of apartments across a narrow alleyway, a similar window exposing an empty room beyond, meeting his gaze. He reached into his jacket pocket and took out a small, stained soft toy, Jacob’s favourite teddy, Ian Bear.
‘You could have an important role to play in making sure Jacob is safe little feller, so be brave.’ Saul whispered softly as he gently positioned the bear on a small table next to the window, sitting looking out to the opposite apartment.
*
The solid oak door burst open into an empty room, a din of ‘Go, Go, Go’s!’ immediately following the resounding thud of the battering ram and the rip of metal as the locks were smashed from the frame. The ARO’s swarmed into the room, guns enacting a stuttering dance as they were pointed into every corner of the empty space.
‘Clear!’ Three shouted as Four, Five and Six quickly headed off to the side rooms, and with the deftness of ballet dancers, raised their legs in unison, mid stride, and simultaneously kicked the doors in, to another deafening din. Three more ‘Clears!’ joined the still reverberating echoes of brute force, which slowly dissipated as the three men stepped back into the living room.
Cruickshank entered and looked at the obvious emptiness with features furrowed in frustration mixed with fury. With deliberate steps, she started walking around the perimeter of the room, taking in every nuance, nook and cranny of the walls, floor and ceiling.
‘Spotless Strange, absolutely spotless. Can you explain how that could be possible? Could Saul be that calculating as to throw us on a wild goose chase?’ Cruikshank questioned with an undercurrent of sarcasm in her tone.
Strange walked through the centre of the room as the four ARO’s streamed out into the corridor behind him, heading for the window which overlooked Waverley Station and Princess Street beyond. ‘He is the kind of character that will leave nothing to chance. He likes to be in control. He has an amazing memory, photographic I would say and will use that to work through likely ‘what-if’ scenarios. What I can’t imagine is why he would feel the need to play this scenario: what if the police were monitoring our internet feed and we needed to distract them while we made our getaway.’
Cruickshank entered the first door she came to on her methodical recce of the perimeter, entering and carrying on her analysis around the edge of the empty bedroom. ‘For a person who is so in control, who has the foresight to plan something like this, I can’t see how he could be a victim, I can’t see how he would allow himself to become a victim.’ Cruikshank mused loudly, making sure Strange heard her from the bedroom.
Strange sighed heavily, his features disconsolate and disappointed at once, as he looked down to the floor, seeing a Wi-Fi router sitting in the corner of the room, at the apex of the window he was standing at, and the window facing the apartments opposite. ‘Just because he likes to be in control and likes to leave nothing to chance, doesn’t mean that he has always been able to do that. When you have a child, and they have a serious illness, and you can do nothing about that illness, it changes you. It changed John. He wasn’t in control, and as much as he tried to get the best help for Jacob, everything about the illness was down to chance. Sorry, I can’t believe that John was involved in starting a chain of events that led to his son and wife’s death. As for what happened after that: I think he is trying to gain control. I think he is trying to control chance.’
Cruickshank walked out of the bedroom and glared over to Strange, whose back was to her. ‘You are going to need to break those rose tinted spectacles very quickly if you expect to be of any use to me. Facts Strange, work with the facts. Saul has led us to an empty apartment. He has deflected us for god knows what reason. Possibly so he and his
‘You could have an important role to play in making sure Jacob is safe little feller, so be brave.’ Saul whispered softly as he gently positioned the bear on a small table next to the window, sitting looking out to the opposite apartment.
*
The solid oak door burst open into an empty room, a din of ‘Go, Go, Go’s!’ immediately following the resounding thud of the battering ram and the rip of metal as the locks were smashed from the frame. The ARO’s swarmed into the room, guns enacting a stuttering dance as they were pointed into every corner of the empty space.
‘Clear!’ Three shouted as Four, Five and Six quickly headed off to the side rooms, and with the deftness of ballet dancers, raised their legs in unison, mid stride, and simultaneously kicked the doors in, to another deafening din. Three more ‘Clears!’ joined the still reverberating echoes of brute force, which slowly dissipated as the three men stepped back into the living room.
Cruickshank entered and looked at the obvious emptiness with features furrowed in frustration mixed with fury. With deliberate steps, she started walking around the perimeter of the room, taking in every nuance, nook and cranny of the walls, floor and ceiling.
‘Spotless Strange, absolutely spotless. Can you explain how that could be possible? Could Saul be that calculating as to throw us on a wild goose chase?’ Cruikshank questioned with an undercurrent of sarcasm in her tone.
Strange walked through the centre of the room as the four ARO’s streamed out into the corridor behind him, heading for the window which overlooked Waverley Station and Princess Street beyond. ‘He is the kind of character that will leave nothing to chance. He likes to be in control. He has an amazing memory, photographic I would say and will use that to work through likely ‘what-if’ scenarios. What I can’t imagine is why he would feel the need to play this scenario: what if the police were monitoring our internet feed and we needed to distract them while we made our getaway.’
Cruickshank entered the first door she came to on her methodical recce of the perimeter, entering and carrying on her analysis around the edge of the empty bedroom. ‘For a person who is so in control, who has the foresight to plan something like this, I can’t see how he could be a victim, I can’t see how he would allow himself to become a victim.’ Cruikshank mused loudly, making sure Strange heard her from the bedroom.
Strange sighed heavily, his features disconsolate and disappointed at once, as he looked down to the floor, seeing a Wi-Fi router sitting in the corner of the room, at the apex of the window he was standing at, and the window facing the apartments opposite. ‘Just because he likes to be in control and likes to leave nothing to chance, doesn’t mean that he has always been able to do that. When you have a child, and they have a serious illness, and you can do nothing about that illness, it changes you. It changed John. He wasn’t in control, and as much as he tried to get the best help for Jacob, everything about the illness was down to chance. Sorry, I can’t believe that John was involved in starting a chain of events that led to his son and wife’s death. As for what happened after that: I think he is trying to gain control. I think he is trying to control chance.’
Cruickshank walked out of the bedroom and glared over to Strange, whose back was to her. ‘You are going to need to break those rose tinted spectacles very quickly if you expect to be of any use to me. Facts Strange, work with the facts. Saul has led us to an empty apartment. He has deflected us for god knows what reason. Possibly so he and his