Lies, Lies, Lies

by David A Max

  Jake was speechless. Kevin said, “We are definitely dealing with well-trained and properly funded professionals, but why Gina, did they kidnap her to get at us? I have to make a call to a friend in Israel, maybe he can help.” Kevin called his friend Abir in Israel, “Hello Abir,” he said in Hebrew, and then changed the conversation back to English. Jake could hear him telling his friend how and when Gina was kidnapped and that he wanted him in France with a team by tomorrow latest, “I will pay you guys extra for this job, this is important to me,” and he dropped the phone. “Jake please try not to worry, the team coming tomorrow are one of the best, by the time they get to work, with my security team working with them we will resolve this issue in no time.”

  By 10:30 a.m. the next day the team from Israel had arrived. Kevin told one of the maids to call Jake who went outside to meet the team from Israel. “This is Abir and his team,” Kevin introduced them to Jake.

  “Hello,” Jake replied, they were five of them and they looked like US SEALs on steroids, “you guys got here early.”

  Abir replied to Jake and said, “We chartered the next available private jet; we had to come with all our kit so that we can locate her position and extract her as soon as possible.”

  “Okay, that’s great,” Jake said, thinking to himself ‘this is impressive’. Kevin looked at Jake and told him, “These guys have trained Mossad Israeli intelligence in the past, they are some of the best.”

  Kevin’s security officers gave Abir and his team the details of what happened. “Okay,” Abir said, “three of my guys will go with the security officers to the farm, while two of us will help set up here.”

  “Jake, let’s leave them to do their job,” Kevin pulled Jake by the shoulder. They both walked inside and had a light breakfast.

  By 2:35 p.m., Abir sent for Kevin and went with him. “Kevin, we have been able to locate the area where we think they might be holding your friend. We tapped into satellite feeds and found that it was a grey van and there were about four men inside. We followed the van using past satellite feeds in the area, and we think they are in one of the two buildings we have identified about twenty-five minutes away from the farm. Looking at how they handled the situation and how they shot down CCTV cameras in the area and their method, I believe they are professionals and have Western training so we are going to need your best men to come with us on the rescue mission. We aren’t sure how many people are in the building either, but we’ll mount a surveillance for a day or two before going in.”

  Jake was so impressed, “Kevin are you going with them?” Kevin smiled and pulled Abir away to have a private discussion with him.

  That evening around 7:00 p.m., Abir and his Israeli team with eight of Kevin’s security officers were getting ready to leave the chateau, they were going to carry out surveillance of the two likely buildings where Gina was being held. They had hired a twenty-seater bus, they packed all their gear and loaded it into the bus, and the twelve of them got in. Abir told Kevin before he got on the bus, “We will make the mission as short as possible, we have enough fire power to level three buildings,” he smiled and got on the bus.

  They drove quite slowly through alleyways so as not to draw any attention to themselves; forty minutes later they arrived in the suspected area and drove a couple of blocks away from the two suspected buildings. But before leaving the chateau, Abir had already sent one man from his team with two of Kevin’s security men to identify which building they could use for surveillance; the men identified an abandoned building that was almost opposite the building where they suspected Gina was being held. They entered the abandoned building, and Abir’s men immediately got to work, setting up thermal cameras, with infra-red and body heat sensors. They brought out binoculars and started looking into the properties; the cameras could pick up body heat and the feeds were watched on an iPad; the two buildings being watched were on three floors next to each other. Both buildings were scanned thoroughly, one of the building was empty, but there was movement in the other one; the camera could pick up body heat of five people on the ground floor and about seven people on the first floor, and there were two further people at the entrance. They kept using the cameras to check the whole vicinity to pick up any other person around the area. Abir, his men and three of Kevin’s security men, were on the first floor of the abandoned building using the cameras to search the vicinity, five of Kevin’s men were on the ground floor using night vision goggles to search for movements.

