Act of Vengeance

by Michael Jecks

  ‘He’s got a big house for a guy living on his own,’ Frank said. ‘It’s got a large set of grounds round it, and it’s all secure. There are all kinds of static defence, from cameras and barbwire to electronic listening devices every few yards. That’s the perimeter. As you get closer in, the security increases – with enhanced light cameras, motion detectors, the works.’

  ‘What about remote surveillance?’

  ‘He’s right in among the trees. Impossible to view the property from any range. Can’t get close enough for a laser listener to poke at the windows. Not that it’d do much good if you could. The glass is triple-glazed and has a film on the outer to stop vibration from voices.’

  ‘What can we do, then?’

  ‘First, we’ll circle round the compound, and then we’ll see if there’s anything you think you can do.’

  Jack nodded, and soon they were rolling along a quiet roadway in woods. The trees were still in their full foliage, and trying to view between them was next to impossible.

  ‘He’s in there?’ Jack said.

  ‘Yes. Not that you could tell it too easily. His house is a good few hundred yards from here.’ Rand turned to the right at a T-junction, the car smoothly pulled away, and they moved on past more trees and then a wall. ‘This wall continues all around his property. It’s topped with broken glass, and there are steel spikes at sections, too. Try sitting on that lot, and you’ll regret it in a hurry!’

  Jack eyed the wall with a growing sense of the impossibility of the mission.

  ‘Right. Keep on going, and let’s see if there’s even a remote chance of getting inside the perimeter without being spotted.’

  Frank shrugged, and Debbie stared out to the left as though desperate to conceal her frustration. It was clear that she had no faith in Jack’s ability to get inside. The whole concept should be aborted.

  Jack could sense her resentment, but ignored her. He was determined to get inside somehow.

  ‘There’s a car there,’ he said, pointing ahead.

  ‘It’s my buddies,’ Frank said. ‘I’ve had video cameras installed at every entrance. The operators in the car here have feeds that are motion-activated. If someone goes in or out, he’ll know. If it’s interesting, he can follow.’

  ‘I see.’

  ‘Just what do you think you are going to do?’ Debbie said, still staring out the window, her back stiff. ‘You want to keep on driving round and round here on the off-chance you see a tunnel under the wall? Or you waiting to see if there’s a ladder, with a sign sayin’, “over here, guys, it’s safe”?’

  ‘Amiss is somehow connected to Lewin, and that means he may know something about the men who killed Lewin, and the guys who tried to kill me and you two as well,’ Jack said. ‘Unless you have an idea how to break into the CIA headquarters and into his safe, I’d suggest getting into his house is about the only way to speak to him.’

  She gave a short, sarcastic laugh.

  ‘Yeah? And let’s think: he’s got five, six men in the house? Patrolling agents out in the garden? Dogs? Just how many guys can you take out on your way to him?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Jack said. ‘But…’

  He was saved by a two-tone bleep.

  Debbie sneered as she picked up her phone.

  ‘Yeah?’

  There was a moment’s silence while she listened, then she asked a couple of questions, nudged Frank, and whirled her hand twice in the air before jerking a thumb back the way they’d come.

  ‘OK, on our way now!’

  ‘What?’ Frank demanded.

  ‘Turn round, Frank. Amiss is in a car heading north.’

  *

  19.29 Langley; 00.29 London

  Roy Sandford felt real good as he left home and strolled to his car. The car beeped as he pressed the alarm remote, and he looked back and saw her in the window. Her blouse fell open as she lifted a hand to wave, and he grinned as he climbed behind the wheel.

  His apartment was a tip, but that didn’t matter tonight. Janice (he must get used to calling her by her real name) was already there when he got back, and even as he threw his jacket over the chair and began to undress so he could have a shower, she was already tugging off her blouse and skirt, and then helped him to remove the rest of his clothes. The result was a fifteen-minute delay before he could climb into the shower, and that increased when she joined him in the small cubicle. It was very snug in there.

  Yeah, leaving his apartment knowing Very Nice was waiting for him to get back was a great way to start the evening.

