Deception (Powell Book 3)

by Bill Ward

  Powell found the study where Barnes said the CCTV was controlled and removed the current disc. There was a box of further discs to the side. Each disc was marked with a date and time. They were obviously the tapes of Al-Hashimi being interrogated. They would make excellent evidence. Perhaps Barnes or Crawford would feature on the tapes. He carried the box under his arm and headed for the car.

  By the time he arrived back at the car, Jenkins and O’Neill were bundling Al-Hashimi into the boot. There were no protests from the terrorist. For all he knew, Powell would resort to new methods of torture if he didn’t do exactly as he was told. He was in no state to argue or resist. Powell took the front passenger seat while O’Neill and Jenkins sandwiched Barnes on the back seat. Brian accelerated away and Powell breathed a sigh of relief they had all made it out of the house in one piece.

  “Al-Hashimi looks in a bad way,” Jenkins commented. “He needs medical treatment.”

  “He’ll get some soon, just not today,” Powell responded.

  “You will all be needing medical treatment soon,” Barnes interjected. “That’s in the unlikely event any of you are still alive by this time tomorrow.”

  Jenkins gave Barnes a hard dig in his ribs with an elbow. “Be sure of one thing. If I’m not alive tomorrow, then neither will you be.”

  “Don’t drive so fast,” Powell cautioned Brian. “We don’t want to get stopped for speeding.”

  Brian slowed a little. “Just trying to put some distance between us and the house,” he explained.

  “Where are we going?” O’Neill asked.

  “Maidenhead. I know someone with a large house, who can be discrete.”

  “I hope we’re doing the right thing going to Samurai’s house,” Brian said. “We could be bringing a ton of trouble down on his head.”

  “You may be right,” Powell conceded. “But we have few options. We can’t return to Brighton or trust any of your safe houses.”

  “Samurai! That sounds an interesting name,” O’Neill remarked.

  “He’s a computer hacker,” Powell replied. “And a very good one.”

  “Does he know what he’s getting into?” Brian asked.

  “Once I explained what happened to Lara and our suspicions about the Americans, he was desperate to help. You have to remember, he’s very anti-establishment.”

  Powell had deep misgivings about involving Samurai and more importantly his sister, who by accident of birth alone was trespassing on the wrong side of the law. Tina had seemed very normal and poles apart from her brother in terms of lifestyle. Powell had suggested she should take an immediate holiday at his expense but she had refused. If her brother was about to become involved in something that was obviously dangerous, then she would be going nowhere. Interestingly, she hadn’t sought to dissuade her brother from providing help. She had actually told Powell she trusted his judgement on moral issues and would support his decision.

  Powell waited until they were on the M25 before placing a call to the emergency services using the phone they had taken from Barnes. He kept it short but asked for police and ambulances, explaining there had been a gunfight leaving several casualties. Once he had finished the call, he turned the phone off so it couldn’t be traced.

  They arrived at the large, detached house on the outskirts of Maidenhead without incident. They turned into the circular driveway in front of the house and parked behind the detached double garage to the side, which meant they were hidden out of view from the road.

  As they climbed from the car, the front door was already open and Tina was surveying her visitors. O’Neill and Jenkins made little attempt to hide their weapons and Powell could see the surprise on Tina’s face as they roughly pushed Barnes towards the house followed by Brian.

  Powell strode up to Tina with what he hoped was a comforting smile. “It’s good to see you again,” he said. “Sorry about the circumstances.”

  Tina held the front door open as everyone trooped inside the house. “I thought you said there would be six of you,” she queried.

  “There’s one more in the boot of the car,” Powell answered.

  Tina gave him a quizzical look. “Are you going to get him?” she asked.

  Powell was impressed that Tina took everything so calmly. “O’Neill, you and Jenkins bring him in. I’ll watch Barnes.” Turning back to Tina he asked, “Can you show us to a bedroom. The new man is quite badly injured.”

  “Do you know I’m a nurse?” she asked suspiciously.

  Powell decided he didn’t want to lie. “It came up when I first did business with your brother.” In truth, he had Brian check her out after their first meeting and discovered that despite her brother’s strange profession, she was indeed a nurse on a paediatric ward.

  They all watched as Al-Hashimi was supported under each arm and brought into the house.

  “Bring him upstairs,” Tina said. “The rest of you can go through to the lounge.”

  Powell showed Brian and Barnes the way to the lounge.

  “Where’s Samurai,” Brian asked.

  “He has an office at the bottom of the garden,” Powell explained. “I suspect he spends most of his life there.”

  Tina joined them in the lounge after a few minutes. “Who did that to him?” she asked angrily.

  “The men we are hiding from,” Powell replied.

  “Save your sympathy,” Barnes said. “He’s a bloody terrorist. He wouldn’t think twice about beheading you.”

  “He’s a human being,” Tina retorted.

  “He’s right,” Powell said. “He is a terrorist and probably responsible for the London marathon bombing.”

  “I expect terrorists to blow people up,” Tina said. “I thought the rest of us behaved differently. ”

  “Most of us are different,” Powell agreed. Unfortunately the minority still amounted to a very significant number of people.

