Elephants can't hide forever Page 16

  All plans have a flaw. Penny and Sykes’s plan had one flaw and one piece of bad luck. They had assumed that Mike and Jane had no living relatives. That was the flaw, and the piece of bad luck occurred on their very first day in Port Douglas when they asked the fishermen if they knew of Mike Tobin. Jane did indeed have a live and very able bodied relative who happened to be fishing in the Marina on that day, when Penny and Sykes asked him of Mike’s whereabouts. Her father Charlie Allington.

  At eight pm that night a very heavy hearted Mike Tobin boarded the red eye to Singapore on route to London Heathrow.

  Chapter 27

  Sammy Mc Ilroy’s house, Hampshire

  As Sykes and Penny boarded their Jumbo for Australia, John Illes’s wife Cathy was passing through customs in Terminal One, Heathrow, on her way to make a rather shorter flight, albeit the mission was the same, to secure the freedom of the two villains currently incarcerated in one of Her Majesty’s penal institutions. Cathy, under instructions from The Mouse, was on her way to Malaga to brief Danny’s brother Sammy on the possibility of Mouse and Danny’s liberation. Mouse, in his usual way, was thinking ahead and planning the outcome, he knew when the time came all hell would be let loose, and the harder he made it for the police to trace the events back, the better chances the trio would have of making it. At this point, there was no tie up with the SAS man and the potential escapees, although Jock Wallace was a concern, but that couldn’t be helped, as long as there were no further coincidences, they should be long gone before any tie-ups were made.

  Sammy had returned to England with Cathy almost immediately; he saw his role as a facilitator and minder, and brother or not he still owed Danny big time for keeping stum after the St Albans foul up. He knew whatever way the SAS man wanted to play it, he, Sammy, would be in a position to obtain almost anything the man would require, his contacts were still good and he had a lot of markers ready to call in. If the Army man was going to pull any stunts, he was the man to bring him into line.

  Sammy’s English country home, which Mouse had decided was the best location to plan the escape, was situated on the southern tip of the New Forest, the nearest town being Brockenhurst, and a few miles from the costal town of Lymington from which the Isle of Wight was just a few miles and clearly visible. The house itself was discreetly located down a leafy lane with no immediate neighbours, in fact Sammy had never met any local residents, this being one of those areas where the property owners were either self made millionaires or blaggers, and neither parties were mixers, which suited Sammy just fine.

  On this particular evening the house, was occupied by Sammy and Cathy Illes. They were awaiting the arrival of Dave Penny and his cargo from Heathrow. Sammy had considered strengthening his numbers, knowing the SAS man was likely to be a handful, but, and quite rightly reckoned he wouldn’t be any trouble as long as his girlfriend was in safe custody down under.

  Just after ten pm the front doorbell chimed, and Sammy answered it.

  “Hello Dave” he said with some genuine affection, “Hope the flight was not too painful, and you must be Mike Tobin” he enquired, holding out his hand in a display of attempted friendship.

  Mike just looked into his eyes and made no movement to accept the handshake, neither did his facial expression change, but Sammy sure got the message. Cathy came into the hall and quickly recognising the building tension: addressed Mike:

  “Mr Tobin” she said in a level voice, “These circumstances are not what we wanted, however it’s what we’ve got, the fact you are here demonstrates you are going to get my husband out of prison. Now you probably hate us all, and I don’t blame you, we are holding your girlfriend against your will, and will continue to until my man and his two friends are freed. No harm will come to her as long as you do exactly what we require, but believe me, if I think you, at any time, are considering any type of double cross, or contacting the authorities or any of your ex army mates, I will have her fingers posted back here one at a time, so it’s up to you. One other thing it might help the cause if we can at least be civil whilst we are all working together.”

  Sammy whistled under his breath, what a fucking tough bitch she could be when needed.

