A Company of Killers.

By Doug Pountain

Jody Styles is a detective inspector with the Nottingham city police force, but she and her colleagues have known for many years just how difficult it can be to get a conviction no matter how strong the evidence, something that really pisses them off. They know the accused person is guilty beyond any shadow of doubt, but in court, and with the assistance of some smart arsed lawyer, or an old fart of a judge, who puts a persons life of crime down to them not being breast fed as a child, there is still a very good chance of them escaping justice. But then one day, and completely out of the blue, she is introduced to a very secret group of people who operate in the shadows above and beyond the law, a place where the police cannot go, and this group have a very different idea as regards to justice and retribution, and maybe one that is right up her street. After much deliberation and soul searching, Jody agrees to join them, but she is tasked with one last case that will not only test her as a detective, but also as a member of the human race. This crime will show her the full depth of depravity that man has sunk to in his quest to satisfy his lust for money and control, a place where even children are seen as a commodity, no matter what their age.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doug Pountain
• Release date: Jan 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201183615

Doug Pountain

Hello, its great to meet you. I live in a small village in Leicestershire, England, and now i am retired, i have the time to do what i most enjoy, writing. Reviews are the life blood of authors, and if you have enjoyed reading this book, i would appreciate your review. I can be found at https://facebook.com/dougpountain or email [e-mail] I wish you all happy reading as i make myself a cup of tea and begin writing. Take care, Doug Pountain.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

It was 4pm on a Tuesday afternoon when Detective Inspector Jody Styles, parked her car as best she could in the very overcrowded car park of Nottingham Central Police Station, very close to the city centre. It was pouring with rain through the darkest and cloudy sky that you can imagine, but today the weather made no difference at all to Jody, as far as she was concerned it could have been twenty degrees below and she wouldn’t have bothered in the slightest, today was a good day, in fact today was a very good day. She sat there in silence with a large smile on her face as the rain water ran down her windscreen and obscured her vision. But the large smile on her face was not down to some humorous event that had taken place, or something funny that she had heard. It was down to pure satisfaction for an event that she had hoped and prayed for, but thought would never come. She had spent the last three years of her life getting to grips with one man who thought he was invincible, and untouchable. The man in question, Graham Sykes, had been responsible for the deaths and ruination of countless young people’s lives with the filthy drugs that he imported, and also supplied too many criminal gangs across this country and abroad.

This man wasn’t a small time seller of £20 bags of cocaine, he was an importer and distributer on a grand scale, and with direct connections to the Columbians, and as such if you bought drugs anywhere within the UK, then you could virtually guarantee that somewhere along the way, his organisation had come into contact with them in some form or another, but even this amount of control and power wasn’t good enough for him. He had even tried, but without success, to set the cartels against each other in a bid to start a price war, but it hadn’t worked, they were far too clever for him, and eventually it was this failed attempt to upset the applecart of organisations who were a great deal larger and deadlier than himself, that had finally had led to his downfall.

He’d got too big for his boots, and had only just escaped by a hairs breath a plan to kill him in retaliation for his double cross of men who were basically maniacs when it comes to life or death. But today was the culmination of all Jody’s, hard work. Jody, and her team had given their evidence in court, and Graham Sykes, had, after the 3 week trial, been found guilty of several crimes, including manslaughter, the importation and distribution of drugs on a vast scale, money laundering, tax evasion and several other charges, this was Jody’s, day for celebration as he was finally sentenced and sent down for a minimum term of 27 years.

Jody, had been personally tasked with bringing down this one single man, and his organisation, and over the years, she, and her handpicked team of other detectives, who she had brought in after personally selecting each one from other forces across the country had done their work very well. She knew the power of money to be more than capable of corrupting even the best officers, but the men in her team were clean and completely untainted in any way. With Jody’s, guidance, they had slowly but surely, pulled apart his filthy trade little by little as they managed to turn Sykes men against him one by one, to get to the heart of his business, and bring him to this one glorious day in court for sentencing.

