by Martin Cox
‘Alex, get to the point.’
‘We lost him and I haven’t been able to find him, and we can’t officially look for him until it’s been authorised, although this does help in convincing the superiors.’
‘Good work, I owe you one.’
‘Just set me up with a good looking women and we’ll be even.’ Jack terminated the call and placed the phone back in his pocket.
The morning came and Marco was sat astride Sombra, his face excited and his saddlebags full of the equipment he needed. His family stood next to the horse, along with Jack. Jack opened up one of the brown saddlebags and placed a pair of binoculars inside.
‘These are digital and you can also see in the dark with them,’ he told Marco, tightening the straps of the bags securely.
‘You take care, Marco,’ Anjo said, rubbing his leg in affection. The rest of the family wished him well.
‘I will return soon,’ he assured them. He grabbed the reigns tight and gave Sombra a gentle kick and in just moments, they had disappeared.
It had been a hot ride, but he had made it. Marco dismounted and tied Sombra securely to a tree. He untied the saddlebags and pulled out his camping equipment. He would have to be inconspicuous, so no open fires. Instead, he had battery-operated heaters for warmth and numerous cold snacks. From a far off peak, Marco sat patiently, with a good view of the fort and its entrances. The binoculars range was more than adequate. He watched numerous men come and go, but Sperafico remained inside. On several occasions he had radioed to report his progress, keeping a little contact of home.
The heat of the midday sun had been and gone and the sun was beginning to set. He pitched his small tent and prepared for his first night alone.
It was late, the night had engulfed the jungle and Marco lay motionless in his tent. He had not slept, but his eyelids were becoming heavy. As he closed them for the third time, he heard a rustling from the jungle outside. It was way in the distance but it had to be investigated. Marco grabbed the binoculars that Jack had given him and slipped out of the tent. He squatted on the ground peering through the binoculars, the rustling becoming louder and therefore closer. He was able to follow the sound, but was unable to see what was causing it. The rustling stopped. Marco held the position of the binoculars towards the silence. He then saw something move. Through the trees and foliage he could see a jaguarondi drinking from a small watering hole. Marco was relieved and left the wild cat to drink. He turned and headed back inside his tent, checking thoroughly for snakes and insects. It was going to be a very long night.
CHAPTER 8
That morning Jack and Anjo had casually driven the ten miles, through the tree-lined hills and into the centre of town. The main street was busy with local traders and keen early shoppers. First on the agenda was breakfast. They parked the Jeep in a small side road and walked onto the main street.
‘It’s a lot busier than I expected,’ commented Jack, as he swerved round a small child exiting the bakery, loaf of bread clutched tightly in his arms.
‘This is the largest town in the area, it has everything we need,’ replied Anjo. ‘The café is just up here.’ Despite the town’s activity, the café was reasonably quiet.
‘Would you like to sit outside?’ Anjo asked.
‘Why shy away from the sunshine?’ Jack replied.
The café was basic but the chairs were comfortable.
‘Do you need help with the translation?’ Anjo enquired.
‘I think I’ll be fine,’ Jack said, grabbing a menu. The owner came out to greet them. He was a thin man, grey shirt and trousers, a long white apron wrapped around his non-existent waist. He asked for their order, his voice unexpectedly deep, but gracious. Anjo ordered first.
‘I’ll have the bread with jams and the fruit platter with black coffee.’
‘I would like a ham omelette and black coffee,’
‘No problem,’ replied the owner.
‘And the fruit as well, please,’ Jack added. They both replaced the menus in their plastic holders and sat back to enjoy the warmth of the morning. The sun was rising higher, the minutes of the morning disappearing. Jack casually took out his sunglasses and put them on. They sat in silence for a moment, Anjo deep in thought and Jack admiring the enchanting town. The sidewalks were tiled in black and white, the tranquillity of the pale blue, cloudless sky unobstructed by the low level buildings. Jack then chuckled, catching sight of a mule, scratching its backside on, what appeared to be, the only palm tree in the street, its owner attempting to move it on. The loud snigger woke Anjo from her thoughts. Jack nodded towards the source of humour. Anjo turned to look. As she turned back, smiling, the food arrived. Jack looked at the well-presented and full plate of food. Picking up his fork, he cut the corner off the sizeable omelette and stabbed it with the prongs. He was about to devourer it when from the corner of his eye, he caught a sight that he wasn’t expecting to see. He slowly placed the piece of omelette in his mouth and chewed it with speed and swallowed.
