The Masterful Russian (The Masterful Series)

by Cordelia Gregory

  He glanced to the right. Two men in dark cheap suits unlike the quality of his designer tailor-made one emerged from one of the tunnel walkways and started following her. They were closer to her than Gabriel. If he didn’t reach her soon there would be a bullet in her back and he would have failed to protect the witness.

  Appearing blissfully unaware of the men pursuing her the young pretty blonde journalist walked towards the platform, Gabriel stepped off the escalator and picked up his pace becoming a little rougher, pushing passengers out of the way to reach her. A tinny disembodied voice announced the imminent arrival of a tube. Too late, the damn train was coming in and the suits were just about on top of her.

  Gabriel barged through a couple holding hands praying he would take hold of her before the train arrived. But his luck was running out fast. Just before he reached the end of the tunnel walkway, a third suit stepped in front of him and swung a punch at Gabriel’s face. He quickly raised his arm to block it and deliver a hard blow to the man’s stomach. The man groaned loudly and bent double. The crowd of passengers were in an uproar and panic. They scattered and ran out, clearing a path for the other two assailants to reach the platform where she waited for the train.

  The suit came back at Gabriel grabbing him by the shoulders to push him back against the platform wall between two running, screaming, female French students. As his back hit the tiled wall, Gabriel lifted his arms with lightning speed and dislodged the man’s hold to aim a punch to the man’s jaw and then stomach in a succession of fast staccato movements, the older man tried in vain to match and counter as Gabriel heard the train arrive. Automatically, Gabriel’s attention diverted for a brief second to the platform to see if he could find the woman he had been assigned to protect. She was pushing her way onto the tube. His lapse of attention was a mistake.

  The suit’s fist made hard contact with his jaw forcing Gabriel’s head sideways. It gave his attacker enough time to draw his weapon and aim it at him. Malinov quickly renewed his concentration ignoring the ache in his jaw. He spun his body around and executed a perfect roundhouse kick to knock the man’s weapon away before he was able to fire and took out his own Glock 17 before the man could retrieve it and recover. Without hesitation, he coldly discharged his weapon and shot the man square in the chest. The assailant dropped to the floor dead. Running towards the tube, Gabriel put his gun away and looked for the witness.

  Everyone was running past him screaming after hearing the shot. The woman was half on the tube when she turned and looked backwards to see the men in suits making their way towards her through the scattering passengers. Finally, she had seen that she was being followed. Gabriel watched her look down the platform to the entrance to the walkway as the rest of the passengers swarmed and pushed to get on the train behind her to escape the danger forcing her onto the train. Gabriel could see her mentally consider escape options as he battled with the sea of passengers to get to her.

  “Get on the train, Antonia,” he called out to her, his voice betraying only a light lilt of his Russian accent.

  Startled at the sound of her name being shouted, she looked down the platform and made contact with his eyes.

  “Get on the train,” he repeated.

  Confused but clearly seeing something in his handsome face and black eyes she could trust, she obeyed and stopped resisting the push of the crowd behind her and got on. Gabriel saw her force her way through the heaving mass on the carriage and move through the connecting door into the next one to reach him as he headed for the nearest carriage three away from her but as he got there a loud beeping sound echoed around the underground platform and he was warned to stand clear of the doors as they closed on him. Growling with frustration he tried to prise them apart but the damn train started moving up past him into the tunnel. He banged the door with the side of his fist in frustration. He stood back defeated as her carriage passed. He saw the men move into the next carriage gaining ground on her. She stared at him out of the window briefly ceasing her movement up the train.

  “Get off at the next station and keep running. I will find you,” he shouted watching her glassy green eyes stare at him from her beautiful haunted pale face as the carriage passed by him. She nodded and started moving up the carriage as the train disappeared through the tunnel into the blackness.

  Gabriel turned and ran out of the station carefully evading the armed police pouring into it by merging with the crowd trying to escape it. He hoped Antonia could keep her life intact until he reached the next stop.

