by Rik Stone
The young officer was Alexandros. Of Greek parentage, he had olive skin and the features of a Greek statue. His big puppy-dog, brown eyes alone were likely to turn the heads of most girls, but he didn’t seem aware of it. A shy young man, he hung on every word Nazar uttered and the hero worship he tried hiding from the older officer was clear for all to see. Nazar liked to tease him and made up gory stories that put Alexandros in recoil, but then he would make up some heroic deed he hadn’t done and draw the boy back in. Nazar enjoyed his God-like status and had no intention of losing it. He ran a finger over his lip, smoothed out his pencil-line moustache, arched back slightly, and held his well-practiced pose.
Nazar’s friend Savas enjoyed the taunting, too. “I was thinking about Ankara,” he began. “Remember? When we were in Gençlik Park1. You should have been there, Alexandros. The girls come to our friend Nazar here like bees to flowers. One more or less hung onto his shirttails as we walked through the park. To cut a long story short, we both ended up fucking her. But she hadn’t wanted me. I can’t imagine why.” Pulling his head back in a similar pose to his friend, they all laughed. “Anyway, when we were done with her she held her clothes together at her chest and screamed and shouted at us, threatened us with the police. Nazar got fed up with her ranting, pulled out his knife, and slashed her.”
“Arma manesca,” Nazar said, popping the blade from its handle. “My Italian thrusting knife.”
Alexandros withered. “But why? Why would you want to hurt her? And why should I have been there?” he finished a little indignantly.
“Because you could have lost your virginity,” Savas said and the two older policemen went into raptures.
Alexandros’s face blushed crimson and he began defending his manhood. “No, no, that isn’t true. I’ve been with lots of girls. In fact, I have to turn away more than I can handle.” His face blazed and Nazar could see they’d hit the nail on the head, but it was Savas who picked up on it first.
“Yes, we definitely have a virgin here,” he said, holding onto his wobbling stomach.
The mocking came to an end when a machine gun knock rattled the main door and a mustached, heavy-shaped man with a heavy-shaped head and swarthy skin rushed into the foyer and began pushing his way into the office entrance to one side of the incident desk. An admin worker jumped up from his desk, but failed to stop him going in.
“I need to speak to Sergeant Amoun,” the man blurted out.
“And you are?” Savas asked, as he filled the passageway and brought the intruder’s progress to a halt.
“My name is Avra. I work as a driver for Mister Mannesh.”
Nazar ran a finger over his top lip. “Adam Mannesh?”
Avra nodded. “Yes, I need to speak with the sergeant about the seed barn.”
Alexandros was still looking a little hurt from the send-up, so Nazar put a hand on his shoulder and tried to placate him. “We were only messing with you. Savas had made up the story to get you going. Cheer up and I’ll take you to a club tonight after work. And if you are a virgin today, you won’t be tomorrow.” Nazar smiled and the boy smiled back weakly.
Avra told his story as he was taken to the sergeant’s office.
“Tell him what you’ve just told me,” Nazar ordered when they got inside.
“I drove a change of guard out to the barn. But there were no guards to replace and there was no barn for the new guard to watch over.”
*
They returned to the police station and Sergeant Amoun sat in the main interview room scratching his head. “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed it. Adam told me that the building has stood through earthquakes, nothing has worried it, and now it’s completely gone. It must’ve been Russian mafia or the Russian agents Adam told us about. Either way, it was Russians.”
“We should pack up and go back to Ankara,” Nazar said, his usual poise slipping.
Amoun moved the scratching to the side of his face. “I don’t know. You could be right.”
Savas stepped in aggressively. “You’re fucking mad, both of you. Do what you like, but if you think I’m leaving all this money behind for a few Ruskies you can think again. Anyway, without Adam’s help it would take forever to fix the transfers. And somehow I can’t see assistance coming from that corner.”
