“I know,” said Kano.
Tom and Kisho were poring over the charts.
“Right. This line signifies how far we can go on the fuel we have and these are the options open to us,” said Tom pointing out the options.
“Yes, but wherever we tell him we’re going to land, I have a funny feeling we won’t get a welcoming party,” said Kisho.
“I know, so we have to be very clever and be one step ahead,” said Tom as he began to hatch a plan.
First, he wanted to know what they were up against. This was actually quite simple. He took out his handheld PC, and his satellite phone and dialled a number. After five minutes, he had tapped into his home PC. To Kisho’s amazement, Tom pulled up the Estate plan from the security system. Tom was stunned that there were forty five blips on the screen, which meant there were forty two men guarding their house. This was going to be much harder than he had first imagined.
“Forty two. Bloody hell!” Kisho exclaimed. “These guys are not messing.”
“Add to the fact that our Estate is like a fortress. This is a nightmare, I imagined four or five gunmen, nothing like this.”
Tom’s brain went into overdrive as he thought through the options.
After a while, he turned to Kisho.
“I think I have a plan,” he announced.
Tom dialled the number he had been given.
“Hello,” answered Reaper recognising Tom’s number.
“Johannesburg, Randburg Heliport is where we’re landing,” he whispered.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, they mentioned it when they checked on us a minute ago.”
“Why are you whispering?” asked Reaper.
“You told me not to tell the authorities about you and they are the authorities. Didn’t I do the right thing?”
“Yes, yes of course.”
“Can I speak to my dad?”
“No, not yet Tom.”
Donald walked in as Reaper was on the phone to Tom.
“Is that Tom?” Donald had heard him say ‘Tom’.
“Yes,” said Reaper who could not believe his luck.
“Tom!!!” Donald screamed.
“Dad, dad, we‘re ok, are you ok?” Reaper had taken a calculated risk that Tom would not mention his status in his first sentence and had put the loudspeaker on. He put it off again before Tom could say anything more.
“We’re fine son, where are you?” Donald screamed in response, elated at hearing Tom’s voice and hearing that they were both OK.
“That’s enough, thanks Tom,” said Reaper ending the call.
“Why didn’t you let me talk to them?” asked Donald.
“You got all you needed, you know they’re fine,” said Reaper who walked away with a huge smile across his face. The gods were smiling on him. That call would stop the whiney parents bleating on about their kids. It should cover him for the next couple of days. However, he needed Tom and Lela back there before Monday or things would get tricky.
Tom updated Lela on the phone call. He had spoken to his father and they were all fine. Both hugged and felt a great sense of relief knowing that their parents were still OK.
Kisho and Tom then updated Lela and Kano on the plan. Lela agreed with most of the points but suggested one major change. Everyone agreed that it was the right thing to do.
“OK. We’ve got just under five hours before we land and we’ve got a lot to do,” announced Tom.
“Are you sure this will work?” Lela had second thoughts over one part of the plan.
“Yep, we have to be strong and play them at their own game.”
The twins nodded agreement. “Lets go,” they said in unison.
Chapter 52
“Zach, it’s Tom. Are you alone?”
“Yes. Tom, is everything OK?” asked Zach.
“Why?”
“Mr Sakamoto explained that a few of you had to leave the island. It was really weird, we were playing our game, couldn’t find you guys anywhere and went to report you missing. Mr Sakamoto told us you had all left the island at very short notice for a family emergency and would be back in a few days. It was all very strange. I mean you, Lela, Chen and Mia all having an emergency at once. Are you sure you’re OK?”
“Yes, we’re fine,” Tom thought for a second. “It’s something along those lines but I need a couple of favours and you can’t tell anybody that they’re for me.”
“Tom, are you sure you’re OK?” Zach knew something was very wrong.
“Yes, fine. I’ll fill you in on the details later but I need you to do these things for me but it’s really important that they have nothing to do with me.”
Tom explained what he needed.
“That’s not going to be easy without anybody knowing but I’m sure we can manage it,” said Zach confidently.
His network was as good as any. He and Tom had done a number of favours for each other in the past but if Zach pulled this off, it would be miraculous. Tom would not believe Mr Sakamoto was working for the bad guys which meant that they must be holding him and Mia. This would alter his plans slightly.
Tom made a number of other calls to his network and had everything in place before Lela made the most important call of all. They prayed that the generator would still be switched on or at least the battery powered up.
“It’s ringing,” she said excitedly.
After a minute, she said, “It’s still ringing,” with slightly less enthusiasm.
Eventually, the phone was answered and Lela spoke rapidly. Although Tom had spent ten years trying to learn the language, he only caught three words, ‘Papa’, ‘Saki’ and ‘emergency’.
After what seemed like hours but was only five minutes, Lela’s grandfather came on the line. Lela explained what was required and handed the phone to Tom to go through the detail. Tom stopped talking and listened for some time, nodding his head and saying ‘yes’ and agreeing with whatever was being said. The call ended and Tom explained that the wily old leader had made a few tweaks but that everything was OK.
