Spinneyhead

Jed answered his mobile phone. “Hello there hero.”

“All cleared up at your end then?” Irwin asked.

“Two kidnappers cable tied and sedated and ready for a discreet journey back to Blighty.”

“And all with an hour and a half to spare.”

“Is that all? You’re getting slow. Retirement’s making you rusty.”

“Your Jedi mind tricks don’t work on me.”

“I’m sure they don’t. Next time I need some help in your neck of the woods…”

“You’ll call someone else.”

“Stay safe old boy.”

“You too.”

Irwin put the work phone away. Police vans had arrived to take away the kidnappers, and a car was waiting to whisk Karen and Simon Edwards home. Kay had worked her way out of the crowd and walked over. “Are we going to get a visit from secret intelligence thugs to magic those guys away?”

“Probably. They could be a mine of intel.”

“We could do with something to show for all of this.”

“You have a car thief. They’ll probably let you keep him.” Kay made a dismissive noise. “And the people smugglers you found.”

“Crumbs. But I guess they’ll look good on someone’s spreadsheet.”

Irwin was studying the moped. He realised he still had the helmet on. “I don’t seem to have damaged this. Let’s get it back to Bootle Street and give it back to Gloria.”

“You do it.” Kay handed him her helmet. “You’re far too dangerous. I think I’d rather walk.”

Irwin was conscious of a man with a gun standing beside him, aiming at the man in the back of the van. “You’d best be allowed that toy,” the black clad Police officer hissed, “or there’ll be a shit storm.”

There was a clatter of something being dropped inside the van. Then the side door was pulled open. The gunman in the doorway looked around. The woman took the chance to pull loose from his grip and dive out of the van.

Kay was standing by the front passenger door when the side door opened. A small, struggling body was tossed out to land and roll on the grass. The man who had thrown the boy out found his exit was less graceful than he’d expected, as Kay grabbed him and pulled him off balance to land face first on the ground.

“Put the gun down and get your hands above your head!” the armed officer shouted.

The gunman in the back of the van looked, very briefly, like he wouldn’t comply. The slightest move from the armed officer made him flinch and then he was slowly putting the gun down and getting out of the van.

Armed officers swarmed around the three kidnappers. Karen Edwards sat up slowly. “Where’s Simon? Where’s my son?”

“He’s here.” Kay was carrying the boy as best she could, but it was the clumsy, over careful hold of someone who doesn’t spend much time around children. “He was very brave. He didn’t cry at all.” She handed the confused little boy over to his mother then held up a mobile phone. “Would you like to speak with your husband?”

Vanessa waved to Jed then pointed at the wall. The message was obvious, they were getting another phone call next door. It wasn’t on schedule. Jed headed for the door. Terence and William followed.

The Jedi fished a card key from his pocket. When he reached the door to the adjoining room he slid the card into the slot but didn’t pull it out again. He knocked on the door then stepped aside. William took his place.

Jed could hear snatches of conversation from inside the room. “What do you….. Get the fucking door will you….. If this is them, they’re early.” Jed nodded to William, who pulled out the card key and swung the door open. He didn’t quite catch the man who had been coming to answer the knock, but he did surprise him and put him off balance. William grabbed the shocked kidnapper in a bear hug, lifted him off the floor and let himself tumble and take him to the ground. William’s full mass landed hard on the man, who couldn’t even summon up enough breath to shout out.

At the end of the room’s double bed a second man had a phone in one hand and pistol in the other. Terence stepped over William and his victim and raised and fired his taser in one easy move. Jed had hardly had the time to count to three and the threats were neutralised. He walked over to the man convulsing at the foot of the bed and pried the phone from his hand. “Are you still there?” he asked.

“Who are you?”

“I’m with MI6. Give up now and you’ll live.”

Other fiction by Ian Pattinson

Ruby Red- available as an ebook through Lulu.com or for the Kindle.

So Much to Answer For- available as print on demand or ebook from Lulu.com or for the Kindle as part of the Post and Publish collection.

Global Weirding- available as print on demand or ebook from Lulu.com or for the Kindle as part of the Post and Publish collection.

