Assassins Betrayed

by Robert Cuma

  “Okay, Steven, let’s synchronize our watches,” Gina replied.

  “By the way, Gina, in which direction is the Vatican?”

  “Um, let me think.” She pondered for a moment and said, “The same direction the last train was going.”

  “Good. This lead is beginning to shape up. And let’s also try to find Hannah!”

  “We’ll find her, Steven, don’t worry,” Tina exclaimed.

  “Okay, good luck and be careful, you two.”

  About five minutes later, another train went whizzing by. All three of us quickly started out the door and proceeded on our search. After ten minutes down the track, I found nothing out of the ordinary. I returned to the meeting place to find the girls waiting there. I asked, “How did you guys do?”

  Gina responded, “We didn’t find anything except a large open area where the tracks go in different directions.”

  “Did you see a maintenance area for the trains?”

  “There might be one on the far side of the tracks but it seemed like a difficult place to crossover. The trains were moving rather fast traveling through that area.”

  “I’ll go take a look. You guys wait upstairs.”

  “No way, Steven, we’re coming with you!” Gina exclaimed.

  “Okay, if you want, stay close.”

  We began to move down the tracks toward the open area the girls had found. As we neared the open track location, another train came speeding by, pinning us up against the wall once again. After it passed, we looked across the myriad of train tracks in front of us. Trains were moving in different directions, some at high-speed while others slowed for warning lights. The roof on this place was about a hundred feet high. On the other side of the tracks, I saw the lights of a control center sitting atop a high tower. There was a staircase encircling the tower leading to the center. The trick was to cross the tracks without getting killed. Then Tina pointed out a catwalk, which ran on top of everything and led to the other side. I motioned to the girls to follow me across the catwalk. We began our trek right away. The ladder going up was very narrow. Once on top, we easily made it across to the other side. Before descending to the lower level, we observed the entire area below. I saw a maintenance facility in a darkened section near the tower. There were several trains in that area. Two of them were boxcars. I thought it was an unusual place for them to be. The three of us made our way down another narrow ladder. When we reached the bottom, I told Gina and Tina to check out the control station atop the tower while I went to take a closer look at the boxcars. We would meet at the ramp to the maintenance section, which was located beneath the control tower. They both agreed as we all moved out.

  I approached the platform, which led to the two boxcars. Cautiously, I moved to an open door of one of the trains. The place appeared to be deserted as I walked through the open boxcar door. I had Gina’s flashlight with me. As I shined the light toward the end of the train, I saw what seemed to be a body on the floor. Moving closer, I could see it was Hannah all tied up, gagged and laying there half-naked. By the time I reached her, I knew she was the bait as the train door closed and locked behind me. I knelt in front of Hannah as I picked her up a little. She was alive but very groggy. I slowly untied her bruised body and held her close. Blood was seeping through the bandages wrapped around her rib cage from the last beating she took. Her face was also beat up somewhat. Best I could tell she didn’t have any broken bones other than her ribs. Hannah’s tee shirt was almost torn off so I took my jacket and covered her up. After wiping her lovely face, she opened her eyes and in a soft voice asked, “Steven, is that you?”

  “It’s me gorgeous, how are you feeling?” as I kissed the top of her head.

  “These guys play rough. They only kept me alive because they knew you would come looking for me.”

  “Well, I’m here now. You try to relax while I find a way out of this place.”

  “Am I still in the boxcar?”

  “Yeah, but we’ll get out of here fast.”

  “They have us trapped in this miserable place. They beat me from one side to the other.”

  “I can see that, try to stay calm.” I climbed up a thin ladder, to check the small trap door on roof of the boxcar. It too was locked shut. They even sealed the lower one. I went back and lay down next to Hannah to offer her some comfort.

  Then in a weakened voice, she said, “Steven, my hero. Did you know I idolized you since the first time I ever heard of you?”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “You were like the king of spies and everyone in the Mossad studied your methods. My dream came true when I met you but to be able to work with you was the greatest.”

