by Bill Ward
He had known she would want to snare him and when she accepted his invitation to meet at the apartment, he expected there to be a sting in the tail.
“Be careful with this woman,” Phoenix warned. “She is not to be underestimated.”
“I will be careful. I will play the role of her puppet for many months but when it matters we will be pulling the strings.”
Phoenix arose to signal the meeting was at an end. “We will meet again in two weeks as usual. Go in peace my friend.”
CHAPTER FIFTY EIGHT
At five minutes to nine Powell was feeling tense. He’d already tried to convince Afina she should go upstairs to the flat, where she would be safer, but he might as well have tried to convince a nun to have sex. She was adamant she was going nowhere but pointed out she had the bar for cover. She certainly didn’t lack courage but even behind the bar, she was still exposed to danger and he could not imagine how he would cope with the guilt, if something happened to her.
For now though, he needed to focus on Gheorghe and his friends. Mara thought he had about eight men staying with him. Powell didn’t want to see anyone harmed and if Gheorghe brought all of his men with him, it could turn into a bloodbath, one of Powell’s making.
Mara looked at him and gave a slight nod as she moved towards the toilets and fire escape. He looked across to the bar and gave Afina a reassuring smile.
Powell was counting on Gheorghe wanting to savour his moment not rush in all guns blazing. He didn’t expect anyone at the party to offer resistance or be armed but Powell had his trusty weapon, which had tamed Victor, in the back of his trouser belt.
All at once, there was a change in the party atmosphere as Gheorghe and several others rushed into the room waving their weapons at everyone and shouting for them to get on the floor. There was general pandemonium as guests complained at being pushed around and others were shouted at for being too slow to react. Powell remained standing as the gang spread out and ensured everyone was on the floor. Gheorghe approached him with a self-satisfied smile.
“I guess you might as well remain standing,” Gheorghe said. “Did you really think I would allow you to celebrate my son’s imprisonment and the death of my friends?”
“This is a private party,” Powell said coolly. “And you weren’t invited.”
Powell was pleased there was no sign of Mara. He had instructed her, once she had opened the rear exit, to leave so she could always deny any knowledge of what took place later. She had done her bit by opening the door and hopefully no one back in Romania would have cause to suspect she knew it was a trap.
“Where is Afina,” Gheorghe asked, casting his eyes around the bar. He recognised Afina standing behind the bar. “I know you. You are the girl from the hospital.” A knowing smile crossed his face. “So you are Afina. Come over here.”
Gheorghe studied Afina as she walked towards him. “My men are going to enjoy playing with you.” He slapped her hard around the face as soon as she stood before him, knocking her to the ground. Even as he did it, he raised his gun and pointed it at Powell’s chest, knowing his action might evoke a reaction. “That is for your lack of respect at the hospital.”
Afina was on the floor, glaring at Gheorghe. “You don’t deserve respect. You’re a pig.”
Gheorghe smiled. “Take off all your clothes. Let’s see what you look like naked and then my men can teach you a proper lesson while all these people watch.”
“Okay this has gone far enough,” Powell stated in an even voice. “Gheorghe, I want you and your men to lay down your weapons.”
Gheorghe looked incredulous. “Or you will do what?” He turned to his men. “Do you hear that, he wants us to lay down our weapons.” The men all laughed.
“If you don’t lay your weapons down now, you will all end up dead.”
“Have you gone mad. I will give the orders and I am telling this bitch to take off her clothes.”
“This is my party you have gate-crashed and Afina is not part of the entertainment. Look around the room at my friends and what do you notice?”
Gheorghe stopped laughing and glanced to his right. He immediately swept around the room to see that every one of the guests had a weapon in their hand.
“Put down your weapons or you will all end up dead. These are my friends. They are all present or former soldiers. We are over thirty guns and you have just six.”
Gheorghe again raised his weapon and pointed it at Powell’s chest. “If someone is going to die tonight, you will be the first.”
“Nobody has to die but make no mistake, if one of you fires a single shot, my men will kill all of you. There will be no second chance to surrender.”
Powell could see some of Gheorghe’s men were looking very uncomfortable. They were casting nervous glances in all directions, knowing they were hopelessly outnumbered.
“We are not the sort of men you can so easily intimidate,” Gheorghe responded. He pointed his gun at Afina. “Tell your men to put down their weapons or I will kill this bitch.”
Powell looked behind Gheorghe’s shoulder and made a tiny, almost imperceptible movement with his eyes. Gheorghe caught the movement and started to turn. As he did so, Powell used the lightning reflexes honed over many years to punch him crisply on the nose.
Gheorghe teetered but before he could regain his balance, Powell had moved in sideways, gripped his arm holding the gun and then thrown him over his shoulder to the floor. It was a move he had practised a thousand times before on the mat where he trained. In training it was a pure throw to the mat but this time Powell held on to the wrist as Gheorghe hit the ground, enabling him to bend the arm backwards with the result he was able to easily prise the weapon from Gheorghe’s grip, as he threatened to break his arm. Powell took a step back and aimed the weapon at Gheorghe before he had barely had time to register the first punch.
“Put down your weapons,” Powell shouted.
