Before Another War

Chapter Forty-Eight

As smoke spilt from the house, Clive's team finally snapped into action. The whole place had to be on fire. What the hell is going on? He wondered. The negotiator had only been minutes away but they couldn't risk the hostages getting hurt. At the first signs of fire, Clive had ordered his team to storm the place. They had to take it by force now, it was the only option. People were already running out of the house in droves as they searched for clean air. All that was left was to catch them.

However, a lot of his officers were reluctant. The vast majority were both unarmed and inexperienced, yet Clive knew they'd win the numbers game — even if he did get in trouble with the bosses later. As the officers moved in, three figures emerged from the front door.

The few armed men rushed over, forcing them onto the floor, their hands in the air. From the edge of the house's huge garden, Clive recognised the trio. He smiled. Morgan.

The police continued to move in, swarming down upon the property, smashing windows and breaking down doors. It wasn't long before the disorientated, oxygen deprived gang members were found. Some of them were close to passing out. Yet, there was no fire. Butch's smoke bomb had done the trick.

It was a simple operation from then on. The gang members were easy enough to catch and lock into handcuffs. No one would be laughing at Clive now. He would be famous for bringing in Cyrille. Although, there was still no sign of him yet. But there was no way to escape, surely? They had him surrounded. So Clive sat watching and waiting impatiently for someone to make the discovery. He couldn't wait to see that man dragged out on his knees.

Eventually, a few officers found their way into the basement. The air there was still somewhat clear, thanks to the heavy metal door that protected it. There, they found Kirk. He was fine. The whole evening would simply be a disaster he never wanted to go through again. After a few years of therapy, he'd move past it, probably.

But there was no sign of Cyrille. Or Butch.

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Raf shivered in the cold. It had all happened so fast. One moment he had been stood, facing the barrel of a gun, and the next, he'd been dashing down a smoke-filled hallway towards freedom. Once they'd escaped, he'd been threatened by a gun for the third time that day, and they'd arrested Morgan. Consequentially, he'd discovered that she was on the run. Clive wouldn't disclose what she'd done, but Raf knew it had to be bad.

Raf was sat in the back of an ambulance with a shock blanket draped over his shoulders, stunned he hadn't been arrested himself. The house was a frenzy of activity. He was only a few hundred feet from the door and Raf could see tons of people going in an out. God knows what they'll find. He wished Alex was with him, but she'd fainted soon after leaving the house. It looked like the energy the Egia gave her had finally run out. He tried not to worry. The paramedics had told him she'd be fine — but she hadn't looked it.

One thing that kept preying on his mind was why Cyrille had let him run to the police. He clearly wasn't a stupid man, and it would have been all to easy to predict. He must have wanted me to do it, Raf guessed, but why?

Kirk was sat next to him, wearing a similar blanket and saying nothing. He was in a bad way. Shaking and shivering like a frightened lamb. For the moment, Raf was coping, he was just staring at the house, waiting for news. She'll be fine, he told himself, not sure he believed it. Finally, Matt was dragged outside, coughing and spluttering. It was satisfying to see him struggling against the officers. And Raf smiled as the handcuffs were slapped on his wrists. The ambulance that Raf was at in was part of a huge array of emergency vehicles. The police were clearly expecting casualties and plenty of them. Raf knew the best thing to do was to stay quiet, to wait, but he had to know.

Matt was sat in the back of a police car just a few feet from him. Slowly, Raf stumbled towards him, his legs burning. As Matt spotted him, he fumbled with the door, desperately trying to roll the window down.

The window reached the bottom of the frame and their eyes met.

'Tell me why,' Raf said, keeping the emotion out of his voice.

Matt hesitated, scared of what Raf would do to him, but he wanted to tell someone. Show Raf that he hadn't done anything wrong. In his circumstances, anyone would have done the same.

'Money.' He smiled weakly. 'I had a lot of debt, I play poker, it's simple.' He shrugged, watching Raf's face turn red with badly-hidden anger. 'And you know about my mum — I thought, if I could just get on top of things, I could stop playing, and even get her some better stuff, help her pain, you know? Things just ramped up from there... I didn't want any of this to happen.'

' And Alex?'

He looked down at his hands. 'I didn't have a choice — she got too close.'

Raf wanted to hit him, to drag his miserable face across the pavement, but he held his temper. 'You should've told me. I could've helped with the money, for god's sake.'

Matt shook his head. 'Not that much. Your entire life savings would've have even made a dent.' Matt scoffed. Little did Matt know, Raf had a lot more money than he thought. 'Besides, that wouldn't save her. Just the Egia.'

'So that's it? You hurt all those people? And for what?'

'And? You're not exactly a saint either, are you?' Matt spat.

Raf took a step back, terrified at what he might be referring to.

'Yeah, that's right,' Matt continued. 'I figured out what you did to Alex.' He smiled, wanting Raf to take the bait. 'When I was driving her here, she woke up a little, ranting feverishly about what you'd done. But that wasn't the only thing, was it?' Matt leaned his head out of the window and whispered. 'I know about your dad too.'

Scared and angry, Raf lunged at him, grabbing Matt by the throat. How does he know? Raf held tighter, determined to finish this once and for all. He couldn't let Matt live now. His secret was to much to bear. 

But alas, a spritely young officer noticed the commotion. She raced across to them, knocking Raf to the floor and pinning him down.

Is it him? He wondered. Is he the blackmailer? The officer screamed commands as Raf was pushed into the ground, but he didn't listen. It was all over now, anyway.