Attrition of the Gods: Book 1 of the Mystery Thriller series Gods Toys. (35 page)

“You fucking cheating bastard!” Leo suddenly screams and Mick almost chokes on his Snickers.

Leo jumps up and pushes the table over. Shane backs up in surprise and puts his hands up in defence. Mike struggles with his baton, half expecting Mills to restrain the old guy himself. But to Mick’s surprise he holds up his arms and looks genuinely concerned as he apologises profusely to Leo. Mick frowns. Will he have to call it in? Think of the paperwork!

Mike hovers, unsure, and then blanches as Leo pulls out the shank. The sharpened toothbrush is suddenly under Mills’ throat and Mike nearly wets himself.

“Yo, fat boy,” says Leo. “Get on the blower and get me face-to-face with that raghead fucking Muslim Al Qaeda Bill!”

Shane is desperately trying not to laugh. “It’s Bob. Al Qaeda Bob!”

“Shut up, Mills!” snaps Leo. “I’ll call him what the fuck I like!”

Shane is impressed by the old guy’s acting skills, although he could release a bit of pressure from the sharp pointy thing he is pressing into his throat.

Mick stutters and stammers as he lifts the intercom and calls for immediate help. Mick looks at the crazy eyes on Leo as he draws blood from Shane’s neck. “Tell them to hurry the fuck up!” The prison Governor and half a dozen wardens rally quickly and congregate outside the caged partition, looking in on the unlikely scene of Leo holding Shane hostage. Governor Byrne speaks through the intercom to Leo.

“Hello, Leo. I’m not sure what’s going on here but I need you to let Shane go and we can speak about what the problem is.”

Leo turns to the Governor and stares with crazy eyes. “I tell you what I want! I want that raghead Muslim cunt Al Qaeda Bob up here right now! I need to know the answer to my question and only he knows.”

Shane is both impressed and a little concerned with Leo’s performance. “Raghead Muslim cunt” is not a phrase he ever thought he would hear come out of this gentle, well-educated man. Guess that’s what prison does to you.

“I can’t do that, Leo. You need to put the weapon down. I will make sure you get to ask any question you want but first I want Shane released.”

With speed and agility that no one would have credited the sixty-year-old with, Leo spins himself around so he is behind Shane and pushes the shank hard beneath his eye.

“Take it easy!” says a surprised Shane.

“I will take out this cunt’s eye in ten seconds unless I get your word that Price will be standing where you are in ten minutes. That’s all I ask, he will be on your side of the cage, so he won’t be in any danger.”

It takes all of Shane’s composure not to instinctively react and break Leo’s neck. Shane must admit, the old guy is fucking good at being mental as he begins his countdown.

“Ten – I will take his eyes then his life. Nine – I need to talk to the Muslim that is all. Eight – do not try to bullshit an insane man holding a sharp weapon to a man’s eye. Seven – Six –”

The Governor holds his hands up. “Hold on, Leo. I need to contact C wing and ask them if Price will agree, is that okay?”

Leo jerks Shane’s neck up exposing the large vein sticking out. “Don’t ask him, tell him or I’ll be cutting this fucker’s jugular. You have five minutes and then I’m going to start cutting.”

The Governor is talking to C wing, telling them to get Price. One guard, Ray Connor, has a bad feeling about this.

“Are you sure about this, Gov?” he asks.

“If it calms Verdi down, then yes,” scowls the Governor. “Price won’t be in any danger as long as he’s this side of the cage.”

It takes approximately five minutes to reach D block from C wing and during these minutes Leo does not relent on his play acting as he roughly pushes the shank against Shane’s throat. “Why isn’t he here yet?” he demands. Shane wants to tell the old guy to reel it in a bit, his performance is worthy of an Oscar but he seems to have gone all Joe Pesci on him.

“He is coming now,” replies the Governor as the entrance door can be seen opening. Robert is escorted by two guards and he looks up, confused at the sight he sees.

“What now?” whispers Leo into Shane’s ear.

“Release me and I will get on that side with Robert. You just fake a crazy fit to distract them and we will do the rest.”

“Right, we have Robert here now, Leo,” says the Governor. “So if you can release Shane then you can ask any question you have, okay?”

