The Road Not Taken. Ch 9

Chapter 9

Her eyes widened as he approached the desk.

“God, Des! How many printer cards did you get through?”

“On my third.” He said, placing the ream of paper on the counter.

“Third!? Thirty quid? You would’ve got a couple of months of broadband for that! You really need a computer and printer. It’s a fool’s errand spending that much on the printers here!”

“I know. I know. And I will. Got a lot of tidying to do, a lot of stuff I’ve thought might be useful that’ll never see any use I can sell on Ebay. Then I’ll get one, along with some proper fitness equipment. That’s what a lot of this is. Ebay pages. A little research in how much I could expect to make.”

“Well, you’ll need something to carry that lot home.” She reached under the counter and placed a couple of folders.

“Thank you, that’ll be a big help. How much?”

“I think the library can afford it. You’ve spent enough.” A grin appeared. “I’ve heard it helps if there’s more than one exercising together…”

“Yes. That’s true.”

“Give me your number. I’ll force Brian to phone you.” She sighed. “What he really needs is someone to bully him into it.”

“Oh, I think I can manage that. Had a lot of that when I was a kid.”

“Oh?”

“Army cadets.”

“That’s excellent. I just hope he doesn’t back out once I’ve talked him into it.”

“If he agrees, I won’t let him back out. Only trouble is… Where do you live? No car, remember?”

“Don’t worry, he has one, and we’re close to the main bus routes and very close to a country park. Ashton Road. Near Daisy Nook.”

“I know it. Good place, too. Plenty of canal towpaths, nice and flat, and some steep hills when we get to that stage… I agree.” He dug out his phone. “I can never remember the bloody number. Where is it?” He selected a few different menus before he spotted “MY NUMBER”, hit select and held it up to her.

She nodded, jotted it down, wrote something more and slid a scrap of paper to him. “Our address and number, just in case.”

“Thanks. Tell him not to call me until Monday. Visiting a friend down south tonight, I’ll be busy until then. Oh, and if he doesn’t have any, buy him a pair of shorts and some trainers. We won’t be running at the start, a nice long walk the first few times just to build up some stamina.”

“I’ll do that. Thank you.”

He held up the folders. “No, thank you,” divided the stack of paper in two and shoved them into the folders. “I’ll probably be back on Monday, anyway. See you.”

“See you, Des.”

The moment he hit the street, he turned towards the nearest bus stop that’d get him back into the city centre.

It didn’t take him long to sense… well… A shiver ran down his spine. He glanced around, convinced he was being watched and turned the next corner.

Continuing to glance around, he turned again and pressed himself against a wall as a car turned and skidded to a halt.

The front window slid down. “Get in.”

“And why would I do that?”

A sharp click issued from within the car. One he recognised.

“Get in, now.”

“You’re not going to shoot me in broad daylight, so, what do you want? How do I know if I do get in, I won’t be found by a dog walker in some woodland in a couple of weeks?”

“Look, just get… in!”

“Who are you?”

“The person telling you to get the fuck in the bloody car!”

“And why are you trying to order me about?”

“When my boss wants something, he gets it, and he wants you!”

“Well, as far as I know, I don’t have any criminal connections, so why does he want me? What did he tell you?”

“He said get Derek Brown, he’s currently at the library. When he comes out, bring him here.”

“Well, unless he said why”

“He told me to say maze of darkness, no idea why!”

Derek sighed, opened the back door and clambered in. “Why didn’t you say that in the first bloody place? And you can put the gun away, don’t forget to make it safe! You wouldn’t’ve even needed to draw the bloody thing if you’d said that first!”

The man in the driver’s seat turned and stared. “Why the fuck aren’t you brickin’ it?”

“Why would I be?”

“I threatened you with a gun!”

“So? Just… Get a move on, will you? I’ve got things to do.”

He nodded and the car pulled away from the kerb. “But you’re just a washed out author! What did it mean anyway? Maze of darkness?”

“All I care about is, your boss and I know what it means. If he chooses to spill the beans, that’s his business, but I’ll say this, it is related to why your threats didn’t phase me.”

Derek relaxed and watched the world go by as the car drove through the outskirts of Manchester, into a derelict warehouse district and finally, into an abandoned factory, the shutter doors slamming shut behind the car as it entered.

The moment the car had slowed to a halt, the door opened. “Out!”

Derek shrugged, stepped out and smiled at another gun wielding thug. “You’re not scaring anyone, y’know. Just put your little toy away and lead the way.”

“What?”

A call from the front of the car. “Just do as he says. He’s a tough nut, this one. He’s not easy to intimidate.”

“But you got him!”

