Killing Time

by John Kerr

  Jake ran straight to the back of the farmhouse, moved round the side and crouched down behind the empty coal bunker which was only one metre from the closed front door. He moved his head and peered round at the barn. Even this early he could see the flames. The dry straw was well ablaze… not long now. The night was very quiet, with not a breath of wind, and the only sound he could hear was crackling, as sparks started to jump out from the front of the barn. Suddenly Jake heard the key turn in the lock. The door burst open and in a split second two targets pushed out through the door and into the night. They both turned right and started running towards the burning barn. Jake was out of his hiding place - one, two, three paces, he was at the open door before they were at the corner of the building. Jake glanced right… the hallway was empty; two doors leading off - one right, one left; no stairs. He quickly turned back to the two targets who were now at the edge of the farmhouse. Jake’s MP5 burst into life, right target, Tap, tap, tap… ‘One’, left target, Tap, tap, tap… ‘Two’. Without stopping Jake stepped inside the building and took three paces forward. The right-hand door was open and the light coming from inside lit up the hallway. On the floor he could see the unmistakable shadow of a figure coming towards the door. A muzzle from a faithful old AK47 suddenly appeared and Jake instinctively thrust his weapon to his right. The angle was perfect and the weapon came to a sudden stop as it hit the third target on the ribs, just below his heart. There was no thought in Jake’s head, his trigger finger moved on its own and his weapon cracked. Tap, tap, tap… ‘Three’. The force threw the man backwards and he crumpled onto the floor. Jake didn’t stop. He stepped into the room and over the body as it shook. The man’s life gone. Jake automatically looked left and right, his head never once being still. Then, with his left hand, he reached into his pocket and took out his primed L2 hand grenade; he was on automatic pilot. As he stepped back into the hallway, glancing right, turning left, he took three paces back to the front door and spun round. As he rolled the grenade towards the closed door of the room holding his fourth target, the elastic band snapped. The fly-off handle jumped into the air, giving him four seconds to get to the back window. Jake burst into life, one, two, three, four, five paces, he jumped into the air and over the two dead men sprawled at the corner of the house. The now blazing fire from the barn lit up everything and cast his shadow back onto the side of the house. He was at the back corner, but had only taken two steps when the explosion from the grenade ripped the door apart. Jake stopped at the back window, as the light from the room opposite burst in. He could see a ghostly figure standing only centimetres from him and he could see the complete terror in his target’s eyes. Jake did not hesitate. He fired straight through the window. Tap, tap, tap…’Four’. The warheads ripped unforgivingly into the target’s chest, into and out of his heart - and burst out through his back. The force made the man arch his back and as his shoulders pushed forward his legs buckled under him. He fell backwards onto the floor… dead. Jake heard a deep thud as the body came to rest and then all went quiet. He turned left and moved round the opposite side of the house, passing the coalbunker once more, and went through the open front door. This time the smell of cordite attacked his lungs. It was a smell he was well used to, and after he had checked the whole building, he stepped out into the clear air and drew another deep breath.

  Jake looked up into the night sky; the heavy cloud had broken up and it had cleared in the last half hour. Now all it held was tonight’s half-moon and a few million twinkling stars. He was almost ready to stand and admire the lovely night but the light being thrown out by the blazing barn told him that it was about time he wasn’t there any more. He fired his mini flare skyward, grabbed his pack, and within three minutes was gone.

  Almost immediately Jake was back among the heather and putting a lot of distance between himself and the four dead men. Men who could no longer bring terror to the streets of Britain. Very quickly the blanket of darkness threw itself around Jake, and he disappeared over the top of Brier’s Hill and deep into the dark night.

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  That night in the Crown, Vicky and Justin were sitting at their usual table. The place was pretty busy and all the usual faces could be found there, but no one either noticed or could be bothered listening to the news which was on the T.V. No one heard that the three people that had been found shot dead in a holiday home had just been linked to information on a proposed bombing campaign set for London. It had just been announced that papers found at the scene had confirmed it. The cell was just about to move themselves and all their equipment to a forward safe house just inside Greater London. The official line was that some sort of dispute had erupted which had ended in the deaths of all three… end of story.

  Peter was in the bar, but he didn’t need to listen to the T.V. news because he knew the real story. He had arrived at the scene of carnage with the police scene-of-crime officer, an ex-MI5 intelligence Commander who had once worked with Jake and had seen his handiwork before. But what Peter had walked in on had been a shock to him. He had seen death before, yes, but this was of a different calibre. So much death caused by just one man, and it was so different.

  It appeared to Peter that everything in the house had happened in an instant. How could he have killed three very experienced terrorists with so much ease? He would ask Jake that question one day. Christ, the man was as good as Major Grant had said… Probably better, and that was after a couple of years inactivity.

