by Phoenix Ford
The time dragged by, but at nine o'clock a dark blue Peugot sedan followed by a small and battered red truck pulled up to the loading dock of the warehouse. Eleanora got out of the Peugot together with Angelo while his other two men remained seated in the truck. Holding a medium size metallic case, Eleanora walked over to the truck and said "This should only take a few minutes. Please remain here. As soon as the goods are loaded onto the truck Angelo and I will follow in the car while you drive to the pier."
Walking into the front entrance of Bozkurt Brothers, Eleanora and Angelo were greeted by Adil standing near the door. "Good morning, Maria," he smiled in an artificial way.
"Good morning, Adil," she replied.
"Did you bring what I asked?"
"Can we go into your private office?" she replied.
"Yes, certainly," he replied, "but I'd like your associate to wait out here."
Eleanora hesitated for a moment. There were four other men standing in the reception area. Warily she replied "Okay, but don't try any tricks because we have more men outside ready to come to our aid if necessary."
"Don't worry, Maria. I am not a thief or a murderer," he replied. He held open the door to his private office as she entered and took a seat in one of the two chairs in front of his desk, holding the case in her lap.
"Let's be clear," said Eleanora. "You may count the money here in your office, but I will keep it in the case and not give it to you until we have inspected and received the goods."
"It will be difficult for you to inspect the goods unless you want to expose yourself to radioactive poisoning. The goods are in two sealed barrels."
"Yes, I know," she said, "but I understand that even in lead-lined barrels radioactive waste still gives off a faint amount of radioactivity. We brought a Geiger counter. Provided it confirms the contents of the barrels I will then hand over the briefcase with the money to you." She placed the briefcase on Bozkurt's desk, opened the combination lock and raised the lid of the briefcase, pushing it to Bozkurt's side of the desk. "Please count it." It was filled with $10,000 bank packets.
Bozkurt took his time, almost twenty minutes counting and inspecting each packet until he was satisfied the case held $2,500,000. He closed the lid and pushed the oversized briefcase back to Eleanora. "This seems to be correct. Shall we go to the warehouse?"
"Yes, please. One of the men in our truck has the necessary Geiger counter. The truck is backed up to your loading dock."
"Perfect," replied Bozkurt. He opened the door for Eleanora and followed her back into the reception room. "Please follow me." He opened another door which led to the warehouse to the rear. Eleanora motioned for Angelo to follow. Bozkurt's men followed too.
"Please don't be alarmed by the additional men in the warehouse," Bozkurt said to Eleanora as they entered the spacious metal building. "I'm sure you understand the need for me to be cautious."
"Yes," she said, somewhat nervously seeing several men stationed strategically around the large space with two of them making no effort to conceal their assault weapons. "If you can raise the door to your loading dock one of my men will bring the Geiger counter."
"Certainly," said Bozkurt, walking over to the side of the building to push a button to raise the door.
Livio hopped out of the small red truck and walked over to the loading dock to hand Eleanora the Geiger counter.
"Do you know how to use it?," asked Bozkurt.
"Of course," she replied. "Do you think I would be doing something like this if I didn't know what I was doing?" She turned on the small Geiger counter. "Now where are the barrels?" she asked.
"Right here," Bozkurt replied. Lifting what appeared to be a sealed wooden crate off the top of two barrels close to the loading dock door.
Eleanora walked over to the barrels. The Geiger counter immediately beeped with a positive reading. "Excellent," she smiled to Bozkurt. "Here is your case."
Bozkurt took the case. "What is the combination?" he asked.
"4-1-8-8," she replied. "May we use that cart to load the barrels onto the truck?"
"Yes, we will help you." Bozkurt turned to two of his men and said something in rapid Turkish. The two men lifted each barrel into the heavy duty cart and wheeled it out to the truck. They then helped Livio and Carlo load the barrels into the back of the truck. Carlo covered them with an old blanket.
"It was a pleasure doing business with you, Adil, but just remember this never happened."
"I've never seen you, and this never happened." Once again he gave her an artificial smile.
"But what will you tell the Islamic State people when they show up?" she asked.
"Don't be concerned with them. There has been a delivery delay. These things happen."
"Very well," replied Eleanora. "Goodbye." She motioned to Angelo. They walked to the Peugot while Livio and Carlo drove up next to it in the truck, waiting for them to follow. They then drove away.
CHAPTER 39
Charlotte joined Colin and Sylvia in the rental car and left John sitting at the sidewalk cafe. After a few minutes he paid the tab, hopped on his bike and rode it towards the private marina where the yacht was docked. When he reached the marina he did not turn in towards the yacht but instead continued down the road running west along the coast away from Kyrenia. A few miles ahead he could see the helicopter in the sky. He figured it must be following Eleanora and her men in the truck and that Sylvia, Charlotte and Colin must be not far behind. He wanted to see the commandos spring into action if only from a distance. Just as he reached the top of a small hill he stopped and pulled out a small pair of binoculars he had borrowed from the yacht. He watched as the commandos blocked the road ahead of the Peugot and truck, and Sylvia, Charlotte and Colin blocked the road with their rental car a short distance behind the truck.
