Max & Olivia Box Set

by Mark A Biggs

  Having taken a final look of the house, Simon whispered to Jayde that he was confident that an elderly man he’d seen through the window was on his own. He said, ‘Nothing outside would indicate children.’ With the gardens and grounds in a state of disrepair and neglect, he was confident the man lived alone. ‘The simple plans are the best, you knock on the front door, while I stand flat, pushed hard against the wall, out of sight. When he answers, you smile warmly. Perhaps, you should take the jacket off, because the cocktail dress will look very disarming. When his guard is down, I’ll come forward and it’ll be over in a matter of seconds, subdued but unharmed.’

  As instructed, Jayde held the jacket in one hand while knocking on the door with the other. She took a couple of steps backwards, hoping this would draw the old man out. The porch light flickered into life. A few seconds later the door opened. She smiled at the pensioner and he looked back, mildly confused, not expecting a visitor. As she hoped, he took a step through his doorway. As quick as a flash, Simon appeared from beside the door and thrust the barrel of his pistol in between the man’s eyes. Then in fluent Greek, he instructed the man to turn around and go back inside the house.

  Inside, Simon, now standing behind the man, asked. ‘Do you speak English?’

  ‘Of course,’ came a weary reply.

  ‘We are not going to hurt you. Just do as you’re told, and everything will be fine. For your own safety, don’t look at us as we wouldn’t want you giving a description to the Police after we have gone. Do I make myself clear?’

  The old man, who was about six feet tall and of slender build, nodded but didn’t say anything. ‘If you look, I will have to kill you, and my friend and I don’t want to do that.

  ‘What’s your name?’ asked Simon, having issued his threats.

  ‘Andras,’ came the hesitant reply.

  ‘Hello Andras, we are going to blindfold you, but don’t be frightened.’

  Looking towards Jayde, Simon said, ‘Find something we can use.’

  Jayde scanned the room. Unlike outside, the inside was immaculate, everything neatly in its place. The adornments on the shelves were in perfect lines and equally spaced. The old man had been pressing his clothes and, next to the ironing board, his belongings were neatly folded, waiting to be put away. Jayde took one of the shirts from the pile and handed it to Simon who folded it into a makeshift blindfold and then tied it around his head.

  ‘There you go,’ he said, helping Andras to the couch, which was in the corner of the room and rested against the wall.

  Jayde found her eyes being drawn to the old man’s meticulously polished shoes. Looking about the room once more, she considered Andras to be a little obsessive-compulsive, and then was surprised by the emotion that swept over her. She felt pity and sorrow for this lonely old man. I wonder when his wife died, she muttered quietly to herself, or has he always been like this?’ Then it occurred to her that the outside didn’t match what she saw on the inside. His age she thought. The poor man can no longer maintain a manicured garden.

  ‘Keys to the van?’ she heard Simon ask.

  ‘Hanging in the kitchen, but you won’t be able to start her because she’s very temperamental.’

  ‘I’m used to temperamental. Get the keys,’ said Simon, beckoning to Jayde. When she returned, he used the cable ties to secure Andras’ hands and feet.

  As Simon was pulling the zip ties tight, Andras said, ‘There’s no one to find me, and if you leave me here like this, I will die.’

  ‘Don’t worry yourself, Old Man! We promise to call the police in the morning.’

  ‘Young Man!’ emphasising the words sarcastically. ‘The van won’t start for you. Let me drive because it will be less suspicious with me at the wheel. Think about it; if you are on the run, the police know what you look like and, therefore, me seeing you will make no difference. Let me drive and once you are free, you can let me go, or I could be your hostage. Either way, best you take me with you.’

  Simon, ignoring the old man’s ramblings looked at Jayde and motioned towards the front door with his eyes. ‘It’s time. We were leaving,’ he said. Once outside, he took the two-way radio from his pocket and called ‘Esco’ in preparation for picking up the professor. Moments later, the transponder light flashed a single ping.

  Noticing a frown on Simon’s face, Jayde asked. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘One ping; it means the harbour isn’t safe.’

  ‘What happens now?’

