by Brian Cain
CHAPTER EIGHT
Hurst was asleep at home in London's fair town of Piccadilly. He had placed Jodi in a safe place owned by Stanton in the Lake District; this had taken some time and Hurst had only just been able to rest. He was awoken by his phone. "Bruce Hurst."
"This is John Bruce, is Jodi safe?" Hurst sat up and immediately became agitated.
"Stanton, you can't keep calling me, this is dangerous. We’ve picked up a lot of net and phone traffic mentioning your name."
"Shut up, you think I’d ring for nothing."
"No, okay make it short."
"ASIO and the AFP have been tracking my daughter as well and just ran into an AFP operative. Lola my daughter, and my granddaughter Jasmine will be at Heathrow around this time tomorrow. Pick them up and put them with Jodi. Things are going to get rough."
"You are all alone John. We can only do so much."
"I'm far from alone but there is one thing you can do for me."
"Yes?"
"Find me a stealth who is fluent with as many Arab languages as possible, especially those of northern Afghanistan, Taliban dialects."
"What!"
"I need something deciphered, very delicate information. Find me someone who doesn’t believe in insurgency and will cooperate."
"John, I like a lot of the people I know and work with. You are the last person I would send them to unle... unless we wanted them out of the way and protected."
"Exactly. I don't care who it is, unless I can find the people who are driving this a lot more ordinary people will go to waste for nothing. Ordinary people are being wasted just because they are following instructions. I’ve had enough of this Bruce, get on it."
"I’ll get someone there as soon as I can. Where did you get this information?"
"From the heart of the devil apparently."
"Passed on from your direct relations, he he he."
"Lola and her daughter will be same deal as usual, no booking but on the flight just before it takes off. They should be okay to Singapore then it's up to you."
"Jodi was approached in Singapore John."
"Who! Why!?"
"We never got to talk to him; Barkley is a very good shot. One disturbing thing though, when searched he had an American passport, Washington."
"Jesus Christ, what if he was looking after her and not pursuing?"
"No chance. Barkley got him in the toilet cubicle whilst he was preparing his weapon. He had the same non traceable projectiles in his pistol as us John. Where the hell did he get them from?"
"Get me the interpreter as quick as you can, I’ll pick him up myself and not let him out of my sight. I'm going to find these bastards. Oh one more thing Bruce."
"Yes."
"Lola and Jasmine’s passports are in the name of Stanton, I'm sure you understand and oh… you are shit ugly, he he." Stanton hung up. Hurst hurled the phone at the wall cursing; he climbed out of bed in a rage. He picked the phone up again but it had been destroyed by the impact with the wall. He grabbed his mobile and called his assistant. Gled answered his phone after a long ring; half asleep he could see the incoming call was Hurst.
"Gled here sir."
"Stanton's daughter and granddaughter will be at Heathrow within 24 hours, same deal as Jodi, don't stuff it up Gled."
"No sir, I'm getting up sir, be right on it."
"They will be travelling under the name Stanton so double it would be a good move."
"Absolutely sir, will set things in motion, keep you informed."
"Thank you." Hurst hung up and went to have a shower, he muttered to himself. "As a teen I wanted to be a lollipop man at the pedestrian crossing of a senior girl's school, what happened?"
Stanton sat on the roof of his daughter's house all night just watching while his girls slept. Police patrols went past every thirty minutes; he could always trust Cadiche. Dawn broke, it was a fine clear Friday morning and the sun clipped the surface of the sea’s horizon, Stanton was bombarded with flashbacks so he climbed down, gathered his girls and headed for his house. They picked up a second vehicle, a Hummer from his garage. Stanton then dropped his Mustang at the mechanical repairer he used close by, telling them it had an intermittent electrical problem and needed to be driven every few hours until they found what was playing up. He took his second phone and left the main one switched on in his Mustang. They headed for Sydney Airport. Lola had been quiet and Jasmine was asleep on the back seat. Lola broke the silence.
"What do you do Dad, how did you get all this money, your not a security guard like mum claims? Mum and Robert and Anthony tell me things but there must be more. What's happening to us?" Stanton looked straight ahead.He struggled for an explanation.
"To really answer that I would have to go back a long way. I did all this gung ho stuff and forgot you and your mother needed me too. There came a day when I had enough. I found people for my unit myself. One thing was imperative that they could shoot straight just like I taught you. I would go to the firing range at basic training induction level of all kinds of organisations and walk the trench below the targets. There I could see who was the most accurate shot myself without going through all the bullshit. I found a person one day who had placed twenty rounds in a V bull from two hundred metres with an M16A assault rifle in thirty seconds. I’d struggle to do that myself. I went to the firing point and found a nineteen year old girl continuing to get the same results. I enquired of the commanding officer who informed me she had nearly finished her basic training but wouldn’t pass out as she was poor at taking orders.
“I approached her and ordered her to attention. After looking at me from the ground she shot to her feet and saluted. I asked her a few questions and she answered with speed and respect. I was puzzled and informed the commanding officer I was taking her to special assignment assessment. He strongly objected but there was nothing he could do about it. She passed every test with flying colours just as everyone else. I told her to pack her kit; she was on her way to my special services unit for induction training. She burst into tears. I felt like holding her but couldn't. I ordered her to tell me what was wrong as I could’t see why she would cry. She informed me she was overjoyed to be going with me but hated her current commanding officer as he had demanded sex but she refused to cooperate.
“I knew the Barrack Sergeant from previous encounters was a very good man. I approached and asked him about the allegations, he confirmed it was a regular request from the commanding officer to female recruits and most complied but she wouldn’t. He also said she was one of the best soldiers he had ever seen. I went back to her and we left together.
