by Matt Johnson
If everything went to plan, there would be no need for the SAS lads to get involved. And she had a good plan to get us through the cell door should it prove necessary. We were convinced. Plan ‘C’ went to the top of the list.
Chapter 96
Getting the Wallbanger through the mine wasn’t straightforward, even though it was on wheels.
The first part was relatively easy. Albert had left the gates unlocked and, to start with, as we wheeled the heavy device along the dusty tracks, we made good progress. But, as we headed deeper, the tunnels narrowed and the uneven surface sloped so steeply that we struggled to stop the cannon from running away from us. Then, just as we regained control, the slope would change as we came across rocks and small uphill sections that were a real struggle. In my forties and out of condition, I found it as tough as any training run I had ever done. Danny hardly broke sweat. I envied him his youth.
Cochrane had given me a Diemaco rifle, which I had slung across my back. Although it dug into my skin, the unfamiliar weapon was surprisingly light. Using the headlights from the Landie, Danny had given me a quick run through on how to use it. I was surprised at how comfortable it felt in my hands.
Danny wore black kit; coveralls, boots, body armour and helmet. On his back, a small bergen held smoke canisters, flash-bangs, two sets of night-vision goggles and some plasticuffs. A holster strapped to his thigh contained a SIG P226 pistol with a small Streamlight torch attached to it.
From what Mollie had said, there would be very little lighting once we broke through into the cell complex. If we needed to break in before the police arrived, the NVG goggles also provided by Cochrane would enable us both to operate in the dark. Although they restricted peripheral vision, they would give us an advantage over the occupants.
Danny and I talked about how we would handle an emergency entry. We agreed that, after entry, he would take point. My role would be to use an ASP. The small telescopic steel baton was very effective at close quarters. Danny had handed one to me along with the Diemaco. It was the same type as the official police issue baton that I had drawn several times over the years without ever having the need to use it. The simple act of racking it into the open position was normally enough. Danny suggested that he would take down any guards we came across, I should then disable them with the ASP and plasticuff them around the wrists and ankles. He would also handle the smoke canisters and flash-bangs. Although I might be able to do a decent job as number two, to ask me to take point wasn’t a good idea. Danny was fitter and recently trained, so he would lead. I readily agreed to his ideas.
Once the police officers were with us, Kevin and Cochrane would bring in their team from the car park about thirty seconds after we made our first entry. From their position outside, they would hear the flash-bangs going off and, in that way, I also hoped any guards on the upper floor would race downstairs to investigate the commotion. With armed police all around and with the confusion caused by the noise and smoke, I hoped the hospital would be taken without too much difficulty.
Like most operations, though, it all depended on timing, and a bit of luck.
An hour and a half later, Danny and I had finished heaving and shoving the Wallbanger into position. Behind the wall, a petrified slave girl was going to prove key to the whole attack.
While Danny set the Wallbanger ready to fire, I spent the next few minutes with my lips pressed to the drill hole, whispering instructions to Angie. I reassured her that rescue was on its way. She was to listen at her cell door and let me know what was happening outside. We needed to know if the evacuation started early and, for that situation, I had to explain Wendy’s backup plan. I prayed that Angie understood me. If the shit hit the fan, I needed her to scream blue murder until the guards came to find out what was going on.
I gave her a key word to yell as the cell door was opened. Whatever happened, she was not to use the word until the guards actually entered the cell. Opening the door wasn’t enough. Mollie had told me how they liked to use a powerful hose to subdue the girls. If the local police chose to do a two-pronged attack and come through the mine, they wouldn’t want to be facing a powerful jet of water as they went through the wall.
I told Angie that, after screaming the command word, she should dive into a corner of the cell, keep her eyes tightly closed and stick her fingers in her ears. She was then to wait and keep still until we came back for her.
Her voice trembled as she relayed the instructions back to me. She sounded terrified. I checked my watch. An hour and twenty minutes to go.
Chapter 97
Every so often, I listened through the wall for any sounds of disturbance or movement. There was none.
It seemed likely to me they would move the girls in daylight. A fleet of minibuses on the road, late at night, was bound to draw the attention of any patrolling police car. Provided they took steps to prevent the girls shouting or waving for help, it would be far more anonymous if they travelled amongst the rush-hour traffic. Nina would know that. She would know how to move and how to avoid getting noticed.
Likely as not, they would be planning to take the girls somewhere temporary until the heat died down. With Mollie having escaped, they wouldn’t want to take the chance that she might lead the authorities back to the hospital. If Nina now knew I had been sent to interview Mollie, then it was likely she had warned the slavers we were getting close. They would play safe, hide the evidence, and only move back to the former hospital if she was sure it was going to remain undiscovered.
I’d had no choice but to include my knowledge of Nina’s presence in the brief I had given to Kevin and the two soldiers. Nina wasn’t to get any special treatment. If the smoke did its job, she would be taken down with the others. The priority was, however, to get to Lynn Wainwright before it was too late.
The wait gave me a chance to try the NVGs. I hadn’t used a set of night-vision goggles for nearly two decades. The set Danny handed to me was much lighter than I had experienced. With two image-intensifying tubes that strapped around my head, a small chin strap held them securely in place. Flicking a switch at the side of the headset, all around me, the tunnel complex was bathed in differing shades of green as the infrared turned on.