‘Without being obvious, if you look to your left you will see the man who is the leak in my organisation,’ Jack whispered, as he took another bite of his omelette, his hunger now not quite as zealous as it was a moment before. Shutting the door of his blue Ford Fusion, was Grimlock. It was obvious that he was lost. He unfolded a map on the car’s bonnet, grabbing a passer by from the street, to aid him in his search for the right direction.
‘Why are you just sitting here, I’m sure you have your gun on you,’ Anjo asked, causally spreading jam on her toast.
‘If Sperafico is expecting him and Grimlock doesn’t turn up he may suspect something,’ Jack replied, sipping a mouthful of coffee.
‘He looks as if he has no trouble with Portuguese,’ noticed Anjo, as Grimlock carried out his enquiries.
‘He’s fluent in many languages, he was in the field for years,’ Jack replied. Across the street, Grimlock folded up his map and made his way around the Ford, stepping in a pile of mule manure. Grimlock hopped about, dropping his map, almost colliding with a passing moped. He wiped his shoe on his car’s front tyre and got in.
‘What a dick!’ Jack commented, as he watched Grimlock drive off out of town. ‘I apologise’, Jack said, quickly.
‘No need, I’m sure he has a lot to answer for,’ Anjo replied.
As soon as breakfast was over, Jack was in contact with Alex.
‘Jack, it’s six o’clock in the morning, I’m still asleep,’ Alex yawned.
‘It’s important. Grimlock is here in Brazil. He must be heading to Sperafico.’
‘That must be why I can’t find him. That’s great news Jack, it might just be the convincer,’ Alex said, instantly waking.
‘We can only hope.’
‘There’s nothing more I can really do here, let me come and join you, we’ll finish this together, just like old times,’ Alex asked, hoping for a yes.
‘Thanks, but as before, I don’t want you risking your life for my personal vendetta, besides Anjo and her family have their own personal reasons to help.’
‘You take care Jack,’ Alex said and he ended the call.
Jack slipped his phone in his pocket and walked back over to Anjo, who was sitting on a bench at a bus stop.
‘Let’s go and find those boats we need,’ Jack smiled and they both walked back to the Jeep.
Alex got dressed and made his way into the offices. He had phoned from home, hoping to get a meeting with the board of superiors to give them the final piece of information that they needed. He was now sitting in front of Morgan and Shelton, this time hoping to convince them that Grimlock had been the leak.
‘It was necessary to invite Colonel Grimlock for this meeting this morning but we were unsuccessful in contacting him,’ Shelton said, starting the meeting.
‘I have been contacted with a positive sighting of Colonel Grimlock,’ Alex announced.
‘Where would this be and is this source reliable?’ Morgan asked.
‘The source i
s reliable. He is heading towards Sperafico’s residence in Brazil.
Morgan and Shelton sat in silence for a moment.
‘Will you excuse me?’ Morgan said, getting up from her chair and exiting the office.
‘If this is true we’ll want you to retrieve Colonel Grimlock and bring him back, before he comes to any harm. I know it isn’t the normal job description of the department but I want it kept in these walls, I don’t want the secretary of state or the Prime minister to be involved just yet,’ Shelton said, leaning forward in his seat, displeased with the news. A few minutes later Morgan rejoined them at the desk.
‘It seems that his locater is off-line but we have had positive sightings from Heathrow security cameras. Will you give us ten minutes Alex? Please wait outside’, Morgan asked. Alex agreed and left the office stepping into the bustle of the department. He sat at his desk and rocked in his black, leather swivel chair. It wasn’t long before he was asked back in.
