Retribution - A Dish served Cold

Chapter thirty-Four

David Little glanced at his watch. It was approaching midnight as he and Bobby returned to where his team still battered the bank vault wall.

"How long before you use the explosives?" asked David.

The man rubbed his chin. "Twenty minutes to half an hour."

"Good work. I need someone to assist in the removal of a manhole cover."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"The way out," said David.

"I'm with you, boss." He lifted a hammer and a short chisel."

"Wouldn't it be quicker if we simply blasted the cover?"

"I need to check it out."

David shrugged. "Alright, let's get started. You can do it your way, but if you have any problems, you use explosives."

The man shrugged. "Whatever you say, but we're wasting time.

"Follow me. Bobby, you stay here and make sure they keep working on that wall."

Flashing the beam of his torch, the two men half ran along the drain.

In ten minutes, David pointed at the ladder. Away you go. It's perfectly safe. I've climbed to the top."

"On my way, boss, but I need your torch."

"Why didn't you bring your own?"

"I can go back and get one if you want," said the man grinning.

David handed over his torch. "Just get that cover shifted."

"If I were you, I'd stand out of the way when I start beating the shit out of the brickwork."

With his tools shoved into his trouser waistband, the man climbed the ladder at speed.

David looked to the left and right along the drain. In the dark, it felt oppressive like a grave. He shuffled to the side and leant against the circular wall and waited.

The sound of grunts and curses along with hammering and rubble dropping confirmed something was happening. It seemed an age, but when the man appeared fifteen minutes later, there was a grin on his dust-covered face.

"Done, lifted and back in place. From what I could see, it's in the middle of a road. We need to leave before the road gets busy."

"Goes to prove," said David, "If you want a job done well, use the best. I'll arrange for a bonus once we are out of here. Now we'd better get back and give the others the good news."

***

Frank and Terry checked the reservoir level for the umpteenth time. "It's stopped rising," said Frank.

"I've shut the spillway off," said Terry, "And took a gander at the damage. I reckon it'll be out of use for a year. The middle section has gone completely."

"We can worry about that when it stops raining. We were lucky those valves worked."

***

The two men Bobby ordered to clear the debris of the undercroft stopped working the second the boss was out of sight.

Mark lit a cigarette and sat on a large block of stone. "We could be here for weeks shifting that crap. Give it an hour, and we can return to the others and tell him, as fast as we removed the rubble, more collapsed into the drain. He'll never know."

Bill shrugged. "You'd better hope so. He's a bad bastard if you wind him up."

He took a deep drag of his cigarette, "Never worked for him before. How about you?"

"Nor me, but as I said, he has a reputation."

Mark tossed his cigarette away. "What was that?"

"I never heard a thing, but then I'm a bit mutt and Jeff."

"What the fuck me arse is wet."

Both men stood and stared at the trickle of dirty water.

"I wonder where that's coming from?"

Bill rubbed his chin. "It's been raining heavily up top all day. I reckon

it found its way through a crack in the brickwork. Nothing to worry about."

Mark grinned. "I believe you. Thousands wouldn't."

Both men laughed.

Mark turned his head and stared along the drain. The dim light from his torch failed to illuminate anything untoward. "That's some leak, Bill. It's washing over my feet and rising."

"I suggest we leg it."

Both men started to run.

The debris-strewn water surged around the men's knees in minutes. The water was up to their chests as he swam with the flow.

The current drew stronger, forcing them into the brick wall. Mark slammed into a section, screamed and dropped his torch. "Bill," he shouted as something smashed into his face.