Action, Reaction and Consequences Ch. 08

'I know you don't feel it yet but, we can fix it between us., We did before and we will again. I'm nearly finished and we can have our family, put this behind us, love Tan.'

Matt stared at the note in disbelief. As much as he hated her, he now knew, without a shadow of a doubt, she was in desperate need of medical help. He called Graham and told him what had happened and that he could see she was starting to fall apart. Other than agreeing with him throughout, Graham didn't say a great deal.

Matt cooked himself a light meal and realised it was eleven am on Sunday. He wasn't sure how long since Tanya had departed but, he had snapshots of small pieces. He could picture Mr. Jones injecting him and telling Tanya it was the last time, as it could do permanent damage if they continued so, he figured they must have left late Saturday or early Sunday. He had hazy visons of fucking the woman in a variety of positions and explained why his cock was red and sore.

As his mind came back to some form of normality over the day, he formed a plan to get back at them. He remembered the conversation years back with Wendy, Ann's friend, when she handed him the letter that Ann had written, telling him that she was gone forever.

Wendy told him that every action you take will cause a reaction and there will be consequences. When Tanya disappeared out of his life, his reaction was to start again. The consequence was, his relationship was done and dusted with Tanya and he had moved on. But it seemed that Tanya had other ideas. The last few weeks had tipped him over the edge. He wanted revenge and they were all going to pay. It was just a question of finding suitable consequences to reflect their actions.

Mickey was happy to see Tammi and Lucas Sunday evening in Dubai. He noticed that Tammi was in a far more upbeat mood than he expected. In fact, she was sizzling hot and was like a lioness in the bedroom for the remainder of the time they were there. She'd fucked him before he left for Dubai but it felt off. It had felt off since the incident in the club the week before. Despite the incident with Matt, her punishment and death of her mother, she seemed now happy with life. He spoke to Lucas who said he thought it was likely the relief of her mother passing. It likely released the burden of her worrying about her mother's suffering. Seemed odd but, women were strange creatures he thought. They were only here for a couple more days as Mickey had already concluded the business part of the trip.

Whilst Matt was off, between his shift patterns, he started to plan. Riding his KTM, he explored the roads around Mickey's club. The car park he had been dumped in was shared between the club and the back of several takeaway outlets. There was always a trickle of takeaway delivery scooters going back and forth, occasionally parked up outside during the quieter periods.

He brought two vehicles for cash. A ratty delivery scooter, complete with the big box and a Bulgarian plated Volkswagen Passat that had developed a knocking noise. It was near the end of it's working life. He gave a fictitious address for the scooter but, all he received was a Bulgarian registration document for the car. Even better, the windows on the VW were blacked out. He found a business estate near Southend and took the vehicles there, parking them where they would go unnoticed for a few days.

He used the scooter to hang around out the back of the club a few nights but never had sighting of Mickey and co. so, he decided to wait until the weekend. He was back on his twelve-hour day shift so made his way to the club on Friday night at 03.00 am. Parking up outside the back of the takeaway premises behind Mickey's club he saw a Range Rover plus an Audi R8 on private plates. He guessed they were likely Mickey's and Mr. Jones' vehicles. With a couple of empty pizza boxes in his hand, he watched as staff left via the back access until he saw Mr. Jones, who got into the Audi. He looked across at Matt as he loaded the pizza boxes onto the scooter then, quickly pulled out onto the road. Matt jumped on the scooter to follow and kept a reasonable distance behind the Audi.

The Audi worked its way out of Southend heading towards the A127 arterial road to London but, that didn't matter. Matt found a suitable road junction for the next part of his plan. After finishing work, later that day, Matt went straight to bed and set his alarm for midnight. Using a number plate, he'd managed to take from a bike parked in Southend the night before, he affixed it over the top of his KTM number plate in a layby, just outside of Southend.

He parked the KTM, hidden discreetly at the edge of an industrial park, making sure there were no visible security cameras. He took off his brightly coloured one-piece nylon over suit and crash helmet and hid them in a scrap skip close to his bike. Underneath, he had plain black clothing and he put on a baseball cap to hide his face as he went to retrieve the Bulgarian plated VW which was parked up further into the industrial estate and he drove it down to the club. He parked up tightly in the entrance road. He figured he needed at least a thirty second head start on Mr. Jones for his plan to work.

