The Karl Lehman Affair

by Jonathan R Hayes

  They moved quietly out of the kitchen and down along a large hallway to where they judged the library would be. They approached the door and waited outside.

  ‘Hold up here a minute’ whispered the hit-man.

  The trio checked their fire arms and listened to see if they could hear any movement inside the room. The hit-man pulled a balaclava over his head.

  ‘Why are you doing?’ queried one twin suspiciously.

  ‘I never work without it.’

  The other twin turned the door handle slowly and felt the door latch disengaging from its receiver. He flung the door open and all three men burst into the room one after the other.

  Bonnet, sitting at his desk counting his money, spun round and saw the men rushing towards him all with their arms outstretched pointing revolvers at him.

  ‘How the fuck did you get in here?’ screamed Bonnet taken totally by surprise.

  He tried to open a drawer to get his gun out, but one twin shot him in the hand severing two fingers. Blood spurted from the bullet wound while the other twin grabbed the suit case resting on the desk.

  The same twin trained a gun on Bonnet while the hit man cleared a side table of priceless porcelain figurines by sweeping them off the table.

  ‘No!’ shouted Bonnet in horror before they fell and smashed on the hardwood floor.

  One twin placed the scales on the table and started to weigh the one hundred-dollar bills.

  Minutes later the twin declared, ‘Only twenty-five kilos here, that’s two and a half million bucks. ‘

  ‘Where is da rest of Lazare’s money’ shouted the hit-man.

  ‘Who sent you? Who are you working for? Wait a minute. I know that voice. You’re Colgo, Lazare’s man,’ shouted Bonnet animatedly while attempting to stand up. Colgo, pulling off the balaclava, immediately shot him in the knee.

  Jacques Bonnet recoiled and fell back onto the floor in agony, his left knee joint blown wide open and spurting blood onto the floor.

  ‘Where is dah rest of dah money Bonnet?’

  ‘In the safe behind the picture on the wall, ‘gasped Bonnet in total agony. He was losing a lot of blood from both wounds and getting steadily weaker.

  One of the twins crossed the room and found a large safe concealed behind a painting.

  ‘It’s unlocked,’ muttered Bonnet with Colgo’s gun still pointing at him.

  The twin turned the dial and the safe door opened revealing large wads of one hundred-dollar bills stored inside. Both twins emptied the contents of the safe onto a table and set about weighting it in batches of 10 kilograms over several minutes.

  ‘There’s a total of 75 kilos,’ shouted one of the twins finally. ‘That’s seven and a half million bucks!’

  They emptied the suitcase and the money from the safe into the three-large hold-all bags and made for the door.

  Colgo, the last to leave the room, turned around and stopped at the door.’ I told yah 5% was not enough.’

  ‘No,’ screamed Bonnet. ‘I’ll pay you more than what you want.’

  ‘Too late.’ He aimed his gun and shot Bonnet in the head as he lay on the floor. The crime boss slumped back and died instantly where he lay.

  The trio slipped quietly out of the château, each carrying a large hold-all of cash and retraced their route along the boundary wall to the place where they had parked their vehicles. One of the twins scaled the wall and dropped down on the outside and waited to receive the bags. As soon as the bags were thrown over, Colgo quickly climbed over, grabbed the three bags from the twin and threw them into the back of his van. The twins put on their helmets and waited for the hitman to handover the cash payment for their services.

  ‘That’s fifty thousand Euro each,’ demanded one twin.

  Colgo turned and opened the driver’s side door to fetch the cash. He leaned in to the cab pretending to fetch the money but instead quickly turned around brandishing his semi-automatic pistol and shot both men in the head, firing four rounds.

  ‘Yah can blame Bonnet for exposin’ me,’ roared Colgo before he climbed into the van and made his getaway travelling towards the A9 auto-route in the direction of Marseille leaving the twins to die on the roadway beside their motorcycle.

  78

  Parker stared at Hadley, his eyes widening in anticipation of what was about to ensue.

  ‘What’ll happen to the ship?’

