Golden Eights

by Nigel Seed

  They all nodded and looked at Ivan expectantly.

  “Good morning,” Ivan said. “What I need you to do is to carry out a very detailed survey of the area immediately around the village of Castleton in Derbyshire. We are looking for a trackway that has probably not been used in over seventy years; it may end at a depression or bowl in the ground or possibly at some kind of structure. When it was in use, it was wide enough for a removal van to drive up and probably turn round at the end to get out again. We have no idea how old the track is, but we do know that the Romans were mining there 2000 years ago. We know that archaeologists can spot ancient settlements from the air so we are hoping you can do a little better.”

  “No introductions then?” said a young Flight Lieutenant. “A bit of context would be nice, like why do you need this and when do you want this survey concluded.”

  Ivan looked across at the Commanding Officer who said, “You have the floor.”

  Ivan nodded and said, “Sorry to be abrupt, but you do not need to know why I want it and I need it as soon as you reasonably can. Any other questions?”

  He paused and the team around the table looked around at each other. The CO at the head of the small table spoke.

  “In which case gentlemen, what are you doing here? Let’s get this done. I want you back here with your first reports by 1700 hours today.”

  The team filed out of the office, leaving their unfinished coffee. A couple of them glanced at Ivan as they left, but said nothing. Ivan stood and held out his hand to the CO.

  “Thank you, sir. I would appreciate a call as soon as you have something useful. I will leave my number with your PA on the way out.”

  Chapter 25

  Geordie had already collected Ivan by the time he parked the car outside Jim’s block of flats in Pimlico. Jim came out carrying his overnight bag before Geordie had time to call him.

  “Morning, both.”

  “Morning, boss. How was Mrs. Jennings?”

  “Very helpful. Her old granddad had remembered another detail about the fourth van. Apparently the mention of the flower triggered his memory and he now says he saw the horse that was pulling the cart was white and there was a box on the bed of the cart. He can’t remember anything else so far.” He craned round to look at Ivan in the back seat “How did you get on with JARIC?”

  “Fine. They were helpful, but a bit unhappy that we won’t tell them why we want the survey. The CO will call me as soon as he has some results.”

  “Good. OK Geordie, off to Lancaster. Did you book us a hotel for tonight?”

  “I did, but I booked it just outside Preston so we can join the motorway before the Forton service area. It’s a hotel just off the motorway so we can have an easy start in the morning.”

  The drive to the hotel north of Preston passed without incident, despite the heavy traffic and the awful driving standards. The team retired to sleep after a good dinner and a few quiet beers. As they pulled out of the car park the next morning and onto the motorway entry slip road Jim noticed Geordie checking his mirror more than usual.

  “What´s up? Have we got somebody attractive in the car behind?”

  “No boss, but I have a feeling we are not alone. We had a car behind us yesterday on the motorway, a BMW with a dirty mark on his forward bumper. I thought it was just coincidence, but he pulled out of the car park behind us and he is right there again.”

  Jim and Ivan made a point of not turning to look out of the back window. Jim lowered the sun visor to look in the vanity mirror.

  “Are you talking about the silver one?”

  “Yep! That’s the one. Look just to the side of his number plate and you can see the dirty mark. Looks like he clipped a post or something.”

  “How sure are you?”

  “Not certain, but pretty sure. I wasn’t looking for a tail yesterday, so I don’t know how long he was with us.”

  “Ivan can you wave your arm or something so I have a reason to turn round.”

  Ivan fished in the bag next to him on the seat and pulled out a file folder. He held it up and Jim turned around to take it from him. He turned back to the front.

  “Four people in the car which is unusual to start with and they are all looking at us. Nobody dozing or gazing at the scenery. I think you’re right, we have company.”

  Jim felt a light tap on his elbow and looked down between the front seats to find a black automatic pistol being handed to him by Ivan.

  “I started to worry about what might happen at the next site we find. That pistol of the vicar’s could have been a big problem if he had cared for his ammunition.”

  “Where did you get these?”

  “Chelsea Barracks. I called in the see the Guards battalion yesterday afternoon. Three pistols and two full spare magazines for each one. That one’s loaded by the way and here are your spare mags. Geordie, yours is on the back seat behind you.”

  “When is the next turn off, Geordie?”

  “Not till after the service area. Can’t we just pull alongside the truck full of armed coppers and let them deal with it?”

  “Don’t think so. It would take too long to explain what is going on by which time our friends will be away down the motorway and gone. We need to get their attention and ask them a couple of questions. Ivan, are you ready?”

  “Insulted you would ask boss. What would you like?”

  “Geordie, as you pull into the service area there is going to be a short time when we are out of sight of the tail car. As soon as we are, stop quickly. Ivan and I will get out and take cover. You go on into the car park and stop as close to us as you can.”

  “OK, boss, here’s the turn. Indicating now.”

