Then He Was Gone

by Stephen Edger

  SIXTY-ONE

  ‘You won’t get away with this,’ Becky says, as one of Owen’s men drags her from the car by her hair. She yelps in pain as her knees crash against the stone chippings on the floor.

  Adie is already out of the car, bent forwards over the bonnet, his wrists being tied behind his back with the same cord that had kept Julia fastened to the radiator.

  Julia kicks at the third man, as he tries to pull her ankles from the rear seat. Seeing the difficulties, Owen ensures he is secure, before opening the other rear door. Julia falls out of the car, and screams as her head collides with the stones. He wants to help her up, but he cannot move. Owen grabs her arms and hoists her to her feet, before dragging her to the bonnet.

  ‘Just tell me why,’ Julia spits.

  Is she talking to me?

  Owen tilts his head in her direction. ‘Why, what? Why am I keeping you here? Or why did your husband pretend he was dead for so long? The answer’s the same either way: it is all down to him.’

  Becky’s face is pressed against the bonnet, but no attempt has been made to restrain her hands. She is staring at him, watching.

  What does she expect him to do? There are three of them, they are armed, and he can’t use his hands.

  Owen grabs Julia’s arm again and pulls her away from the car. ‘Come on, we can talk more inside. It’s too open out here.’

  Owen leads the way back to the lighthouse, with the two guards bringing Adie and Becky. Once inside, they are forced to climb the narrow staircase to the top floor. There is a desk against the wall opposite the staircase. Four laptops are open and active on the desk. He recognises the software on the screens. It is military-issue. Owen must have bought it on the black-market. Each screen is linked to one of the devices Adie has built and is waiting for a code to be input.

  Becky and Julia are knocked to the floor, and scuttle over to the edge of the room, away from the desk. The guard who’d pulled Becky’s hair keeps his weapon trained on the women.

  Adie tries to catch Julia’s eye. She hasn’t said a word since she spotted him in the car. He understands seeing him alive must have come as a shock. Becky was supposed to let her know the truth inside, but judging by Julia’s reaction, that didn’t happen. She is in a state of shock. Her eyes are fixed on the floor, and there is still no colour in her cheeks. He wants to tell her he’s sorry, and to assure her that he will get them out of here, but he isn’t sure he believes that himself.

  There is a sharp pain as Owen slams the butt of a weapon into his shoulders, and Adie drops to his knees.

  Owen bends forward and Adie can feel the heat of Owen’s breath on his ear. ‘Give me my fucking codes.’

  Adie keeps his head bowed. ‘I told you before, I will never give you those codes.’

  Owen straightens up. ‘Oh you will, my old friend. I assure you of that.’ He throws the assault rifle to the third man, and slowly walks around the large lantern in the middle of the room, rolling up his sleeves. His first punch catches Adie square in the jaw. The second and third strikes connect with Adie’s nose and mouth, splattering blood across the floor.

  He slumps to his side, his face aching.

  I won’t let him see I am hurt. I won’t give him the satisfaction.

  He stares at Julia again. If she would just look at him, he could tell her he’s sorry.

  Owen kicks him hard in the gut, winding him. He struggles to inhale breath, and knows that Owen is lining up a second kick. Adie tries to coil himself into the foetal position for protection. The cord cuts into the skin around his wrists.

  ‘You will give me the fucking codes, Adie! I can keep this going all day if necessary. Is that what you want? You want your wife and her friend to witness your beating?’

  Adie has just about caught his breath, when he is kicked in his lower back. He groans before he can stop himself. A kick to his bottom is followed by another in the gut. Adie can barely feel his legs, as he writhes in pain.

  ‘Have you had enough yet? Is this how you want to die?’

  Adie looks at Julia again. He tries to call her name, but the word won’t come out. He hears the sound of a handgun being loaded, and then he feels the cold polycarbonate being pressed against his temple.

  ‘You’ve put up a valiant effort, Adie. No one will deny you that, but it’s time to get with the program. You helped me build these devices. You know why we’re doing it. We need to send out a message to NATO. It is the time to beef up our armed forces and take back the Middle East.’

