One Last Time

by James Hampson

  James excused himself and left the table and walked inside the restaurant, firstly he used the toilets then the cigarette machine. After he retrieved his cigarettes from the machine, he dialled Lawrence's number who answered after about a minute.

  'How is your lunch? I surmise that you are aware you have company?'

  'Yes, we are at a place on the riverbank and he is just sat on a bench about fifty yards away, not very good, are they?' Lawrence replied.

  James laughed 'No terrible, they aren't even half competent, we need to address them before Tuesday ideally, incompetent or not they will still cause us problems.'

  'Agreed. We will meet with Will and your brother tomorrow when he arrives.’

  'Yes, see you back at the room later' Shaw said and ended the call before he stepped back out into the heat.

  The restaurants in Seville have a spray system to cool the patrons who sit outside, it was needed on a day like today with the mercury reaching thirty-eight degrees James cooled himself off before sitting back down.

  James and Delinda finished their food and asked for and paid the bill. They left the restaurant and strolled hand in hand past the Puerta de Jerez fountain where James had waited earlier and towards the riverbank to meet with Lawrence Sharif and Ally Simmons.

  The Police had just arrived on a street a few blocks away from where James and Lawrence where staying. They were responding to a call about shouting coming from the boot of a blue VW Polo. Two officers approached the car, they could hear muted screams coming from the rear of the car. One of the officers smashed the back window with his truncheon and lifted the parcel shelf to reveal a man cramped in to the small space. The police officers helped the man out of the car and asked him who did this to him. The man responded by saying he did not know but there were six of them and it just happened so fast he did not get a good look at any of them. The police said they would look into it and be in touch. They got back in to their patrol car and drove away from the scene, they would not look into what happened, there was no point in chasing a lost cause. The soldier knew this and was glad they wouldn’t be looking in to it as he wanted to get revenge on Shaw and Sharif himself. He looked for a taxi to take him back to Javier Ramos’s house.

  James stopped and turned to look at Delinda.

  'Thank you for a lovely afternoon' he said.

  'No, thank you' she replied and began to kiss James, he put his arms around her, they embraced for a full minute before letting each other go and smiling at each other.

  'I just have to make a quick phone call' James said apologetically and walked to a nearby payphone, he put his hand in his pocket and pulled a handful of change out, he picked out all the one and two Euro coins and inserted ten euros worth into the coin slot then dialled a number from memory.

  A female voice answered 'MOD operator.'

  Shaw asked the female 'Can I have a secure line to Major John Shaw Royal Marine training centre Lympstone please?'

  Shaw heard keys being typed, then the voice asked 'Who is calling please?'

  'Wing Commander James Shaw Royal Air Force Intelligence' he heard more keys being typed then he heard a click and then a dial tone. After three rings he got an automated voice saying This line is secure then John Shaw answered.

  'Major Shaw.'

  'John its Jay' Shaw said to which John replied.

  'What's with the secure line.'

  'Things have changed, not safe on the mobile, if I call you on it, assume we are being listened to. What time are you arriving here tomorrow?' James Shaw asked.

  'Flight lands about fourteen hundred, I should be at the hotel for fifteen hundred' answered John.

  'Change of plan, after this phone call get on the road to Birmingham, a flight leaves at five this evening, pay cash no cards get a taxi or bus to Santa Justa train station when you get to Seville, I will meet you there' said James.

  'OK, you will tell me what's going on when I get there I suppose.’

  'Exactly, now go, I will see you tonight.'

  With that James ended the call and walked back to Delinda and took her hand again as they carried on their way to meet with Lawrence and Ally.

  After crossing the main road that runs alongside the Guadalquivir River, James and Delinda met with Lawrence and Ally at a riverside restaurant. They had just settled the bill and were ready to leave. The four of them sauntered along the riverbank with the famous Torre del Oro behind them. Delinda and Ally began chattered to each other a few paces in front of James and Lawrence, James took the phone he had taken off the second Argentine soldier from his rear pocket and dropped it into the calm Guadalquivir.

  'John is arriving tonight, I am going to meet him at Santa Justa, he is staying at Hotel Ayre, where Powell and his chaps will be staying when they arrive Sunday.'

  Lawrence asked 'Why the change of plan?'

  'We need to turn our phones off and get new ones. Ramos has Will, or his men do anyway' Shaw answered.

  'What makes you think that. If that’s the case we need to get him back, what is their angle as they haven’t let us know or anything?’

  ‘Well that’s why John is coming in early, I called secure to tell him the change of plan. Will called me Sir, which he never has done, he knew I would pick up on it. We just need to find out where he is being held.’ he said. ‘Ramos and his men will be waiting for John tomorrow so that will give us the upper hand, hopefully they will crack and tell us where Will is. Mistakes coming back to haunt us Lawrence, we should have left that solider alone at the hostel, plus we have got two goons about a hundred yards behind us.'

  'Yes, that is a problem, twenty to start with two down that in my eyes leaves nine active and nine resting, I surmise it would have taken five or six to take Will, so we can expect a similar number for John tomorrow, we need more firepower, we need these goons to take us to their car hopefully they have the same weapons as the first one we took out. What about the ladies?'

