by Tim Jopling
Chapter 6
Friday, March 2nd 19:50,
Draycott Avenue, South Kensington, London.
Burton looked over his shoulder to make sure his wife wasn’t nearby and then back to the bailiff at his door. ‘Don’t do this now ok? I’ll come and see you some time later today, I just can’t do this now.’
The bailiff was well over six-foot tall with a heavyset build. He pushed past Burton with ease. ‘My boss tells me your first instalment of the money you owe us is way overdue. I’ve come here to make sure you honour that agreement.’
Both men looked round as a woman’s voice filtered through the hallway.
Kate was standing by the entrance to the living room. Her eyes were focussed on her husband. ‘Who is this man, Hal?’
Burton couldn’t meet his wife’s gaze, let alone manage a reply. After several seconds, he mumbled weakly. ‘Why don’t you go and see how Oscar is doing? I’ll sort this out and be right up.’
Kate raised her arms and put both hands in her hair in frustration. ‘NO! You tell me who this man is and what he’s doing in our house, now. RIGHT NOW!’
The bailiff focussed his dark, cold eyes on the woman and took two steps towards her. ‘Listen lady, your husband’s a gambler, and he owes us over a hundred grand! Now shut the hell up and-’
Burton couldn’t stand it anymore. As Kate pushed past and ran up the stairs he stepped in closer and rammed the side of his hand into the visitor’s throat. The bailiff immediately slumped over and gasped for breath. Burton took hold of his collar and dragged him into the nearby dining room and slammed the door shut. He knelt down and spoke into the visitor’s right ear in a decisive tone. ‘Now, you listen and listen good. Now is not a good time for me, understand? I want you to go back to your boss and tell him that he’ll get his money. Not today, but he’ll get it. That was never in doubt. If you ever come round to my house and talk to my wife again, you’ll be worrying about yourself far more than my account.’ With that, he dragged the visitor to his feet, opened the front door and hurled him out onto the path. As he closed the front door, Burton tried to regain control of himself and took a deep breath. His thoughts then turned to Kate, so he rushed up the stairs, and into their bedroom. Out of breath, he stopped in his tracks at the sight of two suitcases spread out on the bed. Next to the wardrobe, Kate was on her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Burton knelt down but his wife refused to look at him. ‘Kate……I……believe me. I was just about to tell you everything when that guy showed up. You have to believe me! Kate?!’
Kate had tears streaming from her eyes. ‘How could you do that to me Hal? Huh? I’m your wife and I have to hear your secret from some thug who comes into our house! This is our home!’ Kate wiped away the tears and pushed her husband back as he tried to move closer. ‘You lied to me, Hal! You did it again, you’ve been gambling with our lives! Look, where it’s got us, we’re in debt; we have criminals coming here and threatening us. Where will it end?’ The emotion took hold of her and she got up and began to lash out at her husband, striking him whichever way she could. ‘How could you do this to us! How……’
Burton felt sick to his stomach. How could I do this do my wife and son? That was the one question in his mind. More than anything, Burton wanted to hold his wife and somehow comfort her through the pain, in an attempt to block out what had just happened. He sat on the bed, but was unable to think of the right words to say. ‘I wish I could turn the clock back believe me, but I can’t. All I can do is sort out this mess and we’ll be back on track I promise.’
Kate heard another empty promise, and she felt a surge of determination. She forced herself to her feet, wiped her eyes quickly, and continued to pack the suitcases. ‘It’s too late, Hal. I just can’t believe you did this. It’s not just me this time around but Oscar as well! No, we have to go, I can’t allow you to do this to him as well.’
Burton felt physically winded at the thought of his wife and child leaving him for good. His mind went into overdrive, and he desperately tried to think of something that could turn it around. Then it came to him. ‘No, wait! I didn’t tell you about the advance in pay!’ His wife looked up from the suitcase. ‘I went to Ramsey and got an advance in pay. You have to believe me Kate, this is the god’s honest truth. I spoke to Ramsey today and got some money for us, enough to get these people off our backs. I’ll do whatever it takes, I’ll get everything back under control. Please……..just give me another chance.’ His voice broke with emotion and for a moment he wondered whether getting on his knees would help. ‘Don’t do this…….don’t go.’
Kate dropped a pile of clothes on the bed and looked into the eyes of her husband, the man she had once implicitly trusted. ‘Don’t make me walk away, Hal, the last thing I want is for our son to grow up without his Father. I don’t want to do this but I won’t stand by and let you hurt Oscar either, he’s just a baby!’ She looked at her husband for a moment made a decision. ‘How much money did you get in this pay advance, Hal?’
