Deadly Trust

by J J Cooper

  Sergeant brought some phlegm up and spat it at Jay. It fell short.

  Jay grinned and said, ‘That’s really disgusting, and unnecessary. A little optimistic of you too. I’m guessing you assume I won’t hurt you, yet I’ve already shot you twice. You’re losing blood and I’m certain you won’t last the night tied up out here on this isolated range. You’re either very dumb or you have an unrealistic expectation of being rescued.’

  The slightest movement from Sergeant. A shrug of a shoulder. The hairs on Jay’s neck stood up. He’d hit on something. He looked over at Toni, who was looking down, and then he turned his attention back to Sergeant.

  ‘You honestly believe you’re going to come out of this okay. Gotta admire the optimism. But let’s concentrate on reality and leave fantasies out of it, shall we? Where’s Mark Simpson?’

  Sergeant appeared smug despite his wounds and situation. ‘Keeping a can of anthrax company.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘Where nobody will find him. Kill me and you’ll never know. He’ll probably die of starvation.’

  ‘I see. So you want me to release you and you’ll be willing to tell me where he is?’

  ‘You are clever. You catch on quick, Ryan.’

  ‘Where is he, you murdering bastard?’ Toni screamed.

  The outburst caught Jay off guard and he swung towards her. She was literally frothing at the mouth and an angry shade of red. She tensed against her binds, the veins in her arms and neck straining to burst through her skin.

  Sergeant appeared just as shocked as Jay with the outburst. He didn’t respond. Just gave a wry smile.

  ‘Where is he?’ She’d dropped her voice to a level just under the screaming range.

  ‘Enough!’ Jay raised his voice sufficiently so it had a menacing effect.

  Toni kept glaring at Sergeant for a few more moments, then dragged her look back to Jay.

  Jay shook his head. ‘What did I tell you? Be happy to apply that gag again.’ He didn’t wait for a response and turned his attention back to Sergeant as if the outburst hadn’t occurred. ‘You know, Sergeant, after I escaped your custody last year, Israeli Mossad agents shot my hand and foot. Took me a year to recover.’

  Sergeant turned his head back to Jay. He kept the wry smile. ‘And?’

  ‘And I know you’re already in for a long recovery with your bullet wounds. Gonna have to rely heavily on your good leg to get around. Probably have a permanent limp. Now imagine if you don’t have a good leg to take all of the weight. It’d make life difficult. Probably need a wheelchair to get around. And maybe with some intense daily physiotherapy, you’ll be out of the wheelchair and onto a walking frame in around six to nine months’ time.’

  ‘Like you, your threats are weak, Ryan. Fuck you!’

  ‘You’re not my type and I don’t make threats – just promises. You tried to kill me. Payback’s a bitch.’

  Jay moved closer and pointed the pistol at Sergeant’s ‘good’ foot.

  Sergeant strained against the rope, trying desperately to move his leg out of the line of fire. ‘No ... wait.’

  Jay took up the trigger pressure and said, ‘Too late for begging.’

  FORTY

  ‘No!’ Toni shouted.

  Jay eased the pressure on the pistol’s trigger and watched Sergeant let out the breath he’d been holding, then looked over to Toni.

  ‘There a problem?’ Jay asked. ‘I’m trying to work here and you keep interrupting. I’m starting to think you don’t want me to find out where Mark is.’

  ‘I don’t want you to shoot him ... I mean ... shoot him, but let me do it. He killed my father and put me through hell. I want to find Mark, to get him back alive. Just let me maim the arsehole. Please, Jay. I need to do this. I want to do it.’

  Jay cocked his head a little and ran a hand over his chin.

  ‘Yeah, let the bitch have a go at it.’ Sergeant sounded cocky. ‘She’ll miss me by a mile anyway. Women are useless with a weapon in their hand.’

  Jay ignored both of his captives as they exchanged barbs and walked back to the Chevy to think things through.

  ‘Don’t walk away, Jay,’ Toni called after him. ‘I need to do this.’

