Gods and Monsters

VIII

Ruislip, Greater London

Police sirens blared in the council estate street causing the local youths to quickly scarper down alleyways and over fences, shoving all sorts of packets into their pockets, whilst those who hung around to see what the police were in their street for did their best to look inconspicuous. Peggy's car, now dirty from the morning's events, pulled up behind Mike's with Captain Arthur Smiley's armed response van not too far away. This wasn't what was planned. She stepped out of the car and walked over to Mike and Atlin.

"Well, it appears we've lost the element of surprise," Peggy said as she looked over at the house. "I thought the house we were going for was further down the street anyway?"

Mike put the coffee cup he had been drinking from on top of his car roof, wary of spilling it after he'd had it washed earlier in the week. "Turns out, some plucky young copper was doing his rounds when he saw the brothers, decided to ignore the 'armed and highly dangerous warnings', made an approach and paid for it with a broken nose. The two brothers charged into the house over there." Mike said while pointing at the rather nice terrace house. Some pots of flowers lay on the window ledge outside of the property, but the curtains were drawn, probably so the police couldn't see what was going on inside. Peggy looked over to a nearby ambulance with whom she presumed to be the broken-nosed copper sitting in the back, nursing his wounds. She felt sorry for the poor bugger but he was pretty lucky to get away as easily as he did.

"We presume they've got hostages in there as the owners car is still in the driveway and any attempts to call their mobiles have just gone to voicemail." Atlin added. "Armed response is here just in case something goes down but with the uncertainty, no moves are being made yet."

It was only then that the three officers noticed that Charlie was nowhere to be seen. Initially, Peggy thought that he may have gone back home or something else immature, but the reality was much worse. Charlie's shoes hardly made a sound as they walked up the concrete path to the house the brothers were in. Calls came from behind him that he needed to get back but he ignored them and as no one else was willing to approach the house, there wasn't much they could do to stop him ringing the doorbell. There was a long pause while Charlie waited. No one could predict how the brothers were going to react to Charlie's intrusion when the door was eventually opened just a crack and a pistol emerged, aimed at Charlie.

The man who had opened the door still looked calm, not a bead of sweat on his forehead, and his parted blonde hair looked like he had just had it cut. Not that there was a specific type of person who would work with experimental weapons, and hold an innocent couple hostage, but if there was, the man at the door certainly wouldn't be it. He would look more suited on the 18th hole at a country club rather than on the wrong side of a potential raid from armed response.

"Are you a cop?"

"Please, when have you seen a police officer wearing a Savile Row suit?" Charlie replied, gesturing at his current attire. "No, I'm not a cop although I am what you might call a 'civilian consultant'.

The suspect looked at Charlie with an expression that said he really couldn't care about the difference. Charlie tried to quickly peer through the small opening in the door and could quickly glance a look at a few things. First of all was that the other brother was still in the house, the dining room more specifically so likely out of earshot. Second was that the hostages were still alive in the living room, surprisingly unrestricted but they were too scared to move yet they looked unhurt. Third and probably most importantly was the image on the TV screen. The brothers had the local news on which had a reporter, live on the street outside of the property, covering the event.

"Look I just came by to give you this," Charlie said as he passed over a small bottle of water from his pocket. "Consider it an early peace offering. You let the hostages go and surrender. Then when you're locked up, you'll be getting the lovely treat of three prison canteen meals a day. Sound fair?"

The man snatched the bottle of water out of Charlie's hand. "Go to hell!" He said before slamming the door shut. Charlie sauntered back down the path and was quickly met by Peggy.

"What the hell were you thinking there, Charlie? You could've blown the whole thing." Peggy said relatively calmly. Charlie simply smiled and continued walking over to the news van. Peggy attempted to follow before her and Mike were cut off by the boulder that was Arthur Smiley.

"Look, detectives, we need to talk." Smiley said. "There are two suspects and two hostages in there as you know. Me and my boys have been talking and we think we could get in there and take them out, leave the hostages out of it, quick and easy."

"No, you can't." Peggy replied brusquely only to be met with a puzzled look from Smiley. She looked over at Charlie who was locked in a conversation with the reporter who was frantically taking notes down whilst off screen. "I think Charlie has a plan and I'm willing to trust him...for now at least. Let him have a shot at this and then we'll see. Whether or not you feel you could leave the hostages unharmed, it's not worth the risk yet."

Smiley attempted to say something but was beaten to it by Mike. "Yeah, mate. I'm not the blokes biggest fan, but Peg's got a point. Get your team on standby, but for now, we'll do what Charlie wants and then see." Smiley didn't look too pleased, but he was willing to trust the detectives and see what they could with the situation. Inside the house

Andy Harwood paced around the living room with the pistol firmly in his hand, keeping his eyes on the hostages who still remained in their seats, frozen in fear. He was still curious about the cop, or whatever he was, who had come to the door with the water. Something was certainly odd with him but besides asking them to surrender, he hadn't really done too much. Andy's brother, Sean, came into the living room now after being out back.

"Dammit, Andy! I told you that shitty little device was too much trouble." Sean joined his brother in pacing the room, clearly infuriated that his brother had dragged him into this.

"Hey! I got the device and attached it to the bloke in the hotel, you were the one who fucking tore his twin open and got the police involved." Andy replied, equally irate at the current situation. The pair's relationship was already starting to strain. "Look that guy with the freaky blue eyes, he said all of this would work out if we just followed his instructions."

"Bullshit! You were probably high, or just imagining him or whatever. There was no weird dude."

Andy didn't get the chance to respond as the news returned with reporter Sarah Solo bringing the country up to date with the situation in Ruislip. Both brothers stopped their arguing to focus on the news for a minute.

"Thanks, John," Sarah began. "I'm here live in Ruislip at the end of the street where this hostage situation is taking place. The suspects are believed to be Andy and Sean Harwood with the victims being the couple who own the home. Officially, no deal has been made, but a well-placed source has informed us that negotiations have begun between the police and one of the hostage takers in the hopes of releasing the hostages and getting a surrender. Andy and-"

The gunshot shattered the TV screen causing the couple to shriek. "Don't listen to her bro, it was that fucking cop who came to the door. He's trying to play us off against each other, I love you man. I'm not cutting any deal. You and me are in this together!" Andy said, trying to calm Sean down.

Sean continued to pace the room, the sound of his footsteps only interrupted by the whimpering coming from the couple. "Please," the old man whispered between tears. "You don't need us. Let us go, please." The back of Sean's hand connected hard against the man's wife's face.

"Listen here, sunshine. Quit your whining or the back of my hand won't be the only thing across your wife's face."

Continued in Part 9