‘Doing that right now,’ said Perry typing fast on the keyboard.
Boreyev, was still wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, and he, the Professor and Angus, crowded round Perry as he did his searches on the laptop.
‘I’ll put this up on the big screen so that you can see better,’ said Perry. The other three moved from standing over him and went to near the big screen. Soon up came some images.
‘These are from the heliport,’ said Perry as he began to increase the number of pictures on the screen, different angles showing the entrance to the building, the lobby, and the heliport apron outside. ‘These will do for a couple of hours’ time or so.’
‘Is there anywhere else they might fly to?’ asked Angus, almost to himself.
‘No, they need to get back as near to the Russian Embassy as they can,’ said the Professor, ‘and I think you’re right, this girl whose got Kim certainly appears to know what she’s doing, she won’t want to be caught out in the open with a hostage at gun-point.’
‘True,’ agreed Angus, ‘let’s try and calculate how long it will take them to get down there from Craithe.’
He went over to one of the laptops which was already up and running but just on standby.
‘Boris, what kind of helicopter was it? Eurocopter of some kind?’ he asked as he brought up the London Heliport website to see what charter companies resided there and what equipment they chartered out.
‘Don’t worry too much the type of Eurocopter,’ Boreyev suggested. ‘How far to London from here, I’ll do the rest of the calculations, I know Eurocopters well.’
‘She won’t risk going direct, over busy places in the Midlands,’ said Angus, ‘so if she skirts round them, or maybe just keeps over water the whole way down the Irish Sea and then cuts across and pick the River Thames, equally she might go back the way she came, past Norbally House. We don’t know about her fuel situation.’ He paused doing some calculations, ‘I’d say whichever route she takes it will be well over four hundred miles. But we don’t have to be too accurate, as we don’t know if she’ll have to stop on the way all we’re trying to do is make a sensible guess at her arrival time at the helicopter pad.’
Boreyev had taken out his smartphone and done some calculations based on Angus’s guess of four hundred miles.
‘She’ll get there in between two and a half hours and three hours,’ said Boreyev eventually, ‘depending of course on the factors we’ve been talking about.’
‘Right,’ said Angus, ‘Perry keep an eye on the CCTV cameras down there at the heliport and concentrate on everything from two hours from now. If you get anything at all, find me wherever I am and let me know.’ Then turning to address them all, he added, ‘Borislav myself and some of his men will get down to London as quickly as we can. Perry, you Okay with what you have to do?’
‘I am,’ said Perry.
‘Borislav, you come with me,’ said Angus and they ran back downstairs and through to the Laird’s office. He found both his father and Sir Jeremy there, told them what had happened including, of course, the kidnap of Kim.
‘After these people’s fiascos of the past twenty-four hours,’ said Angus, ‘God knows what they might do to her. One thing’s for certain, they’ll use her as a bargaining chip.’
‘Have you a plan to deal with this?’ asked Sir Jeremy.
‘First, Borislav and some of his men need to come with me right now. We need to get down to London as fast as possible,’ replied Angus, ‘and, Father,’ he said turning to the Laird, ‘you deal often with the Helicopter charter people at Glasgow Airport, could you get us the fastest they’ve got available that will take, six of us and some equipment down to London – the City Airport.’
‘Of course I’ll do that right away,’ replied the Laird, ‘but from your discussions a moment ago you said that this Russian Girl will be heading for the Russian Embassy, that’s Kensington Palace Gardens isn’t it?’
‘Yes, Father, you’re right but we haven’t the time to stop that happening,’ said Angus, ‘so I’ve something else in mind. I’ll tell you about that shortly but getting the helicopter for us is current top priority,’
‘Of course it is,’ said the Laird, ‘I’ll do that right now,’ and he got up from his chair and round to his desk to get on with organising it.
Angus turned to Boreyev.
‘I’m going to try and get them to do a deal with us,’ he said, ‘maybe even offer him a usable version of Athena in exchange for Kim.’
‘You’re not going to give him your software, surely,’ said Boreyev looking shocked.