At just gone three am Jones came out. Matt quickly set off in advance, taking the route that Jones had taken the night before. When he came up a hundred metres from a T- Junction, he pulled up alongside the curb and turned the hazard lights on. As he waited, He removed the top and tipped up a petrol can, letting it flood the floor of the car and then indicated to pull out, just as the Audi pulled past him. As the Audi stopped at the junction, Matt opened the door of the VW a couple of seconds before it ran at low speed into the back of the Audi. He rolled out of the car, quickly shutting the door but, making sure the driver's door window was open and crouched down beside the side of the car and lit a small flare.

"You mother fucking whore! I'm gonna break your neck asshole!!"

Matt heard the Audi door open and Mr. Jones walk quickly towards, what he thought was, the driver's door of the VW but, being left hand-drive, was actually the passenger door. At the point he heard him wrench the door open he lobbed the flare he had lit through the open window. The petrol fumes had filled the car and flames spat out quickly through the open window and the open passenger door. He heard Jones scream so he hurriedly ran around the VW and struck him behind the back of the knees sending him tumbling to the ground. His hair was alight and he was trying to use his hands to put the flames out.

Matt swung the short bat he had with him to crack both his hands before striking across his ribs. He struck his body a few more times and was about to make the killer blow to his head before he noticed that someone had come from a nearby house and was shouting at him. Calmly he walked a few yards back into a cul-de-sac, where he'd stashed his scooter, hidden in some bushes of an empty property with a for sale sign up. He pulled his helmet from the scooter's box, put the bat inside it then, drove off back onto the road and away. As he left, he could see people attending to Jones, who had been dragged away as the two cars burned.

He took the scooter back to where the VW had been and used petrol stored in the box to torch it along with his crash helmet and the bat. He walked back to find his KTM, picking out his normal riding gear with a plain black, thin, waterproof one-piece over the top and headed back towards London. Rather than use the A127, he used some minor roads and pulled up down a country lane with a bridge over a waterway to remove the number plate and over suit before throwing the plate into the water and stuffing the suit into a waste bin. He then rode back to pick up the A127 at the next junction down, rode back into London and straight to work. He hoped it was going to be an easy shift to work through.

He had taken the following two weeks as annual leave and booked a last-minute holiday to Ibiza where he had a great time. When he arrived back in the UK he wondered if they would pull him up at passport control but, they didn't. He went to his apartment, somewhat warily but, nothing was out of the ordinary. The next day he was back at work and he just kept a mindful eye for any recrimination.

Lucas Jones had superficial burns to his face and scalp, lost a third of his hair, had three broken fingers on one hand, cracked ribs and a broken wrist. As they waited for the ambulance, he asked if someone had the registration of the VW that had hit him but, all someone had seen was that it was a Bulgarian registered car. He'd had run-ins with them before but, nothing of late? Had Mickey pissed them off and they'd gone for him as a message for Mickey? It could wait, he needed to get fixed up first.

The next morning, Mickey and Tammi came to see him in the hospital. Mickey claimed to have no issues with the local Bulgarians who were small fry. He felt it was simply someone from his past catching up with him. Nobody mentioned or suspected Matt of the attack.

The Police investigated it but, knew of Lucas Jones connection to Mickey and like him, they put it down to a gang-based attack. Whilst they looked at the case, they didn't exactly flood it with resources, beyond some rudimentary checks.

The following day he was released from hospital and Mickey drove Lucas home with him. With his damaged hands, he needed some support for a week or two plus, he had no car of his own.

After Mr. Smith had his conversation with Tammi & Mr. Jones, revealing that there was an alternative operation to the one they were undertaking, he knew it came with severe risk. From that meeting on the Monday, his thoughts of betrayal took another step into the darkness when he received a call on Thursday from the care home to tell him Tammi's mum, his fake patient, had died unexpectedly. He made arrangements for her body to be collected for an autopsy. What the care home didn't realise, it would be undertaken at a specialist government facility that was attached to certain Government functions. The following week it was confirmed, she had a toxin in her bloodstream that was hard to detect and favoured by the Russian SVR - the equivalent to the UK's MI6. Reviewing security footage obtained from the care home, the figure, at pains to not make their face visible, was clearly known to Mr. Smith. Lines had now been crossed.

