The Hidden Gift

by Ian Somers

  ‘Golding must have come calling.’

  ‘Indeed. Almost every gifted person he comes into contact with ends up like this.’

  ‘Aren’t I the lucky one,’ I smiled.

  ‘Lucky that Marcus Romand thought you were worth risking his life for.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘Come,’ he said, draping the cape over his shoulder. ‘If we delay any longer we will never get out of here alive.’

  He created an invisible shield around us. No ordinary shield, this was the dual shield that I couldn’t manage to conjure after days and days of training. It would protect us both from anything outside it but would allow me to fire out energy from within it. I shot out ten of the small pillars easily with energy spears then focused my attention and all my power on the large, load-bearing one. I fired a powerful slice and it crumbled at its centre.

  ‘That’s enough,’ Ballentine said. ‘Let’s make a hasty retreat.’

  ‘Shouldn’t we make sure that it will collapse?’

  ‘Ross, my shields are magnificent, but I’d rather get out of here than test their solidity under the weight of a crumbling hotel.’

  ‘Point taken.’

  The ceiling creaked above and the lights flickered. We quickened our pace to the exit ramp. By the time we reached it the ceiling was folding, huge chunks of concrete were flattening the cars and silencing the screaming sirens. We raced into the street and I turned briefly to see the immense tower breaking apart, dark clouds bursting through the walls and windows as it stuttered downward. The noise was tremendous and the ground shook and I nearly lost my footing. Ballentine maintained his shield and ran straight to Hunter and Canavan. There were sucked inside and all four of us were protected from the dirty wall of debris that rushed into the street in all directions.

  Ballentine released the shield when we entered the first of the alleyways leading away from the ruined hotel. There were no cops this time; they had all run for cover once the building began to implode.

  Hunter suggested breaking into the first car we came across, which he seemed accustomed to doing. I insisted we go back to the car valet place, though, to see if Cathy waited. Hunter said she was probably long gone because Ballentine and I had taken so long inside the hotel and we began arguing. Canavan quickly defused it - she appeared to have some influence over Hunter – and we reached the narrow side street to find Cathy sitting in the 4x4 with the engine running.

  ‘Bet you’re glad I don’t listen to you,’ she said to Hunter as he climbed into the seat next to her. ‘Eh?’

  ‘Shut up and drive, smart arse.’

  Canavan cloaked our vehicle for the return journey and Cathy pushed it to the limit. We reached the Williams estate just before 10pm and when we convened in his study he told he had made the call and that there had been an answer. ‘Call back in two hours. Mr Golding will speak to you then,’ was all that was said.

  That wasn’t the only call he’d made in our absence. As soon as he knew that Golding was willing to talk, Mr Williams contacted the leadership of the Guild and they told him the hit-squad that was specially assembled to kill Zalech were released from the Palatium.

  ‘They will be based here tonight and make their move before dawn,’ Mr Williams explained.

  ‘That’s if Golding gives up Zalech,’ Hunter almost cut him off. ‘He’s just as likely to declare full-scale war on us after we turned his prized hotel into a mountain of dust.’

  ‘He won’t,’ the old man said confidently. ‘I have an ace up my sleeve if Mr Golding starts issuing threats.’

  ‘Never fancied you for a poker player,’ the big Scot snorted.

  ‘I’m happy to inform you, Hunter, that you don’t know everything about me. I managed to survive decades as an agent for the Guild before you came along.’

  ‘I’m sure the pace was a little slower back in the good ol’ days.’

  ‘Will you two stop the bickering for a while?’ Cathy moaned. ‘Sometimes I forget which of us are veterans and which of us are beginners.’

  The squabbling ceased and was followed by a debate on who should do the talking. Everyone wanted the job because they all had a beef with the evil billionaire, but Mr Williams remained determined that he should be the negotiator and eventually the others gave up and we all sat in silence, watching as the clock counted to eleven. It was like time had stood still and the ticking of the old antique timepiece seemed deafening in the cramped room.

