One Last Time

by James Hampson

  'There are two trains from Malaga, they both leave within a few minutes of each other. The later one arrives half an hour earlier and comes from the north, I want you at Santa Justa, if they are not on the early train, you go to Hotel Ayre and wait there with John until I arrive, I will wait for them at San Bernardo, get on to the train and follow them over to the hotel.'

  Lawrence agreed to the plan and they both walked back inside to Delinda and Ally who were waiting for them.

  'The day is young; shall we relax by the pool for a couple of hours?' James said.

  The others agreed and they went off to get changed in to their swimming attire.

  James was lying on his sun lounger in his blue swim shorts next to Delinda who was wearing a white bikini that showed off her bronzed body, James couldn’t take his eyes off her and Lawrence noticed this. James Shaw stood up and jumped in to the water splashing everyone else, he started swimming when his phone began to ring.

  'Bloody hell, can they not ring a minute earlier' he said to nobody in particular.

  He climbed out of the pool and dried his hands on his towel, Delinda passed him the phone and he swiped to answer 'Yes' he said and listened.

  'Ok, stop by here before you go, I will text you the address, see you soon mate.'

  James put the phone down after texting Will Ramsey the address.

  'That’s Will, he is heading back to Gibraltar now, but he is going to stop by here before he sets off.'

  'OK, good, he has done well' Lawrence answered.

  The buzzer to the apartment rang and James and Lawrence walked back inside and pressed the button to open the door. William Ramsey walked in to the apartment thirty seconds later and was greeted by James and Lawrence.

  'Thank you again for your help with this, now go back to your missus and have a nice relaxing Sunday, I will come and see you soon.' James said.

  'Thank you and see you soon too mate' Will shook James's hand then Lawrence's who said 'Good luck, have a safe drive back.'

  After that Will walked towards the door followed by James.

  'I will see you out.'

  They both walked down the stairs together and out in to the street.

  Will got in to his car and said 'Well, thanks again and see you soon, keep in touch.'

  'I will, and think about moving to Waddington especially with a baby on the way.'

  'I will let you know' and with that Ramsey started the engine and Shaw banged his hand on the roof. Ramsey pulled away from the kerb with James waving him off as he drove off down the street on his way back to Gibraltar.

  James turned back to the apartment building door that had closed behind him, he rang the buzzer but Lawrence opened the door startling James

  'We need to talk' Lawrence said.

  'About?'

  'You and Delinda.'

  'Interesting, what do you mean?'

  'I see how you look at her.'

  'So, what is the problem, you like Ally, don't you?'

  'Yes, I do but with you it's different, you both look at each other with those puppy dog eyes. I just don't want you to be distracted.'

  'I can assure you I am one hundred per cent focused on this job, any suggestion otherwise is an insult to my professionalism, how many times have we worked together?'

  'Yes, your right I am sorry, we just cannot mess this up, there is too much at stake.'

  'And we won't, I will speak to Delinda and ask her and Ally to go to Malaga tomorrow afternoon, we will bunk in with John at Hotel Ayre.'

  'Good idea that will ensure we have no distractions, is that a good idea with Powell and his people staying there, Ramos will have it under surveillance surely, what about the Alfonso Xiii?'

  'Your right, yes good idea I will make the booking when I get back upstairs.'

  'No need, I have already done it.'

  'What did you ask for then?' James asked shaking his head in annoyance at Lawrence.

  They went back inside and out to the pool.

  James gave Delinda a kiss before jumping back in to the pool, she followed him in as did Lawrence and Ally. The temperature outside was forty degrees Celsius so the pool was a good idea. James Shaw started to feel pain in his abdomen from his stitches so he decided to stop swimming and leant with his back on the side of the pool. Lawrence Sharif's phone pinged to indicate an incoming text message which he ignored.

