Syn (The Merseyside Crime Series Book 2) - Malcolm Hollingdrake (world of reading TXT) 📗

was ready to have kids. I had too much living to do, a business to build, if the truth be known. We split early on and to save complications, after some wrangling, I gave her the house. I didn’t want anything to do with them. She was pregnant, too, but it may well not have been mine – her proclivity to like the company of the opposite sex was one of the reasons we split. I suppose I’d no right to expect her loyalty, as I’d never truly commit to the relationship, I wouldn’t propose, even when Frank was born. There were so many couples at the time deciding not to tie the knot. Probably the start of how things are today. I even resented the boy. I wanted her to terminate. We weren’t short of money and that certainly wasn’t an issue.’

‘Frank?’ Skeeter asked, checking the name of the person on file.

‘Frank Lloyd. I pushed for that. If we had to have a child then I wanted the opportunity to name him. Influenced by my love of my job in a way – a man I admired – Frank Lloyd Wright. People think he was just an architect, but he was more than that, in fact he was a brilliant interior designer.’

‘What’s your son’s full name, Mr Gaskell? We need a phone number and an address too, urgently.’

‘Frank Lloyd Millington. No idea about his phone but …’ He added the address.

April looked at the camera knowing the conversation was relayed to the Incident Room and that the required action would be immediately co-ordinated and sanctioned.

‘Is your son a potential killer?’

Gaskell shrugged his shoulders but there was clearly uncertainty in the action. ‘I pay certain bills, or I did until he reached twenty-one. I sincerely hope not but these days with so many drugs available, you just never can tell what ways their minds might be warped.’

The address was located and Mason organised the key Matrix teams to readiness – firearms, drone and the chief negotiator were all primed. A time was set for the move on the property and local pre-ordered plans utilised to direct the close operations. There was a procedure for the readiness of street closure when dealing with a major incident and the emergency services were readied. Decent and Warlock vacated the Interview Room leaving Gaskell in a state of confusion. The officer remaining was briefed to ensure a duty solicitor was contacted.

‘You’ll be staying here for a while longer until we discover just what other evidence we find during the search. Make yourself comfortable.’

The briefing was just that, brief. The Incident Room was busy. A Street View image of the house situated on Parkside Road was visible, projected onto the large screen to the far end of the room. Within twenty minutes they would receive live drone images of the location, concentrating on the garden area. The height and distance of the machine would be such as not to attract unnecessary attention at the house.

‘April and Wicca, I want you on the ground. April, you will maintain your role as SIO. Firearms and a negotiator will be on standby along the Oxford Road end of Westbourne Road, with medical and fire and rescue support if it’s required.’ Mason pointed to the area. ‘The properties along these two roads have huge rear gardens, what they contain will only be ascertained once we have aerial images coming in live. We’ll be using thermal imaging too. You will co-ordinate target entry point and time of entry once the intelligence has been received and assessed here. Communication will be standard: Gold, Silver and Bronze. The Incident Room will continue as Gold and those on the ground as Silver, all others will communicate as Bronze. The Major Incident Vehicle will be there on your arrival. I’ll keep you up to speed whilst you’re travelling. We’ve isolated an area of the golf links’ carpark for the drone operation. It’s away from the public eye and hopefully the Press’s nose. That will provide us with a short time operating range. Local area Traffic Officers have been notified.’

The patrol car blocked the narrow road after the marked transit moved into position. Within a matter of minutes, the landing area was coned and the police drone made ready. Live stream images would be linked with communications from the officers on the ground. Each officer was identified by an electronic tag which would show up on screen. Having the silent eye in the sky, with its multiple cameras, would enhance the track and trace of all in the designated area.

Skeeter drove. The flashing strobes, normally concealed within the grille and the headlights, ensured swift movement along the busy roads. April continued to monitor the progress of the team arrivals.

‘The drone’s up and we have live images here.’ April briefly flicked the electronic tablet sideways before turning it back. Skeeter paid no attention. Her concentration was on the road. Her growing frustration became a constant diatribe aimed at motorists who seemed unaware they had purchased a rear-view mirror when they bought the car. It was a constant commentary.

As the drone hovered above the targeted area, there was nothing coming up on thermal imagery from the garden to either the front or rear of the address. The officers’ identification tags were clearly visible but as yet there was nothing positive on the suspect.

Chapter 28

Lloyd brought two cans of coke from a box on the bench placing a straw in one. ‘I bet you’re thirsty. I know I am. I’m going to trust you. I’ll remove the cloth from your mouth and release one hand. It’s my act of kindness to you, but I need your promise. Should you call out or try to move, I will simply kill you.’ He removed a sheathed craft knife from his pocket. ‘It would take a minute for me to perform that cruel act and a few minutes for you to die, probably three for it all to