“Well that was different,” said Tim giving Jackie a big hug as they stood on the quayside.
George came rushing off the boat. “Please, please you must phone this number,” he shouted running down the gangplank.
They were in shock. “At least Daniel is OK,” said Tim in a vain attempt to comfort Jackie.
They had learnt of the attack on Jackie’s Mum and Dad. Jackie was stunned and almost hysterical. Tim and the rep had been frantically phoning the airport and had finally secured their passage back to the UK. The first flight they could get on was at nine that evening.
The wait was agony and the honeymoon and even that morning’s balloon trip now seemed of another time and place.
Chapter 18
The private helicopter set down on the helipad aboard the Lady Heloise tied up in Monaco. The owner, Sokolov Yerik had only actually set foot on the yacht once before, when he had taken delivery of it. He had flown in that morning to Nice and taken his private helicopter from the airport to Monte Carlo. The yacht had a full compliment of crew, captain, gourmet chefs and today, twelve heavily armed security personnel.
Although Yerik was in the league of supper rich he still chartered the boat and the income added to his vast fortune. A month ago the boat had been rented to a Turkish trade delegation for the Monaco Grand Prix race week. That week alone had added over a million dollars to his income.
“Nice boat,” he said as he alighted from the helicopter. “I forgot how pretty it was.” He surveyed the boat and looked at the town of Monte Carlo. It truly was a fabulous place and no taxes added to its appeal. “I must try and come here more often. It is so much nicer than Moscow.”
Yerik had been a close friend of Russia’s President and they had worked together in State Security. They were a close group, Vasiliev Nikhil and Volkov Lesta had all also demonstrated their loyalty to the Kremlin. A few days ago the trio were together in the Isle of Man and today the other two were on board waiting for Yerik in the state room.
“Comrades, nice to see you all again so soon,” said Yerik as he entered the magnificently burr walnut panelled room with its deep leather chairs drawn up around the flame mahogany table.
There was not a happy atmosphere as they sat down to a late breakfast of coffee, caviar, smoked salmon, bacon and croissants. Lesta was particular agitated as Yerik drew up a chair and sat himself down. “What the fucking hell, happed?” he said
“A fucking fuck up happened,” said Nikhil
“Gentlemen, gentlemen there is no use in crying over spilt milk. We have to deal with the reality.”
“But what a mess, Vadim and some idiot he hired to help, dead. Newspaper headlines, press and half of the British police and Secret Service trying to find out what is going on. How fucking hard can it be to abduct a small kid from two old age pensioners?”
“Harder than you would think, apparently,” said Yerik.
“It is not funny,” said Lesta, “Those papers with our names on are still out there somewhere and in case you forget,. it is not just our signatures on these papers. Unless we all want to end up glowing in the dark with radiation poisening, we had better sort this out and fucking sort it fast.”
“The plan was so simple. It beggars belief that it so badly screwed up. What was that wanker’s name, Maurice Lee? He posts the evidence to this accountant woman, Routledge. We search her home while she is on her honeymoon and find fuck all.”
“Then we try to get hold of her kid so when the documents turn up we have her under our control. Now we have a couple of old age pensioners in hospital and fucking dead bodies all over London, fucking wonderful,” said Lesta
“Well at least the documents have not made their way into the Americans’ hands and our money has not been seized or frozen.”
“Well for now, but it’s only a matter of time before this Routledge woman turns up with the evidence and we are fucked,” said Nikhil
“There is also the matter of her new husband, he is MI5 and I am guessing he is probably not happy with us after the debacle with his stepson and will be even less happy if we fuck with his brand new wife,” said Lesta.
“We have no choice, we have to retrieve the documents or we are all dead men.”
“We can only assume that she has the documents somewhere and for some reason has not acted on the information, yet. Yet being the operative word, she will act though. “
“I think that her wedding was the distraction. But you are right, when she gets back she will undoubtedly act. After all she is the lead auditor for the Baltic bank. Then my friends as they say, the game will be up.”
“We will have her here soon and her husband will be dealt with, rest assured,” said Yerik.
Chapter 19
Jackie and Tim had packed their cases and were alone on board the SS Misr, except for the crew. The other passengers were on an excursion visiting the temple at Luxor. George had been fussing around them most of the day and was overly attentive to their needs. Finally, it was time to go to the airport and take their flight back to the UK.
“We’ll bring the luggage, do not worry,” said George.
“Jackie began to walk up the gangplank to the car and Tim was just about to follow, “Mr Tim,” said George.
Tim stopped to see an agitated George chasing him. Tim thought he may have forgotten something and stopped.
“Yes?”
George had a small bead of sweat forming on his top lip and looked very nervous. “Mr Tim we are concerned about you and hope that all will be well when you get home.”
Tim was anxious to catch up with his wife and turned to go, “Thank you.”
George stepped in front of him and Tim was forced to stop, “Please,” he said. “I am in a hurry,” he was becoming annoyed at George’s excessive concern.
“Of course,” said George and finally moved to the side allowing Tim to pass.