  “Listen, Hannah, based on my methods we will get out of this place. So don’t get all sentimental on me.” I kissed her again. I could feel her tears in the darkness.

  Then I heard a commotion outside on the train platform. I asked, “Hannah, how many goons are there?”

  “I counted six when they left the apartment.”

  “Okay, lay here and take my backup revolver,” as I handed her my other gun. “If any of them come near you, kill them.”

  I jumped up and moved near the door. The commotion got louder. I figured they grabbed Gina and Tina. Tina was making all the noise. She knew I would hear her. As the terrorists opened the main door, I was ready with my gun and flashlight. When the door was opened just enough for the girls to be thrown in the boxcar, I shouted, “Duck!” The girls fell to the ground and I started firing. Three of the goons fell with shots to their heads. I forced my way out to the platform and killed two more. The last two started running fast. I yelled, “Girls, get Hannah out of the boxcar and find a safe place,” as I ran after the fleeing terrorists. I chased them but to no avail. They disappeared into the darkness.

  I quickly returned to the girls. They got Hannah out of the boxcar and were moving back toward the tower. More of the enemy started shooting at them but Tina and Gina picked up the AK-47s from the dead guys and opened fire. The enemy certainly was outgunned with Gina firing two AK-47s along with another one from Tina. Hannah also was firing my backup revolver. The enemy started to retreat. But most of them succumbed to the girls’ firepower. They were falling like ducks in a shooting gallery. I asked, “Who knows the fastest way out of here?”

  Gina responded, “We can get to the street from the control tower.” So up the stairs we went. As I carried Hannah, the two girls led the way to the top of the tower. Once we reached the control room, Gina and Tina crashed through the door and began firing their guns at all the inhabitants. They all fell dead onto the floor.

  I asked, “How did you know these guys were terrorists?”

  “That’s how we got caught in the first place, by coming in here,” Gina replied.

  Then Gina picked up the phone and called for backup. Police were all over the place in minutes. I told Tina to make sure Hannah gets to the hospital right away. Two policemen picked up Hannah and with Tina went to the hospital. I told Gina we have to get back to the train. She asked, “Do we need police backup?”

  “Not right now, have them secure the area. I think the bomb is in one of those boxcars. Tell the police if the train starts to move to let it go. If they try to stop it, the terrorists will detonate the bomb!” After Gina conveyed my message, we both started to go back to the train platform. About halfway down the stairs, we both saw all the track traffic lights begin to turn red.

  I shouted, “The terrorists have remote control over the train traffic system! We must get on the train before it leaves!” We ran faster as the two boxcars began to move. We hit the platform running and quickly grabbed the ladder located in the front of the first boxcar. We climbed up and made it to the top of the train. The two boxcars were being pushed by an electric Locomotive car from behind. Gina and I ran to the back of the second boxcar. Once there, we lay down as not to be seen by the two men in the train drivers’ compartment.

  Gina shouted, “Let’s shoot them
now!”

  “No, Gina, we can’t. Do you see the one guy with his finger on the button attached to the remote device? If his finger comes off the button, the bomb will detonate. We have to disengage the bomb quickly.” We moved backwards to the trap door on top of the boxcar. It had to be in this one since the other was empty. I lowered Gina down inside the train and I followed. A dim light was on in the boxcar. There the bomb sat with all the detonation devices in place. My first thought was I wished Mike were here now. He is a nuclear weapons expert. But this was not the case. It was up to Gina and me.

  We moved around the area with Gina shinning her flashlight on whatever we were looking at. The radioactive material was in several sealed drums waiting for the explosive device to detonate. Once that happened, the effects of the radioactivity would be felt for miles around the explosion. The bomb would not do much damage but the radioactivity would kill many people and keep the target area hot for a long time. Gina found some tools on the floor of the train and handed me a wire cutter. I asked, “Do you trust me to cut the right wires?”