  ‘We’ve received orders from the top to ‘blow’ the ship as soon as possible. The threat it poses located off our shores is a clear and present threat to national security.’

  ‘What about Nicole?’

  ‘I’m getting to that. We have locked on the most advanced NATO spy satellite monitoring system to the Asclepius, which tracks its infra-red profile, radar and wake footprint all in one. It cannot escape this level of surveillance no matter how good their stealth technology is. This gives us a short breathing space to plan our strategy to destroy the ship. This operation has to be executed precisely in accordance with the Foreign Office brief and in total secrecy.’

  ‘I see,’ acknowledged Parker anxiously.

  ‘We cannot afford to delay this action and risk losing contact again.’

  ‘What about Nicole dammit?’ demanded Parker a second time. ‘She’s on board the…’

  ‘I know Parker. The top brass insisted we must not hold-up operations. A rescue attempt would mean boots on the ground. There’s too much at stake for that.’

  ‘For God’s sake Hadley, saving Nicole’s life will mean hundreds of thousands of people will recover from respiratory failure each year, every year when Lehman’s iDrug hits the street. Blowing up the ship will save a few casualties from a germ warfare attack. Do the bloody maths!’

  ‘I have my orders. An aerial attack will commence in six hours’ time under the cover of darkness using torpedoes dropped from RAF Typhoons. Out of respect for you and your valued services to MI6, I thought it proper to make you fully aware of the situation man-to-man. I’m sorry Parker.’

  79

  Nicole lay on the bed listening to a cacophony of strange sounds surrounding her ‘prison cell’. The vessel was under way, rolling gently from side to side in a medium swell while it maintained a steady course. It was her third day in captivity. She checked her watch and saw it was mid-afternoon. Nicole sat up and looked around the room. She felt weak having had nothing to eat since the sandwiches more than two days earlier. She discovered she could get a trickle of brackish water from a rusty tap at the small wash hand basin in the room. This helped keep her thirst at bay. Every so often she heard the distant sound of helicopter engines above her. Aircraft appeared to come and go quite frequently.

  On this afternoon she heard an incoming helicopter, louder than normal. Shortly afterwards men’s voices could be heard approaching, quickly giving way to the sound of footsteps when they got closer to her room. The door was swiftly unlocked and a small chubby man with a round face and gold rimmed circular spectacles entered.

  He stood by the door staring at his captive. He slowly closed the door behind him leaving his accomplices to wait outside. He kept his distance while he continued to stare.

  ‘Who the hell are you?’ demanded Nicole sitting on the bed glaring back into the man’s cold grey eyes.

  ‘I came to meet the famous Ms. Nicole Lehman for the first and last time.’ He spoke in a chilling tone.

  ‘Who are you? What do you want from me?’

  ‘The truth Mrs. Lehman.’

  ‘What would any of you people know about truth?’

  ‘The essence of ‘Truth’ in Ancient Greece Ms. Lehman was ‘un-concealment’, the bringing of what was previously hidden into the open.’

  ‘Very philosophical Mr.....eh?’

  ‘For what it’s worth to you Mrs. Lehman, Zoran.’

  Well Mr. Zoran, what is it you require to be brought into the open?’

  ‘A small glass vial, Ms. Lehman.’

  ‘I told your moronic accomplices already I know nothing abo
ut a vial.’

  ‘This is too bad for you my dear. We have ways of extracting the truth.’

  ‘Listen to me you repulsive creep, I know nothing about….’

  ‘Poor Karl. What a shame….’ interjected the Hungarian in a cold spine-chilling tone. ‘He tried to unveil the truth about antibiotic resistance. Dear me!’

  Nicole slowly stood up and stared at the little man with deadly intent. Towering over this diminutive figure standing in front of her, the terror she initially felt was quickly transforming into sheer unbridled anger that welled up in every bone of her body. ‘This asshole killed Karl!!’

