Takedown by Heather Atkinson (latest books to read txt) 📕

“We’re lucky there wasn’t a stampede,” said Faith. “The last thing you want in a dark, hot building packed with seven hundred people is to hear the fire alarm go off. Thank God we have so many fire exits.”

“And the staff did well,” said Caleb. “Particularly the door supervisors. They helped keep everyone calm.”

They followed the bald man as he casually made his way towards the exit by the side of the bar, not looking in the least bit panicky before vanishing outside in the stream of people.

“I’ll bring up the footage on the exterior of the club,” said Jason, who was clearly enjoying himself.

The screen flicked to a camera mounted to the side of the building covering the staff car park. They saw the bald man meander down the street, heading away from the promenade amid the other customers who’d exited the club. He reached the corner and waited. A minute later the fire engine pulled up, siren screaming and he hopped in. The vehicle then continued onto the promenade, pulling up outside the main door into the club. When the bald man got out of the fire engine he was dressed in his firefighters uniform, complete with the bulky light brown jacket and trousers, yellow helmet on his head, oxygen tank strapped to his back. Another three firefighters jumped out with him and they entered the front of the club, having to shove their way through the customers still pouring out. Faith and Caleb watched their own images on the screen conversing with the lead firefighter, who was so big he towered over even Caleb while Jason and Kevin comforted a gaggle of swooning women who were revelling in the drama.

“You remember what Patrick told us?” said Faith. “One of the men who approached him was really big and strong.”

“What did he say to you?” Vance asked her. He hadn’t been there that night. As he’d hurt his shoulder at the gym he’d been resting at home.

“He asked me how many people had been in the club,” she replied. “Where the fire was and if I thought anyone was still inside and all the time the git knew it was bollocks.”

Jason switched back to the interior footage and at first the firefighters all seemed to be doing their jobs, two of them helping one of the door supervisors usher out the stragglers while the rest methodically checked the main dancefloor and VIP room. Only once everyone was out did the search stop. They went straight for the door that led from the dancefloor to the staffrooms and office, which had been left open by the door supervisors to give access to the fire exit at the end of that corridor.

Jason tapped at the keyboard and the footage flicked to the corridor outside the room they were gathered in. Once again, the firefighters knew exactly where they were going, bypassing all other doors and going straight for the office door. As they watched the figures on the screen bash that open with the ram too, Kevin couldn’t help but look to the door, expecting them to come pouring in.

The four firefighters rushed inside and immediately began a methodical search of the office, which didn’t take long as the only things in it were a filing cabinet and a desk.

“They’re picking the locks,” commented Faith as they watched the most diminutive of the firefighters kneel before the lock on the desk drawers and remove their helmet, revealing a woman with dark hair scraped back into a bun. “I never even thought to check. Like I said, everyone trusts a firefighter. We have to improve our security.”

Vance knelt down to examine the lock on the drawer. “It was a professional job. They didn’t leave any scratches. Even if you had checked you wouldn’t have been able to tell.”

“This is great,” said Caleb. “They’ve all taken off their masks and helmets, so we can see their faces. Is there any way you can save the images Jason?”

“Yeah, no worries,” he replied. “I can print them out at home.”

“Nice one.”

They watched the firefighters pick open the lock on the filing cabinet too and after some rooting around they discovered that everything in the room was legitimate, all the documentation pertaining to the running of the club.

“What did they think we were doing?” said Kevin. “Stashing the product in a filing cabinet?”

“They were hoping to find a clue as to where it was kept,” said Faith.

Once they realised there was nothing to find, the firefighters locked the filing cabinet and desk drawers while one of them wiped the footage from the hard drive in the office.

“How did they know how to do that?” said Caleb.

“It’s not a difficult system,” said Jason. “It wouldn’t take much tech knowledge. Dillon or Patrick could have told them what sort of system we use.”

“Thank God for you putting in a back-up system,” said Faith, patting Jason’s shoulder. “You’ve done really well.”

“Cheers,” he smiled.

“Yeah, well done mate,” said Caleb.

“Please, save the applause until later,” he grinned.

“Don’t push it,” said Kevin.

They watched the firefighters check the room to make sure everything was undisturbed before filing out. They then returned to the pretence of checking the building before leaving.

“The cheeky bastards,” said Caleb. “They had the nerve to come out and say they’d swept the building and couldn’t find a fire or anyone trapped inside. They said the alarm must have gone off by accident and that we should get an electrician to check the system to make sure it wasn’t faulty, which we did. It cost us a couple of hundred quid too.”

“I think that’s the least of our problems,” said Faith. “Make copies of this footage Jason. Can you send it to Matthew?”

“No problem.”

“Let’s lock up