The ‘moment’ was broken by a loud snoring sound coming from inside the bedroom. Worried that the target might be coming awake, Little Johnny stepped lightly through the door into the room beyond. Jason was lying on the bed against the wall with the covers half thrown back, still fully clothed.
The target was clear, and only two metres away. He couldn’t miss.
Little Johnny lifted the gun at arm's length in front of his chest, aiming at the prostrate figure in front of him.
He fired twice. Both bullets flew silently through the air, and buried themselves deep in the victim’s chest, the impact of the bullets pushing the body deep into the bed, before it bounced back and sprang up awkwardly into the air. Jason’s arms flayed about grotesquely, then fell back onto the bed beside his body.
For a moment Little Johnny considered firing again, but as he saw the blood pumping from the victim’s wounds and running down the side of his chest onto the mattress, he realised there was no point. He stepped forward and looked at the victim closely. The bullets had blown two large holes in the sides of his chest and through one he could see the protruding ends of Jason’s broken ribs. He had stopped breathing and was no longer moving.
Jason, his first target, was dead.
.
A few minutes later, Little Johnny closed the door of the house gently behind him, and walked quickly to his car. The street was empty and no one noticed the little man go as he drove quietly and unseen through the streets of Oxford, on his way to target number two.
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04.55am
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Mike cupped the hot cup in his hands, sipping the coffee slowly and wondering why on earth people would ever call into their local radio station to have their sex problems discussed openly in front of several million people.
“...and now we’re going over to David, who has a problem reaching an orgasm while making love. David, tell us about your problem in your own words. Has this been going on for a long time?...” The soft, slow, sympathetic voice of the female radio presenter announced.
“… No, not really. It just started a few months ago when my wife came off the pill and wanted to try for a baby...”
“…and how do you feel about having a baby, David?” the counsellor asked the blatantly obvious.
Mike reached down to the seat beside him to pick up a half-eaten cheese sandwich, and took another bite. He chewed it slowly, washing it down with some warm coffee.
Just as David agreed to tell his wife that he really didn’t want children for another few years, a car came round the corner of the road from the opposite direction Mike was facing, immediately switching off its headlights as it turned into the street. Mike saw the car approaching from behind him in his passenger wing mirror and reacted immediately. Putting down the coffee and the sandwich, he switched off the radio, picked up his gun and slid down as far as he could into the back of the seat.
Only one other car had come down the street in the past hour, an middle aged man looking as if he had just returned from the night shift at work, carrying a bag, a newspaper and a carton of milk in his hand. He had the key to his own door and had aroused no suspicion in Mike.
This one was different. The car had immediately extinguished its lights as it had turned the corner, and now it was driving very slowly past Louisa’s house, the face of the driver turned towards her door as he passed Mike’s van.
From the elevated position of the camper van’s driving seat, he looked straight down into the car below as it drove past, and the silhouette and shape of the driver’s head stirred distant memories in Mike’s mind. As he watched the car drive another fifty metres up the street in front of him and pull into a space on the opposite side of the road, he tried desperately to remember who the person in the car reminded him off. Mike noticed that the car had new number plates and carried a sticker on the back window of a local car rental firm. It was him! A hired car, creeping down the road in front of her house, in the middle of the night - the assassin had come to kill Louisa!
Mike lifted the small pair of night-sight field binoculars from the dashboard and focussed it on the driver of the car in front. The night sights cut through the darkness but from the angle he was forced to look down into the car in front, he couldn’t see the whole head of the assassin. He watched as the driver turned in his seat and glanced back at Louisa’s house. As his face came into view, Mike felt a momentary surge of panic. He recognised the man. He had aged a lot, but it was definitely him.
“Shit! It’s Little Johnny!” Mike swore under his breath.
No one knew his real name, who he really was or where he lived, but twice before in his past Mike had read reports of the man’s actions and successes, and within the agent community he was a living legend. One of the best. Mike had only ever seen a single photograph of him. During a visit to the Ambassador in London several years ago, the Ambassador had unexpectedly been called out his office to talk with someone in private, and Mike had noticed the brown file in the Out-tray of the Ambassador’s desk. He recognised it immediately as a standard personnel file, and out of curiosity he had leaned across the desk and flicked it open. He had only had time to read the codename and see the photograph, but the image of Little Johnny’s face had remained emblazoned on Mike’s photographic memory. And now he was here in Oxford. The fact that Little Johnny had been sent to do the job, was a mark of how important the President considered this kill to be.
As he watched, the man opened the door to his car and was just about to step out, when a taxi swept into the street a hundred yards in front of them. Little Johnny immediately slunk back into the car and sank lower into his seat. Mike trained the glasses on the taxi coming towards them and in a heart stopping moment he saw the face of Louisa in the back seat, talking to the driver through the partition in the glass and pointing to her house.
Mike dropped the glasses and looked back at the car parked on the other side of the road. For the moment Little Johnny was not moving. He would probably wait for the taxi to leave before he made his move.