‘Alex, we want you to head a team to retrieve Colonel Grimlock,’ Shelton began. ‘You will have command over Blue Company, twelve of the best rescue commandos of the 3rd special commando regiment. The company’s Augusta will pick you up, you’ll travel to Brize Norton, where you will board a Globemaster equipped with a Merlin helicopter and Blue Company. You will be flown to Morocco, refuel and continue to Ascension Island, in the Atlantic. There you will off load the Merlin and meet air defence destroyer, H.M.S Pursuit, off the coast of Brazil. You will need mid-air refuelling. They will take you closer to the coast. From there you will take their RIBs to the coast itself. H.M.S Pursuit is due to end its trial run. After retrieving Colonel Grimlock you will take a pleasant little cruise back to Portsmouth with the rest of the crew. Everything I have said will be sent to your system along with any updates and additional information we have. You will meet the company’s helicopter at the usual place in ninety minutes. Any questions?’
‘Excuse my ignorance, but won’t the ship already have a helicopter on board?’ Alex replied.
‘It will be on a drug observation, which will give you a sizable window to get your kit off loaded. Anything else?’
‘Nothing, Sir.’ Alex rose from his seat and pushed it neatly against the desk.
‘We hope this will also aid Jack with his own assignment,’ Morgan said, assertively.
‘I’m not sure I know what you mean ma’am,’ Alex said, pleading ignorance.
‘Do you really think we would go to all this trouble and expense just to retrieve Colonel Grimlock? If you have to go all that way to get one man you can also take care of Sperafico.’
‘Thank you, Ma’am,’ and with that Alex left the office. He made his way towards Jo’s desk. He was about to perch himself on the edge of her desk, when she spoke.
‘Apparently you haven’t got time to be checked, so you may go’.
‘Well, I’ll be seeing you then,’ Alex called, as he headed out of the building, neglecting the pleasantries of their normal conversations. He reached his car and pushed the start button.
‘Here I come, Jack,’ he whispered to himself, as he headed out of the car park and back to his flat to collect his essentials.
Jack and Anjo had managed to find two motorboats to hire; they were slow but had plenty of space for the equipment and the six others that were accompanying them on their outlandish venture. Jack had taken them a few miles up the coast. Anjo drove to meet him. The rest of the day had been spent bringing the equipment together. It was difficult to buy equipment, especially without rousing suspicion. Sperafico had followers everywhere. They were now at the family home, once again gathered around the table in the back room.
‘We all know what our final objective is but how do we get there?’ Jack began. Anjo was again interpreting for the non English-speaking cousins. Jack had felt at the first meeting that this might have been a very bad mistake. The equipment though had all come together and it showed the determination of this small group of people taking matters into their own hands. Even Marco had radioed in a dozen times, ensuring them of his welfare and that Sperafico was still in residence.
‘First, we’ll take the Jeeps along this route to this point in the river and pick up the boats,’ Jack began, guiding them along the track with his finger. ‘We will then take the boats out to sea and along the coast and moor them in this cove, here,’ he said, pointing to a map. ‘It is then about an hours hike up into the forest that surrounds the fort.’ They were now were looking at the photos. ‘Once we are close we will prepare to enter the fort from these two locations, they wouldn’t be expecting a foot assault so we cut the fence wire and go in, hopefully undetected. The two teams will then make their way to this building where Sperafico should be.’ It sounded easy. But in reality Jack didn’t know what to expect, although they were willing to risk their lives for the cause, was it enough or even worth the effort?
It had been a rough ride in the Ford Fusion but Grimlock had managed to reach the fort. The sun was high in the sky, a few spots of light cloud scattered amongst the sky’s blue blanket. As the car drew closer to the entrance, four men with automatic rifles emerged from the trees, surrounding the car, pointing their weaponry in Grimlock’s direction. Grimlock held his hands up.
‘Tell Sperafico that Douglas Grimlock is here to see him,’ he shouted in Portuguese. One man wandered aimlessly towards the large gated entrance. The other three held their positions. The man standing to Grimlock’s right snarled at him, his rotten, brown teeth slightly exposed. After a few moments the gates opened and the man waved his hand, beckoning Grimlock into the courtyard. Grimlock stopped and turned off the engine. He got out and shut the door. Two men sprung at him, giving him a pat-down, finding nothing, while another man searched the Ford. He waited by the car for a moment before Sperafico emerged from a doorway of the first building. Sperafico’s facial expression was far from welcoming.
