Lethal Promise

by Paul Stretton-Stephens

  “No, we deliberately attacked those Westerners having a good time, with their alcohol and loud music. We wanted them to suffer as our families have suffered at their hands in our lands.”

  “You sound like a terrorist on a mission,” jibed the male eastern European voice.

  Bryn said, “I am a terrorist. But I am a smart terrorist who requires large quantities of money to fuel my objectives. That is why I am so effective and why you need me.”

  Marne intervened: “Thank you, Bryn. Does anyone else have questions?”

  “I do,” said a meek female voice.

  Augustus Marne encouraged her to speak. “Yes, Tanvi, what do you want to say?”

  “What is the position of our funds? Are we on track to make the growth predicted in our last meeting?”

  “Sookun, as ever focused on the money,” said Augustus Marne. “Let’s see what our accounts look like today. Javi, can you please help Elizabeth project our accounts and balances as of today, please?”

  “Yes, Mr Marne.”

  The meeting continued for a few minutes with some low-level chatter, and then there was an audible gasp from the group.

  Jago smiled. “I guess they’ve just discovered that they have no money anywhere.”

  A female voice stated in disbelief, “This can’t be right. I checked the account statements myself two days ago before coming here. There must be a problem with the feed. I’ll make some calls and get back to you.”

  “Elizabeth, don’t be hasty. Just wait and show us the other accounts first,” directed Augustus Marne.

  There was silence, anticipation in the air, and then: “No! They can’t all be empty. It’s not possible. IT’S JUST NOT POSSIBLE,” screamed Elizabeth.

  Jago and the team could hear hysteria from within the residence.

  “Fi, let Satyam know we’re going in, in three minutes.”

  “Will do, Boss.”

  Chapter 39

  Jago, Fi and Dom checked their equipment, set off their MPDs and made their respirators handy. They rapidly covered the distance under the cover of trees towards the back of the property. They entered the river and emerged on the bank at the rear of the Marne residence. Fi and Dom stayed low on the bank, waiting for the roaming guard, who was due at any moment. Jago took a position in a recess at the rear of the building. He could hear the guard approaching.

  Fi stood, allowing the guard to see her. The guard’s back was now to Jago, and she startled him. The guard raised his weapon towards Fi, but before he had time to level it, Jago was upon him. He gripped him in a headlock, and Fi ran forward and grabbed his weapon. Jago quickly rendered the guard unconscious in a sleeper headlock before dragging him to rest alongside the foot of the building.

  The kitchen door was ajar. As planned, Jago entered first, weapon at the ready, scanning for any sign of trouble. Fi followed and covered opposite angles, while Dom took the rear. The two startled kitchen staff immediately raised their hands in surrender.

  “Don’t worry, we’re not here for you. Go out and sit on the riverbank and you’ll be safe out there.”

  The two members of staff scuttled away as instructed.

  There was a door in the far right-hand corner of the kitchen that led directly into the meeting room. To the left was another door that led to the passageway outside the meeting room and to the stairs where Fi and Jago had been before. They headed for that door.

  There was a guard stationed in the hallway. He was looking at something on his mobile telephone. Jago covered Fi as she approached the man, levelling her weapon directly at his face. He glimpsed her in his peripheral vision and made to go for his holstered pistol. Fi was too fast for him and upon him like a flash.

  She whispered, “Don’t do that if you value your life.”

  The man froze.

  “That’s good. Walk slowly towards me with your hands above your head.”

  He did as directed and Fi backed into a recess under the stairs, allowing Dom to cover their captive.

  “Stop there,” ordered Fi.

  The guard was perspiring.

  “I’m just going to take your pistol. Don’t move or my friend here will shoot you. And in case you’re wondering, his weapon is fitted with a sound suppressor, so your friends inside won’t hear a thing. Are we clear?”

  The guard nodded his head, and Fi unclipped his holster and removed the pistol.

  “Now lie down on the ground, face down, and put your hands behind your back.”

  Fi knelt on the man’s back and applied PlastiCuffs to his wrists and then his ankles. Dom rose to his feet and dragged the man across the shiny tiled floor into the kitchen. He searched for some cloth. He found a serviette and stuffed it in the man’s mouth, before securing it in place.