  At 10:25 p.m., five of Kevin’s men on the ground floor heard a can drop and they heard it rolling towards them; at the same time Abir and the men on the first floor also heard a can drop on their floor and it rolled towards them. The cans both exploded and smoke filled both the ground and the first floor, no one could see anything. The smoke started choking the men, and at the same time they could hear gunshots and after that everything went quiet. When the smoke cleared, Abir, his men and Kevin’s men were all dead on the ground floor and first floor. Standing over the dead bodies on the ground floor and first floor were two men, each wearing a gas mask and carrying F2000 assault rifles, they had just shot and killed Abir, his team, and all of Kevin’s men.

  Gina’s hands and feet had just been untied, her face mask had been removed and the man watching over her whispered, “We have to go now.” Gina didn’t argue, she got up and followed him. He climbed out through a basement window and helped pull Gina out, and they ran under the cover of darkness. The man led her to a car which they got in and he drove fast in order to leave the area.

  Gina was in shock, “Who are you and why are you helping me?” she asked.

  “Call me Ray, I was a former CIA operative and I was employed by your husband on this mission.”

  “What do you mean, my husband?” Gina stammered.

  “Your husband works for the American government, I know you think he is a business man that’s why he goes on his many trips, but your husband is the best government assassin, nothing has ever stopped him and he is usually sent for the most difficult missions, he never fails. He has a team of four and they’re the most revered secret agents. As we speak, some men have been sent to rescue you, but I’m sure by now they are all dead; nothing or nobody can stop the four of them, they have eyes and ears everywhere.”

  Gina was panting heavily at this point, “So why did he kidnap me, because he planned to retire this year?”

  “And he was meant to retire, since your business is doing well, but when you started cheating with your colleague and you planned to divorce him, he wants you to sign all your businesses over to him before he shoots you.”

  “Oh my, oh my, oh my,” Gina wept, “so he knows I’m seeing someone else and he wants me dead. He is just forty-five years old and wants to retire already, why are you even telling me all this, is it because he plans to kill me when everything is done? I have been regarded as a loose end?”

  Ray shook his head, “I decided to let you go, because this might be my last act of kindness.”

  “Will you please take me to Kevin’s chateau, because I’m guessing you guys know where it is,” said Gina.

  “Yes of course,” Ray answered, “we’ve been watching you for some time. I think maybe Kevin might be able to help us.” Gina sighed.

  They got to Kevin’s chateau at midnight, as they drove in they parked in front of the house, Gina ran into the building. When she was inside, Kevin and Jake were sitting on a couch and they jumped up, “Gina, they brought you back!” Jake screamed, I’m so happy,” and he hugged her.

  Kevin hugged her too, he looked around and saw Ray standing in a corner, “Who is he?” Kevin asked.

  “He is the one that rescued me,” Gina replied.

  “What happened to Abir and the men I sent to rescue you?”

  “According to Ray they are probably all dead.”

  “What do you mean dead!” Kevin exclaimed, as he quickly pulled Ray, “It’s not possible, the men I sent are some of the best.”

  “
Trust me, the men I work for are better,” Ray nodded. They all sat down and Ray explained everything to Kevin and Jake. “We don’t have much time, we need to secure this place, this guys will not stop.”

  Kevin hurried outside and called his chief security officer, he told him to get reinforcements straight away. The chief security officer radioed for more men, and in the space of fifteen minutes, twenty new security men had arrived, fully geared up, and they surrounded the whole compound, and got ready for a show down. Five security men were stationed inside the house. Jake, Kevin, Gina and Ray all sat down in one of the living rooms, waiting to see if anything was going to happen.

  Three hours later they had all dozed off on the couch, but they were suddenly woken up by sporadic gunshots outside. Kevin quickly told Jake and Gina to follow him, “I have a panic room, it’s invulnerable to attacks.” They ran to the room, Jake and Gina went in, Kevin told them to lock up, “I will be back soon, I need to make sure everything is under control and call the police.”

