by Bryan Murray
He screeched around another corner and his eyes suddenly widened in shock. Up ahead, there was a double drawbridge, just going up over an ornamental canal, ready to let a luxury craft pass through. At a quick glance, there were no turn offs before the bridge and bullets were still spattering off the little taxi, with the SUV still in hot pursuit.
His options were rapidly disappearing and as he was getting closer and closer to the ever-rising bridge, the words of Jennings’s were echoing in his brain from one of his many training sessions. “Remember,” he had said. “You don’t have the luxury to weigh your options when you are in a high speed chase, split second decisions can be the difference between escape and capture!”
He took a deep breath. “I’m getting too old for this shit!” he growled to himself before he suddenly pressed down on the accelerator. He gritted his teeth as the valiant taxi roared up one side of the rising drawbridge and zoomed into the air, barely making it across the ever-opening gap and grabbing enough traction to go scraping and bumping down the other side.
Across the bridge, the driver of the SUV saw what was happening and he also made an instant decision, somewhat less risky or courageous than the one made by Jake. He simply jumped on the brakes and crunched to a stop to avoid hitting what was now almost a vertical wall of steel. The occupants jumped out angrily, Dimitri was already on the phone and the driver was cursing and kicked the tires.
* * *
Back at the convention center, there was total chaos as the police and security personnel were gathered inside the men’s room over the body of Mahmoud. The ambulance staff had arrived with a gurney and the head of security for the convention center looked at Jamal after inspecting the body of Mahmoud, obviously interested in putting a favourable spin on the unfortunate incident.
He was holding his hand suggestively to his heart, indicating to Jamal that it looked very much like his father had suffered a heart attack. Jamal was not buying it for a second, shaking his head negatively. He was already on the phone to Dimitri. “What do you mean, you lost him?” he looked across at Anwar. “Those idiots lost the infidel. Tell them to call the police to continue the pursuit!” Anwar nodded. “Yes, my brother.” he clicked on his phone.
Jamal turned back to the body of his father, now being covered and placed on the gurney by the medical staff. His face was an ashen mask of hatred. He looked at the head of security. “There is no way this was a heart attack. My father was murdered and this man will die a thousand deaths when I find him!” he snarled in Arabic.
* * *
Jake drove along and tossed the empty syringe into the gutter of the neighborhood he was driving through as he was trying to get his bearings. When he looked in his rear view mirror, he was suddenly shocked to see a Police Ferrari now on his tail, the driver, racing along like Mario Andretti, already on the phone, having received instructions to apprehend Jake as he roared along in pursuit. Up ahead, Jake put his foot down again, still talking to himself. “Great, don’t try and outrun the cops, it’s a beat up taxi versus a Ferrari, lousy odds by any stretch!”
Fortunately, luck was in his favor as he swerved around the next corner, brushing past an expensive car going in the opposite direction. The driver of the other vehicle, who had taken a wide path, slammed on his brakes in total shock and the car did a sudden ninety degree slide and came to a stop, blocking the road. A split second later, the Police Ferrari came screaming round the corner and ploughed into it, causing the Ferrari to do a twisting catapult in the air and smash straight through the window of a Ferrari dealership.
The airborne car smashed the front window and landed on top of a brand new car. People in the dealership scrambled back in shock as debris and shattered glass spattered all across the showroom. One of the salesmen rushed over to the Police Ferrari to check on the driver, but he was already dead, his neck broken. Suddenly, flames erupted from the car and everybody rushed towards the exits. Across the street, the driver of the car that the Ferrari hit was standing by his car, a shocked look on his blood-stained face.
Jake drove on, looking through the rear view mirror to see what was happening. He saw the smoke was now coming from the shattered window of the dealership and he nodded incredulously. “Damn, looks like a bad day for heavy deductibles! Best get my ass outta Dodge!” he mumbled as he made his way to the airport.
