wild retribution

7/28/2019 Wild Retribution

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Wild Retribution

A powerful short story

CopyrightNorman Price 2012All rights reserved

The characters in this story are entirely fictitious and do not relate

to any person living or dead.

Published by

anuscript Appraisals

!!!.manuscriptu".com
http://www.manuscriptuk.com/http://www.manuscriptuk.com/


3/18

Great Baddow, Essex

July 25th, 2010

Brett #ohnson !as about to pour himself a coffee !hen he heard #ulie $illiams% piercing

scream. Peering from his !indo! he sa! that his ne&t door neighbour !as in her front

garden' clearly deeply distraught. (astily abandoning the percolator' he rushed outside to

ascertain the cause of her panic and offer !hat help he could.

)#ulie* $hatever%s the matter+%

),t%s Chrissie' she%s gone*% came the hysterical reply.

)-teady no!' #ulie. No! ta"e a deep breath and tell me e&actly !hat you mean.%

,n a voice !arped by emotion' #ulie told him that sevenyearold Chrissie had been

playing in the front garden but !as no!here to be seen !hen she !ent to call her in for her

tea. )-he%s been ta"en' /rett' , "no! she has.%

/rett uic"ly shoo" his head. ), very much doubt that' #ulie. No' she%s ust !andered

off some!here. Children are prone to do that' as you !ell "no!.%

)No* Not my Chrissie*%

)All right' listen' !e%re !asting time. $ait !hile , grab my car "eys and !e%ll go find

her. Ten seconds*%

As good as his !ord /rett !as bac" in a trice and #ulie%s nose !as soon pressed to the

side !indo! of his grey ord hatchbac" as he methodically toured four or five of the tree

lined roads adacent to theirs. $ith no oy. After ten long minutes there !as still no sign of

Christine.

)3rive me home4 , must call the police'% sobbed #ulie.

)(old on a moment. Are there any of Christine%s school pals living nearby !hose

homes !e could try+%

)5nly 6achel 7 6achel ay 7 at 89 eado! Avenue' but Chrissie !ould never attempt

to go there on her o!n.%

):et%s give that a try any!ay.%

/rett made a ;turn and hastily doubled bac" to eado! Avenue' halting the car

outside number 89.

#ulie%s urgent hammering on the front door brought no response. There !as clearly no

one at home. -he ran bac" to the car.


4/18

)-he%s not there' /rett* ,%ve got to phone the police*

The s!ift but lo! "ey police response to #ulie%s an&ious call slo!ly gathered pace as the

obvious li"ely e&planations for Chrissie%s disappearance !ere investigated and eliminated

and concern for her !elfare inevitably increased. -ergeant #im -aunders of ?sse& Police !as

responsible for organising and managing the first routine search' but this tas" !as upgraded

and handed to Chief ,nspector Pete Chapman as the negative results raised the possibility of

something more serious. $ith the imminent onset of dar"ness it !as he !ho ordered the

involvement of three dog handler teams and a police helicopter fitted !ith heat see"ing

euipment. /y 2800 hrs a full scale search !as under !ay.

>

No! at the sharp end of the search' -ergeant #im -aunders "ne! of a stream not too far from

Chrissie%s home. Although the !ater !as unli"ely to be high after the recent dry spell' it

could still prove ha@ardous to a sevenyearold nons!immer' especially in the dar".

Together !ith a constable and one of the dog handlers he led the !ay to the stream'

illuminating the !ay !ith the beam from his po!erful torch' hoping for a result but nothing


5/18

unpleasant. After sniffing at one of Chrissie%s soc"s' obtained earlier from her !orried

stepfather' the dog handler%s Alsatian began combing the ban"s of the stream.

)5ver here' -arge*% came the first shout as the dog !as soon seen pa!ing at something

in the !ater.

-ergeant -aunders grimaced as the light from his torch loc"ed on to !hat loo"ed at first

li"e part of a severed limb. Than"fully it !asn%t4 it !as the body of a long dead cat.

The police helicopter' mean!hile' !as rapidly e&tending the area of search' pausing

only to refuel before continuing throughout the night. All to no avail. $hen da!n bro"e

over the ?sse& countryside the dedicated efforts of the large search team had still yielded no

result. (ouse to house enuiries !ould continue throughout the day.

>

6ichard =ant learned of Chrissie%s disappearance from a T local ne!s broadcast he !as

!atching in (.. Prison' Chelmsford. =ant !as currently serving the seventh year of a

t!elve year sentence for his part in an armed ban" robbery. A man of fe! !ords' he merely

replied'


6/18

>

:ater on that second day' one of the listed se& offenders =eorge =ordon $ince !as found

to be the registered o!ner of a green Peugeot van. This information !as promptly relayed to

Chief ,nspector Chapman !ho acted at once.


7/18

$hile $ince !as being uestioned by C.,. Chapman at the police station' he !as relieved of

his "eys and a forensic team !as sent to e&amine the green Peugeot van' as !ell as the

contents of his flat. Nothing of interest !as found at the flat' but a fairly ne! laptop

computer !as ta"en a!ay for a detailed indepth e&amination. The contents of the van also

yielded no clues' until at the very last moment a solitary red button !as found caught in the

edge of the carpet under the front passenger seat. And it !as "no!n that Chrissie !as

!earing a red anora" at the time of her disappearance.

