“So what else has our Mr Burr been up to?”
“Checking out the Russians and so have I. I think I can, more or less, piece it together.”
“Alright, don’t milk it, just tell me what is going on.”
“The first thing has nothing to do with MI5 or Tim. It has everything to do with his wife.”
“She is just some sort of bean counter. Isn’t she?”
“It is who she counts beans for. When I was best man at the wedding she was pretty upset that an old friend had just died in Iceland in suspicious circumstances. It was the only odd thing that has happened, so I have put the wheels in motion and had every last thing followed up regarding Mrs Burr and the dead chap Maurice Lee.”
“Don’t make me think. Just lay it out before me.”
“I cannot prove any of it but I think that we have the following situation. Lee works for, or did work for, the Baltic Bank in Iceland. The first thread I had checked out was the Bank. It is owned by a series of other banks and a mishmash of holding companies.”
“Let me guess. It is controlled by our Russian mates? Am I right?” said Elaine.
“You are right, “all knowing one.” It has possible links right to the doors of the Kremlin.”
“So what’s their angle?” she asked.
“They have done a ridiculously generous deal with the Iceland Government and Banks to virtually underwrite the release depositors funds locked up in their banking system.”
“They are washing their ill gotton gains and avoiding US sanctions?”
“Got it in one,” said Stiles.
“What’s Mrs Burr to do with all this?”
“Now this is pure conjecture but logical. The firm of auditors she works for just got the biggest audit of their life, the Baltic Bank. A Bank of this size would normally elect one of the top four of five firms of accountants but they have opted for a five partner firm. On the back of it she has made partner. I gave them a ring and basically her connection with the dead bloke, Lee swung the audit their way.”
“If we penetrated the ruse that easily, surely the CIA could do the same?” said Elaine.
“They probably have but it is a matter of proof. We cannot prove that the Russians have anything to do with it nor can the US I am guessing. You cannot just go round freezing the assets of banks on a hunch.”
“Now it becomes clear. Lee stumbles on the proof and turns to his close friend Jackie for help, after all she is the Baltic Bank’s auditor. The Russians get wind of it and dispose of Lee but the proof of their involvement has already been passed on.”
“Exactly, they search her house and can’t find it. They assume she has it stashed somewhere. An attempt is made to abduct her son to instigate a trade, the boy for the proof. They fuck it up and dead bodies end up lying around the streets of London.”
“So they turn to plan B, kill Tim and abduct his wife and get her to reveal the whereabouts of the file.”
“That’s my guess. One big problem with their master plan, she knows nothing about the file or its whereabouts.”
“It turns up after they leave to go on honeymoon, surely not?”
“I think that is what happened. In fact I think I am responsible for setting the whole train of events in motion.”
“You are kidding me?”
“No I am not. I forgot the button holes and we dashed out to get them. The postman turned up with a parcel that needed signing for. We were in so much of a rush to get to the Wedding that had to leave a card and took the parcel back to the sorting office.”
“Is it still there?”
“Nope, Jackie’s Father collected it while she was on Honeymoon.”
“Let me guess, Tim has it now?” said Elaine
“That is what I think. He is going to use it to bargain for his wife.”
“And he has just blackmailed MI6 to affording him backup,” she said.
“Using you words, he is a smart bugger isn’t he?” said Stiles.
“Too fucking smart by half, but the question is, what should we do?”
“That, my esteemed leader, I am glad to say, is up to you.”
Elaine looked up at the ceiling and let out along sigh. “The right thing to do is detain Tim and get him to hand over the evidence of the money laundering scam, pass the file over to the Home Secretary and let the politicians decide how to use it.”
“That would condemn his wife to death,” said Stiles.
“That goes with the territory,” said Elaine.
“She didn’t sign up for that.”
“No but we did.”
“Is that your decision then?” Stiles knew if she decided on that course of action he would warn Tim and make sure he got clear. He knew that file would never be used by the politicians it would be kept and used as a bargaining chip and Jackie would die for nothing.
“Of course it isn’t,” said Elaine, “I am not a total fucking arsehole.”
She could see the relief on Stiles’ face. She also knew that he would have warned Tim and aided him in saving Jackie. At least she would retain control this way, as opposed to having two rogue MI5 agents running amok in a private war.
“Has Tim been contacted by any of the Russians to do a trade?” she asked.
Stiles was not going to say anything and had buried the intercept of Tim’s call from Yerik if Elaine had chosen the option of following the book and detaining Tim.
“You were going to keep that titbit from me. Weren’t you?”
He just smiled. “He is my friend, she is my friend.”
“Well I am the best friend both of you will fucking ever have,” said Elaine. “Talk to him. Get him to confirm what we suspect. Then put together a plan to get his wife back.”
“What about the file?”
“What file?” she smiled. He nodded and rose to leave, “We never had this conversation, it’s your balls on the line, not mine,” she said.