  Hunter slapped the table as the clock struck eleven and demanded Mr Williams make the call. He was not in a patient frame of mind and the older man told him he’d have to leave the room if he couldn’t keep his temper in check.

  ‘Make the damned call, will you.’ Hunter snarled. ‘We shouldn’t have to go by Golding’s schedule! We’re in the driving seat here!’

  ‘Hunter’s right,’ Canavan said. ‘Let’s not dally, Peter.’

  ‘Right,’ Mr Williams sighed as he punched a number onto the screen of his cell phone. ‘Here goes nothing.’

  He placed the phone on his desk, set it to speaker, and we all listened intently to the dial tone over and over until it was silenced.

  ‘Paul Golding here,’ I recognised his cold, calculating voice from the video I watched on You Tube before I entered The Million Dollar Gift contest. ‘To whom am I speaking?’

  ‘We spoke once before,’ Mr Williams answered evenly.

  ‘I don’t recall your name.’

  ‘I never gave you my name. Please, we aren’t children. Let’s not waste our time with silly games.’

  ‘My apologies. I was under the impression I was dealing with a group of reckless children who have no idea of how much time, money and effort goes into building a hotel like the Golding Plaza.’

  Hunter couldn’t contain himself and shouted at the phone, ‘Do you know how much time went into building Portsmouth? A hell of a lot more than your bloody hotel!’

  ‘Please tell that ignoramus to be quiet, or else Ill hang up.’

  ‘He’s not an ignoramus, you cold-hearted swine!’ I hadn’t been able to contain myself either.

  ‘That could only be the arrogant brogue of Ross Bentley … oh, how I detest that name.’

  ‘Get used to it,’ I spat. ‘I’m not going anywhere until I take you down!’

  ‘My word, you are an angry young man. I suppose it’s understandable seeing as you’re in mourning. Incidentally, I heard they put on a lovely service for your father. Shame no one turned up.’

  ‘One day, Golding,’ I replied bitterly. ‘One day, I’ll make you pay for all the pain you’ve inflicted on me and those around me.’

  ‘Come, did you go to all this trouble just to hurl empty threats at me down a phone line? I expected a much more intelligent and meaningful conversation.’

  ‘We want to talk about what happened on the south coast yesterday,’ Mr Williams said to him calmly.

  ‘Ah, yes. Your former colleague is certainly … making waves lately.’

  ‘It’s no laughing matter.’

  ‘Quite. Yes, I must admit what happened in Portsmouth was a tad overzealous.’

  ‘Overzealous?’ Mr Williams gasped. ‘Do you have any idea how many people are dead because of what Zalech did?’

  ‘There are seven billion people in the world,’ Golding said, ‘a few hundred won’t make much difference in the grand scheme of things.’

  ‘You sound like you’re proud of this abomination that you’ve created.’

  ‘I didn’t create him. I merely refined him. As did you.’

  ‘We tried to help him.’

  ‘You taught him how to kill. That was just fine as long as he was on your side, and now that he’s on the opposite side, you deem him a monster.’

  ‘He was a troubled young man while he was with us. Edward was difficult and challenging, but not what he is now. He left us as a killer, yes, but not as someone who could destroy an entire city.’

  ‘Our training techniques are superior to yours. I won�
��t apologise for being better than you nor should you expect me to.’

  ‘You didn’t train him! You somehow gave him this power then set him loose to wreak havoc on the world. You’re a fool, Golding. Sooner or later he’ll turn his anger and his power on you.’

  ‘Do you honestly think I would empower anyone to such an extent without being able to control them? I may be many things but a fool is not one of them.’

  ‘Edward Zalech cannot be controlled. Not even you, with all your resources, can make such a claim.’

  ‘I don’t claim to have control over him. Edward is living on borrowed time so I don’t need to control him directly. All I have to do is sit back and watch him destroy you before his time runs out.’

  ‘What do you mean by borrowed time?’

  ‘I saved his life and gave him a new one. Alas, this second life that I have given him will be a short one.’