‘What the hell are you doing here?’ Sperafico asked. Grimlock stood silent. It was a fact that his fear of exposure had led him here, but as for his next move, that was completely unknown to him.
CHAPTER 9
‘You would not believe the problems I have had. I’m dealing with a lot of incompetence,’ Sperafico continued.
‘That’s why I have come to warn you that Jack Harvey is up to something. He may be the root of your problems.’
‘You could have telephoned. But you may-be right, I kept Thiago and Gabriel in Italy and I can’t get in contact with them. But we are quite safe here, especially with my new head of security.’ At that moment, the large, double gates opened to let a small, green Jeep enter. ‘Ah, the very man,’ Sperafico said. The Jeep pulled up next to Grimlock’s Ford. The driver clambered out and approached them. He was unlike the rest Grimlock had encountered. He was white, although very heavily tanned, blonde haired and well built, standing at six foot two inches. ‘Still no news on your 520. I have another coming in tomorrow,’ he said in a strong Texan accent. ‘Who have we got here?’ he asked inquisitively.
‘Mister Grimlock, meet my new head of security, Sam Maddox,’ Sperafico smiled. ‘Mister Grimlock has a keen interest in my comings and goings in Europe; he ensures we don’t get bothered when we visit. We had a close one on our last visit to London.’ Sperafico placed his right hand on Maddox’s shoulder. ‘Will you show him around while I tend to a few things? I take it you will be staying for the night, since you have come all this way. Dinner will be around eight. I will send someone to collect you.’
The grounds of the fort were spacious, but baron, no need for an experienced gardener. Dust and dirt made up most of the grounds and a variety of large palm trees kept the main buildings in a permanent shade. The openness was evident that it was used for helicopters, the ground free of debris.
‘I won’t bore you with details,’ Maddox began. ‘But I will tell you that I think you should be on your way. I don’t need another person to baby sit and I think Mr Sperafico would like to see you back in Europe, where you are most useful
to him.’
‘I assure you, I’m not in need of a baby sitter. And as for Mister Sperafico, I think he decides where I would be more useful.’
‘Then I shall just show you to your room.’ They walked a little further. Grimlock noticed a hangman’s noose swinging from one of the trees. He wondered what use it had, possibly an original piece of the fort’s history. Maddox showed Grimlock in through a series of old, wooden doors and into a small bedroom, it had a tiny window with no curtains. The bed matched the room, but would do for the night. He just needed a safe place whilst he racked his brains, attempting to find a permanent solution for his predicament.
‘I will see you at dinner,’ Maddox said, disappearing out through the door. Grimlock sat on the edge of the bed and pulled out a packet of cigarettes, lit one and dragged on it heavily. He took out his phone, looked at the inoperative device for a moment, before placing it back in his pocket.
The moment had arrived. Jack leant against the tatty brown Jeep and gazed at the mismatch of characters that were accompanying him on the strangest assassination he had ever encountered. The last green canvas holdall and backpacks were placed into the other Jeep and they were ready to go.
‘Let’s get going,’ Anjo said, eager to get this over with.
Marco had radioed a few minutes earlier and would hold his position, until they got to the fort and then make his way home.
The weapons had been checked, loaded and there was plenty of extra ammunition. Each person had studied the layout of the old fort with accuracy and knew it as if they had grown up there. The main sentry posts had been identified and Jack had hopefully figured out the only weak spot. It was their only way in. They were all ready. Ready to lay down their lives to spare the future generations from the tyrant that was Sperafico. Jack looked up at the blue sky. The day was, again, bright and warm. He slid on his black Gargoyle sunglasses and waited in the driver’s seat of the first Jeep. The others said goodbye to their loved ones, hoping they would make it back to kiss them once again. With everyone aboard, the Jeeps pulled away in a cloud of dust heading for the coast and the awaiting boats.