  “I’ll take the door into the meeting room from the kitchen. Fi, we’ll give you a minute to get into place at the balcony overlooking the meeting room. Dom, you take the door leading from the passageway. Fi, in one minute from now, throw in two stun grenades from above, and Dom and I will enter.”

  As they moved to take up their positions, they could hear a cacophony of voices from within the meeting room. And then they could hear the commotion had started outside. Satyam and his team had fired tear gas at the group of bodyguards – two of whom entered through the main door of the residence with their pistols drawn. They weren’t expecting Dom to be there as they were trying to get away from the tear gas. One lifted his pistol, and Dom shot him twice, and then aimed right and shot the other man before he could raise his pistol hand.

  It was time, and Fi tossed in the stun grenades. Immediately after the flashbang, Dom and Jago burst into the room.

  “EVERYONE DOWN ON THE FLOOR, NOW!” yelled Jago and Dom in unison.

  “Lie face down with your hands behind your backs,” ordered Dom.

  The women in the room screamed.

  Jago harshly pulled Elizabeth up from the floor. “Here, you put these nice and tight around their wrists,” he instructed, handing her some PlastiCuffs.

  She started with Tanvi Sookun, then Ruslan, Javi and Vikram.

  Fi watched diligently from above and caught sight of the Chinese man, Huang Li, producing a gun from his briefcase. She shot him once, and he reeled backwards onto Ruslan and Henry, who were complying with Jago’s instruction.

  Two men in the corner of the room had taken up firing positions, aiming towards Fi. Dom let rip with a burst to the corner, and Jared Tandy took two rounds, one in the chest and the other in the side of his head. Blood splattered across the area and over the two sisters, who were lying on the floor beside Jared. They screamed incessantly.

  Bryn, the now-lone gunman, grabbed Ingrid Stronoch, and used her as a shield as he pointed his pistol towards Dom, who in turn aimed squarely at the woman.

  Flur Marne jumped to her feet. “No, Bryn, don’t let it end this way.”

  Augustus Marne and Jago both looked on, recognising the emotion in her voice.

  “Shoot them both. They deserve it,” said Jago, staring Flur directly in the eye.

  The tension in the room was high, amid the screams from within and the sound of gunfire raging in the car park outside.

  Suddenly, a single shot rang out as Fi dispatched Henry. He’d rolled over and Fi had seen a pistol in his hand.

  Bryn pulled Ingrid closer to him. “You won’t shoot me through her; that’s not what you’re trained to do, you military types. Rules of engagement, that’s what you work to. I’m leaving with her. Now you move aside or I’ll kill her.”

  “Then what? We’ll just kill you. We might as well do both of you now and get it over and done with. Shoot them both,” directed Jago.

  Bryn looked at Dom, whose weapon remained trained on the wide-eyed and terrified Ingrid. Then, at the point where Dom’s eyes met Bryn’s, a shot rang out from Jago. He had fired and hit Ingrid in the shoulder. Her body buckled, heading to the floor. Bryn couldn’t hold her. It exposed him. Jago rapidly fired a second time, sending Bryn bac
kwards, and then advanced upon him. Bryn raised his pistol, and Jago shot him again, only this time in the head.

  “NO!” screamed Flur as she broke free from Elizabeth, who was just about to cuff her. She ran to Bryn, sobbing and screaming.

  Jago grabbed her arm. “See what it’s like to lose a loved one? How do you like it?” he asked.

  She screamed at him, “IT WAS BUSINESS, YOU BASTARD, JUST BUSINESS.”

  Jago let her go for a brief moment. She took the bait and reached for Bryn’s gun to exact revenge. Jago lurched forward, pointing his weapon at her head, as Augustus looked on in anguish.

  “Go on, give me the excuse to pull this trigger.”

  She paused, but then suddenly continued reaching for the pistol, and Jago and Fi both shot her. She slumped forward over Bryn’s lifeless body. Jago kicked the weapon away and turned to Marne, who was now cuffed, face down.

  “How does it feel, Augustus?”

  “How does what feel?” he asked.

  “How does it feel to lose everything? You have no money, no weapons and no wife. How does that feel for a man who had everything?”