But her greatest prize had been the arrest of his accountant who she had threatened with at least 10 years behind bars if he didn’t cooperate, and because he was still only in his 30s, she had promised him that he would be arse fucked every day during that period by many men with very big cocks. But after many secret discussions with Jody, he had apparently decided that he didn’t fancy that idea very much, and he had done what he had to do, and did a deal with her. But he would only provide his assistance as long as he could be provided with a new identity for himself and his family, otherwise they would all be dead. With that assurance given, he had eventually provided all the information regarding Sykes financial affairs to one of Jody’s teams who were forensic accountants. These men were specialists, and they had over time managed to account for every penny of Sykes’s fortune that had been spent on cars or fancy holidays, this was indeed the nitty gritty of the investigation, and the amount involved ran into millions, including the purchase of many properties both here in the UK, and also abroad, and which Jody, had now seized. But she was also well aware that it may take many years to find the cash that he had secretly stashed away, and which still remained unaccounted for. This money was intended to allow him to disappear very quickly if it were ever needed, but Jody, had been too good for him.

Sykes had on the face of it, been a normal business man, and he had several legitimate and varied companies, through which he would launder vast amounts of dirty money. But he himself had always managed to keep a low profile, and draw very little attention to himself, and to deny all knowledge of what was actually going on. But Sykes led a double life, and he appeared to live too well from the declared profits of his legitimate companies. There was also a farm in East Bridgford, a small hamlet about twenty minutes away from the Nottingham, this is where he, and his much younger girlfriend lived in a very large house that had all the trappings of wealth, including a helicopter landing pad. But Jody, was no fool, and she was already aware of the rise of another person taking place in the background, but this person was totally unconnected with Sykes, and now he was slowly, piece by piece, taking over this man’s vile trade. Jody, was also a realist, and well aware that this was a vicious cycle that would truly never be broken. All she had achieved with the downfall of Sykes was to create a power vacuum that she realised someone would step into, before she would have to start all over again, same shit, but a different day. Jody, knew full well these people were vicious killers, regardless of whether they were men, women or children, and with not a thought for anyone apart from themselves, for them the lives and wellbeing of others had no meaning.

The rain slowed down a few minutes later, and Jody quickly took the opportunity to escape her car, and make the dash across the car park to the Police headquarters, but it was still raining hard enough to wet her best grey business suit that she had worn to court that morning, and it left her feeling just a little bedraggled. She quickly ran up the two flights of stairs, and into the main office, and where, as she entered, everyone stood up to cheer and applaud this gritty, bloody minded, and determined woman. Her own team who had been involved in the investigation had now all gone their separate ways and returned to their original duties at different locations all over the country, and as such, she found it rather strange to be back with those who were engaged in the normal day to day business and crap of police work.

Her boss heard the commotion taking place, and came from his own office at the far end of the room, and he threw his arms around Jody, in celebration of what she had achieved, where others before her had failed. Jody was a hero, a very tired one admittedly, but she had prevailed where men had had not, and this reception was a great provider of energy for her ego, as she stood tall, and head and shoulders above the others.

You did it, you fucking did it, you crazy bitch. All you so called fucking detectives in this room, take note and learn. If you want to catch a villain, then forensics are just another tool, and not the answer to all of your problems, get off your fucking fat arses, and follow Jody’s lead. She and her team caught this man through bloody hard work, and getting out there amongst the villains, that’s how you catch bastards and bring them down, this was done by old school methods, and not by some twat from college who hasn’t got a fucking clue, and thinks that it is all down to DNA.

The applause very quickly died down at the chief inspectors comments, but if you worked for him, then you knew there was no such thing as political correctness in his approach to policing. You were either good or you were shit, and if you were shit then you were history, man or woman. But he was right, he knew there was no substitution for hard work, and door knocking, forensics only puts the final nail in the coffins of the bastards. With her head held high, Jody, followed her boss into his office and sat down, and it was now for the first time very obvious to him of the immense pressure that she had been working under for the last three years. She had worked tirelessly, both day and night for this conviction, and also sometimes with the threat of her own demise and death hanging over her.

She realised there would be some out there who would still like her blood, as during her time digging for evidence to convict Sykes, she had also got very close to some other large international crime groups who were associated with him, and who themselves had also suffered financially during her investigation. But Jody, didn’t give a flying fuck as to who she upset, that was her choice, and she fully understood the consequences.

Fuck Um? As she would say in her quite strong Nottingham accent.