“I waited with her in my vehicle in the car park of the local bowling club where I had received information from the Barrack Sergeant that the commanding officer attended on his way home every evening. The commanding officer rolled up like clockwork fondling a young female recruit he had with him in the car park next to his car. I became very angry and approached the man. He sent the girl away as if giving orders and told me to get away or my government contract would be ripped up. The Barrack Sergeant I could see in the background was standing next to his vehicle watching. I took the officer’s arm turned him around and forced it up his back breaking it and he fell to the ground, I kicked him while he was down and he passed out. I left and so did the Barrack Sergeant. I never heard anything of the incident.
“The girl, Brianna her name was, she was killed in Afghanistan right in front of my eyes, shot by a sniper, I watched her fall to the ground. When I got to her, her eyes were still open, she smiled and died. I could see your face as well as hers and I was changed forever. I walked directly towards the spot the shot had come from some hundred metres away in a rocky outcrop, the only one in the sparse desert. How the sniper had shot her was beyond me, bullets whistled all around but none hit me. By the time I reached him his magazine was empty and he fumbled with another, I got him before he could reload. I strangled him with my bare hands, watching the life drain from his fac
e. She was the last one of my unit; if the idiot that shot her was better at his job then I wouldn’t have had to live through all this, I’d be gone." There was silence for a while.
"My God Dad, Mum told me you were a security guard." Stanton sighed.
"If only it was that easy. Security guard sort of. Doesn't sound like me at all really. I wanted to be a pilot but didn't do well enough in school. During basic training air force cadet level the British government found out I was a crack shot and fostered me into military intelligence, your grandfather helped as well, he was as I. From there I just managed to stay alive while those around me fell. I have the gaff on four generations of western government and could bring down every current government in power including China. We have an ace up our sleeve and your brothers have it safe for us."
"Anthony and Robert know all this, what the hell? I pushed Mum a while ago and she admitted you were around."
"Don't be too hard on them love, they are just going along with Mum. As a family unit your mother has always been the strongest side, they did well to shelter you. Unfortunately or fortunately we are a family again and that has caused some problems. It is in fact your mother who has inadvertently initiated this."
"What Mum, how?!"
"Mum has one of the most dangerous jobs on earth. Political reporters go missing all the time. A name bungle by the Australian Federal Police brought it inadvertently to my attention. They came after your mother."
"Oh my God, oh my God! Dad I'm so frightened."
"You will be for some time, but you're not half as scared as a lot of people at the moment, because when I find them they have reason to be." They were close to Sydney Airport and Stanton had noticed a white Ford tailing them for the last hour, he changed lanes several times for no reason and the Ford followed. He pushed a button on the central roof and a console dropped down. Lola watched wide-eyed. Stanton activated a rear camera on the Hummer and by means of a toggle switch on the console trained it on the driver, then magnified the person’s face. "Oh God it’s Holmes, I could teach that guy anything." Holmes’ face was clearly visible in the screen on the dashboard that doubled as a DVD player. "He's eating a pie while he’s driving, not taking much notice of anything else, good on you Sherlock let’s see what you're up to." He turned to Lola. "Buckle up tight and check Jasmine’s seat belt; we’re going to have an accident." Stanton waited until Lola was ready then turned into the next service station, slowing up quickly and bringing Holmes’ car up behind the Hummer; he then sped up and so did Holmes. Stanton jumped on the brakes just as he was about to enter the service station and Holmes smashed straight into the back of him. Holmes attempted to reverse but his Ford had become wedged under the tow bar of the Hummer and smoke came from the rear tyres as they attempted to grip the bitumen. He stopped when he saw Stanton casually get out from behind the wheel of the Hummer and walk towards him.
"Shit, that's not Stanton's daughter; it's Stanton." Before he could do anything Stanton stood next to the driver's window and knocked on the glass with his knuckles. Holmes activated the electric window a few centimetres. "Stanton, sorry I miss.." Stanton interrupted.
"Shut up Holmes." Stanton could only see Holmes’ eyes as the tinted window shrouded his face so Stanton smashed the glass with the butt of the pistol he was holding in his right hand. "Ahh now I can see you. Eating pies, following too close, weaving with the target vehicle, failing to maintain distance. Unable to carry out the simplest of surveillance operations without cocking the whole thing up Holmes." Holmes brushed the glass from down the front of his jacket.
"I didn't know you were in the vehicle, I thought I was following your daughter. Your Mustang is roaring around in Newcastle; we thought it was you, your phone’s in it."
"Things are not always as they seem. We got two minutes, I’ll ask the questions just once. Why are you following my daughter?"
"Somebody wants to know where she's going."
"Who?"
"I have no idea, up the line."
"Okay. Go back up the line and tell them they can't hide. They may open their fridge in the morning and set off a five second fuse. They may feel the thud of a sniper bullet but not live long enough to hear the shot. They are all probably poor swimmers and that's not good. I'm now looking for them. Make sure you tell them because somewhere in there someone will pick it up with me no doubt, no honour among thieves. If anything happens to any of my family, you will be the first one I will find Holmes, you greasy turd."
"I've totalled a government vehicle. How will I explain all this Stanton? I'm probably out anyway."
"If that happens come and see me and I’ll give you something to do. For now make sure they get the message."
"The two guys yesterday just down from your daughter’s place, wasn't an accident was it?"
"People have accidents all the time Holmes, two minutes up time to go." Stanton walked to the Hummer. He roared off dragging the Ford for a short distance before it broke free.
The airport was buzzing with people everywhere. Just before boarding Stanton used his financial power to acquire two first class seats for his girls. He was genuinely concerned as he watched them walk out of sight and board the plane. A clean cut man with greying hair in a tweed suit pushed passed him on purpose and turned and spoke in a very English tone.
"Sorry John. Must go, have to keep an eye on someone." Stanton smiled on recognition of Barkley from Britain’s MI6.