  He ignored her, fished the shotgun from the car and sat on the hood. The captives squinted his way but, no doubt, couldn’t see for the glaring headlights. After reloading the shotgun shells, he emptied the pistol of all but one bullet, putting the rest in his pocket. He knew he was taking a risk giving the pistol to Toni, but he’d have her covered with the shotty in case.

  Leaving the shotgun on the hood, he made his way back to Toni, knife in hand. He cut enough of the rope that she still had to struggle to get herself free. While she was doing that, he dropped the pistol on the ground and walked back to the Chevy. He had her covered by the time she picked up the pistol.

  ‘Only one round in there, Toni,’ Jay called out. ‘Make the most of it. Remember, if you kill him, it’ll make it a whole lot tougher to find Mark.’

  With the pistol by her side, she held the other hand in front of her eyes, trying to block out some of the light. Jay knew she couldn’t see him. He cocked the shotgun. She gave a nod, turned to Sergeant and held the pistol towards his ‘good’ leg for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, she gave a shake of the head and turned back into the headlights.

  With her head lowered towards the ground, in a voice barely audible she said, ‘I can’t do it.’

  Jay slid off the hood. ‘Not to worry. Put the safety on, throw the pistol this way and take a seat. This won’t take long.’

  Sergeant laughed and said, ‘Knew the girly couldn’t do it.’

  Toni didn’t bother responding to Sergeant. She lobbed the pistol towards Jay, but it fell well short: not even halfway between the pair. Probably sapped of energy.

  The shotgun stayed level on Toni as he moved towards the pistol. He still had the advantage of the lights at his back.

  The advantage rapidly turned to his captives as a familiar voice from the recent past said, ‘Leave the pistol on the ground and drop the shotgun.’

  Jay froze. Rapid sets of scenarios played out in his mind, weighing each risk against the possibility of success. Until he realised the voice from the Chevy came from a man who had proven himself a ruthless killer.

  ‘Don’t do it, Ryan. I won’t miss.’

  No he wouldn’t. Jay dropped one hand from the shotgun and let it swing barrel-down before dropping it to the ground. The barrel hit the dirt, and after Jay had given it the right flick, the butt of the shotgun fell towards Sergeant. The barrel now faced the assassin.

  ‘Nice try,’ said the assassin. ‘Now take three large steps to your direct left.’

  Shit! Jay did as ordered.

  ‘It’s about time you turned up,’ Sergeant said to the assassin. ‘Now untie me so I can kill him.’

  Jay didn’t doubt him. He needed a way out. His only opportunity to escape could be while the assassin was setting Sergeant free.

  ‘And give him a glimmer of hope of escape while I’m distracted with you. I don’t think so,’ the assassin said.

  Another option gone.

  ‘Toni,’ the assassin said. ‘Untie him.’

  Jay glanced at Toni, who’d made it to her knees. She looked at Jay. The sorrow in her eyes had disappeared. Jay gave the slightest nod and moved his eyes towards the pistol. He’d hoped she would make a move towards it. Possibly now his only chance.

  Toni looked at the pistol, stood, placed her hand in front of her face to shield the light and said to the assassin, ‘I need his knife.’ She indicated towards Jay.

  ‘Throw her the knife. No messing about either. I won’t hesitate to shoot.’

  With limited knowledge of what he was up against, Jay still couldn’t make a move. On any other day with a knife in his hand, he’d make a good go of it. With or without a weapon, Jay would be confident of coming up with something to get him out of a situation like this. But, with limited situational
awareness due to the positioning of the assassin and the headlights at his back, he had to rely on Toni to make a move for him. He withdrew the knife and threw it into the gap between her and the pistol. Maybe two quick bounds for her from the knife to the pistol. A small area to cover. Would she be willing to make the move? She only needed to distract the assassin for a split second for Jay to dive for the shotgun. A big ask, he realised.

  It seemed she’d sensed what Jay was thinking and made brief eye contact before taking a couple of hesitant steps to the knife. Another quick glance towards Jay, then she bent and retrieved the knife. Jay readied himself to move. Calculating the type of roll he’d execute, the position of his hands on the weapon, angle required for the shot and the amount of crawling and sideways movement to avoid the rush of inevitable bullets.

  The blade flicked open in her hand. She looked at the pistol. Now, Jay willed.