Jody, was thirty five years old, and single, and her age in relative terms was regarded as fairly young to have made the rank of detective inspector. She also had a very good figure that she was certainly not afraid to use to her advantage if she thought it would help her, in fact she was very happy to be a woman in a male dominated world, regardless of what other women or men thought of her. She was the younger of two girls by three years, but their mother had died when they were both still very young, and her father had brought them up on his own, and he had made a very good job of it as well.

They were always a very close, and loving family, and who were always there for each other regardless of the circumstances. Jody, still lived in the same family house that her father had left for the two girls after his own premature death only a few years previously, but Jody, had bought her sisters half of the house from her, and she just carried on living there. She loved this house and all of its memories of both her parents, it was a place of safety and sanctuary where she had a real sense of contact with the past, and also the reality of the world today, but also the love and presence of her father in particular, it was as though the spirits of her parents still remained within the house, and within their youngest daughter to guide and protect her. If she ever felt lost or alone with either her work or her personal life, then she would openly have a conversation with them, and in her mind she would always receive a reply, but she had never told anyone about this for fear of ridicule. But Jody’s belief in the protection she knew existed, and which she believed was provided by her parents was unshakable, they were always at her side.

Jody, lived alone, and had very few people in her life that she could call real friends, she didn’t even have a cat. She’d had a few relationships over the years, but they had all come to nothing, Jody’s work had always come first, second, and last as far as she was concerned, and if men wanted to get involved with her, they would need to understand, and accept that, but very few did, and again that never bothered her. Jody, had been with the Police force since she had left school, and become a cadet. She had been more than capable of going to university and getting a degree, and this would have allowed her to fast track up the ladder of success within the force, but that wasn’t her way.

She’d pounded the streets of Nottingham as a beat bobby at first, before eventually passing various exams that had led her to promotion, and eventually to the CID, but she’d always had a good teacher. Her father had been a sergeant with the police for many years, and he had taught Jody, well as she set forth on her career. He was also a well-respected man amongst the old style of criminal, and they had always known him as a fair cop. But they also knew that if you did wrong, and he found out, then he would have you. If something happened in his city, he always knew where to look for the villains, and those responsible.

But that was in a time long ago before drugs, and the new style of criminal came to the fore, these new people didn’t give a fuck who got in their way, and that also included children. To these bastards, children were just another tool to be picked up and used for a purpose, and then discarded when they had out lived their use, they were indeed just regarded as a tool. It was the easy availability of money, and what the kids saw as a glamourous lifestyle that usually drew them in, plus most of the kids had parents that didn’t give a fuck about them anyway, and as such they were always on to a loser from the very start. Their path only led down to the gutter, abuse and possibly an early death at the hands of these bastards.

That’s how Graham Sykes, had originally started out on his career to eventually become what he had thought to be top dog, he’d been dealing in small bags on the street since he was 7 years old. The Police knew him intimately, and he was a regular guest at the station. But due to his age he was untouchable, and it was this thought of invincibility that had driven him on to become what he was today, that was until Jody, had finally put him behind bars.

Bringing this man down had been so important for the authorities, that Jody, had been given an unlimited budget for catching this man. His downfall had also cost Jody, and her team many hours of single handed observation from the back of vans, armed only with a camera, and trying as best they could to get the evidence to finally make a case against him. Jody, knew that she couldn’t get him for murder directly, because he had always taken great care when it came to the little things, and he always had an alibi. But she was well aware that he had committed several of them in his early days at a time when he was trying to gain influence with others. But as he had grown bigger, and his business had expanded, he would dish out those jobs to others, and keep his hands clean, to a certain degree. But even though he was now in prison, she realised that he would still be capable of exerting a great deal of influence on the streets, even from his prison cell, but Jody, played exactly   the same games as the bad guys, and she didn’t play clean or fair, she was prepared to use any method, legal or otherwise to secure a conviction, and to put the scum away.

Jody, could be ruthless in her tactics, and she didn’t give a flying fuck about what others thought of her, or the way she worked, and this had got her into trouble several times in the past with the hierarchy that existed within the police. But she now had a plan in her mind that was a little unorthodox in its direction, and she certainly wasn’t happy that Sykes was going to have a fairly easy time of it in prison due to his perceived status amongst the elite of the criminal fraternity, both inside, and outside of prison. He had thought Nottingham to be his own personal territory, and it was this feeling of superiority that made him believe he would still be able to run his filthy organisation from his prison cell by using his captains, and his connections. But it was the thought of what he may lose if people on the outside turned against him while he was behind bars after spending many years building his empire through fear, and on the backs of the dead that would eventually lead him to the ultimate conclusion of his life. He still thought of himself as number one, both inside and outside of prison.