  In an instant she raised her foot with all her strength to connect with Zoran’s testicles. He was deceptively adroit however and caught hold of her foot, pushing her back onto the bed and laughing. She quickly rolled off the opposite side of the bed, grabbed a steel bedside stool by two of its legs, raised it over her head and charged towards the psychopath with deadly intent. Nicole forcefully brought the stool down with all her strength, determined to smash the little man’s skull. He swiftly ducked out of the way and the stool smashed against the door behind him.

  Hearing the fracas, two men outside, rushed in and grabbed Nicole while she continued to lash out at her prey. With some difficulty they eventually removed the stool from her grasp and snapped hand cuffs on her before she could land any more punches.

  Zoran, looking slightly ruffled, glared at the two men. ‘You know what to do.’ He looked scornfully at her. ‘You will co-operate with these people, Ms. Lehman. Otherwise, make no mistake, you will be shot, and your body will be dumped overboard. You will make very tasty fish food Mrs. Lehman.’

  ‘Walk’ ordered one of the men gruffly in a heavy Russian accent.

  Nicole was lead out of the room, down a corridor before being brought to an upper deck. She found herself back at the Bridge flanked by the two heavies. Zoran had disappeared, and Nicole didn’t see him again. She was taken to another small room near the place where the captain had previously questioned her. The two men left her alone for a short time sitting on a seat. She looked around the room and saw a table out in the middle of the floor with leather straps attached to the sides, the type used to restrain people. Navigation charts were pinned-up around the walls. She felt terrified not knowing what was in store for her. She heard a helicopter taking off close by and guessed it was Karl’s killer leaving the ship, having completed his business.

  Nicole heard the door opening behind her and turned to see a burly figure with shaven head, sinister eyes and dark clothes entering the room followed by a man in a white coat. The burly man released the hand cuffs, grabbed her around the waist and lifted her onto the table.

  ‘Get away from me you pig,’ she screamed.

  She struggled with all her strength while the burly figure, assisted by the man in the white coat, strapped her down onto the table at the shoulders, waist and ankles. He grabbed her arm forcefully and pulled up her sleeve while the man in the white coat produced a syringe and hypodermic needle. Nicole pulled her arm away, but the burly man was much too strong. He stood over her and used another strap to pin her arm to the table. The man in the white coat proceeded to put on latex surgical gloves. The horrible stench of unvulcanised rubber permeated the room, adding to the weird atmosphere while he inserted a cannula into a vein in the back of her hand. He then injected Sodium Thiopental (a truth drug). Nicole at once felt drowsy and was quickly transported into a twilight zone, halfway between consciousness and unconsciousness.

  After a short interval, the man in the white coat started to interrogate her.

  ‘I’m going to ask you some questions Mrs. Lehman. Can you hear me?’

  ‘Yes’ mumbled Nicole in a drowsy tone.

  ‘What was your husband’s occupation?’

  ‘He was a Cardiologist and Epidemiologist.’

  ‘What can you tell us about your husband’s research?’

  ‘He discovered iDrug.’

  ‘What does this drug do?’

  ‘Kills bacteria and viruses by electronic pulses.’

  ‘Do you remember Dr. Philips?’

  ‘Yes’

  What was his occupation?’

  ‘He was a Molecular Microbiologist’

  ‘What did he discover?’

  ‘iDrug.

  ‘Where is this iDrug now Mrs. Lehman?’

  ‘I don’t know.

  ‘Is it hidden somewhere in glass vials?’

  ‘I don't know’

  ‘Where are these glass vials now? Mrs. Lehman?’

  ‘I don't know.’

  ‘Please try to remember, Mrs. Lehman.’

  ‘I don't know about glass vials,’ repeated Nicole starting to slur her words. The man in the white coat looked at the other man and shook his head. Nicole descended into a deep sleep.

  ‘It’s no use. She knows nothing about the vials,’ determined the man in the white coat.

  ‘Let' get her back to her room. We have no further use for her,’ declared the other man ominously.

  Sometime later Nicole woke up back in her cell. She remembered two men and a needle being forced into her arm, but that was all. She got up and stumbled across the room to the wash-hand basin and took a drink of the trickling brackish water.

