Light of the Sun: They always make a mistake and when they do, we kill them...

by David Costa

  Reece knew by her voice this was an argument he wouldn’t win.

  ‘It’s your funeral.’

  ‘I hope not.’ She smiled.

  Reece slowly and gently pulled the rucksack out from under the fire hose. Turning he placed it on the ground and knelt on one knee beside it. He could feel rather than see Anna’s eyes looking over his shoulder. Again, taking his time he pulled back the zip on the top of the rucksack. He switched on the torch on his mobile phone and pointed it into the rucksack. He hoped no one wanted to call him right now, either way he wouldn’t answer it.

  He could see a square plastic Tupperware box with a mobile type of phone on top. The clock on the phone screen was counting down in large letters 57 minutes 32, 31, 30 seconds and on. The box was covered with what looked like packing tape that was holding three dark tubes, Reece assumed was the plutonium.

  ‘Well, here goes nothing,’ said Reece as he steadied his balance and took hold of both ends of the box and lifted it clear of the bag, carefully setting it down on the floor beside him before standing and stepping back beside Anna, he looked around him.

  ‘These bastards are clever,’ said Reece pointing to the air vents in the ceiling.

  ‘That humming noise you hear is the air vents to take the car fumes away from the car park and up into the air outside. If this bomb goes off the plutonium would get into the water system through the hose while the air vents would spread it twice as fast and twice as far, God knows how far. I need to separate that plutonium from the box and get it out of here. The bomb can then be dealt with by Felix if he gets here on time, if not, bomb damage can be repaired but not if it goes off with the plutonium. We have about fifty-five minutes, and I need something sharp to cut the tape around the box to release the plutonium.’

  ‘I said you would need me,’ said Anna pulling a small flick knife from her shoulder bag.

  ‘You wouldn’t happen to have the bomb disposal manual in there as well,’ said Reece taking the knife.

  He knelt beside the container taking a firm grip of the tape with his left hand, with his right he slipped the knife under the tape and pulled upwards. The knife was sharp and cut easily through the tape. Reece handed the knife back to Anna and gently began to roll the tape back from the foot-long tubes at the side of the box. When the tape was free of the box, he lifted the tubes and placed them inside the rucksack. As he placed the last one in the weight and pressure of the tubes on the box was removed. At that moment Reece could see the numbers on the phone start to run down at a much faster speed as the minutes became seconds 30, 29, 28, 27. Reece picked up the rucksack and shouted to Anna.

  ‘It’s booby-trapped run, run!’

  He did not have to tell her twice with Anna in front they ran to the door that led to the stairs.

  Both made it through the door and Reece had slammed it behind him when he felt a powerful rush of air, heard the noise of the blast and he felt as if a giant hand was pushing him through the space. He landed at the bottom of the stairs, concrete and metal fragments shredding through the air around him. He lay on his back looking at the hole in the ceiling above him which held several large concrete slabs in a precarious position over his head. He started to stand, the rucksack still in his hand, but he felt a sharp pain at the back of his left thigh. He felt around and could feel what seemed to be a long thin piece of metal embedded in his leg. When he looked at his hand it was wet with blood. The air surrounding him was full of dust particles making it difficult to see.

  ‘Anna! Anna!’ he shouted but couldn’t hear his own voice.

  Moving around the space he almost tripped over her body lying face down at the bottom of the stairs. As the dust began to clear he could see she was covered in debris, and the hair at the back of her head had a small bloodstain, she wasn’t moving. He turned her over and knelt beside her. Her face was untouched, but her eyes were open, staring at the ceiling, the light gone from them in death. Reece sat down beside her and lifted her head into his arms brushing the dust covered hair from her face and closed her eyes with his hand. Reece could see the trail of blood from his leg wound to where he now sat. It was then he realised there was quite a lot of it, and he felt cold, and it was getting dark but something yellow like a cloud was moving above him; then it went black.

