Angel of Destruction

by Christopher Nicole

  Baxter reached for his pipe, but it wasn’t there.

  ‘Hold it,’ Anna said. The radio was crackling.

  ‘Fair Cay. Fair Cay. Uncle Joe.’

  ‘Come in, Uncle Joe. May I assume that Jerry got home?’

  ‘Half an hour ago, panting. You sure put that kid through some harrowing experiences.’

  ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘OK, OK. You were at the sharp end. But you say you want him back again.’

  ‘Not just him. I need some capable people on the cay while I’m away.’

  ‘Away where? And for how long?’

  ‘Maybe a fortnight.’ Anna gave Clive one of her wicked smiles. ‘I’ll be honeymooning.’

  ‘What?! You’re getting married?’

  ‘Well, that generally precedes a honeymoon.’

  ‘You can’t get married.’

  ‘Why not? As I believe you people say, I’m free, white, and over twenty-one.’

  ‘But . . . you work for us.’

  ‘Of course I work for you, Joe. But I’m entitled to a private life.’

  ‘Your husband will want to know what you do.’

  ‘My husband already knows what I do. His name is Clive Bartley. You remember Clive Bartley?’

  ‘Holy shit!’

  ‘You do. And you’re being obscene on the air again. Well, then . . .’

  ‘You intend to marry that . . .’

  Anna winked at the two men. ‘Careful, now. He might hear you.’

  ‘You are saying that Bartley knows you work for us?’

  ‘And for the past three years, yes.’

  ‘And he’s had nothing to say about that?’

  ‘He says quite a lot, from time to time. But unlike you, he understands that he has no right to interfere in my business life, any more than you have any right to interfere in my private life. Apart from the two weeks I require, I’m available whenever you want me, that is, of course, providing you keep me and mine alive until then. Which is what this call is about, right?’

  There was a brief silence. Then he said, ‘It’s not on.’

  Anna raised her eyebrows, although this was half expected, and what she had feared. ‘Are you firing me?’

  ‘Of course I am not firing you, Anna. I am prepared to accept that you have a private life and that you are capable of keeping that private life from interfering with your work for us. I’ll even concede that if you are going to marry, Bartley is probably the most acceptable choice, even if he is old enough to be your father.’

  Anna smiled at Clive. ‘He’d have had to start a little young. So what are you saying?’

  ‘I’ve referred the matter upstairs, and the decision is that I can’t send my people to protect you in the Bahamas.’

  ‘Tell me why not.’ Even if she knew the answer.

  ‘Don’t you understand that the fact that you work for us is, and must remain, top secret. We are prepared to give you all the help we can, but it has to be within that parameter.’

  ‘So? Your people will be my guests on the cay. No one will know whether I am here or not.’

  ‘Yes, but if what Jerry has told me is true, whoever is looking for you is liable to be armed and mob-handed. That means my people might have to take them out.’

  Anna looked at Baxter. ‘I told Jerry to tell you that if they get engaged in a shoot-out they will be immune from prosecution.’

  ‘I’d like to believe that you have that much clout, but even if I do, can you guarantee that they will be immune from publicity?’

  Anna glared at the set. But she said, ‘So what do you recommend that I do?’

  ‘Well, I assume that if you can guarantee my people from prosecution if they have to shoot somebody, you have that guarantee for yourself. I suggest you postpone this absurd marriage and honeymoon until this business is sorted out. Then if you have to defend the cay, well, it’s a Bahamian resident . . . correction, beautiful Bahamian resident, gallantly defending her home against pirates. You’ll be a nine-day heroine.’

  ‘You say the sweetest things. So how long do you reckon this will take to sort out? You going to help me with that?’

  ‘Of course we are. You’re still our girl. My people are checking out the passport now, and should have something in forty-eight hours. Then we’ll see what we can do at this end.’

  ‘That is very reassuring,’ Anna said. ‘I look forward to hearing from you.’

  ‘Anna . . . there is no point in going off in a huff. There are certain rules we have to follow.’

  ‘I understand that, Joe. Just as I now understand that I’m your girl when you want me to be, and as long as I’m not a nuisance. However, are you still prepared to arm me?’

