“You don’t mind if we take my car do you Frank?”
“No.”
“Good. Get in.”
Trainer stopped and stared at Ian. “You give me your word that you won’t harm Alexa, Jane and the kids.”
“Frank, you have my word. I only want her to talk to this scientist. I would love her to work for me and I may try and persuade her, but apart from that I have no intention of harming her.”
“Good, I don’t want anything to happen to her.”
“Nothing is going to happen... and I may even get the paperwork the kids need.”
“You know about those.”
“Like I said, it’s my job to know. Now give the driver your phone so he can get the address.”
Trainer took the phone from his jacket pocket and handed it to the driver. As he turned back towards Ian he saw a black Range Rover speed off the main road and into the car park. It hit the speed restriction bump at the entrance of the car park and bounced over it, the front wheels leaving the road as it carried on at speed. It came to a sliding stop behind the Jaguar and two people dressed all in black jumped from the rear passenger doors. Trainer saw the pistols in their raised hands too late. They had fired off shots from the pistols as they left the car, one found it’s target as it flew past the head of Ian hitting Trainer in the left shoulder, spinning him around as a second shot hit him in the side of the head splattering blood over the black paintwork of the Jaguar.
Ian had pulled his Sig P320 from his waist holster and fired off shots that missed wildly but made the attackers dive for cover. It gave the driver of the Jaguar enough time to race around the front of the car and into the driver seat.
“Get in the car sir,” he shouted as he started the car and pushed the automatic gearbox into drive. “Sir, we need to get out of here.”
Ian looked down at Trainer, there was nothing he could do for him, his eyes were staring up from the ground at him, the life had gone from them. He turned and fired off more wild shots before diving into the rear passenger seat. The driver took his foot off the brake and slammed it down on the accelerator, spinning the steering wheel hard to the right as the wheels found traction. The car spun around and now faced the Range Rover. There was a small space between the Range Rover and the brick wall of the block of flats, he had no idea if it was big enough but it was their only escape route. He spun the steering wheel back again, straightened the Jaguar up and lined it up with the gap. The front of the car squeezed through just as the driver of the Range Rover opened his door. The Jaguar hit it, ripping it from its hinges and sending it flying over the top as he pushed the car further into the small space. The two wing mirrors were ripped from their mountings as the space closed in on the car. He pushed further down on the accelerator. The rear passenger doors drew level with the Range Rover and the passenger door that Ian had dived through was ripped from its hinges. The car eventually pushed through and turned left onto the main street and sped away from the scene.
“Are you okay sir.”
“Yes I’m fine.”
“Where to sir?”
“Back to base, we need to change cars. Have you got the phone.”
“Yes sir.”
“Good, at least we have that.”
Ian sat up, clicked the seat belt into position and settled into his seat. He knew that had been a close call. Soteria had declared their intentions and he would have to act; Soteria had to be dismantled and the best way to start that would be to cut off it’s head, Letitia had to die. He also knew that when he told Alexa that Frank Trainer had been killed she would want revenge. He could use that to his advantage in dealing with Letitia.
Five
Andrei sat in Bosco Cafe looking at the local Moscow news on his smart phone. The view from the window seat he had taken gave a perfect view across Red Square towards Lenin’s Mausoleum. The local news wasn’t very interesting but that wasn’t what he was paying attention to. He was waiting for a woman. The woman in question was a personal assistant to the Finance Minister and they were due to meet; she was late. Andrei was a journalist for Kommersant an independent newspaper devoted to politics and business. Journalism was a dangerous career in Russia, the list of murdered journalists grew on a daily basis and if he was right about the information his contact was going to bring him, both of their lives would be in danger as soon as the story hit the news stands. He glanced out of the window, he had known Darya for longer than he cared to remember. They had attended the same schools from an early age. He recognised her walk before he saw her face. She was small, slender and well dressed. She smiled at him through the window as she drew closer to the cafe. He turned to face the door as she left his view and he waited for her to enter the cafe. He felt nervous. She was met at the door by the head waiter, let him take her coat and then continued over to his table.
“Hello,” Andrei said as he stood and pulled out her chair.
“Hello,” she replied as she leaned in and kissed him on both cheeks. “Very gentlemanly.”
“I try,” he replied with a small smile.
They both sat down and ordered a water from the waiter while they looked at the menu.
“How have you been Andrei.”
“Good, and you.”
“Good.”
“Did you get what I needed, ” he asked with a sense of urgency.
“We could at least have a bit of a chat first.”
“Yes... sorry... I’m a bit nervous.”
“You are,” Darya replied with a hint of sarcasm. “There will be all sorts of trouble at the office when this breaks and they are bound to come knocking at my door.”
“You don’t have to do this.”
“Yes I do... yes we do.”
The waiter brought over two glasses of water and took their order. They waited, watched him walk away before continuing their conversation.