Burton’s mind kicked in when he heard the question. Knowing all too well that a month’s salary would make no dent on the debts they owed or his wife’s frail state of mind, Burton made a decision. ‘I managed to get twenty thousand in advance, Kate. They were great about it, it’ll help us get back on our feet. You have to believe me here, I’ll do whatever it takes to fix this!’
‘Promise me you’ll sort this out Hal. You might think you can keep on hurting me but I’ll never let you hurt little Oscar, never!’
Burton knew he still had a chance if only he could show how much he wanted his family to stay. ‘Listen…Kate, I know I’ve never been the perfect father or husband, but I’m getting better, I know I can be the man you want me to be. Just give me one more chance!’
Kate felt the tears welling up in her eyes. More than anything, she wanted to have her husband by her side. The last thing she would ever want would be for Oscar to grow up with just one parent. Can I trust him? Can I really trust him? She spoke in a whisper. ‘It’s different this time, Hal, you have to see that. We have Oscar now, you can’t afford to keep on gambling with our security. Do you understand?’
Burton looked down and pushed away feelings of failure. ‘I know I messed up…I know it, you know it but I thought it was for the best.’ He looked into his wife’s eyes. ‘I was trying to help.’ He held out his hands in front of him. ‘I screwed up but…look, please don’t take my family away. Please…I’ll beg, if that’s what you want.’
Kate barely recognised the man in front of her. The Hal Burton she had fallen in love with would never beg or be so desperate. For a moment she wondered where her husband had vanished to over the years. She thought over every possibility in her mind as clearly as she could. If I leave now, I’ll break him for sure. He’s my husband, doesn’t he deserve one more chance? Kate closed her eyes and this time another voice spoke to her. Do it for Oscar…
Burton felt the solitary tear run down his left cheek and knew his marriage was on a knife-edge at that very moment.
Kate placed the suitcases back on top of the wardrobe and wiped the tear from her husband’s face. ‘I’m doing this for Oscar, I want him to have his Father around in the years to come. Our son is everything now, he has to be our priority. Promise me you’ll put him first, Hal?’
Burton couldn’t speak at first. He tried to take hold of his wife’s hand but she had already walked next door, to Oscar’s room. ‘I’ll be a better Dad, and a better husband, I promise.’ He watched Kate leave the room and go downstairs and in an instant he dropped onto the bed and released a woeful sigh. His chest felt tight and his whole body ached with stress. His mind was racing with possibilities of how to save his family but only one presented itself. ‘Kate, I’m going to pop out for a bit. I’ll bring in something for dinner that will make a change right?’ Burton walked downstairs and out the door. In the car, he dialled a number on his mobile phone. ‘John! Yes it’s me, I need a favour. Do you still own that dog track? I know it’s been a whil
e, but I’m feeling lucky this evening. I’ve come into some money and I’m feeling lucky!’ He dropped the mobile phone onto the dashboard, swallowed hard and pulled out of the driveway. Burton couldn’t think of another option available to him. Ask Ramsey for more money? Not likely. If he could double the advance he had been given, it would go some way to making sure Kate and Oscar stayed in his life.
Akira tried not to show his frustration as he sat in the back of the white Mercedes. Since he had re-joined the Kiprich brothers, Jozef had refused to see his point of view. ‘There is no delay, we are on schedule.’
‘By killing a rival group?’ Jozef Kiprich and his brother Gyorgy had carried out Akira’s orders and killed all members of the Brotherhood group but he was still angry with Akira. They had killed those men and in time it would come back on them and them alone. ‘We’ve lost precious time.’
‘Which is not your concern. You’re here to do what I need you to do and nothing more.’ Akira studied his blood-stained fingers. It had not been his intention to make such a drastic move and kill the head of a rival group but no-one would stand in his way. And no-one would ever threaten Madeline.
Jozef glanced at his brother in alarm. ‘This was never part of our agreement, our names will be linked with those deaths and we have more to lose than you do.’
Akira’s patience snapped. He lunged forward from the back seat and without warning, locked his right hand around the side of the driver’s seat and the throat of Jozef Kiprich. He pulled back onto the seat with great strength and made sure he kept an eye on Gyorgy who looked alarmed but didn’t move. ‘I grow tired of your negative attitude. Continue with this and it will be your last debate.’
Jozef struggled to control the car and breathe at the same time. He waited for his brother to intervene but it never came.
‘Akira please, you’ll kill us all!’ Pleaded Gyorgy Kiprich.
‘Stay back!’ Akira leant in close to his prey. ‘Take me to where I wish to go and know your place.’ He released his grip and sat back.
Jozef gasped for breath and felt his throat with one hand whilst keeping another on the wheel of the Mercedes. When he was confident, there was no danger ahead he glanced at his brother in disgust.
Gyorgy shook his head as if to say it was not the time to discuss Akira.