* * *
Back at the convention center, the body of Mahmoud was being wheeled away, and the two brothers looked at each other, totally devastated. Jamal was venomous. “What is happening, Anwar?” he began. “This is why we have bodyguards to protect us! Who would want to kill our father? That is what I don’t understand!” he looked at his brother with a new determination in his attitude. “I want every inch of CCTV tape analysed from the Convention Center Security System. Somewhere, there has to be a picture of this infidel assassin and I want him at any price! Now, leave me, I need to call the Americans!” Anwar nodded respectfully to his older brother, who was now the new head of the family.
CHAPTER 5
Nancy was busy at her desk, far removed from and totally unaware of the ongoing action in Dubai. Her supervisor Wes Barnes came over. “Nancy, d’you have the weights and dimensions for the Trojan manifest?” he asked.
She shook her head negatively. “No, Mr. Peterson’s secretary Janis had the file and he was working on it just yesterday. I can go and get it for you if you like, sir?”
He nodded his gratitude. “Thanks.”
As Nancy walked across the office complex, she was curious about the work being done on the Trojan contract manifest and the fact that her boss was involved, only piqued her curiosity. She prided herself on the correctness of the shipments she put together on every contract and when somebody else, especially her boss, got involved, it made her feel uneasy.
She arrived at the executive suite and approached the outer office of her boss, where Janis his secretary was located. She looked around and called out. “Janis, it’s me, Nancy!”
There was no response so she moved closer to Janis’s desk and inadvertently, closer to the slightly open door of Peterson’s office. It was at that moment that she overheard voices from a conversation going on inside the inner office, between Peterson and Jennings. The CIA Agent, whose voice she didn’t recognize, was already speaking. “For Christ’s sake, Bill, that’s why we sent Harrigan in to take the old bastard out!”
Outside the office, Nancy was in total shock when she heard her husband’s name mentioned. She silently mouthed the words. “Take him out?”
Peterson continued, out of sight. “But if Harrigan takes him out, what guarantee do we have that his sons will still back the deal? I can supply the goods, but we’re talkin’ twenty million big ones here, that we need to get from those ‘Sons of Allah’ militants!”
Still listening outside, Nancy was holding her hand to her mouth in shock as Jennings replied. “Listen, Bill, Ashram’s sons are fuckin’ Jihad fanatics. They love the old man, and as long as Harrigan takes the fall if the wheels come off, they’ll still do business. Hopefully the hit has already been made!”
Nancy’s brain was now racing and the conversation she had just heard was now adding to her feelings of confusion. What on earth was Jake involved in? She was still in shock when Peterson continued. “And what about this rumor of a goddamned FBI agent embedded here in Midecon? What we don’t need is that Senator Johnson and his Arms Appropriations Committee poking their noses into our business.”
Jennings calmed him down. “Relax, if there is one, we’ll find him, don’t sweat it, okay. We’re walking a real fine line here, so you have to stay cool!”
Nancy was still trying to put a face to the voice of Jennings that she was listening to, but it wasn’t materializing. She was mulling his phrases, ‘walking a fine line’ and ‘you have to stay cool’, over in her mind. These didn’t sound like the words of an honest man and she was scared.
In the outer office, Nancy was stunned, still standing there in shoc
k, when a voice made her suddenly jump as she turned to see Janis standing there, looking at her strangely. “Can I help you, Nancy?” she asked.
Nancy was desperately trying to regain her composure. “Oh, hi, Janis, my supervisor was asking me for the weights and dimensions file for the Trojan manifest?”
Janis was still looking at her strangely. She answered vaguely as she walked over to the filing cabinet. “Yes, I have it.” she retrieved the file and handed it to Nancy, who was still in shock from the recent revelations and anxious to leave.
“Were you waiting long?” Janis asked casually.
“Uh, no, just arrived,” Nancy replied, taking the file as she headed for the door, exiting quickly. “Thanks, Janis.”
“No problem.” Janis answered watching her leave, a strange uneasiness in her mind. She was well paid to protect the security of the executive suite and intensely loyal to her boss. She was still wondering if she should even be concerned about what she had just seen. At that moment, the inner office door opened completely and Peterson and Jennings emerged.