  A short time later the same burly man in dark cloths came into her room. He stared at her with his piercing eyes. ‘We need you to make one more recording.’

  ‘No way. Not until I get some food,’ she muttered sounding like she was drunk, barely able to stand up.

  The man ignored the request and continued to glare at her, making her feel very uneasy. ‘This will be your last message. You better make the most of it. We will record it tomorrow morning. In the meantime, think how you are going to persuade Dr. Parker not to fuck up. If he does not show up with the vial on Saturday, it will be a fatal mistake for you.’ The man left the room and locked the door behind him. Nicole feeling total despair and terror, sat on the bed and sobbed. She now could see no hope of getting out of this alive. Her whole life started to flash before her. She thought of her time when she was a young girl, her parents who were killed so tragically, her husband Karl and her lifelong friend, Raoul Durand.

  ‘Surely Raoul won’t take my kidnapping lying down. He must be trying to rescue me. He must be working with Harry to try and find me. But No! The police, Harry Parker, nor the entire French foreign legion could ever find me on this ship in a million years.’ The more she thought about it, the deeper she descended into despair. It was going to be a long sleepless night.

  80

  Parker left LEGOLAND in a state of high anxiety. He had tried to argue with Hadley, but it was no use. He emphasized the imminent publication of Karl Lehman’s research and the global benefits that this would bring and the potential loss of all that if Nicole died on board the ship. It was no use. The top brass was not for turning. Hadley had intimated the decision came from the Prime Minister’s office. British forces were to destroy the ship and remove the danger ASAP. This would improve Britain’s profile no end in the top-secret corridors of the NATO Alliance.

  Parker arrived back at his penthouse shortly after six o’clock, totally depressed. He poured himself a cognac and sat staring at the life size portrait of Sarah hanging on the wall in his living room; tears started streaming down his face. He wondered if he should contact Durand.

  ‘What’s the fuckin’ use?’ he thought.

  There was nothing he could discuss with him. It was all top secret.

  ‘I couldn’t save Sarah then and I can’t save Nicole now,’ shouted Parker aloud, his voice reverberating around an empty room. He wept openly, unashamedly. Crying alone was particularly more painful.

  Nicole was going to slip away from him as well, trapped in a flooded ship at the bottom of the ocean. It was a similar fate that befell Sarah, trapped in a jeep before drowning. ‘What a horrible coincidence.’

  He was about to pour himself another stiff drink to ease his mental
torture when his cellular phone vibrated.

  ‘Parker! Hadley here.’

  ‘It’s no use ringing me offering your fuckin’ condolences Hadley. That falls way short of the mark!’

  ‘Get yourself back here at once. The ship has doubled back and is now hugging the Devonshire coastline about three miles out, far too close to ‘civilization’ to launch an attack by air strikes. We have had to rethink our strategy completely! Come in immediately and I’ll discuss further.’

  ‘Thank you, God!’ shouted Parker running out the front door of his penthouse and taking the elevator down to the carpark. He wasted no time in getting himself back to Vauxhall Cross, breaking traffic lights here and there as he raced across London.

  When he arrived back at ‘Legoland’ he found the Wing Commander sitting at his desk with a broad reassuring smile on his face.

  ‘OK Parker. Are you ready to sign-up for some real action?’

  ‘You’ll have to wrestle me to the ground to keep me out of this mission, Hadley. What changed?’

  ‘Two things have forced us to alter our strategy. Firstly, the ship is too near the coast for an aerial attack. It would take a medium sized torpedo, dropped from an aircraft, to take this vessel out while waking-up half of Plymouth. However, we believe strategically positioned small limpid mines under the water line will cause sufficient damage to sink the ship quickly and not cause much of a bang. The second thing requires men to board the ship to photograph any evidence of WMD material being processed before we blow it. This evidence is required to justify the attack. We believe NATO are now insisting on this. They also want us to do a quick survey of the vessel’s laboratories to see what else they might be cooking up! This is a key task for someone of your background in chemistry and medicine. That’s largely why we chose you for this mission.’