Aaron Connor (28 page)

“
Yes sir” I
said,

“
Yes sir” said
Lizzie,

“
Good” said
Barry, “Lucas, get him ready. Once he’s done you are to leave for
the South Bank immediately. You got that?”

“
Yes sir” I
said,

“
Yes sir” said
Lizzie,

“
Right, carry
on then” said Barry.

Lucas gave us each a gun which
was to be hidden from public view, so they were put in the inside
pocket of our jackets. He put a tiny camera on my jacket which was
attached to a little crocodile clip. Behind Lucas I could see a
large television screen showing what the camera could see, which
was a close up of Lucas’ dirty vest. Once he was done he stepped
back as did all of the other people around us, they didn’t put
their guns away though. Barry came up to us and snatched the file
away and gave me a slip with Tyler’s address on it.

“
Off you trot
then” said Barry, “time is of the essence, Mr Connor”

We were rooted to the spot with
fear. I felt a prod on the back from one of Barry’s gunmen. I got
the idea, grabbed Lizzie and started to walk out slowly. The same
gunman followed us out with his gun raised. Out of the corner of my
eye I could see Barry pouring himself a glass of whiskey. He downed
the entire glass in one go. The gunman led us out of the room and
closed the door behind us.

“
Let’s just go
Aaron!” insisted Lizzie, “Please, let’s just get out of
here!”

“
We can’t” I
said as we walked down the stairs,

“
Why?” asked
Lizzie, “because we made a promise?”

“
No” I
whispered, “because they’ve put a camera on me and they can see
everything we do. If we bail, they’ll come after us. Better keep
our voices down, I dunno if this thing has microphones or
not”

“
Ok” said
Lizzie, “but we can’t kill that man”

“
I know we
can’t” said Aaron,

“
So what the
bloody hell are we going to do?” asked Lizzie,

“
I’ll think of
something” I said,

“
Think of it
quick” said Lizzie, “I feel like I may faint”

“
Just stay
with me” I said, “I won’t let any harm come to you”

“
Ok” she said
meekly, “I trust you, Aaron”

“
Thank you” I
said, “I won’t let you down”

We walked out the building a
few moments later and caught a bus to the South Bank. The South
Bank runs along the River Thames opposite Big Ben and the Houses of
Parliament, it’s also where the London Eye is situated. This place
is known as the British home of the arts as this is the place of
the National Theatre, National Film Institute, The Tate Gallery,
ITV television studios and a key location for some of the best
graffiti artists.

We walked alongside the river
together. We passed people lining up to see the latest award
winning play at the National Theatre. We saw tourists looking
around them in awe from a tour boat which was sailing along in the
Thames. So many wonderful strangers walked by us, unaware of what
task we were ordered to carry out. We followed the map and
directions that were on Barry’s slip, which led us to a much more
run down area of the South Bank. It didn’t take us long before we
were standing at Tyler’s front door. The time had come.

The sky was grey. The world was
dark and foggy. Seagulls flew overhead and their squawking echoed
across the dank street. A sense of foreboding was in the air. Our
road trip was no longer all roses and smiles. We’d found ourselves
in a world of crime and dishonesty. We didn’t belong. I then made a
very serious decision. I decided that whatever happened in that
house, I was going to take the blame for. I put my hand in my
pocket, took out the keys to the Moped and handed them to
Lizzie.

“
If anything
happens” I said, “they’ll desert their building to come after me,
this will allow you to get the Moped without any hassle”

“
I’m not
running away” she said,

“
I’m not
asking you” I said seriously, “I’m telling you. If something goes
horrifically wrong, you are to get on that bike and go home. If
anyone asks what happened to me, tell them that I’d drowned in a
lake or something. You are not to come after me. Do you
understand?”

“
Aaron?” asked
Lizzie, “Are you being . . .”

“
Yes” I said,
“I love you, but if I go down, you are not coming with me. You get
away from here, anyway you can. Do you understand?”