  Jake locked the thick metal door from inside. There was a TV in the panic room, and Jake switched it on; it showed the CCTV feeds inside the house but he couldn’t see what was going on outside in the compound. The gunshots went on for about an hour outside and after that everything went quiet. After about an hour of sitting in the panic room, Jake saw four men enter into the house; he recognised one of the men and said, “That’s your husband.” Gina had the shivers. “They must have shot and killed all the men outside.” Jake shook his head and was now really scared. The way the four of them held their F2000 assault rifles showed that they were specially trained. They shot all five security men in the house, and started shooting the CCTV cameras until Jake and Gina couldn’t see anything on the TV again.

  Everything had been quiet for three hours now, and Jake said to Gina, “What’s going on out there? Maybe the police have arrived and the four men have been captured or have escaped?” They decided to wait for another hour, after that Jake opened the door and walked out with Gina. They walked carefully, the house was quiet, and there was no sound, they got to the sitting room and saw dead bodies everywhere. Jake covered his mouth and pointed to one of the dead bodies, it was Gina’s husband and the three men that came in with him, they were all lying dead.

  A door opened behind Jake and Gina, and they held on to each other frightened. They could hear footsteps moving towards them, looked up and saw that it was Kevin walking towards them. “Kevin, you are alive!” Gina snorted, “you must have other secret rooms in the house.”

  Kevin smiled, “It’s a really big house.” Then a sound came from behind a shelf that made everybody in the room turn, someone crawled out and it was Ray, he was covered in dust. “Ray, you survived too, I’m so happy to see you,” Gina embraced him.

  Ray looked around and saw Gina’s husband and his colleagues, “How did the four of them die? These men were trained to kill the best trained men! I am in shock, although delighted to be alive but really shocked they are dead.”

  Ray left the next morning. Kevin called the police and all the corpses were removed from the compound. Kevin then employed new security men.

  “I advise the two of you to stay and work for me for some time, you are not safe going back, professionals like your husband usually have a backup team,” Kevin told Jake and Gina. “I have to be in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, with a staff member of mine, her name is Déborah and I want her to take care of something important in Rio, but the two of you will be safe here, I will be back soon,” Kevin told them.

  Chapter 3

  It was a bright sunny day in Rio de Janeiro, the carnival was in town and the streets were filled with people, a lot of tourists had flown in for the event, there was music, dancing, and laughter in the air, people were having the time of their lives. The beautiful Brazilian women in costumes looked so colourful and vibrant, shaking their waist and dancing to the rhythm of the music. It was a fun environment to be in, except for Emilio, Andreiá and Carlito. It was just another day for the three friends who were desperately hungry and weak, they hadn’t eaten all day; Emilio and Carlito were next-door neighbours while Andreiá, the only girl in the group, lived about two blocks away from them. The three had grown up in the poorest part of Rio, they were not exposed to any luxuries, and had to survive by any means possible. Emilio called Andreiá while they were standing in the crowd, “You are twenty-one today and you haven’t eaten all day, what kind of birthday is this?”

  Andreiá laughed, “You turned twenty-three last month and we slept hungry that day.”

  Emilio laughed hard and pointed at Carlito who was busy dancing to the music, “What about him? He’s twenty-two years old now and he still has no worries, he’s always happy.” Andreiá and Emilio busted out laughing.

  Emilio called Carlito, “It’s time for us to leave, are you not hungry? We need to look for something to eat.”

  Carlito shook his head, “Why do you think I was dancing? Twenty US dollars was sticking out of a tourist’s pocket, I pulled it out without him knowing, we are going to eat well for a day or two.”

  Andreiá jumped on him and gave him a hug and a peck, “That’s about sixty-seven Reals! I feel better, I can celebrate my birthday now.” Andreiá held both Carlito and Emilio’s hands as they walked away from the crowd. The walked towards a street corner and saw a lady selling their favourite meal, acarajé. Carlito was excited, the three of them walked hurriedly towards the lady and ordered three acarajé and gobbled up the meal. “This is officially our first meal today,” Emilio murmured.

  “Please can we have three Cokes?” Carlito asked the lady. She gave them the Cokes and by the time she opened the cans, they had finished their acarajé and drank the Cokes in a calmer way and left.

