Killing Time

by John Kerr

  Peter had said nothing but he was amazed how relaxed Jake seemed about everything he had just been told…Just another day at the office, he thought. Sir Thomas continued.

  ‘It has now been established that they are bringing large quantities of drugs into the country possibly from Mexico or Central America. Interpol informed us of their intention to target the United Kingdom. They’ve already presented us with a number of body bags and we believe this is only the beginning. They acquired a substantial amount of Cocaine after they arrived here and they’re heading north. The difference with these people is that they are multi-functional. They don’t stick to one particular sphere of crime; anything goes in their book as long as it’s profitable. They’re bringing in the raw materials from overseas and then finish the manufacturing process in-house - all very professional. They have their own silenced power supply deep below the house and they seldom leave. The only time we know that they venture out is to get supplies for all locations and that’s probably going to be your best opportunity… but of course we will leave that entirely up to you as always.’ Sir Thomas stopped a second time as Suzy approached and laid a large tray of mugs on the table. She lifted one which said WORLDS GREATEST LOVER on it in great big coloured letters. She placed it in front of Jake and he mouthed the word thanks.

  ‘Baby tea, three large sugars and plenty of milk.’ she said

  ‘You remembered?’

  ‘Of course, you’re hard to forget.’ She had her hand on Jakes shoulder and he gently tapped her fingers as Sir Thomas continued.

  ‘Look, Jake, although this is primarily a drugs racket we believe it to be terrorist-based. For the first time, we have come across people who are prepared to jump the fence, so to speak. This is a big organisation… they have killers on board who will assassinate people. They will take hostages, detonate bombs or even try to bring down governments - whatever they believe is going to get in their way. They’ve done it before and we’ve no reason to believe that they won’t do the same here. They are ruthless in their methods and the line could stretch all the way back to Central America or even the Middle East…we don’t really know. All that we do know is that it is part of something global and it is happening on our patch but it is definitely not being controlled from here. That is why we have to eliminate them in a manner that will deliver an obvious message to the top dogs that we really mean business. The only real stroke of luck we’ve had is that they picked the locations that they have. Christ, they decided to carry out their business right on your doorstep. They have no idea that the man coming for them knows that countryside better than the back of his hand. So you, my friend, on your own, doing what you do best, can get in there, do the business and get the hell out of it. And we’ll let the rest of the sleeping dogs lie.

  ‘Now, we are going to have a large clear-up team ready and waiting to follow up after you and get things back to normal as quickly as possible. It’s been decided that you can have some time off after this one… we know you have just returned but this one is going to take a hell of a lot out of you, so take a break and let your hair down. Go and visit Mickey Mouse or something… just relax.’ The door opened sharply and in stepped a rather large man in an old tweed jacket. A woman, carrying a number of boxes that only stopped when they reached her chin, followed him closely. The man pointed to the desk in the corner and said only one word. ‘There.’ She obeyed without hesitation, placed the boxes on the table and closed the door quietly behind her.

  ‘Sorry…hope I didn’t interrupt,’ he said. He didn’t wait for an answer but just continued talking and with a wave of his hand said,

  ‘Hello, Jake… Good to have you home, son. That there is everything we have on your targets.’ He pointed to the boxes in the corner.

  ‘Dates, times, places, numbers, weapons, grids, even sunset and sunrise times; I think you’ll already know them but they’re there anyway. We think its better that you study them here; it would’ve been far too much information to pass through your linkman. Let’s hope it will give you some sort of insight into these people. Anyway, best of luck, son,’ he said. The man had walked round the room and was back at the door, reaching out his hand and grabbing the handle when Jake spoke loudly.

  ‘George.’ It stopped the man in his tracks. He turned and looked at Jake, they looked directly at each other, and Jake pointed his forefinger directly at his old friend.

  ‘Thanks my friend,’ he said. George just nodded his head slowly and, as he closed the door behind him, said

  ‘Be safe.’ Jake quickly got to his feet and opened the first of the boxes as the rest of the group made their way towards the door.

