Costa Crew 3: Make or Break

Chapter 18 - Cornered

"I have to admit, I didn't think this was how my life would end up," were the first words Becky heard as she eased open the door and stepped inside. "All I wanted to do was pursue my dream of becoming a champion lawyer. Never lose a case."

"You could have done that," reasoned Becky. "You were doing well. Good results, and a job."

"Sports Direct isn't exactly the Godfather."

Becky shrugged. "Currys PC World isn't exactly MI5 agent, but we had to start somewhere."

"Oh, agreed," Amelia said, stepping out from behind the counter. "And we had a great start, you and me. We were inseparable."

"Partners in crime," agreed Becky. "Until you decided you wanted to be a bitch for the rest of your life."

"You're the one who couldn't stand to see me win," Amelia snapped, before taking a deep breath and calming herself. "Speaking of which, take a seat. You look so tense standing there."

"You can't blame me," Becky said as she sat down, picking a table in the centre of the café. "I know I essentially came here to die after all."

"We'll get to that," Amelia replied, sitting down opposite Becky. "First I want to give you the chance to show off your little detective skills."

"My skills speak for themselves," Becky shrugged. "And it's not my detective skills you need to worry about."

***

"I'm not handing myself over," was the first thing Becky needed to clarify. "But I can buy you all time while you take down Amelia's team. We isolate her, she doesn't stand a chance against all of us."

"That's good, but we have no idea who's on her team," Paul pointed out.

Becky smiled. "It's amazing how much Amelia gave away in that last phone call. She watched the footage of me getting beaten up in prison and bragged about how she runs prison. That means she's got influence at the highest level in there."

"Connelly," Drake blurted. "The protective custody request."

"Shoot," Paul gasped. "The request must have gone through properly. It was just at the other end it got lost, because Connelly made it disappear. Raymond, I'm really sorry."

"There's no time for that now," Drake replied, to everyone's surprise. "Point is, Connelly's corrupt."

***

"Everyone's moved," grunted Turnbull, closing the door to Connelly's office behind her. "Why did she need everyone moved anyway?"

Connelly shrugged. "Probably so there's enough cells for Hidgens and her friends. It's strange though, I thought she wanted to kill Hidgens in Costa."

Bradshaw nodded. "She was muttering about it every day. After the Costa Crew took her down she kept saying she wanted Hidgens to die in her precious Costa. She might not have been able to isolate Hidgens from her friends on her terms, but she said she'd stick with that."

"It's better for all of us if we just follow her orders and pretend to understand them," Connelly snapped. "Now we wait for further instructions."

***

"Not your detective skills?" asked Amelia sweetly. "Because you never work alone, do you? Because you can't do anything alone. Because even if you don't want to admit it, you always need your precious Costa Crew to piece everything together. You're a fraud, Rebecca Hidgens."

Becky clenched her fist, trying to keep her breathing steady as Amelia got to her feet and started walking round the table towards her. "For all your big talk about being an MI5 agent and carrying out justice, you've done nothing of value. You're only the hero of this story because history has decreed that I'm the villain. Without me, you're nothing."

Becky shook her head. "I-"

"That wasn't your cue to talk," snarled Amelia, grabbing Becky's wrist from behind. "Get up."

Amelia pulled Becky to her feet, twisting her arms behind her back. Becky pushed back with all her might, but to no avail.

"You might have the upper hand on intelligence," Amelia whispered gleefully, producing a pair of handcuffs with one hand while holding Becky's wrists together with the other. "But when it comes to strength…it's safe to say you've got nothing."

"At least you're finally admitting I'm smarter than you," grunted Becky as she continued to struggle against Amelia's hold. With every move she made in vain, Amelia simply laughed more.

"I've been looking forward to this day ever since the day you arrested me," she hissed, locking the handcuffs around Becky's wrists. "Revenge really is a dish best served cold. And it's about time I got mine."

***

"It's also safe to assume that Amelia's got Anthony working with her," Becky continued. "If she's got that much influence in prison, breaking him out shouldn't be hard."

"Plus he called me," added Ted. "And threatened Bruce."

"There's one more piece of the puzzle," Charlotte said. "Becky's address."

"I interviewed everyone," Paul said, running a hand through his hair. "Everyone checked out."

Drake sighed. "Paul, you might be slightly biased. After all, they're your team. You worked alongside them, and trusted them."

"I know, but my team didn't," Paul replied. "They would have an objective…oh shit."

"What…oh," gasped Hannah.

"What'd I miss?" asked Alex.

"I didn't interview everyone," Paul explained. "Samantha Foster was a member of my team when I was working on Operation Godfather and when we arrested Amelia but then transferred to anti corruption. She helped with the interviews."

***

Samantha took a deep breath, feeling the gun in her pocket. She knew what she had to do, but it was going to take a lot out of her. She'd had to bring up enough energy when it was Curt Hidgens in his own apartment. But walking into Anti Corruption and shooting another police officer dead…it was something else entirely.

She eased open the door of the holding area. "Miller, we have some more questions for you," she called. When no response came, she stepped further inside, only to find the holding area completely empty.

Samantha's heart raced as she ran downstairs and outside, silently cursing. If Erica got away…there was no telling who she might run to. "Erica…" she hissed softly. "I'm here to help you. I'm not like the others. I work for Amelia too. I know what you're feeling. Let me help you."

To Samantha's relief, Erica tentatively edged round the corner. "Back round," she whispered, not wanting to do the job right in front of AC-9.

Erica hastily backed round, Samantha following, hand now on the gun, before she saw something that made her stop dead in her tracks. "Not another step, Sarge," Ben said, gun in one hand and handcuffs in the other.

***

"You've had four years to think about this," Becky panted, one hand now cuffed to the radiator, the other lying beside her as Amelia stood over her. "Again, friendly reminder of the four years you spent in prison. While some of us didn't even go for four months."

"That was only the beginning," Amelia said softly, bending down so that she was eye level with Becky. "You came all this way thinking I was going to kill you. You couldn't be more wrong."