Peterson looked at her closely. “You okay, Janis?”
She looked at her boss. “Yes sir, it’s just...”
“Just what?” he inquired.
She hesitated. “Sir, this may be absolutely nothing, but have you and Agent Jennings been in there long?”
Peterson looked curious. “A while, why?”
Janis looked almost afraid to mention it. “Oh, I just got back from the lady’s room and Nancy was standing here.” At first, the mention of the name Nancy didn’t mean a thing to Peterson. He had a bad memory for names to begin with and with the large number of secretarial staff in Midecon, he had more important things to remember than first names.
Both Jennings and Peterson looked quickly at each other. Peterson was the first to sound casual. “You mean Nancy....?” Janis finished the sentence for him. “Yes, Nancy Harrigan!”
Peterson was immediately stressed as he forced himself to continue to speak casually. “And what’s bothering you, Janis?”
Janis was now having reservations about raising her concerns further. “It’s just that when I came back, I thought I could hear muted conversation from inside your office.”
Peterson quickly bluffed it off. “No, no problem. If she overheard us talking, she would have smiled to hear how Ted whipped my butt at golf last Sunday.”
Jennings smiled, and jumped in on the conversation. “All in the wrist, old son, all in the wrist!” he quickly headed for the door, shaking hands with Peterson. “Well, I’ll be on my way, same tee time next Sunday?”
Peterson managed a smile. “You got it, Ted, I’ll see you then.”
“Bye.” Jennings left and Peterson turned to Janis as if nothing was wrong. “Can you get me the Claymore file, please, Janis?”
She nodded affirmatively “Yes, sir.”
She retrieved the file and gave it to Peterson before he went into his office and closed the door. He sat at his desk with his head in his hands, re-playing in his mind the conversation he had just had with Jennings. He started to sweat when he remembered Jennings’s specific comments about Jake Harrigan, the husband of Nancy, an employee who may have heard every word. And if Janis said she could hear voices in the outer office coming from his office, then so could Nancy and both he and Jennings could be in big trouble. He ran his hands up and down his forehead. “Shit!” he mumbled to himself. He picked up the phone and dialled a number.
Down below, Jennings was just leaving the lobby when his cell phone rang. He went outside to answer. “Yes?”
Peterson was on the line. “D’you think the bitch heard us?”
Jennings headed to a quiet spot where he could talk. “We fucked up, Bill. I could have sworn that freakin’ door was closed, but the damned thing was definitely partly open as we came out!”
Peterson was biting his nails, nervousness in his voice. “So, what do we do now?”
Jennings thought for a moment. “With what’s at stake, we have no choice.”
“You mean?”
Jennings was now in control of the situation. “Leave it to me, Bill.” he closed the phone and headed out to his car.
Back in his office, Peterson looked at the phone in his hand. “Shit, this is gettin’ out of control!” He got on quite well with Jennings and when they had come up with the plan to make a lot of extra money, he was quite happy to be working with the CIA agent. Now, he was seeing that there was a dark and dangerous side to Ted Jennings that scared him to death.
* * *
Jennings walked out to his car, not realizing that he was being watched from a nearby window by Sarah Schaumberg, an attractive, dark-haired secretarial assistant. She watched until Jennings was out of sight before she clicked open her phone and dialled a number. A voice answered. “Yes?”
She spoke quietly, explaining the reason for the call. “Hello, Senator, Agent Schaumberg here.”
She immediately had Senator Johnson’s attention. He was in his 60’s, white hair, and quite distinguished. He was sitting at his desk in Washington, drinking coffee. “Yes, Sarah?” he replied.
She brought him up to speed. “As you suspected, sir, Jennings of the CIA was here and I’m sure there’s something going on. Peterson and Jennings had quite a long meeting before Jennings left.”
“Well done, Sarah,” he was quite pleased. “Keep me posted.”
