El Pantera: No-one said it would be easy. Read online

  Steve took hold of his hand, they shook hands and embraced. He stood back from Leon, “I will make the call, I promise, but not for a few weeks. If she calls me meanwhile, I will talk to her. Thanks for that mate.”

  chapter 1

  Tuesday 25th April

  The afternoon sun was shining down in the suburb of Barcelona. Steve was with Raul, an officer from Mossos ď Esquadera, the Catalan Police force. They were sat on high stools looking out of a vacant office window on the fourth floor, looking down onto the front door of the ‘Xtreme Fitness Centre’. They both had binoculars hanging from around their necks resting on their chests and were also monitoring the screen which was showing the same picture from the installed camera. Steve checked his watch it was now 14:17, they had both been there for over six hours.

  Raul was looking through his binoculars. “I think that is him walking past the Caixa bank towards the gym, grey hoodie and shorts, Barca baseball cap, carrying a dark sports holdall.”

  Steve immediately zoomed in with the camera onto the figure, “Yes, looks like him, can’t get a clear look at his face.”

  Raul, immediately informed the arrest team who were parked nearby to go on standby but first the identity needed to be confirmed.

  The subject of the observation was Michael Patterson from Middlesbrough in England, one of the top 100 on the NCA wanted list. He was wanted in connection with the importation of 60 kilos of cocaine and the murder of a gangland rival in Hartlepool. He had escaped custody by assaulting the guards in the dock of Teesside Crown Court, then running out of the court building and had been driven away from the court in a waiting car. He had been ‘on the run’ for over 3 years which meant he was now 30. His associates, including the driver of the car, had been convicted and were now serving long custodial sentences in prisons in the North of England.

  Steve zoomed the camera in on the darkened glass entrance door which served as a mirror, as Patterson turned his back on Raul and Steve. He was looking directly at the door. “I think that’s him,” Steve said looking at the reflection. The shorts drawing the conclusion that he certainly wasn’t Spanish.

  “Si, si, si,” Raúl replied. “Arrest team to phase 2.”

  Two minutes had passed when Edgar, one of the officers involved, was seen to enter the gym carrying his holdall. The arrest team moved closer, closing in on the escape routes from the gym door. The fact that Edgar had not come back out of the gym within a short time, made the identification. At 16:04, Edgar exited the gym and placed a baseball cap on his head with the peak down his neck. Patterson would be behind him exiting the gym shortly.

  They saw the signal, Raul gave the update, “Stand by, stand by, Edgar has confirmed Patterson. He should be leaving the gym soon, phase 3, repeat phase 3.”

  The team closed in on the door, workmen in overalls, a young couple with a pram, a man pushing a shopping trolley. The outer cordon was also set, belt and braces as Steve would often say. Other officers were sat in their unmarked cars very close to the gym. Edgar had entered a nearby fruit shop which was displaying their fruit on the street pavement.

  The door opened, Patterson was full face on to the view of the camera and binoculars, again a further positive identification. Raul, “Subject is out, out, of the door and turned right towards Caixa bank walking on the pavement.”

  Patterson was looking at his mobile phone as he walked towards the two workmen, “Strike, strike” Raul gave the command.

  The two officers took hold of Patterson. He was startled and shocked into action; the holdall and mobile phone were dropped immediately, he used his head and butted the officer who had hold of his right arm fully in the face, crunching his forehead into the officers’ nose and cheek bones. The blow made him release his grip and fall immediately onto the ground. Patterson then used his ample strength to swing the officer holding onto his left arm backwards against the wall then instantly started thumping him hard in the head, throat, and body. The other officers were running the short distance to the assistance of their colleague. The female officer drew her firearm and pointed it at Patterson who held onto the injured officer, continuing his assault until he was released and then threw him into the road and started to run bent low behind the parked cars out of the line of fire. He ran about six metres when Edgar tackled him front on, knocking him backwards. They crashed into the fruit stalls sending the boxes of fresh water melons, mangoes, apples, peaches, and strawberries down the pavement and rolling into the road. Edgar was on top of the struggling Patterson as the female officer arrived and stood above them both, her Glock pistol pointing into the face of Patterson, who stared back into the officer’s face with rage and anger. In her best English she spoke to Patterson, “Make one more wrong move English arsehole and you will be a dead English arsehole.” Patterson knew the threat was real and slowly nodded. He closed his eyes knowing his time had come and a lot of time was coming his way, he stopped resisting Edgar. The other officers then took hold of him and rolled him onto his stomach, after pulling his arms around his back they placed handcuffs very tightly on his large wrists.

  The arrest vehicle pulled up next to the scene, Patterson was placed into the back of the vehicle with four officers and immediately taken from the scene.