“
Yeah” she
whispered, “I understand”

“
Good” I said
before giving her a kiss.

“
I love you,
Aaron Connor” she said, “If anything happens, I won’t ever forget
you”

“
Thank you” I
said,

“
No Aaron”
said Lizzie, “Thank you”

I could see tears running down
her face. I put her head in my hands and looked at her with all the
sympathy that my heart would give. She smiled at me. Then said a
few words, which I will never forget;

“
I wouldn’t
have missed out on this adventure for anything. You are the most
incredible person I’ve ever known. Your kind, sweet, generous,
caring, loving . . . I wish all men were like you. I’ll make sure
that everyone knows your name, if it’s the last thing I do. I’ll go
to the newspapers, I go on the television and I’ll do everything I
can to make sure that you’re remembered. I will not rest, until
everyone on this Earth remembers the name: Aaron Connor”

“
Thank you” I
said, “I think . . . it’s time. Barry’s watching all this, he might
get suspicious”

“
Ok” she said,
she wiped the tears from her eyes, “I’m ready”

“
I’m not” I
said with a smile.

We laughed nervously. The laugh
soon faded, as the task at hand became more apparent in our minds.
We turned to face the door, took a deep breath and knocked on the
door. It only took a few moments for Tyler to answer the door.

Tyler was a very skinny young
man. He looked no older then Twenty. He was only dressed in a pair
of filthy joggers. He looked so thin, so ill and so weak. His eyes
were popping out of his skull. His entire body was shaking. His
appearance was like that of a frightened puppy.

“
What do you
want?” he said in a broken and shaking voice.

I was going to ask him if we
could go inside to talk. Looking into those helpless eyes made me
stop and think. I couldn’t. I wasn’t some gangster. I wasn’t some
scummy drug dealer. This was something I’d never do to a fellow
human being. I changed my mind on the spot and said this
instead:

“
Nothing,
sir”

“
What?” he
asked,

“
Wrong house”
I said, “sorry to disturb you sir”

“
Right” he
said, “don’t worry, mate”

Tyler closed the door behind
him and disappeared from our lives. We just stood frozen there on
the step. We didn’t know what we were waiting for. I knew very well
how much trouble I was now in. I knew that I was going to die for
what I’d done. Barry had seen me go against what he asked of me. It
was just a matter of time before he arrived.

A few minutes later, we heard a
car tearing up the road in the distance. I turned to look to my
left where the sound was coming from. As I expected, it was Barry’s
Mercedes roaring its way towards us. I could see Barry’s face in
the front window, he looked furious. There was no point running.
This was destined to happen and I had to face it head on, but I
wasn’t going to allow Lizzie to have the same horrific fate. This
was my fault, my choice and so I knew that the punishment was for
me and me alone.

“
Hide” I
said,

“
What?” asked
Lizzie,

“
Hide” I
repeated, “Go behind that bin”

“
What?” asked
Lizzie again,

“
Just do it!”
I said,

“
No!” retorted
Lizzie,

“
Go!” I
shouted,

“
I won’t leave
you!” she insisted,

“
GO NOW!” I
bellowed.

Lizzie finally took my advice
and hid behind a collection of wheelie bins, which were standing
just by the front door of the house. The car pulled up on the curve
with a loud screech of the tires. Several of Barry’s men came out
of the car, put a bag over my head, tied my hands behind my back
with rope and dragged me across the street and into the boot of the
car. The boot’s lid was slammed shut. A few moments later the car
was speeding down the road, towards an unknown location.

CHAPTER TWENTY – FOUR

I have no idea how long we were
driving for. I was in darkness. All I could smell was the stale
stench of the bag that was over my head. All I could see were the
fibres and stitches. The car’s engine rumbled underneath me and
vibrated my entire body. The car’s boot was small and tight. It
felt like I was trapped in a coffin. Usually I never had an issue
with small and tight spaces, but this was too much for me. Once
again I felt panic grip me.