  It didn’t happen.

  Toni walked back to Sergeant, who had started chuckling in between bouts of grimacing from his wounds. She made light work of the ropes with the knife. Maybe, Jay thought, just maybe she would release Sergeant then hold the knife to his throat. A stand-off with the assassin. The anticipation intensified.

  As the last of the binds were cut, Sergeant crumpled to the ground at Toni’s feet. He lifted a hand for her to assist him up. She did. He put an arm over her shoulder for support and took a staggered step forward. The knife was still in her hand. What the hell was she waiting for?

  Another ginger step forward. Maybe she was more comfortable with the pistol. They moved towards it and stopped. The pistol was now at Toni’s feet.

  ‘Get me that,’ Sergeant said to Toni, nodding to the pistol.

  The fool, Jay thought. This is it. She’d led them into a false sense of security. Brilliant. Do it, Jay silently pleaded. Put the cold metal against his temple.

  Toni bent while Sergeant balanced on his good leg. She gripped the pistol and fingered the trigger. The safety catch was off.

  Time to turn the tables.

  In one swift movement, the tables were turned – back on to Jay.

  FORTY-ONE

  Sergeant balanced on Toni as she pointed the pistol at Jay.

  ‘Sorry to disappoint you, Jay,’ she said. ‘Guess I wasn’t quite truthful to you.’

  Jay shut his eyes as if to shake off a dream. The upside was he knew they needed him for a reason – the anthrax. The downside was the pain he undoubtedly would undergo in the not too distant future.

  He opened his eyes as the assassin entered the beam of the headlights and stood by Sergeant and Toni. He too aimed a pistol at Jay.

  ‘As much as I’d like to kill him now, we have a rendezvous to make,’ Sergeant said.

  ‘My client would appreciate him alive,’ the assassin said.

  ‘He’ll be alive, just a little damaged. Tie him up and throw him in the trunk.’

  Jay had figured the assassin was working for Sergeant. The reference to ‘my client’ explained otherwise. Either one of the other two patent owners. But then why would he want to save Sergeant and Toni?

  After Jay had his hands bound behind his back, he caught the slightest nod of the head from Toni to Sergeant. Then, as the assassin finished his work and picked up the shotgun, more questions than answers entered Jay’s mind as a bullet from Toni’s pistol entered the assassin’s head.

  The shotgun fell to the dirt a full second before the assassin followed. Jay didn’t hang around long enough to admire the wound. Toni’s reactions were slightly slower. But she had the advantage of not having her hands bound by zip ties behind her back.

  The instinctive plan was simple enough. Two quick steps, a dive headfirst, last minute roll and come up with the shotgun held behind his back; quick turn and fire. Ambitious. Didn’t quite work out the way Jay would have liked. Two steps, dive and roll worked a treat. Just didn’t quite manage to pick up the shotgun in his bound hands. Instead of the quick turn and fire, he received a vicious boot to his chest. The momentum of coming out of the roll and the forward thrust of the boot from Toni felt like he’d been hit with a sledgehammer.

  As he sucked for clean air, Jay curled into the foetal position and waited for the other boot.

  It didn’t come.

  Toni probably figured it wasn’t a good idea to get near a wounded Jay Ryan. She figured right. Jay was ready to lash out with his feet, bring her to the ground and snap her neck. Just like he had with a Mossad agent the previous year.

  He caught his breath and took a wary peek.

  Sergeant limped in behind Toni, who was holding the shotgun steady and a safe distance away. The pistol held firm in Sergeant’s oversized hand. A rage in his eyes as he went to go by Toni. She held out a hand to prevent him getting closer.

  ‘Keep your distance,’ she said.

  Sergeant went to brush her hand aside, but she palmed his chest and shook her head.

  Sergeant’s rage turned quickly to a look of disbelief. He gritted his teeth and said, ‘Get out of my way.’

  ‘You get any closer and he’ll damage you some more.’

  ‘I’ve got the gun.’

  ‘You’ve got an empty pistol and we need to get going.’

