The Fall Guy Ch. 03

"Are they sure he didn't spot them?" I asked her.

"Yeah, from what Frank told Bert, they just got hung up in the traffic. Richmond can be a real pain in the backside sometimes."

"Well, in that case, Curtis might have just been going on a job."

"No, he has nothing in his diary for today and no one called him this morning," Jenny replied.

"How the hell would they know that?" I asked.

"Gary and Frank have been flying pretty close to the wind on this one, John." Helen said "They've bent the rules a bit, so please don't ask how they come by the information they have. They could both be for the high jump if they get caught."

"Wow, the oh-so-correct Inspector Harris bending the rules." I commented

"Don't sound so sarcastic, John. I told you Gary and Frank really want to get Simmons!" Helen scolded me.

"No, they want to be sure they put the right man away the first time. They might be bleeding pissed off, that they could have been hoodwinked. But I'm damned sure they would both prefer it if it turned out that they were right when they put me away. Damned shame they are going to be disappointed."

"You know you're a cynic, John. Has anyone ever told you that?" Helen said sounded slightly annoyed.

"What do you expect? I've just spent seven years cooling my heels in prison because those buggers didn't do their bleeding job properly."

"Well, believe it or not they are sticking their necks out for you now. So please try to be a little appreciative," Helen said and then we both dropped into silence.

I'm pretty sure Helen was angry with me over how I felt about Gary and Frank. But for seven years I had thought they railroaded me into prison. You don't lose that kind of hate in a hurry.

I must admit it was a boring afternoon, ever if I was sitting in my bedroom with - in my opinion - a beautiful woman. Pity we weren't in bed, but I thought Helen's affections were directed elsewhere. We watched the TV and drank endless cups of coffee, until about seven o'clock when we started talking about going down for dinner.

Helen had just gone into Jenny's room so that I could have a shower and change when she came back with Jenny and Bert, my so-called bodyguard. It appeared to me that he was Jenny's bodyguard. Actually that was unfair of me, since the plan was for me to look like I was alone except when Helen was around. Jenny was good cover for Bert! Probably I was getting jealous.

"The boss thinks something is going on," Bert said as he entered the room. "They found Curtis's Mercedes parked in a side street near Twickenham Station. But there's no sign of him there."

"So what does that prove?" I asked.

"Well, someone stole a Mondeo Gia from a car park in Richmond two hours ago. That's two stops on the train from Twickenham. And guess what? That Mondeo is parked in the station car park just down the road at this minute. One of the local guys just spotted it."

"So what happens now?"

"There's no one in the car so Inspector Harris thinks that the driver is watching the hotel waiting until you go out somewhere on foot. Then he thinks the driver will retrieve the car and try to knock you down. Both the other hit and runs were pretty late in the evening, so our man's quite patient. But there's nothing to worry about; we've got men watching the car. When the driver turns up we nick him!"

"I can't see what good that's going to do. If it's Curtis and he was intending to run me down, you can't prove he was intending to kill me. You'd better tell Harris to let him have a go at me..."

"Are you mad, John? He could kill you!" Jenny shouted.

"Jenny's right, John, it's too dangerous," Helen joined in.

"I don't think the boss would go for it anyway, John," Bert added.

"Then I can't see the point in this whole charade! Ring Harris and tell him I said he's to get his boys to stay back until the attempt is made; it's not like I don't know what's coming. Harris can call me on my mobile and tell me when the car moves. I'll be waiting for the little bugger."

Bert called Harris and at first he wouldn't go for it. But then I took the phone off Bert and, after a lot of argument, he agreed that my idea was the best but extremely dangerous. After I made a dig about spending the last seven years with a load of psychopaths Harris relented. But he said if I got injured it would be down to me.

I didn't eat dinner with Helen at the hotel. Instead I walked to The White Heart, a public house about a quarter of a mile away and had a meal there alone. There was no sense in putting anyone else in danger. The plan was for Bert and his oppo to drive to the pub so that they could watch what was going on. But when they arrived, they had Jenny with them.

We didn't acknowledge each other and sat on opposite sides of the bar. The place was pretty crowded, and a couple of times during the evening people had to share my table. One guy actually struck up a conversation with me. But nothing out of the ordinary happened.

By eleven o'clock they wanted to close up the pub, but Harris hadn't rung to say the car had been moved. So I went into the gents and called him."

"It looks like a no show, John. You might as well give up and go back to the hotel," Gary suggested.

As I came out of the gents I could see Bert talking on his mobile, so I guessed he was talking to Gary or Frank. Bert and my eyes met for just a second and that told me he knew I was about to walk home. We couldn't communicate just in case someone was watching me.

They actually finished their drinks and left the bar before I did. When I got outside I could see the three of them standing by the car talking. To my mind no one watching would have suspected they were police.

I began the walk home along the deserted pavement (sidewalk). I suppose I'd gone about fifty yards when I heard what I assumed was Bert's car start-up. But I don't know why I knew that something wasn't quite right. Then it struck me that the vehicle - which I was only hearing, remember, as it was behind me - began to move but it didn't reverse. Bert would have had to reverse his car to get it out of the car park.

By now the sound of the car was getting louder, too loud. "That thing's moving," I thought to myself. Then a car horn sounded in the distance and I realised that Bert had seen the car that I could hear. I turned on my heel just in time to see the car that had no lights on, mount the kerb. It was maybe fifteen or twenty yards away and coming straight at me. As I turned, I realised there was nowhere for me to go, a blank wall beside me with no doorways or anything to dive into. Any second now that car was going to hit me and there was nothing I could do about it.

End of part three.