A few days after coming out of hospital, Mr. Jones gained access to the Essex Police report regarding his attack. He noted the chassis number from the VW car and went, via Interpol, to gain further details as to its last known owner. Once he had that, he would have a good place to start. He had a few hospital appointments and was looking at some skin graft operations, due to the burns, so Mickey had Tammi act as his chauffeur, whilst Mickey looked after the business. They had some discussions as to who had done this but, they were on the wrong track, at least for now.

When it was just Lucas and Tammi, they discussed the SD card and where it could be but, discounted safes, etc, as they weren't, in reality, safe from the Government, should they get a warrant to search Mickey's properties. They also tried to fathom what the SD card held and felt it was likely some serious Government transgression they were looking for.

The following weekend, Mickey and Tammi went to his sister's for Sunday lunch. As Lucas was still staying with them, he was invited along. When Tammi awoke that morning she felt sick and nauseous. She thought it was a little odd, she hadn't overdone the drinking the night before. Maybe it was something she'd eaten. During the lunch, she could smell the roast parsnips and they made her nauseous. She'd never had an issue before. Her colour paled and she excused herself and went to the bathroom where she started to retch into the toilet bowl.

Mickey told his family she hadn't been well in the morning. Mickey's sister excused herself, went and took a pregnancy test kit from her bedside cabinet, then knocked on the door of the bathroom. When Tammi answered she handed her the test kit.

"I'm not pregnant, I think it's something I've eaten. I have an implant fitted."

"When was your last period, Tammi?"

She looked at Mickey's sister, her face grimaced.

I'm a week overdue, I put it down to the stress of that night at th..."

"Tammi, do it. At the very least, it'll put your mind at rest, if you have an implant."

Tammi took it and closed the door. Following the instructions, she used the test kit. With her hands shaking she looked at the result - she was pregnant. She dropped the test and looked at herself in the mirror. She could almost hear the other part of her personality screaming at her for being such as stupid bitch. In shock, she put the toilet seat down and sat on it then burst into tears, as she looked at the discarded test kit on the floor.

Five minutes later there was a gentle knock on the door. It was Mickey's sister.

"Tammi? Are you ok? Can I come in? Tammi walked to the door and opened it. She stood there, looking utterly dejected with red eyes from crying. She reached forward and clung onto Mickey's sister as she started sobbing. Mickey's sister looked at the floor, she could see the discarded test kit was positive. She scooped down to pick it up and pulled Tammi back into the dining room.

"Can I have everyone's attention please, I think Tammi has something she wants to say."

Everyone looked at her and could see she'd been crying which caused a few concerned faces. All Tammi could do was stare, with a blank face and look at Mickey. After a few seconds Mickey's sister put it down to shock and held up the test kit for them all to see.

It was Mickey's mum that started shrieking within seconds.

"Oh my God Mickey, you're gonna be a dad!!"

Dinner was suddenly forgotten as the room erupted in whooping, hugs, congratulations and kisses. Only Tammi stood motionless with a shell-shocked look. Mickey put his hands on her waist and beamed at her as he kissed her but, her reaction was listless. He pulled back with a scowl. As he did, his sister tugged him and pulled him into the kitchen.

"What the fuck's going on with her! "He spat at his sister.

"Mickey, calm down. It's shock. She's overwhelmed, that's all. When we've spoken in the past, she said she wasn't ready for kids yet, she wanted to wait another year or so. That means this is unplanned so, just give her some space to get her head around it. Trust me, it may take a couple of days so, don't be an arsehole to her!"

Mickey half laughed. "Fucking women, can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Are you sure that's all it is?"

She nodded and hugged him. "Mickey, you're gonna be a dad at long last!"