  “I trust you to do anything. Should you cut the wrong wire, I hope we will have time to make love. That would be my only request.”

  “That’s a date, my beautiful, Gina.”

  I proceeded to trace the wires in and around the mechanism. The train was moving slowly. That was probably because these drums were not secured to the floor. Typical terrorist operation, slap it together and blow it up. These jerks were willing to die for their cause. After analyzing the situation, I noticed the explosive device was dynamite sticks strapped together. We opened the large side door of the boxcar to get some air inside. I knew which wires I was going to cut but first I wanted Gina on top of the train to kill the button man quickly. I told her to climb up the ladder on the side of the train and to get in place. She kissed me with great passion and went up to her perch. Fiddling around with the wires I previously selected, I finally got up the courage to start cutting. The first wire I cut was the connection from the receiver to the dynamite. Nothing happened. This was a good sign. I continued to cut wires until the entire system was dismantled. Then came the big test, take out the button man. I yelled to Gina, “Kill them! Kill them both!” Six shots rang out and I had to assume the button man was down.

  Gina quickly returned to my position. She hugged me and said, “I knew you could do it, Steven, I knew you could do it.” She started to kiss me all over. I certainly kissed her back. Then a weird thing happened, the train began to pick up speed. We both looked out the door as a station went whizzing by. The speed of the train was accelerating by the second. This was not good. We both went to the top of the boxcar to see what was going on. We had to crawl to the place where Gina was when she killed the two terrorists since we were in a low ceiling tunnel. We got to the end of the boxcar to see that the motor man fell on the controls. In doing so, he pushed the lever to maximum speed. This was getting worse. At these speeds, the radioactive material in the drums would certainly fall over. We had to stop the train. I lowered Gina down between the cars and I followed. The speed almost threw her off the train.

  I yelled, “Go inside the locomotive but wait for me to unhook the boxcars.” I had to do this because as soon Gina lifted the dead guy off the controls the train would come to a screeching halt. This would certainly tip over the polluted drums in the boxcar. I began to loosen the train’s coupling device as Gina made her way into the locomotive. As the train sped through another station, I almost was thrown from between the cars onto the tracks below. With one huge effort, I finally removed the coupling device. Then I quickly jumped onto the locomotive. Soon the boxcars began to slowdown enough to avoid any collision. That’s when Gina moved the dead guy from his perch, while the locomotive came to an abrupt stop, screeching along the tracks right at a station. We jumped off while a HAZMAT team and a train engineer got onboard. They were going after the boxcars before they could do anymore damage.

  Once on the platform, Gina and I were quickly taken outside to a HAZMAT vehicle by guys in space-like suits. They threw us into the van and removed all our clothes. They proceeded to spray us down with anti-radioactive chemicals. Gina shouted over the noise, “Steven, can we make love now? It would be kind of kinky, don’t you think?” She came close to me and kissed me in all her naked glory.

  I shouted back, “Gina, what have I created with you?”

  “I guess it has been in me all my life just waiting for the right partner!”

  Soon enough the spraying stopped and one of the space suit guys gave us clothes to put on. He told us to get dressed quickly before his team goes wild. I wondered why all the guys were watching us getting sprayed. Or I should say, watching Gina getting sprayed. Gina drives men wild. Gina without clothes drives men insane! Oh well, life does have its’ moments.

  16 - The Chase

  ______________

  Now that the emergency was over, all the security people went back to normal operations. The Italian citizens were unaware of the potential tragedy that almost occurred. Just as well. Carlo thanked me profusely along with my team before returning to Naples. I contacted Tom York who told me the suspects in question have all left Rome. I replied, “Tom, that’s par for the course. If they should return, have Gina’s father arrest the lot of them.” He agreed and thanked me for my help. Gina checked on the Bono guy we interrogated. She was told he went to his mother’s house and has been there ever since. If he made a move, Gina would be contacted. I guess she scared the hell out of this character.