“He got in willingly, not from my threats. Seems he wants to meet the boss!”

“Quite. So, put it away and take me to your leader.”

The new thug sighed. “OK. Follow me. Where’s the fun when they come willingly? Why aren’t you afraid?”

“Fairly simple. What’s the point in hurting me when your boss wants to speak? Wouldn’t exactly be a good way to get me on side, would it?”

“But”

“Look… I have no criminal connections, which means your boss has reacted to something I very recently posted. Something I know, he needs. Something he has, I might find a use for, too. I’m got no qualms in working with you lot if it gets me closer to my personal goals, so, as I said, lead the way.”

“Right you are.”

Into the heart of the factory, up some steps, the man stood at the top and pointed at the end of the gangway.

He nodded and marched to the end. A door led into an office and sitting behind desk, a middle aged man with a cruel scar down his cheek.

“Ah, good. Please, close the door and take a seat.”

The moment the door was closed he lowered his voice to a near whisper. “They’re not near it are they?”

“One’s still in the car, one, top of the steps.”

He relaxed. “Oh, thank God! I’m terrified. I can’t relax! To make things even worse, I’ve had to move five times since I found myself here! Please!” The next word out of his mouth came out as a yelp. “Help!”

“Thought so. So you are another one of us? Another victim of this lottery bullshit?”

He nodded. “I’m not a criminal! I’ve never even stolen a Mars bar from the local newsagents! And now? I’m the head of a gang in control of all kinds of crap!”

“Lemme guess. Drugs? Protection?”

“Human trafficking, prostitution, burglaries to order, you name it, they… I suppose… we do it.”

“I’ll help, but I expect the same in return.”

“How do you expect me to help? I… I’m terrified just talking to these thugs!”

“But they do obey you? They do respect you, or, at least who you used to be? Right?”

“What exactly are you intentions? Obviously you’re trying to connect with other… victims?”

“Quite. The life I’ve had dumped on me was probably just as much a shock as yours was to you. Not as much of a fright, though, admittedly. His life’s a wreck! Mine, apart from an… indiscretion in my late twenties that wasn’t my fault, leading to having to pay child support, my life was bloody good. I don’t intend to allow this to continue. I’ve got to get back before he destroys what I had.”

“What the hell was mine even thinking? I’ve not been able to find any reason why he would abandon this life for mine!”

Derek shrugged. “I suggest you speak to them. They may be able to enlighten you a little. Criminal rival, perhaps? Threats to your life? Maybe the police were getting a little too close for comfort and he saw it as an escape? Do you know anything?”

“Only that until six months ago, he was making a packet from his various schemes. Then, huge amounts went out of his accounts every month, paying for those bloody tickets.”

“Sounds like he did see it as an escape. Have there been any attempts on your life since you got here?”

“Not that I know of, but as I said, they’ve moved me five times.”

“Sounds like someone’s after you. Have you spoken to him?”

“Spoken? How the hell can I”

Derek held up his hand. “I suggest you try.”

“But he’s in a different… world?”

“Did you get any flashes when you were in the maze?”

“Memories of my old life?”

“I thought that until he looked in the mirror and apologised at me. I responded. He heard. We’ve been in intermittent communication, since.”

“But… How?”

Derek looked around. The door was of solid wood. No windows were evident. “Try? Turn the light out. When you get a flash, latch onto it and talk. If he hears you, responds, it should be enough.” He sighed. “It might depend on how long ago it was. Still less than forty-eight hours in my case.”

“If you could?” He pointed at the light switch by the door.

Derek flicked it. Immediately, his other self’s senses became evident. Even better, he was in the middle of another run.

“So, this isn’t just a memory? It’s a bit faint.”

“Where is he?”

Where’s who? Who was that?

Not you! I’m talking another one of us through communicating, so just shush and continue your run. I don’t care if you listen in, but shut it, for now.

Hmph. Fine.

“He’s watching something on my telly.”

“Address him directly. If it worked for my counterpart staring at the mirror, it might work without it. Try.”

“OI! Shit-for-brains! Give me my life back, you twat!”

“Me, Alistair Maddock, that’s who!”

Derek chuckled to himself. “If you want to be a little more discreet, thinking should be enough.”

“That? That was another victim of those bastards who did this to me! Thanks for the thinking it idea. When I’m among the others, I’ll do that.”

“What do you mean, I… At least give me some pointers! By now, you know you’ve never… What do you mean not any more? Oh, fuck! Why did you escape from this one? You were already established, here! And now you’re trying the same over there? You’re going to ruin my life!”

“It’s mine!”

“But I don’t know how to do this!”