  He shared Tina’s sentiment about what was right and wrong. Broadly speaking, he believed there were lines a government shouldn’t cross. However, he also knew, if he was being completely honest, that if someone he loved was in danger, he would do absolutely anything necessary, without a second thought, to save them including torturing someone. He was open to being called a hypocrite but believed there was a difference. The state wielded too much power to be allowed to operate outside the law because then they could not be held accountable. If an individual acted outside the law then he was answerable to the laws of the land for his actions.

  “It’s that sort of weak willed thinking, which allows terrorism to flourish,” Barnes argued.

  “You can keep quiet. Otherwise I’ll gag you,” Powell threatened.

  “Who is he?” Tina asked.

  “He works for our government doing the dirty jobs they like to keep secret. He is one of the men responsible for what happened to the man upstairs but I believe he is also part of a conspiracy, working with the Americans, to commit acts of terrorism in the belief it will make us want to support putting troops on the ground in the Middle East.”

  Tina stared at Barnes as if he was the devil. “Haven’t you people learned anything from history?” she asked.

  “I heard you say you’re a nurse,” Barnes replied coldly. “You should understand the need to cut out the cancer before it spreads.”

  “Is your brother down the garden?” Powell asked, keen to change the subject.

  “Yes and he’s expecting you. I’m going to try and make the man upstairs more comfortable. Shout if you need anything.”

  “Brian and I will take Barnes to see your brother. Please be careful with your patient. He is a fanatic and still potentially dangerous. Listen to what O’Neill and Jenkins tell you.”

  “I’ll be careful,” Tina agreed. “But I don’t think he’s dangerous anymore.”

  CHAPTER FORTY NINE

  Powell spent almost two hours with Samurai, before they were both finally happy with the results of their work. It turned out Samurai was quite adept at writing and
had no problem massaging the information Powell provided into a coherent story. Brian and Jenkins provided additional details and Barnes contributed unwillingly by having his photo taken. They also took photos of Al-Hashimi.

  Powell picked a couple of the discs from the box he’d recovered from the house, which he thought covered the dates when Al-Hashimi was being tortured. He was grateful for the changes in technology, which meant he could now view the recordings of what took place in the house, directly on a computer. It had been very different in his youth when old fashioned video tapes were the norm.

  Powell warned Samurai, what they were about to watch would be very graphic. They all gathered around the screen. No one said anything and the only sounds in the room were Al-Hashimi’s screams. Halfway through the second disc, Samurai ran outside the office and threw up in the garden. Powell wasn’t surprised. Despite knowing what to expect, his stomach still turned at the site of Brown’s torturing methods. Brian and Jenkins hid their emotions behind passive faces.

  “I think that’s more than enough,” Powell said. “Those files added to everything else we have should get people’s attention.”

  “I felt like I was watching one of those ISIS videos they publish on the Internet,” Jenkins said. “Where they burn people alive or drown them.”

  “This is going to cause a terrible stink,” Brian said. “It will make great propaganda for the terrorists. We may even be putting the lives of our people at risk. You can imagine ISIS wanting to retaliate in kind.”

  “Are you saying we shouldn’t include these recordings?” Powell asked. “They are the strongest proof we have of a crime being committed as what Brown is doing is illegal. It also supports our claims about the American involvement as you can hear their accents.”

  “I’m not saying we shouldn’t publish the recordings,” Brian backtracked. “Just that we can expect them to be used against the West.”

  “What do you others think?” Powell asked.

  “They add a lot of weight to our story,” Jenkins replied. “I don’t think we have much choice.”

  “I agree,” Samurai said. “This sort of abuse by our government needs to be exposed.”

  “Then we are all agreed,” Powell summarised. “Anyway, this is still only our backup plan. If all goes well and the DG takes action, none of this will ever see the light of day.”

  “I think he will have to act after he sees this,” Brian said, confidently.

  “I have everything I need,” Samurai said. “You all go back to the house and leave me to get on with things. I’ll need at least a couple of hours.”

  Back in the house, Powell had Jenkins put a gag in Barnes’s mouth, as his inability to keep quiet finally tested Powell’s patience one too many times. They had left him tied to a chair and Tina admitted she was close to cutting out his tongue.

  Jenkins and O’Neill took turns watching Al-Hashimi, who had said very little and surprisingly seemed to have no interest in finding out who it was that now held him prisoner and what his future held. Perhaps he was just happy to be away from the men who had caused him so much pain and suffering.

  Tina announced she planned to cook a simple pasta meal and Powell offered to make a salad. They were waiting for Samurai to tell them he was ready and Powell needed to do something to occupy himself.

  “You know the work Samurai does is dangerous,” Powell commented, as he washed the salad leaves. “One day he is going to upset the wrong people and they will come looking for him.”

  “Is that a veiled warning about what you are asking him to do?”

  “Once he has published our story, if it comes to that, I don’t think they will bother with him. The cat will be out of the bag and they would have nothing to gain. In fact, they would risk drawing more attention to themselves and these people don’t like being in the spotlight. Of course, if they knew what he was planning to do, it would be a different matter. They would stop at nothing to prevent his publishing our story.”

