by Tom Benson
Atropa Belladonna business cards were received by Stuart Fowler at SIS HQ in London, and Max at the Mental Riders Motor Cycle Club coffee shop. On the plain white side of the card Max received was written ‘R xx.'
In late 2004 the major crime lords of Glasgow were replaced by infighting. Those who were eager to succeed their old bosses made their case and fought bloody battles. Takeover bids occurred within gangs and within districts. Instead of becoming involved, the Chief Constable instructed his force to avoid confrontation and leave the underworld to squabble.
Sam Griffiths had a theory. If they allowed the dust to settle, the new leaders would be more visible than if there was a heavy police presence during the violence.
As long as the general public of the City of Glasgow were safe, Sam didn’t care how many of the criminals killed each other off.
The bodies of Freddie, Ian, and Eva were recovered by the authorities.
Freddie was buried in the same graveyard as his friend, Geordie. A service was attended by Phil, Annabel, Mike, Sam, Max, and Sinbad.
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Ian was buried in Edinburgh after a service attended by his father and a handful of guests—at the family’s request. Sam Griffiths made an appearance and cleared Ian’s name in all respects regarding any doubt about the drugs found at the scene of the shooting incident in the retail park. It was officially declared by Sam as Chief Constable, Ian’s death had been a tragic case of mistaken identity.
In an arranged private meeting, Phil and Annabel told Ian’s father what a courageous young man their son had been. They assured him Ian had died selflessly to save his colleague, Eva.
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Eva was buried after a private service attended by her parents and a handful of guests. Phil and Annabel approached Eva’s parents later out of the public eye to say what a courageous young woman she’d been, and how she’d shown immense bravery in her chosen line of work. They stressed how she had been proud to perform her secretive role for the public good.
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Jake was cremated at Old Kilpatrick, Dunbartonshire. In attendance were Phil, Annabel, Mike, Sam, Eddie, Amy, and Max accompanied by twenty of the Mental Riders Motor Cycle Club. Stuart Fowler flew up from London to attend the service.
After the ceremony, Phil and Annabel arranged a day to collect the urn containing Jake’s ashes. The urn was to be delivered to an appropriately titled ‘dead drop’ where it would be picked up by the one person whom it was understood could not attend the service.
A mystery woman in black, wearing a black veil was noticed at the back of the room during the ceremony. By the end of the service, she’d gone.
On a hillside near Pitlochry, on the southern edge of the Cairngorms National Park, a house was bought by a woman who had special requirements. The house was old in its appearance on the outside, but modernised throughout the interior.
A small bedroom upstairs was converted into a dressing room. Half of the left wall held a high shoe rack with a wide assortment of footwear. The second half contained a selection of wigs and hats, all displayed to preserve them in good condition.
Against the right wall was a double wardrobe which included; a sniper’s one-piece Ghillie suit, a police officer’s uniform, a postal courier outfit, and a nun’s habit with wimple and cowl. These outfits and a few others were a starting point and would be improved upon.
For three weeks the new owner spent most of her waking hours working on the layout and fittings of the basement. The door to the underground area was more secure than most bank vaults—if a booby-trapped, explosive doorframe could be referred to as secure.
Rachel fitted brackets, shelving and drawer units to cater for enough armament, ammunition, and explosives to support a small rebellion. She had a small selection of sniper rifles, machine guns, handguns, and knives.
On a small shelf to one side stood a custom-made ornate white urn, which was decorated with small purple flowers and green leaves.
A workbench was set up where Rachel could strip and assemble her collection of weapons. She tasked herself with learning all there was to know about the tools of her trade.
One wall was set aside with a notice board. On the board were the general description and known details of one person, the pseudonyms used thus far, and the cities across the world where the person had been known to reside; for however long.
Along the way, Rachel would execute lowlifes as they came to her attention, but if it were to take her lifetime, she would locate and kill Martina Crawford aka Nadia Henderson.
Deadly Nightshade was not a nickname—it was a byword for summary justice, and the primary target was already known by general appearance and DNA.
Endnotes
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All characters, locations, and events in this trilogy, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious, and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. To create a strong geographical foundation the place names in the UK, Europe, Canada and USA scenes are real. Fort Etive in the story is fictitious, although set in a real region.
A word from the author
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I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for buying this collection. I hope you enjoyed the story and you will be tempted to buy another of my books. I would be grateful if you would take the time to write a short review, which would benefit potential readers and assist me as a writer. Tom
http://www.tombensonauthor.com
As you’ve been kind enough to try my work I thought you might like to know that ‘Codename: Nightshade’ will be available in the autumn of 2019.
It is a spinoff/standalone story.
About the Author
Tom Benson was born in Glasgow, Scotland
in 1952. He joined the British Army at 17, serving 23 years, from 1969 – 1992.
Tom worked at trade with a wide variety of radios in England, Northern Ireland
and throughout Germany.
He served 2 years in West Berlin while the infamous wall was in place. He spent 2 years as
a military training instructor.
Tom saw active service on the streets
of Northern Ireland in 1973
and in the desert during the Gulf War in 1991.
A career in retail spanning 25 years
followed service life. Tom retired in 2017.
He has been a creative writer since 2007
and is married with a grown son.
Also by the author
All titles are available in digital format.
The author is in the process of producing
all of his novels in paperback.
*These titles are available in paperback.
Novels
*Amsterdam Calling
*Ten Days in Panama
Beyond The Law: Retribution
Beyond The Law: Consequences
A Taste of Honey
Give & Take: A Tale of Erotica
Curious and Camping: An Erotic Journey
Being a Good Girl: An Erotic Novel
Sharing: An Erotic Novel
A Class Act: A Tale of Erotica
Woman to Woman: Give & Take; The Prequel
A Life of Choice - Part One
A Life of Choice - Part Two
A Life of Choice - Part Three
A Life of Choice - Part Four
A Life of Choice - Part Five
.
Short Story Collections
Smoke & Mirrors
Temptation
The Welcome
A Time for Courage
One Man, Two Missions
Coming Around (Erotica)
Quiet Night Inn (Erotica)
.
Novellas (Erotica)
Highland games - 1
Highland games - 2
Highland games - 3
Highland games - 4
Highland games - 5
.
Poetry Collections
Humour: Poetry Vol 1
Love and Romance: Poetry Vol 2
Natural History: Poetry Vol 3
Military Matters: Poetry Vol 4
Thrills and Chills: Poetry Vol 5
Rhyme & Reason: 200 poems
Tongue in Cheek (Erotica)
*This trilogy is only available in paperback:
A Life of Choice: The Trilogy Edition
Part One
A Life of Choice: The Trilogy Edition
Part Two
A Life of Choice: The Trilogy Edition
Part Three
This is the same story as the eBook five-part series,
but reduced to three paperbacks for those who
for whatever reason do not use digital reading devices.
www.tombensonauthor.com