Amoun looked at him and moved the scratching to his chin. “Hmm, and of course you’re right, Savas. And thinking about it, the Russian mafia wouldn’t slaughter the milk cow that provides for them, even if for some reason there was a piece of steak in it for them. No, it will have been the agents, and according to Adam’s spies there are only a few of them … We carry on as normal.”
“But what about Adam? He might have been in the barn when it went up,” Nazar said.
“He wasn’t. I spoke to him only yesterday. He had to rush off to Ankara to sort out some trouble there.”
Alexandros walked into the office and looked puzzled when everything went quiet, but then beamed when Nazar winked at him.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Amoun said. “Savas, take the front desk. I’ll be in my office. Nazar, you can go somewhere and play with your new friend.”
Amoun and Savas laughed heartily.
Chapter 31
Marmaris Police Station
“The young policeman going in,” Anna said to Jez, as they sipped Turkish tea in the restaurant opposite, “I’m sure he’s not part of Adam’s crew, but it’s important that we find out how many of them are.”
Jez looked at the tea, grimaced, and pushed the cup across the table, away from where he sat. “Okay, I speak a little Hebrew. I’ll go into the station, put the accent on my Turkish, see if I can get a headcount.”
“Oh and how will you do that using Hebrew?” Anna asked, eyebrows rising.
“I’ll tell them I’m looking for relatives and we’ll see where that leads us … Don’t worry, I’ll get by.”
The foyer in the police station was quiet. A young man in civilian clothing worked alone in a corner and the main desk was unmanned. The clerk took no notice of Jez’s arrival.
“Excuse me, sir,” Jez said respectfully. “I wonder if you could help me with directions.”
The man lifted his head as if he’d been in a trance, smiled, pulled his glasses down over his nose, and looked at Jez from above them. “The desk officer is out back, but if I can help I will.”
“Well, I’ve worked my way from Israel, around the coast, and sometimes across the water. After all these days travelling without problems, I’ve managed to lose my way,” he said, accidentally throwing in the odd Hebrew word.
The man grinned. “And where is it you want to go?”
“I have relatives in the Jewish quarter of Izmir, next to the street of synagogues to be exact. I know there’s still a long way to go but I thought it might be easier travelling overland and take a more direct route. I wondered … is there a long-distance bus or train I can pick up from here?”
“Wow, you do have some way to go, but yes, I think I can help you with that.” He sorted through a couple of listings from a shelf on the back wall, spread a tatty map out over his desktop, and then spent five minutes familiarizing Jez with the journey. But then a car screeched to a halt outside the station, loud enough that Jez and the clerk looked up. A heavy, swarthy man rose from the car and barged his way into the foyer.
“I need to speak to Sergeant Amoun – right now,” he demanded. Without waiting for an answer, he pushed past, rattled on the inner office door, and disappeared into the main block.
“Everything’s gone to pot since the troubles we’ve had,” the clerk said in exasperation as he sat back down.
“Troubles?” Jez asked.
“Oh, don’t worry, too long a story. But three policemen, Sergeant Amoun and two of his officers, have transferred in from Ankara. The place has been in chaos since they arrived. To make things worse, the long-serving officers have all gone, immediate transfers, something like that. Amoun said he w
ould explain fully when the time came, but that seems to be sometime never.”
The words had barely passed from lung to lips when the swarthy man came rushing out with three policemen surrounding him. They left the station, got into the civilian’s car, and drove off.
“See, that’s them. I’m telling you, chaos. They didn’t even hint where they might be going or how I can get hold of them should the need arise … Chaos.”
The younger policeman came out into the foyer.
“This is Alexandros,” the clerk said, still looking ruffled.
Alexandros nodded to Jez before turning to the administrator. “Nazar told me to man the front desk.”
“I bet Nazar is the great big man,” Jez said, nodding knowingly.
“What makes you think that?” Alexandros asked.
“Oh, I don’t know. Sounds like a big man’s name.”
“Wrong. Nazar is the slim, good-looking one. The fat one is Savas.” Alexandros said, as he sourly turned away and moved paperwork around the desk as if in a sulk.