  'We must assume they are in danger too, hopefully we can get these two somewhere quiet and relieve them of their side arms, the one rifle will be enough, I don't want to use that ideally, let's talk with our dates we can sort this later' Shaw said.

  Shaw and Sharif hurried to catch up with Delinda and Ally.

  'How did you enjoy your lunch?' Shaw asked Ally.

  'It was very nice; your friend is a real gentlemen' She replied.

  'He is indeed.’

  ‘Did you enjoy your lunch?’

  ‘I did, very much so, thank you for asking.’

  Delinda took hold of James's hand as they wandered along the riverbank which was full of walkers and cyclists enjoying the afternoon sun as the city carried on about its business above.

  In Barrio Santa Cruz, the old Jewish quarter with its winding narrow lanes and orange trees another Argentine special forces soldier was on point out side of Delinda and her friends’ apartment, he had been sent there thirty minutes ago after they had been spotted with Shaw and Sharif. The man had called in to base and said that nobody had arrived or departed the building since he had arrived, he was told to stay where he was and await further instructions, which he did.

  James and Delinda dropped back a couple of paces from Sharif and Ally as they stopped to get a photo together with Calle Betis on the opposite riverbank in the background.

  ‘I am sorry that I have to work.’ Shaw said. ‘I would like to spend more time with you, get to know you better.’

  Delinda squeezed his hand. ‘I would like to get to know you some more too. Can I help at all?’

  ‘No thank you, we will be fine. Be careful though as the men about one hundred yards behind us are following us.’

  Delinda gasped in horror. ‘Why are they following us and who are they?’

  'Just a game we play, they follow us and we follow them, no harm, nobody gets hurt, they are glorified body guards nothing to worry about. Where are your friends, are they out?'

  'No, they took a trip to Grenada and they will be staying for a c
ouple of days so it is just me and Ally in the apartment' she said to James with a seductive smile.

  'I hope your meeting me hasn’t stopped you going to Grenada?'

  'No not at all I am glad I stayed. I have had an awesome day with such a handsome man from Liverpool. Would you like to come back to our apartment, no nightcaps' She said with a giggle, remembering his joke from the night before.

  'That would be great, first we need to get some stuff from our hostel and I have to meet my brother later but then I am all yours.’

  'I was hoping you would say that. Your brother, is he working too or vacation?'

  'Work I am afraid' he replied.

  James and Delinda scurried to catch up to Ally and Lawrence who were chatting to each other oblivious to the world around them as Sharif stepped in to the path of an oncoming bicycle and nearly got ran over.

  The four of them took the next set of stairs back up to street level at Puente de Isabell II. James spotted a taxi with its for hire light on and flagged it down.

  ‘Go back to the apartment, we will be with you shortly’ Shaw said to Ally and Delinda.

  ‘Are you going to be OK?’ Delinda asked.

  ‘Of course, just some work stuff we need to take care of we won't be long.’

  Ally looked at Sharif with concern but he waved her away.

  ‘See you soon’ Sharif said.

  The taxi pulled away from the kerb and merged in to the traffic.

  As the taxi drove out of sight Sharif said to Shaw 'Ready?'

  ‘Let’s do this.’

  They sped back down the stairs to confront the Argentines, they dodged people who were just strolling along the river enjoying the peaceful ambience, as they got closer panicked looks spread across the faces of the Argentinians, panic turned to pain as they were each hit in the face with a fist at full speed sending them tumbling to the cobbled ground unconscious.

  Shaw and Sharif carried on running until they reached the next set of steps up to the main road, which they breathlessly ran up and managed to stop a taxi. They got into the taxi struggling for breath and told the driver where they wanted to go.

  'This is a monumental farce, supervise the deal the orders were and here we are with four Argentine special forces soldiers beaten up, one of them possibly dead, one of our own possibly kidnapped or worse, have you tried to call Will since you last spoke to him?'

  'Phones switched off' Shaw answered.

  'Not to mention the girls are now caught up in this, if this deal doesn’t happen you will be Group Captain of a stationary cupboard never mind a flying station and I will be sent to a research station on Antartica' Sharif continued.

  'Not looking good is it? But it's us, we always get the job done in the end and we have had some pretty big setbacks, once John gets here we can sort a few of those goons out, then go and get Will, then hopefully we can oversee this deal, if not then we are done for but what can you do, they put us in this position knowing full well what we were up against?' Shaw said just as the taxi pulled up at the hostel.

  James asked the driver if he could wait for five minutes as they were just grabbing some bags then they would be back. The two of them ran up the stairs then into their room, Shaw grabbed the bag with the weapons and ammunition in along with his black holdall, after two minutes they closed the door and ran back down to the waiting taxi, they clambered in to the back of the taxi with the bags. James text Delinda for the address of her apartment, she texted back a few seconds later and James told the driver the address in Barrio Santa Cruz. In an hours' time John Shaw would be boarding his flight at Birmingham and would be landing around eight thirty local time. James would expect to meet him at Santa Justa around nine o’clock.