“This is all the information you will need,” Darya said as she handed over a manila envelope.
“What’s in it?”
“Bank statements, orders, money transfer details. It shows how the Ministry of Defence is syphoning money from accounts into off shore accounts in the Cayman Islands.”
“Does it detail people?”
“Yes, it shows that it goes right to the top.”
“Defence Minister?”
“Further.”
“President?”
Darya just nodded. Andrei knew the story would be big but he didn’t realise how big, this could bring the President of Russia down. It could mean the end for the most powerful man in Russia. It could also be very dangerous for both of them.
“You need to be careful. Can you take a holiday somewhere,” Andrei urged.
“I’ll be fine, don’t you worry about me. It will be your name all over the news when this breaks.”
“I’ll take a trip to my fathers cabin in the woods, it’s completely off the grid and no one knows about it.”
“I know, you’ve never taken me there.”
“Maybe one day.”
“I would like that. Where is it?”
“You will find out when I take you.”
The waiter came over, this time with their food, placed it on the table and walked away. Andrei and Darya spent the next hour eating their food and reminiscing about school days and growing up. They finished their meals, left the cafe and kissed before parting. Andrei watched Darya walk away, he enjoyed their lunches he just wished the kiss was on the lips. He had been in love with her for as long as he could remember. He had had other lovers and was once engaged but they were nothing compared to Darya. He watched her disappear behind the Lenin Musoleum and turned to walk back to his office. This story would be big; international. It could bring down the Russian President.
* * *
Darya walked past the Mausoleum and turned right, she was running late for a meeting. She picked up her pace along the front of the Kremlin Palace enclosure towards Nikolskaya Tower. She darted left, showed her pass to the guard
and entered the palace grounds. Looking at her watch she started to run along the path that ran alongside the Senate Square gardens. She crossed the road and headed into the Kremlin Palace. Being the personal assistant to the Finance Minister meant she had to attend all the cabinet meetings. She had no intention of being late. She rushed through the door, gave her bag to the guard so it could pass through the scanners as she passed through the body scanner. She collected her bag, flashed her badge at the guard and rushed along the corridors to the meeting room. She slowed her pace as she reached the door, looking at her watch she was on time by one minute.
The room where all the cabinet meetings took place could only be described as palatial. She had been in her role for just over five years but the room never stopped impressing her. The room was large with a high arched ceiling. A large single chandelier hanging from the centre of the room, casting its sparkling light over the wooden table that ran the length of the room. The architecture may impress her every time she is in the room but the opulence disgusted her, she hated the greed and corruption within the halls of power and she had made it her mission to effect change. She had made choices that would not only affect her life but also that of her friends and colleagues. She was happy with her choices.
Chairs were spread the length of the table and Darya squeezed between them and the people huddled in groups to get to the place she knew Renat would be sat. It took her a few minutes to reach him, she tapped him on the shoulder so he knew she had arrived, took her seat and waited for the meeting to start. Not long after she had taken her seat against the wall behind Renat everyone else started to take their seats. The President would reside over the meeting, he would take his seat once everyone else was seated. A few minutes after everyone was seated the double doors opened and two guards walked in followed by the President. He took his seat at the head of the table in a chair flanked by the Russian flags. The meeting could now start.
* * *
Renat and Darya left the meeting, Darya walking a few paces behind the Minister. They passed through the corridors and security and out into the palace grounds.
“Shall we walk,” Renat asked as he turned to Darya.
“If you like sir.”
“Good, let’s walk. And maybe get a coffee on the way.”
“Take the car to the ministry and we will walk,” Renat instructed his driver.
He started walking with Darya following behind. They retraced the route Darya had taken around the palace grounds, past the Senate Square gardens, through Nikolskaya Tower and exiting onto Red Square. Renat slowed and waited for Darya to catch up so she was walking level with him.
“Did he take the bait,” he asked in a hushed voice.
“Yes, he took everything. He will run the story, he won’t be able to resist it.”
“Good, once this hits the news cycles the President and Defence Minister will have no choice but to resign.”
“And you can be President,” Darya said with a hint of pride.
“If everything else is in place, once I am President we can reform Russia. Make it a better Russia.”
“Don’t forget you have deals to honour,” she reminded him with a serious tone.
“I know, everyone who has helped will get what they want. It is a small price to pay to make a better Russia for Russian people.”
“And what about Andrei?”
“There is nothing we can do to help him. He will be killed by the Presidents men trying to cover up the story.”
“He has a plan to disappear, he may survive. His father has a cabin in the woods that is off the grid. He will go there once the story breaks.”
“Lets hope he can survive. If he does then we will reward him for his courage.”
They reached the entrance to the Ministry of Finance, passed through security and took the lift to the second floor.