‘Of course I’m not,’ replied Angus, ‘but I’ve thought of a way round that too. First I need to get them to bring Kim to a place we know well, somewhere I can appear to be giving them the real Athena – the Newby Centre in Tower Hamlets. But before I do that I’ve got to get Wheeler and his lot away from trying to get revenge on us. Once we’ve got them pacified, we can concentrate on dealing with Komarov; I hope he still has control of the Russian girl who’s holding Kim hostage.’
‘I understand that,’ said Boreyev, ‘You want me and some of my men and some equipment – I’ll go and get it organised. You said your father would get the helicopter here in half an hour – I’ll be sure to be ready with my men by then.’
As Boreyev left, Angus turned to Sir Jeremy.
‘Sorry this has spoilt things,’ he said, ‘I was hoping for a quieter weekend than this – I hope it’s not been too much for you, with your…’
‘Rubbish,’ cut in Sir Jeremy, ‘is there anything I can do? Everyone else seems to be contributing.’
‘You agreed to fix the purchase of the shares earlier,’ said Angus, ‘I’m about put that great contribution you’ve already made to very good use, but if you want something else to do, could you break the news of all of this to Tatty and Florence and help them to take it calmly – we don’t want to spoil everything for Anastasia and Jerry, do we?’
‘Consider it done,’ said Sir Jeremy, ‘by the time I’ve…what do they call it these days? … Put a nice spin on it? They’ll be fine – in fact I’ll go and do that now so that they’re prepared for another helicopter arriving here – that might even distract Jerry, eh?’
He rose slowly from his chair, helped by Angus, smiled and left the room.
Thanks to Bookie’s comprehensive files – now safely on one of Perry’s computers – Angus had access to Wheeler’s numerous telephone numbers and rang him - finally getting him on his mobile. He guessed that Wheeler would still be in a state of shock from the disasters of the weekend so decided to treat him gently, to turn him into an ally if possible.
‘Mr Macrae,’ said Wheeler, ‘I don’t quite know what to say …I, er …’
‘Mr Wheeler, may I suggest we put the events of the weekend to one side for the moment, as I have some suggestions to make which I hope you will see as the basis for a new start for all of us.’
‘A new start would be wonderful, of course, but…’
‘As I just said, Mr Wheeler, let’s not go back over what’s happened these past few days, I’ve something I need to tell you which I hope will change everything; sorry to rush you but we have an emergency up here and my time is short.’
With Wheeler just finished dealing with Nat Matthews, this call from Angus was not only unexpected, it was very embarrassing.
‘I understand that Mr Matthews was furious when he discovered that his company had been tampered with,’ said Angus, ‘and, worse the it was then used publicly to show how poor everyone’s cyber defences were; no doubt he felt it showed Matthews Finch in a poor light.’
‘That’s right,’ said Wheeler, ‘and he was still trying to get back at your team for doing that, in fact right up until that too failed.’
‘Yes, I’m sorry about that,’ said Angus, ‘but I hope that you realise that we had nothing to do with the choice of Matthews Finch for that demonstration.’
There was silence for a moment, then Wheeler c
leared his throat, ‘What do you mean, you had nothing to do with the choice, you…’
‘The choice of company,’ cut in Angus, ‘was made entirely by the Bank of England’s regulatory bodies, we were not even informed which of the two regulatory bodies was responsible – this was done so that no personal animus would arise from it.’
‘Good God,’ said Wheeler, ‘we had no idea.’
There was a silence on the line for quite a few seconds, then Wheeler continued, ‘that means that Nat’s vendetta against you was based on wrong assumptions,’ he said, ‘but that’s appalling, I don’t know quite what to say – yet again, I, er …’
‘Even so,’ said Angus, ‘I felt I owed Mr Matthews something for his loss of prestige; I hope he also knows that the Bank of England will pay for any financial losses incurred?’
‘Oh, this is getting really too embarrassing for words,’ said Wheeler, ‘we never knew that either.’