  Geordie moved the car into the slip lane for the service area, but did not slow. The tailing car dropped back not expecting them to drive so recklessly. The car slid slightly as Geordie took the corner at the head of the slip road far too fast. He turned into the car park and brought the vehicle to a sliding stop. Jim and Ivan were out in a second and sprinted into the cover of a large tree on the banking as Geordie moved forward and parked about fifty meters from them.

  Jim and Ivan stood still and watched the BMW enter the car park and slow down to park. Nobody got out. The occupants sat still, all focused on the car with Geordie in it. The soldiers, with the large black pistols held down by their sides, walked to the BMW. They moved to either side and then at a signal from Jim, they grabbed the front door handles and wrenched the doors open. The two front seat occupants stared into the barrels of the pistols, eyes wide.

  “Good morning gentlemen and what brings you out on a fine day like this? Going somewhere nice? Oh and before you decide to drive off take a look in front of you.”

  The two men’s eyes swiveled forward and took in the sight of Geordie with his legs braced slightly apart, knees slightly bent and his pistol held in two hands pointing very steadily at the driver.

  Ivan leaned in and took the keys from the ignition while resting the barrel of his gun in the driver’s ear.

  “Now then,” said Jim, “I think it’s time we were introduced don’t you? Who are you and why are you following us?”

  The driver started to bluster about how they knew nothing about following them and it was all a mistake. He shut up quickly when Ivan tapped his forehead with the barrel of the heavy pistol.

  “Don’t tell lies or you won’t go to heaven. Now answer my friend’s question before we get cross with you. And if your hand moves one more inch towards me,” he said looking at the men in the back seat, “the inside of this car will take a week to clean.”

  The two in the back moved their hands slowly to rest in their laps and Ivan turned his attention back to the driver.

  “Well? Worked out a story yet?”

  “We are from the Bank of England security department. Sir Richard instructed us to keep an eye on you to make sure you didn’t run into trouble.”

  Jim looked at Ivan across the top of the car. His face reflected
the irritation he felt.

  “Geordie, come over here, will you.”

  The big sergeant strolled to the passenger side door and trained his weapon on the front seat occupant’s lap.

  “Could you point that somewhere different?”

  “Not really, bonny lad. If I point it at your head and have to fire, the round could go through and hit my friend. After all there is not much in there to stop it, is there?”

  Jim retrieved the mobile phone from his pocket and dialled Sir Richard’s private number. It was answered quickly and Sir Richard confirmed that the four men were acting on his instructions. Jim explained very clearly that the Bank of England had just risked the lives of four of its employees. After a few choice words, he walked back to the car and handed the phone to the driver. The conversation was short and one sided. The driver hung up and handed the phone back to Jim.

  “It appears we are now under your orders, sir. What would you like us to do?”

  Jim nodded to his two men who made their weapons safe and slipped them into their pockets. Ivan tossed the car key to the driver and turned away. Jim looked at the four security officers.

  “Follow us and park next to us when we stop.”

  He turned and walked to his own car. He climbed into the front passenger seat and said, “OK, Geordie, can you drive around and try and find a couple of security vans.”

  “No need boss. They are parked over there by the door to the café with a white police van next to them.”

  He put the car into gear and drove across the car park to stop next to the first security van.

  Geordie looked across at the driver of the security vehicle and said, “I think they’ve been here a while, boss. This one has a face like a yard of unmade road.”

  “Never mind,” said Jim as he got out of the car, “we’ll have them on the move in a couple of minutes.” He walked across to the police van and waited as the driver rolled down the window. “Ready to move?” he said as he showed his ID card.

  The police driver nodded. “Yes sir, whenever you like.”

  Jim walked to the two security trucks and instructed them to follow Geordie. Then got back into the car and watched as the convoy formed up behind them as they re-joined the motorway.

  With all the vehicles moving to form the convoy Jim paid no attention to the decrepit looking Ford parked to one side of them. The driver waited until the convoy had formed up and was on the move, before he started the car and followed.

  Chapter 26

  Jim called ahead to the team guarding the hidden base and the five-barred farm gate was wide open as they arrived. The convoy swung into the farm and drove down to the condemned barn. Ivan directed the two security vans to back up so that their rear doors were close to the exit from the base near the hedge line. Jim assembled the group and was about to give them their tasks when the young man from Hereford ambled up.

  “Morning, Major. Anything we need to know?”

  “Good morning. Where are your people and our friend the farmer?”

  “Depends. Are we finished here?”

  “You will be in a few hours. These people will be removing the goodies. Why?”

  “Didn´t want to expose our hidey holes if we were carrying on doing this.”

  He put his fingers in his mouth and blew a shrill whistle. Three men stood up from unexpected places all around, each of them carrying a MP5 sub-machine gun. The one approaching from the hedge line was carrying two, one of which he handed to the team leader as he arrived.

  “Have you had any trouble?” Jim asked.

  “Nothing really. The vicar came down to see if we needed anything, but we persuaded him he was drawing attention to us and he has stayed away since. The farmer got a bit nosey, but we had a word and he stays well away now.”

  “OK, will you brief our police colleagues here and establish a cordon around the site while we work. Keep it as low key as you can.”