  Two of the officers needed treatment for the injuries inflicted by Patterson. The officer he had head butted was concussed and already had heavy swelling around both of his eyes, it was obvious by the shape of his nose that it was broken badly. The second officer was having trouble breathing after the blows to his throat, his left eye was swollen and bloodshot, there was a trickle of blood coming from his left ear, and his ribs were very sore from several vicious blows. They were both taken to the nearest hospital. Patterson’s mobile phone was recovered from under a car and placed in an exhibit bag. The holdall was examined, the sweaty gym wear was moved to one side and revealed a large hunting knife in a protective leather pouch. The holdall and its contents were placed in a large paper forensic bag.

  Raul and Steve cleared the equipment from the room they had used and returned to the Mossos station. Bert Ingham, the Senior British Liaison Officer, was waiting for the arrival of the team and the prisoner; he would deal with the European arrest warrant and organise the return of Patterson to face British justice. There was a short debrief where Bert thanked Raul and his team for their magnificent effort in arresting a known murderer and extremely violent escapee. Steve was going to join the team later in Barcelona before returning to Madrid by train in the morning. He collected his personal mobile phone and document holder from his allocated desk, after switching on his mobile and waiting for the activation, there were a few emails, a couple of WhatsApp messages from Sarah, and a missed call from an unknown number. A message from an unknown sender which read, ‘please answer my call, message Gloria, I will call’

  Sarah was in the NCA training school on a two-week suitability assessment for her to do undercover work, her ability, physically and mentally, would be severely tested. She had finished her two-day introduction to the course and from midnight tonight she would not be able to contact anyone. She was going dark, the first test of many. Steve had completed the course and knew of the stresses, the problems, and difficulties that Sarah would be faced with in the coming two weeks, with a further eight weeks should she prove successful in her assessment period. Sarah would be an excellent undercover officer, Steve was sure of that, but he wanted her to fail. It’s a tough world and he didn’t want her subjected to what he had been through, or worse.

  He made a call and after a short delay Sarah answered, “Hiya, you took your time ringing. I hope you got him.”

  “Of course, was it ever in doubt? Big fight in the end but they eventually got him down.”

  “I missed it! Were you in the fight again or are you still protecting your ribs?”

  “No, I wasn’t involved. Just a watching brief letting Mossos do what Mossos do. Big lad though, bigger than when he left England. You could tell he’s been goin
g to the gym a lot. Lot of muscle, still, it doesn’t beat an angry Mossos policewoman with a Glock in your face.”

  “Gan on, girl power man, that’s great.”

  Steve asked, “So how are you doing on the course? Put you off yet?”

  “No, not yet. They’re telling us what I can do, what I cannot do. Apparently, I’m not supposed to take my knickers off and gan shagging. I thought I’d stopped doing that,” she paused, “I think it was, ehm, last year.” There was a silence, “You’re supposed to laugh at that Steve.”

  Steve gave a laugh, “You’re crazy enough to do it, the job I mean, not the shagging. You will be tested and tested hard but I’m telling you it will be a hell of a lot harder when you do it for real.”

  Sarah was twisting her face; Steve knew she would be. “Oh aye, really hard, drinking cocktails and singing karaoke in Benidorm and telling a few porkies. That was really tough, even I did that without the training.”

  Steve was more direct. “What about going into OCG’s, getting body searched? They’re wanting something from you before they do a deal, tempting you, or forcing you, when you’re on your own with no back up, or putting you on your back. Are you going to stop them? You want the deal but how far do you go down the line, when do you stop, when do you know what’s right and wrong, if you know it’s wrong, do you carry on, who would know?”

  Sarah interrupted, “Hold on Steve, I’ve got trainers here, I don’t want a lecture from you. What’s up with you? Give me a chance to find out if I’m any good. I’ve never heard you say owt like that man, if you don’t want me to do it just say. It won’t matter like, cos, I’m doing the course. If you do anything, speak to anybody to get me failed, I’ll, I’ll...”

  “Sarah I’m sorry, I really am, I’m sure you will be okay, I was just highlighting a few problems that will come if you do UC work.”

  “Okay, do you know what’s right and wrong and have never carried on? You better not answer that, cos I know you will be lying. Have you got a problem with me, other than doing this course, cos if you have, I want to know?”

  “Sarah, I have no problem with you, I was just thinking last night, if we both do the work, we mightn’t see each other for weeks, months or maybe longer. Where we would be working, could be anywhere in the world and they’re not short jobs.” Steve thought that sounded plausible as a good answer.

  “Steve, I know what you’re saying, it’s not like we haven’t spoken about it since the course was advertised. We’ve talked loads about the problems, more so for the women I agree, but it’s something I want to try. I’ve worked in offices for so long, I’m intelligent, I’m good at languages, I know what intelligence is needed, I’ve done the organising bit. I know it will be scary at times, possibly, I know I would be working with the nastiest of people, but just let’s see if I get through the assessment first and then possibly the course. I know it’s going to be tough; they have told us there’s less than ten percent get through the assessment, but I’ll say this again, I do not want you interfering either in my favour or certainly not against me.”

  “I definitely will not interfere. Good luck, honest, if it is what you want to do, good. Okay. When you pass the assessment when do you do the next course?”

