The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike) Part 1850 by Angharad Copyright © 2012 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

It was as I expected, a long night. Simon, Jacqui, Julie, Stella and I shared a watch of ninety minutes each. Nothing happened except it chucked it down all night, which might have dampened the enthusiasm of any would be attackers.

The next morning, I left early for the school run and went in a route that I don’t normally use. I wasn’t aware of being followed and nothing untoward happened. Mind you, I was so tired I might not have noticed if World War three had broken out.

I got home and my spirits lifted when I saw a Porsche Boxter parked in the drive and James was taking coffee with Stella. He gave me a hug and I yawned which set Stella off, even though she’d had the first watch while mine had been the third one and ensured I didn’t go back to sleep afterwards.

Sammi had continued to monitor emails between Marple and Cortez and so far nothing much had happened. She was still poking about in his computer when she found an area she couldn’t get into. She gave up at one in the morning and went to bed. Perhaps she’d found his encrypted section or possibly the link to his other computer? I awaited her further efforts tonight. Simon had said she could have the day off if she wanted to try and crack it, but she said she had stuff to do for the bank and went to work with him. In some ways I was glad they were travelling together if only to keep a watch for trouble.

Daddy took Phoebe to college and Danny to school, not necessarily in that order and I as stated previously, took the girls.

After a cuppa to perk me up, James and I had a counsel of war. “So what d’you want to do?” he asked after I shown him the emails.

“Take him out,” I said.

“What permanently?” he asked his voice rising.

“Not yet, unless he does hurt someone else–in which case kill him.”

“Um–I hate to say it, Cathy, but I’m not an executioner.”

“Okay, find me someone who is.”

“It isn’t that easy.”

“Well other people seem to be able to hire them.”

“Yeah and how many of them get arrested?”

“Not many as far as I know, not the true professionals.”

“But they work for governments or organised crime.”

“I don’t care, if he harms me or one of my kids, I want him stopped–permanently.”

“That could prove expensive.”

“That’s fine, Simon would fund it if I’m dead, if I’m only part dead, then I’ll pay for it.”

“I thought dead was an all or nothing state?” argued Jim.

“No, it’s a question of degree.”

“Well being an academic you know more about degrees than I do.”

David produced some delicious fairy cakes–I don’t think it was a pointed statement given Jim’s status–and we ate them with coffee. I had a plan and I discussed it with Jim.

“You can’t do that?” was his response.

“Why not?”

“It’s too dangerous.”

“I don’t think so,” and as I was paying him, I got my way so an hour later I was knocking on the door of Cortez’s rather nice house in one of the better parts of Portsmouth.

I was shown in after I said I wanted to speak to Cortez urgently.

“Who are you?” asked Cortez when he entered the room in waistcoat and shirt and tie. His ethics might be bad but his dress sense was very good.

“Catherine Cameron.”

He stopped for a moment searching through his mind why my name should be familiar.

“I helped Edith Howse escape your thugs, remember me now?”

“What thugs are these you speak of?”

“Mr Cortez, the same ones you sent to burn her house down while she was in it.”

“Bah, pure speculation.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“What if I said I had proof you were involved, in fact you commissioned the attack, just as you did on that young woman a few years back.”

“What are you talking about, I’m a business man–I pay taxes and all that.”

“I’m talking about the way you had her killed then tried to implicate me.”

“I had nothing to do with it.”

“My evidence says otherwise.”

“You ain’t got no evidence–there ain’t none.”

“Because your boys destroyed it along with the old lady.”

“Yeah–no, what’re you tryin’ t’ do trick me into confessing.”

“No, I don’t need to do that, like I said I have evidence which should get you a life sentence.”

“You’re bluffin’, if you had evidence you wouldn’t be here talkin’ to me now, you’d have gone to the cops.”

“Perhaps I wanted to see you in person so I could advise you to keep away from my family and friends.”

“Why, watcha gonna do?”

“Give all the evidence to the police.”

“So why haven’t you already?”

“Because I want you to tear up all the loan agreements you have with people in Portsmouth and tell them they don’t have to pay you back.”

“Oh sure–you dozy bitch, I ain’t givin’ up my money to no one.”

“Oh well, perhaps I will have to give it to the police then. It certainly puts your two boys at Mrs Howse’s place moments before the fire. I also have evidence of your conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and interfere with police investigations.”

“Are you crazy? I’m a law abiding citizen.”

“I have evidence which suggests you only declare a small fraction of what you earn which I would send on to HM Revenue and Customs and I know for a fact that you don’t declare an interest in the various properties you have in and around Portsmouth and Southampton.”

I could see the anger building, my intention was to provoke him into saying something stupid which James would record and send off to a safe place. His temper snapped. “You think you’re so bloody clever, don’t you? You and your university education–well, bitch, it won’t do you no good.”

“Mrs Howse didn’t have a university education, so that wasn’t why you killed her was it?”

“No, it was because she refused to pay anymore–mixing with you, bitch, made her think she could just stop paying.”

“Seeing as the rates you charge are exorbitant, not to mention illegal, as you’re trading without a licence, I’m not surprised she refused, she’d already paid you a dozen times over.”

“Look, bitch, you don’t know nothin’.”

“I know a scumbag when I see one, and a murderer.”

“Bitch, you carry on and something nasty is gonna happen to you?”

“If anything nasty happens to me, the police will descend on you like a plague.”

“You think I’m frightened of a few coppers, most of ’em bent ones?”

“It worries me not whether you’re scared or not, but I do know you’re going down and my evidence is going to send you there, and finally, Mrs Howse will not have died in vain.”

“Okay, so I killed her, so what? You think you’re gonna walk out that door?”

“Yes, I have several friends who know where I am and they will call the police if I don’t reappear very shortly.”

“You’re gonna die bitch–just like that other pain in the arse.”

“I don’t think so.”

He lunged at me grabbing the microphone from my collar, as I brought my elbow down on the top of his head.

“Fuck,” he shouted–“hey, she’s wearin’ a wire. Get her.”

I pulled a chair down on top of him as he sprawled on the carpet, he yelled again. A rather large man came dashing into the room, I pulled the door open as he did so and then slammed it against him, he fell against the wall. I then jumped on his torso as I ran out of the room only to be met by another large man between me and the door.

“Goin’ somewhere?”

“Yeah, there’s a fire drill, don’t you know?”

“Get her,” called Cortez from behind me.

The man lunged and I sidestepped kicking his one knee as he came past which brought him down with a few screams. Just as I got to the door, I saw a shadow come up to it and suddenly there was a violent bang on the door and James stood in front of me with a sledge hammer. “I knew this would come in handy one day,” he said.

Cortez staggered out pointing a gun at us, he fired wildly, and thankfully hit neither of us; however, James hurled the twelve pounds of steel at him catching him somewhere from the screams that erupted from inside the house.

Not waiting to see what would happen next, we legged it back to the Porsche and flew down the road.