  ‘Get in,’ said Simon, while at the same time he opened the door and slipped in behind the steering wheel. Turning the ignition key, the engine turned over but didn’t fire. He waited, but this time he gave the accelerator a couple of pumps, thinking the van probably had a carburettor. The engine cranked over again, but still, there was no sign of life. He paused and was considering the old man’s words when the two-way radio crackled to life with a single word, ‘Targa,’ which was followed by two pings. This meant that the harbour was compromised and they were to meet at the assembly point. Jayde looked across at Simon when she heard the radio, but she didn’t say anything as she was unsure what Targa meant. From the expression on Simon’s face, she guessed it wasn’t good news. Her heart began to pound and despite wanting to say, we have to help my husband, she remained silent in fear. Part of her wanted to run away.

  Simon opened the driver’s door of the van and started to get out.

  Finding her voice, Jayde asked, ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘To get the old man.’

  ‘Won’t he see us and then be able to identify us later?’

  ‘Right now, that’s the least of our problems.’

  Jayde waited in the van and watched as Simon disappeared back into the house. Alone and surrounded by the dark and stillness of the night, she was terrified. Her heart began to race and she felt light-headed and dizzy.

  ‘What’s happening? Oh my God, I’m having a heart attack.’ Looking at her hands, she felt tingling in her fingers and her breathing was becoming rapid. Just as she was about to scream out for help, the sounds of gunfire could be heard, coming from the direction of the harbour.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Boris and Ivan

  Simon had kept a close eye on the radar, and, if they were being followed, it wasn’t obvious. The timing was perfect as they approached the harbour, with the fading light of dusk helping them see for the docking. Having secured the vessel bow first to the dock, in between two other vessels, they followed their plans. Simon, accompanied by Jayde, left the boat in search of the getaway vehicle. Not long after, Boris left to purchase takeaway food. Crossing the road that ran in front of the harbour, he discovered that he had a choice of three cafes close by, or he could continue walking a little further into town.

  With Simon and Boris away, the Professor was ordered to stay in the ship’s galley, out of sight, with its L-shaped bench, fridge and microwave oven as company. Victor and Ivan positioned themselves towards the bow of the vessel, on either side, covering the left and right frontal approaches from the dock, with some vision of the stern and the boats on either side. They knew this was a dangerous time to be guarding their package and were hyper-alert, on the lookout for any threat. Thirty minutes had passed when Boris returned, carrying the food. By then, dusk morphed into the dark of night, broken along the harbour wall by the glow of street lights. The men on board the Kingtough were not completely hidden by the night; shards of light, from the harbour wall, cast a low glow over them. But by keeping the vessel in total darkness, they had a better view of anyone approaching than the attackers would. Being professional soldiers, Victor and Ivan kept as concealed as possible while continually sweeping the approaches to the boat with the barrels of their automatic weapons. With Boris’s return, he was assigned to protect the Professor in the galley, his personal bodyguard. A meal would have to wait until Simon and Jayde came back. Victor checked his watch; it was over an hour since Simon had left.

  One hundred metres away on the le
ft, two silhouetted figures, a man and a woman walking side by side, slowly emerged from the darkness as they casually strolled towards the boat. Silently, Victor signalled to Ivan who glanced in the direction of the approaching people. Reaching the bow of the boat, where it was tied to the harbour, the couple stopped. From his vantage point, Victor watched as the newcomers looked at the Kingtough, listening to their conversation, unable to make out what was being said. Perhaps, he thought it was something about the Kingtough being an unusual vessel for the harbour. A minute passed before they drifted away along the harbour wall, their backs to the boat.

  ‘Are they gone?’ whispered Victor, having kept his eyes focused on his security zone, rather than following them into Ivan’s arc of control.

  ‘Yes,’ came an equally quiet reply.

  Neither Victor nor Ivan spotted the assailants; it was the sound of bullets skimming off the ballistic-protected hull of the Kingtough that signalled the start of the offensive. The attackers were using silencers, without a clear line of sight, otherwise, they would already have been dead.

  ‘Can you see anything?’ called Victor softly but before Ivan could reply, the red dot of a laser site moved menacingly across the deck before vanishing again. ‘The fire is coming from my side.’

  From the two-way radio sitting next to Victor, he heard the call sign, ‘Esco!’ Picking up the radio, he quickly sent one ping to Simon’s radio before returning his attention to protecting the Professor.