Chapter 29
Annubis had always worked on his own and he had grave doubts as to working as part of a team. He sat in his hotel room in Mexico City and avoided the issue in his mind. His life had been one of loneliness and self reliance from war torn Iraq, through the refugee camps and the orphanage there had only been himself he could rely on. When his brother died he knew he stood alone and would give his trust to no one. With this latest assignment he understood that there were multiple targets and that made escaping cleanly difficult. He would not only need to make the hit and have an exit strategy. He would need to ensure he distanced himself from the other shooter.
There were too many unknowns. Firstly, could he trust the man he had to work with? He knew nothing about him nor could he. People in his line of work did not lay out their life achievements on Linkedin.
Then there was the simple problem of ensuring they acted in concert. It would be of little use if they did not acquire their targets simultaneously and fire within an instant of each other. Once the first shot was made there would be a dash for cover and possible counter measures from any bodyguards.
Thirdly, once that first bullet left the barrel their presence and position would be compromised. An ill coordinated attack would give the intended targets’ security, just that little longer to respond and mount a counter attack.
The planned location was not at all to his liking. Normally he would stalk his target. Get a feel for him. Check his routine and habits and look for an opportunity to strike. He would have the element of surprise, terrain and location of his choosing. He was being denied these choices on this occasion.
He studied the map for what seemed the thousandth time and could not see a clear exit route. There was to be a gathering of the main players in the drug game at the Hacienda of Enrique Rojas, who was to be assassinated by his fellow hit man. His target was to be Rodriguez.
The location was just not suitable. There was only a single road in and out. The land around the compound and house where the meeting was to be held had little in the way of cover. To add to t
he mix, the owner had turned it into some sort of wild life park with lions, hippos and god knows what else roaming about.
He would not even consider the contract normally but he had no wish to get on the wrong side of the CIA. They would have no hesitation in putting him out of business permanently and they had the resources to do it. They could have done this job without a problem with the technology available to them. Drones were being used all over the Middle East to target and neutralise ISIS and other terrorist leaders. Of course Mexico was not a terrorist organisation and the CIA wanted to keep its hands clean as far as it could. Annubis realised that the CIA were probably doing the Drug Enforcement Agency a favour in this case, but he still did not want to rock the boat.
As the time came closer for his meeting with his co-assassin, his doubts became worse but he had to put his misgivings behind him. He left the room and headed for the pick up point in the hired jeep.
They drove in silence. They had been in the Jeep for three hours when they pulled into the roadside stop to refuel and grab a bite to eat. Trist had had no need to come up with a cover story or identity. He introduced himself as Dog and as Annubis was the jackal headed god of ancient Egypt, they shared a joke that they were two dogs on a day out.
They sat under an awning at the roadside cantina and ate their tacos, both drank bottled water. Trist spoke first, “I have been given a detailed layout of the estate and aerial photographs.”
Their employers had obviously been more forthcoming to Dog than they had been to Annubis. The pack of documents was passed across the table. The first thing Annubis noticed was the amount of construction underway in and around the compound. Rojas was certainly going for the zoo in a big way. Finished buildings and partly constructed ones had pooped up everywhere to house the birds, animals and reptiles that were being acquired from around the World.
Trist spoke, “I think there is adequate cover to conceal us while we wait to take our shots.”
Annubis could see the possibilities. Trist had the advantage of Rojas providing him with the plans and then taking those plans to a crack operations planning team at Langley. Trist knew he had the best planned assassination that the CIA could come up with. He counted on this to convince Annubis to go ahead with the hit on the Drug Lord.
The meeting of the Cartel members was in three days and would be in the form of a barbeque. This would afford the assassins the best opportunity to shoot Rodriguez and Rojas. Trist of course had no intention of taking the shot on Rojas, preferring to take the ten million dollar bounty the man had effectively placed on Annubis for the killing of his Father.
“How do we extract ourselves?”
Trist and the Langley planners had wrestled with the problem for ages. Of course they were under the impression that Trist and Annubis would be pursued vigorously by the Drug lord’s foot soldiers. In reality Trist had no such problem. Rodriguez would die and Annubis would be handed to Rojas. Trist would be free to just drive off into the Sunset with no let or hindrance from Rojas’s men.
“There is only one feasible way, helicopter.”
“Two points, do we have one and secondly, they certainly do have one.”
Trist smiled, “We do and they won’t.”
Annubis was unsure of what to make of the reply and remained silent and allowed Trist to continue.
“The CIA has given me a local contact that they have used in the past, when they or the Mexican Government want deniability of the involvement in semi legal activities. In truth I suspect that it is funded by the CIA. It is a genuine helicopter hire business, on the face of it doing survey work, moving frieght to tricky locations and it has even lifted a cross onto the dome of a church that fell off and had to be put back.”
“Go on,” said Annubis.
“It will be camouflaged and within three minutes flying time of our location. We of course will not contact it, maintaining radio silence until we have taken the hit. I am pretty sure that these guys monitor the radio channels for police or government activity and the last thing we want to do is forewarn them of our presence.”
“I agree but their helicopter,” it could clearly be seen on the aerial photographs Annubis had before him.