Almost immediately a gun fight began. It didn't take long for the commandos to subdue Eleanora and her men, one of which was obviously wounded or dead. John observed Colin and Charlotte walking up the road towards Eleanora's truck while Sylvia remained behind. John could see her talking on her mobile phone.
As John continued watching with the binoculars he was alarmed to see two men suddenly come charging out from behind a ridge off road in an old Range Rover. They fired pistols at Sylvia. One shot barely missed her, shattering a side window of the rental car very close to her. Seeing that she was outnumbered and fully exposed Sylvia raised her hands in surrender. By the time the commandos spotted Sylvia's predicament it was too late. John was horrified to see the men rush out of the Range Rover, tie Sylvia's hands behind her back, put a black hood over her head and roughly throw her into the back of the Range Rover. The commandos fired shots, but they were apparently too preoccupied with Eleanora and her men to give immediate chase.
John remained concealed with his motorbike behind some small bushes and reached into his pocket for his mobile phone. It wasn't there! He had intended to call Colin, but he must have left the phone on the yacht. The commandos and all the other action were so much farther up the road that he had no idea if they were planning to rescue Sylvia. He hoped the men in the helicopter had noticed, but it had all happened so quickly he really didn't know. Helplessly he watched the Range Rover drive away from the site back towards Kyrenia. He waited just long enough to hopefully not be noticed and then fired up his motorbike to follow the Range Rover. He wanted to stop at the yacht to retrieve his phone to call Colin, but he was afraid he would lose sight of the Range Rover. As it was, it was difficult for him to keep up with the Range Rover even from a distance. The motor bike's top speed seemed to be 80 kph, and even that was difficult to maintain.
By the time John rode past the harbor the Range Rover had lost him. Nevertheless he continued on the coastal road to the East. The road went up a slight rise just outside the town where he thought he saw something far ahead. Stopping briefly he pulled out his binoculars for a better view. It was the Range Rover turning inland. He had no idea what he would or could do even if he manage
d to catch up, but he had to do anything he could to help Sylvia. John had started to develop a serious affection for Sylvia and couldn't bear the thought of losing someone else. I must save her! was his only thought.
In the back of the Range Rover Sylvia struggled with the cord binding her wrists, but she was feeling incredibly woozy and sleepy. Her captors had injected some drug into her arm when they threw her in the back of the vehicle. She still had her mobile phone in a pocket of her jeans. If only she could get to it! These men were speaking Arabic. She was not fluent in that language, but she knew enough words to know what language they spoke. Because the deal between Bozkurt and the Islamic State men was supposed to go down on November 7th, tomorrow, she had not anticipated they would be players in today's action. She continued struggling to loosen the cord binding her wrists. Then everything went black.
CHAPTER 40
When John reached the point where the Range Rover had turned inland he turned to the right up a dirt road, really not much more than a dirt path. Obviously it was not used often. Weeds and rocks littered the road, at times making it difficult to follow. After about ten minutes he came to a fork in the road. He stopped, got off the motorbike and inspected the ground for both directions. He had to make a choice. Turn to the right or to the left? The ground was so hard and rocky that he didn't spot tire tracks going in either direction. He started to panic but then caught himself. "Please God, help me!" he silently prayed. He got on his motorbike and continued on the road to the right.
As soon as the commandos subdued and cuffed Eleanora and her men Colin and Charlotte returned to the rental car. The commandos would take their prisoners back to the closest British military base on the island, but Colin and Charlotte had to do their best to rescue Sylvia. They returned to the rental car, its windshield shattered by a bullet hole which left a spider web of cracks across the safety glass. They hopped in the car, Colin in the driver's seat. He started the engine.
"Charlotte, please call MI6 and update them about Sylvia's predicament. Tell them we are giving pursuit but will need aerial support to find them if it's not already too late. The helicopter can find them much quicker than we can. They've already had ten minutes to escape." Colin pushed the pedal to the floor and raced back towards Kyrenia.
"Will do," Charlotte replied, already dialing the MI6 telephone number assigned to them for this operation on her satellite phone. Someone answered on the other end after one ring. She explained everything and described the old Range Rover before ending the call. "MI6 is contacting the helicopter pilot. It should be heading back towards Kyrenia right away. They told me to call back if we want the helicopter to pick us up. Otherwise they will call me as soon as they learn the helicopter has spotted the Range Rover."
"I think it is best for us to continue in the car until they have found the Range Rover," replied Colin. He was driving at a speed exceeding 100 kph but couldn't go any faster due to the risk of occasional traffic. It was a narrow road without shoulders. When they entered Kyrenia he had to slow down. They were just passing the harbor in town when Sylvia's mobile phone rang. It was the co-pilot of the helicopter. They could now see it above circling the town.