  The stillness of the night, which until now had not been broken by the clandestine attack, was shattered by the sound of un-silenced gunfire coming from a different direction, the opposite to the laser site. Ivan scanned, trying to determine if the shots were aimed at them, before he called to Victor. ‘They are not shooting at us. It seems we’re caught in the middle of two rivals fighting for the Professor. It’s not looking good.’

  ‘Ok,’ answered Victor calmly. ‘We can’t stay here. Let’s head out to sea and meet at the assembly point later. I’ll send the signal to Simon, letting him know the harbour is compromised. Then I’ll cover you while you cast off the lines… It’s done. Go!’

  Inside the cabin, Boris, protecting the Professor and monitoring the radio, saw that the escape plan was now in play.

  Two more shots rang out and Ivan, who had been moving carefully towards the bow of the boat to step up onto the harbour wall, took cover. After waiting a few seconds, he moved again. Reaching the point where the boat was secured to the harbour wall, he climbed up onto the dock and slipped the rope from its bollard, which secured their mooring. As he did so, he had an unobstructed view of the people firing the un-silenced rounds. It was the man and woman who’d passed them earlier. They were now on the other side of the road and using the buildings for cover, moving towards where the laser dot had come from. Ivan had a clear shot at both of them. He hesitated. Should I kill them? That split second was enough to change the course of his life. As the rope fell free of the bollard, Victor watched helplessly as Ivan fell backwards from the wall and into the boat with a thud. He was dead. Without a second thought, Victor turned and, keeping as low as he could, made for the Kingtough controls. Starting its remaining motor, he slipped the boat from its mooring and out into the relative safety of the harbour where he hoped the darkness of the night would be his saviour.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The Great Escape

  ‘You drive,’ Jayde heard Simon say to Andras as they were approaching the van. Opening the passenger side door, he said, ‘Shift over.’

  Forgetting about her chest pains, Jayde asked, panic in her voice, ‘Did you hear the shooting?’ Before Simon could answer, the driver’s door opened and Andras manoeuvred his old body in behind the steering wheel. Discreetly, he slipped his left hand under the dashboard and flicked a switch, an anti-theft device that would now allow the engine to start.

  ‘It takes five pumps of the accelerator pedal, then you hold your foot flat to the floor and it will start.’ With all the theatre of a Shakespearean play, he counted each depression of the accelerator. Then, turning the ignition key, the van came to life. Selecting first gear and excusing himself for brushing Jayde’s knee, who was unceremoniously squashed between the two men with her legs either side of the gear stick, the van hopped forward.

  ‘Where do you want to go?’ asked Andras, bringing the van to a halt at the end of his driveway.

  ‘The harbour,’ answered Simon. Turning left and then right onto the foreshore road, they moved towards the sound of the gunshots.

  ‘Nice and slow,’ instructed Simon, as the harbour came into view. The night was suddenly broken by a flash of brilliant light, followed moments later by the sound of an explosion. The explosion was at sea, just on the other side of the harbour wall. Andras brought the van to a halt. Looking out over the water, they could see the remnants of the Kingtough, now nothing more than a burning wreck. Jayde knew with dismay that her husband was dead and that she had outlived her usefulness.

  Simon will put a bullet into me, push my body out onto the road and drive away. His mission was over, she thought.

  ‘Move up the road a bit,’ instructed Simon to Andras, ‘Stop next to that street light.’ The street was empty of other vehicles but, following the explosion, people who had stayed inside on hearing the sound of gunfire, were now gathering on the road and looking out to sea at the fireball. ‘Wait here,’ instructed Simon. Opening the passenger’s door, he secretly sent three pings on the two-way radio before joining the small crowd.

  Jayde watched Simon through the windscreen. He hesitated at the front of the van, looking carefully in both directions before crossing the road towards the harbour. This is my opportunity, she thought, it’s now or never. Glancing at Andras, who sat motionless behind the wheel, she watched Simon’s progress through the side window. Stupid old man, she thought, if he’s too frightened to simply drive off and leave Simon, that’s his problem. I have to look after myself. Untangling her legs from around the gear stick, she slid across to the passenger door. Looking back over Andras and checking on Simon’s progress through the side window: he’d reached the harbour wall. Go, she thought. But when she went to move her legs, they felt like they were frozen to the floor. She took a deep breath. You can do this, Jayde. You can do this.

