by Mark A Biggs
‘As we suspected,’ surmised Stephen. ‘I was wise, that night on the Eiffel Tower, to let you and the Inspector search for Max,’ he said while looking at Olivia. I think it would also be useful to chat with the Professor. He may prove beneficial.’
‘I have a feeling that Bronwyn has the same idea. By the way, which of you, the Americans or the British, sunk the Lelantos?’ said Olivia.
‘It wasn’t us, and Bronwyn said it wasn’t them.’
‘You believe her?’ asked Max in a sarcastic tone. ‘I find it strange that when the Lelantos sank, you just happen to be nearby. It beggars’ belief that you just happen to be passing, on a warship, in the Mediterranean. A coincidence?’
‘Funny you should say that, but yes, it was a “coincidence”. We were tracking Olivia, and the CIA had been shadowing the Professor, when all roads led to the Lelantos. We’ve had our eyes on the Lelantos for some time and went to Dubrovnik when our contact told us that you, a man called “Max”, was on board. That’s when we stumbled upon our CIA friends. As far as Bronwyn is concerned, the only reason MI6 was in Dubrovnik was because of you two, but that changed when we learned the Professor was also on board.’
‘How?’ asked Max. ‘Taking him was a last-minute decision.’
‘That’s needn’t concern you. Let’s just say we have our ways, as you know. Assuming we reach him first, I look forward to sharing him with our CIA friends.’
‘I assume by sharing, you mean eventually.’
‘Perhaps, Max.’
‘Do you know his wife is with him?’
‘Jayde, yes, but enough of this. The question is, what on earth are we going to do with both of you? I assume going back to the nursing home is not your number one pick?’
‘We have a choice?’ asked Max with an element of surprise in his voice. Olivia interrupted him before he could continue speaking.
In her most elegant manner, she said, ‘I’ve been thinking about that – how we might assist you in keeping us out of harm’s way.’
‘Have you now? Why am I not surprised?’ replied Stephen, unable to prevent a smile from creeping across his face.
‘We are not going back to Australia. On that, Stephen, we can both agree,’ continued Olivia confidently. Before Stephen could interject, she continued. ‘Well then, I’ve heard that some old people live out their days on cruise liners. It won’t be cheap and, of course, we would need a luxury suite with a balcony. Think about it, Stephen; you will never hear from us again. Max and I would simply sail off into the sunset, quite literally, gone and forgotten. I would give us a couple of years at best, before we shuffle off our mortal coil. So overall, not that expensive for the Government. Max, what do you think?’
‘That sounds wonderful; a twenty-first-century floating prison hulk. What more could you ask for? All aboard the HMS Captivity and then when we snuff it, they can dump our bodies at sea.’
‘Max!’ Olivia exclaimed, her tone reprimanding, before softening and saying, ‘You’re insufferable. The hulks didn’t have Champagne and caviar, or would you prefer hardtack biscuits with weevils?’
‘Perhaps, given the circumstances, as Bronwyn so eloquently put it, I’ll take the caviar,’ and then unable to resist adding a touch more of his sarcastic humour, said, ‘and the sea burial.’
‘It’s agreed, Stephen; a permanent berth on a Cruise Liner and then we promise you will never hear from us again, unless you prefer us to continue in the services of Her Majesty. Perhaps, you want our help in finding the Professor? Max knows what he looks like, so he could be of great assistance. As for me, I offer my discrete inquiry skills.’
‘Perhaps, given the circumstances,’ answered Stephen, enjoying the humorous exchanges with Olivia and Max, ‘the British Government might find it within its means, a berth on a suitable HMS Captivity.’
‘The Queen Mary Stephen!’
‘It could be nothing else, Olivia.’
CHAPTER TWO
Monya Mogilevick
Monya Mogilevick, a Russian billionaire, property tycoon and mafia boss, paced impatiently, waiting for his call to be answered. Since hearing about the sinking of his super yacht, the Lelantos, this was the third time today he had dialled the number. Having left two voice messages, he was growing angry. This time, before the call went to voicemail, the Captain of the Lelantos answered. Skipping the normal pleasantries, Monya demanded, ‘Why haven’t you called?’ Not waiting for a reply added, ‘What have you done to my yacht?’