Angus then went on to tell Wheeler that he had thought of a way to help repair matters – to inject some Towneley Bank money into the company, add the prestige of the Towneley name and publicly praise the Matthews Finch Hedge Fund for so selflessly offering themselves as guinea pigs to make the very important demonstration message possible. He told Wheeler that The Towneley Bank would soon own just under thirty percent of the hedge fund. What he was saying in effect was that this would be a complete game-changer.
To say that conversation had been surreal would have been endorsed by Wheeler, in the space of a few minutes, his view of the whole sorry saga had been completely up-ended – from disaster to a future full of possibilities.
‘Mr Macrae, frankly I’m dumfounded,’ said Wheeler at last. I need to contact Nat Matthews right away, of course and his partner, Paul Finch – he’s due back from the States this evening. He, poor man, doesn’t know anything at all of the disasters of the weekend. I shudder to think how he’s going to react to this when I go through it all with him – maybe he’ll think I made it up as a bad joke.’
Angus felt sorry for Wheeler having to deal with this unenviable task and his final words to him that he would be in London in a couple of hours if he could be of further help.
It did not take long for a top PR man to realise the potential of what he had just heard, He could see that Angus’s proposal would probably set the new company off on a track of undreamed-of success. He would need to give the news the pizzazz it deserved. He even began to feel elated at the prospects ahead.
For his part, Angus hoped that this would turn out right, for if it did, all that remained was to deal with Komarov. Already he had a plan forming in his mind would fix that too. While thinking about this he absent-mindedly brushed an imaginary fly away from the small scar just above his eyebrow – just near his left temple.
Chapter 32
Monday early afternoon
The Towneley Foundation, Newby Centre
It was fortunate that Albion Helicopters, the charter company at Glasgow Airport, had just one machine left, but it met the needs of Angus, Boreyev and his team. It got to Craithe Castle terraces within half an hour of the Laird’s call and, with everyone ready and waiting for it, everyone’s baggage and Boreyev’s equipment were quickly loaded aboard; after farewells and good wishes Angus, Boreyev and his men climbed aboard and were watched by the family as the helicopter took off and swung away south, London bound.
The flight was comfortable of course but tension ran through the helicopter as each realised how much was at stake in this – hopefully the last mission and an end to the weekend’s dramas. As soon as they landed at the City of London Airport around three in the afternoon, the car waiting there for just Angus and Boreyev, sped them to The Towneley Foundation’s Newby Centre in Tower Hamlets. A minibus took Boreyev’s men and equipment to an hotel near the Centre. These two moves were spaced a quarter of an hour apart in case Komarov had anyone watching out for a retaliation from Angus.
As soon as Angus and Boreyev got to the Centre they dumped what they had brought with them in the main computer training room and Angus showed Boreyev around so they could begin to put practical details to Angus’s outline plan. They retraced their steps to the main entrance, turned and with their backs to the set double of glass doors of the entrance; Angus then started to outline his plan.
‘When we entice Komarov here with his Russian SVR Operative – or whatever she is, the one whose holding Kim - they’ll arrive here at the main entrance,’ said Angus, as he gestured and Boreyev looked on intently, one arm folded across his chest, the other hand stroking his chin in concentration.
‘Once through into the large reception area here,’ continued Angus, ‘we’ll put the Russian girl and Kim into the classroom beyond reception on the right there and take Komarov into the computer room with us. Because of the glass panel walls throughout the Centre, we’ll be able to keep an eye on everything; we must presume that the Russian girl will have Kim threatened with a gun.
‘I’m sure Komarov will want me to transfer his money to somewhere like Russia. I’ll then give him a clean copy of the Athena software,’ Angus smiled as he saw Boreyev’s sullen expression, mouth turned down at the corners. ‘But, I’ll have a surprise for him,’ he added and Boreyev seemed to brighten. ‘And I think that what I have in mind will persuade him to tell the Russian girl to release Kim.’
‘Don’t suppose you’re going to tell me what the surprise is?’ said Boreyev.