“That is up to us. We do the hit and fire tracer rounds and everything we can at it to disable it. I am pretty sure I can shoot the tail rotor and damage it from over a mile. Anyway even if it is still serviceable after we take a few pops at it, we will be miles ahead in flying time before they can respond.”
Annubis felt that risks were becoming manageable and there was a very good chance of fulfilling the contract and getting out alive. “OK, lets reconnoitre,” he said..
Trist suppressed a smile. There was of course no helicopter planned escape. He would be the only one leaving and he had a free pass just to drive out of there.
Chapter 30
After the phone call from Jackie, Tim immediately left Thames House. He knew that the people at MI5 were not stupid and that given time they would make the connections and work out that he obviously had something the Russians wanted. It followed that if they wanted it so did MI5. He was right in his assumption because even as he left the building to get the file and cash from his stash, Stiles was laying out the whole affair to Elaine.
He had no intention of doing the right thing and handing the evidence of money laundering and corruption that laid a trail all the way to the Kremlin. The only thing he wanted was to get his wife and Daniel’s Mother back alive. He was not going to allow Jackie to become a pawn in an international game of diplomacy.
He walked up to John and Anne’s house in Pinner. He had parked their car outside and would take a taxi to Gatwick airport where his flight was due to depart in six hours time. He rang the door bell and he heard the sound of running.
Daniel opened the door with an expectant and excited look on his face, “Have you found Mummy?”
Tim put his suitcase down in the lobby, picked him up and hugged him. “No not yet, I am just off to get her. I just wanted to say good bye to Grandma and Grandad.”
He carried Daniel through to the living room as Anne walked in from the kitchen,” I have put the kettle on”
“Tim is just going to fetch Mummy and bring her home,” said Daniel.
Anne looked expectantly at Tim for answers. “I have been contacted by her abductors, they want something Jackie had and I now have. I’m going to meet them and do a trade.”
“Will they give her back unharmed?” Her Mother’s face was full of concern.
“Of course they will. They have no reason not to,” said Tim with more confidence than he felt. “How is John?”
“Making progress, he still can’t talk but the physiotherapy is gradually getting him some movement in his left arm. Why don’t you pop up and see him while I make the tea?”
He walked up the stairs to the bedroom. John was propped up in bed and Anne had placed the television at the foot of the bed so he could watch it. His eyes moved to the side to watch Tim enter the room. “How are you?”
John could only make a semi gurgling noise in response but from the look in his eyes, Tim knew the only thing he wanted to hear about was his daughter’s safety. Tim sat on the edge of the bed. “Don’t worry, I shall get her back. I am on my way to do that now. Trust me, I will not let anything happen to her.”
He readjusted the pillows and went back downstairs. “How’s the arm?”
“Good as new,” she said as she brought in a tray with tea and biscuits. Daniel immediately went for the biscuits. “Leave some for me,” said Tim.
He phoned for the taxi and spent a tense twenty minutes waiting for its arrival. His mobile phone buzzed as the driver rang to let him know he was outside the property. He got up and went towards the lobby. Daniel ran after him.
“You will bring Mummy back won’t you, promise?”
He gave Daniel a hug. “I promise,” he said.
He walked down the front path pulling his case behind. The door closed and he saw
the taxi parked down the road about fifty yards to his left. He walked towards it.
“You need to come with us Mr Burr,” the voice said. Tim had been so absorbed in looking back at the house and thinking of the pain that Daniel was experiencing that he had not noticed the three men get out of the car.
“Special Branch,” asked Tim.
“Afraid so,” came the reply.
He found himself wedged between the two burly officers on the back seat as they drove off.
“You would think you didn’t like us, the way you left without saying goodbye,” said Stiles. He was sat in Stile’s office with his suitcase by the door next to another case which had already been there on his arrival.
“I like you a lot. I just want to get my wife back,” said Tim.
“Where is the file?”
“Just in my bag.”
“Good a place as any I suppose. Now tell me the truth, I think we have it all worked out but I would just like conformation as to how clever I am. Maurice Lee, the chap who died before the Wedding, sent Jackie a load of paperwork implicating our Russian fiends in a scam to launder money using the Baltic bank. Am I right?”
“One hundred per cent,” said Tim.
“I know you are on your way to trade the papers for Jackie because we are pretty good at surveillance here, some would say that we are one of the best in the World at it. So I just took the precaution of having your phone bugged and monitored.”
“I need that file. Please don’t take it. It is all I have to get Jackie back alive,” Tim was almost pleading with Stiles.
“What file?” said Stiles. Elaine and I don’t recall even a mention of a file in any conversation we did not have.
“Why am I here then? “The relief in Tim’s voice was clearly recognisable.
“We are going on holiday together.” Stiles reached into the drawer in his desk and pulled out three passports. He pushed them across to Tim who picked them up. They were CD passports, Corps Diplomatique, one in his name, one in Jackie’s and the third in Stiles’. “Though we might as well make travel as easy as possible and avoid all that tricky customs stuff.”
Bank (A Tim Burr Thriller Book 2) Page 12
