I used a burner phone to send two texts. The first was to the captain of the Tiburon waiting in La Rochelle, a simple message. We’re on. The second was to Colonel Holderness and just as simple, a prompt for him to call me.
I picked up a black box from the workbench, the piece of kit I’d removed from the boot of the Porsche. Thanks to Ringo’s well-stocked garage it had only taken me minutes to remove the CD changer from the Audi’s glovebox, and this fitted inside perfectly.
I was halfway through connecting its power up to the Audi’s wiring harness when Holderness called.
‘Halifax Couriers,’ I answered. ‘What can I do for you?’
‘Enough nonsense, this is a secure line. This is a mess, Tyler, twelve on the Beaufort scale.’
I switched the phone onto loudspeaker and put it on the garage floor. ‘You knew he had a small army around him, what did you think would happen?’
‘As subtle as a brick and almost as sharp. Surgical extraction, I specified, not an invasion.’
I bent down into the passenger footwell of my car and twisted the exposed power wires together, wrapping tape around them. ‘I’m fine, by the way.’
‘Then I fail to see why it’s taken you this long to check in. I take it you’re holed up in a secure location?’
‘A safehouse near Geneva, it’ll need a sanitising team to give it a once-over. I still have a tail.’
‘Law enforcement?’
‘No. Did you secure the replacement team member? I know Fields is at home for Christmas, hopefully he’ll be up for a last-minute job.’
‘Hiring an unknown didn’t work particularly well this time, what makes you think he’ll be any better? You should have let me send…’
I tucked the wires under the carpet. ‘No, I want Fields.’ I picked up a screwdriver and started attaching the black box into the glovebox. ‘Offer him the German’s fees, she doesn’t need the money any more.’
‘Christ, Tyler. What have you done?’
I flicked a switch, a green light winked on in the glovebox. ‘Nothing you need to worry about.’ I had the missing link to the team that had killed my brother and tried to kill me, now I needed to look him in the eye. I needed him on the ship. ‘Offer my share as a late bonus.’
He sighed. ‘That’s not necessary, twenty thousand pounds for two days’ work is enough to lure anyone away from their Christmas dinner. Fields is already en route to La Rochelle, but don’t forget whose operation this is.’
I stood and picked up my mug of tea. ‘Don’t forget I’m an independent contractor, and right now I have what you want in my boot.’ I walked round to the rear of my car and looked at the two unconscious figures curled up.
‘Is that a threat?’ He laughed mockingly. ‘Let’s not talk about hiding things in the boot of your car, Tyler. Not after what happened last time.’
‘Yeah, been thinking about that.’ I gulped the last mouthful of tea and looked out of the window at the lights on the far side of the lake. ‘I reckon we’re even, after what I’ve been through.’
‘After what you’ve been through? This mess is entirely your creation. After what you’ve been through, give me strength.’ His Doric Scots accent crept in at the edges, he was angrier that I’d thought. ‘You’ve left a trail of destruction that is both extremely unlike you and extremely undesirable. I can’t stress to you enough the importance of this operation.’
‘I’ve risked my life several times to get you this guy.’
‘You’re usually tidier than this. You’re either slipping, or there’s something else going on entirely.’
He paused, the line was quiet. I watched a solitary boat cruising across the lake. Didn’t care who it was or where it was going, I’d trade lives with them right now.
Holderness finally spoke again, barely above a whisper. ‘That’s it, isn’t it? There’s something else going on.’
I coughed. ‘What do you mean?’
‘If I find out you’re using this job as a means to any ends other than mine, I will be displeased. So displeased you needn’t think of returning to these shores. In fact I’d keep going as far as you can, and then keep going some more.’
‘Are you threatening me now?’ I frowned. He was right, of course, about everything. About my motives and about the fact that this job had gone south quicker than Amundsen. Not so much surgical precision as carpet bombing.
‘This mission is important to lots of people, and if reports from France are anything to go by, feathers will be extremely ruffled.’
I crouched back by the passenger footwell and picked up the screwdriver again. ‘Please tell anyone nursing ruffled feathers in their centrally heated office in Whitehall or Westminster that I’ve just finished dressing my wounds after being caught in a firefight with an entire SS mountain division.’
‘Don’t exaggerate, Tyler. Listen, I’ve been getting more requests for information on you and this op than ever before.’
‘I thought I was a deniable asset? So deny.’
‘I mean it, if you’re using this mission to pursue some personal vendetta you’ll be out in the cold.’
‘Don’t kid yourself, Colonel, that’s where I’ve always been.’
He paused again as I finished screwing the box into place, I could hear an intake of breath, then silence as he checked his temper. I rarely used his rank, but since what happened in Scotland I’d been reconsidering our working arrangements.
Finally he let out his breath. ‘The team are already in the air, give me a location.’
I threw the screwdriver onto the bench and closed the glovebox. ‘Céligny, near Geneva. I’m emailing the details through.’ I picked up the phone, walked round to the boot, looked at Ringo lying sedated, bruised and bloodied. I grabbed a handful of his jacket and pulled him out, dragging him across the floor. ‘Tell the cleaners to check in the garage first, I’ll be gone by the time they arrive.’