The clerk turned his attention back to giving Jez directions. Jez thanked him and left.
*
“It’s a bit late to pick up on the whereabouts of the policemen. We need to hit those three more or less at the same time, so I think it will make sense to take out the heroin clubs this evening and our police officers at the end of their working day tomorrow,” Jez suggested, after returning to the marina.
“Sounds good,” said Anna. “But I’m not in favor of hurting those mixing the product. They will be poor peasants trying to get some quick money together. Dishonest, but not enough to die for.”
Jez said, “It makes the task more difficult. We could level the depots from a distance. Saving the workers means getting up close.”
Pavel shrugged. Anna nodded.
Jez sighed. “I don’t like the idea of risking your lives to save theirs, but … if that’s how you want to play it.”
Pavel drove the Fiat towards the target area. “Pull off the road here,” Anna told him and they crossed desert-like terrain for a kilometer. “Turn off the headlights. That dip in the bank over there, it takes you into a dry gulch,” Anna told him.
Pavel eased the car down the incline and drove along a gulley that ran parallel to the blacktop.
“Keep the revs low and freewheel where possible. The gulch runs past at around five hundred meters from the front building, but the night is silent. They might hear.”
“It’s hard to tell if this is a natural riverbed or a storm drain,” Pavel said. “Not that it matters; either way it gives perfect cover.”
“Stop here,” Anna ordered. “We walk the last hundred meters.”
They took position opposite the main building and watched. A police car drew up outside and two policemen went in: Nazar and Savas.
“If we move quickly, we could virtually finish the whole job right now,” Jez said.
“No, we should stick to the plan,” Anna came back at him.
The chance slipped when, in no time, Nazar and Savas were back out and gone.
Jez sighed. “Might as well settle in; it will take most of tonight to check out how their time passes.”
Only one man stood on the door, but every so often four others joined him from inside. During the time they watched, Jez counted eight different guards on duty.
“None of them are wearing masks,” Anna said.
“So?” Pavel said.
Jez said, “The manufacturing is in progress and the atmosphere will be full of heroine particles. Without masks they might lose control, with masks they would lose their edge.”
Another hour passed and an open-backed truck full of women in flimsy robes pulled up: a new shift.
“They don’t look too happy in their work.”
“No, but they will be when they come out,” Pavel answered.
Almost immediately, a group of women, also in flimsy robes, piled out of the club laughing. They climbed up onto the flatbed of the truck and took position along bench seating on either side. A guard climbed up with them and the truck pulled away with a group of very happy workers.
Jez smiled. “One of the perks of mixing the powder … Quickly, let’s get the fire power out of the car. Pavel, you take what you need along the gulley and set up your attack point. Leave what you don’t need, here. Anna will come with me.”
The Fiat’s suspension springs groaned with relief as Jez helped unload the trunk: communication handsets, field glasses, an RPG-7 anti-tank grenade launcher, three Dragunov rifles, Uzi pistols, and an assortment of explosives and spare ammo.
“Anna, grab an Uzi,” Jez said, as he also picked up one of the Israeli sub-machine pistols. “And one spare clip should be enough. Pavel, we are going after the truck and our radios will be out of range, so we won’t be able to assist if you’re heard. Silent running should be maintained.”
Pavel nodded and began moving his artillery while Jez and Anna backed up the gulley with the Fiat engine as low revving as was possible. Reaching the road, they sped towards Icmeler until catching sight of the truck. Jez pulled his silenced pistol and laid it across his lap. “I’ll cut in front of them.”
He floored the accelerator and came alongside the wagon. A guard in the back pointed a sub-machine gun their way and tilted his head, questioning. Anna pointed to the rear wheels and waved her hands frantically. The guard tapped the roof of the cab and shouted for the driver to stop. Jez pulled up the Fiat in front of the truck, got out, and made to tuck his shirt into the back of his trousers. Anna got out with her arms folded across her chest as if she were cold.
