Chapter 17
Kingsbourne, Wealdshire. Tuesday 19 May 1998
Shadow waited patiently at the traffic lights on the outskirts of Kingsbourne. The black Transit, a vague dark shape behind its intense headlights, looked menacing in the driving mirror. Shadow could imagine it as a hostile alien creature, confident of its superior power and biding its time before hurtling forward to attack. Despite the apparently-hazardous situation, however, Shadow permitted himself a smile. If the goons wanted to play at espionage, he was happy to oblige them.
'Go left after the lights,' Howard directed.
Shadow had driven away from the Trimbles' home at a leisurely pace. He hadn't wanted to lead the undercover agents back to Puck's Dell, so he had taken the twisty minor road towards Kingsbourne through Frogley Heath. It hadn't been many minutes before the now-familiar bright headlights had appeared in his mirror. The driver of the Transit had obviously been exceeding the speed limit in order to catch up with the pixies and then, once he had found his quarry, had dropped back to avoid detection. 'We have contact,' Shadow had announced. 'It looks as if they were definitely eavesdropping on us. God — we must have old Starling worried if he feels he has to resort to those sorts of measures. I wonder how much his spies get paid for covert operations. The question now is what we do next. Anyone got any bright ideas?'
Bounce had suggested stopping, getting out and having a confrontation with their pursuers. 'I don't suppose we have any pickaxe handles on board, do we?' he had asked, with more enthusiasm than the others thought was healthy, 'No baseball bats?'
Jerry, more concerned about his physical wellbeing than Bounce, had advised against it. He thought that, now they had established that they were being spied upon, they ought to try and lose their pursuers.
Shadow, unwilling to get himself involved in a brawl, and well aware that the chances of the old Rainbow van outperforming the Transit were nil, was more inclined to go with the proposal that Howard Perkins came up with although, thinking about it now, he realised that he didn't actually know what Howard had in mind.
The lights turned green. Shadow shifted into first, took his foot off the brake and let out the clutch. He drove across the junction and then signalled left and slowed down for the turn-off. He thought the black beast was still following.
'Straight over at the roundabout,' Howard instructed.
Shadow kept to the inside lane, entered the roundabout, and signalled to exit. Everything went dark as the Rainbow van began to follow an unlit road which would take them across a disused airfield and out of the city if they followed it far enough. He checked the mirror and was relieved to see that the Transit was still following. It was easy to spot as all the other traffic had continued along the main road. When he next looked, however, there was no sign of it. He took his foot off the accelerator and started to slow down.
'What's up?' asked Howard.
'The Transit's gone. I can't see it. Just disappeared.'
'Keep going,' Howard ordered. 'Trust me.'
Shadow speeded up, wondering what Howard's game was.
'Check the mirror again,' Howard commanded.
Shadow did as he was told and announced, 'No. Nothing there.'
'Take a harder look.'
'Shit! It's right up my backside!' yelled Shadow. 'The devious toe-rag is driving without lights!'
'Good,' smirked Howard. 'I thought the prat might be stupid enough.'
'Howard,' beseeched Shadow, 'I know I said I'd fall in with your plan — mainly because no-one else could think of anything sensible — but I wish you'd tell me what it is. Who did you ring when you borrowed my mobile?'
'Didn't you overhear any of the conversation?'
'No. Not a word.'
'Good. It'll be a nice surprise then, won't it?'
'I dunno. With those idiots driving up my bum, I'm not —'
Shadow's voice tailed off into silence and then, 'Oh bugger! I don't believe it!'
Two sets of flashing blue lights had suddenly appeared in front of them. With sirens wailing, two police cars were heading straight for them, one behind the other. Shadow threw a quick glance at the mirror. There were more flashing lights behind him. 'Bastards!' he bellowed. 'They've got the damn police after us. Howard! What do we do?'
'Uh . . . Now let me think,' he said, as calmly as if this was an everyday occurrence and nothing to get worked up about. 'What would be the best plan of action? I know — how about stopping the van and enjoying the show?'
Wondering what the hell Howard's game was, Shadow put his foot on the brake and began to slow down. As he came to a halt, applied the handbrake and shifted into neutral, the two police cars in front shot past without any attempt at stopping. 'What's going on?' he asked. 'Howard. Have those police cars got anything to do with you?'
In the dim light from the instrument panel, Shadow thought he could detect a crafty grin on Howard's face. 'Howard, you sly fox, what have you been up to?'
'I expect we'll find out in a few minutes. Just sit tight and be patient.'
'Hey!' yelled Bounce, whose huge bulk, up against the back doors of the van, was now blocking Shadow's view in the mirror, 'The Old Bill have got the Transit!'
Howard nodded grimly. 'I'd be very disappointed if they hadn't.'
Ten minutes later, Howard climbed back into the Rainbow van and said, 'Shall we go and finish our meeting now?'
For the last few minutes he had been sitting inside the patrol car which was parked up ahead. Now he had returned and his fellow passengers were bursting to know what had happened.
'Howard,' Shadow complained. 'You can't just say nothing. I refuse to take you anywhere unless you put us out of our misery.'
'What! You want me to divulge confidential information entrusted to me by a serving officer of the Wealdshire Constabulary?' teased Howard.
'Yes!' chorused his companions.
'Oh, all right, then. I won't get any peace if I don't tell you, will I?'
As Shadow drove back to Swainshurst (making quite sure he didn't exceed the speed limit), Howard explained what had happened.
When he had borrowed Shadow's mobile, he had called the police station in Kingsbourne and asked to speak to one of his old colleagues. Luckily, one of his oldest mates, Sergeant Kenny Green, was on duty. Howard had told him that he was travelling in a van with some of his friends from Puck's Dell and they were being followed by a very suspicious-looking Transit. He said that he believed there were several men in the Transit and he suspected that they were yobboes on the lookout for a bit of aggravation. Kenny Green suggested that Howard should make his way to the road across the old airfield where he would arrange for a patrol car to be waiting.
'A patrol car!' exclaimed Jerry. 'There were four of them waiting there!'
'Must have been a quiet night,' laughed Howard. 'The lads hate sitting around with nothing to do.'
'What happened to the guys in the Transit?' Bounce asked, unable to conceal his desire to hear that they had been arrested, tortured, and hung, drawn and quartered.
'Well,' said Howard, 'They were driving without lights — so they'll get clobbered for that — and it seems they have some explaining to do with regard to a load of sophisticated surveillance equipment which they had in their possession.'
'What about the fact that they were following us?' asked Shadow.
'Unfortunately, they didn't commit any offence there. However, they were left in no doubt that the police knew they had been following someone — so their cards have been marked, so to speak.'
'Is there anything to connect them with Starling or the Wealdshire County Council?' Jerry wanted to know.
'Unlikely, unless they're completely stupid. But I think there's no chance that their employers won't get to hear about what happened.'
'Sounds like one up to us, then chaps!' whooped Shadow. 'Well done, Howard. That was an excellent piece of work.'
Folding his arms and puffing his chest out, Howard said, 'Well, I did say that you never know when an ex- policeman might come in handy. Oh, I nearly forgot — there was one more morsel that I didn't mention.'
'Would I be right in thinking that this morsel is a really juicy morsel?' asked Shadow.
'Uh . . . juicy . . .ish. One of the occupants of the Transit was a bit lippy. Actually, he was more than a bit lippy. He started dishing out so much abuse that my mates had no option but to arrest him. He's accompanying them to the police station.'
Those waiting at Tall Trees heard the cheering, singing and shouting several seconds before they heard the distinctive rattling and clattering of the Rainbow van as it turned into the Trimbles' road.