‘Half your fee has been deposited. If there are any more incidents on French soil – or Swiss soil for that matter – it’ll be your last job. Do not contact me again until the transport is under way.’
I hit the red button and rested my hand on the raised boot lid, staring at the orange jacket moving with each shallow breath.
Chapter Fifty-three
Tiburon
Poubelle had used his knife to slice through the wiring harnesses of both engines, an easy fix but a time-consuming one. Marty and I had stayed to help at first but there was only so much several pairs of hands could do at a time in the confined space, so we’d trusted the others to get everything soldered and spliced back together. Now Nic and Katanga laboured below while Miller and Doc held the bridge. I’d gone to my room to get cleaned up, holding my shaking hands under the scalding tap for nearly ten minutes. Didn’t matter how much I cleaned them, they were still drenched in blood.
‘Do you think you got everything you needed?’ Marty asked.
I poked my head round the doorframe. ‘I bloody hope so, now he’s dead. Were Miller and Katanga easy on you? They should be on the stage.’
‘Yeah. That bastard Poubelle wanted to help throw me overboard, sadistic motherfucker, Miller had a hard time getting rid of him. I feel carsick, being cooped up in that Audi all this time. Did Fields suspect anything?’
I dried my hands and stepped into the cabin, throwing the towel on the bed. ‘No, he took it in. Thanks for the new black eye by the way. You think you could have pulled your punches a bit better?’
‘Likewise.’ She scowled. ‘I thought you’d broken my ribs.’
‘Sorry. Would have been easier with King to help.’
‘Hey listen, are you okay?’ She shuffled into the cabin, throwing a kitbag on the bed. ‘We didn’t get a chance to talk, but if you need to…’
‘You have a local?’
‘Local what?’
‘Where everybody knows your name. A pub. A bar. I’m not a regular anywhere. I watch these TV shows sometimes, on planes and in hotel rooms and stu
ff, you know? No one anywhere knows my order when I walk in, no one knows what I’m having. No one knows my name, anyone that did is dead.’
‘I know it.’
‘Well don’t stick around, for your sake. They’re taking it all from me, everything that means anything.’
‘Who’s they?’
‘The world.’
‘Ah, so that’s why you hate it.’
I grabbed the shelf as a powerful wave rocked us. ‘I’ve nowt left to love about it.’
‘Seems to me you’re the common denominator here.’
‘Great, thanks. That makes me feel a lot better.’
‘It wasn’t supposed to. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, take some responsibility or do something about it.’
‘King was different. He’s… was… he was my brother.’
‘I know, I’ve lost people like that, too.’
‘No, I mean literally, if Justin had still been alive they’d be married by now. Or maybe killed each other, I dunno.’ I shook my head, pointed to a kitbag. ‘Is that Fields’ gear?’
She nodded. ‘Everything apart from the weapons, I left those in the cabin. A small bonus for me, I thought.’
I raised an eyebrow as I threw last night’s shirt on, stale and grimy but not awash with blood. ‘I hired you specifically to play your part, don’t be getting greedy or I really will feed you to the sharks.’
She gave me a lopsided smile. ‘Played it well though, didn’t I?’
‘And I always promised you his share. That not enough? Fine, take the weapons, but mind who you sell them to.’
‘I’m not stupid, Tyler. Anyway, I was thinking, now there’s only the two of us, do we split King’s share?’
‘Don’t even think about it.’ I shook my head. ‘He has parents and a sister who could do with it. Come on.’
We stumbled through the swaying passageways, up the stairs, diverting across the tilting deck to launch Fields’ kitbag over the side, then climbing the stairs to the bridge.
I opened the door. Doc stood from the table but I waved him away. Beyond the windows daylight had surrendered entirely. Waves hammered, each tipping us further over than the last as the ship twisted at the mercy of the sea.
Miller gave me a nod and spoke into the radio. ‘Kat, gimme an update.’
It crackled, Katanga’s breathless voice coming back a moment later. ‘There’s no manual for this, Skip. Slow going.’
‘How slow?’
‘Another… Twenty minutes, maybe?’
‘We’ve got no chance,’ said Marty, walking to the radar, eyes flicking between the glowing blip on the screen and the black horizon.
‘No shit, it was fifty-fifty when we were making good speed.’ Miller pressed the handset again. ‘Kat, I want those screws spinning in ten.’
Miller hooked the handset up above him, the hanging wire leaned over towards the door, indicating the crazy angle of the ship. We hung on as he spun the wheel; I thought it was more to make himself feel better than to have much of an effect on our direction, given the lack of propulsion. He looked at me, brow creased. ‘We’ve been at the mercy of the waves for too long now.’
Doc held a hand up. ‘Did you hear that?’
We all stopped. Nothing above the crashing waves. Then it came, a burst of static and a voice, barely audible.
Doc made for the stairs first but Miller called him back. ‘Stay at the wheel, I’ll go.’
I didn’t wait for Miller, charging down the stairs with Marty two steps behind. As we approached the radio room we could hear it more clearly. A voice dripping with malice, speaking English but thick and accented. Branko.
