resources. He needed a lot of things.

So he backed away, stepped over a drunken body that had slumped down behind him and retreated down the driveway.

As he guessed, no one moaned and begged him to stay. One kid told him to fuck off again. Another spat at him, though most of the spittle dribbled down the kid’s chin.

He started to walk back to his car, pulling out his PR and calling Blackpool comms.

‘Any uniformed officer on any non-urgent call needs to be immediately redeployed to Shoreside,’ he instructed. ‘Tell them to meet me where the shops used to be on Fairview Road for a quick briefing. I need a hi-viz presence here as of now, not just one lone patrol, everyone in yellow jackets, please.’ He waited for the patrol inspector to pipe up and whine, which he did. Henry listened to him, stopping in mid-stride as he explained firmly what he needed.

He stopped on the corner of the road close to where he’d left his car and the uniformed officer. He gave the PC a wave as he talked to the inspector, and as he turned, he looked back towards the Costain house.

‘I know it’s an imposition,’ Henry was saying, trying to schmooze the guy, who was rightfully miffed about someone else deciding how his officers should be deployed. ‘But one cop won’t be enough.’ As he said the last word, a feeling of dread coursed through him. In disbelief, he pulled the PR away from his mouth as he saw a car turn into the road about two hundred metres away, its headlights doused as it did so. ‘Shit,’ Henry said. He was unable to see the occupants clearly, though there were two of them; they were just black shapes.

The car stopped momentarily.

Transfixed and slack-jawed, Henry watched the car. It was nothing special. A normal, mid-range saloon. Henry thought it was probably Japanese.

Then he saw something poke out of the front passenger window.

Something like a pipe, or a broomstick handle.

Something like the barrel of a gun.

Henry started to move, a roar on his lips. Reprisal time’s here, he thought.

The car suddenly surged forward from a standstill.

Henry ran into the centre of the road, screaming at the people outside the house to get down, waving his arms desperately. No one took any notice of him.

The car’s speed increased.

The second salvo in a drugs war, the first one having been fired in Blackburn.

Henry was fifty metres short of the house when the car, hurtling in his direction, drew level with the house.

Over the scream of the engine, Henry heard gunfire. He counted. Six shots, quick succession, as the car shot past the house and then bore down on him.

Part of him was aware of the screams from the partygoers. The images of some of them simply watching the car drive by, mouths open, uncomprehending. Others throwing themselves to the ground, at least one person in his view catching a bullet and spinning backwards like a corkscrew.

And the car coming towards him.

Only metres away. Two seconds at most before impact.

He knew it would strike him about knee level. He half imagined the joints being snapped backwards and the rest of his body smashing onto and splaying across the bonnet, maybe his face hitting the windscreen and then the whole of his body being flipped up and cartwheeled over the car.

He was incredulous at himself for thinking he could have prevented a shooting with a combination of the sheer force of his personality and by waving his hands about. It was never going to work.

He moved — with incredible speed. He vaulted sideways out of the path of the car onto the grass verge, executing a graceless double roll and coming up onto his knees in the starting position. As the car shot past he whipped his head sideways, hoping to focus his eyes on the driver. Just give me that one second, he prayed, just imprint the profile of that man into my brain.

His eyes locked on. They were still good and sharp. But it didn’t matter, even though the driver turned and looked directly at him.

He was wearing a balaclava with eye holes. And he had the audacity to flip his middle finger at Henry.

Henry would be able to describe that to a T to a police artist.

He said ‘Shit’ again but then his eyes zoomed onto the rear number plate. He memorized the registration instantly, even though the car’s lights were out. He continued to watch the back of the car and also the PC, who had been waiting around the corner, drawn out by the sound of shooting and general mayhem. Henry hoped he wouldn’t be as foolhardy as Henry himself and jump in front of the car, but, wisely, the officer, in a sort of dynamic pose, watched the car flash by and disappear around the next corner.