Leo relaxes and let’s Shane go. Shane does not need to feign relief at getting away from Leo. He follows the Governor’s instructions and walks to the cage door, catching Robert’s eye. He also notices the guards’ hands fall to their batons as they ready themselves to run in and apprehend Leo. The Governor waves to Shane to hurry. The cage opens and Shane jumps out.

“What the hell got into him?” asks the Governor.

Shane pretends to laugh it off to lighten the mood but he’s actually focused on the guards’ next move. It looks as if they are going to rush at Leo but he knows they will wait until he and Robert are out of the way. Leo suddenly sprints at the cage shouting and banging on about the elves and the fairies. The Governor looks at Robert for a possible explanation but the big black guy shrugs his shoulders. “I ain’t got a clue what he’s on about.”

“Okay, take these two back to their cells.” The Governor sighs tiredly as Leo presses his tongue into the toughened glass.

Two guards move to escort Shane and Robert out. Shane keeps one eye on the cage. Timing is everything when it’s two against seven, not including mad Leo of course. The guard Connor holds back; somehow a killer like Shane being held hostage by this little old man does not compute with him. At the double doors, just as the exit doors unlock Shane prepares for the cage doors to open. He spins and takes the first guard out with a crack to his jaw. Shocked, the second guard just stares as Robert brings a two-handed heavy blow down on his skull. The three guards who are running in to get Leo turn at the sound of the commotion. Leo leaps on the back of one, pulling him to the floor. Connor, stationed next to the alarm, hits the button and the prison lockdown protocol begins. He then bravely pulls the Governor out of the way of a flying Robert and strikes out with his baton. The lockdown has left him and the Governor stranded between the ward and the main prison but Connor calculates that if he holds out for a couple of minutes help will come. He reaches for his Taser gun and is a second away from firing it when an explosion shakes the whole building. The speeding body of another guard hurtles into him.

Shane has no time for niceties and is dispatching each guard with extreme efficiency. He finishes Connor off with an open hand strike to his temple. Robert is already in the lock-up and has one guard wrapped round each arm and the third around his neck. Shane sees an opportunity to end the fight early as the Governor cowers in a corner. He pulls the Taser from the unconscious Connor and holds it to the Governor’s groin.

“Call them off.”

The Governor looks down and obeys. “Stop, all of you, stand down.”

The four conscious guards follow their boss’s command, releasing Robert and Leo.

“Lock them up in your cell,” Shane tells Leo.

“What about him?” asks Leo, pointing to the Governor.

“He stays with us.”

The Governor begins to preach at them but Shane really doesn’t have time for it and silences the man with twelve thousand volts. He shudders to the ground unable to even scream. Robert looks at the Governor then Shane. He laughs, “Nice one.” After a couple of minutes Leo returns holding four batons and a set of keys.

“What do we want with all of them?” asks Shane.

Leo runs past him, locking the entrance door. He looks down at the incapacitated Governor. “Why is he here? You need to get going and he will hold you up. And you still have one more task, don’t forget.”

Leo stands there bravely, waiting. Shane looks at Robert, whose empathetic look tells him he is aware of the deed that needs to be done, that he must kill his friend. Robert indicates that he will do the task if needed as Leo looks forlornly at Shane. Shane has dreaded this moment. He knows that the gesture from Robert is an offer to do this for him. He is tempted but he knows ultimately if this is to be done, then he must be the one to do it.

He looks at Leo’s puny bespectacled frame. It won’t take much, he concedes. Perhaps a blow to his atlas, the point of the spine that meets the brain. Or maybe a choke lock or punch to the temple. Shane knows at least twenty ways to kill a man quickly. He could simply snap his neck with a powerful hook to the front side of his jaw. Nothing seems appropriate though.

“We are going with plan B,” Shane tells Robert and Leo.

Robert wasn’t sure what plan A was so he didn’t complain and Leo was quick enough to guess plan B would include him escaping with these two and not dying. He wanted to be brave and insist that they stuck to plan A.

“What’s plan B then?” he asks.

“We are going out the first class and Governor Mr Byrne here is our ticket out.” Shane grabs the groggy Governor, pulling him to his feet and reaching into his hostage’s pocket to pull out a short-wave radio. Shane slaps the Governor awake and tells him, “Speak to the control centre, tell them to open all doors in the building.” He then turns to Leo and Robert and tells them. “Put the guards’ uniforms on, quickly.”

