Strikers Instinct (20 page)

It was early morning and Luke normally loved this time of the day. He ploughed up and down the swimming pool completely at peace with the world. He worked through a set of mental exercises that gradually cleared his mind until he felt so relaxed it almost hurt. Each morning – even when he was due to head to the training ground – he prepared himself this way and he felt it was the perfect start to the day. Today, however, his tranquillity was shattered by a flurry of activity from the far end of the pool room.

“Dad, Dad – you have to see this.” Tom shouted as he ran across the side of the pool. Without stopping to explain himself, Tom switched on the large TV at the far end of the room and quickly flicked to Sky Sports News. Luke hauled himself out of the water and as he grabbed a towel he tried to focus on the screen.

“Breaking news at this early hour,” trumpeted the presenter, “is that the captain of Wishton Clough – Andy Tiler – has been accused of sending extremely offensive Twitter messages. No news as yet from either Tiler or the club. The messages seem to have been sent out overnight and have attacked a wide section of the population. Some messages were sexist – others racist and have caused widespread outrage.”

Tom looked at his Dad. “This is bad isn't it?”

Luke nodded his head. “The only thing I can say Tom is that I am 100% sure that Andy would never send out that kind of stuff.”

Tom seemed close to tears – Andy was his favourite player. “You know all about the Internet Dad – can you help him?” he pleaded.

“I'll do my best son.” Luke promised as he ran to get changed.

Luke didn't bother with breakfast – once he was dressed he just grabbed his bag and headed for the door. Sue and Lexi tried to stop him to see if he knew what was going on but he just shook his head and hurried out to the garage. As soon as the car was on the road he hit a pre-set button on his encrypted phone. The device took a fraction longer than other phones to dial the connection because it was initiating a secure link. Inside the vehicle the dial tone sounded through the car's speakers and Luke prepared to speak – his words would be picked up by several tiny microphones dotted throughout the car. The system design meant that the inside of the car was soundproof and shielded from potential electronic eavesdroppers.

After only two rings he heard a familiar Mancunian voice. “Hi boss – what the hell are you doing out of bed so early in the morning?”

“Nice to talk to you too Sami.” Luke grinned.

Sami Dbele's parents were from Ethiopia and they had escaped civil war many years ago and had been given asylum in the UK. They settled in Manchester and had started a family. First Sami was born and then later his brother and sister. Luke had a network of people who watched out for potential recruits and someone had spotted Sami at University. Luke and Sami had hit it off immediately and Sami had now been working for Luke for around three years – he was currently based in the Album office.

“Sami – I have something urgent I need you to look at.” said Luke.

Sami recognised the serious tone of Luke's voice and instinctively prepared to act. “Go ahead boss.”

Luke recognised the shift in manner and knew that Sami's training was kicking in. “Do you have the screens up?”

There were a number of large plasma screens all around the walls of the Album incident room. Some were switched to various global news channels – others hacked into Telecom companies and showed the flow of data around the world. There was always at least one person on duty at all times in the incident room.

“All running as normal boss – could this call be something to do with the Andy Tiler problem?” asked Sami.

“That's it Sami.” Luke replied crisply. “There is no way that Andy posted those messages. We need to find out who did it and we need to do it fast. If we get the Twitter authorities involved it could take weeks to cut through all the red tape. I need you to do it for me in 10 minutes.”

“I'm on it boss.” Sami wasted no words and killed the connection.

Twelve minutes later Luke was approaching the ground and his phone rang.

“Sorry boss,” Sami apologised, “took me two minutes longer than you wanted – but I have struck gold.”

“Go ahead.” said Luke tensely.

“Well,” Sami began, “I piggybacked off some of our “friendly” networks to get the info we needed and you are right – those messages weren't posted by Andy Tiler.”

“I knew it!” Luke grunted with relief.

“They were, in fact, posted by Jake Pryce.” Sami said solemnly.

Luke tensed. “That's exactly what I was expecting – and I think I know how he may have done it.” He was thinking back to the stupid passwords that had been handed out with the accounts.

“Actually,” said Sami, “you know that we can't say 100% that it was Pryce who posted those messages – all we can say is that the messages came from his phone. And if he has any sense then he will have deleted all trace of them by now – and – as you say – it will take Twitter months to get to the bottom of this and clear Andy.”

Luke didn't seem disappointed. “So now you are going to tell me how we are going to fix this?” he said lightly. He could sense Sami grinning down the phone at him.

“Well we do have a few options.” Sami replied. “First of all – it doesn't matter if Pryce has deleted the messages – if I can get to the phone I can get the messages back. It all depends how crafty he is.”

“What do you mean?” asked Luke.

“If he has thrown the phone away straight after he posted the messages then it makes it more difficult for us but I don't think he has done that.” Sami explained.

“Why's that?”

“Because I am tracking his phone as I speak and he is heading straight towards you!”