Henry shouted into his PR, ‘Shots fired Fairview Road outside the Costains’. A drive-by shooting, one vehicle, two male occupants, a Nissan saloon, registered number PK05. .’ He reeled the number off and gave the direction of travel the car had taken. ‘Possible gunshot injuries at the house,’ he went on, ‘just going to check.’

Henry’s hunting instinct was to run back to his car and give chase, but that would only enrage the comms room operators and probably end up being classified as a non-authorized pursuit. It might all go wrong, and if it did, he wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. All vehicle pursuits were carefully controlled and monitored by the radio operators, and the FIM and vehicles involved were supposed to be liveried and driven by trained pursuit drivers — and despite his driving qualifications, Henry wasn’t one. Such regulations hadn’t stopped him in the past. . but with age came a bit of discretion.

Based on the fact it was now the early hours of Boxing Day and there were almost no cops on duty on the ground, he kissed bye-bye to the Nissan — literally puckering his lips as he ran across the road to the house, telling comms he wanted an ambulance turned out and insisting they rouse the police helicopter.

Next thing on his mind was the possibility of this getting out of hand as a public order incident. A matter like this could easily escalate into a riot and with no cops to quell it, that was not a happy prospect.

A group of drunks gathered around the writhing body on the front lawn. Henry shouldered his way through them, smelling alcohol and weed. He knelt down next to a youth of about nineteen he didn’t recognize. The lad was wearing what had been a white T-shirt and had clearly taken a bullet in the right shoulder, his top now soaked red. He writhed and moaned, unable to comprehend what had just happened to him. The people surrounding him were doing nothing to help. They were all drunk or drugged, some of the girls becoming hysterical, and it must have been very weird for them, some sort of psychedelic nightmare.

Henry glanced briefly at their faces.

A girl burst through the circle, the one Henry had seen on the stairs a few moments earlier with a lad’s hand down her knickers. Her hands flew to her face and she screamed, ‘Donny, Donny, oh my God!’ Then she fell backwards in a faint and hit the back of her head on the front doorstep.

‘Hey — what the fuck did you do that for?’ a young lad demanded of Henry.

‘Do what?’

‘Push her over, you pig-twat.’

‘Fuck off,’ Henry said and turned his attention to the wounded boy, who was shaking uncontrollably.

‘Fuck you too,’ the lad shouted. He kicked out at Henry, who saw the foot coming. Though he was squatting he managed to catch it at the heel and twist, flipping the drunk off balance. He gave a push, let go, and the lad staggered backwards. The can of beer he was holding flew away and he landed diagonally across the girl who’d fainted.

Henry felt a shimmer of apprehension.

The mood he’d picked up a few seconds before had suddenly gone a few shades darker, was now almost black. Confusion, alcohol, a cop, a crowd, a violent incident. Not a good combination.

Once, many years ago, when he’d been a young PC on mobile patrol, he’d been surrounded by a gang outside a chip shop and they had refused to let him drive away. Two lads were at the front of the car, two at the back, and with about ten others they had started to rock the car, building up enough momentum to roll it over — with him inside. That had been pretty scary; he’d been in lots of similar situations since and had learned that in such cases cops should be in and out as quickly as possible, unless they outnumbered the crowd. Situations were easily inflamed.

He stood up, knowing he wouldn’t be allowed to help the injured lad. A can of beer was thrown at him, glancing off his arm. Then about ten people circled him, venom in their eyes.

‘You stand back,’ he said evenly, firmly, without any fear in his voice. ‘This lad needs treatment — and so does she.’

The girl who’d toppled over was sitting up, staring in puzzlement at the palm of her hand, which was covered in blood from the ugly gash at the back of her skull.

Another can hit him, thrown from behind the people around him. Hyenas on a wildebeest.

Out of the corner of his eye, Henry saw the police car that had been parked near his Audi emerging with blue lights flashing. It screamed up and stopped outside, the PC getting out, his extendable baton drawn.