“How?”

“I’m not going to let you get away with this! I’m” After a long pause, he sighed. “Turn the light back on, will you, Mr Brown?”

Derek nodded and flicked the switch. “He can’t hear you, now. It’s only when either of you are in pitch darkness. What did he say?”

“He said he’s restarting his gang, over there! That the police were getting too close, there had been one too many attempts on his life by rivals and he wanted to escape. He bribed one of the lottery people, so knew it was an exchange, that he’d retain his memories there and I’d be dumped here. More, he doesn’t give a shit. He wants me dead. You were right, it’s not just the police after me.”

“Well, it seems to me, you’re in a far better place than I am, right now. “

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Look at me! I can barely walk up the hill from the bus stop. I used to be a bloody army NCO, a physical training instructor with twenty-five years of experience! Brown, sergeant, 45305640.”

“Shit! Really?”

“I don’t own a car, a computer, not even a… I believe they call them smartphones, here! I spent thirty quid just on the printer at the library for all the research I did today! You look in shape, you’ve got a criminal organisation to back you up. You can use that when it’s time!”

“Time? What the hell are you planning?”

“If you want to think of it in terms that lot’ll understand,” Derek pointed at the door, “we could call it a heist. Might be an idea, actually. The goal as far as they’re concerned, steal the tech that did this. Our goal, use the tech to return home and destroy it, so no-one else can get swiped.”

“You really think…”

“I have a map of the area I emerged. I have a map in my head of the maze we went through. I should be able to pinpoint where they are. It’s getting in that’ll be the problem. I intend to contact everyone. You could help, there. Find out who else won, gather us together. That’s why I posted the thing about the white room in the first place. I can train you in a few military tactics, I can make a few makeshift explosives. I bet your men could, too.”

“And the heist?”

“How many criminals, corrupt politicians and bent businessmen would be willing to pay millions, maybe everything they own to escape the consequences of their lives? Especially if the authorities are closing in? Sell that service, highest bidder. Think you get the idea. Keep the location secret, just as they do. That’s what you tell them out there, anyway. Meanwhile when we get in, we force them to reverse it, I trigger the timed charge when the last of us,” he pointed at himself, “is about to be sent back. Then, boom. Problem solved, no more victims, for a while at least. They’d need to rebuild. If, at the same time, the truth of their “service” got released to the public, they may not be able to.”

Alistair’s eyes widened. He chuckled. “Oh, God! Do you think it’ll be possible?”

“It’s the only thing I’ve been thinking about since I got here. I have to at least try. I have a month’s reprieve before my life ends up in ruins over there. I’m clever enough in both worlds.”

“What do you mean, a month?”

“I’m stationed at Pirbright ATC. I’m one of the training team for new recruits. One of those recruits had two attempts at basic training, so far. The first, he broke his ankle, or rather, that’s what we thought. The second, he failed in other ways. My other self, over there, came up with a bloody good idea. He’s placing himself in the role of recruit with the failure training him. The idea as far as they’re concerned is to build up his confidence. Something that took a severe beating due to a punishment for something that wasn’t his fault and the broken ankle. Something other me managed to get him to admit was inflicted by one of the true guilty parties. The upshot is, one month to get the training he needs to become a soldier where he can be as incompetent as he wants. One month where his duties are on hold. Believe me, trying to fake being a sergeant would be a disaster. Even more so, faking being a physical training instructor.”

“So, you have a grace period. I wish I could say the same. With my luck, by the time I do get back I’ll be in prison! Or facing the same shit there as I am here!”

“My advice. Swallow your morals. Try to become the evil, self-serving git you need to be to be a crime boss. Keep all those schemes going. Do anything you can to keep your position here. What’s more, I’ll help.”

“But you don’t know how to be a crime boss anymore than I do!”

“No. But I know how to lead. I have the confidence to command. I can be your right hand man, if you like. Do you have any documentation about your activities or are you truly flying blind?”

“I do. I’ve been through most of it and it’s horrifying!”

“How do you feel?”

“Terrified! I said that!”

“No anger?”

“Of course I’m angry!”

“Well, that’s the key. Don’t just fake it. Pour the anger of what’s been done to you into your work. Into revenge. Screw the world, put all that fear and fury into pushing your criminal activities forward. Rivals have been a threat? Take them down. It’s a thing we’re trained for. Taking down an enemy. For me, that’s normally a rogue state. For you, it’s another criminal organisation. Do to them what they’ve been trying to do to you.”

Alistair’s head sank into his hands. “Oh, shit!”

“How about this, if it’ll make you feel any better? Is this your world?”

“No!”