  “You people are barking mad,” said Mike. “You really have no idea who you are messing with, and let me tell you this if one hair on my Jane’s head is out of place when I get back, each and every one of you will regret this day beyond your wildest nightmares. Now, before we even start talking about getting these people out of the slammer, what I require from you is this. Whilst I’m here I want to speak with Jane whenever I say, and I want to speak alone. If at any time she’s not there, for whatever reason, this job stops and you’ve got a problem.”

  Cathy, who had assumed control of this opening debate, considered this carefully. There was really nothing this guy could say to his girlfriend, now held in a remote shack in the bush, that could assist any type of escape, and in any case the boys down in Oz would keep an eye on that.

  “Very well Mr Tobin, agreed” stated Cathy. “But when you call, all I ask is that my guys are in the same room as your girlfriend, just to ensure she doesn’t give the address away or anything that might compromise this little agreement.”

  Mike nodded, and announced he would like to ring Jane right away. Cathy handed him the GPS phone and ushered the men out of the room.

  “We’re right outside, any funny stuff and the deals off,” she told Mike with some bravado.

  Mike dialled the number on the side of the phone and recognised Richard Sykes’s voice on the far side of the world.

  “Put Jane on” he told the thug, a few seconds later Jane spoke.

  “Mike?” she asked into the phone. Mike swallowed hard and composed himself.

  “Hi honey, how are you?” he asked anxiously.

  “I’m fine, Mike, and you?”

  “Listen honey,” Mike said, “until I can get you out of there I’ve got to go along with these bastards, so here’s what I want you to do, somehow I’m going to bust you out and when I do these turkeys at this end mustn’t know, so when I do and you’re free and I ring, I want you to mention your Dad, just that word in the conversation, and I’ll know you are free, is that OK?”

  “Sure.” said Jane, “But be careful and don’t take any risks.”

  Mike put the phone down, and for several seconds stared into space. Somehow he had to orchestrate two extractions, one from a Category A British Penal Institution and the other from a hideout some where in Australia, and as if that wasn’t enough, the Australian breakout had to happen before the jail bust. The Gods of fate who had orchestrated this affair would have to play one last hand.

  Mike switched the GPS phone off and called to the other two that he had finished.

  Cathy entered the room. “We’ve kept our end of the bargain, Mike,” she said, “so I suggest we turn in for the night and get down to business first thing in the morning. Your room is on the first floor, we’re not going to lock you in, and you understand the stakes. All I would say is, no wandering about the house, the CCTV cameras will pick you up,” and with that veiled threat Cathy wished the three men goodnight, and retired.

  The next morning the four conspirators sat round the large pine table in the kitchen studying a large map of the Isle of Wight. Cathy was the first to speak.

  “Well, Mike, you’ve had a night to sleep on it, any thoughts?”

  Mike, having decided his hostile attitude would only ensure the other three kept him under intense scrutiny, replied with a civility that was a distinct change from the previous evening.

  “Yes, but before I decide the best method, we have to agree some ground rules.”

  “Fair enough, go on,” replied Dave Penny, who up to this point had remained remarkably quiet.

  “Firstly” Mike stated “I figure the Island will have all sorts of cameras, vehicle recognition surveillance and the like, therefore we always travel on and off separately.”

  Cathy raised an eyebrow
and threw an inquisitive glance at Penny and Sammy. Mike continued:

  “When we get the boys out, and the shit hits the fan, every recording, every CCTV image on the Island, will be scanned and double checked, so we have to take every measure we can to ensure the police and prison authorities cannot tie up any associations. If at any time I’m seen with any of you three, and the police add it all up, I’m fucked for the rest of my life. This way, at least I’ve half a chance of getting out and resuming my life.”

  “That makes sense for you,” said Cathy “but you can’t seriously suggest we let you loose on your own, what’s not to stop you phoning your old mates to go searching for your girl? Jesus, you could even go to the old bill and do a deal. Sorry, but that’s not happening.”

  “What I’m proposing,” Mike continued, “is you find a minder, but neither Sammy nor Penny, someone with no form or association with the police, someone who is as clean as a whistle, but loyal to you, and not one of your small time petty thugs who draw attention to themselves either. I’d be happy with that.”