  No one would ever find out about the second delivery. In such an isolated location it was better that they cleaned up after themselves. Whenever possible the general public was kept in the dark about covert jobs. There would be no public outcry that the British Government was engaged in a ‘seek and destroy’ mission within the British Isles. That was the way it was, and up till now they had taken out a great many undesirables and made this small island just that little bit safer.

  Peter stood alone at the bar contemplating when to make his way back to his lodgings. He heard Vicky speak as she and Justin came up behind him.

  ‘Hello, Peter. Are you keeping yourself busy?’

  ‘Oh, hi, Vicky. Yeah, you know how it is. Would you like a drink?’ Justin answered for them. ‘Thanks, a lager and a glass of red wine, please.’ Peter looked at Sally behind the bar and saw that she was already in the process of pouring the order.

  ‘Have you seen Jake recently?’ Vicky asked.

  ‘No, not for a few days. He’ll be out in that bad weather, enjoying himself. You know what he’s like.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose I do.’ Justin lifted his drink, thanked Peter and drifted over towards the television. Vicky dropped her voice almost to a whisper. ‘I still worry about him, Peter… we may not be together any more, but he still means a lot to me,’ she said.

  ‘Well, I’ve not known him that long but he appears to be quite a strong character, and what he can’t get over he’ll always find a way round.’ Vicky looked knowingly at Peter; she paused, thought deeply for a second or two, was about to say something then stopped herself. Instead she said, ‘Do you know something, Peter? That’s the kind of thing I would expect Jake to say. Now I’m not going to ask any awkward questions, but I think you know more than you are prepared to say. I won’t press you… I was with Jake long enough to know when I’m asking questions I shouldn’t. Questions that I have absolutely no chance of getting an answer to, so let’s just leave it at that. Just tell him to look after himself.’

  Peter felt for the briefest of moments that he was being grilled and quickly changed the subject. ‘What about you two?’ He gestured towards Justin, and Vicky turned to look at her lover.

  ‘I love him so very much, and I can’t think what it would be like not to have him here. He’s my rock and I can trust him with my whole life. I’ve never met anyone so reliable and there are no surprises with Justin. What you see is exactly what you get. Typical bank manager, I suppose. He’s so very predictable, and that’s what attracted me to him more
than anything else,’ she replied.

  ‘Well, that’s certainly different from Jake. The one thing Jake is not is predictable,’ Peter replied. Vicky looked back at Peter.

  ‘Yes, sometimes Jake could be a little distant, as if his mind was in some far-off place and in another time. There with me, and yet not there at all… if you know what I mean. It could almost be a little frightening at times; it was like I hadn’t a clue who he was. We could talk for hours on end about everything and anything; we were very close. I loved him in my own way, and yet there was always something he kept back. Something that he kept deep inside himself and wouldn’t let me close enough to find out,’ replied Vicky. Peter suddenly felt himself become defensive towards Jake.

  ‘But what if he wanted to protect you from whatever it was? What if he thought it was better that you never found out?’ asked the Captain.

  ‘But Peter, you know that’s not what a real relationship is all about. A truly deep and loving relationship is about sharing everything, with no secrets. Surely if Jake had truly believed we would be together for the rest of our lives, and at one time I actually believed that, then he wouldn’t have thought it right to keep any secrets from me,’ Vicky said.

  Peter knew it was always going to be a one-sided argument. Poor fucking sod, he thought. Vicky was very perceptive and Peter knew that by keeping his past life to himself, Jake had only condemned their relationship to inevitable failure. But why the hell hadn’t he just told her? Christ, it might even have brought them closer together. She seemed to be very level-headed, and possibly had the disposition to understand why he had chosen his lifestyle in the first place. If she did, Peter thought there was every chance they could still have been together.

  ‘Well, he appears to be getting on with his life at least, and he is keeping himself busy,’ Peter replied.

  ‘Yes, wasn’t he doing some work for you?’ she asked. Peter immediately felt a knot grip the pit of his stomach. Shit!. He must have told her.

  ‘Eh, yeah, he was driving for me for a couple of days.’ Vicky appeared not to be listening intently to what Peter was saying, and he relaxed a little as Justin re-appeared by her side.

  ‘So, how are you liking it in your new job? A little bit different to life in the big city,’ Peter said to Justin, quickly changing the subject.

  ‘It certainly is different, that’s for sure, but I don’t think we’ll be here indefinitely,’ replied Justin, as he gave Vicky a gentle reassuring hug.

  ‘Oh! Are you thinking of moving then?’ asked Peter, probing.