Sounds of Soldiers- available as print on demand or ebook from Lulu.com or for the Kindle as part of the Post and Publish collection.

The van’s front right wheel, the rim damaged when it hit the kerb, was flat by the time it reached the top of the hill. Still with a lead on the moped, it turned left down a side road. Which turned out to be a dead end. They faced an open space that a fully inflated car could have crossed, but the van crunched to a halt.

Back down the road Irwin pulled the moped to a halt. He even took the time to deploy the kickstand before dismounting. He and Kay drew their guns, but then they hesitated. “I’ll go first,” Kay volunteered, “I’ve got a vest on.”

“I’m not arguing with that.” Irwin looked around. They were drawing a crowd. “Armed Police! Please go indoors!” Some of the crowd even did as he said.

“I’m supposed to say that.” Kay raised her gun and aimed in the general direction of the van. “What are we supposed to do? They’ll just use the hostages.”

“Let’s keep them occupied until Armed Response get their act together.” He raised his gun, but kept his finger outside the trigger guard.

Irwin headed to the left and Kay to the right then they moved in as a pincer toward the van. Down the hill the Armed Response Range Rover’s siren stopped blaring.

The van’s driver’s door opened. Kay’s pistol twitched around until it was aimed at the figure that was revealed. The teenager already had his hands above his head. “Come out slowly.” Kay commanded. He slid from the seat, almost tumbling when he didn’t reach out for any hand holds. “Face down on the ground, hands behind your head.”

Whilst Kay dealt with the driver the rear doors opened. Half standing in the opening was a woman being held in place by a man with a very big handgun. Behind them Irwin could see another figure in the farthest corner of the load area. He was holding tight to a child. Irwin’s finger slid inside the trigger guard.

“You just killed her husband.” the man in the door announced.

“Right. How do you think we got on to you?”

Kay had moved closer to the driver, so she could stare into the van. The front seats were empty, and a partition separated them from the cargo area. The Armed Response Range Rover finally pulled into the road with dramatic tyre squealing. “Behave,” Kay told the driver, “they’re armed too.” the driver nodded and she carried on round the front of the van.

“Have you made the call?” the man with the big gun asked.

“I’m making it. I’m making it.” his companion replied. “They’re not picking up.”

“They’re coming to us!” Kay shouted into Irwin’s helmet.

“On this road?”

“Yeah.”

“Any backup on its way?”

“Somewhere. I’m getting nothing on how far away they are, though.”

Irwin had slowed the moped to a sedate pace. Relatively new housing hemmed them in as they headed downhill. Ahead they could see the road flatten then rise again up to the stadium at the top of the hill. In the line of traffic heading toward them there was one white van. “I’ll pass them and swing round behind them.” Irwin announced.

“Then what?”

“We’ll think of something.”

They passed a K-junction just before the bottom of the hill, with two roads heading off to their left. Heading up the hill they passed the van coming the other way. “That’s the reg.” Kay said.
Irwin nodded. He carried on a little further then stopped, ready to swing across the road and change lanes. Two cars passed them, then there was a gap. However, before Irwin started turning, they both turned to look in the direction of sirens sounding back up the road.

“Oh shit. This is going to give us away.” Kay pulled the microphone on her helmet close to her mouth and shouted, “Armed Response are going to screw this up! Get them to turn off, make it look like they’re going somewhere else!”

Too late. The van wiggled across the road, then abruptly stopped. Kay reached for her gun, but before she reached it the van was accelerating again. It swung into the oncoming traffic, clipping the rear corner of a Mini, which skidded, over compensated and ended up driving off the road just behind Kay and Irwin. “Bollocks!” Irwin opened the throttle and hauled the moped around as sharply as he could manage then raced along the centre line after the van.

With a crunch the van mounted the kerb as it aimed for the first street off the junction. An oncoming car braked hard, then jumped forward as it was hit by the lorry which had been following too close behind. Irwin swerved around the front of the car and squeezed past it to the junction. Behind the lorry the Armed Response Range Rover was trapped, trying to find a gap large enough for it.

