Sean Black - Lockdown

‘Watch your step,’ the man said, almost hauling Josh off his feet. ‘This way.’

There was the sound of a heavy car door being opened, and then he was shoved inside, bundled into the back.

‘Here, sit down.’

He felt a pressure against his chest as the man forced him back down. The seat felt soft, cold and smooth against his bare hands. There was the sharp clip of a seatbelt.

‘Keep the hat on. I’ll be watching you.’

A moment or two later the engine started. Josh placed his hands in his lap. He could feel the wool of the hat tickling his skin but resisted the urge to scratch. He dug his fingernails, which had grown since he’d been taken, into the palms of his hands, to distract himself.

The car smelled the same as the one he and Natalya had got into after the party, what seemed like an eternity ago. It brought back memories of things he’d tried not to think about. The panic he’d felt as they drove away. The smell of the river. The spine-stiffening crack of the gun. He clenched his hands tighter, his nails pressing deeper into his flesh, the pain pushing it all away.

In the front seat, the driver made the first of three phone calls. The first one worried him the most because he had no idea if the person he needed to reach would answer. He was relieved to hear the voice on the other end of the line. He’d spent hours familiarizing himself with it, listening over and over to the threats made by the man who possessed the voice.

‘Yeah?’

‘I know what happened to Stokes, and why.’

‘Who is this? How’d you get this number?’

‘If you want to find out, you need to meet me in one hour,’ the driver said. Then he gave him the address and ended the call.

Human nature would do the rest.

Ty and Lock slid into a booth. Opposite them, Tiffany stirred a hole in the bottom of her coffee cup with a spoon.

Ty slid a picture of Cody Parker across the table. Tiffany glanced at it for less than a New York second and shook her head.

Lock leaned across the table towards her. ‘But that’s him, that’s Cody Parker.’

‘He didn’t look nothing like that.’

Lock used his hand to crop the top of Cody’s head, reasoning that for all he knew Cody’s long flowing locks could have been a disguise, grown at a later date. ‘Look again.’

She kept stirring her coffee. Lock reached across and plucked the spoon from her hand. She went to snatch it back but he held it out of reach.

‘I said, look again.’

‘I don’t have to. That looks nothing like him.’

Lock handed her back the spoon and she resumed her stirring.

‘OK, so what did the Cody Parker that Natalya was seeing look like, then? And if you say “not like the picture” I’ll take that spoon from you and wedge it up your ass.’

Tiffany glanced at Ty. ‘Your buddy’s really intense.’

‘I know,’ said Ty, ‘and that’s one of his better qualities.’

‘Let’s start with height,’ said Lock.

‘Like his height,’ she said, indicating a squat Hispanic busboy who was clearing the detritus from a nearby table.

‘Around five eight?’

‘If that’s what that guy is, then yes.’

‘White? Black? Hispanic?’

‘White, but his skin was all messed up. Like he’d had really bad acne when he was younger.’

‘What kind of hair?’

‘Brown with some white. Cut short.’

‘Like mine?’

She put the spoon down on the table, a tiny slick of coffee clinging to its bowl. She looked up at Lock like she’d only just noticed him. ‘Yeah. Kind of.’

‘How old?’

‘Forties. Maybe fifty.’

‘But he said his name was Cody?’

She regarded Lock like a particularly impatient teacher might look at a defiantly obtuse pupil. ‘Yeah.’

‘You stay with her for five minutes,’ Lock said to Ty. ‘Make sure she doesn’t go anywhere.’

‘Why? Where are you going?’

‘To get some more pictures.’

The town car bumped across the rough ground of the abandoned lot. The driver parked, killed the engine, got out and walked away, across the street. He then made two more calls. The first was to Meditech headquarters. The second, a full ten minutes later, was to the FBI.

When he finished the last call he switched off his cell phone. He crossed back to an abandoned building next to the vacant lot. At the back of the building was a previously boarded-up door. He stepped inside and made his way through the garbage which littered the hallway to a set of stairs and began the climb to his observation post. From there he could see the lot with the town car parked in the middle of it.

Fifteen minutes later two hulking GMC Yukons screeched to a halt at the edge of the vacant lot. They sat there, engines ticking over, as if unsure about what to do next.

Brand sat in the front passenger seat of the lead vehicle, the fingertips of his right hand tracing the mini craters on his face. Hizzard sat in the driver’s seat. Brand had chosen him specially when they had got the call barely ten minutes ago.

Richard Hulme sat in the rear. As they came to a halt, he sprang forward, his hands clasping the back of Brand’s seat. ‘What are we waiting for?’

‘It’s not that simple. We verify he’s there first. Then we make the transfer. When that’s validated, then we can get him out.’

‘Why not just grab him?’

‘I already told you why. These people aren’t fooling around here.’

‘Let me go look,’ Richard said.

‘He might get upset if he sees you. Once it’s done you can get him out, I promise you.’

‘What if he’s not even in that car? What if this is some kind of sick joke?’

Brand twisted round to face him. ‘Hizzard, you go.’

Hizzard opened the door, exited the car and jogged over to the town car. When he got within ten feet he slowed and knelt down, taking a long, hard look underneath. Then he crossed to the rear passenger door nearest to him. He touched the handle, took a deep breath and opened the door. There was a little boy inside. He was sitting almost casually, his legs swinging over the edge, a hat pulled down over his face.

‘Hello?’ he said, his voice hoarse, the question tentative.

‘Josh?’

‘Yes.’ The voice was a whisper.

‘I’ve come to take you to your dad. But I need you to be patient for just a little while longer. Can you do that for me?’

‘I think so.’

‘Good. You’re being really brave. Now, I’m going to reach in and take off this hat so you can see.’

‘OK.’

Hizzard reached in and peeled off the hat. Josh stared back at him, recognizable, just, from the pictures he’d seen. They’d cut his hair, and dyed it, but it was definitely him.

‘Now, I have to go for a few minutes. But I’ll be back real soon. You have to do one thing for me, OK? You have to stay here until I come back for you. Whatever you do, do not leave this car.’

He closed the door, leaving Josh on his own. He jogged the whole way back and climbed back into the lead Yukon.

Richard grabbed at him as he sat back down. ‘Is it him? Is he OK? Have they hurt him?’ His voice was cracking, the questions stacking on top of each other.

‘It’s him. He’s fine, Dr Hulme.’

Brand hit speed dial on his phone. There was a second’s pause before his call was answered by their assigned lead at the insurance company.

‘This is Brand. We have a positive ID.’

‘I’ll action the transfer now, Mr Brand,’ the woman on the other end of the line replied.

Brand ended the call.

‘What now?’ Richard asked.

‘The insurance company makes the transfer. Once they verify it’s been made, they contact me and we can go get him.’