“So what are we going to do when we land at the heliport? They’ll be waiting for us,” said Lela.
“We’re not going to land at the heliport, we’re going to play a little harder to get,” replied Tom.
“But they’ll hurt our parents!” shouted Lela.
“No, we’ll cover it, don’t worry,” said Tom firmly.
Just then, his phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Hi, it’s Zach, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“The plane you wanted in Johannesburg, no can do.”
“What do you mean?”
“It seems that no matter who requests anything in this area of Africa, they must have additional authority. I have tried all my guys and none of them can get through it. You said to keep it low key so we’ve not pushed it. Whoever you’re up against, they’ve got some really good connections. My guys can get round anything but somebody does not want any of our forces in that neck of the woods without a bloody good reason.”
“Bloody hell! OK,” said Tom, thinking hard.
“Look, everything else is in place. I’ve checked with the guys here and they’ve done what you asked. I don’t know what you’re up to but good luck and God bless.”
“Thanks Zach, you’re a star.” Tom hung up.
Three faces stared at him, having only heard his side of the conversation and seen his obvious disappointment.
“We have a major problem with our transport plans.”
“What other options do we have?” asked Kisho.
“Not sure, we have no passports and we have no Alba jets in the area. I’ve checked. The nearest is in the Middle East, eight hours away and we don’t have that much time.”
He opened up his handheld PC again and began searching the OAG flight data. Commercial flights were an option but passports were going to be a problem, not to mention that the timing would affect the rest of his plans. It was only
on returning to his home page that he found the solution. He explained it to the others who thought he was mad and even if he was, they weren’t. He ignored them and made the call.
“Hi Benoit, it’s Tom. I need a favour.” Tom didn’t waste time and explained what he needed.
“YOU WHAT??? ARE YOU MAD???” Benoit shouted down the phone.
“Benoit, it’s life and death! I know I’m asking a lot but if anything happens, my father will pay for it ten fold. I will even deposit the funds in an escrow account now if you want.”
“Where are you going to get access to that sort of cash?” asked Benoit.
“I have access to all of my father’s accounts. He writes his passwords everywhere…Benoit, I know I’m asking a lot and I would love to tell you exactly why I need it but you’re going to have to trust me here.”
A few more words were exchanged and eventually Benoit agreed. He fully expected his father to kill him when he found out but Tom needed his help and Tom had always been there for him.
“OK, I’ll try. It won’t be easy and I can’t promise it will happen but I’ll do my best.”
“Benoit I can’t thank you enough and trust me, my father will be very, very grateful.”
They said their goodbyes and ended the call.
“If he can pull that off, I might even believe we can pull this off,” said Kano.
Chapter 53
Reaper called Pieter, “Johannesburg Randburg Heliport,” he said.
Pieter shouted “Randburg” to someone over his shoulder. “OK, we guessed they might go there,” said Pieter.
“Where are you now?”
“We’re just about to leave Maputo.”
“By plane?” asked Reaper.
“No, we would have to land at Johannesburg International and the customs checks are horrendous. We have a chopper that will take us to the heliport. We can fly in low level and nobody will know we’re coming. We’ll grab the kids and fly back to Maputo. The Base Commander has been well rewarded and we even have our own hangar.”
“OK, how long?”
“If my calculations are right, we’ll get to the heliport ten minutes ahead of them. We’ll snatch the kids and be on our way back within thirty minutes. In just over four hours, the kids will be on a plane, heading in your direction.”
“Excellent. Remember you have another eight soldiers right behind them if you need the help.”
“We should be fine but I’ll bear it in mind.”
The gate intercom rang, Reaper checked the camera, it was the legal guy. He buzzed him in.
Reaper drove down to the gate and picked him up. He was already fully briefed but Reaper took him through the brief again, to be on the safe side.
“Donald, this is Mark, Mark this is Donald.” Reaper introduced the two men. “Donald, Mark will be accompanying you for the next day or so when you carry out your business. I don’t need to remind you that your son’s life is in your hands, do I?”
“No you don’t, I’m perfectly aware of that fact.”
“What exactly is this all about, anyway?” Donald asked again.
Reaper took him by the arm and led him into the lounge area where Rachel was sitting.
“OK. I’ll tell you. It has to do with your IBC deal.”
“What do you want with that?”
“Let’s just say some people would rather it didn’t happen.”
“But you can’t stop it,” blurted Rachel. “Even if you stop Donald from signing, somebody else can do it for him.”
“You’re right Rachel. I can’t stop them,” said Reaper.
“But I can,” said Donald understanding what they wanted.
“Well if that’s all you want. Donald make the call and stop the deal,” said Rachel following simple logic.
Donald looked at Reaper and read his mind.
“That’s no use, I need to pull out at the last minute. That’s why I have to keep up the pretence that the deal is going through. If I pull out now, there’s still time to find last minute buyers. If we wait to the last second, somebody can ride in like a knight in shining armour and save the day.”
Reaper applauded Donald.
“You are a very bright man, Mr Kennedy, now let’s go.”
They left the room and made their way to the office where Mark had made himself comfortable.