The van and the moped which followed it- neither of them the greatest of accelerators- started a slow drag race up the hill.

The helicopter flew beyond the City of Manchester stadium and turned to survey the surrounding area. It went as far east as the grand, run down Philips Park cemetery then came back to study the traffic on the wide Hulme Hall Lane and Alan Turing Way. With no clues from the ground it was going to be a hard time finding the white van they sought. There were several, heading in multiple directions, any of which could be the one they should be following. They called in vans as they spotted them and waited for some plod on the pavement to spot the target.

The call came from an officer on a bicycle, who had just popped up from patrolling nearby canal towpaths to have a look around. The van was heading southeast, toward the junction by the City ground. The eye in the sky acknowledged the call and took up a viewing position.

The van turned right, heading down another side of the football stadium and toward the city centre again. The helicopter dipped its nose and headed in roughly the same direction.

Other fiction by Ian Pattinson

Ruby Red- available as an ebook through Lulu.com or for the Kindle.

So Much to Answer For- available as print on demand or ebook from Lulu.com or for the Kindle as part of the Post and Publish collection.

Global Weirding- available as print on demand or ebook from Lulu.com or for the Kindle as part of the Post and Publish collection.

Sounds of Soldiers- available as print on demand or ebook from Lulu.com or for the Kindle as part of the Post and Publish collection.

The Mancunian Way is a stretch of raised motorway arcing around the south of Manchester city centre. Irwin was pushing the scooter along it as fast as it would go. Far faster than some of the cars they passed would have expected. With such small wheels the bike was going to be thrown by the slightest bump or pothole, so he tried to ignore everything else but navigating safely. The work phone buzzing against his chest was one distraction in particular that he had to ignore. The Jedi would have to wait.

The road angled down, and the terrain rose to meet it, and they were no longer on the section classed as motorway. Irwin slowed as the surface became less even and they swept through a long left hander to a long arch under the railway. He slowed more as he spotted red lights at the junction ahead. When they came to a halt he turned on the saddle, “Where to next?”

“The Manchester City ground. That’s where they were last seen.” They both looked up as they heard the helicopter pass overhead. “That should make things easier. Green light, go.”

It was coming up to the next deadline for a call in. Jed checked his gun for the tenth time in as many minutes. He wasn’t about to use it unless absolutely necessary. Bloodshed would be so hard to explain, and as he didn’t have a suppressor, so much harder to keep quiet. At the table by the window Terence checked a far more useful weapon. He popped a battery pack from the charger and swapped out the perfectly good one which had been in the taser he’d been issued. Across from Terence, William was doing stretches, limbering up the large frame which had been born for rugger but had adapted surprisingly well to a mix of martial arts. When it came time to enter the room these two would do the violent work. The fourth member of the team was Vanessa, lounging in front of the receiver on the dressing table, garish Skullcandy hi-fi quality headphones blocking out any external noise and indifference shielding her from the smell of three tense men in a warm closed room.

Jed took his phone into the bathroom. With no adjoining wall to the room they were watching there was less chance of being heard by the subjects. He speed dialled Irwin’s number, and listened to it ring and ring. Was this a good sign? Was Irwin too busy saving hostages to pick up his phone? Or had something gone wrong?

Vanessa clicked her fingers to get Jed’s attention. When he walked over she held out the plain, and far less comfortable, standard issue headphones which had come with the listening equipment.

Notes Well, the first draft of Tiger is finished and I have sent it to a couple of people who foolishly agreed to proofread and continuity check for me. I’ve decided that the published version will have bonus features, much like a DVD. Exactly what these are I haven’t yet decided, but there will probably be two versions of the tale in the ebook file. One will just be the prose, the other will have links to authorial comments, maps, photos and maybe web pages with further information. The Kindle can browse, but it won’t be so good for photographic content because the screen is greyscale. However, other readers shouldn’t have this problem.

Skullcandy headphones are wonderful, garish things. My employers sell them, but I haven’t yet been able to do a test of a pair to see how good they are. I gave Vanessa a pair as much because they do an Agent range as anything else.