  “She’s on the move,” he whispered into the small mic in his ear. “I need you. She’s heading to Waterloo station.”

  The moment he emerged from the station’s entrance a sleek black Audi screeched across the road from its parking place and pulled up alongside the kerb beside him. He got in and it sped away down the street towards Waterloo station.

  Malinov gave the woman agent driving the car a quick glance thankful she was driving. They did not speak. Janice was a master at weaving in and out of traffic and finding routes down side streets to knock off the time it would take them to reach their destination. He removed his Glock 17 from the holster inside his dark grey designer suit jacket and prepared as they headed down a side street breaking the speed restrictions. His mind focused on the job, distracting his thoughts from their need to drift onto the train and ruminate on Antonia’s helpless state. The lady had guts. She would survive. He had no doubts. She was strong, determined and fearless. She would make it out of that station alive and he would be there when she did, ready to take over her protection while she gave both him and the organization he worked for all the information she’d gathered to help them bring down a terrorist cell.

  Just minutes later, Janice brought the car to a halt outside the main entrance to Waterloo station. He quickly spied Antonia already out of the station running across the road. The two men were still following her and now one of them was aiming his gun at her clearly sick of chasing her to enable a clean execution. Gabriel held his breath as the bullet shot from the weapon whistled towards her just as she veered to the side. To his relief it missed its target but embedded itself into the leg of a pedestrian. Once more, people ran in all directions hampering his movement towards the men and Antonia. As the man prepared to shoot again, Gabriel lunged on top of him from behind knocking him to the ground. Holding him down the agent punched the side of his head until he was dazed enough to relinquish his hold on the gun he tried to aim at Gabriel’s head. Janice appeared at his side aiming her Glock at the man on the ground.

  “I’ve got him. Go after her. The second man is still pursuing.”

  Gabriel was quickly on his feet running at full tilt again through the middle of the road catching sight of Antonia up ahead. But he was to encounter another immediate obstacle. A car sped past him and swerved directly across his path bringing him to a dead stop. The Police armed response unit. Immediately three armed officers alighted from the vehicle aiming Heckler & Koch MP5SF submachines guns at him.

  “Get down on the ground,” one of the male officers barked at him.

  He raised his hands in the air keeping an eye on Antonia as she disappeared down the street. He opened his mouth to speak when the black Audi pulled up next to him. Janice got out of the car holding her badge for the officers to see.

  “Stand down. United Global Defence. He is one of ours,” she shouted at them.

  The officer’s nodded and lowered their firearms allowing Gabriel to take off on his pursuit once more. Overhead a black helicopter whirred noisily over him and towards the journalist. The pilot spoke to him through his earpiece.

  “She’s heading for the London Eye. She is still being followed and it looks like she is beginning to panic. You need to get to her quick.”

  Malinov glanced upwards as the helicopter started to descend to try to run interference between Antonia and the men running after her. He wove in and around the tourists making their way to the London Eye, noticing the helicopter was
now hovering over the huge cantilevered wheel. Gabriel entered the ticket building at speed. One of the men turned and aimed his weapon at him discharging a bullet over the heads of the heaving mass of people piling inside.

  Everyone screamed and ran in all directions hampering Gabriel’s pursuit as he dodged the bullet. He watched the second man train his gun on Antonia as she fled towards the wheel and he heard her cry out as the bullet struck her side. With a hard shove, he pushed his way through the tourists just as Antonia barged her way into a capsule containing a young family to take refuge. The suit followed and entered before he could be stopped by the staff. Gabriel was too late. The door closed and the capsule rose into the air trapping Antonia inside with the assassin just as the agent made it up to the wheel.

  Frustrated he watched the capsule rise and studied it closely. He spoke into his mic to the pilot in the helicopter.

  “You have to get me up there now,” he ordered.