“Something is dangling from under the back of the truck,” Jez said with voice raised. “It looks dangerous.”
The guard lowered his weapon and turned towards the rear of the truck. Jez swung his Uzi to the front and shot him. The driver ducked down in the cab and came back up firing a handgun. Anna whipped her pistol from under her arm and squeezed off a spray of shots into the cab door. A grunt was followed by what sounded like the driver’s handgun clattering to the metal floor. Anna raced around to the opposite side of the cab, jumped onto the soleplate, and pointed the weapon inside.
“Secure here,” she shouted.
Jez had covered her back while making sure those in the truck weren’t in a position to show hostility.
“Okay here, too,” he replied. The girls huddled closer together as Jez gave them his full attention. “Don’t worry,” he told them. “You are in no danger from us. We just need to keep an eye on you for a while.”
Anna helped him drag the bodies to a ditch and then said, “I’ll drive the truck. Follow me to the seed barn and I’ll stay with the girls.”
Jez followed in the Fiat and, arriving at the crater where the barn had once stood, helped Anna to herd their captives into the center of it before taking the truck to the depots to where they had unloaded the weapons from the Fiat. He made his way from the truck to where Pavel lay in wait.
“We have a few hours to kill before the next shift change,” he said on reaching him.
Pavel grinned. “That’s okay, look,” he said, handing Jez his field glasses while grinning.
Jez focused the binoculars; the workers were all sitting around a long table and the only thing stopping them from being completely naked were little white masks covering nose and mouth. “I suppose being undressed makes it difficult for them to steal the powder.”
“Whatever the reason, the usual boredom of the waiting game has passed quite pleasantly.” He smiled a cheeky smile while raising his eyebrows up and down. “I would hate to get like the guards down there. All those attractive girls, buck naked, and they don’t give them a second look.”
Several hours passed, happily for Pavel, and the guards filtered outside. Some checked wrist watches, others walked to the bend in the road and came back shaking their heads. A couple of the girls came out with their robes on and five minutes later, the rest followed.
“I’ll wor
k around to the other side,” Jez said. “I’ll click the radio to tell you to ready yourself, but don’t fire until I give the order.”
*
Pavel had set the volume to minimum on the radio, so when it clicked it was barely audible. But click it did and he hoisted the grenade launcher onto his shoulder, and steadied himself. Haven’t used one of these things for a long time, he thought. Remember: hold position after you fire or the back-blast might take you out. He aimed at the building furthest away from the girls and waited. Finally, the word “Go!” crackled out on the handset and he fired a missile.
*
Jez heard the missile whoosh and the building furthest from the workers took a direct hit. The structure remained upright, but then it creaked and groaned before collapsing into a pile of rubble. The girls tried to run into the building they’d just vacated, until Jez sprayed a burst of shot across the door, taking down one of the guards with the assault. The panicked workers veered off and began running down the road.
“Now!” Jez yelled and a second whoosh devoured the remaining building; he had emptied and reloaded a second clip before any of the guards had chance to properly regroup. Pavel put aside the heavy artillery and came in behind those surviving Jez’s onslaught. And then, almost in moments, it was over and everything went quiet. Jez allowed five minutes of silence and then moved forward at a crouch. “Shallow breathing,” he ordered over the radio, stiffening. “The settling dust is heroin.”
Pavel came into view.
“Nothing to tidy up here. Gather the girls,” Jez told him.
“No casualties with this lot,” Pavel said, after ordering girls from their hiding places and gathering them into a group. “Get the truck, Jez. Everything is under control.”
Jez brought the wagon to the front of where the depot had been and they loaded the girls into the back. They were all terrified and must have wondered if this was the end of the road for them, so Jez tried to appease. “I promise you,” he said. “If you do as you’re told, there is no need to worry for your safety. You’ll all be back in your homes in a day or so. My friend here will sit in the back of the truck with you, so don’t get ideas of escaping.”