  The young team leader waved for the police team to follow him as he walked towards the farmhouse.

  Jim watched them go, then turned back to the bank security team and his own people.

  “OK, gents, we are going to form a human chain and pass boxes out of the hide under this barn and into the security vans. With armed police and Special Forces watching over us there should be no distractions and we can get the job done quickly.”

  In the event it took far longer than expected. The boxes were heavy and the tunnel was narrow making it awkward to handle them. Even once they had settled into the routine of heaving the boxes it was still a slow job. Night was falling as they finished and slammed the doors of the security vans. Everyone was tired and slumped to the ground. Jim looked around and realized these people were in no fit state to drive for six hours on busy motorways.

  “Ivan, Geordie, come for a walk.”

  The three strolled towards the rail line at the bottom end of the farm and Jim said, “We need somewhere to park these vehicles that is very secure and out of the public eye. Any ideas?”

  “There was a castle on the hill as we came through Lancaster.” Geordie said “Would that be any good?”

  Ivan laughed. “Oh yes, that would be a perfect place to hide a fortune in gold, mate. That castle is Her Majesty’s Prison Lancaster; it’s full of crooks who would be sure to tell their mates about us.”

  “Hmm, maybe not the best place then. How do you know about it?”

  “I thought about joining the Prison Service when I left the Army so I did a bit of research.”

  “OK gents, that one is not really suitable.” said Jim. “What else have we got?”

  “It’s not too far to Preston. We could park up in Fulwood Barracks. It’s an old Victorian barracks with high walls around it so we won’t be seen from the outside and there is an infantry battalion stationed there who could help with security.”

  “Sounds like that could do nicely. You two go and round up our security people. We’ll have two SAS people in the back of each security van and the police van can run at the back of the convoy. The bank security people can lead while we go ahead and make arrangements at Fulwood. Plus, we can drop those old weapons you found into the armory there. OK, let’s get moving.”

  The trucks left the farmyard and headed south towards Preston. Jim relaxed as his car joined the motorway. The dirty Ford with its attentive driver stayed well back and stayed unseen.

  Chapter 27

  On Friday night the streets around the Bank of England were quiet which made maneuvering the convoy that much easier. Jim and his small team pulled up outside the bank and were met by a smiling Sir Richard.

  “I never dared hope you would pull this off. An amazing achievement.”

  They watched as the heavy security vans drove around to the vehicle entrance to the vault area.

  “Quite remarkable, Major. Do you have any hope of finding the rest?”

  “We do. We’ve been remarkably lucky and have stumbled across various clues that we need to follow up. Once we found the first base there were more clues there so, yes, we have high hopes of finding the rest.”

  “Any idea when that might be?”

  “We are off to get the results of an aerial survey on Monday morning. If they are useful, we will be on the trail of the next hiding place straight after. And speaking of trailing, I appreciate the gesture, but I don’t need your bloodhounds following us, it draws too much attention. If I need them I will call you. OK?”

  “Fair enough. You seem to know what you are doing; I just hope you don’t regret the lack of extra security.”

  With the first batch of gold safely locked away in the safest vault in England, the team decided they deserved a day off. Geordie slept late then went to watch the rehearsal of his wife’s new play, which they were hoping to take to Broadway, Jim drove down to Sussex to see Helen, and Ivan caught up on his sleep before walking along the Thames embankment in the all too rare sunshine.

  On the Monday morning the three drove to RAF Wyton to meet t
he JARIC analysts to be briefed on what they had found in the Hope Valley near Castleton. Their military ID cards once again got them past the security gate and into the JARIC headquarters building where the commanding officer was waiting for them.

  “Come on in gentlemen. This has been a useful training exercise for us, so even if we have not found what you need it has not been wasted effort.”

  He led them into a small lecture theater where more of his team were waiting. “Sit please,” he said, “the coffee will be here in a couple of minutes.” He walked to the dais set next to the large wall screen. “I am guessing that you do not care how we conducted the survey? So unless you object I will skip that part of the briefing and go straight to the results?”

  “That would be just fine, sir,” said Jim. “We don’t want to take up any more of your time than we have to.”

  “Good! OK. Well here’s the coffee. If you could put it down on the side table Corporal we will sort ourselves out as we go.” He waited for the Corporal to put the tray of mugs down and leave the room. “Lights if you please.” One of the briefing team stood at the back of the room to lower the lights. “OK John, first slide.”

  The room lit up as the first slide was projected onto the large wall screen. The picture showed a simple overhead view of the Hope Valley around Castleton. With a long red line encircling the area.

  “What you are seeing here is obviously the standard aerial photograph of the search area. The red line shows the limits we imposed to contain the detailed search. As you can see, we have gone somewhat wider than the valley itself to give us a little leeway for error. The following pictures will come up in all sorts of odd colors due to the different methods we have used. Next slide.”

  The next slide came up on the screen with a distinct green tinge. The buildings of Castleton and surrounding farms were a much brighter green. Even the caves showed up, although they were much less distinct than the buildings.