  ‘Don’t try to tell me you’re planning on killing him. That’s simply not logical and I doubt you have the manpower to contend with him.’

  ‘I don’t need hired muscle to outlive Zalech,’ Golding laughed ‘Edward Zalech is already dead. He just hasn’t realised yet.’

  ‘Stop speaking in riddles.’

  ‘We have devised a new drug,’ Golding admitted. ‘It gives even modestly gifted people exceptional power. This is how Edward has become so strong. There is a downside, though. The drug is still at an experimental stage and comes with some very serious side effects. Death being one of them. It’s essentially a poison and sooner or later it will kill our troublesome young friend.’

  ‘How long has he got?’

  ‘I can’t say for sure. Originally we believed he’d hold out for a month. But he is a very determined individual and his powers of recovery made us reassess our initial projection.’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘He could hold out for three months.’

  There was a collective sigh around the room.

  ‘Zalech could wipe out millions of lives in three months,’ Mr Williams said. ‘He cannot be allowed to live on for that amount of time.’

  ‘Not my problem.’

  ‘He would also have time to turn on you.’

  ‘I’m quite a ways down his list. I’ll take my chances.’

  ‘Then it’s war. Everyone connected to us will be unleashed upon you and your organisation. We will not stop until you’re dead.’

  ‘You people do have a flair for the dramatic. You wouldn’t risk a war with me because there’s a chance that you’ll lose. Besides, you can’t get near me, or the heart of my operation. You don’t even know where I am!’

  ‘You have been given a warning, Golding. There won’t be a second one.’

  ‘Save your warnings. This conversation is over.’

  ‘Hang up and we will immediately send every gifted person we have to Iceland … to an area known as Sudavik.’

  This was obviously the ace Mr Williams had up his sleeve. There was a long silence on the other end of the line.

  ‘Perhaps I have underestimated you,’ Golding finally said.

  ‘Do you want to cut a deal?’

  ‘Right,’ Golding said, as the first hint of aggression had crept into his tone. ‘I will give you Zalech and you give me time to move my operation out of Iceland? Then we can restart our game of cat and mouse.’

  ‘You have a deal as long as the information you supply is one hundred percent accurate.’

  ‘It’s accurate. In fact, I know exactly where he is right at this moment. I put him up in a house owned by the corporation. He’ll be hiding out there for a few days after his recent antics on the coast.’

  ‘Where is his hideout?’

  ‘I’ll send a text in a few moments with the GPS coordinates. Make sure you keep up your side of the bargain.’

  The line went dead and there was a few seconds of silence in the room as we all quietly made up our minds if Golding could be trusted or not.

  ‘It’s a wind-up,’ Hunter said. ‘I don’t believe a word out of that snake’s mouth. He probably won’t even send the text message.’

  The words had hardly left his lips when the mobile buzzed twice.

  ‘Ye of little faith,’ Mr Williams chuckled as he lifted the phone. ‘GPS coordinates, just as Golding promised.’

  ‘It’s more likely to be a trap. We’ll be sending our team into the arms of a hundred of Golding’s assassins.’

  ‘Unlikely,’ Ballentine said, shaking his head. ‘Golding knows we have his new location pinpointed and he also knows that if he double-crosses us his new facility will be under attack within twenty-four hours. He won’t risk that for the sake of Edward Zalech. Remember, he is a man who knows no loyalty … he even sent his own sister to her death!’

  ‘Well, I don’t trust him,’ Hunter replied. He leaned back in his chair and folded his big arms. ‘He’d do anything to put the hurt on us.’

  ‘It’s not our decision,’ Mr Williams added. ‘Sakamoto will lead the attack and he hand picked those who will go with him. It should be up to him to decide whether this lead is genuine or if it’s too much of a risk.’

  ‘When will they get here?’ I wondered.

  ‘Shouldn’t be too long,’ William answered. ‘Within the hour I would say.’

  Hunter kept going on and on about it being a trap. The others disagreed and didn’t entertain his wild assertions. I tended to agree with him, but held my tongue. I was selfish in my silence; I wanted Sakamoto and his team to go to that house even if there was the possibility of an ambush. I didn’t want them to miss out on any chance, even a slim one, of killing Zalech. I wanted nothing more than to know he was dead.