In the dining room, Tammi looked at Lucas who had just sat there. He had a smirk on his face that told her he most definitely had a hand in this happening and she figured it must have happened at the doctor's appointment. Whilst Mickey was out of the room, he came and hugged Tammi and whispered in her ear.

"Now fucking use this to find what we need so we can get out of here."

When he stood back, she stared at him venomously. He had done this just to try and get to the end goal. But she also had another thought. The baby could be Matt's as easily as it was Mickey's. She felt sick and excused herself to go and lay down in a bedroom.

As Lukas sat back down, he thought the situation was hilarious. He had worked out how Tammi's menstrual cycle aligned to dates and he had known she would likely be fertile when he had brought her and Matt together, followed by a few days with Mickey out in Dubai. That fake implant had certainly worked effectively. This may get Mickey to spill the beans to her and then get Lucas on his way out of here.

Over the next few weeks, the initial shock faded and Tammi knew she was now stuck. She was also acutely aware that Matt and Mickey were so dissimilar, it would be obvious who was the father when the baby was born. With no direct way of contacting Mr. Smith, she was reliant on Lucas organising a line of communication. She had tried to use the back path via the coded messages in the online and printed catalogues but, she wasn't seeing anything come back to her. Now, she felt trapped.

She managed to put on enough of an act to keep Mickey happy but, her recent escapade with Matt brought it home to her, she didn't belong with Mickey. She started to consider if she could find a way out on her own.

Shortly after Mr. Jones's encounter with Matt, Mr. Smith had a telephone conversation with Mr. Jones. Jones promised Smith he would visit him as soon as possible. Smith mentioned the surprising passing of Tammi's fake mum. Jones brushed it off as one of those things. Smith impressed on Jones that he must work hard to keep the lines of communication open but, he already knew that Jones was doing the opposite. That was proven, a couple of weeks later, when Mickey's sister posted on Facebook, announcing Tammi's pregnancy. He had known, from a conversation with Tammi, that she had her new contraceptive implant a few months back. Once again, his gut feeling was, Jones had a hand in this. But, what would he attain from a pregnant Tammi?

Lucas received some information he had been eagerly awaiting. Six weeks had passed since he was attacked and Interpol finally came up with an address of the Bulgarian car owner. The owner had no links to known criminal enterprises and was a married plumber by trade. He had gone to the UK for a couple months to work before he had gone home - his passport showed days before the attack. Lucas flew out to Bulgaria to gain more information in person.

Lucas walked from the modest property in the outskirts of Veliko Tarnovo. He had real buzz going on. After they let him in, the guy told him he'd sold the car to raise funds to come home, as the car was on its last legs. He had advertised it on Facebook and a young Englishman had brought it. With that he pretty much had an idea so he showed a photo of Matt to the guy. He was confident it was the man who'd brought his VW.

He thanked him for the information but, told him there was a price to pay, having made Lucas come all the way out to Bulgaria. Within minutes, he was tied to a dining room chair and had been stabbed. As his life ebbed away, his last horrific minutes were used up, forced to watch this madman do unspeakable things to his wife. At the point he began to close his eyes to die, Lucas shouted at him and he weakly opened his eyes to watch Lucas dispatch the wife to the same place as the he was heading. It had been a fair while since Lucas had this much fun.

He was soon on his way out of the country, making plans to make Matt suffer. He was considering every avenue open to him and how he could maximise any potential profit from killing Matt. By chance, some other information was waiting for him, back in England, that would string it all together nicely.

Mr Smith had been digging, within certain Government departments, as to where the discrete inquiries were coming from regarding Matt and Tanya. He read back through the dossier on the couple and remembered the disastrous relationship, semi-documented in Matt's file. The estranged husband was SAS at the time. The question now, was this just coincidental? His question became even more intriguing when he found that Jones had been doing his own digging, using his Government status and keeping it to himself.

One of Matt's colleagues was also once SAS, although the records for the two men, Lance and Mark, do not show they worked together. Had Matt spilled his guts and enlisted help, he wondered? He was working on a plan to take Mr. Jones out of play. He just kept hoping that Tammi could find that SD card before he was left with no other option, regarding his once best aide. If he took Jones, it would mean that Tammi would be collateral damage.