A hail of beer bottles and cans, like weapons from a medieval battle scene, arced at him. Using his baton like a baseball bat, he smashed a couple away with amazing accuracy.

Somewhere in the distance there was the wail of a siren.

Still Henry was surrounded.

‘You shot him,’ one shouted. ‘The cop shot him.’

If he’d had the time, Henry would have exhaled a pissed-off sigh and answered back.

‘Yeah, you must’ve,’ another one chorused.

The constable shouldered his way roughly through and stood his ground next to Henry. His face showed fear, but he wasn’t going to back down. He held the baton across his chest, ready for use.

‘We’re here to help,’ Henry said forcefully. ‘This lad needs sorting, so you guys back off and let me look at his wound.’

‘You heard — get back,’ the PC echoed.

Two cops had a slightly sobering effect. Overwhelming one was easy. Two made it harder, though not impossible.

The sirens grew louder. Two types — ambulance and police — like a mismatched stereo.

Henry glanced at the boy. He was still now — not dead, but probably going into shock. There was a lot of blood from the wound.

Henry said, ‘Is Runcie here?’ It was a question thrown to everyone. No one replied. ‘I said, is Runcie here?’ he demanded again. ‘Runcie Costain?’

Suddenly the music from inside, the boom-boom, was turned off. ‘I’m here,’ a voice bellowed from the door.

As one, the kids turned, and there he was at the threshold of the front door — all five two of him, but built like a pillbox, with eyes to match, oblong slits, and a flat head of closely cropped hair.

Henry had crossed his path only a few times. He was a much more cautious operator than the previous heads of the family and had streamlined the business with layers that made him almost untouchable. Until now.

Henry shouted, ‘You know me, Runcie — so get this lot to back off. This lad needs attention and I can’t help him if they’re in the way.’

‘You heard, get back you lot,’ Runcie ordered them.

‘He fuckin’ did it,’ one of them growled, just loud enough.

Another beer can was tossed half-heartedly at Henry.

‘He’s a cop, dick-brain,’ Runcie said to whoever. ‘Back off.’

Muttering angrily, the little crowd slowly stepped back a few paces, but not with any enthusiasm, staying within striking distance.

‘Oh God,’ the prostrate youth moaned.

‘My head, my friggin’ head,’ the fainting girl said, now with both hands covered in blood. She swooned again and dropped back, hitting the step with her head in exactly the same place, deepening the wound.

‘See to her,’ Henry told the PC. ‘Towels,’ he said to Runcie, who nodded and disappeared into the house.

He did not re-emerge, nor did any towels.

A very long minute later an ambulance and a police van arrived at the scene. Police numbers increased by one. And the music from inside the house went up to full volume.

The plug dangled in Henry’s hand. Silence resonated around the living room. Henry’s ears rang, there was still a drum beat in his head.

‘I said, where’s Runcie?’

The four teenagers sprawled on the settee sneered at him, hate in their eyes. The ones standing around with glasses or smokes in their hands did the same.

Runcie had done a runner, that much was obvious. Henry assumed he’d done the sums, realized that the visit by his boys into Cromer territory hadn’t gone well, hence the drive-by, and had either gone ‘to the blankets’, to coin an old Mafia saying — gone into hiding — or had gone to tool up for more retaliation. Although Runcie hadn’t been officially informed that two of his relatives had ended up on mortuary slabs, Henry was under no illusions that he probably now knew that the worst had happened in Blackburn.

Henry had scoured the downstairs of the house, now he was going to have a look upstairs.

Having ripped the plug for the music system out of the wall, he took the lead in his left hand, the plug in his right and tore the wire out of the plug so there was no chance of the noise restarting.

‘Party’s over,’ he announced, trying to hide his glee. It was one of the best feelings a cop could have. This was something he’d done a time or two in his long career and it always gave satisfaction: spoil a good party.