  They walked to another street corner to take a short cut home, when they suddenly heard a loud noise followed by sounds like thunder. The noise was loud and sounded very close, they were so frightened and all three of them fell on each other. Breathing heavily they saw a figure in the distance; Andreiá stuttered, “What’s that in the distance?”

  The three of them squinted in order to see more clearly, it first looked like an animal and as it got closer it looked more like a woman. “It is a woman,” Emilio sighed. The woman walked towards them and asked if they had heard the noise, the three of them got up from the ground, “Yes we did,” Andreiá replied, “it was really scary,” and the woman agreed. They all gazed at the woman who was talking to them, she was a curvy woman, tall and stunningly beautiful, Carlito couldn’t shut his mouth as he gazed at her beauty.

  Suddenly there was another loud noise followed by more thunder sounds; they all ran towards the main road away from the noise, and into an abandoned building. “The noise is so scary,” Andreiá said breathlessly, “what can be the cause of such a loud noise?”

  Carlito shook his head, “I have no clue,” as he tried to regain his breath.

  “It is quite strange, but I need to leave now,” the beautiful woman said.

  “Please wait for some time,” Carlito encouraged her, “I don’t think it’s safe out there yet.” She nodded her head in agreement, “I’m Déborah.”

  Carlito stretched his hand to shake hers, “I’m Carlito, that is Andreiá and Emilio,” pointing at each of them.

  “Nice to meet all of you, I was walking home from a friend’s place when I heard the strange noise and saw you guys in the distance,” Déborah sighed, “it’s the scariest loud noise I have ever heard. I’m happy the three of you invited me to stay,” Déborah continued, “it’s a bit scary out there.” The three of them nodded in agreement.

  “We have to leave here soon, we’ve been here for over thirty minutes,” Emilio got up, “and it’s getting really dark.” Emilio pulled Andreiá up, he stretched out his hand to pull Carlito up, when they suddenly heard a loud noise like a gust of wind which blew into the building where they were hiding. Emilio looked up and a sudden strong gust of wind blew straight towards him and pinned him t
o the wall. Andreiá screamed and ran towards the exit, and as she ran she saw another strong gust of wind blow towards her, she fell to the ground and couldn’t move. Carlito grabbed a small stool, using it to protect himself as he walked backwards, when another strong gust of wind picked him from behind and pinned him against the ceiling. They tried to scream but no sound came out from their mouths, they couldn’t see what pinned them to the ground, wall and ceiling, it was so dark, light couldn’t go through it, and after struggling for about two minutes the three of them passed out.

  6:45 a.m., Carlito, Emilio and Andreiá all woke up at the same time. They looked around and noticed they were lying on the ground with their clothes ripped apart, and each of them were lying in front of their houses. ‘How did I get here?’ Emilio thought to himself, he could see Carlito getting up from the ground with his clothes also ripped, they both looked at each other and ran into their houses.

  Andreiá got up and covered herself with her hands before she ran into her house, ‘What happened, how did I get home? I hope Carlito and Emilio are okay?’

  The three of them got into their beds and slept. Andreiá woke up by twelve noon with a headache, her head felt heavy. She had a shower and felt a big relief, and her banging headache had disappeared. She got dressed hurriedly and ran to Carlito’s place, and when she got there Carlito and Emilio were sitting in front of Emilio’s house.

  “Join us,” Emilio said, showing Andreiá where to sit.

  “What happened to us yesterday, was it real and where is Déborah? I hope she’s okay?” Andreiá asked, with a lot of questions racing through her mind. The three of them were perplexed. They sat together and pondered about what happened to them all day.

  The next day the three of them decided to go on their regular hunt for something to eat and how to survive for the day. They walked past the streets of a very rich neighbourhood, the houses were big and their designs were elaborate. “This is one of the richest neighbourhoods in Rio,” Andreiá pointed to a house on the street and said, “I worked in that house as a housekeeper for a couple of months, I never met the real owners, this is just one of their numerous houses I used to clean. I just used to go in and clean the house while a security guard allowed me in.”