Chapter 25 – Interdependence

"So… you thought you were close. You thought you were so, so close."

It's hard to see anything when you're blindfolded, it's hard to move around when you're imprisoned in a claustrophobically small sealed room. This is because her prison is a hole in the ground with a concrete roof that has to be craned away when something or someone is to be put inside. The room itself is entirely pitch black with only the echoing sound inside designed to disorient her and give a false sense of scale. She could easily take the blindfold off, but in this darkness, she would lose it if she did touch it.

"Your biggest mistake Charlotte, is that you opened you mouth. It's all that was needed to further prove that you were the rat, the informant that ruined what was supposed to be a simple operation. I had multiple teams there and somehow they managed to fall into your hands, I had the odd comprehensively stacking in my favour and they still went into your hands; I don't know how you knew but destroying all of the vehicles… I need to be less complacent."

It sounds like he's moving around at a rapid pace around her with the pitch changing at the same queasy pace a ship would rock at sea.

"The fact that you are still a minor doesn't concern me; you are an Interpol agent, nothing more, nothing less. But I will give you some credit in that you got into their inner circle so easily, it tells me that they need more work; more training. But, everyone's got a value, and their trust was worth £1.8 million. Nice job turning my pieces of paper into pounds by the way, they must really trust what your doing."

She gets to the edge of the underground chamber, and feels the smooth metal chain linked grate which covers what seems to be a wall of speakers that cover the walls.

He turns off the modulation so he can have a proper conversation.

"You've seen me face to face, you know I like money and also, have a lot of it as well. But, for all of my wealth, there are things that I want which I can't buy… what a shame that is; it would have made it so simple. I've tried to buy intangible things… loyalty, trust, respect; with varying degrees of success. I've paid off a sizeable portion of criminal organisations in Europe, they all work for me, and I get a share of their profits much like any reasonable investor would expect. I say almost, because, sadly, there is a lot of bad blood in the past between the gang you tried to cozy up to and myself. I wouldn't have stood in their way as they expanded their legacy whilst I did mine, it could have worked out perfectly. I planned for when they would say no, what I didn't plan on is a successful Interpol infiltration in the Cooper gang! And now, I am forced to figure out what to do with you." He explains taking a deep breath at the end to calm himself down.

"If I was to offer… £5 million…"

"Bribing an officer of the law?" Charlotte replies sarcastically. "That'll only extend your jail time, not that it needed extending; being in the hundreds of years."

"On the contrary… I haven't done anything wrong. Unlike in real incorporated organisations, I don't have the same accountability standards. As a result, nothing ever gets to me. You can get close… but never close enough."

"I got within metres."

"Now, I don't want to start a war between us, not you; I mean Interpol, your rivals Europol and every other law enforcement agency who dares and inevitably fails to stop me. In fact, these aforementioned agencies should realise what I am trying to do here. I am doing them a favour; I have brought everything under one roof, my roof."

"So it's easier to arrest you all!" Charlotte shouts unsure if he will hear her, but knowing that she is defiant perhaps might unsettle him.

"What?" He asks jokingly, hearing her faintly through headphones attached to a computer on a desk that's completely out of place in the clean basement level that would usually be filled with cars in this apartment complex of his; one of more legitimate investments. The tiny disorientation chamber is hidden underneath a parking bay, the finish is flush, no one can tell a difference. He just has a desk in the adjacent bay, watching her on infrared camera on a computer monitor with the sound coming through set of headphones. Even though he's closed off this level because of a 'burst water main', he still is taking precautions against accidental discovery of the true nature of this place. 6 guards protect him, even though there is no immediate threat.

"I'll adjust the sound… there. Now you are free to shout all you want."

There is silence, silence that he takes pleasure from hearing; knowing her fight has left her.

"No resistance now?" He asks. "That's a pity. I'll have to continue to do all of the talking. Now, I want you to do something for me. After I let you out, you will go back to Interpol, and tell them… or ask them… what has happened to crime in the last 3 years? I don't mean petty crime, but organised crime. Before, there was no respect, no nobility, no promises kept, no comradery at all; everyone was behaving awfully. Before, you would be dead tomorrow if you didn't pay your debts today; it was barbaric to put it kindly. So, I can began to clean up all this mess which lay in the power vacuum and reassembled it into a well oiled machine; A machine which doesn't try to attack itself if one of it's parts is faulty. Now, people can make promises to each other that actually mean something. The most important thing I have done is restore trust between everyone. If someone deals with me, and I promise that I can do something at a certain time, at a certain price; then it will be done at that price, at that time, exactly as they want. So, if you want to capture me, take me away and put me in a prison; think about what you are doing. Do you want to see criminals return to their barbaric ways like it was only a few years ago? Or do you want to keep it the way it currently is? With everything done as it should be done."

Silence, no reply from Charlotte.

"Nothing? Still no fight? Still nothing to say? Very well." He comments back to her. "One more thing, and I don't like giving you spoilers, but I feel that I wouldn't enjoy it as much if it didn't. So, I have something special planned, something which can't be stopped…because it's already started."

He makes a hand signal to a subordinate who pulls on a lever to lift the concrete slab using an electromagnetic winch embedded in the wall. It moves up to a 45 degree angle to allow Charlotte to leave by herself, but she's not doing so.

"Get up, get out of here!" Jeremy shouts playfully at her, standing up from his desk. He calms down to give instructions to his subordinates.

"Get her out of there, but watch out; she's playing dead." Jeremy says, already picking out the possible ploy she is doing. Three of them surround the exit and one goes to drag her out. She does not react apart from standing up on her own weight. She assesses the possibility of taking out the 4 guards that tower down on her but then strikes that out.

"Escort her out of here, and make sure to face inwards in case she decides to attack inside the elevator." Jeremy instructs. Once she is out of sight, he turns to the remaining two people left, both of whom are not guards but much higher up in the food chain, his own inner circle.

"So... How is everything on your ends?" Jeremy asks both of them

"Everything is set, the plan is in motion already."

"As is on my end."

"Good, we proceed as normal." Jeremy insists as the two walk away to the elevator to go their respective set up locations for this extremely audacious heist he has planned. There is only one other thing missing from this picture, more of a personal touch which Jeremy has failed to apply.

All this would have been easier… if the Cooper gang just went along with me.