  “It’s that important?”

  “Yes. But I was thinking more generally about the work he does. Upsetting large pharmaceutical companies and taking on the banks, for example, can be dangerous… And I’m worried you might get hurt because of what he does.” Powell knew Samurai had been campaigning against drug testing on animals and bankers illegally manipulating markets.

  “I’ve always understood what he does is not only illegal but potentially dangerous. But I believe in my brother and he always does things for a good reason. He’s not one of these hackers who publishes people’s credit card details just for the fun. He sees himself as a moral crusader. That’s why he offered you, his help.”

  “And I’m very grateful. I don’t know what I would have done without his help. But I also feel guilty about involving you in something so dangerous.”

  “It was our decision. You didn’t hold a gun to our heads.”

  “Just take care. I wouldn’t cope very well if anything bad happened to either of you.”

  “That goes both ways. It’s not often I get to meet someone with a real backbone. Too many people do what is easy rather than what’s right.”

  “I’m just an awkward sod.”

  Tina poured pasta into a pan of boiling water. “You seem quite domesticated,” she said, noticing how he was efficiently chopping the salad.

  “I’ve run a bar in Brighton, which sells decent food, for twenty years now. When a chef goes sick it can be all hands to the pump. You must come and visit us one day.”

  “It will have to be a long time in the future. It’s probably best not to be seen together, if what you are about to publish is as important as you say.”

  “Pity. I would have liked to see you again.”

  “And I would have liked to see you again, Powell. You’re an interesting man.”

  Once the food was ready, they placed everything on the dining table and everyone took turns helping themselves to what they wanted. Powell had Tina take some food up to Al-Hashimi. Barnes had his gag removed and Tina fed him some pasta without his complaining.

  Just as Powell was becoming restless with waiting, Samurai walked into the lounge and announced everything was in place. He had only to press one key and every television station, news site, blogger and a host of important individuals including Members of Parliament, would receive a file containing the details of everything from Lara learning about Al-Hashimi to the present time. There were also photos of Al-Hashimi and Barnes attached to the file as well as the video recordings.

  Powell and Lara had been given pseudonyms in the report, which could invite accusations it was unsubstantiated nonsense from someone with an axe to grind. But there was no way Powell was going to invite the world to examine every detail of his life by using his real name. Samurai had a good reputation based on his previous work and was known only to publish accurate information. Anything he published would have instant credibility.

  Once Samurai lit the touch paper, there could be no going back. The story would be quickly global and the government would be unable to suppress the details. There would no doubt be character attacks on everyone from Samurai to the mystery individuals described in the report but questions would be asked and a good investigative journalist, with the bit between his teeth, should be able to shake the trees enough to cause problems for the guilty.

  Powell was satisfied with his backup plan and it was time to ask Brian to contact his Director General and set in motion the preferred plan. If the next twenty four hours didn’t go according to plan, Powell trusted Samurai to flood the Internet with the story and it would be some form of revenge, even if he wasn’t around any longer to see the fallout.

  Powell’s phone rang and he was surprised to see it was Afina calling.

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  Crawford responded quickly to the realisation Al-Hashimi had been taken. He’d received the call telling him a car was approaching the house and the driver knew the code so assumed it must be Barnes. He was the only other person
who knew the code. Although not happy about his sudden visit, the man did own the house and no doubt had some reason for his unplanned visit.

  Crawford expected a further call to confirm the purpose of Barnes’s visit but the call never came. He tried phoning the team at the house but there was no answer and there could only be one reason, the team had been taken out. He then tried calling Barnes but again there was no answer. He was either turning his back on his erstwhile partner out of choice or being forced to cooperate. The latter option seemed more likely.

  Crawford was in a helicopter with a new team and circling the house within the hour. The presence of police cars and ambulances down below led him to abandon the idea of landing. It had to be the work of Powell and Crawford knew his operation was close to collapse.

  He started making calls to ensure he was updated on what the police discovered. The most damning evidence in the house, was the video recordings. If he was Powell, he would have taken them. They supported his story and gave him leverage. On the positive side, it would mean the local police weren’t already in possession of the tapes.

  Everything else at the house could be explained away as a CIA safe house, which had been attacked, possibly by terrorists. If not terrorists, then perhaps a drug Lord seeking revenge. The police would be wanting to speak with Barnes, as the owner of the house. His disappearance made everything more difficult. He would be able to close the investigation and also ensure there was only minimal coverage in the newspapers. Without Barnes, explanations were infinitely more complicated.

  Crawford needed to urgently find Powell. He certainly hadn’t acted alone but Crawford was confident if he found Powell, he would find Al-Hashimi and Barnes. He needed to find them before events spiralled completely out of control. If Powell handed Al-Hashimi over to MI5, all hell would break loose.

  Crawford directed the helicopter pilot to fly to Brighton and they landed at nearby Shoreham airport. They took a taxi to Powell’s bar only to find it closed. Crawford was pretty sure it confirmed Powell was responsible for the attack on the house and was in hiding. They would go check out where he lived but he wasn’t hopeful of finding anyone at home. Crawford realised he was guilty of underestimating Powell. He wouldn’t repeat the mistake.