‘Not now,’ replied Angus, ‘wouldn’t want to spoil the pleasant surprise you also will get.’
‘But, no doubt you’d like me to position my three men in such a way that they can intervene if anything goes wrong. Komarov’s now desperate and will try to have his cake and eat it as you say here in the West.’
‘Yes, he will, though this time he’s going to go hungry,’ said Angus, ‘Anyway, I’ve got to set up my treat for him now, so would you like to have a good look round and work out where you and your men want to position yourselves?’
‘Will do,’ replied Boreyev and the two went their separate ways; for a moment as Angus went back into the main computer room and Boreyev went towards the back of the building to check out access points and places Komarov might position any backup he might bring to the party.
Angus chose a large trestle table on which to lay out papers and was soon joined again by Boreyev; between them they set up a six-by-six-foot screen which would use when they got to the stage of dealing with Komarov. The next step was to establish a link between the Centre and Perry’s computers in Craithe Castle. This link needed to allow for anyone connected to the Centre by, say a Skype conversation, to be seen, large as life on the six-foot screen. Angus also wanted the team at Craithe to see everything happening down here in the computer room. It took about half an hour and a number of telephone conversations with Perry – these took place on the telephone, over the internet and, lastly on Skype. By the end of the setup session they had everything just as they wanted it.
‘I’d better explain what we’re about to attempt to do, hadn’t I?’ said Angus.
‘Good,’ replied Boreyev.
‘You know that at the beginning of the month, to get Tatty, Jerry and Mikhial out a tight spot in the Crimea Tom Traynor came up with the idea of stealing the Russian President’s most secret files on the dealings of his innermost circle?’
‘What, all the meeting minutes, notes and telephone conversations of his innermost circle hidden away but recorded? Yes, I heard about it.’ said Boreyev. ‘Dangerous game that blackmailing one of the most unpredictable yet powerful men on Earth – I thought you allowed General Yolkov to destroy them once they’d helped get the family back from the Crimea and back home.’
‘No we kept a copy.’ said Angus, ‘and thank God we did. I’m going to ring General Yalkov and use them again. I know it will just enrage him even further and want him to re-double his efforts to get Athena but we have no choice.’
‘Well, I just hope you know the risks you’re running,�
� said Boreyev.
Angus just smiled back at him, picked up the telephone and rang Perry.
‘Perry,’ said Angus as soon as the other was there, ‘The discussions we’ve had about the Russian President’s inner circle of friends, do you still have the copy of all those files?’
‘I do.’
‘And how easy would it be to steal them all over again so that we have the very latest files, yesterday’s conversations between the President and some of his inner circle, for example?’
‘Wouldn’t be difficult at all,’ replied Perry. ‘Is that what you’d like me to do?’
‘I would,’ said Angus, ‘and once you’ve got the files, can you put them up onto that new Athena Services Website like before?’
‘Sure,’ replied Perry, ‘but, do you remember, like the last time, so that the President’s files can’t be seen by all the world the moment we steal them, we need to do this job through our VPN.’
‘Sorry, our what?’ said Angus.
‘You know, we’ve discussed this when we did it last time – though maybe under the circumstances you don’t remember it now,’ replied Perry, ‘we did it though our Virtual Private Network. But this is getting a bit technical, shall I just do it the same as the Crimea instance?’
‘Ah, yes, of course, I remember the process now,’ replied Angus, ‘so will you all go ahead now as fast as you can, and soon as you have it all safely up onto the new website, can you ring me back and let me know?’
‘Right away,’ said Perry, a note of excitement in his voice. ‘We’re not going to risk starting World War Three again are we?’ he asked as an afterthought.
‘No, we’re not, at least I hope we’re not,’ said Angus, ‘But not a word to anyone about this - my father, Sir Jeremy for instance - till we’re actually about to use it on the President or his spokesman, all right?’
Betrayed: (A Financial and Conspiracies Thriller – Book 1 in the Legacy Thriller Series) Page 25