  Adie spits the blood from his mouth onto the floor. ‘You’re fucking insane.’

  ‘Insane? Is it insane to prevent the likes of the Taliban and Al-Qaida imposing their outdated rules of law on the masses? Is it right that the western world should continue to live in daily fear of another terrorist atrocity?’

  ‘You’re the fucking terrorist.’

  Owen laughs. ‘No, my friend, I’m a pragmatist.’

  ‘You want to detonate four bombs in major European cities -’

  ‘Things need to change.’

  ‘So, run for office and makes those changes the right way.’

  ‘That will take too long. The politicians who dictate military policy need a kick up the arse. And they need it sooner, rather than later. Armageddon is coming. If we don’t act now, it will be too late. Control has to be reclaimed in Afghanistan and Syria. You’ve seen what it’s like over there. It’s like something from the Middle Ages.’

  ‘What about the innocent lives your devices will take?’

  ‘Our devices will send a message that we have been too complacent. Every war has casualties. It is the blood of the innocent that will save our future.’

  ‘There is no way I will help you cause World War Three. You’re just going to have to kill me. There is no way I will give you the codes. You need help, Owen.’

  The gun’s barrel is pushed harder into his skin. It’s as if Owen is trying to penetrate his skull, but then the weapon is lifted.

  ‘Maybe you’re right. Threatening you isn’t the answer. You’re a soldier, and I know you’re ready to give your life in exchange for the cause.’ Owen steps over him and his boots block Adie’s view of Julia’s face. ‘But what about your widow? Is she so willing to die for your cause? Maybe we should -’

  ‘Fuck you, Owen! You keep away from her. She has nothing to do with this. Your beef is with me.’

  ‘So give me the codes, and I’ll release the both of you.’

  ‘No you won’t. If I give you the codes, you’ll bury the three of us outside. You’ll tie up your loose ends.’

  ‘That’s just a chance you’ll have to take, isn’t it? You can watch me bury a bullet in her forehead now, or give me the codes and take your chances.’

  ‘Don’t listen to him, Jules. He doesn’t have the guts to kill you.’

  ‘I wouldn’t be so sure of that…wait, I’ve just had a much better idea. Ahmed, bring him in.’

  The guard holding Owen’s rifle stamps his feet in acknowledgement and disappears back down the staircase. There is silence for a moment, and then his footsteps can be heard on the staircase again. Adie’s back is facing the stairs, so he cannot see the guard return, but what he hears sends a shiver down his spine.

  ‘Daddy? Mummy?’

  He strains in pain to turn and face his son. ‘Noah? Noah? Are you okay, son?’

  Two small arms curl around his neck, before they are pulled away.

  Owen is now holding Noah up by the jumper on his back. ‘I’m going to count to five and then I’m going to see if Noah’s head will explode like a watermelon. One…’

  SIXTY-TWO

  Becky’s eyes welled with tears as she watched Noah hugging Adie. She couldn’t believe her eyes.

  As much as she’d tried to remain positive that Julia would one day be reunited with Noah, she had doubted she would ever see it, but now here he was, looking well. He looked well-fed, and his hair was clean, and he was in different clothes. Wherever he’d s
pent the last week, he’d been taken care of.

  Owen hoisted Noah into the air, and dangled him precariously over Adie’s anguished face.

  ‘I’m going to count to five and then I’m going to see if Noah’s head will explode like a watermelon. One…’

  Adie writhed around on the floor like a fish out of water. ‘Please, Owen.’

  ‘Two…’

  ‘Okay, okay, you’ve had your fun. Let him go.’

  ‘Three…’

  ‘Please, Owen. You can’t threaten my son. That’s not right. Let him go, and we’ll deal with this like men.’

  Owen rested the handgun against the back of Noah’s head. ‘We’re up to four, and I still don’t have my codes.’

  Adie’s face contorted in anger, willing Owen to drop dead of an aneurism.

  ‘Fi-’

  ‘Okay, okay, I’ll give them to you.’

  ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that. What did you say?’

  Adie’s eyes were clenched shut in defeat. ‘I’ll give you the fucking codes. You hear me now? Just leave my son alone.’