It was of course too late and George’s delaying tactics had served their purpose. Jackie had reached the end of the gangplank and was walking towards the waiting taxi when three men rushed forword, grabbed her and started dragging her towards a waiting Mercedes.
“Tim, Tim,” she screamed “help.”
Tim became aware of the disturbance and saw Jackie putting up a struggle on the quayside with her assailants. She was not going easily and scratched, kicked and managed to break free briefly. She tried to run back towards the SS Misr and Tim, who was running up the gangway.
The three men caught up with her. Two of the men started dragging her back towards the waiting car. The third headed towards Tim to block his rescue attempt. The third man was Andrei, the Romanian and Tim could see that this man would not be easy to overpower. Tim despite his years of martial arts training had only employed his sport in the real World once before and that was the night he had meet Jackie, dealing with a couple of drunks that were molesting her. Now it looked like he would need to fight once again to save her. Andrei was not a drunk outside a nightclub. It was clear that he was altogether a different proposition. He was a professionally trained in the military.
Tim just ran at him full tilt. Andrei was not, however, interested in delaying his departure from the scene and Tim realised too late that he was armed. In that instance he saw Andrei level his automatic pistol straight at his face.
Tim knew that he was going to die and there was nothing he could do to prevent it. He saw Andrei’s expression was one of irritation and annoyance. He was treating killing Tim as an inconvenience that needed to be dealt with so he could just get on with his task of kidnapping Jackie.
Annubis looked down the sight of the snipers rifle as Jackie had walked up the gang plank. She was not his target. No, he had been employed by Andrei to deal with the husband. Normally he would receive more information on his targets, a photo, name and often details of their daily routine. On this occasion there had been no time. Andrei had hired his services before and had been in a rush. The Russians were short of man power and the whole thing h
ad been last minute. The Russians knew the woman’s name, Jacqueline Routledge and that she was on honeymoon with her husband Tim. They knew that Tim worked for the British secret service but knew little more. Annubis’ brief was simple. kill the husband and stop him interfering in Jackie’s abduction.
He saw the figure start to run up the gangplank and one of the abductors turn back to stop him. He trained his riffle on the husband and brought his face into view, his finger curling round the trigger.
Tim’s face appeared in the scope. Annubis knew that face. He froze shocked. This was a man, probably the only person in the World, he would not kill. This was that man that had helped him get justice for the murder of his young innocent brother. The man that night in Jason Delonge’s flat he had met, who was there, prepared to kill for him.
In that instant he made his decision and fired.
Tim was shocked. He had expected to die. The gun in Andrei’s hand was pointed straight at his face. He could see the fingers begin to contract, in that instant he knew that his life was ended.
Andrei crumpled at his feet. His head had simply exploded. The bullet from Annubis’ rifle was full metal jacket and had fragmented on entry into the skull and literally blown his head in two. Tim was spattered with blood and brains. It covered his face and front to his waist. For an instant he failed to understand what had occurred and thought he was witnessing his own death as an out of body experience.
He recovered and chased after the two men still dragging Jackie along the pavement. She was still struggling. In desperation to speed up progress, one of her attackers punched her. She slumped, unconscious. They were under strict orders not to harm her. She would be no use to the Russian oligarchs dead.
He saw her pushed, dragged no longer, struggling into the car. The wheels squealed as it accelerated away. Tim was running flat out in an attempt to catch the car. His path was suddenly blocked by the security police that patrolled the quayside in droves to protect the tourists from possible terrorist attack. Their discipline was suspect. Tim had often seen them idling on the side of the river, smoking with their uniforms unbuttoned and their semi automatic rifles lying on the ground beside them. Despite their shabby appearance ,Tim knew that to keep running, after someone had just been shot on the quayside, was to invite them to kill him just to be on the safe side.
He stopped and raised his hands. He was feeling desperate as he saw the car with his new wife continue to drive away. The soldiers were totally confused and clearly leaderless. It was a standoff. Tim looked at them with their guns pointed. They looked at Andrei’s corpse and then looked at Tim. Nobody moved for a split second.
The roar of a motorcycle broke the silence. It screeched to halt next to Tim. “Get on,” shouted Annubis
Tim had no idea what was happening, but he knew that this was his only hope of saving Jackie. He did not hesitate.
The bike, with Tim on the back and Annubis driving, raced after the Mercedes. The Egyptian security force just stood there and watched in total confusion as they disappeared up the street. One soldier raised his weapon to fire after the departing motorcycle but was quickly ordered not to fire for fear of killing one of the many tourists milling around the quay.
Chapter 20
The motorcycle roared through downtown Luxor with Tim clinging onto Annubis’ back. The pedestrians were forced to jump clear as they raced after the departing Mercedes. The car had a big start on the pursuers and in the dense traffic it was hard to spot. Annubis was heading in the general direction of the highway North, in the hope of intercepting the abductors.
Tim was in total shock and was having problems understanding what had just happened. Who were the men taking his wife and who was this man helping him? The questions could not be answered at this point so he clung on desperately, hoping to see the car with Jackie onboard.
