by Terry Toler
“Haven’t we had enough of British slang words?” she asked.
“You’re also knackered.”
“Alex!”
“Knackered means you’re tired.”
“I am that. I can barely keep my eyes open. Even with all the caffeine.”
“Trollied means you’re drunk.”
“I’m not drunk! She just brought my wine. I haven’t had my first sip.”
Jamie took a big sip for emphasis. “Now I have,” she said, and then burst out laughing like she’d already had a couple of drinks.
She shushed me. We were making a scene.
A few minutes later, the waitress approached with a tiered tray full of bite sized sandwiches and sweets. My face was still buried in the phone looking up British slang words.
“Don’t you think my wife is dog’s bollocks and bee’s knees?” I asked the waitress.
A huge grin came on her face. Jamie’s eyes widened in surprise like she couldn’t believe the words that had just come out of my mouth.
“What did he just call me?” Jamie asked the waitress.
“He said you were awesome,” she replied, grinning.
“Bob’s your uncle,” I added.
Jamie looked at me with her mouth twisted into a confused look. Then she looked at the waitress. “What did he say?”
“There you go!” she replied.
I scanned the phone for more words. The waitress decided to join in.
“He’s lost the plot,” the waitress said to Jamie.
I started scrolling through the terms.
“He’s a bit wonky,” she added.
“Hey!” I said, amused that she was blurting out names before I had time to look them up.
“I remember that one,” Jamie said. “Wonky means you’re crazy.”
“Crazy about you,” I said.
“What does ‘lost the plot’ mean?” Jamie asked the waitress.
“It means that he’s crazy. Same as wonky.”
“That he is,” Jamie agreed.
“You two make a cute couple,” the waitress replied.
“We’re on our honeymoon!” I said with a huge grin on my face.
“That explains it. Congratulations.”
The waitress walked away, and I was totally satisfied with the exchange. A little levity was exactly what we needed.
Jamie took another sip of her sparkling wine. She looked so pretty it almost took my breath away. I couldn’t help myself. I reached across the table and kissed her. She smelled sweet. And tasted like the wine.
“Do you think you can just steal a kiss anytime you want, Mr. Halee?”
I reached over and gave her another one.
She motioned for me to move in closer. Then she whispered in my ear. “After we finish eating, would you like to go back to the hotel and steal my virginity?”
“Absobloodylootely!”
I had read that on the list.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
I suddenly didn’t feel so tired.
***
Iran
“We found Halee!” one of Pok’s men said almost breathlessly, as he rushed into Pok’s office.
A bolt of excitement went through Pok like an electric current.
They’d been searching for nearly four hours for Halee and hadn’t had any luck. The couple had left the hotel several hours before, and Pok’s men had lost them in a maze of taxis. Pok was about to abandon the search and try again tomorrow. He hadn’t expected it to be this difficult.
“Where are they?” Pok said excitedly.
“They’re at the Kensington Palace. In the tearoom. They went in about an hour ago.”
“Good work. That means they’re about done with dinner. We’re going to have to hurry.”
Pok sprang into action. He found Niazi. “Do you have a man near Kensington Palace?”
Pok pointed to a spot on a London map.
“I can have someone there in ten minutes.”
“Halee’s in the tearoom. Right here. By the gardens. They should be exiting anytime.”
“I’m on it,” Niazi said as he got on his phone.
Pok heard him barking instructions.
When Niazi hung up, Pok said, “Even if they leave the tearoom before your man gets there, he can intercept them anywhere along the way. They’ll probably walk back to their hotel. Along this path.” Pok drew a line on the map.
“I have a man within a few blocks from there,” Niazi said. “He has a radio. I’ll be in direct communication with him. You tell me when you want him to act.”
“We have cameras all along the route. Same as before. Have your man locate a target behind Halee. Then attack him or her with a knife. Hopefully, your man can get away again and we’ll have the same outcome as earlier.”
“Inshallah.”
Pok could hardly contain his excitement. Twice in one day.
And Halee doesn’t suspect a thing.
7
Kensington Gardens
London
When finished with afternoon tea, Jamie and I took a stroll in the beautiful Kensington Gardens. Even though the sandwiches and desserts were bite sized, I felt like I’d eaten a full meal. The sugar rush from all the sweets gave me a temporary burst of energy. It seemed to have had the opposite effect on Jamie. She couldn’t quit yawning. Probably from the glass of wine.
It did feel good to finally relax from the traumatic events of the day. Not wanting to discuss them, I brought up a different subject.
“Have you thought about who you want to hire at AJAX?” I asked. AJAX was our new corporation we’d be running our covert operations out of.
“I have thought about it. Do you think it’s really going to happen?”
“The first ten million dollars was wired into our business account today. I meant to tell you. I forgot. You know… with everything that happened.”
Thinking of the woman caused a sharp pain to shoot through my heart and felt like a deep jab of a knife. Then went away as quickly as it came. Either I tamped it down, or I was doing better at dealing with it. Curly always said the residue of a gunfight didn’t go away completely until the next one. That probably applied to a knife fight as well. The problem was that I didn’t know when our next mission would be or when I could get back in the action and shake this nagging feeling.