My watch beeped. Midnight. An hour to go.
I pulled the goggles away from my face to make it possible to whisper into the drill hole through the walls. There was no response.
Shit, I thought, she’s fallen asleep. I whispered again, louder this time, trying to inject some urgency into my voice. Still, nothing.
‘Shut up,’ came a hissed voice.
‘All OK?’ I asked.
‘Quiet … something’s happening.’
I waited. A moment later, Angie returned to the wall. She seemed petrified.
‘You’d better get the coppers here now. There’s a hell of a fight going on with the new girl. They’re either killing her or raping her.’
‘Are we ready?’ I asked Danny. It was just the situation we didn’t want, but the one we had planned for. We had to go in immediately.
‘Good to go, boss.’
‘OK. It looks like we’re gonna have to go without the local cops. They’ve started attacking Lynn.’ In the darkness, I could just make out a faint, green glow from Danny’s NVGs.
‘Great,’ he replied. ‘Let’s get this over with, then. Just make sure you’re crouched behind me when I fire this thing off.’
I called through the wall again, this time louder. Angie was crying. I managed to get her to calm down.
‘You want me to start screaming now?’ she asked.
‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘As if your life depended on it.’
Angie started. She screamed. Even through the double-skinned wall, I could hear it. Slow and deep at first, within a few breaths she was at fever pitch.
‘Fuck me, that girl’s got some lungs,’ said Danny.
I listened at the drill hole. It must have been at least a minute before there was any response to Angie’s
efforts. A male voice, angry. ‘Shut up, shut up…’
Angie kept screaming. ‘Leave her alone,’ she cried. ‘Leave her alone, you bastards.’
It wasn’t working. For Wendy’s idea to succeed, I needed the guards to open her door. They were simply ignoring her.
‘Tell them you’ve got a man in there,’ I shouted through the wall as Angie stopped for breath.
‘Help me, help me,’ she shouted. ‘Someone’s attacking me…’
It did the trick. I heard the cell door open and a moment later the roar of water. Just as Wendy thought would happen, they were hosing Angie down. We were nearly ready. My heart raced … just a few more moments.
The sound of water stopped. Male voices … two of them.
Angie screamed. ‘GO.’
The key word. The guards were in the cell.
I pulled the NVG goggles over my eyes, backed away from the wall and crouched behind Danny.
‘Ready,’ I whispered.
The narrow passage erupted. Shock and awe.
Chapter 98
First came the noise.
It roared into my ears, dominated all senses and even hurt my eyes. Then, before I had time to register, came the pressure wave – like standing in front of a steam train as it entered a narrow tunnel; huge and all-powerful. Finally came the water, the dust and the rocks, which seemed to be flung at us from all directions, bouncing off the sides and roof of the tunnel. For a moment I feared we were about to be buried as the cave roof gave way.
It was no wonder Danny had suggested I duck behind him, he knew what was coming, but I’m sure even he had made no allowance for the tunnel effect.
‘You OK, boss?’
The voice came from above me … familiar. I opened my eyes. I was on my back. Everywhere was green. Feeling returned slowly, and with it, understanding. I knew where I was. I mumbled something, tried to speak. My mouth was full of dirt.
‘Fuck…’ It was the best I could manage. I moved my arms, sluggishly at first, not even sure they were still attached to me.
Danny must have sensed what I was looking for as I ran my hands over my chest and legs. ‘Don’t worry … you’re in one piece.’
A gloved hand rubbed across my face. My skin felt rough, like sandpaper. I tried to speak again but nothing was happening, and I could taste blood, warm and salty. I tried to lick my lips.
‘Try this.’ The voice calm, reassuring. Cool water, dribbling into my mouth, clearing the dirt, my tongue now free to check my teeth – all there – and to try and form a word. Then, just as I determined to speak, more water, this time up my nose, into my throat. Not sure if I was about to cough or retch, I rolled onto my side, catching a glimpse, as I turned, of Danny holding a small plastic water bottle. Slime and spit ran from my nose and mouth as I struggled for breath. In the background I heard the sound of crying … a woman … Angie.
It brought me quickly back to my senses. ‘I’m OK,’ I coughed.
Danny thrust the ASP into my hand and wrapped my fingers around it. ‘Here … take this. We need to move now.’
I scrambled to my feet, still unsteady but getting better by the second. Both knees felt sore. Around me, the floor was littered with debris from the wall. My peripheral vision limited by the NVG goggles, I turned my head back toward where I expected to see the remains of the block wall. It wasn’t there. All that remained was a pale-green mass of swirling dust.
From my left, I heard the sound of Danny starting to move. Remembering our agreed plan, I once again tucked in behind him. In his gloved hand I saw that he held a black flash-bang.
I tapped his arm to signal I was ready and, a half-second later, watched as the stun grenade flew forward into the dust cloud. I’d warned Angie to close her eyes tight and stick her fingers in her ears. I just hoped she’d remembered.