Jody, knew full well, that even though he was now behind bars for a considerable length of time, that he would appeal his sentence, and then with the assistance of some fancy smart arsed criminal lawyer, who would be paid a great deal of money for his efforts, even though he would also be fully aware of his clients business, that he may then be able to get it reduced, or even get him off on some technicality, and that wasn’t what she wanted.

Jody, had something in her arsenal of tricks that she had used several times before to great effect, she knew that all you have to do with criminals, no matter how big they think they are, is to create a certain degree of mistrust between men who are locked up together 24 hours of every day, and for this to cause the required amount of chaos and mayhem, and whatever it took to get this in place with Sykes, she was prepared to do. Jody, certainly had no demarcation lines when it came to a plan for this particular piece of shit. She knew that he would be transported to Belmarsh prison in London to begin his sentence, sometime during the course of the following day, and as she had a few days holiday coming to her before she would need to move on and tackle her next case, Jody, realised that she would need to move quickly to get her plan in place if it were to have any effect. Her brain was now working overtime with a plan to ensure that Sykes would never get out of prison.

Boss, I am going to see my sister in London next week for a few days, but I would also like to go to Belmarsh first to gloat just a little at Sykes, if that’s alright with you?

Chief inspector David Chenny, sat behind his very untidy desk, and looked over his cheap reading glasses with a very quizzical look on his face. He had always bought his glasses from Wilkinson’s stores on the high street for about a fiver, but he had always classed them as designer spectacles, truth be known he was a bit of a cheap skate. This man sometimes knew the inner workings of Jody’s mind better than she knew it herself, and he realised that she wasn’t just going to see Sykes for a chat or to gloat. He knew that deep down inside this woman, there was some ulterior motive passing through her head, and that in another world, and at another time, she would have made a brilliant criminal.

You’re up to something, I can feel it in my water, you wouldn’t be thinking of tossing him to the wolves would you? Look, you have my blessing to go, and to have a pleasant conversation with him, but you know something you crafty cow, don’t you?

Jody, looked back at him with a wry smile on her tired face that was masking her true intent, and DCI Chenny knew that she did indeed have some knowledge that she was prepared to use to her advantage. But now she had to come clean, or she wouldn’t get her authorisation for the visit, but she wanted that whatever the cost.

Look boss, as you know, Sykes has over the years made many enemies, and one of the worst of those is the Russian, Zarov, who was put away for life two years ago for his part in gang related murders, after we received information that was supplied to the us through a third party by Sykes.

Yes I know that, but what’s that got to do with today’s event, Zarov, if I remember correctly is in Long Lartin, jail isn’t he?

That’s true, he is. But I know that he has already asked for, and also been granted a transfer to Belmarsh prison to allow him to be near his English wife and family in London, so they would be able to visit him more often. But there are also six other Russians in Belmarsh, and they just happen to be from the same crime family, and just as an added bonus, they are also from the same district of the Motherland. But it gets better, they are also big friends of Zarov, and if he doesn’t like someone, then these men will also dislike the same person, which will be Sykes. I would put money on it that they would all love to say a hello to Sykes from the Russian mafia in a way that only they can do. But Sykes doesn’t know any of this yet, and it will also be another week before Zarov, arrives, and they are able to renew their relationship. I just thought it would be nice if I go and tell him the good news in advance, and obviously drop him in it with some of the other gentleman guests of her Majesty who are already in there, what do you think?

You really are such a nasty cow Jody, I love the idea, now fuck off and I will see you when you get back, I may have something very special lined up for you when you return.

Jody, blew him a kiss as she left his office, but she didn’t forget her other colleagues as she walked out of the large disorganised, and chaotic outer room.

Drinks are on me when I get back from holiday you bunch of tossers, now fuck the lot of you, you lazy useless twats. And the whirlwind that was DI Jody Styles was gone.