  Chapter 34

  When Reece woke up in the London Hospital there were three people round his bed, Jim Broad, Matthew Simons, and Mary.

  ‘Where am I, where’s Anna, what happened?’ he croaked. His mouth felt dry.

  Mary rushed to his side and held his hand.

  ‘You’re all right my darling. You’re safe in hospital, you’re going to be all right.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Anna didn’t make it old boy,’ said Broad.

  The memory of her face came back to him, and he knew it was true.

  ‘Mary, I know you want to be with David right now, but we need to talk to him alone for a few minutes then you can have him all to yourself,’ said Broad.

  Mary looked at Reece who nodded.

  ‘Five minutes. He needs rest. I’ll get a coffee but when I return your gone, understand?’

  ‘Understood, Mary, thank you,’ replied Broad.

  She kissed Reece on the cheek and left the men alone to their secrets.

  ‘I’m glad you’re alive David,’ said Broad.

  ‘So am I. How long have I been here?’

  ‘Two days. The doctors said that four inches of steel in your leg nicked the artery. If you had pulled it out you would have finished the job and bled to death,’ said Broad.

  ‘I could see yellow moving all around me before I blacked out what was that the plutonium?’

  ‘No, it was the people in the Hazmat suits, they’d arrived just before the blast. Getting the plutonium away from the bomb was vital. You’ll be glad to know the stuff it was wrapped in protected it from getting out into the atmosphere and the whole area including you was clean,’ said Matthews.

  ‘What about Anna? What happened to her?’

  ‘One of those bad luck stories. A lump of masonry hit her on the back of her head. She died instantly I’m told. The ATO was badly stuck in traffic and according to him even if he had got there in time, he would probably have done exactly what you did. From his examination of what was left, the tape that surrounded the box had tiny metal strips running through it that were linked to the countdown of the timer. Any interference with the tape would set the timer in a faster count. He told me to tell you it’s a good job you can run fast.’

  There were still times when there seemed to be smoke in front of his eyes, but Reece knew it was the beginning of tears which he always held back.

  ‘The Israeli Government have already flown Anna back to Israel where she will be buried on Mount Herzl in the graveyard for the heroes of the state,’ said Broad.

  ‘What happens now?’

  ‘Your friend Hassan is being interrogated at one of our safe houses. When we are finished with him, he’ll be handed over to Mossad who will take him to Israel. After that he’ll no longer be our problem. The Prime Minister and the Queen want to give you a medal, but ‘C’ has told them you don’t exist. Your instruction to the police to seize those mobile phones from onlookers was a good decision. The footage showed the Arab starting to move on the ground with his gun in his hand. The Met and the Attorney General have both agreed your decision to fire was the right one. The press has been told that he was shot by a member of the Security Services involved in a surveillance operation against a terrorist cell. David, I want to thank you myself. You had a tough job to do, you need to take time out to rest and recuperate. Get back to Malta with Mary and enjoy some of that sun.’

  Broad’s timing was perfect as he finished speaking Mary walked back into the room.

  ‘Times up! He needs his rest,’ she said.

  ‘My words exactly, Mary. We will leave you two alone, David, you’re in good hands,’ said Broad. The two men left them alone.

  Mary sat on the b
ed looking down into his eyes.

  ‘You look tired my love. They say you should be ready to leave in a few days. Try not to worry. Mr Broad contacted me in Belfast and got me a flight back. He has told me to call him when you’re ready to go and he’ll take care of the flights to Malta. Mother’s a lot better and getting all the help she needs.’

  Reece pulled Mary close to him.

  ‘I can’t wait to get back to Malta. But first, we need to go to a graveyard in Israel to leave some flowers and pay our respects.’

  The End.

  https://www.davidcostaauthor.com

  Email: david.costa.writer@outlook.com

  About the Author

  The author has twenty-six years of experience working in anti-terrorist operations throughout the world and has used that knowledge writing this book.

  Because of this background David Costa is of course a pseudonym.