  ‘You mean those cartridges you need? They’ll be waiting for you.’

  ‘Thank you. In these new circumstances I wish you to add something to that.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Two tommy guns with adequate spare magazines.’

  ‘Two?’

  ‘There’s more than one of us.’

  He sighed. ‘OK. Two tommy guns. With four spare drums.’

  ‘That sounds great. You’re a sweetie, Joe. And a bazooka.’

  ‘A what?’

  ‘A bazooka. Surely you know what a bazooka is, Joe. It’s an anti-tank missile launcher.’

  ‘I know what a bazooka is, Anna. But what the hell do you want one for?’

  ‘I reckon, if it’ll stop a tank, it’ll stop a boat if it gets too close. My safest course of action is to stop any mob landing at all.’

  There was a brief silence. Then a heavy sigh. ‘All right. You’ll have a bazooka.’

  ‘You’re all heart, Joe. With spare rockets.’

  Another sigh. ‘With spare rockets.’

  ‘I love you. Fair Cay out.’

  She switched off the set, and gazed at the two men.

  ‘Have you ever fired a bazooka?’ Billy asked.

  ‘No. But I’ve read up about it. Guns, firearms, are my business.’

  ‘So he’ll arm you, but he won’t actually help you. As I’ve always said . . .’

  ‘Then do me a favour and don’t say it again. This job of yours . . . can it wait?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Give me a reason why not.’

  ‘Right now we know where Edel is. We don’t know for how long he’s going to stay there. But we do know that he has been paying regular visits to Buenos Aires for meetings.’

  ‘You mean with the Argentine government?’

  ‘Not so far as we can tell, although they could be intermediaries. As I told you, our man there has to keep a very low profile; at this moment British agents are about as popular in Argentina as Soviet agents are in North America. All surveillance has to be carried out from a distance, and be absolutely discreet. If Edel were to be alerted that we had tracked him and went to the police our man would almost certainly be deported.’

  ‘Poor fellow. But what makes you feel that Edel may move on, all of a sudden?’

  ‘Simply that the impression our man has formed is that he is trying to sell these people something, and he has only one thing to sell: his knowledge and his memory. Whether they are representing international business, or another country, or, as I suggested could be possible, the Argentinian government, or worst of all scenarios, an international crime syndicate, once he concludes a deal he is lost to us. They’ll either get him out of the country or put him under such wraps not even you will be able to reach him.’

  ‘And to think that once you had the right to hang him, and passed it up. Don’t tell me, you’ve turned your back on that sort of thing, until it becomes absolutely necessary. I hope you bear that in mind when London is blown up.’

  ‘I’m sure someone will,’ Billy agreed

  ‘So solve my problem. I can’t leave the cay undefended.’

  ‘I’ll defend the cay,’ Clive said.

  UNWELCOME COMPANY

  They both stared at him, open-mouthed.

  ‘You?�
�� Anna asked. ‘But—’

  ‘You?’ Billy asked. ‘What—’

  ‘In answer to your question, Anna, I am still perfectly capable of handling what is essentially a field operation. It so happens that I have actually fired a bazooka. And in reply to yours, Billy, if you want Edel badly enough, you’ll just have to give me another fortnight’s leave.’

  ‘Well . . .’

  ‘So, in the circumstances,’ Clive went on, ‘the sooner we get it done the better. You agree, Anna?’

  ‘Absolutely. If it’s possible.’ She looked at Billy.

  ‘Oh,’ Clive said, ‘I’m quite sure he has all the necessary in that attaché case of his.’

  ‘I have all the information we possess on Edel and his habits and whereabouts, yes.’

  ‘And the fee?’

  ‘I have in my bag forty thousand dollars in cash. We presumed that would be the most acceptable to you, Anna.’

  ‘You presumed correctly. Now, this information.’

  ‘You will make your way to Pont del Mar, and there contact a Mr Philip Lustrum. He is a British citizen, working in the construction industry there, and is retained by us for certain tasks. Here is his telephone number.’ He pushed a slip of paper across the desk. ‘He has been keeping Edel under surveillance, and will be able to tell you everything you wish to know.’