But before she left the building, she made her way upstairs to the next floor, and to another large office where she unlocked the door and walked in. The memories now came flooding back to her as she looked at the hundreds of hand scribbled notes, and the many photographs that were covering every wall. But the wall at the far end of the office was very different, this was her own personal contribution to the downfall of Sykes. It was covered in photos and notes, naming many of Sykes associates, and others who she and her team had investigated over the last 3 years. It was like a family tree, a who’s who of the criminal world in Nottingham, and far beyond, and it was this wall, and all the information on it that had finally got him convicted. This was real old fashioned police work, and Jody, loved it. But now it was all over, and she realised that when she returned from her short break that it would be time to start all over again. But regardless of this, she punched the air with her fist in celebration of what she had achieved against all the odds.

Jody, was still on cloud nine as she drove out of the city along the London road, and over Trent Bridge, passing the famous City Ground that was home to Nottingham Forest, before then passing the cricket ground, where she and her sister had spent so many wonderful hours with her father when they were children. It was his way of ridding his mind of the terrible things he had seen, and heard during his working hours, things that he didn’t wish to share with anyone, and especially not with his two beautiful daughters, they were his life after the girl’s mother had died when she was far too young.

But the girl’s father had more than risen to the challenge, and he had done a very good job of raising his daughters, their mother would indeed have been very proud of them, and this was just another reason why Jody, had kept the family home. All of those loving memories were contained within these four walls, and there was no way on this earth that Jody, would ever let go of those. Her work had taught her just how little love and respect there was for anyone in today’s society, or even the world, and that most people now wanted something for nothing. But Jody, and her colleagues had to rise above this attitude every day just to continue their work of keeping people safe. But one thing was for certain, she had always been aware that she wasn’t alone at work or at home, she had always felt a presence that was always with her and protecting her.

Eventually she pulled onto the drive of her house, in a suburb of the city called Edwalton. Her father had over the years improved the house dramatically compared to when he and the girl’s mother had originally bought it, at that time it was quite rundown, but it was in a good area for the family to grow. But now for Jody, it was a sanctuary where she could withdraw from the crazy world of crime and abuse that occupied most of her waking hours. Now as she finally got out of her car she waved her acknowledgement to a local man who came in twice a week to look after the gardens, but in Jody’s mind, she would always see her dad cutting the grass, and her mother throwing the cuttings at him, before he would chase her and the girls around the garden with everyone screaming and shouting with delight, and it was these thoughts that had always prevented her from selling the property.

There was so much love contained here within the rooms of this house, and there was no way on this earth that she was prepared to lose that, this was her contact with reality, and something that she could always hold on to as being real in this very false world. Jody, had always felt a direct connection to her parents in the house as if it were a renewal point of her love for them, and where she could again hear the voices and feel the warm touch of her mum and dad as though they were at her shoulders, advising her and keeping her safe. This sense of love was none more so than when she held a small fob watch that had been passed down through several generations of her family. She wasn’t certain how many, but it was possibly over two hundred years old. It was nothing out of the ordinary to look at, and it had no intrinsic value, but to Jody it was priceless. She would always remember the day her mother had died, Jody, was at her bedside, holding her mother’s hand as she pressed the watch into her hand as the last breath of life left her mother’s body.

Jody, said hello to her parents as she entered the house as she always did, and now in the kitchen she put together a light snack, and made herself a cup of tea before telephoning her sister to confirm that she was coming to stay with her for a few days. She could hear her niece shouting in the background with excitement in the knowledge that Auntie Jody, was coming the following day, and that alone was a great incentive for her to pack a bag, and eventually enjoy a glass of wine sat outside on the patio before she retired for an early night in bed, which, to be fair she really hadn’t really had for the last three years. This was definitely a great deal more pleasant than being in the back of a van with her binoculars observing Sykes, while other men from her team were in the vehicle with her, and breaking wind and talking about football. What an exciting life I have been living. Jody, thought to herself as she finally climbed the stairs to bed.