I could hear the sounds of the
London streets outside. I could hear car horns, the bleeping of
traffic lights, the ringing of bike bells, people walking along and
the sound of large crowds. The point when I really got really
worried, was when I could no longer hear the sounds of the city.
The only sounds that reached my ears were the humming of the car’s
engine and birds singing outside. I could hear the wheels
travelling over softer terrain, maybe gravel or mud. Then all of a
sudden, the car stopped and the engine died.

I heard the car doors open and
slam shut. I could hear a collection of feet walking on the ground,
increasing in volume as they approached the boot. The sounds
surrounded me. The sound of the feet made my heart pump so hard
that it felt like it would burst out of my chest. Once again all of
the sounds stopped all at once. There was a loud metallic click. I
heard a loud whoosh and felt a gush of air as the boot was finally
reopened.

Several hands grabbed at my
tracksuit and pulled me out. My cramped body was soon out in the
open. I had no idea where I was. I had no idea how many people were
around me. All I knew was that I was somewhere in nature as the
ground felt soft underneath my feet, even through my trainers I
could feel the mud squelch beneath me.

“
What do we
have here?” said a voice which I recognised as Barry’s, “smells
like a dirty rat to me. Time to show this rat what happens to
traitors. Take the gun and camera off of him, he won’t need them
anymore.”

The rough hands came back and
rummaged around with my jacket. One hand unclipped the camera from
my zip, the other took the gun from my inside pocket. Two more
hands searched my entire body like I was at customs at the airport.
They took the only thing I had on me, which was the last of my
money inside the white envelope. Once the man knew that I was clean
he removed his hands, I could hear his feet stepping back a few
paces.

“
Is he clean?”
asked Barry,

“
Only had a
few quid on him” said the man who searched me, “nothing much
boss”

“
Very good”
said Barry, “let’s take him to the clearing”

“
Get moving
Connor!” said Nikki pushing a gun into my back, “don’t waste any
more of our time”

I obeyed and walked forward,
allowing more hands to lead me through the unknown location. Two
hands were on my shoulder and they pulled at me whenever they
wanted me to change the direction I was walking in. I tripped over
a couple of times on what felt like rocks and branches. One object
was so big that I tumbled onto the ground, I could feel my body
sinking into the wet mud. The hands returned, grabbed me by hooking
their arms under my armpits and dragged me across the mud. My legs
left like jelly as I struggled to get onto my feet, they kept
slipping and sliding on the mud. Soon I gave up and allowed the
hands to drag me along.

This went on for what felt like
a millennium. I lost count how many different turnings we went
down. I’d completely lost my sense of direction. I felt dizzy and
light headed. This loss of vision for this amount of time had made
me feel very unnerving. I knew what was going to happen. I wasn’t
ignorant to the fact that I was going to die. I just wished that
they’d just do it. It made me agitated. I just wanted them to get
it over with. The anticipation was tearing me apart.

I felt a hand press against my
chest to make me stop. I stopped walking and stood were I was. A
pair of hands pushed down with a lot of force and strength on my
shoulders. I decided not to resist and allowed the hands to bring
me down. I was then on my knees in the cold mud. Several of the
footsteps walked away from me, making the mud squelch loudly. The
bag was whipped away from my head and I saw where I was.

Well, here we are. This is
where I started this book, back in the prologue. There I was, in
the forest clearing with Barry’s gun pressing against my head. The
cold air froze my bones to the core. In Barry’s sunglasses I could
see the blood splattered across me from when I tripped over back on
the forest path. The drug dealer’s associates stood behind a bush a
few meters from me. I could see their eyes stare back at me with
malice. I was scared. At the same time I was ready to go.

I just hoped that Lizzie had
gotten away. Nothing else mattered to me. Life no longer mattered
to me. Existence no longer mattered to me. Everything I’d been
through on this road trip had no more importance to me. The only
thing that was dominant in my mind was the image of Lizzie arriving
back in St.Ians. I could see her running to her front door and
jumping into the arms of her worried parents. That film playing in
my mind kept my spirits high as I awaited my fate.