  Cathy thought for several moments. “I’m not over the moon, however I do know someone who can accompany you, but only whilst you suss out the Island. As soon as the fireworks start, they’re gone.” she stated.

  “Wouldn’t have it any other way” Mike replied.

  Cathy took the phone and dialled a private number to a small terraced house in Dulwich. It was answered immediately. “Hi Mum” said Cathy, “How do you fancy a little holiday on The Isle of Wight?”

  “If you think I’m going to visit that no good husband of yours, you’re mistaken” came the curt reply.

  “That’s not it, Mum; I want you to look after a guest of ours for a few days, just drive round the Island with him, that’s it.”

  “Ok then” Mum said with no more ado, “When do I come?”

  “Dave Penny will pick you up in a couple of hours, see you at teatime.” Cathy clicked the off button.

  For the first time in a long while, Mike Tobin grinned. He had faced and conquered some of the most fearsome men that walked the planet, and now he was to be escorted, on his next mission by an octogenarian widow.

  Chapter 28

  The Isle of Wight

  Cathy’s mum had arrived the previous evening. It had been agreed that she be told Mike was looking at the possibility of assisting the Mouse, but not of his circumstances. Mike quickly realised she was the matriarch of the family, a wizened old bird who would not be messed with, but nevertheless an excellent cover for him to get up close to areas he would need to explore in great depth.

  Mike had studied the access routes to the Island the previous day. There were several sea routes across, but Mike was aware if he was going to get the boys off by sea he needed the shortest routes possible, so he had selected two- one from Lymington, with a crossing time of thirty minutes, and one from Southsea at eighteen minutes. Mike chose the Southsea route, disembarking at Ryde, although the time saved on the crossing would be outweighed by the longer road trip, so he would return via Newport to Lymington.

  It took Mike about forty minutes to get to the prison. After disembarking, he was driving the Ford Mondeo he had selected from the garage at the house; although he had been tempted by the Bentley it was too flash to be driving your Mum around. He hadn’t spoken to “Mum” on the way down; this was not a time for small talk. Mike drove around the perimeter of the prison (or prisons, as the previous three prisons on the Island: Albany, Camp Hill and Parkhurst, had been amalgamated in the 1990s). It was as Mike expected, a daunting place with walls soaring skyward, forty foot or more.

  Mike was in the zone, adrenalin surging through his body as he analysed his options- knock out a wall with high explosive and have the guys ready to run for it? Unlikely to succeed, and even if he did get the boys, the alarm would be immediate and it would be impossible to get off the Island in time before a total shutdown was instigated. An airlift with a small helo dropping down into the exercise yard would be daring, but it had been tried before. Furthermore, since the 1995 escape, when three prisoners tried to steal a light aircraft from the local airfield, radar had been installed as part of the prison’s upgraded security, so that any incoming air traffic could be detected at least five minutes before arrival, allowing the authorities to take action which meant getting all prisoners under lockdown.

  Mike was already gyrating towards his preferred plan of action when, after his third tour of the prison’s perimeter, he turned off the main A3020 which runs along and past the prison, into a small housing estate. The nearest houses to the prison perimeter were located in Sherwood Road, a street of neat semi-detached houses. Their back gardens were within sight of the prison walls, hardly an ideal spot to raise a family, but no doubt the prices reflected these restrictions. Mike drove down the road and noted two of the properties were up for sale. What luck, he thought to himself. A plan was hatching already.

  Mike called the Real Estate Company and requested an immediate viewing of the one which was nearest the establishment; he explained he was only on the Island today and a cash buyer. Mike was actually very excited; he had temporarily and unforgivably forgotten about Jane, and his mind was racing with the opportunity he had found in this quiet little street. The estate agent arrived within the hour, having rushed round to the vendor’s place of work to get the keys, explaining there was a cash buyer who seemed very keen. Mike introduced himself as a business man from Shropshire who wanted to move his dear old Mum out of London to a more tranquil location; after all London was not the place it was, what with all the immigrants that had swamped the place in recent years. The estate agent nodded sagely. Mike gave the place a quick once over, perfect, now the most important question:

  “What are the neighbours like? It wouldn’t do for Mum to have a disruptive family next door,” he enquired. The estate agent beamed.