After the Lelantos sank, the captain and crew had been rescued by the Greek Coast Guard and taken to Corfu where the police were waiting. As the Police like to say, the Captain had been helping them with their enquiries. The Captain knew that, once Monya learned of the sinking, he would expect him to call. The more time that passed, without contact, the angrier Monya would become. This was the first time he’d been free to talk, but Monya wouldn’t care; he was ruthless.
‘Sir,’ replied the Captain, fearing Monya’s rage. ‘I apologise for not contacting you, but it’s been impossible. The ship’s sunk and, after the sinking, I was taken to the local police station where they held me, waiting for the public prosecutor. I have just been released and am forbidden from leaving the island. The prosecutor will arrive in the morning when I am to be interviewed.’
‘Weren’t you entitled to a phone call?’
‘I asked sir, but they laughed.’
His anger subsiding, Monya continued, ‘Captain, I will have one of our lawyers with you by tomorrow. I need your address; tell me before we end the call.’
‘Thank you,’ said the Captain, concerned about the barrage of questions that he knew were about to start.
‘What happened?’
The Captain thought for a moment before answering. What did happen? he said to himself. ‘It’s difficult to know, for sure,’ he said to Monya. ‘The local authorities are saying we struck a semi-submerged shipping container. I can assure you, sir, that was not the case. It was an explosive device of some kind, a torpedo perhaps, but my best guess is that someone attached a mine to the stern of the ship. I don’t know when, but my feeling is Dubrovnik, during the party. I believe this to be so, because the decision to sail to Turkey, stopping at Corfu for fuel, was made at the last-minute. When Claudia brought the Professor on board, we were still sailing to Split. Only when Claudia learned about Olivia did she order us to set a route for Turkey. We thought that Olivia was on a cruise ship sailing the Adriatic; one of these ships was docking in Split on the same day we were due to arrive. It was only a matter of hours from the time we learned of Olivia, until we set sail for Corfu. If it was a mine, then it was attached in Dubrovnik, I’m sure of it.’
The Captain had his suspicions of who attacked and why, but it wasn’t his place to speculate; to him the Professor was the target but he wasn’t privy to the reason that Claudia brought the Professor and his wife on board, or why they were being smuggled out of Croatia to Russia. What he did know was that the Professor put them at risk from the CIA. Despite this, Claudia had continued with the civic reception for Dubrovnik dignitaries on board the Lelantos. Expecting the CIA to attempt a snatch and grab, if they suspected their plan to smuggle the Professor out of Dubrovnik on board the Lelantos, she’d put the yacht on its highest level of security during the party. Despite its sophisticated electronic monitoring equipment, the Lelantos had failed to detect any CIA activity. There was one minor security scare, but little else.
Another possibility for the attack, thought the Captain, was Max, the 87-year-old British secret agent who was also on board, kidnapped by Claudia. This seemed unlikely, though; if a rescue attempt, why use an explosive that could kill him, and may have? Finally, there was Olivia, another British agent and Max’s wife. The Captain knew little of Max and Olivia but had no doubt that Monya would seethe when he learned how easily Olivia had boarded, particularly as the boat was protected by his security team, all Russian ex-special forces.
‘Go on,’ said Monya, pr
ompting the Captain to continue with his account.
‘We had no warning, just a massive explosion about an hour out of Corfu.’
‘Stop,’ interrupted Monya impatiently. ‘I want to know what happened after you sailed from Dubrovnik’.
‘Yes, of course. You see, sir, we weren’t carrying sufficient fuel to make a fast and non-stop run to Turkey. I decided to refuel in Corfu. I know the whole point of going to Turkey was to avoid Olivia.’ He felt his mouth go dry, and swallowing a couple of times, he prepared to deliver the news he had been dreading. ‘While we were refuelling, Olivia walked up the gangway and onto the yacht.’