  “You can’t hold me. You have nothing on me, and there’s no way you’ve been able to take all of my wealth.”

  Jago secretly wondered if that last statement were true.

  “That’s interesting coming from someone who is now cuffed and face down on the floor. Someone whose wife is lying dead on top of her lover. Someone who will realise that all the money in his accounts, his wife’s accounts and those of his mother has either been redistributed or has disappeared altogether. Oh, and that includes all, I repeat all, of your worldwide physical assets. In fact, you now owe several thoroughly miffed financial institutions a lot of money that you don’t have. Who do think is going to work for you now?”

  Meanwhile, Dom was cuffing Elizabeth. She appeared more shocked by the state of their accounts than the assault and kept mumbling to herself.

  The external noise abated and members of Satyam’s team entered the building. They searched the house and started to take away the captives. Satyam appeared to one side of Dom. Dom had seen him approach through his MPD lens and thought nothing of it – until Satyam produced his pistol. Dom took evasive action, sidestepping out of harm’s way as Satyam fired. Dom went down. He’d taken a round in his right side.

  Fi looked down to where the shot had come from and checked her MPD lens before acting. She saw two of Satyam’s men pointing their guns at her from behind her. She continued looking over the balcony, as if to see what was happening below, and surreptitiously unclipped a stun grenade. She pulled the pin, let the grenade drop and kicked it behind her. It exploded, and she leapt over the balcony into the meeting room.

  Jago heard the shot and the grenade and watched as Fi literally dropped into the room. She trained her weapon on Satyam. He faced her.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You’d never get out of here alive.”

  “Neither would you,” replied Fi confidently.

  Jago dragged Marne to his feet. He resisted, and Jago struck him across the face with his gun.

  “Satyam, it would seem that you’re either on the payroll of Mr Marne or there’s another reason for your actions here. Perhaps you’re protecting the minister?”

  Jago was probing, searching for a nerve. He continued, “Oh, I get it. You can’t let it get out that a minister of government has had a central role in overseas atrocities for pure financial gain.”

  “The reason is unimportant now. All the press and the people will hear is that a band of three rogue foreign agents were killed in an assassination attempt and that the government’s special forces overcame them.”

  Holding Marne tightly, Jago said, “So Marne here is unimportant to you? It’s immaterial whether he lives or dies then?”

  Satyam hesitated. “It doesn’t matter to me or my men whether he lives or dies. Shoot him if you wish. It’s one less to worry about.”

  Jago checked his MPD lens. There were five of Satyam’s men in the room plus Satyam, and two in the passageway. Fi was doing the same, and Dom was scanning the room from his slumped position.

  Two of Satyam’s men escorted Javi and Vikram out of the room. As they went, they passed by Jago and Marne.

  “The minister is his wife,” whispered Javi, who remained unaware that his brother was working undercover for Satyam.

  Satyam grabbed Javi. “What did you say to him?”

  “I said, ‘Have a nice life.’ He nearly killed me and deserves what’s coming to him.”

  Satyam listened and ordered the guards to release Javi and his brother from their cuffs once outside.

  Now there were only three of Satyam’s men, plus Satyam.

  “What happens now, Satyam? How do you want to play this?”

  “I’ve been thinking that it would be best if you all die in a hail of bullets. It would be very fitting for people such as yourselves.”

  “What would Abi think of that, Satyam?”

  “I shall call and tell her what heroes you all were. She’ll be sad, but she’ll get over it, I’m sure. I could even invite her to come out to see me. That would be nice, don’t you think?”

  “What, and stay with you and your wife – the minister?”

  Satyam looked surprised.

  “Yes, we do our homework, Satyam. And just so you know, those little gadgets we use, those ones flying around above your heads …” Satyam and his men looked up, searching for the micro drones. “They transmit and stream live video and audio that is stored well away from here. Oh, and I should tell you that it’s being shared with some very powerful people in your secret intelligence community and some of our African and Asian friends right now. So why don’t you give them a wave?”

  “You’re bluffing.”

  “Am I?”

  Satyam’s men were still watching the drones. Fi trained her weapon on the three men, who were close to one another. “Drop your weapons while you still can. You might get away with the fact that you were following orders.”