  He had no idea what was about to happen. Some kind of interview panel was what he assumed, and he drove off to the location Amiss had given him with trepidation and a fluttering in his gut, but the anxiety was stilled by the memory of Very Nice’s backside rubbing against his crotch in the shower, her hair bedraggled in the water, making her appear more wanton than ever. That was a lovely picture to hold in his mind.

  The turnoff was not far from here. He took the road down into McLean, and very soon he was rolling along the smooth blacktop towards the chapel at the far end. He parked up, and stared at the little chapel. With a shrug, he left the car and pressed the button on his key fob to lock it and set the alarm. Tugging his jacket more neatly over his shoulders and buttoning it, he crossed the road and walked to the Chapel of St David’s.

  *

  19.32 Langley; 00.32 London

  ‘I know that guy,’ Frank said, as he watched the slim figure cross the road. He snapped his fingers at Jack, who was watching through his binoculars.

  Jack passed them over the seat, and Frank peered.

  ‘Fuck me, Debbie. It’s Roy Sandford.’

  ‘I ain’t…’

  ‘All right, Debbie. What the fuck is he doing here meeting with Amiss, though? The prick was supposed to be our comms and intel support in Seattle, and now he’s having cosy meets with Amiss?’

  *

  19.34 Langley; 00.34 London

  Stilson met Roy Sandford in the door. Ed Stilson was still in his own suit, which was reassuring. It made the meeting place seem a little more normal. He had to admit, crossing the street to this old clapboard chapel had struck him as a little worrying, especially when he saw the strange symbol over the doorway. It was the old device of the dividers with a set square beneath, and he knew as well as anyone who’d ever read The Da Vinci Code that it meant the Masons.

  Well, no one who’d ever lived in Washington or near it for more than a couple of weeks would have missed the fact that the Masons were all over the place. There were masonic symbols everywhere, and anyone who doubted it only had to look at a dollar bill. The all-seeing eye in the pyramid was something to do with them, too, he thought.

  ‘Hi, Mr Stilson,’ he said, holding out his hand.

  Ed Stilson smiled, took his hand, and pointed him through the next door.

  Roy walked to it, opened the door, and saw that the room beyond was in darkness. He was about to turn and ask Stilson where he should be going, when his hands were both grabbed. Before he could shout or fight to free himself, Stilson had a black velvet bag over his head, and the drawstrings were pulled tight. His wrists were held tightly at either side. Roy wanted to shriek, but he had a sudden clear recollection of the masonic symbol over the doorway, and he realised this must be an induction ceremony of some sort. It didn’t stop his heart from thundering painfully, but he could control his breathing and avoid hyperventilation. He was led along what must have been a timber floor, and then the sound altered. He was on stone. He could feel the difference in texture of the ground and, as he went after the men pulling his wrists, he felt them go down slightly. A moment later, he found himself stumbling down some stairs. They must have been very broad and steep, and suddenly the hands on his wrists were gone, and when he reached out, he felt stone on either side – a narrow passageway.

  He had the choice of ripping the bag from his head, turning and fleeing, or carrying on. At MIT he had been brought into a society at
which there had been an induction ceremony, which had involved several women and a lot of beer. His fear dissipated a little at the memory, and then the recollection of Janice’s very nice face in the shower as she reached up to kiss him in gratitude came back to him, and he thought of telling her all about this evening. That was enough to give him the incentive to continue. His hands brushed the wall on either side, and the stone became colder and damper to the touch. There were still stairs, but now they were closer together, and seemed to go winding round leftward. It put him in mind of the old castles he’d seen in pictures of Europe. He shrugged and carried on, and then there was no wall on either side, and he stood still, reaching out blindly to see if there was anything near him.

  His feet tapped at the floor before him. There was a coolness in the air and, although he could hear nothing, he had the impression of height and space all around. It was strange and scary. He kept walking, hands outstretched, trying to find a wall, anything.

  ‘Stop!’