Jake Pryce was whistling happily as he drove towards the training ground – once again he had come out on top! Last night had been the most fun that he'd had in ages! First of all that wimp of a chairman had spent 30 minutes pleading with him to come back to training in the morning and to forgive them all. Jake had made him suffer before seeming to be the bigger man and agreeing to turn up and talk face to face with Ed and Sandy. He intended making them all apologise and maybe he would also squeeze a bit more money out of them before he would agree to forgive and forgot.

He had then waited until the early hours of the morning before he had started on the next stage of his plan. Using his phone he logged onto Twitter using Andy Tiler's club account and then entering his new password. Once he was in the system he literally ran wild. He started creating all sorts of poisonous posts and slowly but surely people began to pick them up and many responded, others re-tweeted the original messages This just made things worse because then Pryce insulted the people who were trying to argue with him. He attacked virtually every group he could think of until it seemed to the outside world that Andy Tiler must be having some kind of breakdown.

Once he had decided that he had done enough damage, Pryce systematically deleted all the messages and even removed the Twitter application from his phone. He knew from past experience that it would be ages before Twitter began to investigate the incident and by then he would have a new phone and his current device would be at the bottom of some landfill. He knew that if he disposed of his phone straight away it would look too suspicious so he just needed to keep his nerve for a few days and everything would be fine.

As he approached the ground he noticed a growing crowd of journalists – he laughed when he realised that for once they weren't waiting for him but he decided to have some fun with them anyway. As he approached the small group he slowed down and lowered his window.

“Waiting for me boys?” he asked and appeared surprised when he was told that they were looking for Andy Tiler.

“Is this something about the trouble yesterday?” Pryce asked innocently.

“What trouble?” one of the journalists asked eagerly.

“Andy Tiler attacked me yesterday in front of dozens of witnesses,” Pryce explained, “is that what you mean?”

The journalists sensed blood and began to press forward for more details but Pryce moved forward quickly before they could ask further questions. He grinned as he parked the car – this was getting better by the minute!

He wandered across to the changing room and the fact that he was completely ignored by the few players already in there didn't seem to bother him one bit.

“Morning boys!” he crowed, receiving a stony silence in reply. Chuckling to himself he quickly changed and made sure his locker was securely locked before he went out to look for Sandy and Ed. Luke watched him go, he had his phone to his ear and was listening intently to Sami's instructions.

“OK,” said Sami, “I can see that you are virtually on top of the signal from his phone?”

“That's right,” said Luke, “he's just left the changing room but all his belongings are securely locked away – I can't get at them without breaking into his locker.”

“There's no need for that,” explained Sami, “I just need you to get within six feet of the phone and then I need you to launch the handshake app on your phone. Once you've done that just leave it to me.”

Luke did as Sami asked. The application Sami wanted Luke to use was something they had developed initially as a trial to perhaps replace Bluetooth but they found that it had come in very handy in their line of work. If anyone in the room was watching it just seemed that Luke was sending a text message. In fact, after a couple of minutes Luke's phone beeped and Sami spoke again.

“OK boss,” he said smoothly, “the handshake was successful and I have transferred everything from his phone via your phone back down to me. I now need a few minutes to sift through everything.”

“Great work Sami.” Luke said gratefully. “I don't need to tell you…”

“That you need this sorted yesterday!” Sami finished his sentence.

Luke grinned. “Thanks mate.” and the conversation ended.

By this time the changing room had filled up and there was only one topic of conversation. The overwhelming opinion was that Andy Tiler would never do such a stupid thing but for the moment things weren't looking good. After a few minutes one of the trainers stuck his head around the door.

“The gaffer wants to see everyone in the canteen straight away.” he announced.

The players and Luke all filed out and were soon stood around the canteen waiting to see what was going to happen next. They didn't have to wait long. The door opened and Ed Tierney entered, followed by Jake Pryce and Sandy. Luke noted that they all wore completely different expressions. Ed looked furious whereas Sandy looked stunned – Pryce however looked like the cat who had got the cream.

They walked to the front of the room and Ed wasted no time.

“You will all have heard about what happened last night in relation to our club captain.” he said. “It's my sad duty to announce that in the current circumstances I have decided to suspend Andy Tiler until we get to the bottom of this. We have just spoken to him and he has been told not to turn up here or at the stadium until further notice. The police have been in touch and they will be speaking to Mr. Tiler later today. I am also advising you not to make any contact whatsoever with him.”

The room stiffened at the last sentence. “How are you going to stop us talking to him?” someone shouted from the back of the room.

Ed strained to see who had spoken but the crush of bodies was too great.

“It's just better for all concerned if you do as you are told!” he growled. “And on that subject, I can't believe the appalling way you all treated Jake Pryce yesterday. I won't stand for it and you need to understand that I'm in charge here – not you lot! I have assured Jake that it won't….”

Ed broke off as Luke began to walk out of the room – quickly followed by the rest of the players. He was furious.

“Get back in here – you'll all be sorry!” Ed shouted to their backs.

At that moment Luke's phone rang and he hurried away to the privacy of his car so that he could talk. He slid into the back seat so that no-one could see he was inside – he figured that for the next few minutes he would need to keep a low profile. He noticed that the players had headed off to the training ground and began to run laps.

