Titan

TITAN Chapter 6

Paul stood quietly, unsure how to proceed.
Stunned and afraid as the realisation of his predicament became apparent, he tried desperately to recall the journey to the Pier.
He needed more details to figure out what had gone awry with the mission.
Could it be that the wrong people had been placed in the car? But if so, they were most definitely alive when he picked them up.
Whoever had committed the atrocity must have done it after he'd left the car.
Somebody must have seen him leave the vehicle and taken the opportunity to commit the crime.
There must be CCTV of the pier? he surmised, trying to decide his next course of action.
His only hope was to find Garnder and get to the bottom of the mystery before half the Police force were sent out to look for him.

Theresa busied herself, trying to keep occupied as thoughts of her friend been hunted down haunted her mind.
Surely Paul could never commit such an atrocity?
She had remembered he'd mention a 'last job' as he'd described it.
Maybe something had gone drastically wrong and he'd somehow got caught up in the middle of something.
She knew he'd taken on some covert duties during his time with the Met, chauffeuring round ministers and other important such tasks, perhaps this was one of those operations.
She turned the volume up on the TV as Taylor, her daughter of Sixteen years came into the living room.
'What's happening mum?' she inquired, slightly concerned about her mother's interest in the news bulletin.
'Something's happened in Portsmouth and the Police think Uncle Paul's involved' she replied fearfully.
'Uncle Paul?' exclaimed Taylor, are you sure?
'Shhh, it's on now' urged Theresa, taking a seat to watch the television.
'Its been an hour since the discovery of three men, one of them believed to be a Israeli diplomat, found dead in the rear of a vehicle believed to have been driven by an unknown assailant. Sources have now revealed the suspect could actually a serving member of the Metropolitan police force'.
'My god, is this really happening?' exclaimed Taylor.
'While no names have been disclosed as yet, the assailant has been described as a white Male, around six feet in height with light coloured hair. Members of the public are urged to be vigilant but to not approach the suspect as he is believed to be armed and potentially dangerous, particularly to people of ethnic appearance'.
'This is insane!' cried Taylor, outraged that her uncle, if only by acquaintance, had been implicated in an act of racial murder.
'Keep watching' urged her mother, still trying to listen to the broadcast.
Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door as a photo fit of Paul's face appeared on the TV screen.
'Not now' complained Theresa, 'can you get that love?' she urged, glancing towards her daughter.
Taylor got up, irritated by her mothers request to answer the door as Theresa continued to watch a the live events unfolding before her.
'Mum, it's the police' mumbled Taylor, allowing two uniformed officers into the hallway.
'The Police?' cried her mum, let them in please, I need to speak to them'.
The officers entered the living room, one a middle aged man, the other a younger female paying particular attention to the family's belongings.
'Mrs Jefferson? My name's officer Hicks, this is constable Barns' he said, gesturing towards his younger companion.
'Yes, I'm glad you're here, I was going to call....'.
'We're here regarding an incident that occurred that occurred this afternoon?' interrupted the female officer, obviously the stronger personality of the two. 'You may have seen it on the news? The incident in Portsmouth'.
Theresa was feeling slightly irritated by Barn's demeanour, not a fan of fan of pushy police officers as she gestured the visitors to sit down.
'We're fine thankyou Mrs Jefferson' urged the man, 'it's quite an urgent matter I'm afraid concerning a friend of yours, Paul Blake?'.
'It must be quite serious if they're sending you out?'
assumed Theresa.
'It's a national matter' confirmed Barns. 'We need to speak to Paul Blake immediately and believe he may have contacted yourself very recently?'.
'That's correct' responded Theresa, 'He called around twenty minutes ago and was totally unaware of what's happened'.
'So he said he wasn't in portsmouth?'.
'No, I didn't say that' stressed Theresa, 'he said he was in Portsmouth but had no idea about the murders'.
'Okay' soothed the man, 'please sit down as what we're going to show you might be a bit shocking'.
Theresa did as instructed, feeling anxious about what the officers were about to reveal.
The woman reached inside a file she was carrying, taking out some large printed documents.
'This is the vehicle where the victims were discovered' she began, showing a picture of the Vauxhall which Paul had been driving.
'Does this vehicle belong to Paul Blake?'.
'Paul used to own an Astra' confirmed Theresa, recognising the car from the TV bulletin.
'We ran the plate through our  system and it still belongs to Mr Blake' urged the man.
'So somebody used his old car?' groaned Theresa, disbelieving the officers claims. 'Maybe he just forgot to send in the V5?'.
The woman pulled out another document, showing it to Theresa.
'Can you identify this man?' she quizzed.
The photo clearly showed Paul in the drivers seat of the  vauxhall, parked in the dock.
'Yes, that's Paul' she remarked sadly, not believing what she was seeing.
'Five minutes after this image was captured, someone matching Paul's description was seen by workers leaving the car park. The Met then received a call from a security man concerned there could be an incendiary device left in the vehicle which is when the bodies were discovered'.
Theresa looked down shamefully, finding the facts hard to absorb.
'Paul's is in it up to his eyeballs Mrs Jefferson, I recommend you start talking to us, this isn't going away' stressed Barns.
'I've told you everything I know' complained Theresa, 'he called me on his mobile sounding normal and happy, I told him what was happening then it went dead. I think his battery must have run out'.
'Where is he likely to go?' asked Hicks.
'Home I presume, but who knows now he knows what's happening?' urged Theresa.
Just at that moment, the front door opened as Theresa's husband arrived home.
'Hey, who's been naughty then?' he teased, noting the Police vehicle parked outside.
'You'd better come in Glen' urged Theresa, 'Paul's been involved with something. It's awful'.
'Is the family okay, what's happened?' he exclaimed.
'It's not us, the police are here now' she concluded.
Glen entered the room, confused by the presence of the two officers.
'This is your partner I presume?' stated Barns.
'Yes, it's my husband' confirmed Theresa.
'What's going on?' he questioned, 'what's this got to do with us?'.
'I'm afraid we're looking for a friend of yours, Paul Blake' began the officer.
Glen nodded frowning.
'Theres evidence that Mr Blake was involved in a plot to kidnap and assassinate a prominent political figure and two of his companions' stated Hicks. 'Blake was caught on CCTV at several locations including the scene of the alleged incident where a vehicle belonging to Blake was found to contain three dead bodies'.
'How do you know he killed them?' challenged Glen.
'The weapon believed to be used in the murders was left in the vehicle along with some vital documents but we're still waiting for results of the DNA and fingerprint tests to come back' answered Barns.
'So you don't actually know anything?' scoffed Glen.
'You know he was the driver but nothing else. Who's to say he wasn't set up? Someone could have told him to drive them there and killed them after'.
'Not possible I'm afraid' retorted the male officer.
'We've got CCTV of Blake leaving the car then no one goes near it until the police and bomb squad turn up'.
'Fair enough' conceded Glen,
'So what do you want my wife to do about all this? He's not her husband!'.
'All of Blake's associates say he's closest to your family. We're hoping he'll make contact so we can bring him in before things get even worse'.
Glen nodded. 'Do you have a direct contact? We'll let you know as soon as we hear anything'.
Barns reached into her pocket, pulling out a card.
'There's my details, you can call day or night'.
The two officers made their way past Glen and into the hallway, Barns noticing a picture of Paul and the Jeffersons in a frame.
'Good mates then?' questioned Barns.
'Yes. We were'' confirmed Theresa.
'Bit of a strange set up?' quizzed the male Officer.
Glen looked at him crossly, opening the front door for them to leave.
'Like I said, we'll let you know if we hear anything' he mumbled, closing the door firmly behind them.
'Cheeky bastard' he cursed, looking out of the window to check they were leaving.
'Please don't swear in front of Taylor' urged Theresa.
'You're telling me she doesn't hear worse at school?' he argued.
'No I'm saying please don't swear here. We're not kids'.
Glen sighed deeply, peering back through the glass.
'Sorry, he got me 'upset' with his little comment'.
'Think they like to rile people' she exclaimed. 'They make you lose your composure to get information'.
'Well it worked' complained Glen, 'insinuating something's dodgy because he happens to be our friend'.
'We should report him' he suggested.
'No, I can't be bothered' she grumbled, putting on her shoes.
'Where are you going?' inquired Glen.
'I need to think' she urged, 'can you honestly believe Paul would do something like that?'.
'I would say no but the pictures are clearly him' replied Glen.
'I can't understand why he would even be in the car with them' pondered Theresa, calming a little.
'Remember, I told you he rang last night, said he one last job then he was coming up here' said Theresa.
'I can't understand why anyone would be so excited if something so awful was going to happen'.