The soldiers were climbing to their feet and moving to each Romanian in turn, as he put down his weapon. Each man had his hands put behind their back in handcuffs and was then pushed to the floor. Within a minute the danger had been nullified.
Afina had climbed to her feet and looked down at Gheorghe. “You are pure evil,” she said, angrily. “You think it is okay to buy and sell girls like me. You are an apology for a man.”
“Fuck you,” Gheorghe swore.
“I remember saying that to Stefan, the first night I arrived in England. He laughed, then both he and Dimitry raped me. They are not laughing now. And no one will be fucking you for a very long time unless of course the inmates of your prison take a fancy to you.”
Afina walked away towards the bar, picked up her glass of wine and took a large drink. Powell phoned the police and explained briefly what had happened. Then he joined Afina at the bar and poured himself a shot of whisky, which he downed in one.
“You okay?” he asked.
“They make me so angry. How do they become such monsters?”
“I think some men are just born bad. Maybe it’s their upbringing but once they are adults they make their own choices so we shouldn’t make excuses for them.”
“Tell me Powell, why did you organise this party and everything the way you did? It was dangerous. People could have been killed.”
“Everyone here was aware of the danger and volunteered. Most of them are current or former soldier friends of Jenkins. Many of them are also fathers and once they realised Gheorghe’s crimes against young women, were more than happy to take the risk. We needed incontrovertible proof of their guilt and witnesses who will not be intimidated when they stand in the witness box. Everything that happened has been captured on our CCTV. I was told if we could do this, there would be enough evidence to charge them all with attempted murder, which will ensure a very long prison sentence. Hopefully, it will also put an end to their trafficking girls into Brighton.”
“Thank you, Powell. I am once again in your debt.”
“You owe
me nothing, Afina. Without you I would never have been able to find Bella’s killers.”
Jenkins joined them at the bar. “I wouldn’t say no to a whisky.”
Powell pored a large whisky and handed it to Jenkins.
Jenkins downed it in one. “Fuck, you can move fast,” he said. “Never seen anything like that… Except of course in a Bruce Lee movie. Now that man could really kick ass.”
“You should come training with me,” Powell suggested. “You both should. It’s a great way of keeping fit.”
“I’d like to try it,” Afina replied. “I need to learn how to defend myself.”
“I’ll give it a go,” Jenkins agreed.
Police sirens could be heard approaching.
Afina smiled. “You know, I like the name Powell but one day I hope you are going to tell me your first name.”
“Not a chance. My parents were sixties hippies. They had strange ideas of what made a suitable name for a boy.”
THE END
Trafficking
Powell Book 1
Trafficking is big business and those involved show no remorse, have no mercy, only a deadly intent to protect their income.
Afina is a young Romanian girl with high expectations when she arrives in Brighton but she has been tricked and there is no job, only a life as a sex slave.
Facing a desperate future, Afina tries to escape and a young female police officer, who comes to her aid, is stabbed.
Powell’s life has been torn apart for the second time and he is determined to find the man responsible for his daughter’s death.
Action, violence and sex abound in this taut thriller about one of today’s worst crimes.
5* reviews
"This book is not for the faint hearted but it is a brilliant read."
"Keeps you at the edge of your seat throughout."
"Exciting, terrifying, brilliant."
“One of the best books I have read in a long time!”
“Will leave you breathless.”
REVENGE.
There is no greater motivator for evil than a huge sense of injustice!
Tom Ashdown, an unlikely hero, owns a betting shop in Brighton and gambles with his life when he stumbles across an attempted kidnapping, which leaves him entangled in a dangerous chain of events involving the IRA, a sister seeking revenge for the death of her brother and an informer in MI5 with a secret in his past.
Revenge is a fast paced thriller, with twists and turns at every step.
In a thrilling and violent climax everyone is intent on some form of revenge.
5* Reviews
“Fast paced from the start and it only goes faster!”
"This novel is a real page turner!”
“It will keep you on the edge of your seat.”
“Revenge is an example of everything that I look for in an action thriller.”
ENCRYPTION.
In a small software engineering company in England, a game changing algorithm for encrypting data has been invented, which will have far reaching consequences for the fight against terrorism.
The Security Services of the UK, USA and China all want to control the new software.
The Financial Director has been murdered and his widow turns to her brother-in-law to help discover the truth. But he soon finds himself framed for his brother’s murder.
When the full force of government is brought to bear on one family, they seem to face impossible odds. Is it an abuse of power or does the end justify the means?
Only one man can find the answers but he is being hunted by the same people he once called friends and colleagues.
5* Reviews
“A Great English Spy Thriller.”
“This is a great story! Once I started reading it, I could not put it down.”
“A superior read in a crowded genre!”
“Full of memorable characters and enough twists and turns to impress all diehard thriller junkies, it is a wonderful read”
"If you’re a fan of Ludlum, and love descriptive prose like that of Michener, you’ll be right at home."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bill Ward lives in Brighton with his German partner Anja. He has recently retired from senior corporate roles in large IT companies and is now following a lifelong passion for writing! With 7 daughters, a son, stepson, 2 horses, a dog, 2 cats and 2 Guinea pigs, life is always busy!
Bill’s other great passion is supporting West Bromwich Albion, which he has been doing for more than 50 years!
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