  “Well Sir, you will be pleased to know, there’s just a little old lady next door, about your mum’s age, no disrespect meant, and she’s totally deaf.”

  “I think we have a deal” Mike beamed. “I’ll ring you inside twenty four hours to confirm.”

  Hands were heartily shaken, and the estate agent was on his way back to give the vendor the good news.

  Mike was buzzing; he was going to build a tunnel, right from the living room of this semi, into the bowls of Parkhurst Prison, to a location within the confines yet to be determined, and take out three convicts right under the noses of the guards. He had built three tunnels before, all successful, and from where he was standing they had all been longer. The Polish were internationally recognised as the tunnel men and he knew several Poles who were ex Special Forces that could be recruited for this plan, and indeed had worked with Mike on other occasions. At this point Mike’s thought turned to Jane and he came down to earth with the velocity of an asteroid. This tunnels going to take six months, he thought, fuck it, how will Jane cope for that length of time? Well somehow, he had to get her back before the tunnel was completed.

  Mike decided he had as good a plan as possible, and decided no more could be done on the Island today. He was pulling out onto the main road and heading towards the Yarmouth ferry, when he spotted almost directly opposite the main prison gates, the entrance to St Mary’s Hospital, he had a déjà-vu moment, Something deep inside him caused him to momentarily lose control of the car; he clipped a curb and steadied it, but the jolt the car gave was nothing to what seemed like the two thousand volts of electricity that were exploding in his brain. He had had a thought that was so outrageously insane it might work, and could be the answer to getting the three cons out in a matter of weeks not months. Whatever was going to happen, Mike was going to explore this second option and put it to Cathy who would surely want her man back as speedily as possible.

  Chapter 30

  Sammy McIllroy’s House, the Same Day

  Cathy, Sammy Gallagher and Dave Penny were seated around the kitchen table exactly where they had been when Mike had left them e
arlier that day. Penny offered Mike a cold beer, and Mike accepted. As he sat down barriers were coming down fast, Mike took a long gulp of beer.

  “So, how was the Isle of Wight today? Were you able to come up with any thing concrete?” Cathy enquired hopefully.

  Mike replied in a very measured tone, he had thought long and hard on the return journey about how he was going to sell them his plan without spooking them.

  “I have had a very productive day, in fact it couldn’t have gone better, and I have two options which we need to discuss. As extractions go, option one is the least risky but could take up to nine months to complete; option two is high risk with the possibility of getting them out in three weeks.”

  Cathy and the other two sat transfixed, this was more than they had dared hoped for. After just one day, this soldier was proposing not one, but two possibilities of getting the men out. It sure was looking like they had picked the right man.

  “Go on, briefly explain both ways” Cathy almost whispered.

  Mike talked through option one- he described how a tunnel would be constructed, how the spoil would be stashed in each bedroom, and how they would use akro bars throughout the house to support the additional weight on the ceilings. He spoke of recruiting a team of tunnellers from Poland, and why the Poles were the best at this type of work. He explained how the digging would take up to six months, but before that started how they would have to get building permission from the local council for an extension to the house, which would act as cover for the increased coming and goings during the tunnelling period. He spoke of the necessity of Mouse identifying a suitable point where the tunnel could breach the prison.

  Cathy raised her hand. “Mike it seems like you’ve thought this through, and done this before, I’m impressed, now tell us about the quicker method.”

  Mike helped himself to another beer. This was his preferred way, but he couldn’t tell them the whole truth for fear of the plan being dismissed out of hand. He started: “Option two involves a snatch.” He waited for this to sink in. “Opposite the prison is a large hospital, my proposal is to get Mouse, Gallagher and the Jock into this facility and then get them out from there.”