  ‘Jake, I’ll see you before you leave, okay?’ said Major Grant. Jake raised his hand in the air and gave a gentle wave. The Major pointed at Peter and gestured to him to follow. They left the room and walked out into the corridor. Moving past the telex room, which had an adjoining door leading to the main computer room, they entered Major Grant’s office. Once inside the Major pointed to the chair in front of Peter, walked around his desk and sat down.

  ‘Peter, once back home, try to get Jake to let you help him as much as possible. I know the whole point about this team is that our deliverymen work on their own but, as you have no doubt guessed, this one is different. Stick as close to him as he will let you but don’t get in his face. If you do he’ll just back off and try and do it all on his own. The thing is, I know he can do it alone but I want him to get out of this in one piece. I don’t want him to get too wrapped up in it… so stay close.’

  ‘Is there something else I should be told about this one, sir?’ Peter began to feel slightly uneasy as he waited for the Grant to reply. There was a pause as the Major thought for a few moments before going on.

  ‘We don’t think so, but there maybe a closer connection to Jake than we would like, and if there is, it won’t be very pleasant. That’s the main reason we need you to be as near him as possible. But it may turn out to be nothing… let’s hope so. If you need to be told, and there’s something to tell, believe me, you will be.’

  ‘Fair enough, sir.’ Grant moved to the drinks cabinet and removed a bottle of Jamieson whiskey. He held it in the air and Peter nodded. The two drinks were poured and Grant handed one to Peter. The smoothness of the whiskey left a warm feeling at the back of Peter’s throat as it travelled down into his stomach.

  ‘So, what do you think of our boy? Is he as good as I said he was?’ asked Grant.

  ‘Sir, it’s quite a sight going into a building after Jake has left. Has he ever failed in a job?’ Peter asked.

  ‘Never. Once Jake has a target in his sights he never fails - it doesn’t matter how long he has to wait. Christ, I’ve even known him to leave an area and go back at a later date to finish it. He always gets it done, one way or another. Being inside a building and knowing that Jake is outside and coming in to get you is a situation I would never like to be in,’ said Grant.

  ‘Yes, I know what you mean; he seems to be completely detached from what he has just done. It’s like someone else has just killed all those people and he seems to just want to get back out and onto the hills as quickly as possible,’ Peter replied.

  ‘That’s a throwback to when he was a young boy. His father introduced him to hill walking when he was about eight, and that’s where his love of the hills comes from. He’d probably rather be out there than anywhere else. In fact, I really don’t know why he’s not living in a log cabin somewhere, like a modern-day Grizzly Adams.’

  ‘Well, that may have something to do with Vicky,’ said Peter.

  ‘Vicky… that’s his ex-girlfriend, isn’t it?’ Grant chipped in.

  ‘I somehow think she was a little bit more special than that, sir, but you know Jake, he keeps everything so close to his bloody chest,’ Peter replied.

  ‘Has he said anything about how he feels?’ asked the Major.

  Peter just shook his head slowly.

  ‘Very little, but I’ve a feeling
he’s taking it harder than he’s prepared to let on. I’ve even spoken to Vicky, and she’s very level-headed, but she can’t throw any more light on how he’s really feeling.’ Grant poured another drink into their glasses before saying,

  ‘Keep an eye on the situation. In fact, watch them both. If she had been closer to him than he would like us to think, she may have a way of somehow controlling him, and I don’t like that. I don’t like that one little bit.’ Grant said shaking his head.

  ‘Vicky? No, sir. There’s no way she would ever do us any harm. In fact, if anything, she worries about him just as much as we do… perhaps even more. After all, they were together for almost two years and I think she still cares for him even though she’s now with someone else.’

  ‘Yes, well, that’s all well and good, but just you keep an eye on it nevertheless.’

  FORTY-FOUR

  Almost an hour later, as Jake studied the dossier he suddenly realised he knew the van in the picture. Shit! He had seen it before. Christ, he had walked passed it behind the crofter’s cottage weeks before. Fuck, he had even seen his targets through the window, and he was now trying desperately to remember what they were doing, or even what they looked like. Closing the book, he rushed back into Major Grant’s office, pushing the door open without knocking. Peter and Major Grant still sat in their chairs and turned as Jake burst through the door.