Despite all their efforts it soon became apparent that they had lost the car. Annubis pulled the bike off the road and turned off the engine.
“I am sorry my friend we have lost them,” he said removing his helmet.
Tim looked at his rescuer, “You,” his surprise was plain to see. The last and only time he had seen this man, he had been his captive in Jason Delonge’s London flat.. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to kill you,” he said.
“But you didn’t?”
“You are the one person I would not kill. You gave me revenge for my brother’s death. More than that, you were prepared to take revenge for my brother without even knowing him. ”
“Where is my wife and who wants me dead?”
“I have no answers, my friend. I was hired to kill but killed the man who was about to kill you.”
“Who hired you?”
“That I never know. All I can say that I have worked for them before and I am sure that they are Russian. That is all I know.”
“I don’t know what to do.” Tim felt drained and slumped down onto the ground and put his head in his hands. He was confused and had no idea what, in fact, was happening. One minute he was the happiest man alive on honeymoon with his new wife, then her parents were shot and she was abducted. It was overwhelming.
“My name is Mem,” said Annubis. “It is a name I gave up many years ago when my Mother, Father and all of my family died in Iraq. May I call you Anthony?” Annubis had seen Tim’s MI5 ID when he searched his wallet in London that fateful night.
“Tim”
“Tim, I know you to work for the British secret service, you must go to them for help surely? They have the resources you need to find your wife.”
Tim knew this contract killer to be right but he did not want to leave Egypt while his wife was still here somewhere. “But my wife is here somewhere?”
“Perhaps, perhaps not, but it is certain she will not remain here. Think they did not want her dead or she would be dead. They wanted her alive, she must have something they want.”
Tim thought frantically. The attack in England and Jackie’s kidnapping had to be linked, but how? “Why did you want to kill me?”
“I did not want to kill you. I was paid to kill you.”
“But why?”
“I think they knew you were with MI5 and had little further information about you. I was not even given your name, just your wife’s maiden name and a picture of her they had from face book or some other such place. I think they wanted just to ensure that you would not be around to cause complications.”
“I need to find out who these people are and what they want?”
“The answers to those questions I think are in England.”
“You’re right. Take me to the British Consul.”
**********
Jackie came round in the back of the car, her head pounding. She started to struggle and scream.
“Please to stop that,” said the man sat next to her on the back seat of the Mercedes. “It will do no good and I will be forced to hit you again if you do not stop.” He was in his thirties and Arab in origin. Another burly Arab sat on her other side. The car was being driven by a further bodyguard type,
“Why am I here? We have no money?”
“I do not know, but we are not kidnappers seeking a ransom. We have been hired to deliver you to someone, beyond that we know nothing, so please shut the fuck up.”
The drive was long and tedious. They stopped in backwater villages and she was given food and allowed to go to the toilet. She lost her sense of direction and the constant tension and fear took its toll. They spoke little and her sense of fear grew as they drove north. The journey seemed endless, until they finally arrived in Alexandria.
None of it made sense to her. Her parents, her abduction was spinning in her head. What could these people want with her? Perhaps it was something to do with Tim? Again that made no sense. It was all just madness.
They pulled into what appeared to be an industrial or warehouse complex close to the port area. They entered through gates into a compound that was surrounded by a high wi
re fence. She was taken from the car and into a warehouse. It was deserted.
“What is happening?” she asked
“We wait.”
“For what?” she felt her fear levels rising.
“We wait.”
They waited for darkness to fall. During this time bribes were paid to customs and immigration officials by her abductors in order to aid the next phase.
Jackie had fallen into a sleep sat in the chair in the middle of the empty, dusty industrial building when the sound of helicopter blades brought her to consciousness with a start.
“Move”
She was dragged to her feet and into the compound. She was pushed forward to the waiting helicopter. “Head down,” said her captors and pushed her into a crouch as they got closer to the rotor blades.
In that moment she took the opportunity to break free and run. She had no idea where she was running to, but she ran. Her captors ran after her and it soon became apparent that there was. in fact, nowhere for her to run. The entire area was secured by a three metre high fence. It was almost with weariness that her captors dragged her back to the waiting helicopter.
Her kidnappers remained behind as the helicopter took off. They were glad she was gone and pleased with their pay-packet for a job well done. She had acquired a new gaoler. A well dressed Russian in his late forties, in a smartly tailored suit. He introduced himself as Igor. She knew that was probably not his name but it made communication simpler to have names, she assumed.
The helicopter headed out into the Mediterranean. Save for the Moon and the navigation lights, it was dark and hard to tell where the sea ended and the night sky started.
“Relax,” recommended Igor.
The journey took nearly an hour, until she saw the boat below. The sea was not as calm as it could have been and the pilot was very cautious as he attempted to land on the Yacht’s helipad. After a great deal of hovering and arm waving from the crew it eventually settled on the deck. Jackie was firmly taken by the arm and led into the boat and along some corridors to the stateroom.
Bank (A Tim Burr Thriller Book 2) Page 8