Mike’s van was parked opposite Louisa’s terraced house, about ten metres down the street. Louisa’s house was between him and the assassin’s car.
Mike had to act fast. He had to warn Louisa before the assassin got to her. The assassin was a highly trained killer. Once she went through the door of her house, he would not get a chance to warn her. He couldn’t call her on her home phone as she would see his number on the calling line identifier display, and ignore his call just as she had done so many times already. Any attempt from Mike to alert her by standing outside her door and ringing her bell, would draw an immediate response from the assassin, who would most definitely have studied the file on Mike too. He would recognise him immediately.
As the taxi started to pull away leaving Louisa on the pavement outside her house, Mike realised he had only a few moments to act. He had to get to Louisa now, before she stepped inside the door of her house and closed the door behind her. Slipping the safety catch off his gun, he opened the door of his van and jumped to the street below. Mike waited for the taxi to pass him by, then hurried towards Louisa. She was already turning the key in the lock and opening the door to her house. He reached her in a few seconds, grabbing her by her arm and pulling her around to face him.
.
Louisa was drunk and her movements were slower than normal. She felt the tug on her arm and in a drunken haze she looked round at her assailant. It took a few seconds for her pupils to focus properly before recognising his face and pushing him away with surprising strength.
.
Mike stumbled and fell backwards onto the pavement, spinning slightly as he fell. He went down heavily and banged his forehead on the edge of the kerb. For a second he was stunned.
Louisa was still an emotional mess. Her feelings for Mike were still too fresh and very confused. She hated the man, but she loved him too, and the sight of him sprawling on the pavement with bl
ood oozing from his head, sparked the loving emotions within her. She stepped away from the safety of her doorway and out onto the pavement, intending to go to the aide of the man she loved. As she stepped from the doorway, a wave of dizziness and alcohol hit her, and she teetered unsteadily on her feet.
“Mike…”she called. “Oh…” She lifted one hand to her head, and as she started to topple she reached out with the other to steady herself against the outside wall of her house.
Mike reached up to touch his head, and felt the blood coming from the cut. He turned back towards Louisa, and as he did so was shocked to see the figure of Little Johnny stepping out of the car and starting towards them.
Mike pushed himself up with his hands and legs, his gun glistening in the street light in his right hand. He started to swing round to face Little Johnny, but was horrified to see him in the process of raising his gun and pointing it directly at Louisa, who hadn’t yet noticed Little Johnny and was still staring at Mike as he sprang to his feet.
.
When the taxi dropped Louisa off, Little Johnny had recognised her immediately and once again he had been pleased to see how drunk his target was. As before with Jason, he decided to wait in his car until the alcohol and nature had taken their own course and Louisa had fallen asleep in her bed. He watched her step towards her door in his rear view mirror, content to let her enter her house. He looked down at his gun, and was about to put it back in the glove compartment until he needed it later, when he caught sight of the scuffle on Louisa’s doorstep in his rear view mirror.
Little Johnny hadn’t seen Mike approaching Louisa, and didn’t know where he had come from. His approach had been shielded by the taxi, and the first he saw of him was as a figure in the rear view mirror being pushed backwards by Louisa onto the street. As the figure fell to ground he followed the man sprawling helplessly on the pavement in his right hand side mirror. As the man turned his face back towards Louisa, Little Johnny recognised him. It was the field agent Mike. In an instant Little Johnny guessed what was happening - Mike was trying to warn Louisa.
Little Johnny sprang from the car. He had two clear targets. Louisa was turning towards her doorway. She was the immediate target…for all he knew Mike had alerted her to the threat and if he didn’t take her now, once inside she would call the police and he would not get a second chance. He had to kill her now. He would deal with Mike with the second shot.
.
Mike saw the gun level with Louisa’s chest and knew that death for Louisa was only seconds away. There wasn’t time to think and Mike reacted instinctively. He only had time for a couple of quick shots. He had to make them count. And he had to push Louisa into the safety of her house…
He lunged through the air towards Louisa, imposing his body between her and the assassin and firing two shots in rapid succession at Little Johnny.
.
Little Johnny looked on in shock as Mike sprang at Louisa, turning towards Johnny in mid-flight, a gun appearing in Mike’s outstretched hands and firing directly at Johnny’s chest. A second before the first bullet hit him he pulled the trigger on his own gun and a single bullet flew through the barrel of the silencer and headed at twice the speed of sound towards Louisa.
.
Little Johnny was dead before he hit the ground, his heart blown apart and exiting through a hole in the back of his chest the size of a pomegranate.
Louisa was pushed backwards through the doorway by the force of Mike’s body impacting on her. She fell awkwardly, ending up in an undignified heap with her skirt half way up her thighs. Mike fell on top of her, his weight pinning her legs to the ground. She screamed loudly, and she fought to push Mike off her. With an effort she pulled her legs out from under him and starting kicking at his chest.
“Get off...get off...” She screamed repeatedly at the top of her voice.