  ‘Sir! I know these people, I’ve seen them before. They were in a cottage on the edge of Elfin Moor and I’ve seen them restocking supplies at a garden centre. I thought it looked out of place, it just didn’t look right but the cottage is not mentioned in this information.’ Jake tapped on the open pages in his hand.

  ‘Does that mean they have moved on or have our guys not found it yet?’ Grant picked up his phone and punched in a number.

  ‘George! In here now!’ He banged the receiver down and immediately got to his feet. He stopped at the map board and pulled on the handle, map 1, map 2, map 3, map 4, map 5, and map 6.

  ‘Okay, show me where it is,’ he said, slapping his open palm on the centre of the board. No one bothered to acknowledge George as he entered the room.

  ‘What’s up?’ he asked.

  ‘These targets,’ Jake said, as the buzz lifted the tension in the room to a higher than usual level.

  ‘I’ve come across them before, but not in any of the locations you’ve given me.’ Jake was running the tip of the ballpoint pen along the map on the Major’s wall.

  ‘Where?’ asked George.

  ‘Take it easy George, take it easy I’m not very good at this map reading shit.’

  ‘There,’ said Jake, as he tapped the pen on the board; all three men leaned forward to take in exactly where he was indicating.

  ‘There’s a single track that runs from there straight back through the gully. It’s not a very good road, a little broken up in places, but you’ll have to find out for me if they are still there or if they’ve vacated the premises.’ The tone in his voice told the room he was worried by the new development, as they all were. George studied the map closely as Jake went on.

  ‘Christ, I hope they aren’t still there, because if they are that means there are more of them that we first thought. That location is going to be too far away to deliver them all on the one night, which is going to give us all a few sleepless nights.’

  ‘Get that place watched, as of now, and let Jake know what’s happening,’ Grant said to George, before adding,

  ‘If we have to, we’ll either have to get someone else to deliver them or come up with something else. Whatever it is, it will have to be pretty quick because I don’t want these guys getting bored with country life and start thinking about going into town for a little bit of sport of a different kind. Okay?’

  George answered Major Grant as he made his way towards the door.

  ‘Got it,’ he said, and as he opened the door he almost walked straight into someone Jake didn’t recognise.

  ‘Jake, this is David Hagen.’ said Grant.

  ‘He’s our new armourer. He’s doing a bit of research and development on weaponry from the Eastern Block, which as you know is a lot better than ours. He’s got a new piece of kit for you to try. David…’ Jake looked directly at the young man in front of him and could see tell-tale signs of nerves on his face. The look wasn’t returned. David placed the small wooden case on top of the desk and quickly opened the top. He spoke in a soft unassuming voice.

  ‘This is the updated laser night sight. I’ve fitted it with a universal sliding clamp. It fits all NATO and non-NATO weapons, its lightweight and, when fitted to the weapon, switches on automatically when the safety catch is released. It could come in very useful in low ambient light situations.’ He placed the sight on top of its box, turned, looked at Jake and said in a more positive manner,

  ‘Try it, Sergeant, see what you think and let me know.’ He didn’t wait for an answer but simply handed the box and sight to Jake and left the room.

  ‘Okay you two get your shit together and get back home. Get plenty of rest and we’ll let you know what we find out about the new location. It will probably be nearer the end of the week before there’s any more information, so let’s not panic,’ said Grant. Nothing more was said. Jake and Peter said their goodbyes to everybody, not knowing when or if they would ever return. That was the way it was; it was always quite wrong to make any real friends in this place, although sometimes it couldn’t be helped. When people left the underground sanctuary, which was the only true and safe place most of them would ever know, there was always the possibility that they would not return. Everyone knew that they would be putting their lives in danger. It was rarely spoken about; they all had a job to do and there was always a massive sense of loss when a comrade didn’t return.

  FORTY-FIVE

  The lights of London faded from view and the motorway opened up before them. They sped north and the conversation drifted to the forthcoming events.