  The voice almost made him jump out of his skin. Someone was very close to him, over to his left. He turned his head instinctively, but then his arms were gripped, and someone ripped the sack from his head, and he was in a large chamber. With astonishment, he gazed about him.

  It was a cavern carved into the rock. Somehow he would have expected to see flaming torches set into wall niches, but instead there were electric lights strung out on either side, outdoor waterproof bulkhead lamps. But it was less that than the scene before him.

  Directly in front of him was a large hole in the ground. At some point, he guessed, this had been a well. It had never been covered, and now, as he stared down into it, he could see sluggish black water moving at the bottom. The sight was enough to make his stomach lurch. He was only a step at most from falling into it. The thought made the sweat break out on his forehead.

  ‘You are gazing into the pit.’

  Looking up, he saw that all around were men dressed as monks, with their faces hidden behind hoods. A man stood on each side of him, while others were grouped at the far side of the hole in the ground. He guessed that the man directly opposite him was Amiss, but it was only a guess, while at either side of Amiss himself were two more men. From the build, he thought the man on Amiss’s right was probably Tullman.

  ‘The pit is the resting place for anyone who betrays us,’ Amiss said. ‘We are the Council of the Deputies General of the Empire of the East and West. We all believe in one Supreme Being, and in the sacred duty of all to follow Him. We work ceaselessly to aid Him in His works. Will you join us?’

  ‘Yes,’ Roy said.

  This was stupid, but incredible. These old guys were like Masons, then, but not Masons. He was honoured that Amiss had thought to invite him in as well. It was like an old work colleague inviting a new recruit into his club.

  ‘You will learn secrets while you are with us, Roy. You will gradually rise through the levels. At first you will be a novice, an Epopt, until you can advance. You will have many duties. You must obey and work always to the benefit of the Council.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘And if you flag, if you falter, if you fail, there is no shame. So long as you have striven with all your power.’ Amiss’s hands had been clasped. Now he held them open, as though somehow embracing the pit before them all. ‘But if you desert us, betray us, attempt to destroy us, we will seek you out and we will ensure your ruin, your devastation and death. Your body will be cast into the pit before you here; your soul will be cast into the outer darkness. And your memory, your history, all will be lost forever. It will be as though you never lived. You will be utterly erased.’

  There was a strange feeling as he heard that. Roy felt as if he was in the presence of a senior priest, and that the word of God was being invoked. It was the same as when he had been confirmed and the Bishop had laid his hands on Roy’s head. The same sort of odd tingle in his scalp, the same hypersensitivity to all about him.

  ‘Do you join us?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Then we shall pray,’ Amiss said.

  *

  19.46 Langley; 00.46 London

  Jack was sitting in the back of the car with his elbows resting on the backs of both front seats.

  ‘What is going on in there?’

  ‘It’s a chapel,’ Debbie said scathingly. ‘They’re probably praying.’

  ‘Why are there no lights on, then?’ Jack demanded.

  ‘Look, Jack, I don’t give a shit, OK?’ Debbie said. ‘Frank, let’s get out of here. I don’t like this at all, and you know that. I want to get back to my nice, comfortable desk at Seattle where I know what is happening, and not have to follow the deputy director of the CIA any more. All we’re doing here is frigging about, and I don’t want to play any more. You got that? If we’re still here with this Brit shit-for-brains tomorrow, we’ll all be wanted along with him.’

  ‘Debbie, we’ll be OK,’ Frank said. ‘Look, we—’

  ‘No, Frank. Houlican told you that if you pissed about he’d have your balls. I think he meant it. But you prefer to be out here, watching Amiss instead of doing your job.’

  ‘I want to know if he had anything to do with ordering our murders,’ Frank said.

  ‘I’m missing something, I think,’ Jack said. ‘You’ve been ordered to bring me in or face discipline yourselves?’

  ‘Yeah. Something like that,’ Frank said.

  ‘Shit!’ Jack looked at the chapel. ‘Look, I’m going to go take a look, in case there’s something we can take away with us. That OK?’