  ‘What does he know about me?’

  ‘Nothing, save that we will inform him that you have been sent from London to replace him in keeping an eye on Edel.’

  ‘Identification?’

  He delved into his attaché case and produced a passport. ‘He will be informed of your name: Anna O’Rourke.’

  ‘Oh, for God’s sake. When are you going to run out of Os?’ She opened the little book. ‘That photo is getting out of date.’ But it had the necessary visas, US, Argentine . . . and Chilean and Uruguayan.

  She looked up.

  Billy was watching her. ‘As I said, we don’t want to know what you’re doing, but it did occur to us that you might wish to leave the country in a hurry, and those are your nearest neighbours. We did not think you’d want one for Brazil. We also felt that you might require to change identities, as we understand you did to get out of Mexico, but without, of course, reverting to your new name of Fitzjohn. Therefore here is another passport, in the name of Anna O’Reilly.’ He held it out.

  Anna opened it, refraining from commenting.

  ‘You’ll see it also has all the necessary visas.’

  ‘Your efficiency terrifies me.’

  ‘Yes, well, please remember not to mix them up. It’s O’Rourke on your way in and inside Argentina, and O’Reilly on your way out and back.’

  Anna stuck out her tongue at him.

  ‘And you trust this fellow Lustrum not to blow the whistle?’ Clive asked.

  ‘He has no whistle to blow. As far as he knows she is coming purely to assess the situation. There will be nothing to indicate to anyone else that Anna is working for us. She is a tourist who is breaking no laws, so far as he knows.’

  ‘He will, after this fellow Edel is found dead.’

  ‘We are assuming that by the time that happens, Anna will have left the country. At which time, if he were to attempt to relate her visit to Edel’s death and then to us, we would disclaim ever having known him.’

  ‘I wonder if he understands that,’ Anna remarked.

  ‘Whether he does or not is no concern of yours. I would suggest that once you have obtained whatever you wish from him, you drop him.’

  ‘You do realize,’ Anna said, ‘that you are using the present tense as regards what he does, and does not know.’

  ‘Well . . .’ Billy flushed.

  ‘I see. Another of your pre-emptive strikes.’

  ‘We felt quite sure that you would accept the commission.’

  ‘You are a bastard.’

  ‘Absolutely.’

  ‘So tell us how she gets there and gets out,’ Clive said.

  ‘That,’ Baxter said, ‘is her business. I said we don’t want to know.’

  ‘Just as you won’t want to know when she is taken and hanged.’

  They both looked at Anna.

  ‘I know the drill,’ she said.

  ‘So when do you want to leave?’

  ‘The day after tomorrow.’

  ‘Eh?’

  ‘The sooner it’s done, the better. All I need now is to be sure that you know everything about how the island works.’

  ‘I really am most appreciative of your enthusiasm to get the job done,’ Billy said. ‘But there is one small matter outstanding.’

  They both looked at him.

  ‘I do not have with me the carte blanche you require.’

  ‘But the carte blanche only applies to the cay,’ Clive pointed out. ‘Anna has no protection at all off the cay, save her own brains and skill. So you see, Billy, if I am left alone here to look after her home and family, and I have to shoot someone in doing so, I am the one who will be prosecuted. Then it seems to me you will be in the position that’s bothering Joe Andrews. No one will still know anything about Anna, but it is sure to come out that I am an MI6 agent, and that will blow wide open an entirely different can of worms. I can see it now. Questions in Parliament: what is a senior MI6 operative doing, shooting people on a remote Bahamian island? If all goes according to Anna’s plan, blowing them up with a bazooka. Front page news, wouldn’t you say?’

  ‘You also are a bastard,’ Billy commented.

  ‘Well,’ Clive said. ‘I work for you.’

  ‘But in the circumstances,’ Anna said. ‘Much as I have enjoyed your company, I think you should be the one to leave tomorrow.’

