Scorpion's Vengeance

by Lawrence Hebb

  “My family weren’t” Sandy spoke up again, she’d been searching for something on her laptop, “The stories in the press hint at the possibility of the Russian Mafia involved, what if we told the intelligence people that we needed to talk with him because he knew who was behind it? Might just shake ‘em loose enough to try something”

  “But we’ll need a head start” Smithy spoke up for the first time, “and I want a good camera, I’m assuming I’m not going to be able to shoot the sods yet, so I’ll get photos so we can hunt ‘em down”

  “It seems you’ve got this all worked out” Sir Michael huffed, somehow he had the idea that the team had planned for something like this all along, they just waited for the right time.

  Chapter 11

  “Bravo two, where the hell are you?“ he spoke louder than he intended to, the adrenaline from the gameplay kicking in, “I've got bandits on my tail!”

  “At your five o'clock high” a voice came back, “you've got two right up your arse, when I say, do a barrel roll and break right”

  “Are you nuts? ” he shouted back, “I'm in a mark three Spitfire remember!“ he grabbed the computer joystick ready for the manoeuvre, in real life it would be nearly impossible and only a really good pilot would even try it, but this was a game.

  “Yeah, I remember, your choice remember, they're dead level with you, break either way and you'll go across their gunsights, you need to lose a bit of height as you go, throw ‘em off balance, the roll is the best way!”

  That was true, the original Spitfire had one weakness, a gravity fed carburettor sat on top of the engine, roll the plane and the huge merlin engine would be starved of fuel resulting in her almost cutting out, and losing height, the original pilots found out the hard way, and turned it into an advantage when they attacked formations by flying above, then pulling a half barrel roll and a dive, that way they got an extra ten miles an hour, vital when you're taking a Messerschmitt Bf109 on, and the game simulated it all.

  The screen almost blanked out as he started the turn, in real life the pilots would pull four ‘g’ turns causing them to black out, or at least nearly so, that's what the computer was simulating.

  “Shit, engine failure” he called out as a buzzer sounded, “I might be hit” he spoke into the Mike, there wasn't any way of knowing until his Avatar recovered.

  “Looks okay to me” the voice came back, “no trails”

  The ‘trails’ were vapour, if he'd been hit, then either oil or fuel would be streaming out of the engine, there weren't any. The plane wasn’t ‘vibrating’ either, so the computer wasn’t simulating a stall.

  The buzzer sounded again, just as the screen was coming back to life, next thing was to check power connections, it took a whole minute before he realised it wasn't the machine, someone was at the door.

  “Sorry bud, gotta go, someone's at the bloody door” he was annoyed, it was bloody frustrating, especially as he thought he'd disconnected the buzzer, he reached over, flicked the switch, and was just getting up.

  “Don't bother” the voice was female, silky, and almost seductive, “we let ourselves in”.

  “Wha, what the?” he looked up, startled at the voice, “where did you come from?” he was half surprised, and the other half, well probably not printable, ‘she's gorgeous’ was all he could think, ‘and she's smiling’ hopeful delusions setting in and not taking the scruffy tee shirt, paunch and two day old facial growth into account.

  “It's okay bud” another voice, a male one shattered any hope he had, “She has that effect on all the boys” the voice sounded slightly amused, which was annoying, no one likes being ‘read like a book’

  The intruders, there were two of them, didn't seem to be causing trouble, apart from the fact they'd broken into the house, no threats of violence, no ‘smash and grab’ the girl was just sat there, in his one armchair, legs crossed, smiling. He felt weak at the knees, seduced by a simple smile.

  Sandy was loving it, she couldn't help herself, it was something that just came ‘natural’ to her, the ability to get what she wanted with just a smile, ‘something you just have to love’ she thought to herself.

  Paul couldn’t believe his own eyes, a gorgeous redhead just walking into his place, wild dreams were being unlocked in his mind, a mind that somehow managed to not even realise she was escorted by a scary dude carrying a concealed gun. ‘I mean she’s gorgeous’ he thought to himself, hoping that the words didn’t actually come out of his mouth, “Wha, who are you?” sounded as if it came out instead, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the redhead sat in the armchair.