  Becky felt sickened by the grin breaking out across Owen’s face. She pictured herself riding him in bed on Wednesday night. She regretted every second. She choked back the urge to vomit.

  Owen lowered Noah to the floor, and released his grip. Noah rushed over to his mum, who had perked up, since he had arrived in the room. She still looked deathly pale, but her maternal instinct had kicked in, and she embraced her son, checking that he was okay. She smothered him in a barrage of kisses. Becky pulled them both close, and wrapped a protective arm around the two of them.

  ‘Ah, what a touching picture,’ Owen sneered. ‘Mother and son reunited. I just wish I had a camera. Ahmed, sit this traitor up, will you?’

  The guard stamped his feet, and sat Adie up, with his back to the lantern. Owen sat in the chair by the desk and cracked his knuckles. ‘When you’re ready, Adie. I want the code for Madrid first, and don’t try anything funny. Each device is fitted with a tamper mechanism. If I input the wrong code now, it will detonate immediately, rather than when I have designated for the least number of casualties. If it goes off now, thousands more will lose their lives.’

  Adie looked over at Julia and Noah, but neither were looking at him. He bowed his head and reeled off a sixteen digit code of letters and numbers. Owen carefully typed each digit in before reciting the code back to Adie to verify. Adie closed his eyes and confirmed the sequence.

  Owen’s finger hovered over the execute button. ‘Are you sure that’s the right code for Madrid, Adie? It’s your last chance to tell me the truth.’

  ‘It’s the right code.’

  Owen jabbed the execute button with his finger, and laughed in delight as the screen changed and asked him to input the date and time for the launch sequence. ‘You actually gave me the right code. I was certain you’d lie. Well done, Adie. Three more to go after this. I hope your photographic memory is as good as you claim.’

  Adie rotated his neck, in an effort to chase the remaining achiness from his muscles. ‘I’ve given you the first code. If you want the next one, you’ll let Jules go.’

  Owen turned in the chair and looked at him, puzzled. ‘Oh, I’m sorry, did you think this was a negotiation? It doesn’t work like that. You’ll give me the remaining codes, or I’ll put a bullet in your wife and child.’

  ‘No. I don’t care what happens to me anymore. I’m already dead as far as the authorities are concerned. But I won’t let you drag my wife and child into your psychotic power trip. If you want the code for Berlin, you’ll let Jules go. Then, if you want the code for Paris, you’ll release Noah, and I’ll only give you London when all three of them are outside and on their way.’

  ‘No deal.’

  ‘Then you might as well kill the four of us now, as I’m not saying another word until Jules is outside.’

  Owen leapt to his feet and pressed the handgun against Adie’s forehead. ‘Don’t think I won’t pull this trigger.’

  ‘Go ahead, and then you’ll never get the codes.’

  ‘You won’t be so arrogant when you’re picking parts of your son’s brain out of your dead wife’s hair.’

  Owen stepped to the side, to move towards Julia and Noah, but hadn’t accounted for Adie’s sudden movement. In a split second, Adie was on his feet and had wrapped a forearm around Owen’s neck, using his free hand to wrestle the handgun from Owen’s grip. Adie kicked at the back of Owen’s knees, sending him to the floor. The two guards turned their weapons on him, but not before he’d buried the gun into the back of Owen’s neck.

  Adie growled at them. ‘Ah, ah, ah, shoot me, and your boss dies too. Lower your weapons to the floor or I kill him.’

  SIXTY-THREE

  The guards look to Owen for guidance. He reluctantly nods for them to comply, and they lower the assault rifles to the floor.

  Adie keeps the muzzle pressed into the back of Owen’s neck. ‘Kick them over to the desk. Oh, and don’t forget to calmly lower your sidearms too. I’ll have those over here.’

  The rifles clatter along the floor, before colliding with the wall beneath the desk. The handguns rattle over next. He stoops and picks them up, pocketing one, and passing the third to Julia.

  Julia shakes her head. ‘I don’t want that. I don’t know how to fire a gun.’

  He tries to remain calm. The last thing he needs is for Julia to panic. ‘It’s easy. All you have to do is point and squeeze the trigger.’