‘She what?’ erupted Monya. ‘What were you all thinking? Surely, it shouldn’t have been too difficult to stop an 87-year-old woman from boarding? The Lelantos was one of the most sophisticated and heavily defended private yachts afloat. It even had a missile defence system, and you are telling me, that you couldn’t stop an old-aged-pensioner. What the hell was my security doing?’
‘It was the local authorities, sir. They were on the Corfu dock when Olivia arrived and saw the whole thing. It was impossible to stop her. She announced her arrival by yelling out her name so that everybody could hear and then simply walked up the gangway and on board. She even gave one of the security guards a whack to get him out of the way with her umbrella. The Greek authorities thought that funny, but obviously, they didn’t realise she was the same Olivia that was being hunted by the Italian police for destroying the Rome railway station. With the Professor on board, Claudia decided that we couldn’t risk being searched and resolved to keep Olivia with us. The Lelantos left the port as quickly as it could. We anticipated that, once the police realized Olivia was on board, the ship would be intercepted. From the moment we left port, the Professor and his wife were never left unaccompanied. Were we boarded, they would be hidden using the mini-sub. Any discovery of Max would be bad news, so Claudia decided to kill him and dump his body at sea from the helicopter. Before that could happen, there was the explosion and we sank.’
‘Continue,’ instructed Monya when the Captain paused.
‘The explosion ripped a massive hole in the bottom of the ship and we started sinking, stern first. When I gave the order to abandon ship, as per Claudia’s instructions, our intention was to evacuate the Professor and his wife. They were put into one of our high-speed boats so that they were well clear of the Lelantos before any rescue craft came to our aid. The security detail who accompanied them were instructed to head for Turkey; as I’ve been held by the Police since the sinking, I don’t know whether they made it. Our best men are with the Professor, sir, and I have every confidence he is safe.’
‘The same men who let an eighty-seven-year-old woman outsmart them?’
The Captain didn’t answer, unsure of what to say.
With anger returning to his voice, Monya said, ‘That’s a question, Captain, and not a statement.’
‘The same men.’
‘What about Max and Olivia?’
‘We’ve accounted for all of the crew members, except for Max and Olivia; they were still somewhere on the ship. With the Lelantos sinking stern first, it was too dangerous to look for them.’
‘You were going to search?’
‘No.’
The Captain knew that what he was going to say next would displease Monya, but he had little choice, so he said hesitantly, ‘I had everybody else in the lifeboats with Claudia, Linda and myself remaining on board. She, I mean Claudia… It…it was then,’ he stuttered. Taking a breath, he repeated the sentence. “Claudia said she was going for Max and Olivia.” Expecting a tirade from Monya, he waited, but the other end of the phone remained silent. ‘It was a suicide mission, the bow of the Lelantos nearly vertical. Claudia ordered that we leave and draw any rescue craft away. Sir, I’m afraid to say we left her.’
‘And?’ snarled Monya, guessing there was more to come.
‘We hadn’t gone far when Linda ordered that we take her back to the Lelantos. She went on board to help Claudia and we fled. By the time the Greek Coast Guard recovered us, the Lelantos had gone under.’
‘What happened to Claudia and Linda?’ asked Monya angrily.
‘They weren’t on board the Coast Guard vessel. At that time, I thought it safe to assume that Claudia and Linda went down with the ship, along with Olivia and Max.’
‘You think so, do you, Captain?’ interrupted Monya ‘Don’t tell me what to assume, only what you know. Do I make myself clear?!’
‘Yes, sir.’
In disbelief, Monya had listened to the Captain’s account. He was unconvinced at Claudia’s explanation for sparing Max in Scotland and bringing him to Russia. Why risk her life in order to save him and Olivia? Claudia was Monya’s lover, and he’d had many, but he cared for her. Rather than feeling grief at her demise, his sentiment was of betrayal and anger. There was something about Claudia that she’d hidden, perhaps, a past connection to Max and Olivia. Was that the only explanation that made sense? But what had Linda to gain? Why would she go back and help? Loyalty? He wrestled with the notion, but such fidelity was foreign to him. The mixture of confusion and anger was replaced by dread. What if they’d survived and rescued Olivia and Max? Had Claudia defected? Not knowing why, he was certain of it. The bitch lives, he thought. What would she tell MI6? He was furious, not only had he been betrayed, his empire was at risk.