Governor Byrne hesitates. “If they open all the doors the prisoners will escape. There will be carnage.” Shane speaks with menace. “Did you not hear that explosion? They will all die if you don’t evacuate immediately. Now I am not asking, Governor, I’m telling you to give the order. Open all the exits, open all the doors, every fucking last one!”

Governor Byrne takes the radio with a shaking hand and calls to the control room. “This is Governor Byrne. Who is in the con room?”

A voice replies over the air waves. “It’s me, Parish. What are the instructions, Gov? The place is going to hell, seems like some sort of explosion. The emergency forces are on their way and we have locked down the inmates but Barry and Penavager say that a fire has broken out. We tried calling you, sir. What do we do?”

The Governor coughs. A final glance at Shane’s face and he gives his commands. “Emergency procedure Red One. Open all doors, all cells and all exits. Open all gates, tell prisoners to congregate in the Sherburne car park.”

Parish looks at his receiver as if he heard wrong. “Sir, could you repeat that?” Byrne repeats it word for word except this time he adds, “Fucking NOW.”

“Yes, sir. It’s done.”

Shane removes the jacket from one of the guards. Robert and Leo are already kitted out though Leo’s is too big and Robert’s is too small. Shane pushes the Taser close to the Governor’s throat. “We are walking out of here as your protection. Before we go out there, Governor Byrne, I need to confess. I am sure you are aware of my case and that I was found not guilty of murder. The jury did not believe that I intended to kill the good doctor as I only hit him the once. Believe me, Governor Byrne, I intended to kill that man and I will kill you too if you make one wrong move.”

As the group head out of the psychiatric block, a young screw approaching at pace recognises the Governor. He also notices the men in guards’ uniform but does not realise who they are. Assuming these are his colleagues, he begins his report to the Governor.

“Sir, it is chaos down there. The prisoners are running amok, half the floor in C wing has caved in and there are fires in D wing, admin, the gym and the kitchens.” The guard stops talking as he tries to name the guards flanking the Governor. In the same split second he finally recognises Robert, he is knocked unconscious by the man’s massive fist.

“We won’t get far like this,” he says, scratching his neck, “seeing as there isn’t a single black guard in the place.”

“We just need to get to the roof. If I’m right, there will be a helicopter up there.” Shane looks at the Governor for confirmation. The Governor nods reluctantly and both Robert and Leo look at each other, hoping the other happens to know how to fly. Governor Byrne has always been proud and quick to boast that Stoke Prison is one of only two prisons in the country with a helipad. It sits at the top of the high-security block. Officially it is for emergency transport of prisoners to hospital. Byrne is aware of the fact that it was financed by the Americans and was sure its real purpose was to transport political prisoners, mostly Muslim activists who the Yanks wanted to have a chat with without drawing attention. However, he never thought to protest; after all he often uses it to impress visitors like Solfrid Gjerde, whom he had picked up in his personal EC 135T.

Byrne was not a particularly brave man; prison Governors are picked for their management skills mainly he just wanted to see his wife and kids again. He hoped he would live through today but was not worried so much about what the tough-talking but level-headed Shane would do to him, but rather what could be waiting around the corner.

To get to the roof from the psyche block you need to negotiate your way through the high-security wing, which is where the most dangerous inmates are locked up, or were locked up until Shane ordered all the doors open. The Governor considers warning Shane but fears he may make things worse. He decides he must stay quiet and hope they have already fled. And here lies the problem with Shane’s plan. He has worked out that it will take ten minutes to get through the prison and up to the roof. The Governor has all the necessary keys and passwords, including the helicopter keys. He is sure that the chaos caused by six hundred prisoners either burning to death or running free will be more than enough of a distraction for the local authorities and law enforcement. However, unknown to him there are two dozen murdering bastards running towards them from the opposite direction and Shane and co are with the Governor, dressed in guard uniforms.

When Shane first sees them coming down the corridor he doesn’t worry too much but when the high-risk inmates spot them and start pointing Shane remembers what they must look like. The oncoming group of murdering psychos salivate at the sight of a small group of guards and the Governor. Shane looks at Robert and both men are aware that they will not have an opportunity to explain. In truth, he would just throw the Governor to them but he needs the man’s fingerprint ID to enter the helipad area. As expert as they both are in combat they will not defeat twenty-odd of the most dangerous lifers in the UK.