  Sandy was loving it, not the attention so much, as the effect it was having, holding the guy ‘riveted’ to the spot while Joey did what he needed to, the navy blue polo neck along with the taylored tight black jeans gave her skin an almost ‘alabaster’ look, couple that with her shoulder-length flame red hair, and it kind of lit a bonfire in the guy, she always enjoyed having that effect on men, but that’s as far as things went for her, she was Joey’s girl through and through, though seeing Joey squirm a little at the attention was ‘kinda fun’

  “Relax” she spoke softly, “we’re here to help”

  “What?” Paul was confused, “Where ‘d you come from? What do you want?”

  “Not a lot” Joey replied, so far he’d stayed in the background, just watching, checking the room, and anything that moved outside, he hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary, but that didn’t mean much, he did notice that the street was quiet, a little too quiet for the time of day, “Let’s just say we’re here for your health, not ours”

  “Scuse me?” Paul was really confused, and more than a little spooked, “Who put you up to this? I can take you” he jumped up and started moving towards the door only to be met with a wicked backhander that knocked him halfway across the room, “That’s assault” he screamed as he launched himself for his phone, the headset he’d been wearing was busted with the blow, Joey got there first.

  “Relax knucklehead” Joey was almost laughing, “If I’d wanted to hurt you I’d have done so, and not given you a gentle tap like I just did, you don’t know it, but you need our help!”

  “Why? What the hell have I done?”

  Sandy spoke again, “Couple of days ago you came across this on the net” she was holding a small black bag, she began to unzip it and lay the contents out on the table, a flash drive fell out, she took it and plugged it into his computer.

  “Hey, that’s mine, what are you doing?” he launched himself at the computer screen trying to push her out of the way, the big guy behind grabbed him by the shoulder and wrenched him back into his seat.

  “Sit” was all Joey said.

  “Just want to show you something” Sandy tapped the keyboard a few times, the screen changed and was filled with a series of numbers, it looked like lines of computer code, “This got onto the servers of most government departments”

  “Oh shit” was all he could say, slowly he began turning white, the blood draining from just about every muscle in his face, he looked at the screen then saw a piece of paper he reached for that as well, it was the same code, and he knew exactly what it was, it was as if the paper suddenly ignited in his hand, and burned his fingers, he snatched his hand back violently, “It wasn’t me!!” he blurted out.

  “We know that you moron” Joey shot back, “we know where it came from he’d been watching the window, now he turned and looked directly at Paul, “You’re a hacker, but not that kind of one, isn’t that right?”

  “Yeah, Yeah that’s right, Yeah” Paul’s colour slowly began to return, “I stopped the damn thing” the verbal ‘swagger’ coming back.

  “And in doing so” Sandy cut in, “Pissed off some pretty serious and nasty people”

  Paul stopped mid-sentence and slumped back into his chair, all hope of ‘fighting’ lost, he was in deep shit, and he knew it, “Oh shit” was all he said.

  “Relax” Joey’s voice was calm, almost soothin
g, which was strange considering a few minutes before he’d been pretty violent, “we’re not here to hurt you, we’re here to stop you getting hurt!”

  “I'm calling the police” he reached for his phone, blinding pain bit in as Joey knocked the phone out of hand, it went flying across the room, “what the hell? How'd I know you aren't the ones wanting to do me harm?”

  “If we were” Joey began, his voice an emotionless monotone, “you'd already been in a body bag” he sauntered over and picked the phone up, a quick wrist action and he had the sim card out, next, within seconds, the battery, which wasn't supposed to come out was just that, out, Joey wasn't taking any chances, “as of now” he paused for a moment, “You’re going off grid, and I mean literally!”

  Somehow, Paul knew the ‘body bag’ thing wasn't an idle threat, ‘this guy has ice in his veins’ he thought but didn't dare say. “Just who are you people?” was all that came out as he slowly massaged life back into the hand. He was convinced there'd be permanent nerve damage.

