Matt Halt/ Bradford
Matt Halt sat in the driver`s seat of a stolen Mitsibushi Shogun, and considered his decision to defect from the 18th Brigade. He had the window open half way so that he could blow his cigarette smoke out of the vehicle. Matt was waiting for his new Russian boss Alexis, who hated the smell of stale smoke and always made a fuss about it. He was sweating and felt incredibly nervous as if he wanted to cry or laugh aloud like a lunatic. Matt Halt had joined the 18th Brigade after a short spell in Strangeway Prison for football hooliganism. He was just nineteen years old when he became involved in the culture of football violence, being tall and lean for his age he appeared older than his years. Most of the violence, which occurs at football, is arranged by rival gangs or `firms` contacting each other and arranging a battle at a designated venue away from the prying eyes of the police and genuine football fans. The adrenalin rush Matt experienced every time he went into battle was unlike anything he had ever experienced before; it also gave him a sense of belonging, a family. He was unhappy as a young boy and eventually given into the care of his grandmother for safekeeping. Matt didn’t really fit in anywhere until he joined the 18th Brigade. He met two brigade members inside prison who also enjoyed football violence. They took him under their wing and protected him from older inmates, then upon release introduced him to their leader Pete Dodge. Six years on Matt had climbed the ranks of the Brigade and grown into a steroid mass. He worked as head doorman for several of the Brigade`s biggest clients, his intimidating size and penchant for violence had given him a fearful reputation. Matt`s problems had started when his ego became as large as his reputation was. His position in the Brigade brought him into contact with their Russian drug suppliers. During one meeting he was acting as a minder for Dodge when dealings became a little heated. No weapons were allowed into such meetings for obvious reasons; however a Russian bodyguard who was protecting Alexis produced a box cutter blade, which was hidden inside a fake credit card. Matt was impressed by the covert weapon, but he had no fear. He had snapped the Russians forearm like a twig, stepped on his head and carved the numerals 18 into the Soviet`s forehead with the man`s own blade. Matt always carried a hidden weapon after that day, usually in the form of a neck knife, which looked like an innocent pendant but concealed a blade within. Once the situation was controlled Alexis had taken Matt to one side and complemented him on his skills. Alexis told him that a man of his talents should be much further up the organisation than he currently was, earning a lot more money too. Matt had succumbed to his ego being stroked and started feeding Alexis with vital information from within the Brigade, culminating in the kidnapping of the Saudi girl, being party to the bombing of two hundred students, and murdering his friend and colleague.
Matt felt physically sick as he sat waiting for Alexis. His stomach was churning with nervous tension because he knew that he had crossed the point of no return. He had betrayed his friends in the 18th Brigade for the promise of power and money. There was no way back for him and he knew that when the Brigade realised that he had known about the bomb they would look for him. Dodge had told them to disappear for a couple of days after the kidnapping, but he would soon realise that they were not going to return. He had betrayed them and killed Ivan in the process; they wouldn’t rest until he was found. Now only Alexis and his Organizatsiya (organisation) could protect him from prosecution and the 18th Brigade. He lit another cigarette and inhaled deeply trying to gain some comfort from the warm smoke in his lungs, none came.
Matt sat up quickly when he saw a small Asian man leaving a terraced house opposite him. He recognised the man as Imran Patel, his target. Patel was a Pakistani immigrant who had entered the UK two years previously to marry a British Asian woman in an arranged marriage. He had become disillusioned with life in the West and started to travel around Britain to attend meetings with extremist Muslim groups. Some Mosques were more militant than others, but his activities had brought him to the attention of MI5. He was now on a watch list of 2000 possible terrorists. Alexis had informers within Britain`s intelligence services so acquiring the name and address of someone on the watch list was no problem. It was Imran Patel`s transit van that Matt had stolen one month before, the same van that Ivan had burned to death in. Alexis wanted the security services to assume the riverboat bomb was an act of Islamic extremism. Local uniformed police divisions had spoken to Patel regarding his stolen van, but they were not aware that he was on any MI5 watch lists, because the different agencies rarely swapped information effectively. Now it was time to cement the theory that Patel was indeed responsible for the bombing of the riverboat on the River Dee.
Matt jumped in fright when Alexis knocked loudly on the passenger window. He leaned over and unlocked the door allowing the Russian to climb in beside him. Alexis said nothing and nodded toward the Asian man waving with a gloved hand. Matt started the engine of the Shogun and slowly followed Patel along the road. Patel walked to the end of the street and turned left, a man stepped out of a doorway as he passed and followed at a distance. Imran Patel stepped from the pavement and crossed the road heading toward a newsagent. Alexis banged on the dashboard with his leather gloves, making Matt jump again.
“Now quickly hit him with the car, quickly,” Alexis growled his instructions to Matt, and Matt stepped on the accelerator. Patel heard the screeching of tyres but by the time he had realised they were heading in his direction it was too late. The Shogun hit Patel with enough force to knock him over the bonnet. The Russian that was tailing him moved quickly and grabbed Imran off the road. Alexis jumped out of the vehicle and assisted in shoving him into the back seat of the Mitsibushi.
“What are you doing? Let go of me,” Imran moaned confused. He was shaken by the impact but he was not seriously hurt. He looked around him and could not fathom what was going on, two men were sat either side of him in the back seat of a strange vehicle. Alexis had sat to the Asian man`s right hand side and he punched him hard in the stomach knocking the breath from his lungs. Matt watched in the rear view mirror as the colour drained from Imran`s face. He looked small and very frightened. Alexi punched him again this time in the side of his head. The sickening blow made a dull slapping noise and the Asian man tried to curl up in a ball to protect his head from further blows.
“Who are you, why are you hitting me? What have I done?” Imran whined, starting to cry. He thought that these men were either racists carrying out a random attack or government agents trying to intimidate him because of his attendance at certain mosques. He had heard that MI5 were watching certain groups of Muslims, but he had never imagined that they would just snatch him off the street and assault him.
“Well my little Pakistani friend I have been told that you would like to become more politically active to help your oppressed Muslim brothers. I am going to give you that opportunity. You are going to become a famous martyr in the Islamic struggle just as you have always wanted,” Alexis sneered. He lifted his elbow above the Asians skull and drove it down with brutal force, Imran`s body went limp as he lost consciousness. Matt glanced in the mirror and saw the look of glee on his new employers face, he was not sure that he wanted to be on Alexis` team anymore, but he was sure that he had no option. He had an idea what Alexis was planning to do with Imran Patel; it would make the riverboat bomb pale into insignificance.