  ‘What do you think, is this one going to be a bastard or what?’ Peter enquired.

  ‘If I don’t have Elfin Moor cottage to worry about it’s going to be hard…but if I do it’s going to be almost bloody impossible. I really don’t like the fact that they’re thinking about putting someone else out there to cover my arse. I like to know that I can take out everyone I come across. I don’t like to think that in the darkness somewhere there could be a friend moving about. That makes me really nervous, Peter, and I don’t like it one little bit,’ said Jake.

  ‘Yeah, me neither… somehow I don’t think the reconnaissance and information are complete. I think they’ve rushed this one somewhat, which could mean a few loose ends flapping about, making it a little bit on the sticky side,’ Peter answered. Jake turned and looked at him.

  ‘Well, if they have rushed it, it must be for a good reason, and it’s a reason that I really don’t have to be privy to. I’ll just get on and get it done as best I can and then get some leave in, like the man said.’ Jake rubbed his hands together like a little boy.

  ‘Yes… I suppose after this you do deserve a bit of a break. When was the last time you had a holiday?’ Peter asked, then waited an overly long time for the reply. He knew Jake was going over the answer in his head. It struck Peter as being an everyday question, but he could see Jake was struggling.

  ‘A year ago,’ came the almost forced reply.

  ‘Yeah? Where did you go?’ asked Peter.

  ‘Abroad,’ came the one word answer. Peter knew he was dragging the answers out of Jake. Answers that he didn’t want to give, but it just made Peter all the more determined. He could sense Jake was closing down, retreating into himself. He had him on the back foot. It didn’t feel good but Peter knew he had to press.

  ‘Was Vicky with you?’ he asked. His friend said nothing.

  ‘She’s a lovely girl, really nice,’ said Peter. Again no reply from Jake, and the silence was broken only by the noise of the wheels as they sped north.

  ‘Do you want
to talk about it, Jake?’ Peter asked eventually, as he looked at Jake in an almost desperate attempt to get that little bit closer to his man. He went on,

  ‘To be perfectly honest, mate, I really think you’re hurting more than you’re letting on. You know that you don’t have to keep it all to yourself. That’s what I’m here for. If we are going to work together long-term, and I really hope we are, then you know as well as I do that we should have no secrets. I need to know everything that’s going on inside your head. Now this ain’t no ‘hearts and minds’ shit and what I’m saying didn’t come from the manual but I know there’s something not right here. Something that you want to keep to yourself but I honestly think that if you keep it inside there’s a chance that when you’re out there in the pissing rain in the middle of the night, halfway up a bloody mountain, it may come back and haunt you, and you could end up dead because of it. So I really think you should do yourself and me a big favour and let it out. Believe me; you’ll feel a whole lot better if you get it out of your system.’

  ‘You think so, do you?’ said Jake. Peter heard the anger in his friend’s voice.

  ‘Believe me, mate, I can get over this myself. I don’t need anyone to hold my hand. I’m a big boy now and in a few days I’ll be back out there doing a big boy’s job. So, begging your pardon, sir, why don’t you just drive us back home and I’ll get some shut-eye?’ said Jake, as he half-turned onto his side in the seat. It was most uncomfortable, but, as it was merely a symbolic gesture, he succeeded in getting his message across. Peter shook his head slightly as he forced the gear stick into top gear and pulled the car out into the fast lane. The darkness was almost upon them and it was looking like they would be home some time after 2 a.m. Peter was bloody mad with himself. It would definitely be bad shit to have a man out in the field less than completely focused. It would be bad at any time, but this time it would be a hundred times worse. This wasn’t going to be an ordinary delivery… if there ever was such a thing. This had all the hallmarks of going tits-up, and Peter knew it. There was every possibility that after it was all over he would be left to explain why Jake was dead and he had done nothing to help. Christ, there wasn’t a lot of time left but he knew he had to do something. How the hell could he help someone like Jake? The thought seared into Peter’s head and he tried desperately to find an answer, an answer that he knew could possibly save Jake Silverman’s life.