“I’m also bright enough to know that you’ll never let me live beyond 12.00 on Monday,” said Donald. He would not say it front of Rachel.
“Get to work,” said Reaper ignoring Donald’s remark and making his way back to the kitchen.
Chapter 54
Tom was receiving constant calls updating him on the status of his requests. He had received positive responses to all bar two. One was negative and one was pending.
“We are twenty minutes from Randburg heliport,” announced Kisho.
“OK I’ll make the call,” said Tom.
Tom dialled the number.
“Hello,” said Reaper.
“Hi, it’s Tom. We have a problem. We’ve run out of fuel and can’t make Randburg. We’ll have to land at Johannesburg International.”
“Rubbish, you must have plenty of fuel left.”
“I’d agree, had we not been chased by an Apache. We had to fly at maximum speed for a while.”
Reaper was surprised that they had noticed the Apache but it explained why it could not catch them and it also justified their lack of fuel. If he got hold of Pieter, he might just make it in time.
“OK but make sure you don’t get seen,” said Reaper.
Tom could hear the anger in his voice. Whatever Reaper was planning was crashing around him.
“What do you want us to do when we land?”
“I want the three of you to wait for my men.”
“Three of us?” Tom asked as innocently as he could.
“Yes. You, Lela and the Chinese boy,” said Reaper, also trying to sound innocent.
“Oh, Chen. Sorry, he didn’t make it. He was shot at the camp.”
“What?” Reaper could not believe it, his trump card was dead.
“But that can’t be, he was seen getting on the chopper.”
“That’s right, he was dragged on board but he was already dead.”
“Just wait for my men and try to lose the soldiers, OK. I’ll call you when my men arrive and remember, if you want to see your mother again, you’ll do as I say.”
“Yes, I understand,” said Tom, enjoying the call. He had clearly rattled the man.
“Pieter!” shouted Reaper.
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“Just landed.”
“Well take off again. You need to get to Johannesburg International and quick,” commanded Reaper.
“That’s not going to be easy. It’s huge and very busy,” protested Pieter.
“Just get there and get them.” He hung up.
Kisho steered the helicopter towards the most remote part of the airport. They could not afford to cause a fuss and from what Tom had said, the man was sounding desperate. They knew they were going to be met, they just didn’t know by whom or by what.
“What’s that?” asked Lela pointing to the edge of the radar screen.
“Another helicopter. Why?” asked Kisho.
“Because I’ve noticed it a few times,” she said.
“Recently?”
“Yes and a while back.”
The helicopter was fitted with a similar video system to that found in combat aircraft. Kisho zoomed in on the dot in the horizon.
“We’ve been followed. That’s the other chopper from the base. So whoever they are, they’ve got back-up behind us. There were forty soldiers on that base and we took out ten. There could be anything up to thirty soldiers on that chopper.”
“What do you think Kano?” asked Kisho.
“No problem, we know they mean us harm and it’s an easy shot.”
“Yeah, for you,” said Kisho laughing.
“What are you talking about?” Tom asked.
“Kano here is going to shoot the birdy.”
“What?”
“Kano is going to shoot the chopper down.”
“Won’t that cause a massive scene at the airport?”
“If we shot them down at the airport maybe, but Kano will shoot them down over a mile away.”
“But the explosion?”
“No. He won’t blow them up, he’ll shoot them down literally. They’ll drop where they were and simply crash land. We’ve done it before, don’t worry.”
They landed the chopper and took their positions. Kano would deal with the chopper while Lela and Kisho dealt with whatever came their way. He would join them as soon as he could. They were fairly certain that no weapons would be used as this was a major international airport and weapons would alert the authorities.
Tom made a call to finalise arrangements on the ground.
Chapter 55
It was a very difficult shot. There were probably only two people in the world who could make it and Kano was one of them. He rested the AS50 Accuracy International Magnum Variant sniper rifle on his shoulder and looked down the barrel. It had been modified for extra distance and with the chopper being airborne, that distance extended even further. He took aim and after a few seconds, he took the shot. The huge. 338-calibre bullet ripped through the air and destroyed the rotor mechanism as planned. The helicopter shuddered, lost all forward momentum and began dropping to the ground. The rotors went into emergency mode and as the chopper dropped, they spun faster and faster to minimise the impact. The chopper crash landed in the centre of a deserted park. Nobody was going anywhere. Although nobody had died, everybody had sustained at least one broken limb.
Pieter’s chopper landed just as Tom and Lela touched down. Kisho had planned his landing perfectly to block any other landings in their immediate vicinity. Pieter was forced to land a few hundred meters away with a number of buildings between him and his targets.
As Kano dealt with the chopper, Tom, Lela and Kisho waited for Reaper’s men. They had made their way into a terminal building to ensure that whoever was coming for them, would have to be unarmed as metal detectors and sniffer dogs were everywhere. Tom had been informed by one of his contacts that the baggage area was under repair and was a perfect rendezvous point. Tom, Lela and Kisho had been the first to arrive. They were completely alone. Tom’s phone rang.
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