Paul looked around frantically, convinced everyone was looking for him.
A police siren blared past, causing him to dodge into a doorway to evade capture.
'Me, an assassin?' he muttered to himself, 'I even put spiders outside to liberate them'.
He noticed an electrical shop across the road from the station. There were televisions in the window, displaying a live news channel so he decided to investigate.
To his horror he could see his face clearly on the screen and underneath his image was a message. 'If you see this man, please contact the police immediately'.
He knew there was no choice but to hand himself in for questioning. There had obviously been some kind of mistake and the police had got their wires crossed.
He remembered the battery in his phone was dead so decided to buy a portable power bank to charge his phone.
All he had to do was keep a low profile in the shop which wasnt easy been six feet tall.
Paul entered the store, taking special care to avoid CCTV cameras positioned around the ceiling fixtures.
Luckily, he had brought his reading glasses in his pocket so put them on in a bid to hide his identity.
'Do you have any mobile phone chargers please?' he asked politely at the desk.
The lady attending the station looked up at him, obviously wondering where she'd seen him before.
'Android or Apple?' she quizzed, still staring.
'I don't really know, my battery's dead and I need to use my phone' he urged, showing her his device.
'It's a power bank you need' she informed, catching sight of his image on the TV by the window.
'Thankyou, could I have one of those' he requested, reaching in a pocket for his wallet.
The lady flinched nervously as Paul presented his credit card into the reader near the till.
'Ready for your pin' she advised.
'Are you okay?' he inquired as she continued the transaction.
She paused for a moment then looked up fearfully.
'I'm sorry sir, your card's been declined'.
'That's not possible' he complained, 'please try it again'.
The cashier did as instructed but yet again, the sale came back declined.
'How much is it?' he grumbled, searching his pockets for cash.
'Twelve ninety nine' she urged, trying not to antagonise him.
'Bloody hell! The phone didn't cost much more than that' he complained, pulling a ten pound note and several coins from his trouser pocket.
The lady counted out the correct money then hurriedly placed the charger into a small bag.
'Take care' he said, making a swift exit.
'That went well' he thought to himself. 'I couldn't have drawn much more attention to myself if I'd tried'.
Back inside the shop, the cashier locked the door and picked up the phone by the door.
'Police please....yes...I've seen that man you're looking for on the news' she exclaimed. '
He's just been in our shop to buy a charger for his phone. We're the electrical shop by the station, I can still see him across the road. Please hurry'.