  ‘No, no. Not right away. I think maybe in a year or so. There are a few things we will have to get sorted here before we decide whether to stay long-term, but we’ll see.’

  ‘Problems?’ asked Peter, watching Vicky’s face and knowing instinctively that all was not as it should be. There was a sudden change in atmosphere.

  ‘No it’s nothing really… nothing we can’t handle,’ said Justin unconvincingly. Peter put his drink down and tried to look disinterested before saying,

  ‘Don’t believe that one for a minute, Justin mate. Come on, out with it.’ The tone in Peter’s voice made Justin look to Vicky for some guidance. She nodded slowly.

  ‘Well, it’s just that we have been having a spot of bother with a few of the locals… nothing too serious. They seem to be hanging around us quite a bit lately, and today they came into the bank and were a little abusive to Vicky,’ Justin replied nervously.

  ‘Who are they… do you know them?’ asked Peter. Justin and Vicky’s eyes met and they spoke to each other without saying a word. Finally Justin added,

  ‘They are from the other side of town. A guy called Bryant seems to be the ringleader; he’s the one who seems to have a bee in his bonnet about Vicky. He’s not actually doing anything wrong, but it just seems like he’s in our faces all the time. I think next time we’ll just call the police.’

  ‘Yes, that’s probably what’s best. Give the plods something to take their minds off their next tea break,’ said Peter, as he watched Vicky force a very weak smile. She’s shit-scared, he thought. Vicky began to speak in a soft voice. ‘I’ve seen them before. They attacked some guys up an alley just as Jake and I were passing. They had knives and they are definitely not scared to use them,’ said Vicky, trying hard to disguise the fear in her voice. Peter suddenly saw an opportunity and jumped straight in.

  ‘What did Jake do when he saw this going on?’ he asked.

  ‘He didn’t do anything… he dislikes any sort of violence just as I do… we left as quickly as we could,’ she said, failing to see Peter glance at her.

  ‘Well, just stay out of their way as much as you can, because you know what they say…”Boys will be boys.”,’ said Peter.

  Vicky looked straight at Peter. ‘Funny that… that’s exactly what Jake said on that very night.’

  Shit, this girl is fucking perceptive.

  ‘Yeah, well, it’s true. Once these people get a few drinks inside them, they get carried away with the misguided notion that they can conquer the whole world. And as the old saying goes, ‘The bigger they are, the harder they fall. And believe me; I’ve seen some big ones fall in my time. Anyway, talking of drinks, what are you having? My shout,’ said Peter, quickly changing the subject as he rose from his seat and went to the bar without waiting for a reply.

  Standing at the bar he quietly studied Vicky’s reflection in the mirror, and watched them as they obviously discussed the rights and wrongs of telling a relative stranger about their troubles. Vicky failed to see Peter slowly shake his head. A little more than an hour later Peter found himself walking through the all but deserted market square. The night was crisp and dark, and as he neared home thoughts of Jake and his situation filtered through into his mind. Jake appeared to be on the case and seemed to be back doing what he undoubtedly did best. Peter couldn’t help but wonder what was really going on inside his head. Jake said he was okay about Vicky… okay that she appeared to be very happy with her new love. But Peter wasn’t so sure. It was his job was to make sure Jake stayed focused and didn’t let anything get in the way. If he ever slipped up while carrying out a delivery, if a sudden thought or memory of her ever jumped into his head at the wrong time, well, it could mean the difference between getting out of situation alive or ending up on a slab in a small out-of-town mortuary. Did she matter that much to him? That was the dilemma Peter faced. He knew they had been together eighteen months; he also knew that they had been close but, like Vicky, he as yet didn’t know what was really going on inside Jake’s head. On the surface everything seemed okay, but that of course was the nature of the beast. Someone in Jake’s position couldn’t be seen to let something like breaking up with a lover make him fall to pieces. He had to keep it all together or at least appear to be holding it together, and that didn’t help Peter one little bit. If Jake was ever going to go off the rails because of Vicky then Peter would have to know about it before anything serious happened. It would be an absolute disaster if he ever went over the edge with the amount of firepower available to him. The consequences didn’t bear thinking about, but for now that would have to wait.

  Peter had been told to get back to London right away; there was work to be done and he had new orders to pick up. He didn’t know what it was yet but he sensed it was something a bit different, a little bit special perhaps. Peter knew Jake would not be back until at least tomorrow night so that would give him enough time to get to London and back. Peter wanted to be here by the time Jake returned; he wanted him to see a friendly face. The last thing Jake needed on his return from eliminating seven people was to see Vicky in the arms of someone else and for Jake to not have a friend close by. Peter would travel first thing in the morning before anyone was up and about. He would probably be away most of the day and probably half the night.