"We don't see the Range Rover anywhere in town. We're going to continue above the road going east. I will ring you as soon as we spot it."
"Thank you," replied Sylvia. We're headed east too.
The dirt road John was traveling came to a dead-end at the gate of a tract of land fenced with barbed wire. All he saw were a few goats nibbling at the weeds sparsely covering the land. He got off the motorbike and inspected the road for any tire tracks. He saw none. There was a padlocked gate. They must have gone to the left where the road forked, he thought to himself. He hopped back on the motorbike and rode as fast as possible back towards the fork in the road.
CHAPTER 41
When John returned to the fork in the road he turned in the other direction. It was really not much more than a path which steadily climbed towards a small mountain ridge and curved around boulders and hills. After about ten minutes he spotted something on the horizon. He pulled out his binoculars. It was some type of metal building. The Range Rover was parked next to it, but there was no sign of the men or Sylvia as far as he could tell from this distance. He continued up the road until he was about a hundred yards behind the building. He left the motorbike on its side behind some shrubs and cautiously continued towards the building on foot. When he was within about forty yards of the building he left the road and snaked his way between boulders and bushes to approach the building in a more clandestine manner. He had no idea what he would do when he got there. He had no weapon. His only thought was to save Sylvia.
When John reached the rear of the building he walked around to the side away from the parked Range Rover. He stopped to listen but heard nothing. Stealthily he crept towards the front of the building, the part he could not see. A wide door was hanging open which allowed him to better conceal himself as he peaked around it. In front of the building in the distance on a flat stretch of land was an old gray double-engine prop airplane on a primitive runway. The plane appeared to be some type of old small transport. The only markings were some letters and numbers on its tail. The two men were carrying Sylvia towards the airplane. She appeared to be limp and with a black hood covering her head. Oh my God! thought John, suddenly realizing the men must be from the Islamic State. They were dark complexioned wearing tattered western clothing. Each man had a scruffy beard. When they reached the plane one of them opened the rear cargo hatch. One of the two jumped inside and roughly pulled Sylvia inside the plane.
My God, what am I going to do? They're going to take Sylvia back to Syria! They will behead her and film it for the internet! I must save her! John was frantic with fear. One of the men climbed into the cockpit, and the other started walking back towards the metal building. He must have forgotten something, thought John. He was trying not to panic even though he could feel the adrenaline as his heart began to race. He could hear the airplane engines starting to rev.
Charlotte's mobile phone rang again. It was the co-pilot of the helicopter. "We've spotted the Range Rover about five miles inland to the east. There's some kind of old airplane on a dirt runway. There's only a small metal building and a tattered windsock on a pole. We're going to try to block the plane to prevent a takeoff while you continue in our direction. We saw you below when we passed over Kyrenia."
"Thanks," said Charlotte. She turned to Colin to explain. They could see the helicopter in the air some distance to the east.
The Islamic State man walked over to the door behind which John was crouched. Without even thinking John reached for a rock almost as large as a loaf of bread. Brandishing the rock in both hands above his head, John suddenly jumped out from behind the door, catching the Arab by surprise. He slammed the rock down on top of the man's head with all his force. The man fell to the ground unconscious and perhaps even dead, John didn't know or care. He picked up the old Beretta the man had dropped on the ground and sprinted to the rear of the plane. Pointing the pistol in front of himself John jumped into the open cargo door on the side of the fuselage just as the other man revved the engines and started down the runway for take-off. Suddenly the pilot turned around and fired a shot at John but continued racing down the crude runway. John crouched down behind some stacked boxes out of sight, but the pilot fired two more shots towards him. Just as the plane was lifting into the air John crawled close to the front. The pilot was too distracted by the takeoff to notice. John raised the Beretta and shot the pilot in the head.
When the helicopter got close to the runway below it was already too late. The plane was taking off. The co-pilot called Charlotte immediately to tell her what had happened. "Here's the strange part. Before we got close enough to the runway we saw some man running towards the plane and brandishing a handgun. He jumped in the back cargo door just as it started down the runway. Using my binoculars I could see that he did not have a beard such as the men you
described."
"What was he wearing?" asked Charlotte.
"Jeans and a light blue polo-type shirt," replied the co-pilot. It took only a split second for Charlotte to realize it must be John."
"Colin, the helicopter was too late to stop the takeoff! Just as the plane was starting down the runway the co-pilot saw a man with a gun jump in an open cargo port. He had a gun. From the co-pilot's description of the man it sounded like it must be John! He had a gun too." Charlotte had a worried look as she spoke to Colin.
"John was supposed to return to the yacht," said Colin, "but at least Sylvia has a better chance of survival now. Please call MI6 and explain everything. We may need military assistance to divert the airplane. I can't imagine how they landed on Cyprus without being spotted by radar. Of course they could have provided false credentials to air traffic control."
"What should we do now?" asked Charlotte.
"We've come this far. We might as well check out the runway while we wait for MI6 or the helicopter to update us."