“Yes, sir.” she clicked off the phone and headed back to her office.
Back in his office, Johnson put the phone down slowly, a pensive look on his face. “Maybe our suspicions were correct!”
CHAPTER 6
The Ashram estate was an enormous Victorian-style mansion. The inside looked more like a cruise ship than a residence, with impeccably expensive interior décor, tastefully designed with a distinct Middle Eastern flair. No expense had been spared in creating this dream residence. The mansion itself, with a 9-hole golf course and tennis courts at the rear, sat on the edge of a beautiful, large, artificial lake with ornate fountains and exotic vegetation all around the perimeter.
It was a sad day as the coffin containing the body of Mahmoud was wheeled into an elegant room with large picture windows in the spacious west wing. The skyline of the city could be seen in the distance. The coffin was totally festooned with an ornate flower arrangement as Jamal and Anwar, still both dressed in black Armani looked on, clearly grieving the loss of their father.
Over the past few days, life had been most hectic and stressful for Jamal, the new head of the family, following the untimely death of his father. He had endured meeting after meeting with attorneys, accountants and business consultants, ensuring that the continuity of the Ashram family remained intact. He was up to the challenge, but he still missed his father and mentor, who he had loved very much and his inner rage at what had happened, was consuming his every waking breath.
His connections with his terrorist ‘brothers’, of whom his father had never approved, were still strong and his hatred for the non-Muslim political interests of the western world, that his friends in the ‘Sons of Allah’ terrorist group had sworn to eradicate, were stronger than ever with his new found power. If there was any solace whatsoever to be gained from the latest chain of events, it was the fact that he could now conclude his subversive business with the Americans, without interference from his father.
There was a sudden, scathing look on Jamal’s face when Dimitri and Ivan, the two bodyguards who had failed to protect Sheik Mahmoud, entered. Jamal confronted them with a menacing stare and both averted their gaze out of embarrassment and fear. When he spoke, his voice was more like a hissing serpent than a normal speaking voice.
“And what were your duties?” he asked. Both men spoke in chorus. “To protect the Sheik.” Jamal eyed them venomously. “Exactly!” Without warning, he suddenly pulled out his pistol and shot both men in the head! Blood spattered on the wall as both men fell to the ground with the blood starting to form a pool on the floor. Jamal tur
ned to his brother and the other bodyguards who had followed them in. They were all in total shock. “Any questions?”
They shook their heads negatively. Jamal gestured at the bodies on the floor. “Clean up this mess and get this garbage out of here!” Anwar nodded and the other bodyguards quickly dragged their dead colleagues from the room.
CHAPTER 7
It was late in the day and the staff of Midecon were making their way to the parking lot, including Nancy and her friend Nicole. Nancy still looked pretty shaken and Nicole looked at her closely as they walked along.
“Are you okay, Nancy?”
Nancy’s mind was elsewhere. “Huh, yeah, just got something on my mind, that’s all.”
Moving on through the garage, Nicole was still looking at Nancy. “You sure you’re okay?”
Nancy would have loved to talk to her friend, but she was still in shock and she really needed to talk to Jake before anybody else. “Sure, just something I heard that I need to talk to Jake about.”
“Jake?” Nicole was curious. “You mean people at Midecon were talking about Jake?”
Nancy shrugged. “Yes, go figure!”
Nicole was even more curious. “Anything else?”
Nancy thought for a second. “I dunno, maybe it’s me, but I keep getting the feeling that I’m being followed,” she looked up and her expression changed when she looked ahead and grabbed Nicole’s arm. She whispered. “There he is again!”
As she spoke, a man in mechanics coveralls was walking towards them with his tool box in his hand. He ignored them as he walked past, but Nancy pointed him out to Nicole as they walked on. After the man had gone about 30 yards past them, he turned and looked back over his shoulder.
Nicole turned to Nancy. “You’re probably imagining things, honey, he’s just one of the maintenance crew! See you in the morning.” she waved her hand and headed to her car.