Jamie had a way of snapping me back to reality.
“We have ten million dollars in our account, and you were complaining about the bill at the tearoom?” she said with emphasis.
“It cost a hundred and forty dollars!” I retorted. “For some tea and little sandwiches.”
“And worth every penny! I loved it. How often do you get a chance to have tea at Kensington Palace?”
Jamie was back to talking in her British accent.
“You’re one to talk,” I said. “Why didn’t you buy that shirt at the women’s clothing store?”
“It was a hundred and sixty-five dollars! And it wasn’t a shirt. It was a blouse.”
“Why didn’t you get it?”
“I’m not spending a hundred and sixty-five dollars on any blouse. Unless it has diamonds all over it. Don’t you like what I’m wearing?”
Jamie backed away and pulled on her shirt.
“Buy one get one half off,” she added. “I only paid sixty for both.” Jamie said the words smugly and dripping with satisfaction.
“I do like it. In fact, I like it as much if not more than the more expensive one.” I meant it. Jamie had always had good taste in clothes and an eye for bargains.
“That’s probably why they trust us with so much money,” I continued. “Speaking of saving money, you know… one thing we haven’t talked about is where we’re going to live when we get home. I think you should move in with me.”
“Because you’re the man?” she asked strongly.
“No. Because my condo is bigger and has a pool.”
“Those are two very good reasons.”
�
��We’ll save money not having two places.”
“Yes, we will,” Jamie said, letting out a big yawn.
“Are you sure you’re not too tired to make love?” I was suddenly concerned that Jamie was going to be too exhausted to follow through on our plan. That thought sent me into a mini panic.
“No way! I can’t wait!” she said, trying to sound convincing, but she was clearly trying to stifle back another yawn.
“What time is it?” she asked.
“Four thirty.”
“After we do stuff… We’ll be asleep by six. We can sleep for twelve hours if we want. There’s nothing on the agenda for the morning. No place we have to be. We can catch up on our sleep. Like Curly always says.”
“Sleep when you're dead,” we said in unison.
“Sounds like a good plan.” I was glad the “stuff” was still on. Apparently, that was going to be our word for sex.
My heart raced at the anticipation. Feelings of love and desire pulsed through me with every heartbeat.
Jamie snuggled in even closer as we continued to walk through the garden. It felt good and even intensified the feelings of love I had for her at that moment.
“Back to your original question,” she said, interrupting my thoughts with her businesslike voice. “I’d like to bring Josh into AJAX,” she said. “You know the guy that parachuted into Cuba with me.”
“I know who he is,” I said tersely.
Jamie slapped me on the arm. Josh and Jamie had weathered a hurricane huddled up together attached to a pole. Josh being there might’ve saved Jamie’s life. That didn’t keep me from razzing her about it.
“Josh is a colonel,” Jamie explained. “He led many missions in Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq. He’s proficient with a gun. A natural born leader. And fearless. I think he’d be a good tactician to have on the team. I don’t know if he’d be interested, but he was the first person I thought of.”
Josh led a team of hurricane trackers who flew into hurricanes and gathered vital information for the Air Force. I didn’t know if he were obligated to his position or if he could make a career move. He also took out four bad guys while having Jamie’s back on a mission. They rescued four teenage girls who’d been kidnapped and forced into sex slavery by a Cuban oligarch. I agreed that he’d be a good addition if we could get him.
I didn’t say anything for a good minute, thinking about other possible candidates. Jamie interpreted my silence as jealousy.
“You don’t have any reason to be jealous of Josh,” she said. “He’s married and twenty-five years older than me.”
“I know. I’ve just been joshing you. Pun intended,” I said as I poked her in the ribs and smiled wide.
Jamie let out a groan.
I kept jabbing her with my fingers.
“Josh… Do you get it? Did you see what I did there?”
Jamie pulled her arm away from mine, stopped walking, and contorted her face into a grimace. “There are two things you’re not allowed to do in this marriage, Alex Halee.”
“What’s that?” I said with a chuckle.
“Talk in a British accent and make corny jokes.”
“We’ve only been married for two days, and you’re already telling me what to do.”
“Better get used to it.”
Jamie suddenly quickened her step. I matched hers, but it startled me.
“Let’s get going,” she said. “I want to go back to the hotel and show you what you have to look forward to for the next fifty years.”
“There you go, telling me what to do again,” I said jokingly even though the excitement in me intensified even more. If that was possible.
Jamie was no longer on my arm. She was walking faster. It took several large strides to catch back up.
I was in as big a hurry for the “stuff” as she was.
***
I saw the man before Jamie did.
Coming toward us. We were on the walkway that led out of Kensington park.
Middle eastern.
Scruffy beard.
Shifty eyes.
Wearing a jacket. Right hand in the right pocket of his jacket.
My entire body tensed as I was now on full alert. Sirens were going off in my head warning me of the danger and cutting through the fog of the sugar high.
