Chapter 35

He'd watched the envelope being picked up and taken into the police station and for the first time for a long time, a smile appeared on his face. There was no way he was going to go ahead with his challenge. He didn't have the resources to find Ewan McAllister. The clues he had given gave the police a fighting chance. What he had was the bait to lure McAllister out into the open. He made his way back to the house that served as a prison cell for Camden and in a way served as one for himself. In not many hours, Camden would be gone forever and he too would be released. He hoped that the three years of torment would be over when that happened, but he knew that he would carry the scars with him for however short his life would be. 

That Ewan was definitely in Cairns merely affirmed to those sitting up late drinking coffee in the CID at the Cairns police station, that the punt they had taken was about to pay dividends. Just where in Cairns he was, was anybody's guess. There were hundreds of accommodation places around Cairns and at this time of night, it would be difficult to find out exactly which one he might be in. The larger hotels had concierges on night shifts, but the smaller ones, the ones most likely chosen by McAllister, shut up shop usually by eight pm or by ten at the latest. It was decided that the accommodation angle could wait until morning. 

Sarge shifted their focus to where Ewan had landed in the country. He was obviously using a false passport, however, now they had a picture to go on. The passport check at Cairns revealed that he hadn't landed there. The options were many given the number of larger airports to the south. The further south he landed the higher the likelihood he would have taken a domestic flight to Cairns. Ewan's photo was circulated all down the coast all the way to Brisbane. Nat idly wondered whether Ewan had been on the same flight as his fellow team members, but wisely kept that thought to himself. 

An hour and a half later, just before midnight, they had their answer, Ewan had landed in Townsville just over a day and a half ago. What was most interesting was that he had his leg in a cast. There was no evidence of that in Nat's video footage. It was a long road trip from Townsville to Cairns and the train was not really any quicker, so that cut those two options out. They soon found his domestic flight details and then they were able to use the Cairns airport CCTV to watch his movements. Unfortunately, the coverage of the area outside the terminal building was inadequate and they lost him. He may have taken a taxi, a uber, a shuttle or organised someone to pick him up. 

Despite the late hour, it was suggested that car hire companies and the businesses that made the stickers that were on the van in the kidnapper's photo, should be contacted straight away. Perhaps whoever had rented the van to Ewan or made the stickers had some idea where he was staying. There were some very tired and grumpy business managers and business operators who fronted up at the police station. Once they knew that they might have unwittingly been involved in a major crime and indeed may be in some personal danger, they were more cooperative. In the explanation it had been subtly suggested that they didn’t need this kind of publicity. Both the car hire company who rented the van and the signwriter were soon identified, but all they had was a false address and a copy of the invoice that had been paid in cash. 

There had been a whole lot of work by the team for little gain. Sarge suggested they get a couple of hours rest and pick up where they had left of around seven. Any comfortable chair or couch was quickly put to good use. 

Elsewhere, a man was scrolling through the latest UK newspapers on line. He had been following the investigation and arrests of end users for the last week. What caught his attention in the early hours of the morning had actually made front page news in the Times, the Guardian and the Sun. The police in Glasgow had arrested an alleged major drug supplier who had been supplying the northern and western areas of Scotland and northern England. It was believed that he was importing drugs from South America and also manufacturing amphetamines in his own laboratories. Police were claiming that a nearly billion-pound network had been smashed. The man closed his laptop and knew the time had come; the final part of the endgame was just hours away. 

Ewan McAllister dropped his key at reception around six am and checked out of his hotel. He'd decided overnight not to hire another car. What he needed was an older car that would be less conspicuous and leave no paper trail. He had found what he had been looking for in the videos he had watched last night. An older strange looking car that was half car and half trailer had done a slow drive down the streets near his brother's warehouse on the day of the kidnapping. It had also parked for a length of time near the warehouse on the same day. He needed a car that the driver of the mongrelised car would not think twice about if it was spotted in his rear-view mirror. Luckily Ewan hadn't forgotten his hot-wiring skills he learned as a teenager. Not far from his hotel he found just the right one. At an apartment building he spotted a young couple being picked up by someone else and obviously heading off to work. The woman had taken a jacket from what must have been her car before climbing into the backseat of her lift. She had carefully locked her car before leaving, but that just presented a minor challenge for Ewan.

“Shite! Shite! Shite!” Donald’s words broke through the sleepy haze of his colleagues. No-one, not even Amelia had heard him swear before and so the impact was quite pronounced. They found him continuing to mouth obscenities at the screen in front of him. Sarge checked his watch and wondered whether Donald had slept at all. It was six thirty-two and the sun hadn’t even woken up. Reading over his shoulder they saw the reason for his outburst. He turned to them and asked rhetorically, “Couldn’t they bloody well wait? They knew our timeline. They knew the dangers. We needed another half a day and that’s all. Some bloody politician has gotten hold of this and is probably taking credit for it all.”

He had read the latest breaking news that had been splashed across all sorts of media in the UK and would soon be worldwide. He felt that someone’s undue haste in releasing the information about the major drug network bust in Scotland had just cost at least one and possibly two lives. Ewan McAllister could not return to the UK. He would have to remain on the run and given his reputation and what they had experienced so far, he was dangerous and also capable of going to ground and never being caught. If he read this, then he’d be spooked. He’d still go after his brother, but would be far more cautious. How could someone be so stupid as to even mention the McAllister brothers as being implicated? Luckily, the two photos of the twins the media had got hold of were very dated and there was no resemblance to what Ewan looked like now. That was one saving grace. The last thing they needed was some fool of a local spotting one of the McAllisters and taking the wrong sort of action. That was one of the reasons why they hadn’t released the current picture they had of Ewan and sworn the business people interviewed to secrecy. The other main one was that they didn’t want to alert the kidnapper that Ewan was in town.

It turned out they needn’t have worried on that score. Ewan’s arrival did alter the plans that had been locked in place at the beginning, just as his escape had. With him being in Cairns, the kidnapper thought that things were getting back on track. He could exploit the situation and have the satisfaction of ensuring the McAllisters and all they stood for, were removed from society. It wasn’t about the money. Money to him meant nothing anymore. It was a means to an end and he felt that the end of the McAllisters was justified and morally right. He would pay heavily himself if he was caught and also come judgement day, but that was a price he was prepared to pay.

It was twenty past seven when he woke Camden, releasing his bonds where he had been tied to the bed before quickly retying them. Camden could move his feet but the hobbles he had on meant that all he could do was shuffle. He had one hand free but the other was tied behind his back and linked to the hobbling ropes down low. His captor looked at him impassively and said, “Some good news for you and some for me. For you, it seems that your brother escaped and somehow is nearby. That is also good news for me as he won’t last long if he comes to get you. The other piece of news is that the whole drug syndicate that you were part of has been smashed completely. Even if you or your brother miraculously survive today, there is nowhere to run to………. Less than ten hours to go, make the most of it. Many others before you, whose lives you took, weren’t given that long.”

The words were chilling and pure torture for Camden. The brief flicker of hope had been raised and then cruelly snuffed out. He knew that Ewan would come for him if he could, but now he wished for his brother’s sake, Ewan hadn’t.