H When hell is the favourable option

by David Jaundrell

  When the police had taken his statement and the medics had gone he went back downstairs to his station, went to a drawer and took out a piece of paper with a number on it. He phoned the number which went to an automatic exchange which then rerouted to another number which rerouted it again to another exchange and to another number. A person with a foreign accent answered.

  ‘I have news for you…..’ said the concierge.

  H Chapter 30

  Senor Reyes

  When Senor and Senora Reyes heard the news they were devastated. Their only child. Gunned down in London. London! Holy Mother! Bogota they could have understood. But an expensive apartment in London? How could that be? Why would that be? Senor Reyes comforted his stricken wife then when she had composed herself sufficiently they sat down to decide what to do? They did not know whether their daughter was alive or dead so Senor Reyes rang a Senior Partner of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer the eminent City law firm and spoke at length to Sir Anthony Gibbs-White.

  He had known the company for many years in the days when they were just plain Freshfields and they had always done an excellent job, albeit at a price, but Senor Reyes was happy to pay for the best advice money could buy. Gibbs-White called in a lawyer and issued his instructions, leaving it to the lawyer to sort out the detail and the best way forward. However he did stress on more than one occasion that the client was very, very important.

  The most important thing now was information. The news channels were carrying a story of a man and a woman being shot in their expensive apartmentbut they knew little else. The news teams had quizzed the concierge who knew nothing and the neighbour was not available. Only the police and medics knew anything.

  The man was dead and the woman critical……

  The well connected lawyer rang a Deputy Commissioner in New Scotland Yard and received up to date information. He ascertained that contrary to reports the man, James James, was not dead but was unlikely to survive and was currently on a life support machine in St Georges Hospital in the south of London. Senorita Reyes was the same hospital, in a critical condition but not on life support. Mr James had been shot in the head and chest. Senorita Reyes had been hit twice in the chest and miraculously both had missed her heart but one had punctured a lung. However the high impact rifle had done a lot of internal damage and left two gaping wounds in her back as they had passed through her.

  The lawyer rang the London Clinic and spoke to a Consultant who agreed to act as an intermediary between the hospital, Freshfields and the Reyes family. He was told to establish when Senorita Reyes could be moved to the London Clinic to get twenty four hour specialised care and also the exact situation with regards to Mr James………

  H Chapter 31

  H lies quite still

  In the quiet hospital room H lay quite still. The monitors hummed and bleeped, showing a man still alive; but to what extent….?

  H could have told them……

  H could have told them his foot itched like crazy.

  But he didn't know what an itch was……?

  Or a foot………..?

  H Chapter 32

  A good job done

  The sniper was satisfied with his work. He knew he had got the man in the head and chest which would kill him and it was unlikely the woman would survive two in the chest. He gently dismantled the L96 sniper rifle with its new Falcon Optics Merlin 10x42T Scope and put them lovingly in the large, innocuous dark green sports bag. It had been a good day in many ways but the main thing was the weather. Bright, calm, not much wind….ideal for killing a man at six hundred yards. He had waited four days in his hotel room for not only the right opportunity but also the right weather and he was pleased it had taken a lot less time than usual.

  Time to go home.

  He was tired. He wanted a holiday….a rest. He hadn't really wanted this job but if you start turning jobs down ……no jobs. In front of the mirror he put in coloured contact lenses to change his eyes and checked that the dye in his hair still looked natural. Putting on his coat he picked up the bag and went downstairs to pay; then off on holiday and on his return, resume his life of killing people.

  He was highly experienced and one of the best with a sniper rifle but his killing was not usually done in cities with skyscrapers. All cities are not the same and had he been an American killer from New York or Manhattan he would have taken into account the effects of wind turbulence, even on a calm day, created by large structures. Indeed a professional American killer would have declined to kill from a distance in a skyscraper city but had he been forced to he would have walked to the bottom of the building and found out which way the wind was circling the building and then allowed for it. He (or she – there are highly paid women assassins but they can be counted on one hand) would also know that some buildings created a massive air lift up the outside walls as it tried to escape. They would know this through experience and intuition. And while it wasn't known to H's killer, the condition was well known in the construction industry as fluid dynamics. And had the assassin had the benefit of a super computer with FEM3MP computational modelling on it he would have known the bullets would be moved marginally off trajectory as they left the calm of the space between the buildings and entered the turbulence of the vortex created by the structure.

  But he didn't work in the construction industry, didn't have a super computer and didn't know much about fluid dynamics……..

  H Chapter 33

  Ringing friends

  In Colombia Senor Reyes and his wife decided not to go to London just yet. Benshima was in capable hands, her life was not at risk and there was much they could do in Colombia using the machinery of power and influence they had there. Senor Reyes rang many people who were more than happy to help him in his hour of need. He rang people all over the world who he knew within business and without to pick their brains, their knowledge and their contacts. After nearly four hours on the phone he came out of his large office with a degree of satisfaction and went in to his wife.

  ‘I have it’ he said ‘we can now make sense of this. There is much to do….’

  They sat down and talked into the early hours.