The light emission was immediately followed by two explosions, not the single effect I was used to. Danny flicked on his torch, the narrow beam struggling to penetrate the dust. We moved forward cautiously. I saw a bed, and beneath it what looked like the bare limbs of a woman. Then there was a hand, the fingers trembling but clasped in a ‘thumbsup’ sign. I smiled to myself … good girl, Angie. She was safe.
Two more prostrate figures lay just inside an open doorway ahead of us. The guards. What with the combination of the Wallbanger and the grenade, I could see they were now out of the game. One was moving slightly, groaning as if in pain. The other lay still and silent. Both were soaking wet and covered in a layer of pale-coloured dust. As Danny covered the doorway, I crawled forward, snapped plasticuffs around ankles and wrists and pulled them tight.
Returning to the bed, I felt beneath it. ‘It’s us Angie, you’re safe,’ I called.
A hand reached out, touching my goggles and the mat of drying dirt that now caked my hair. ‘Thought you said you were miners?’ Angie said, her voice trembling with fear.
‘Something like that. Can you keep an eye on these two while we deal with the others?’ I asked.
Angie popped her head out from under the bed, but it was clear she was too petrified to do anything more for us.
‘Ready?’ said Danny.
‘She’s too scared to keep these two covered.’
Danny crept back to where I was crouched next to Angie. ‘OK … let’s give her a little help then.’ He prised the ASP from my grip, leaned over the guard showing signs of coming round and then brought it down hard on the man’s exposed thigh muscle. I cringed as his unfortunate victim cried out in pain.
‘Move and we’ll be back,’ Danny screamed in the man’s ear as he handed the baton back to me.
Seconds later, another grenade flew away from his grip and through the door. This one was smoke. As the corridor filled, we waited two, three, four seconds. A second grenade followed. Another flash-bang. Two explosions – same as before.
Danny moved fast as the grenade took out the lightbulb and plunged us into darkness. He was through the door and into the cover of some nearby crates before I knew it.
‘Clear,’ he called.
We moved on. Danny progressed so quickly that I struggled to keep pace with him. Smoke – flash-bang – room entry – clearance.
The smoke slowed us down but it was something we’d agreed on to minimise the risk of needing to go loud – to engage in a fire-fight. Every time we found a new area, Danny would enter first, scan for danger and then call me in behind him to apply the plasticuffs as he located and disabled the guards. He was a top-level operator, swift and efficient. We were a pretty decent team.
The three remaining guards were overpowered very quickly and, to my relief, with no gunfire.
Just as Kevin had predicted, the noise of grenades was heard outside. There was an almost comical moment when, as Danny and I searched for the final man, he made a break for freedom up some wooden steps. Reaching the top, with little thought other than escape, he ran straight into the solid frame of Tom Cochrane. The Quartermaster barely flinched as the guard bounced backwards, his nose having smashed itself very forcefully into a heavily tattooed forearm.
The doors in the hospital basement proved easy to open: no keys, just bolts that slid across to make them secure. It was Kevin who first found Lynn. As I reached her cell, she was standing naked with her arms wrapped tight around his neck. The cell was soaked, suggesting that she had recently been hosed down.
I stood in the doorway as Lynn glanced in my direction. There was no sign of recognition in her eyes. I felt a surge of anger. The woman before me looked nothing like the young WPC I had seen demonstrate such bravery and skill when facing an armed gunman. Skin bruised and filthy, her eyes scared me. They looked vacant and lost, the brain behind them spaced-out on the drugs the traffickers had been feeding her. Behind, in the dim light, I noticed a tiny cot. There was no bedding, save for a soiled, tatty blanket, and no sign of her personal clothing.
And there was no sign of Nina. I had prepared what I was going to say to her and had even mulled over the idea
of locking her in a cell with Lynn so they could have a little chat. As we were releasing the girls from their cells, Kevin told me that Nina’s car was also missing. She’d slipped out before we arrived.
It mattered little. First chance I got, I would be exposing Nina Brasov to the unpleasant reality of arrest and life in a cell.
Chapter 99
We’d done it.
The traffickers were face-down on the ground, wrists and ankles cuffed, near the front entrance to the old hospital. Danny and Tom Cochrane had taken them outside first, to make sure they were out of the way before we led the girls up the steps and away from their cells.
We counted thirty-four slaves, including Lynn. They were all scared and weak from hunger. As we’d encouraged them outside, they had all moved hesitantly, seemingly afraid this rescue was some kind of trick. Kevin got the generator working, and the light made moving around easier, but it also illuminated the scale of what we had uncovered. It was a factory dedicated to the production of pornography. Two cells had been set up as recording studios, with expensive looking cameras and lighting equipment, and a third as a dressing room. In a room upstairs we found computers to transfer recordings onto DVD, and, in an alcove near the stairs, piles of cardboard boxes containing DVDs ready for dispatch to whatever market they were destined for.
Kevin had found some blankets and organised the slave girls into a huddle to try and keep them warm.
The two SAS lads were standing away from us, in the darkness, so they could observe everyone without being seen themselves. I’d noticed that both of them were surprisingly subdued as we’d secured the male prisoners and then mustered the women into the open air. As Kevin joined me while we waited for Wendy, I asked him what was up.