  TWENTY-ONE

  Squadron Leader William Ramsey joined the A4 motorway to take him south to Gibraltar, which would take him past Jerez de la Frontera where he had decided to stop and have a short rest, before continuing his journey. As he reached cruising speed on the A4, he noticed a blue VW Polo a few car lengths back in his rear-view mirror, Will Ramsey continually looked in his rear-view mirror and the car appeared to be getting closer to his Volvo S60. He dropped his speed to sixty miles per hour and the VW Polo sped past him, without the driver or passenger even looking at Ramsey's Volvo. Thirty seconds later the VW was out of sight.

  As Will Ramsey drove towards Gibraltar, to the east and south of him Lyndon Powell, Mike Williams, Chris Hampshire and Jack Reuben had their seatbelts fastened and were ready to land at Malaga Airport, which they did with a bump and screech. After taxiing to a stop and disembarking with their luggage, the four men found themselves outside the arrivals lounge in the heat of southern Spain in suits. The four men jumped in to a taxi which was a White Seat Toledo.

  Ten minutes later the taxi had dropped them off at Malaga Maria Zambrano Railway station. Mike Williams used a self-service ticket machine to purchase four return tickets to Seville, the next train was due to depart in an hour. The four men decided to have a quick bite to eat in the vast station concourse whilst waiting for their train. They were anxious to get to Seville so they could find out the location of their meeting with Javier Ramos ahead of time and get prepared. After finding a restaurant serving Spanish food, the four of them began chatting and relaxing.

  'Let this be the start of the rest of our lives' Lyndon Powell said.

  The others agreed and raised their glasses in unison. After finishing their food and drink it was time to head to the platforms and get on to the train. They took their seats and the train began to pull off from Malaga on its journey through the mountains to Seville.

  TWENTY-TWO

  James Shaw climbed out of the swimming pool and lay down on his sunbed, still wet. Lawrence Sharif followed him out and walked over to his phone, he read the message that he had just received.

  'That was from DGSE, the Argentine president wants to meet with our PM, but he has declined of course.’ Sharif said.

  Delinda and Ally stayed in the swimming pool and paid no attention to James and Lawrence's conversation.

  'What does that mean, do you suppose they are trying to start talks before taking action?' James asked Lawrence.

  'Could be, or could just be diversion tactics, it is an irrelevance anyway if we do our job here, which we will.’

  James Shaw checked the time on his phone and said to Lawrence.

  'Powell and co are on their way, we will get in to our positions in an hour, do you want to walk to San Bernardo with me and then you can get the train to Santa Justa?'

  'Yes, that will work, bring the car keys with you, we will bring the car back here, we can then drive the ladies to Malaga tomorrow.'

  Delinda overheard and said 'Oh my, we will be fine on the train, a ride to the station would be nice though.'

  'Well if you are sure? We will be with you Tuesday night or Wednesday' James replied.

  'Yes, we are good, you do what you have to do here then you are all mine mister.'

  'As it is your last night in Seville what would you like to do tonight?'

  'How about we get some food, then go to the bar where we first met the other night?'

  The others all agreed. James and Lawrence went back inside the apartment to get changed before setting off on their scouting mission.

  James Shaw stepped out of Delinda's room dressed in
another pair of white chinos, a white cotton oxford shirt, a navy-blue blazer with gold buttons and of course his Clarks desert boots. Lawrence stepped out from Ally's room dressed in blue jeans with a navy-blue Ralph Lauren polo shirt, he laughed at James’s attire.

  'You look like you are about to go yachting, what is the blazer for? It is forty degrees outside.'

  James Shaw opened his blazer to show Lawrence the butt of his Beretta M9 sticking out of the left hand inside pocket.

  'OK, well if you think you need it' Lawrence said.

  'Well you never know what is going to happen, do you?'

  'I suppose you don't' Lawrence replied as he revealed his own weapon tucked in to the waistband of his jeans which was covered by his un-tucked polo shirt.