Hiding the outrage from the Captain, Monya asked, ‘Did Claudia or Linda say why they wanted to help Olivia and Max?’
‘No, and in the circumstances, there wasn’t the opportunity to ask.’
Not that you would dare, he thought. Claudia is a ruthless woman. It was rumoured she had been an assassin in one of General Ratko Mladic’s – The Butcher of Bosnia – paramilitary units during the Balkan War. It wasn’t wise to cross Claudia.
‘I see. And since you have been held by the police, has there been any mention of bodies from the Lelantos?’
‘I told the police that all the crew members, except for Claudia and Linda, were safely evacuated. Max and the Professor were excluded, of course. Because Olivia was seen, I said that we were joined by a woman calling herself Olivia while refuelling in Corfu. I’m claiming ignorance, other than to say she knew Claudia and that Claudia invited her to stay.
‘From what I overheard in the police station, the coast guard is reporting that two bodies have been recovered, Claudia and Linda but no mention of Olivia or Max.’
‘Does that seem strange to you?’ asked Monya. ‘The police putting names to the bodies so soon after the explosion?’ Asking the question, he realised the Captain knew better than to be drawn into speculation.
‘With respect, sir, that’s not for me to say. I can only report what I hear.’
After finishing the conversation with the Captain, Monya made another call, this time to Leonard, his contact in the Kremlin. He wanted their help to uncover the identity of whoever sunk his yacht and to find out if Max and Olivia were still alive. ‘If they’re still with us,’ he said to Leonard, ‘it would mean Claudia and Linda survived. They may have been taken prisoner or even defected. As a precaution, we’re going to pause the work we’ve been doing together, until we know for certain.’
‘You need to ensure your dirty laundry doesn’t wash up on our doorstep. We like to stay at arm’s length. Plausible deniability, they say in the West.’
Monya knew he couldn’t ask Leonard about the Professor, it being a Brotherhood matter. It had been the Professor, on behalf of the Kremlin, who had been causing mischief in USA politics and unleashing ransomware viruses on Western public assets. Monya knew that the Kremlin would be displeased if they knew he’d gone missing. Rather than asking if Russian intelligence knew the whereabouts of the Professor, he sought a favour. ‘Leonard, I would like to know who sunk my ship. Perhaps, you might also tell me if there have been any unusual coast guard or navy movements along the Greek Coast.’ The moment he asked he regretted such a stupid question. It reflected p
oorly on a man of his stature.
‘Comrade Monya, thousands of refugees are crossing the Mediterranean every day fleeing Libya, Africa and Syria. Any unusual naval movements, apart from all-out war, would go unnoticed. I suggest, my friend,’ continued Leonard matter-of-factly, ‘if you’re looking for Professor Akihiko and his wife, you should use your own vast networks and resources to find them. My superiors suggest that you keep a better eye on things. Resolve this quickly if you want us to continue working together.’ The reply was less a rebuke than a timely warning that the Kremlin was fully aware of his Mafia activities and more than he realised. This week was going from bad to worse. Leonard’s voice softened, although the tone remained serious. ‘I will see what I can find out. As a friend. We are friends, are we not?’ Monya knew that this was code for you are in my debt. ‘Like you, Monya, it’s not in our interest for the Professor to be captured. If we find the CIA is looking for him, it would be wise if you were to find him before we do. Give me a couple of hours and I will call you back.’
CHAPTER THREE
Jayde Akihiko
Not long after the explosion, the Captain gave the order to abandon ship as the Lelantos was sinking rapidly. Accompanied by the four ex-special forces soldiers who were tasked with their protection, the Professor and Jayde, his wife, were bundled into a high-speed escape craft to continue the journey to Turkey and then on to Russia.