CHAPTER 2

Jody, was brought back to the land of the living very early the following morning by the sound of the local milkman on his rounds, and with the weather much improved on this Wednesday morning. How can anyone be so cheerful at this unearthly hour she thought to herself as she listened to him making his way along the road while all the time whistling a tune that he had obviously made up. But Jody, was more than happy to get up on this particular morning with the thought of seeing her sister and her niece again, and also with no real need to rush back home. But also in her mind was the thought that Sykes was starting a well-earned break at her Majesty’s Pleasure for the next 27 years, and it was this knowledge that made it a very good start to the day, and with this in her mind she needed very little incentive to move her arse out of bed, and into the shower. But now she found the tuneless whistling of the milkman had also got into her own head, and she realised that now she too was humming the same nonsensical tune, much to her annoyance.

The time was still only 9am as Jody, finished her breakfast and cleared away, before she finally locked the house, and threw the bag that she had packed the previous evening into her silver Lexus car. But as she slowly pulled off her drive, she was still humming the same tune she had heard earlier, and so to try and break the cycle and help clear her thoughts, she turned on the radio. But the music was the usual crap with men singing about bitches and the shit police, she hated rap music, and found that it was so depressing. How can people be so negative about life when they are young, no wonder they turn to crime if this crap is all they have listen to. A thought then occurred to Jody, as she realised that she was beginning to sound a little bit like her dad, but in her mind, that wasn’t such a bad thing.

Jody, found it to be quite strange, and slightly surreal as she drove out of the suburbs of the city, realising just how little traffic there was around at this time of day, she had expected it to be much busier with people going to work, and as such she took full advantage of the clear roads and made very good time. Roughly twenty minutes later she slipped onto the M1 motorway heading south for her much anticipated break with her sister, and her family. But as she drove along just keeping to the speed limit, the thought that Sykes would also be making this same journey at sometime today, but in a much different mode of transport, and also to a much different destination, and it made her laugh out loud.

She realised that he would also be handcuffed, and with an escort not only in the prison van, but also an armed officer in the car leading the convoy, and one also following behind. They would be taking no chances of him going astray, something which Jody realised would have been a great possibility given the amount of money that Sykes had access to, she also realised there was still a great deal of the money that was also unaccounted for. But Jody, also knew there was going to be several decoy vehicles that would be involved with transporting Sykes to Belmarsh Prison, the authorities were taking no chances with regards to a break for freedom for this bastard.

Once a policeman always a policeman, and as she drove along, she slowly became aware of a dark blue Jaguar in her rear view mirror that appeared to be following a few hundred yards behind her, and that it was also tracking her every move. If she raised or lowered her speed, the Jaguar would do exactly the same, and just stay the same distance away, but all the time still keeping her in sight. But it was also very obvious that whoever was driving, also wasn’t trying to be discreet in their actions at following her. Eventually nature called and Jody pulled off the motorway and into Toddington services, and again she observed the Jaguar do exactly the same. She had to park some distance away from the main building, part of the car park had been closed for renovations, but as she finally pulled into a parking space, she saw the jaguar drive by, and apparently heading for the petrol station, and so she put her earlier thought of being followed down to pure coincidence. But then again Jody, was not a great believer in such things as coincidence, and it still bothered her slightly and played on her mind.

With her call of nature now satisfied, she thought that now was the perfect time for a coffee and a croissant, even if it was just to break the monotony of the journey, after all, the food in these places wasn’t renowned for its excellence, it was mostly just  a necessity. She chose to sit at a table by the window that offered a clear vision of the road, and where, strangely at that moment, a prison van with an escort passed by. It more than likely wasn’t the one carrying Sykes, but it was still a moment to savour, and again reflect on a job well done. But as she sat there quietly enjoying her break, she watched as two well-dressed men wearing very smart suits and ties walked through the area, and made a bee line directly for her. They came over and pulled out the chairs from under the table and sat down opposite her, now she knew for certain that she had been followed, but she said nothing.

Good morning Ms Styles. But Jody, made no reply. I suppose you are wondering who we are, and why we were following you. But again she said nothing, and just continued to look at the two men.

We, and our masters, would like to congratulate you on a job well done with getting the conviction on Sykes. But I suppose you also realise there is a very real chance of him getting off on some technicality when his case goes to the appeal court, which it certainly will, and that would then make all of your hard work and effort in vain, but also leaving him free to come after you if he chooses. But there is a way around that, and its one that has already been taken care of.

But still Jody, said nothing, she just continued to look at the two men a little unsure of herself, and also a little perturbed, but she felt reasonably secure in the confines of the busy service station