  THIRTEEN

  John Shaw stared out of the window seat on the back row of a Ryanair Boeing 737-800. He was all twisted as the legroom was not enough to accommodate his six feet three inches frame. He was taller than James, had blonder hair but instead of the icy blue eyes he had a dull blue colour. The aeroplane was flying over Madrid and had begun its descent towards Andalucia.

  At ground level in Seville, James Shaw was aware that two men were following him, both of which were dressed in the same combat trousers, long sleeve t-shirts, fishing vest and boots, the same as the others he and Lawrence Sharif had encountered. James walked out of the Barrio Santa Cruz area after leaving Delinda and Ally’s apartment. He powered past the Cathedral and the entrance to the Real Alcázar where he had been earlier in the day. As he marched past the General Archive of the Indies James began to slowly pick up the pace in to more of a power walk. As he approached the Puerta Jerez Metro station he picked the pace up again to a slow jog and hurried to the entrance, the Argentines began to quicken the pace too.

  James Shaw entered the metro station, he ran and jumped on to the escalator, taking two steps at a time, as he reached the bottom the Argentines were at the top and running down after him, also two steps at a time. James sprinted through the ticket concourse and vaulted the ticket barrier; he then ran down the next set of escalators to the platforms.

  The platforms were protected from the track by a glass partition’s which opened when the train arrived and the doors were lined up. Shaw waited on the platform amongst a crowd of people with the two Argentines who had also arrived on the platform. They both looked at Shaw, he did not look back but he knew that they were watching him. Ten seconds later the air turned cold and the noise of the metro train approaching the station got louder as it screeched into the platform area and came to a stop with the train doors aligned with the glass doors on the platform. When they opened James stepped onto the train and stood up by the doors. The Argentines boarded further down but started moving toward James's end of the train. As they squeezed past passengers, James made his move. He stepped off the train back on to the platform just as the doors began to close. As the train started moving off James smiled and waved at the two men who were now stuck on the train heading to the other side of the river.

  On the opposite platform the train James had wanted to get on to approached the platform. He stepped on and the train headed off towards San Bernardo where he would get off a couple of minutes later.

  James got off the Metro at San Bernardo and again vaulted the barrier and ran up the escalator to street level. The sun was slowly going down and the light faded but the temperature did not drop. James was sweating through his polo shirt. He took a breather before looking around to make sure he hadn't been followed. He hadn't.

  James untucked his polo shirt from his chinos and walked over towards the San Bernardo train station which was adjacent to the metro station, he stopped short as a bus pulled up at one of the sheltered stops.

  San Bernardo is a major transport hub, with multiple bus stops, a mainline train station, tram station and the metro station that James had just left. The bus that had just pulled up was a city circular and it called at Santa Justa railway station, James stepped on and paid the driver and taking his ticket, he walked to the centre of the bus. It was a bendy bus and he stood in the bendy section so he could not be seen from the outside but he could see out. He was not expecting to be followed at this point though after he had given the two soldiers who had tried to keep up with him the slip earlier on.

  At the Plaza de Cuba metro station on the Triana side of the river the two Argentine Soldiers stepped out of the metro and one of them called Javier Ramos. When he answered they explained what had happened. Ramos was not angry but he left instructions for the men and they began walking back towards Seville determined not to be fooled by Shaw and Sharif again.

  James Shaw stepped out of the back door of the bus at the stop before Santa Justa so that he could walk ahead and scout out the area, it was an old habit of his that had always proven useful. If people were waiting for him, he would have the advantage. But nobody was waiting for him, he casually walked into the station and waited for his brother. James took a seat at a bar in the station and ordered a beer, with his view fixed
on the side door at the other end of the station, which he expected John to walk through.

  At 2100 exactly he caught sight of John Shaw's towering figure strolling with purpose through the main entrance of the station, he spotted James straight away and headed over towards him.

  James said 'Good to see you and thanks for this I owe you one.'

  John who was dressed in a navy-blue shirt, jeans and the same Clarks desert boots as James replied 'Don’t worry about it, the Colonel was not happy with me just getting up and leaving, he wanted to know what was going on.'

  James set his beer down and stood up to leave.

  'Well bit of a story that, firstly a change of hotel we are putting you in Hotel Ayre over the road. It has got a nice pool and all the amenities you need.'

  'OK so what about the one I have booked for tomorrow?'

  'We will get to that.'

  'I am going to enjoy this aren't I?' John said.

  James and John left the station and crossed the road to Hotel Ayre which was opposite the station.

  They walked in to the lobby and James booked a room for John paying in cash. They went up to the room on the fifth floor and John set his bag down and sat on the double bed. James sat on the chair under the window.

  'Lawrence and I will move in here tomorrow so that we are all together.'

  John asked 'Where are you staying now?'

  'A backpacker's hostel but we are staying with some females tonight in their apartment.'

  John laughed and said 'You never change. Go on a bit of background please.'

  'Basically, Lawrence and I are here to stop a business deal happening but recover the money. A group of men based at home in Liverpool are selling permits for oil drilling in the South Atlantic to a man called Javier Ramos who is CEO of ESPoil, he has links to Argentine special forces soldiers, some we have encountered and dealt with, there are still some on the loose.'