  Three days later Senor Reyes and his wife were taken in a convoy to the airport in Bogotá where their own G550 Gulfstream was waiting. Within a short while all the necessary formalities were completed and the plane's 15,000 lbs of thrust was soon pushing the 40 tonne jet down the two mile runway to send them on their way. With its Rolls Royce engines it would take nearly seven hours flying at about 0.85 Mach, about six hundred and fifty miles per hour, at around 50,000 feet to get to London. Senor Reyes began immediately to make phone calls on the satellite phone. The laptop computer he had brought with him connected via Broad Band Multi Link from the aircraft to the ground. The Gulfstream was, from Senor Reyes point of view, an extravagant though much used business tool. It was really too big for his needs but a business associate two years earlier had fallen on hard times and at only ten million US$ it was knock down price he could not refuse….

  At Heathrow they were met by a representative of the Columbian Embassy who took them into London in the Ambassadors car. On behalf of the Ambassador the Aide expressed his sorrow at what had happened. Senor Reyes thanked him and told him the family appreciated such courtesies and to give his regards to The Ambassador. The Aide told Senor Reyes that the Embassy was at his disposal if he needed it. Senor Reyes thanked him again. The car with darkened windows and diplomatic plates dropped them off at the Ritz and when they were installed Senor Reyes rang Toby…..

  Toby had arranged for the Reyes to be transported around by H's security company. They took them first to see Benshima at the hospital and were met there by John Payne, the Consultant.

  ‘How is my daughter?’

  ‘She is still in a critical condition but not life threatening’

  ‘How can you have one without the other?’

  ‘It's a matter of time and degree’ answered the consultant ‘The inju
ry of itself was not life threatening but the effect on the body could be if invaded by outside agencies or if the body was naturally susceptible to conditions that in normal life it was not exposed to’

  He paused for a moment and looked at Senor Reyes who gave him no indication whatsoever of what he was thinking so he carried on ‘……An example of this would be a weak heart. A bullet in the leg would not be life threatening but the extra stress on the heart could be… or someone could do a bungee jump and…. ‘ He shrugged his shoulders.

  Senor Reyes thought for a moment but then his wife said ‘Take me to my daughter please’

  They were led to a private room where they found Benshima with an oxygen mask covering her face and an intravenous drip attached to both arms. The Consultant looked at the array of monitors with their graphs, numbers and beeping sounds and turned to Senora Reyes.

  ‘She is quite stable. Pulse and blood pressure good. One of the main problems of gun shot wounds that do not actually hit a major point of the body is the trauma the body experiences by the impact and penetration. Amazingly it's quite bizarre but in many instances of gunshot wounds the person can actually be treated as an outpatient as the bullet has merely gone through flesh and there is no major wound and no trauma. However in Benshima's case the bullets have gone in her chest, both have hit ribs and been deflected somewhat which has changed not only the angle of the bullet but its clean forward motion. That means it has imparted a degree of spin but at a sideways angle making it a bit like – he was going to say ‘a mini chainsaw’ but stopped himself in time – a tumbling dice and so the damage is irregular and not clean. Another problem can be the contamination that a bullet can bring to the body and so antibiotics are necessary, again giving the body another problem to deal with’.

  Senora Reyes went to a seat by the bed and held Benshima's hand, kissed her softly on the cheek and quietly sobbed. Senor Reyes had never cried in his life but he felt warm tears gather in his eyes then slowly fall down his cheeks.

  After two hours Senor Reyes left his wife and daughter and went to another part of the hospital with the consultant to see James. In a small, highly specialised room H was strapped on a small portable operating table rather than a bed so that, should he have to be moved at a seconds notice, there would be no need to lift him physically.

  ‘In a small way Mr James has got over the first hurdle; the first twenty four hours are the most critical and it's now been three days. You will know he does not respond at all and because of that we do not know the extent of the damage to his brain. Either the gunman was not too good or he moved a fraction or something but the bullet entered more to the left of his head than the middle. It entered the periphery of the right temporal lobe and left through the occipital region. In the middle he would have died instantly. There is also the point that as the gunmen appears to have been quite some distance away when he fired it means he had to use a bullet designed for accuracy which actually reduces possible damage. Had the killer been standing by him and used a hollow point bullet Mr James head would have been blown apart……’

  For a moment he forgot himself and warmed to his theme as though imparting knowledge to medical students.

  ‘………..I once saw a case where extensive backspatter consisting of brain tissue, bone fragments and blood had been expelled from a huge entrance wound and had travelled up to a distance of 4.6 metres!’

  He almost sounded proud. If the consultant's analogies were designed to calm Senor Reyes they were not working and indeed unnecessary. Senor Reyes had lived through a violent time in Colombia's history and had seen much, far too much, death.

  ‘What happens now?’ asked Senor Reyes

  ‘We wait…….’ he paused unconsciously for effect ‘His physical state is not too bad as he is very strong and naturally athletic so it is up to the brain and the body to tell us where we are. Currently Mr James is in a coma. He will be like that for …who knows, but it could be a month. If he has given us no diagnostic information by then it is possible that he will stay that way and acquire a vegetative state. If that is the case the hospital will more than likely ask his next of kin for permission to shut off the equipment.’