* * *
They alighted the lift, turned left and walked around a corner to the door to the outer office where Darya’s desk was. It was plain compared to the Kremlin meeting room. The walls had no art and were painted beige. The desk was a simple wooden one with a computer on it. Filing cabinets adorned all the spare space around the walls of the small office. Darya locked the outer door and they both walked through another door into the Ministers office. This was larger than the outer office but just as plain. The desk was larger with a single seat for the Minister and two seats sat on the opposite side. Instead of filing cabinets around the wall, a drinks cabinet and a large sofa were positioned around the empty wall space.
“We didn’t get that coffee, would you like some vodka?” asked Renat.
“Yes please.”
Renat poured two glasses of vodka passing one to Darya as they both sat on the sofa.
“To Russia,” Renat said proudly as he lifted his glass and drank the vodka in one go.
Darya did the same. They placed their now empty glasses on the floor and slumped back into the welcoming arms of the plush sofa.
“I’m tired. All this overthrowing of a President is tiring,” Renat said as he closed his eyes.
“Let me see if I can find some hidden energy,” Darya said as she stood from the sofa.
She kicked off her heels and lifted her skirt up to her thighs. The extra movement allowed her to place her knees on either side of Renat as she straddled across him. She leaned in and kissed him full on the lips, slowly. She could feel his hands moving from her breasts to her back, they moved down and pulled her closer. She broke away from the kiss and stood in front of him. Renat moved towards her, lifted her skirt higher and removed her underwear. He shuffled to the edge of the sofa, pulling her closer. The floods of pleasure engulfed her as Renat skillfully played with her. Darya pulled away, removed his clothing and straddled across him. This time letting him enter her. Being on top allowed her to control the situation, which she did to great effect as she lost herself in wave after wave of pleasure before increasing the pace and watching Renat’s face as he reached his one and only climax.
Six
They had changed cars and were now on route to Sutton on Sea. He wasn’t looking forward to the three hour plus drive. It was the early hours of the morning and he was tired, physically and mentally. He had been at the head of MI5 for ten years now and it was starting to take its toll on his life and the recent events weren’t making life any easier. He had been contemplating retirement and once he had dealt with Letitia and Soteria he had decided it would be the end of his tenure.
They had left central London taking the A12 towards Redbridge. They had been travelling for a short time through the less dense than normal London traffic reaching the junction with the North Circular which would take them north towards the M11. Monroe couldn’t settle into the comfort of the Jaguars leather seats yet, he had someone to meet. The car followed the traffic island around past the turning for the North Circular and pulled into Redbridge underground station car park. The driver parked the car next to a black Range Rover and Monroe exited the car. He walked around the back of the Jaguar and into the passenger seat of the Range Rover.
“It’s a bit early,” remarked the passenger.
“Fuck early, what do you expect when one of my teams gets ambushed on a simple transport job and then I come under fire picking up possibly the only chance we had of getting Alexa to agree to meet a Russian scientist.”
“Yes, I am sorry about that.”
“Sorry... you said you would supply me with information that was useful. You said the organisation had become something you couldn’t work with anymore. You came to me remember. Did you not think this was something I should know.”
“I didn’t know until after the events. I am not in a position to know everything.”
“Well try better. I know you were friends with Giles.”
“Yes, he was a good man.”
“Yes we all thought that, which is why I let him and his organisation carry on. They were doing good things.”
“Letitia is different. She wants
to control governments, crime. Anything that will make her money and she will do anything to further her own interests. Thats not what Soteria is for.”
“Why does she want the Russian scientist?”
“He conducted an experiment to create a new type of agent. He worked with Alexa’s father. The experiment...”
“Yes, I know all about the experiment, I just wondered if Letitia knew.”
“She wants him to restart it.”
“Great... that can never happen.”
“Something else as well. I don’t know the details but it looks like she has something planned in Russia.”
“Does she have agents in Russia?”
“Yes, the personal assistant to the Finance Minister.”
“That’s interesting. He is a moderate in the cabinet. Any idea what she has planned?”
“From a conversation I overheard, it looks like she is planning to install him as the president.”
“How the fuck is she going to do that?”
“No idea.”
“You need to find out.”
“Okay. One more thing. Letitia has been slowly removing all of the Soteria members that don’t support her country by country. She has been sending in kill squads to remove the teams.”
“Why?”
“The way I see it, she wants to have total control.”
“Fuck. That’s not good.”
Monroe, pulled the passenger door handle and pushed the door open.
“Blain... don’t fuck this up,” he said as he exited the Range Rover.
* * *
Alexa woke at 05:00am every morning, she didn’t need an alarm. She looked over at Jane, she was lying on her front her hair covering her face. She rolled over as Alexa climbed out of bed. Alexa dressed in her jogging clothes left her room and checked on the girls before descending the stairs. She put her running shoes on and left the house by the front door, closing it quietly behind her.
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