Although steadfastly denying any involvement in Chrissie


8/18

?noying a spot of leisurely fishing at a uiet 3anbury la"e' offduty ireman =eoff (ughes

!as almost dropping off to sleep in the !arm sunshine !hen he !as summoned to full

consciousness by a gentle tug on his rod. 6eeling his line in' he caught a glimpse of

something red in the !ater.

,t !as !ith very mi&ed feelings that Chief ,nspector Chapman later charged =eorge =ordon

$ince !ith Chrissie


9/18

$eird' very !eird' thought $eed. (e !isely opted not to voice his thoughts. /ut !hat

sort of !arped response !as that for chrissa"e+ (e couldn


10/18

(e !as smiling as he loaded the used brea"fast croc"ery into the dish!asher.

"epte#ber 1%th, 2012

6ichard =ant%s onday morning began !ith a phone call to $ayne Norris' a petty thief he

had befriended in Chelmsford Prison. )$ayne'% he said' !hen the connection to the lad%s

mobile !as made' )it%s 6ich. ,%ve got a little ob for you.%

)(i' 6ich' but sorry mate' ,%m going straight no!.%

)No' hear me out. This is legit' but some easy money for you.%

)Beah' right*%

)-eriously' $ayne. All it needs is an hour or t!o of your time ne&t $ednesday. , !ant

you to station yourself out of sight opposite the main gate of $orm!ood -crubs at 1.00 p.m.

on $ednesday' and to simply photograph !ith your smart phone any vehicles leaving the

prison bet!een one and t!o o%cloc". ,mmediately email the photos to my mobile and you

!ill have earned yourself an easy hundred uid. $hat do you say+%

)Bou%re sure that%s all+%

)That is definitely all you have to do' $ayne.%

)5"ay' 6ich' you%ve got yourself a photographer' but ,%m no 3avid /ailey.%

)=ood man.% =ant grinned into the receiver and gave $ayne his mobile number before

ending the call.

(aving enlisted his one essential accomplice' =ant ne&t had to acuire a sa!noff

shotgun' a couple of cartridges' and see" out a car to nic". After the lessons learned from his

years rubbing shoulders !ith fello! prisoners' none of these tas"s !as li"ely to pose a

problem for him.

And so it proved. /y late afternoon he had the gun and the cartridges' and had

earmar"ed a car for the ob' a !hite 2litre -"oda -uperb that he "ne! !as routinely par"ed

every evening outside a house ust t!o streets a!ay from his home.

No! his plan !as up and running. ,t !as all systems go.

"epte#ber 1&th, 2012


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$aiting in the stolen -"oda in a uiet side lane off the road leading to -t. ar"%s Church'

=ant reached for his mobile !ith a gloved hand to ta"e the incoming call. )Bes+% he

ac"no!ledged.

)#ust t!o vehicles have left bet!een the times you specified. The pics are !ith you

no!.%

)Cheers.%

As $ayne terminated the call' =ant studied the t!o pictures relayed to his phone. 5ne

!as of a small red van 7 hardly a li"ely choice of vehicle to convey an inmate to his mother%s

funeral 7 !hile the other !as of a blac" olvo saloon !ith a driver and three passengers.

Although it !as impossible to identify the occupants' =ant !as reasonably confident that

$ince !ould be one of them. ,t !as an appropriate vehicle and the timing !as right. Part of

the registration number !as decipherableG /AH -I ,t !as enough.

(e chec"ed his !atchG 19.0 7 :ess than 90 minutes to !ait.

>

=eorge $ince !as occupying the centre rear seat of the olvo' sand!iched bet!een t!o

hefty security guards. Nobody !as saying much. (e "ne! they despised him and he had

precious little regard for them or their "ind. ,t !as the driver !ho bro"e the silence shortly

after passing the side lane !here =ant !as !aiting.


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The guard stumbled out' follo!ed by $ince.

-till brandishing the shotgun' =ant !aved the guard bac" into the olvo and ordered

the driver to toss him his "eys. Then to $inceG


13/18

=ant !aved a dismissive hand.


14/18


15/18

=ant !ashed the mugs and returned them to their hoo"s before braving the coc"pit to

chec" that Caprice !as still ta"ing good care of herself.

>

,t !as still daylight !hen $ince groaned and regained consciousness. (e !asn


16/18


17/18

By the sa#e author'

Share a Crooked Rickshawis a fast-moving tale of danger, love and corruption set in

the 1960s when Hong Kong was a British Crown Colony !hile trying to trace a missing

colleague, Chief "nspector #ic$ %onovan is shoc$ed to learn of the merciless $illing of a

friend and others during a savage armed ro&&ery 'hen there is an attempt on his own

life !ere these events connected in some way( !ere the 'riad overstepping the mar$(

He $new his investigation was li$ely to &e hampered &y the imminent arrival of 'yphoon

#achael !hat he didn)t $now was that a far greater evil was slowly approaching the

Colony 'his romantic thriller contains some erotic content


18/18

A(tion ) Ad*enture+ Known only as Chen, he had &een a thorn in the side of

*ingapore)s well-ordered administration for several months But when his name was

lin$ed to a devastating raid on a *+ armoury, and then the &rutal $idnapping of a

British diplomat and a ./*C epert, he was swiftly la&elled 2u&lic /nemy .o1 His

etreme demands for the hostages) release would have invited an outright re3ection4

that is until he also sei5ed a school &us carrying nineteen children 'he outcome of this

truly a&sor&ing confrontation left everyone utterly stunned

wild retribution

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