  Two men gently placed their weapons on the floor. The other looked to Satyam for guidance. The man raised his weapon, and Dom shot him. Satyam spun round, attempting to fire at Jago, but he hit Marne in the neck. Satyam’s spinning body spiralled to the floor after sustaining two shots in quick succession from Jago. Satyam’s heavy frame came to rest at Dom’s feet. He was still conscious and trying to move. Dom mercilessly finished the job.

  Jago knelt down to check on Marne’s condition. He was struggling to breathe, with frothing blood oozing from his mouth.

  Jago whispered in his ear, “I know that I didn’t pull the trigger, but I have the satisfaction of knowing you will never again work your evil and that I have avenged my Rebecca. I hope that you rot in hell, where you belong.”

  Augustus Marne’s body tensed and his eyes widened in response to Jago’s words.

  “There’s still life in you then. Well, I suppose I’d better sort that out,” said Jago, and he placed the muzzle of his pistol against Marne’s left eye before squeezing the trigger.

  Jago’s words were the last heard by Augustus Marne as his lifeless body sank to the floor.

  Chapter 40

  Fi and Jago entered Dom’s private room just as a nurse was leaving.

  “Now don’t you forget to take those pills three times a day, and come back in one week so I can change that dressing,” said the forceful nurse.

  “Yes, nurse, no problem. I’ll be here in one week,” answered Dom as he gingerly attempted to sit on the edge of his bed.

  Fi stepped forward. “Do you need a hand, Dom?”

  “Yes, please – to get out of this place. Give me a good old terrorist to deal with any day. I mean, these nurses never stop; they’re mean as hell. Are you here to take me out, Boss? Please say yes!”

  “Hi, Dom. How are you doing? Do you think you could manage if we took you out? We’re not nurses, you know, but I guess that Fi could look after you for a few
days.”

  Fi turned to look at Jago. “Hey, Boss, that’s not fair. I’m no nurse. If you’re not going to be there, Dom can stay here with proper nurses.”

  “You know, Dom, she’s got a point. Maybe you should stay for a while,” said Jago, laughing.

  “Where are you going, Boss?” Dom asked as he propped himself up against the bedside cabinet.

  “I’m going back to Perth to see Hunter, Linda and the kids, and catch up with Mikey.”

  “Is that the only catching up you’re going to do?” asked Fi, who knew Jago only too well.

  “I’m sure I’ll pay Captain Bennet a visit while I’m there. Abi, Bernie and the guys have kindly stripped his assets before my visit, so he’ll be on tenterhooks.”

  “I can go with you, if you want.”

  “Thanks, Fi, but I’ve got to do this on my own. Anyway, you’ve got a patient to take care of. Oh, and by the way, as a way of saying thank you, the minister of justice has changed our hotel. We’re now in Le Victoria on the beach for a couple of weeks. There’ll be the odd debrief with the security services, but for the rest of the time you’re on rest and recuperation.”

  “That sounds great. How long will you be gone?”

  “I’ll be back in a few days and catch up with you then. As a treat, I’m having Abi, Bernie and the tech guys fly out with their partners for ten days. It should be a good time for all of you after such a challenging op. Anyway, I’m heading off now. I’ve a plane to catch.”

  ***

  As Jago entered airport arrivals, he spotted Mikey waiting for him, as planned.

  “Hi, Jago. How are you? I’ve heard the version that the authorities received, but how did it really go?”

  “I’ll tell you when we’re in the car. Where are you parked?”

  “It’s only a short walk away, this way.”

  Once they’d stowed Jago’s luggage in the car’s boot they got underway.

  “Well, don’t keep me in suspense,” said Mikey.

  “There was a well-organised organisation behind of all this. They treated everything as if it was a business, and for most of them it was. All they wanted was a healthy return on their investments. It became more complex for the group when Flur Marne and Bryn Khan-Wright got together. She saw an opportunity to grow her business by using Bryn’s ideology and terrorist inclinations and he liked her access to money. Together, they manipulated the organisation and its original aims. They used the investors’ finance to help them achieve their aims, at the investors expense. And Bryn also wanted to prove that his group could be an effective asset to other terror organisations.”