  *

  They walked along the beach, barefoot, hand in hand while the dogs frolicked in the shallows. Billy had gone off to Nassau with Tommy early, and they had completed another, detailed, tour of the island, taking in its every aspect. Anna had reintroduced Clive to every member of her staff, told them he was their ‘borse’ while she was away.

  Even so . . . ‘I feel a real shit,’ she said, ‘giving you all this responsibility. And at such short notice.’

  ‘Don’t you think I can handle it?’

  ‘Of course I think you can handle any, well, normal crisis. But . . . well . . .’

  ‘What abnormal crisis are you worrying about? You say it’s too early for a hurricane.’

  ‘There’s not a lot anyone can do about a hurricane. The boys know how to put up the storm shutters, and Tommy will secure the boat. Then it’s just a matter of sitting it out.’

  ‘And you’re sure the boat will be all right?’

  ‘If she’s properly secured, and if everything I’ve read and been told is correct, yes. That dock has apparently stood up to a hurricane before; the real menace is the storm surge, but it’s as sheltered as any of the “hurricane holes” they have around here. As I told you the other day, apparently the worst weather comes from the north-east, and we’re protected not only by that row of islands behind us, but by a couple of miles of quite shallow water. We’re more vulnerable from the north-west, and that could cause a lot of damage, but there again, any surge, to get at the boat, has to get over the reef and cross the entire island, and there are a lot of obstacles in the way.’ She smiled. ‘Including the houses.’

  ‘So what’s on your mind?’

  ‘Well . . . those people may indeed come back mob-handed.’

  ‘And you don’t think I can cope with that. While you could.’

  ‘Let’s say I have a little more experience than you, at being outnumbered.’

  ‘I was with you at that shoot-out with the Russians outside Eisenach, remember? And I pulled you out of that mess in Brazil, remember?’

  ‘I do. Joe was there too. And you both did your bit. But—’

  ‘You did most of it. I know. Just as I know your secret. You never hesitate, you always shoot to kill, and you never miss.’

  ‘That’s why I’m here.’ She kicked sa
nd with her toes.

  ‘If the chips go down, here, I’ll try to follow your example.’

  ‘You’ll have to do more than try, Clive.’

  ‘You changing your mind about marrying me?’

  ‘I’m the one who should be asking you that.’

  ‘You’re the unique personality. I’m just a hanger-on.’ He paused, to hold up his arms protectively as the dogs came out of the sea and began to shake. ‘Like these two. Will they really go for anyone I tell them to?’

  ‘Yes,’ Anna said. ‘They will. But you can only use them as a last resort. They’re more important to me as pets than as guard dogs. Your strength is first of all the bazooka. You said you’d fired one?’

  ‘Yes, I have. Do you really think Joe is going to let you have one?’

  ‘His hands may be tied by his rules of engagement, but he has a vested interest in keeping me alive. And don’t forget that you also have that riot gun. It has a seven-shot magazine, and the pump action is so smooth you can empty the lot in ten seconds. I keep it loaded with three scattershot and four solid. If the buckshot doesn’t discourage the opposition, hit them with the hard stuff. You have five hundred cartridges in the box in the library, half buck and half solid. But remember, the only way they can get at us is by boat. The bazooka is to sort that out.’

  ‘You know that it only has a range of about three hundred yards?’

  ‘That’s far enough. Any boat coming within three hundred yards of my dock, uninvited, should be regarded as hostile.’

  ‘You’re serious about this, aren’t you?’

  ‘Yes, I am, Clive. And you have to be serious too.’

  ‘I know. Anna . . . you are coming back?’

  ‘Don’t I always?’

  ‘I think the correct word would be haven’t. Have you any idea as to how you’re going to handle this? A plan of campaign?’

  ‘I can’t make a plan of campaign until I get there and have a look around.’

  ‘You reckon this fellow Lustrum Billy mentioned will be of help?’

  ‘I’m hoping so. Although I have to remember that he cannot be involved, and that even our meetings have to be totally secret. My real secret is surprise. I know I turn men on, and quite a few women, too. And I know that no one even considers that someone looking like me could ever be lethal, or want to be. That has even applied to people who should have known better.’