“And do you have any emotional attachment to anyone in it?”

“Obviously not!”

“So? Fuck ’em! If you like, you could see the whole world as fake, as us being the only real people in it. As every other being as being nothing but a fiction. Try any mental trick that can help you become what you need to be to succeed. They don’t matter. The only people that do matter are the ones in our own worlds and both of those lives are at risk of ruin from trespassers from here.”

“But what if we fail? End up stuck here?”

Derek shrugged. “Then it’s even more important you embrace the life. If you hate being a criminal mastermind, use it until you’ve made enough to disappear and emigrate. Obviously, somewhere that doesn’t have extradition treaties with the UK. Make a new life for yourself with your ill-gotten gains.”

“And you?”

Derek sighed. “For me? I may very well have to learn how to write fiction. As long as I can remain in contact with my other self, I may be able to pick his brains for writing the third in the series. Apparently it’s been years of anticipation from the fans. That should produce enough income. You never know… Maybe I’ll like working with you. A double life, like Superman or Batman, but as a baddy.”

“You’d willingly join the criminal underclass? I’m already stuck with it, but you?!”

“Well, I did say if I liked it.”

Alistair smiled and reached over the desk. “Welcome to the club, I… suppose.”

Derek returned smile and gave it a shake. “Deal.”

“So, what now?”

“What time is it?”

Alistair reached into his pocket and glanced at his phone. “Going up to five. Why?”

“I’ve got time. If you can arrange for the man who brought me here to take me down to Rugeley, a lot of time.”

“What’s at Rugeley? Where is that, anyway?”

“Ever heard of Cannock? It’s near Cannock chase, I think. There’s a forest there. I’ve agreed to be there to… well… to get as close to my other self as possible.”

“Why?”

“You said the images were quite faint before you spoke to yours. Did they become clearer as you were speaking to him?”

“No. Why?”

“It’s just an idea. It might not work, but if it does, I suggest you do the same. Keep the link between you alive. I figured physical proximity might help with that. No idea if it will.”

“But he wants me dead!”

“True. But you can rub it in when you succeed at something. Torment him with your successes and tell him of your plans to take the tech that did this. Make billions from it. Really get on his tits. Added to that, you never know, but it might help in reversing it when it’s time.”

“God, I love your way of thinking!” Alistair chuckled. “You really have a vindictive streak, don’t you?”

“When it comes to having my life ripped away from me, damned right I do! You do too, it could make or break your situation here. Now, how many men do you have here?”

“Six?”

“And in total?”

Alistair took a deep breath through his teeth. “Ooo, well over a hundred. Scattered, though. All over Lancashire and Merseyside.”

“Does this place have a boardroom?”

“I suppose it might’ve had that use… No furniture in there anymore though. Why?”

“Let’s get their greed juices flowing. It’ll explain where you were, too. How… Long were you gone?”

“Apparently, three days…” Alistair clicked his fingers. “Damn, I’d forgotten about that. They did regular security sweeps in my home. A day before I left, clean. The day I got back…” He opened a drawer and dropped a couple of things on the desk. They were small, about, two inches long, thin, with an angled bit on one end and a glint of glass. “Cameras. That’s what spooked them into moving me the first time, but… I think the timing’s too perfect for it not to be from… well… y’know… Them.”

Derek stared at them, then dived for his pocket. Then sagged. “I… I wondered what it was, but… When I took the books down off the shelf, I think one of those things fell to the floor. I just… didn’t think, I just swept it up and put it in my pocket.”

“You have one? An active one? Here?”

“Wrong pocket. The sweats I was wearing are in the washing machine.”

“Oh, thank God! Of they over heard a word of what we’ve said… That confirms it, then. It was those gits who planted them, not one of my rivals, probably using his keys to get around any security. Damn, I didn’t even need to bloody move the first time!”

“Might’ve done you a favour if you are vulnerable to attacks from not only the other criminal gangs but the police, though. My advice, keep moving. We’ll need to exchange numbers, though, so I know where to be to be picked up.”

Alistair chuckled. “They’re spooked. I don’t think I’d have any choice but to keep moving at this point. Now… Boardroom?”

“If there’s no furniture, the factory floor will do just as well. Gather them together, the ones here, that is, and we announce our plans. Don’t worry, after you tell them the basic outline, I’ll take over with what I propose.”

“And then?”

“Have them spread the word. Once I’ve located their most probable position, you could put a few of your Merseyside crew on surveillance duty, disguised as homeless people or something. Watch for any comings and goings. I doubt they live there, they’ll treat it as a normal workplace, most likely. There might be more than one way in and out. We need to know as much as possible before we strike.”