  “That’s better Steve, a positive note at last. Why do you ask, are you planning on going away or is there another job in the offing?”

  “No,” Steve lied, “I was just wondering how long I would have to miss you in Madrid for.”

  "Okay, well when I pass on, wait a sec," Sarah opened her diary, "When I pass on Friday 5th May, I will start the course on Sunday evening 21st May for eight weeks. So we should see plenty of each other between courses, then no contact for eight weeks."

  “Sarah, I’m sorry about, ehm, sounding off. I just care about you, I don’t want you to get hurt, I’m sorry.”

  “Steve, I’m pleased that’s sorted, I know I’m going to miss you, I miss you now, but in just over ten days we will be together cuddling up, having a drink and laughing and other stuff eh.”

  “Sounds great, look, I’ll let you go, concentrate on what you’re told, I really hope you pass. You will contact me first? I am missing you as well.”

  The call ended.

  He looked around the empty office to make sure the door was closed then he pressed the buttons sending the message, ‘Call me now’.

  Two minutes later, the mobile activated to an incoming call. Again, there was no number disclosed, there was a delay when he answered the call, “Hola Steve.”

  Steve recognised the voice, “Hola Gabriella.”

  “Please call me Gabi, should we speak in English, or do you prefer Español?”

  “Gabi, English will be fine. You do know that this is very difficult for me?”

  “Of course I do, but what I know will benefit a lot of people, most of all you and me.”

  “What will you get out of this, ehm Gabi?”

  She laughed, “What can I get? Justice for you, me, Jessica, her family and friends, Gloria, the policeman in the US. I don’t want anything, I don’t need anything, I have my freedom, for now.”

  “I must ask, please don’t close the call, was the escape from the prison van planned?”

  “No. I swear I knew nothing. I had told Jessica and Gloria the truth, I was going to die in prison, that’s all I knew. There was this big explosion and gun fire. I was hiding in the cage cell, then another explosion blew off the van door and the guard was killed, I thought they had been sent to kill me because I killed Borja. They opened the cage and pulled me out, my head was dizzy with the explosions, I thought I was dreaming when I saw Jessica coming to rescue me, I was thinking why would she do that, then he raised his rifle and pointed at her. I grabbed at his arm but was pulled away by the other man, I shouted at Jessica, then I saw her get shot and fall behind the wall. That is the truth, honest.”

  Steve had listened intently, “Jessica was not coming to rescue you but her friend Gloria who had already been shot.”

  “Yes, yes, I know this now but not then. Gloria was in a bad way; I have helped her a bit.”

  Steve, “Yes, she told me. What happened when you were pulled out of the van?”

  “I was put on a motorbike for a short distance and then into the back of a van for about 30 minutes. I got out of the van in the jungle, and someone injected me with something, I thought I was dead. I don’t know how long later but I was in a longboat with an engine on a river in the jungle, my head wasn’t clear. I was helped to walk to a native type of hut on stilts next to the river. I was there for some time possibly two weeks, I was given food and water.”

  “Do you know where or why?”

  “I didn’t, but I do now.” Steve waited for the answer, “I don’t know where, other than a jungle village on a river a long way from any town, there was no river traffic so it must be near to the head of the river. I believe it was in Colombia”

  Steve asked, “What makes you think that?”

  “The natives use the poison from the Golden Frog to put on the tip of their arrows and spears when hunting. The frog, I’ve since checked, is in the Colombian jungle, the tribe are known as Emberá people. These people were milking the frogs for the poison and putting the fluid in small plastic bottles.”

  Steve was intrigued, “How do you milk a frog?”

  Gabi, “Let me explain, I didn’t know this, but the villagers showed me and told me about the toxin, it will easily kill a man” She paused, “I think that is what I injected Borja with.”

  Steve, “Just continue please.”

  “Sorry, the frogs are small, 2 to 5 centimetres, when there are predators about, birds, spiders, snakes they secrete the toxin onto their skin. The natives had collected many frogs, they were in glass cases. Every so often, I don’t know how many times, they would lift a cloth which was between the cases and there was a jungle snake in the next glass case. The frogs would secrete the toxin then the natives would be very careful and sweep it off the frogs bac
ks with a plastic spatula then drain it into the plastic bottles, it was small amounts. The natives told me that one very small amount on the spatula would kill a man.”

  “Why were they doing that?”

  “They were getting paid by the Cartel, the Cartel who rescued me. The MMV, Manolo Martinez Valero Cartel.”

  “Getting back to the question, why should they rescue you if they think you have killed Borja and caused them so many problems?”

  “This may shock you, but, my sister Carmen, she is the lover of Manolo in his hacienda. It shocked me, apparently Manolo did it as a favour for my sister, she is beautiful. I have spoken to her once on the phone, she told me she loved me and was deeply upset about our family, she was doing something for me. I know she doesn’t want to be there; she didn’t tell me that, but I know.”