One of her heels caught him in the shoulders and the force of her kick turned him over. Louisa screamed again. Mike was facing her now, staring at her with lifeless eyes, a hole blown through the centre of his head by the single bullet that Johnny had fired before he died.
.
Chapter Sixty Six
Oxford, England
Thursday 15th Dec 06.30 a.m.
.
The street was swarming with Police when the Professor arrived at Louisa’s house, with both ends of the street cordoned off and bright flashing lights from several police cars adding eerily to the confusion at the scene of the crime. As the Professor stepped from the police car, Louisa rushed at him from inside the doorway of her house where she was being comforted by a woman police officer. He opened his arms and folded them around her, drawing her head into his shoulder and stroking it gently.
“He’s dead…he tried to save my life… I killed him…” Louisa sobbed loudly.
“Let’s go into your house, Louisa, and sit down.” The Professor guided her in off the street and away from the confusion around them. The body of someone lay at the door, covered by a black plastic sheet, and further down the street a group of police officers and a photographer were gathered around another body, the photographer’s flash making the Professor blink as it went off.
How Mathew Wainright had come to be in this nightmare he didn’t quite know. It was only six thirty in the morning and the sun had not yet risen. Mathew was still drunk, and he wanted desperately to sit down and sleep, but he was being forced awake by the nightmare around him. It was all too real and horrible to be a dream. Only twenty five minutes ago he had been in bed asleep, until the inexorable ringing of the phone had woken him, and he had been informed that the police were waiting outside of his house, and that they had come to take him to comfort his friend Louisa who had just been involved in a double murder.
“A what ?” He had asked incredulously, as he sat up and switched on the bedside lamp.
“There have been two murders, and it looks like Miss Calder was intended to be one of the victims. She’s uninjured but she’s in a bad way, and has named you as her next of kin...”
“Okay…okay...give me a few moments…” the Professor had agreed.
Now he was sitting in Louisa’s front room and he listened in disbelief as he heard how her boyfriend Mike had died in a shoot out with another person - as of yet unidentified – and that the bullet that had killed him had almost certainly been meant for her. Louisa was still very drunk, and she slurred her words as she tried to recall what had happened.
The police woman had made several cups of strong coffee in Louisa’s kitchen and as they sat and drank them, another officer started to ask some more questions.
“Can you think of any reason why someone would want to kill you, Miss Calder?”
“No...no...”
“You said earlier that you believed your boyfriend had died trying to save you? Save you from what?”
“No…he’s not my boyfriend…he was my boyfriend…he was…but he’s dead now! ” Louisa looked up at the police woman, and then turned to the Professor and burst into tears again.
Mathew put his arm around her and rocked her gently in his arms.
“Professor, I understand that Miss Calder works for you, and that you run the institute of Genetics in Oxford? Can you think of any reason why someone would want to kill her?”
The Professor could think of several, but even in his drunken state he knew he needed time to think about how he should reply and what he should say. For now, he had to avoid saying anything incriminating.
“I’m sorry. I’m still very drunk, and I’m too old for all this. I think the best thing for now is to get a doctor to help sedate Louisa...she needs to calm down and sleep and sober up. Would it be possible to let her come to my house, and then spend the night with me? If you could maybe provide an armed guard to make sure we’ll be safe until we understand what this is all about, and then we can talk later? Okay? ...I don’t think that Louisa and I can deal with this just now...”
Sometimes playing the old man helped a little.<
br />
The police officer looked up for help to a superior officer who was standing by Mathew’s side. The Senior Officer stepped forward, and took control of the situation.
“Of course, Mr Wainright. You’re absolutely right. The doctor’s already here...I’ll get him to go with you, and see that you both get some good rest. And we’ll pick this up again later today.”
As they were ushered out and into a waiting police car, escorted by the doctor and the young lady officer, Mathew realised that if he wanted to keep the Haissem project a secret any further, he had got to do some clever thinking, very fast.
.
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10.00am
.
The Professor couldn’t sleep any longer. He had woken half an hour ago, and was sober enough now to make some solid plans.
When they had got home he had put Louisa to sleep in the master guest room at the back of the house. The doctor had been reluctant to give her any sedation as she had drunk so much, so the Professor had sat stroking her hand and talking gently to her, and within a few minutes the alcohol and the exhaustion had taken her into the land of dreams. He told the woman police officer to wake him as soon as Louisa woke up.
As he lay in his own bed the Professor realised that the options open to them were limited. There was only one real plan that he could think of, and for it to work he had to speak to Don and Jason before the police did. He sat on the side of the bed and reached for the phone. Don and Jason would be in the lab by now. He could reach them there.
The phone rang four times, and then he hung up. Four rings was the signal that someone else from the team was calling the lab and wanted to speak to someone. It meant that if everyone was bunnied up in the lab, someone would have to go into the second clean zone, and take off their mask and use the phone there. They tried to avoid breathing directly into the atmosphere of the third and most sterile clean area.
BOX SET of THREE TOP 10 MEDICAL THRILLERS Page 126