‘Freighter Tiburon, this is the yacht Zuben. Come in Tiburon.’
We stared at the radio.
‘I know you are listening, Tiburon.’
‘What do we do?’ asked Miller.
Marty looked at me, eyes narrowing to hard points. ‘How many rounds you got for that 417 in your trunk out there?’
‘Zero.’
‘We’ve got fifty nine-mil rounds.’ She turned to Miller. ‘Round up all the weapons and ammo.’
Miller nodded frantically. ‘We have a couple of AKs and a few revolvers.’
‘Tiburon, it will be worse for you if you ignore me.’
Marty moved towards the door, I grabbed her arm. ‘We can’t win a firefight with these guys, they’re faster and likely better armed.’
‘We’ve got the Kalashnikovs,’ said Miller. ‘And we’ve got plenty of ammo for…’
‘They’re as bad as some of the counterfeit Darra AKs I saw in Afghanistan, and probably not even as well maintained as those.’
‘They’ve never let us down,’ said Miller.
‘And how many naval battles have you won with them? Regardless, those and a few handguns aren’t gonna be much use until that yacht gets close enough to spit at, and I guarantee we’ll already be sinking by then.’ I thought back to the night before, when they’d assaulted the chalet. They may have been untrained hired thugs, but they’d been well tooled.
‘So what do you suggest?’ asked Miller.
‘Our only chance is to run. We need to buy ourselves some time to get the engines turning.’
‘And then? We can’t outrun them.’
I picked up the handset and held it out to Miller. ‘Speak to them.’
His eyes went wide, he looked as if the handset was going to bite him, I’d rarely seen him this worried. I nodded at him and waved the handset.
He took it and flicked the transmit button. ‘Tiburon here, what can I do you for, Zuben?’
There was a pause, I could picture some Nazi underling on the yacht scurrying away to bring Branko back. Finally, the voice came through.
‘Who am I speaking to?’
‘This is Captain…’ he paused. I nodded, whispering for him to continue. ‘Captain Miller. Who’s this?’
‘I am, at this moment, your worst nightmare. You have taken something from me. I am coming to reclaim it.’
I scribbled on Nic’s pad and held it up to Miller, gesturing him to read from it.
‘We found your spy.’
‘My spy?’
‘Sébastien.’
Branko chuckled. ‘That is too bad for Sébastien, but he knew the risks. But you did not find him, I think, in time, since your engines are stopped.’
‘Unfortunately for me one of my crew decided to take you up on your generous offer. So what now?’
‘I am coming aboard to take back what is mine.’
Miller covered the handset even though they couldn’t hear us, he’d let go of the transmit switch. ‘Dead or alive, they said. Well let’s just let him take the body and be done with them.’
‘You think they’ll pick up his body and leave? They’ll kill everyone on this ship and then sink her.’
Miller flicked the radio switch. ‘Can’t let you come aboard my ship.’ He added a bit of swagger that I could tell he instantly regretted.
‘I can see you now, we will be alongside in ten minutes. We will take what we want and then blow your ship from water.’
I looked at my watch then scribbled another note for Miller, he read it out.
‘Look, your friend is dead. Sébastien killed him.’
There was a pause on the other end, when Branko spoke again it was a deeper growl. ‘Then I’m coming aboard to collect the body.’
‘A trade. I’ll send it across.’
I shook my head frantically.
‘And what do you get in return?’
‘We get to sail in the other direction and forget this happened.’
Another pause.
‘This is not good deal for me, I am only getting dead body, you are getting your lives.’
‘Listen, half my crew’s dead because of your plant.’
There was a pause and then, ‘You send across body and I might let you sail away.’
I gestured to Miller, drawing my hand across my throat to kill the call.
> Miller looked at us and smiled. ‘Deal.’
‘You will also send John Tyler with the body.’
I clenched my jaw. Marty and Miller looked at me.
Miller let go of the transmit button and covered the handset again. ‘What’s the play?’
‘Seb must have filled them in on the radio. He gave them my name.’
‘Are you there, Captain Miller?’ crackled the radio.
‘I’m here.’
I scribbled one last note and held it up.
‘Tyler is dead,’ continued Miller. ‘I killed him. He was of no use to us.’
‘Then send across his body also.’
There was nothing more from the radio. I leaned on the table to look out of the window. Beyond the white foam spraying the glass, rising on the distant waves, were the lights of a boat.
‘So what the hell now?’ asked Miller.
‘Believe me, as soon as they get in range they’ll kill everyone on board. If we allow them to get in close we die, all of us.’
‘I believe you, okay? So what’s the plan?’
‘We need to buy those guys below some time, get the engines running, put enough distance between us and that boat,’ I jabbed a finger at the window, ‘to build up a head start so we can hit Devon and not look back.’
‘We need a distraction.’ He looked out of the window at the lights, closer now. ‘We’ve got less than ten minutes to come up with something.’
‘We need to stop them and we can’t do it from here, we gotta take the fight right to them.’ I inhaled deeply and looked at Miller. ‘I’m gonna need some tape, two bin bags, and a razor.’
Chapter Fifty-four
Black Run Page 26