  Putting her feet on the road and ready to spring her body from the van, she was startled by Andras, now speaking in a beautifully cultured English voice, the Greek accent gone.

  ‘You might want to wait.’

  Turning her head, she saw Andras staring back at her. He motioned with his eyes for her to look out of the side window. The Professor was clambering over the harbour wall and onto the road, accompanied by Boris, one of the Russian security guards. Her heart jumped and all thoughts of escaping vanished as she watched Simon moving towards them.

  The first indication that something was wrong, was when Simon quickly turned his head towards the sound of an approaching vehicle. A Mercedes squealed its wheels as it swung out from a side road and accelerated towards Boris and the Professor. The sound of gunfire returned to the foreshore, causing the spectators to start screaming and running in panic. For a moment, Jayde wasn’t sure who was shooting, but then saw guns pointing from the windows of the approaching Mercedes. Boris was dead before he had a chance to retrieve his pistol. Frightened, the Professor stood frozen next to his body as the car continued to speed towards him.

  ‘Get out. Now!’ commanded Andras.

  Jayde left the van and watched as Andras drove forty meters up the road, bringing it to a halt against the curb. The Mercedes pulled alongside the Professor and two men jumped out while firing a hail of bullets towards Simon. He was forced to leap over the harbour wall and onto a moored boat for cover. The Professor was bundled into the car and it sped away.

  It was a professionally executed snatch and grab that was over in a matter of seconds. Dumbfounded, Jayde stared as the Mercedes accelerated up the road and then in disbelief as she heard the crunch of me
tal as the Mercedes smashed into the van. Andras waited until the last possible moment before driving the van side-on in front of the Mercedes, and with no time to swerve, the Mercedes had embedded itself into the side of the van. Jayde saw the doors of the Mercedes swing open and men visibly shaken emerged. There were more gunshots, this time from Simon who walked menacingly towards the carnage. Jayde heard other shots but was unable to tell their direction. Seconds later, all went silent, the killing over. Simon was joined by Andras and they pulled a dazed Professor from the wrecked Mercedes. Stumbling, they walked back to join Jayde. On reaching her, Simon said, before she had a chance to speak. ‘We will split up and meet at the assembly point. Professor, you are to stay with me. Jayde, you’re to go with Andras. First, we use this café to access the rear laneway, then we separate.’ Jayde felt like a naughty child, being dragged unwittingly behind her parents. Nothing made sense, but things were moving too fast to hesitate.

  Once in the laneway, they found they were not alone. People were heading towards the harbour, attracted by the commotion that had been coming from the foreshore. When they reached Ethnikis Antistaseos Street, Simon and the Professor turned left, while Jayde and Andras headed right.

  ‘Take my arm,’ suggested Andras, while hooking his through Jayde’s.

  She felt him latch on, and looking across, she saw him slouch slightly forward. Their pace immediately slowed and he began shuffling more than walking.

  ‘An old Greek man out for a walk with his daughter,’ he said.

  ‘Who are you?’ she asked in a whisper. ‘Whose side are you on?’

  ‘No English,’ came his reply, followed by mumbling in Greek, part of their cover. Slowly, they meandered their way North and then West. When they reached the church of Ekklisia Agios Nikolaos, they left the road and followed a narrow path to where the buildings began to thin, becoming hidden by the dark of the night. No longer fearing being seen, Andras straightened and began walking briskly. The path led to another road. On her right, Jayde could just make out that they were walking alongside fields. Andras kept hold of her arm and Jayde could feel his weight being transferred to her as they increased speed. Andras was weaving a deception but, underneath, he was an old man and needed her support. Soon, he was breathing heavily and once more, they slowed, not to the earlier shuffle but the measured stride of an elderly gentleman. At his pace, it was difficult for Jayde to calculate how far they’d walked. After what felt like an eternity, they reached a crossroad, turning right, keeping the fields to their right. It was about halfway along the road when Andras spoke for the first time since saying ‘no English.’ ‘In here,’ he said, leading Jayde from the road and down a driveway that ran into the fields. From the darkness, the silhouette of a house slowly emerged and carefully, they made their way towards the front door. Giving two short knocks, followed by two long knocks, Andras opened the door, which allowed a dim glow of light to escape as they entered. The thud of the door shutting behind startled Jayde and she turned around, looking back from whence she came.