Jozef swallowed his pride. ‘I am sorry Akira, I did-’
‘Get me to the location or heaven help you.’ Akira tried his best to remain calm, but it was not easy. He focussed on the scene from the car window. The Mercedes was slowing moving through a local market and as Akira looked at the market stalls and the surrounding people he knew he had seen it before. His memories could no longer be trusted but something about what he saw dislodged something in his mind. The feeling made him uncomfortable, and he shut his eyes. He didn’t want to remember the past, only the future mattered.
Jozef saw Akira on the back seat and wondered why he had his eyes shut. With every passing moment he regretted ever getting involved with such an unstable man no matter how much weight he seemed to have with different terrorist factions.
Akira focused on the present. The death of a British Prince would send a message to the West but in truth he didn’t care if he was killed or not. All that mattered was the death of Thomas Deane. It was vital he was killed early before the war started. There was no doubt that Deane would play a vital part in the resistance and it would make a huge difference to remove him from the equation.
As the car moved along the uneven road, he caught sight of a building ahead. As much as he wanted to stay in the present he forced himself to remember if only for a moment. ‘The antique shop at the far end of the street, the owner is a contact of an MI6 agent based here.’
Jozef looked back sharply and wondered how Akira knew so much about Western security protocols. ‘Are you sure?’
Akira merely stared at his ally and then opened the car door when it pulled over. ‘I just know. Go to the back of the shop and wait for my entrance.’ As he raised the hood of his sand coloured robe, Akira immediately blended in with the busy shoppers. At the end of the street, he confidently walked into the antique shop and approached the owner. ‘How long have you had this shop?’ he asked bluntly.
Saheed was a tall man, with a thick black beard. He had been born in Oman and wore a light blue dishdasha, a traditional Omani shirtdress. He looked up at the visitor and gave a warm smile. ‘Many years. How may I help you?’ He rose quickly from his seat behind the counter when he saw the visitor lock the front door of his shop. ‘Just what do you think you’re-’
Akira cut him off and spoke in a calm tone of voice. ‘You are a contact and trusted friend of MI6 agent Thomas Deane. I know Deane will be visiting you in the next few days. I want you to tell him that you have no information for him.’
Saheed had indeed known Deane for many years. He believed in his cause and had great respect for the man. He did his best to play dumb. ‘I’m sorry but I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. What is MI6?’ He raised his arms in mock confusion. ‘I have never met anyone called Thomas Deane.’
Akira stood tall with his hands crossed in front of him. His eyes never once left the shop owner. ‘I see.’ He took several steps towards the counter. ‘Your loyalty is admirable but misplaced.’ Tilting his head slightly, he spoke in a questionable tone. ‘Tell me, how is your young son?’
Saheed thought about the knife he kept under the counter but instead looked at the back of the shop as a door opened. There, ahead of him, was a chilling sight. Two other men had broken in, and one held his son at gunpoint. Tears ran down the child’s face. Saheed looked back at the visitor and saw a face that showed no emotion.
Akira’s voice was filled with frustration. ‘I grow tired of this resistance…you will follow through with my request or you and your family will all burn when this shop goes up in flames.’ Throughout the whole confrontation, his warped mind was full of one voice, that of his dead wife Madeline who spurred him on and fed his strength.
Saheed wondered whether Deane was still alive and felt shocked at how he had been compromised. For years, he had worked alongside Deane and had provided countless pieces of crucial information over that time but they had been so cautious, how had anyone been able to trace Deane to him? ‘I tell you I don’t know anyone of that name, believe me. I’m just a shop keeper who-’
Akira raised his right hand and spat out the words angrily. ‘Kill the boy.’
Jozef raised the gun in his hand to the child’s forehead.
‘NO! WAIT!’ Saheed had reached his limit. He had spent many years helping the cause he believed in and had put his own life on the line many times but he would not sacrifice his family. He closed his eyes and spoke the truth. ‘I do know Thomas Deane and yes he works for MI6. He hasn’t been in touch of late but I do expect him to be.’ Saheed looked into the eyes of Akira. ‘I am begging you. Please let my son go. I will do what you ask. Please.’
Akira ordered Jozef to let the boy go. He smiled faintly at the shopkeeper but it was not genuine. ‘I knew I could count on you Saheed. I will leave one of my followers here to help you. When Deane arrives, you will inform him that you have no information. You have not heard anything nor have you seen anyone that could be of use to him. Is that understood?’
Saheed nodded weakly. There was nothing he could do.
Akira left the shop via the back door with Gyorgy Kiprich. He wished he could witness Deane’s visit but comforted himself with the fact that another vital cog of Western operations in Oman and the Middle East was about to be permanently removed.
Madeline would be pleased.