  “We’ve already told you,” Sandy spoke softly, “we’re here to protect you” she shifted slightly, “look, you’re in a lot of trouble, and need our help”

  “Why?” He whimpered, “what have I done?” the hand still hurt, life was coming back into it, but slowly, “besides” he began again.

  “a couple of days ago” Joey cut him off, “remember the ransomware?”

  “I’ve already damn well told you” he screamed, “I didn’t bloody do it! I stopped the sodding thing!”

  “We know that” Sandy’s voice was silky smooth, almost seductive, the contrast of the two was throwing him off balance, one he wanted to jump into bed with, the other seemed to want to throw him off the nearest roof, and while Joey suspected that’s what he was thinking, if he’s confirmed that, he would have been tempted to, except he knew Sandy wasn’t interested in the guy, it was all a ploy to throw him off guard, they needed Paul scared and compliant, he’d be scared of Joey, and compliant with whatever Sandy told him. “It’s the people who did create the virus that want you dead! We’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen”

  “What?” he was almost crying, “Why, all I did was stop a virus from destroying a heap of stuff! Why?”

  “Because you stopped them stealing about twenty million pounds, Quid, Nicker, Smackers, anything else you want to call it, a whole heap of dough” Joey wasn’t playing all that hard, he was genuinely surprised at how naive this guy was.

  Paul was almost in tears, his life was being ripped apart, and all because of one stupid move, a click on a keyboard that he just hadn’t been able to resist, he never even thought for a moment how these guys might actually have found him, never thought that it was his own social media that had given him away.

  “I can't believe this” he was almost crying, “How the hell”

  “Did this happen?” Joey couldn’t resist trying to guess what he was going to say. He didn’t know whether to feel sorry for him or tell him to ‘get a life’ he’d been watching out of the window, the street looked clear, Joey knew otherwise, but that’s what he was counting on, they just couldn’t say anything, Paul was the bait, but Joey’s job was keeping them alive. “Listen bro” Joey began again, “Long as we’re here, nothing’s going to happen to you,” he lied.

  “Really?” Paul stopped crying, “How?”

  “Believe me” Sandy was the one spoke up, “If you can avoid finding out then do so, you really don't want to know” she stood up, “anyway, it's time to get you out of here” she began moving towards the door.

  Joey was still at the window, scanning the street, there were a couple of cars there, but one, in particular, had caught his attention, it was parked, and had been for over ten minutes, the exhaust fumes said the engine was running, the two men inside the car were waiting for something, and he was pretty sure what they were waiting for, before heading towards the door a quick text put the last piece in place.

  The text simply said, “Black Ford Mondeo, engine running, end of street” Smithy would know what to do.

  Chapter 12

  The two men were smoking, not that either was too bothered, both were concentrating on the job at hand, both getting ready, and using the cigarette to calm the nerves. “Where the hell are they?” The driver, a big gruff bear of a man growled, he didn't like to be kept waiting for anything, normally it wasn't a good idea, lives had been significantly shortened by keeping him waiting.

  “How the hell should I bleeding well know!” the one in the back, the ‘trigger man’ had a distinct Irish lilt, the guy in the front knew his comrade had been with the provisional IRA or ‘Provos’, he’d done time for that, and thought that when peace came he’d settle down but well too much money was made running drugs and guns!

  “Yer man on the inside said they should be in that house there, about five doors down” the Irish accent came on strong, “you sure about them?”

  “Boss says they good” bear man replied, “they make good money from deal” he really didn't give a damn whether they were or not, they got paid for the job, so that's what they’d do, fact was, if the money was right, bear man would kill anyone, even his own mother, and the money for this job was good, it was very good, but doing it in broad daylight? in a place where there were cameras everywhere, that made him nervous.

  “But they’re English, and selling their country out, you know! Trust but verify maybe?” he paused before continuing, “I don’t trust the bastards, never have”

  “If they set us up” bear man turned and faced his companion in the back, a huge sickening grin on his face, “I take great delight in killing them slowly”

  Somehow, the Irishman knew it wasn’t an idle boast, he didn’t push things anymore.