  James opened the fridge and took out two bottles of water, he threw one to Lawrence who thanked him. They stepped outside to the pool area to re-join Ally and Delinda. Delinda asked James if he was feeling alright, he replied that he was and they kissed passionately. James's blazer had a wet mark from Delinda's bikini top where they had held each other whilst kissing.

  Delinda said to him 'I am sorry, why don't you take it off to dry.'

  'It is no problem; it will be dry after a five-minute walk.'

  'OK, well if you are sure.'

  'Yes, it will be fine, thank you, I will see you later on.'

  Delinda replied 'I will be here waiting for you handsome.’

  James smiled at her and gave her another kiss.

  He said to Lawrence 'Let's move.’

  They walked back inside and left the apartment walking down the stairs and stepping out on to the street.

  James pulled his Oakley Frogskins sunglasses out of his outer jacket pocket and put them on as he and Lawrence set off in the direction of San Bernardo station. It was more or less a straight walk, once they got out of the little streets and on to Calle San Fernando, which was home to the Hotel Alfonso Xiii where the two would be staying from tomorrow night. They could have gotten the tram but decided to walk, as they still had time to waste before Powells train was due to arrive at Santa Justa. As they walked past the University of Seville,

  Lawrence turned to James and asked.

  'What is your plan after America. Come back to the UK assume your role of Station Commander at RAF Waddington and go back to normal or does Delinda feature in your future plans?'

  James replied ‘Hard to say, we will just have to see how America goes, we are only going for a few days she will probably grow tired of me, also it is not likely that she would move to England as she has only just finished her Degree. I don’t know how that stuff works with transferring it over, I don't know.’

  They crossed over the road to walk alongside the Prado de San Sebastian park and bus station. They were on the side covered by the shade of the trees and carried on their conversation.

  'Do you love her? Because it is clear that she is falling for you.'

  'What is with your questioning Mr Sharif? What is the deal with you and Ally?'

  Lawrence answered 'No deal we both agreed that it is just a bit of fun, are you going to avoid my question.’

  'Yes. I have not seen any of our Argentine friends since we have been out, have you noticed any?' James replied with a smile.

  'No, I have not but I doubt it is the last we have seen of them, I would not be surprised if we see them today, I am sure they will be waiting at the station for Powell and his men, they will then report to Ramos that they have arrived.’

  James agreed with Lawrence as he stopped walking and leant against the park fence before lighting a cigarette and scanning the area for any followers. They could not see any and doubted if they would be in the park behind them. The two of them leaned against the fence and smoked whilst observing all around them and seeing who was getting on and off the buses and the tram across the road, there was nobody of interest so after stubbing their cigarettes out in the ashtray of a bin, they set off towards San Bernardo station. Big red buses rumbled past them as they walked, making conversation difficult without shouting so they walked on in silence. They arrived at San Bernardo station ten minutes after they left Prado de San Sebastion, James tilted his apple watch towards him revealing the clock face and he said to Lawrence.

  'They are about an hour out; do you want to get in position now ahead of the Argentinians or should we have a beer in that bar over there?'

  'No, I will get to Santa Justa now, I will have a beer waiting for you in Hotel Ayre.’

  'Your right, let's go.’

  They hustled in to the entrance of San Bernardo station and ran down the escalator to take them to the booking hall, where they both purchased tickets as it was the only way to gain access to the platform. James had done enough barrier jumping over the last few days and did not want to end up getting caught and locked up in a Spanish police station, that would be no good at all and would compromise the whole operation for the sake of one euro fifty. After descending a small staircase, they arrived on the platform and after two minutes a Renfe Cercanias commuter train pulled up at the platform. Sharif stepped on and Shaw waved him off. As soon as the train was out of site James walked back up to the booking hall and crossed over to the platform on the other side and boarded another Cercanias commuter train towards Dos Hermanos, a small town located about ten miles to the south of Seville, that was where James was going to get off and wait for Powells train to arrive.