Luke answered his phone.

“Good news boss,” said Sami, “everything we need is there – and more!”

“What do you mean – and more?” asked Luke.

“Well it looks as if Jake Pryce has some photographs on his phone that look like the wives of certain players. I've been doing some checking up and these photos go back over several years!”

“Blimey!” Luke said. “What an idiot!”

Luke then thought for a moment. “Sami – as usual you've done a great job, now I need to tie up a few loose ends here but I need you on standby – we'll need to talk again soon. In the meantime can you summarise the details in a quick document and send it to me please?”

Luke had the document on his phone in five minutes and he then dialled another number.

“Jan? It's Luke Linden – not sure if you remember me or not?”

Jan Townsley replied. “Hi Luke, course I remember you – I was talking to Harry recently and your name came up – we're all big Wishton fans! On that subject – what the hell is going on with Andy Tiler?”

“That's exactly why I rang you,” Luke replied, “I have evidence that Jake Pryce sent those messages and I need someone from your end to come down to the club so that I can explain what has happened. Pryce is still here but he may leave at any time so we need to act fast. I was hoping you could help us?”

“I knew Andy Tiler wouldn't have sent those messages!” Jan responded angrily. “Look, I'll come down there myself but you need to make sure that you have all the proof you need.”

“Don't worry,” said Luke, “we have everything covered.”

“I'll be there in 10 minutes.” Jan replied.

Luke made another call – this time to Sam Barker.

“Sam, it's Luke. Listen, there's no time to waste. We have evidence that Jake Pryce has stitched Andy Tiler up and the police are on their way to the training ground to arrest him. I'm giving you the heads up so you can cover the story first but it will be all over the internet once the police arrive.”

“I'll be with you in five minutes.” said Sam.

“One last thing Sam.” said Luke.

“What?” asked Sam.

“There's to be no mention of my name in connection with any of this.” said Luke.

“Understood.” Sam agreed.

Luke remained in the back seat of his car until he saw Jan drive into the car park. He picked up his phone again.

“Hi Jan – I'm in the black Audi Q7 parked across from you.”

Jan and a male colleague walked across to Luke's car and he opened the door.

“This is all very cloak and dagger.” Jan said – she didn't seem impressed.

“Please give me two minutes and I will explain.” Luke pleaded.

Jan looked at her partner and indicated with her head that they should both get into the car. Luke gave them a very brief rundown about his previous life as an IT contractor working for the government. His story was that one of his contacts had passed all this information on to Luke but that neither Luke nor his contact could be revealed. Jan looked surprised but then Luke showed her the document containing the proof that Luke was behind the twitter messages. She showed the details to the man beside her who seemed eager to get his hands on the Luke's phone.

“This is Joey Betts,” she explained, “he works in our forensic department and doesn't get much chance to work on something like this.”

Joey nodded to Luke and then turned back to Jan.

“This all looks genuine,” he finally agreed, “but we do need to get our hands on Jake Pryce's phone in order to verify this.”

Luke explained that they needed to start their search for Pryce at the admin block but it would be better all round if he wasn't seen with the police. Jan nodded but then Joey spoke up.

“Mr. Linden, from the look of this document it seems that Pryce has tried to delete the messages. I'm hopeful that I can get them back but if I struggle will your contact be able to help me?”

Luke nodded. “If you have any problems then just get D.I. Townsley to call me.”

Jan and Joey got out of the car and walked towards the admin block. Luke waited until they were inside and then decided it was time he moved. As he was walking away from the car he noticed Sam Barker walking towards him.

“Luke, what's going on?” he asked.

“Let's walk.” Luke said, moving towards the training pitches.

As they walked Luke explained that there had an anonymous tip-off that someone had sent information through showing Jake Pryce to be the person behind the offensive messages – not Andy Tiler. The police had just arrived to talk to Pryce and to hopefully examine his phone. Sam nudged Luke – from behind the admin building they saw Jake Pryce and Sandy Dunbar walking towards the changing rooms with two people who Sam assumed were the police. It was only then that Luke noticed that there were a further two uniformed policemen waiting at the other side of the car park. A few minutes passed and then Luke's phone rang. He looked at the incoming number and then answered.

“Hi Jan – what can I do for you?”

“Joey is struggling to get at the detail – if you can't help us then we have little evidence to go on. At the moment his phone seems clean.”

“Someone will call you back on your phone in two minutes – they will talk Joey through the process.”

Luke then called Sami and explained what he needed. Sami called the number that Luke had given him and a few minutes later Sam and Luke watched as Joey came to the changing room door and beckoned to the uniformed policemen. They entered the room and seconds later they were back – this time they were holding Jake Pryce between them – he was in handcuffs. Sam signalled to someone who had been waiting in Sam's car who immediately began taking photographs.

Jan walked behind the group as they headed to the waiting police van, she looked around the car park and when she spotted Luke she gave a discreet nod. No-one seemed to notice apart from Sandy who seemed happier than he had been in weeks.