  “We’re good to go, boss,” Joey whispered into his lapel mike, neither Paul or Sandy saw or heard him, not that it would have made any difference, Sandy knew the situation, and Paul was, too scared to know what to think.

  “Roger that” a voice came back through their earpieces, both Sandy and Joey were wearing them, along with the mikes, they knew Jacko and the rest of the team were monitoring them, “three, check in”

  “All good here boss,” another voice, with a Geordie accent, came back, “Street’s quiet, but we’ve got a bead on the gremlins”

  A ‘bogey’ in any operation is a ‘callsign’ you can't identify, they might be your side (known as Angels) or your enemy (known as ‘Bandits’) a ‘Bogey’ could be either, and a ‘Gremlin’ is one you think probably is the enemy, either way, you ‘lock and load’

  Except this time they wanted them alive, and preferably not realising they’d been ‘rumbled’, making them think they did their job, but somehow keeping their ‘target’ alive, “Should to a walk in the park” Jacko had said, Joey’s reply had been something like, “I’d hate to be your dog, if that’s how you walk them!”

  “We’re coming out” Joey spoke into the mike as he reached for the door, Sandy was the first one through, eyes scanning the whole street before moving off.

  “Bogeys are on your three o'clock” Smithy’s voice came over the mike, “Got ‘em on my camera, just waiting for the move, then we start rolling”

  “Roger that” Sandy replied, anyone watching wouldn’t have known she was speaking into a mike, “Joey?”

  Paul was the next out, though he didn’t actually know it, just as he got to the door, Joey had shoved a black bag over his head,it had no eye holes and the bloody thing felt heavy, “It’ll keep you alive” he’d said as he forced the thing down, he had no idea where he was going, “Trust her” Joey had nodded in Sandy’s direction, it didn’t occur to him Paul couldn’t see Sandy.

  But he was literally tied to her’ she was pulling a leash that went around his waist, ‘Like a sack of sodding spuds’, he thought, though he daren’t say anything.

  “Black Mondeo closing faster than it should” Smithy gave instructions, Joey spotted it immediately in his peripheral vision, though he didn’t
show it, he just came through the door as if he hadn’t seen a thing, he reached inside his jacket, he was already reaching for his Browning 9mm.

  The Browning was in a shoulder holster, Joey checked that the retaining clip was undone, he didn’t want anything to get in the way.

  The car was at the south end of the street, about seventy yards away, it slowly pulled out from the place where it had been parked, and began coming towards them, the window at the back on the left-hand side was halfway down, Smithy saw something poking out.

  “Joey, it’s a pistol shot, repeat a pistol shot” Smithy spoke calmly into the mike, there’s no way even a professional could make sure of a kill from a moving car with a pistol, they all knew that but evidently these guys were either super confident, or had no idea, “Correction, an Ingrams” he screamed the last part.

  The Ingrams submachine gun, better known as the MAC 10 is a favourite for the criminal world, the thirty round magazine can be emptied in less than two seconds, and the suppressor on the barrel makes it so quiet the only thing you hear is the cocking action of the bolt as it slams back into place, mind you it’s doing it a thousand times a minute (if you can change magazines that fast). Not very accurate, but with a hose down rate like that, you don’t need to be”

  Joey didn’t wait, he launched himself at Paul catching him right in the middle of the back, they began falling just as the first hiss was heard, glass shattering as windscreens gave way to the hail of bullets, Sandy dived for cover as soon as Smithy’s given the warning, she was down behind a car, out of the way, Makarov in hand, ready for any attempt if they got out of the car.

  As soon as the hiss stopped Joey was up on one knee, the Browning out and barking, two shots into the back of the car before it took off down the street, two more through the rear windscreen, the orders had been clear, not to try and kill them, but he couldn’t resist giving them a ‘real scare’.

  “Trackers are in” Joey called into the mike, ‘how’re they reading?”