  Lyndon Powell, Mike Williams, Chris Hampshire and Jack Reuben sat at a table with four seats and where in good spirits. They only had three more stations to stop at before they reached Seville one of which was Dos Hermanos. As they sat around the table on the Renfe Media Distancia train going over the presentation for Javier Ramos, they had finally decided were now happy with what they had and not to amend it before their meeting. The location of the meeting was still unknown to them as Mr Ramos had not yet disclosed those details. The crew just thought that he was trying to keep the upper hand and trying to be smart. Lyndon had said he did not mind what tricks Ramos played because he did not care how or where it took place as long as he walked away with the fifty million pounds for him and his partners, that had previously been agreed. Lyndon had brought it up earlier in the journey that he anticipated Ramos trying to pay a lower price but he was determined to stick to his guns and would not accept anything less than what had already been agreed. The others knew Lyndon well and that he was no push over, if Javier Ramos thought he was then he would soon be proven wrong when he meets Lyndon face to face. For Javier Ramos was about to finally meet his match.

  James Shaw was sat on a bench in the sun on the Seville bound platform at Dos Hermanos station when his phone buzzed. It was a text from Delinda which read.

  I miss you; I am so happy we met the other night. It has been amazing spending time with you.

  James looked up at the electronic information board it told him that a Media Distancia train was the third train due and would arrive in twenty-seven minutes, he was happy to wait and sit in the sun he decided to text Delinda back.

  Me too, we have had a good time I hope it continues he pressed send then found his brothers number and called him.

  'Get into position in fifteen minutes we will be there in twenty-five, I will see you back at the hotel for a beer, see you soon' he ended the call.

  Before he could put his phone away it buzzed again with another message from Delinda it read I hope so too.

  James smiled to himself and thought Is Lawrence right, am I falling in love?

  He had no time to answer, his phone started ringing, it was Lawrence Sharif.

  'Yes.’

  ‘Am I right in assuming you are not at San Bernardo since you have just answered your phone' Lawrence said.

  'I came out to Dos Hermanos, I had time to burn, I thought better to be in the sun than underground.'

  'Good move, one of our Argentine friends is here, he is alone and hasn’t yet spotted me, he arrived not long ago and keeps checking the arrivals boar
d and looking towards platform eleven, which is where the fast train form Malaga arrived four minutes ago, they must be coming in from your end as the last of the passengers have now surely walked out.'

  'Interesting they must be, the other Argentines must be with Ramos because nobody has been following us.'

  'He will be keeping them close until all this is over, send me a text when you get on the train and have spotted Powell and his crew.'

  'I will do, see you in a short while and don’t forget those beers' James said.

  'I won't.'

  James ended the call and put his phone back in to his pocket and waited for the train to arrive, he took a sip of the water he brought with him and spat it out as it had gone warm in the sun, he put the bottle in the bin and sat back down and lit a cigarette.

  TWENTY-THREE

  Squadron Leader William Ramsey slowed down as he approached the end of the slip road approaching the service station just outside of Jerez de la Frontera, he had not seen the blue VW Polo since he had left Seville, nor had he seen any others.

  Ramsey decided to stop here for a toilet break and to get himself a cold drink, before continuing his journey to Gibraltar. He parked his big Volvo in the car park that was farthest from the service station, as he wanted the short walk to stretch out after being seated for the last hour. The car park was almost empty, it seemed not many people moved about on a Sunday in Spain. He sent a text to his partner Nadine to that say he would be home soon.

  As he put his phone back in to his pocket, he found himself face to face with two men who looked familiar but he walked past them without hindrance or any words spoken. Will put it down to coincidence and walked inside the service station.

  Four minutes later he walked back out in to the sun with a bottle of ice-cold water and a can of diet Pepsi, as he walked across the almost empty car park the two men from earlier appeared from either side of him but Will Ramsey ignored them and continued towards his car, opening it via the key in his pocket so that when he got there, he could get straight in and drive off. What he was not aware of was the two men that were also following him from behind, as he had become preoccupied with the two coming from the side.