‘What! You can’t do that.’ This was from the lad who had kicked out at him and whom Henry had upended.

He glared at the young man. ‘Just watch me.’

He dropped plug and wire onto the floor. ‘Where’s Runcie?’ It was the third time of asking.

‘Don’t know no Runcie.’

‘All right — time to clear out,’ he announced.

A few more cops had appeared on the scene and the partygoers were more subdued and compliant now, but still vociferous.

Both the boy who’d been winged and the girl who’d cracked her head open had been taken to hospital, and now Henry was pretty much in control.

The force helicopter was up, the registered number of the Nissan had been circulated and a few road checkpoints established, and he had informed everyone necessary.

He was hoping to have a little quality time to take stock of things, get a proper plan put together. . but he didn’t want to miss the chance of grabbing Runcie, hopefully before both factions met up and more blood was spilled.

Runcie had gone, probably straight out of the back door.

Henry went upstairs.

He found a couple of naked teenagers in a back bedroom, busy with each other underneath a duvet, oblivious to what was going on. They stopped in mid-thrust.

‘Out!’ Henry said, jerking his thumb. ‘Now!’

The small box room was empty and there was a main bedroom at the front, the door closed. For politeness’ sake, he knocked and entered a nicely furnished room with a king-size bed and subdued lighting.

Henry turned the light switch and brought proper illumination to the proceedings.

Unless Runcie was hidden underneath the bed, he wasn’t there.

But there was a woman in the bed, on the floor around which were several empty bottles of champagne, paper plates with scraps of half-eaten food and overflowing ashtrays. And not only cigarette stubs.

The woman’s long black hair was dishevelled, make-up skewiff. She propped herself up and blinked at Henry, unperturbed.

Cherry was Runcie’s long-time lady friend and she was a stunner. Henry had met her a few times in passing. Because he made it his business to know about the Costains, he knew she had been a stripper, lap dancer and hooker, not necessarily in that order, and sometimes a combination of all three. She had only recently retired from these ‘games’ to become a lady of leisure at Runcie’s side after having spent a couple of years on his payroll. She’d been promoted to his bed, official eye candy.

She rubbed her panda eyes. ‘Ungh — you,’ she said. The duvet slid down and Henry averted his eyes like a gent. ‘Whazzappenin’?’ she mumbled thickly. She scratched her left breast, which was completely exposed.

‘Where’s Runcie?’

‘Fuck shoulda know? He were here.’ She exhaled like a horse and reached for a packet of cigarettes on the bedside. ‘D’ya wan’ ’im for?’

‘He’s done a runner. I need to speak to him urgently.’

Henry watched her pick up the cigarette packet next to an ashtray overflowing with ciggie ends, spliffs and two used condoms.

‘Where is he?’

She placed a cigarette between her lipstick-smeared lips, her eyes bleary. ‘No idea.’

‘Tell me your best guess, Cherry, or I’ll bust you.’

She screwed up her nose and hoisted the duvet back over her boob. ‘F’ what?’

Henry pointed at the ashtray. ‘Mary Jane’s still illegal, I believe. And are those traces of coke I see on the dressing table top?’

‘You wouldn’t.’

‘Would.’

‘Bastard.’

‘Just tell me.’

‘Uh. . prob’ly gone to that club on Withnell Street, I dunno.’

Henry only knew of one club on that road in South Shore. ‘John Rider’s old place?’

‘Yuh, that’s the one. . he’s just bought it.’

‘Right.’ Henry turned to leave.

‘Hey!’ Cherry called.

He turned back. ‘What?’

She flung back the duvet, revealing her completely naked and completely hairless body, which to Henry looked very fine indeed. She rotated and opened her legs wide, allowing Henry to see her very finely shaved pubic area. ‘Jig-a-jig? You — me? I’ll fuck your brains out for Christmas for free.’

‘I’ll pass.’ Henry raised a hand. Just at the moment Henry’s brain was screwed up enough.