  She looks over to Becky, who shrugs sympathetically. Julia’s hand trembles as she grips the handle.

  ‘I need you to keep it aimed at Owen here, while I try and undo all this mess. Can you do that for me?’

  She is silent.

  ‘Jules, I need you to focus on my voice. If Owen moves, you are to shoot him. Understood?’

  Still silence.

  ‘Jules!’ he bellows.

  ‘Wh-what? Yes. I understand.’

  He moves across and kisses her cheek. ‘This will all be over soon enough. I’m so sorry I got you mixed up in any of this. I’ll make it up to you, I swear to God.’

  She nods, but still looks shaky. He hates to put her in this kind of situation. He can see how anxious she is. He is hoping Owen won’t pick up on her reluctance, and try to escape. It is a risk he will have to take if he is to deactivate the bomb in Madrid and make the remaining three devices safe.

  ‘On your knees,’ he barks at Owen, as he passes.

  ‘You’re making a mistake,’ Owen says as he sinks to the floor. ‘You know that, don’t you? My methods might be crude, but it’s the only way the politicians will be called to act. I’m doing it for soldiers like you and me. Men and women who have served their country with pride and want their efforts to mean something. It’s for those soldiers still serving. It’s for all the men and women who will one day stand to protect our country against enemy forces.’

  ‘Jeez, have you heard yourself? You sound like the world’s most deranged recruiter. Causing terror is not what we signed up for.’

  ‘You have to fight fire with fire.’

  ‘No, that’s bullshit, Owen. You don’t see how Yasin brainwashed you.’

  ‘Yasin? Yasin was a pussy. He planned to set off devices a safe distance from NATO camps. Large enough to terrorise, but not close enough to do any lasting damage. You know he called me crazy too, when I told him about my plan. He tried to expel me from the Black Shadows. That’s why he had to be replaced.’

  ‘Don’t dress it up as anything more than the power trip it was. You’ve always had an inferiority complex. You wanted people to look up to you, and to hang on your every word. That’s why you killed Yasin.’

  ‘You say potato, I say pot-a-to.’

  Adie shakes his head dismissively, before sitting at the desk. He examines each of the screens, carefully. There are backdoors into each of the systems, he just has to remember the correct routine for each.

  ‘It’s such a waste of your
fine work, Adie. Stopping the devices, I mean. You are an artist, and each device is more than the sum of its parts. They’re things of beauty. So small, yet so powerful.’

  He tries to ignore the sound of Owen’s voice.

  ‘Did you actually think I’d let you take Noah and disappear? Noah was my only bargaining chip. It was good of you to take him from Julia for me, save me getting my hands dirty, but I knew you’d try and run if you had him with you. I wish I’d seen the look on your face when you arrived at the farm house on Sunday.’

  ‘Shut up, Owen.’

  ‘Did you never wonder why you got away? Did it never cross your mind that your escape was so easy?’

  He needs to concentrate.

  ‘You must have wondered what I’d done with Noah; where I’d put him. He never left France. In fact, he never left Dunkirk. All that time you took making your way to Lille, changing your appearance, sneaking back to Britain, and the whole time, he was right here.’

  He tries to remember the code for Madrid.

  ‘He looks well, doesn’t he? Looks like he’s been well taken care of. But how can that be? How could he look so well, yet have remained so hidden from the police for so long?’

  He hears some shuffling behind him, but doesn’t turn.

  ‘Now’s probably a good time for you to meet my partner. The person who helped plan Noah’s abduction, helped keep him safe, and steered the police away from his location.’

  Adie freezes as he feels the muzzle of a gun squashed against his shoulder blades.

  SIXTY-FOUR

  Becky was frozen to the spot as she watched Julia move towards Adie and push the gun into his back. She wanted to scream; to warn him. But the words wouldn’t come out. She pulled Noah closer to her, determined that he wouldn’t be allowed to watch the unfolding scene.

  Julia cleared her throat. ‘Stop typing, Adie.’

  Adie raised his hands into the air. ‘What are you doing, Jules? If this is a joke, it’s really not funny.’