  ‘Isn’t anyone going to back me up?’ Hunter shouted. His eyes searched every face in the room but none would side with him.

  I got up and went to the kitchen, content in the knowledge that Zalech would be dead within a few hours. The only thing that took the gloss off of my mood was that I wouldn’t be the one to finish him. The others emerged from the study moments later and all except Hunter joined me at the long kitchen table. There was relief amongst us, but the air remained tainted with tension. We all knew that Zalech would die, and that didn’t bother any of us, but it was quite reasonable to believe he would bring a few of the Guild’s assassins down with him. It would be a hollow victory if that happened. How much did I want my revenge? What price could I accept? My emotions were too strong and too many to find the answers.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  The Assassins

  I sat at the kitchen table listening as Ballentine and Mr Williams talked about the assassins who would soon arrive at the house. From what I could gather, each assassin worked alone, except in times of great peril when they banded together to ensure the safety of the Guild. There were three of these loosely-connected groups: one that operated in the Americas, another based in North Africa, and one in Europe. Soon we would meet the European outfit, and they were the most feared of the three. The reason they were feared more than the other groups was because of their leader – Sakamoto. He’d once been the Guild’s top agent in their fight against JNCOR in the East. He then joined the ranks of the assassins after the Guild called a truce with JNCOR. Sakamoto quickly gained a reputation as a cold and flawless killer. A reputation that had been growing ever since. I felt uneasy – fearful even – in the knowledge that I would soon be in the company of such notorious killers.

  ‘Doesn’t sit well with me that people like Sakamoto are members of the Guild,’ I said. ‘Don’t they go against what we stand for?’

  ‘The gifted need an army to protect them, Ross,’ Mr Williams replied. ‘The Guild is that army … but every army requires a Black Ops team to do the type of work that others cannot countenance.’

  ‘If you say so.’

  The doorbell clanged and we walked to the archway leading into the hall to get a look at who it was. Hunter, who had been sulking in the sitting room alone, pulled open the door and there stood a number of shadowy
figures huddled together on the threshold. The nearest and tallest of them spoke to Hunter briefly before stepping inside. He lingered under the chandelier and waved to us. I recognised him the instant the light met his stern face. It was Jim Sterling, the mysterious leader of the Guild. Hunter gave him a wide berth as he entered. The others, nine of them in all, followed in Sterling’s wake. This was a very different team to the one first assembled to kill Edward Zalech in Newcastle. This was a hardened crew of killers. I saw ruthlessness in their eyes as they marched into the kitchen, all of them dressed in black, and I felt confident they could handle what lay ahead of them. The last assassin to enter was Linda Farrier; she was the only one I recognised. She lingered in the hall with Hunter before joining the others in the kitchen and giving me the smile when she saw me.

  ‘You all seem surprised to see me,’ Sterling said, taking off his coat. His voice was deep and supremely confident. ‘Didn’t you tell them I was coming, Peter?’

  ‘It slipped my mind,’ Mr Williams replied. He was the only one who had remained seated. ‘I’ve had quite a lot on my mind this evening.’

  ‘Of course you have. An unfair burden for you to shoulder alone.’ Sterling gave me a courteous nod as he strolled to the table where he took a seat. ‘Come, everyone relax – relaxation clears the mind – and clear minds are needed in moments like these.’

  We all took seats at the table, except Hunter, who loitered under the arched entrance to the hallway. He had an odd expression on his weathered face, almost fearful. I thought at first it was because he was worried for the assassins and Linda in particular, but the more I thought about it the more it seemed he was afraid of Sterling. It was probably my imagination because Hunter wasn’t afraid of anyone, and certainly not a colleague.

  ‘Did you make the call?’ Sterling asked Mr Williams quite casually, as if nothing was riding on it.

  ‘I made contact with Golding, yes. He wasn’t very forthcoming at first–’