  ‘Just go,’ Frank said, waving his hand and staring at Debbie.

  *

  19.50 Langley; 00.50 London

  Amiss lifted his head after the prayers and glanced about him at the other members of the Council.

  ‘We are an ancient body. We were created over two hundred and fifty years ago by warrant, and we have striven to support the aims and objectives of all those who believe in a Supreme Being and seek the better government of the world. We will not cease in our fight for the freedom and democratic principles that underlie our great nation. We reject those who seek to harm our nation, we spurn those who seek to destabilise our beliefs, and we will destroy those who seek to wage war upon us. We are the Council of the East and the West.’

  He felt the cold satisfaction wash through his soul as he spoke the words again. His own belief had been rigid for many years now. This would be his twenty-fifth year in the Council, and he was proud that he had never once lapsed in his duties since the very first day. His faith was as strong now as on that first day when he was accepted as an Epopt.

  ‘Never before has our duty been so important. Our purpose is to protect our nation from the many adversaries ranged against us. Only by our determination and our rigid inflexibility will we succeed. There are unpleasant choices to make, and a long road to travel before we can say that we have succeeded.’

  He knew that too well.

  ‘The battle is not only with those from abroad who would see us destroyed, but also with the enemies within. The people who seek to weaken the country so that we no longer have the ability to defend ourselves. We will not permit them to succeed!’

  He held up his hands. ‘We all know what we must do to prevent their attacks upon us. We must use all methods. Covert, overt, intelligence gathering of all forms, in order to thwart the enemies who threaten us and our way of life. Our religious way of life.’

  Amiss looked at the other men about him. They all agreed. Yes, most, like him, were deeply convinced Christians, but there was one who was not. Gutterson was a Christian Scientist, so he believed in an alien locked in a mountain somewhere, so far as Amiss could understand it. He didn’t care. Gutterson had the key attribute he was looking for: absolute and unswerving support of the United States. He would die for that cause, and Amiss demanded nothing more from his men.

  ‘Roy Sandford. Step forward,’ Amiss said, and did so himself.

  The men all stood at the
very edge of the well-pit, and Roy had to command himself not to look down. He could hear the slap and trickle of the water at the bottom of that shaft, and with the analytical part of his mind, he told himself that the water was moving down there. Any body thrown down would perhaps disappear forever. There was no telling where the underground stream would carry it. The thought made him shiver.

  ‘Roy Sandford, do you believe in a Supreme Being?’ Amiss demanded, his eyes glimmering in the lights.

  ‘Yes, sir. I do,’ Roy said, remembering Very Nice in the shower.

  ‘Do you swear by your Supreme Being, that you will work to obey the Council of East and West, that you will strive constantly to serve this Council, and that you will willingly suffer any punishment this Council imposes if you fail in your duties?’

  Roy had to stop a grin.

  ‘Yes, sir. I do.’

  It was a bit pathetic, really, he told himself. The old men here had their little masonic temple, they had their rites and their paraphernalia, all to make it seem more important than it really was. He wondered, for a moment, whether they were all deeply unhappy at home. Perhaps they had invented this charade in order to give themselves more of a veneer of control over their own lives.

  He could understand it. They were all, if they were like Amiss, older, and the active events of their lives were over and done. In their homes, they could try to rule like tyrants, maybe, but the taste would be sour. Amiss had cut his teeth in Vietnam, others here were of the same era. And now they were all winding down to retirement. Still, who was he to complain, he told himself happily. If they wanted to have him join them, shake hands with the strange tickle of a little finger, and meet up like this once in a while, he wasn’t going to stop them. Not if it meant he had a sudden ride on the up-elevator at work.

  There was a nod from Amiss, and he looked at Roy with a curious expression.

  ‘You swear this by your Supreme Being?’

  ‘Yes, sir. I swear it.’

  From behind him came a bleating noise. Jesus, Roy thought – they aren’t going to slaughter a lamb, are they? He turned with a smile beginning to form on his lips, and there, behind him, he saw Stilson marching a young man towards him.