The man was still thirty yards ahead of us, but the gap was closing quickly. We made eye contact. I saw the hate. Same look the other man had.
Between us was a woman walking with a child. A little girl this time. The scene brought back an eerie feeling in me.
Could it be happening again?
Jamie and I were holding hands. I jerked my hand away, startling her. There was not enough time to explain.
I had to hurry. The man was getting close to the woman and young girl.
I nearly sprinted past them. The man pulled his hand out of his jacket.
A knife!
In his right hand. I was headed straight toward him.
Normally, in that situation, I’d change my angle and go to my left. His right. So we’d be perpendicular, and he’d have to slash the knife in an awkward direction. In this instance, I wanted to stay between him and the woman and child.
He wasn’t holding the knife like he was going to thrust it forward. His arm was back, like he was going to make a wide sweeping arc.
A mistake.
He would expect me to jump away. Instead, I bolted forward. Closer to him. The last thing he would expect. I turned my body sideways, so I was at a ninety-degree angle to him. Another move that would confuse him.
He tried to adjust the trajectory of the knife, but it was too late. I caught his wrist with my left hand. With one twist, downward, clockwise, his arm became hyperextended. He let out a cry. Almost a shriek. In one motion, I brought my right elbow down right into the back of the joint. The elbow dislocated and every tendon, cartilage and muscle made a crunching sound as they were torn from their normal position.
His entire arm went limp and the knife fell harmlessly away.
I heard the woman scream and out of the corner of my eye, I saw her grab her child.
I wasn’t done dealing with the threat. The man’s wrist was now limp in my left hand as the arm had no strength to resist. The man balled his fist and made a feeble and reflexive attempt to hit me with his left hand in the back of my head. I intended to reload my elbow and smash it across the side of his head, first.
Before I could, Jamie was at the man’s left side doing the same thing I’d done, but in an opposite manner. She grabbed his left wrist with her left hand. She twisted his wrist counter-clockwise, hyperextending the arm in an unnatural position. Then she brought the palm of her right hand directly into the elbow joint with devastating force. The sound of bone cracking and tendons and cartilage exploding in the man’s elbow was even louder than it had been when I hit him.
The man cried out in excruciating pain.
Simultaneously, as if we were of one mind, we both swept the man’s legs out from under him. Because we were still holding on to his wrists, he fell face first, flat on the pavement. His skull cracked against the concrete, making a horrendous sound. To me, it was music to my ears.
He was out.
I jumped on his back and placed my knee in the middle and began pressing down.
“Alex, don’t!” Jamie said. “You’ll kill him.”
With all my weight on my knee, I had cut off his ability to inflate his lungs with air. He would die within a minute if I didn’t release the pressure.
The lowlife would’ve killed the woman if I hadn’t been there. No doubt in my mind. He deserved to die. But Jamie was right. The man was disarmed and no longer a threat. I released my knee. His breathing was still labored.
He’d probably lose both arms. That brought me the satisfaction I needed at the moment.
I noticed the bulge in the back of his pants. The man had a gun. No one was looking. I glanced around to find the location of the security cameras. I put my body
between the camera and the man.
I slipped the gun out of the back of his pants and into the front of mine, without anyone seeing.
Then I stepped back to take a couple of deep breaths and assess the scene.
A bicycle policeman arrived almost immediately. Then an ambulance. More police.
Then Mick Weaver. Agent Weaver. MI5 counter-intelligence terrorism unit. The same man who was at the first scene on the subway platform.
He took one look at us and his eyes narrowed, and his brow furrowed.
I shrugged my shoulders knowing what he must’ve been thinking.
The assailant was loaded into an ambulance. Weaver walked over and looked at the knife. He stooped down and moved it around on the ground with a pen.
“What happened here?” he asked us.
“The man had a knife,” I said. “He was going after a woman and her child. Same as before. We took him down before he could do anything.”
Weaver pointed toward the beat cop. “The police officer said the man’s injured pretty badly.”
“He got what he deserved. I didn’t want to give him a chance to hurt anyone.”
“Where did you learn how to do that?”
“My buddy owns a gym. Back in the states. He teaches self-defense classes.”
“Here’s what I don’t understand,” Weaver said, moving in closer to us so only we would hear his words. “There’ve been two knife attacks in London today. What are the odds that the two of you were at both of them?”
I shrugged my shoulders again.
“Bad luck, I guess. I don’t know. I can’t explain it.”
“Bad luck for the bad guy, it looks like.”
“I suppose. Good for the woman. She gets to live. The other one wasn’t so lucky. She died.”
“I know. I heard. The two of you are going to have to come with me,” Weaver said.
“Where are we going?”
“Down to headquarters. I want to ask you some more questions. Look at the security tape. Sort out what happened here today.”
I let out a groan.
“I told you what happened.”
Jamie added, “Do we have to? We’re on our honeymoon. We’re also really tired. We were just on our way to our hotel to go to bed and get some sleep.”
“Sorry. But yes, you have to. I’ll have you out of there in two or three hours. Tops.”