  A while later, Gina and I were on our way to see Hannah at the hospital when my cell phone rang. It was Grimes. He thanked me for the great job my team and I had done to avert a worldwide disaster. He told me to take some time off before proceeding with the Bono assignment. My response was in the affirmative and we would be out of pocket for a while. I told him that I would surface in about a week. I also told him not to call unless it was an emergency. He agreed and we hung up the phones.

  It was getting close to daybreak when Gina and I reached the hospital where Hannah was. Tina, sitting by her side, told us Hannah was going to be fine. All she needed was some rest. I figured we all needed a little R and R. Gina suggested we go to her house outside of Florence for a couple of days. After we concurred, she requisitioned a car and we were off to Tuscany.

  We arrived early in the afternoon to an empty house. Tina and Hannah were amazed at the house with all its’ splendor. We then hit the showers and rested for a while, except Gina, who was flush with passion. We stayed in our own bedroom and made adoring love for a while. I couldn’t complain. Later, we all met in the kitchen to eat and chat.

  I started by saying, “All of you have done a great job. I am proud of each and every one of you.”

  Gina spoke, “I think I can speak for Tina and me by saying we have become better spies by working with you and Hannah, Steven. Actually, before we met you we never killed anybody. Now we kill for kicks,” as she smiled at Hannah and me.

  Tina chimed in with, “Do you think we can become assassins like you?”

  I responded, “Tina, you are a brilliant girl with a bright future. Let’s see what happens after you go to the university. If you still want to be an assassin, I’ll train you myself.”

  “That’s a deal. Will I be staying with you guys?”

  “You better believe it!” With that, Tina ran over to me and hugged me with adoring love. I knew the feeling was mutual.

  Gina took Hannah and Tina for a tour of the house. She showed them the secret passageways inside the walls and the elaborate alarm system. This place was built like a modern day fortress. After awhile, Gina and Tina went to their separate bedrooms. Tina would be sharing a bedroom with Hannah while Gina and I would stay together. A little later, Hannah said she was tired. As she started to get up, I could see she was hurting so I picked up this frail little dynamo and carried her to bed. I took off her clothes so she could sleep more comfortably. As I put her on the bed, she said, “St
even, what I said on the train I meant it but I’m no weakling, you do know that?”

  “Of course I do, Hannah,” as I kissed her tenderly. “Sleep my beauty, sleep.” Because she was inducted into this business at such a young age, she never had a chance for a normal life. Like Tina, she broke my heart. I was about to leave the room when Tina said, “Don’t I get a kiss, too?”

  “Sure, sweetness,” I replied, as I walked over to her bed. She sat up, put her arms around me and kissed me on the cheek. I put my arms around her and couldn’t feel any clothing. I said softly, “Tina, you have to sleep with some clothes on.”

  “Can’t I be like the other girls on your team?”

  I looked at her sweet beautiful face and said, “Sure, you can, Tina.” I tucked her under the covers and kissed her forehead. She said, “I love you, Steven.”

  “I love you, too.” I shut the lights and went into Gina’s room. Exhausted, sleep came easy.

  _______

  The next morning we were sitting around the breakfast table just enjoying the coffee and the down time. Hannah was feeling better, which pleased me. She had been through a lot and I knew she didn’t tell me everything about her ordeal. Maybe I would talk to her about it later.

  I asked, “Gina, do you have a computer network in the house?”

  “Sure do, Steven, as a matter of fact we have an entire computer room.”

  “Great, why don’t you let Tina get familiar with it so we can have some fun?”

  “Will do, come on, Tina, I’ll show you the system we have here.” The two girls left the kitchen. I asked, “Hannah, do you want to talk to me about the ordeal you’ve been through?”

  “Steven, its’ okay. I’ll get through it alright.”

  “Hannah, these things should be talked about.”

  “I don’t want to upset you. I saw what happened after Linda told you about her torment. It made you overprotective of all the girls’ that you lost your edge for a while. That is not good for the team.”