  ‘Can we move him to the London Clinic?’ asked Senor Reyes who wanted the best treatment for James that money could buy.

  ‘Not really. Not yet. We can do no more for Mr James than is being done now. The only thing that can help Mr James now is Mr James’.

  ‘Thank you Mr Payne’ said Senor Reyes and turned away.

  Payne realised he had just been dismissed! Payne was irked and affronted by the dismissal. As a senior consultant he was not used to being dismissed. Fawned over …yes. Dismissed….no! He looked at the small, peasant looking man who had turned his back to him and his petulance overcame his rationality. ‘Excuse me….’ he said a touch aggressively.

  Senor Reyes turned round ‘Yes Mr Payne?’

  ‘You do realise that I am one of the most senior consultants in Britain?’ he said sarcastically.

  ‘I thought that was why we were paying you so much money’

  ‘I am not used to being……..dismissed……like a hired help’.

  ‘Mr Payne’ said Senor Reyes softly ‘the difference between you and the man who tends my garden is merely the rate of pay………’

  Senor Reyes turned back towards James. Payne stood there for a moment, inwardly raged then stormed out.

  When Payne had left the room Senor Reyes moved to James, took his hand and said gently in Spanish ‘Fight my friend. Fight with all your strength and tell your friend Cerberus that you are not ready to enter Hades yet……’

  H Chapter 34

  After ‘giving’ Secure Security company twenty thousand of his company's money which meant using all the overdraft facility, Nephew had gone home in a dreadful state to explain to his wife and work out how to survive. He looked a mess and when he got in he asked for a cup of tea which his wife made him and he sat at the kitchen table and explained it all to her. The scam, the beating, the overdraft……everything. She was a wonderful compassionate and caring woman who stood by him and he thanked God he had her…..

  ‘You lying bastard’ she screamed ‘you expect me to believe that? You've conned and lied all your life and unfortunately I've gone along with it but now you're conning me? Me! How dare you!’

  His mouth dropped open. ‘It's true’ he spluttered ‘it's all true’

  ‘Crap’ she spit at him ‘you wouldn't know the truth if it hit you in the mouth. Where is it? Where is the money? Coke, horses, dogs, prossies? Or is all this a scam for my benefit and you're going to sod off somewhere with another floozy you're shagging?’

  ‘It's not like that’ said Nephew and a tiredness swept over him

  ‘I bet it is’ said his wife, turned abruptly around and marched upstairs. A few minutes later she came down, suitcase in hand and went to the front door.

  ‘You will never hear from me again but you will hear from my solicitor!’ and with a loud bang of the slamming door she was gone.

  He had had enough; he went to the wine cabinet, opened a bottle of wine and over the next few minutes drunk the lot. He opened another bottle, downed that then dropped on the couch and went to sleep. The next morning, with a pounding hangover, he made himself an English breakfast with several mugs of strong, sweet coffee and a few drams of whisky as a taster and to give hair to the dog.

  Used to making things work for him he racked his brains to work out how to get out of the mess. He could more than likely get a bigger temporary overdraft and it may be that the suppliers would give him time to pay. And there were always scams to be done, suckers to take. It would only take one or two big ones. One or two gullible dummies and he would be away again.

  Refreshed and thinking straight again, or in his case crooked, he got in his car and went to work. When he arrived the office door was slightly ajar and he pushed it gingerly.

  Inside there was………nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing!
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  No desks, no chairs, no filing cabinets, no computers, no copier, no printers, no phones, no coffee machine, no pictures, no carpets. No fucking carpets……..? Who the fuck would want the carpets?

  Nothing. Nothing. Nothing!

  He sank to his knees in despair and just stayed there. Then he lay on his back and just stared at the ceiling……… He stayed there half an hour, just staring at the ceiling, then dragged himself wearily back to his car and set off for home. That was it, it was all over, there was nothing left…. all that could go wrong, had gone wrong…….

  His mobile went and he fished it out of his pocket.

  ‘Hello?…….Oh hi John……….. no sorry mate can't do golf, I've got one or two problems at the moment……another time……well if we talk in about……….’

  The loud siren interrupted his telephone call and he saw the police car move in front of him and beckon him to stop. Nephew couldn't believe it. How could anything get worse? After taking his details and outlining the penalties for using a mobile phone in a car the copper said ‘Is that alcohol on your breath sir? Do you mind if we take a breath test………….’

  H Chapter 35

  The Embassy

  Senor Reyes left his wife at the hospital with Benshima whilst Secure Security took him to The Colombian Embassy. They drove through Knightsbridge to Hans Crescent and through the gates. An aide met their car and Senor Reyes was taken immediately to the Ambassadors large office. The Ambassador rose as they entered and smiled warmly ‘Jose’ he said moving to him, arms outstretched ‘my old friend. I am truly sorry we meet under these circumstances’

  They embraced as brothers.

  ‘Come’ said the Ambassador pointing to a nest of easy chairs surrounding a lacquered table where hot Colombian coffee was waiting. They moved over and sat down.