  Sergeant looked at the pistol and appeared somewhat embarrassed. In his rage he hadn’t noticed the working parts of the pistol were to the rear and the chamber empty. Amazing what one could forget in a year out of the service. Without another word, Sergeant limped towards the passenger seat of the Chevy and got in, taking the long way around to avoid Jay.

  Before they left the range, Toni made Jay move around to the trunk of the Chevy on his knees and then climb in. He made himself as comfortable as possible, thankful he owned a big vehicle.

  About three-quarters of the way into the trip, Jay realised where they were headed – back to the same warehouse in the industrial estate. He followed the movements of the vehicle and crossed off the streets in his head. He was surprised Toni would take him back the exact same route as their journey to the range. Then again, he’d given up trying to figure her out and instead concentrated on escape.

  The creaking of the roller door alerted Jay to the fact they’d arrived at their destination. He knew he had to buy time. Bill would figure it out quick enough when Jay missed making his call to him, and then the troops would arrive – hopefully.

  The bright lights burned into him as he was roughly pulled from the trunk by the wounded Sergeant. Jay hit the concrete hard on a shoulder and only just managed to keep his head from bouncing on the floor. He started taking his time getting to his knees before the butt of the shotgun connected with the back of his head. Not hard enough to knock him out, just a few crazy spots jumping around before his eyes and a trickle of warm blood down his neck.

  ‘Enough!’ Toni called out. ‘We need him in one piece.’

  ‘What the fuck are you talking about? What’s this “we” business?’ Sergeant spat out.

  ‘We have a deal. I got Ryan. You get your can of aerosol anthrax for his exchange, and I get my cousin back. We all walk away happy.’

  ‘Except me, I suppose,’ Jay said.

  ‘You want another smack around the head?’ Sergeant tried his best menacing voice. Jay thought it sounded like a man battling plenty of blood loss and trying to save face by acting all tough. The shotgun in his hands was convincing, all the same.

  ‘You drew the short straw, Jay,’ Toni said. ‘Someone’s gotta lose. The others are dead. Only you and Mark left. Someone has to be the last interrogator. You know the saying – blood is thicker than water.’

  Jay slowly got to his feet and continued to adjust to the lights. He cracked his neck and a shot of pain from the head wound refocused his need for survival.

  He watched Toni as she came around to the trunk of the Chevy. Not a hint of trepidation. She checked her watch, looked over to Sergeant and said, ‘They should have been here by now.’

  ‘They’ll be here.’

  ‘Who?’ Jay probed.
r />   ‘You’ll see. An old acquaintance of yours wants to catch up.’ Sergeant finished the comment with a slight chuckle, and then a groan.

  Jay still had his back to Sergeant, but he knew the wounds would be causing major discomfort by now. He watched Toni as she looked in Sergeant’s direction.

  ‘Give me the shotgun. I’ll keep an eye on him while you get some bandages for those wounds,’ she said.

  ‘You want me to pop into the hospital?’ Sarcasm oozed from Sergeant.

  Unperturbed she said, ‘Use the first-aid kit in the car.’

  ‘That may have been handy to know about on the way here.’

  ‘Slipped my mind.’

  ‘Undo the zip ties and I’ll bandage you up, Sergeant,’ Jay said.

  ‘Fuck off, Ryan.’

  ‘Just trying to help.’

  Before Sergeant could retort, Toni said, ‘Just give me the shotty.’ She held out a hand.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Jay watched the shotty exchange hands. He then turned his attention to Sergeant, who hobbled past and entered the back of the vehicle for the medical kit. In a low voice, Jay said to Toni, ‘Something you’re not telling me?’

  ‘Plenty. Stay quiet and you’ll come out of this in one piece.’

  Jay turned to face her and raised his eyebrows. He knew better than to ask a question. As it was, she literally held his life in her hands. A glimmer of hope had presented itself. Still, he couldn’t read her. Her expressions were carved in stone.

  She glanced over his shoulder towards Sergeant, who Jay could hear still rummaging away in the back of the vehicle. She looked back at Jay and said, ‘In your left leg pocket is a small razor. Use it at the right moment. But not until after you leave here.’

  Jay closed his eyes and shook his head. Who the hell is she? And how the hell did she manage to slip a razor in his pocket without him knowing?