  Almost immediately the whirling blades of the helicopter could be heard more loudly as it descended onto the grass area near the wheel.

  “Clear the area and stop the wheel,” Gabriel shouted at the staff showing his Global Defence badge as they fought to stand still in the wind created by the helicopter’s blades as it landed. He ran towards it.

  It barely touched the ground as he jumped inside. Once more it rose into the air. The capsule containing Antonia was four from the very top but the damn wheel was still rising. As the helicopter rose above the capsule he could see her fighting for her life as she struggled with the man trying to stop him shooting her. Admiration seared through Gabriel as she punched at the man’s stocky frame with all the strength fuelled by adrenaline her small injured body could manage.

  She was getting no help from the man huddled in the corner with his family as he tried to protect his two small children and wife from the scene. Gabriel frowned and leaned out of the helicopter feeling the wind blow at his face to get a closer look at the wheel as Antonia knocked the gun from the man’s hand when his grip relaxed after she’d kneed him. He waved at the pilot to move as close as he dared. The capsule moved up into its next position making it third from the top. He leaned forward ready to risk his life and jump onto the top of the glass capsule.

  His heart beating fast and his breath ragged, Gabriel put his trust in his capability leaving no question in his mind that he would make the jump and then executed it without hesitation. He grimaced as the weight of his body fell flat across the top and started to slide down the glass covered side making him quickly reach out and hold on to the lever on top of the trap door to stop himself sliding over the edge.

  “Gabriel,” the pilot shouted in his mic with concern noticing he couldn’t move for a moment.

  “I’m fine. Just getting my breath back,” he said with a trace of humour in his voice. He grinned at the pilot and waved at him before heaving himself up to a standing position and trying to open the trap door on top of Antonia’s capsule. Once more his heart thudded like an express train careering down the track as his body swayed in the wind that threatened to push him off the side. He loved the power surge it created in his body allowing him to operate at optimum strength. It made him feel alive as the morning sun beat down on him and the London city landscape hovered below. He glanced down, hearing the sound of police sirens scream and echo down below.

  As he twisted the door lever and the safety mechanism he could hear the muffled sounds of fighting and angry shouts. He wondered how much longer Antonia could last and hurried to get the damn door open. Every thought in his mind was clear, every movement made with precision and expert calculation to maintain his balance yet lose none of his speed. This was how he functioned on a mission just as he had been trained previously by the Russian secret service, the GRU. And later by United Global Defence when they had asked him to work for them as an operative after he’d shown excellent leadership and skill on an army exercise that went terribly wrong. The trap door opened and he jumped inside to join the fight.

  Chapter 5

  Gabriel landed on his feet on top of the seating in the middle of the capsule and noticed the man’s gun, Antonia had obviously managed to knock from his hand in their struggle, on the floor. When he jumped down into the capsule Antonia was losing the fight. The assailant had her pressed up against the glass at one end of the capsule and now held a flick knife. His hand was around her throat and her face was turning blue as he tried to stab the knife just below her ribs. But she quickly jerked her body to the side to avoid it. Gabriel could hear her choking and her agitated movements begin to slow. Her hands clawed at the assailant’s hand desperately trying to remove the obstruction from her throat but the task was impossible because the man’s strength far outweighed her own. The suit prepared to stab her again just as Malinov jumped down from the seating.

  The man glanced to the side but it was too late. The Global Defence agent took hold of his arm and twisted it backwards cleanly breaking it. The knife clattered to the floor as the man groaned loudly in pain. Immediately he let go of Antonia’s throat to turn to defend himself.. Gabriel drew the assassin away from Antonia, pulling him backwards against his chest, before the assassin could turn to fight back, and put him in a headlock. It only took one clean forceful pull of the assassin’s head to the side to break the man’s neck.

  The sounds of coughing and spluttering he’d heard from Antonia were still echoing around the small space amid the cries of horror from the family. Gabriel lowered himself onto his haunches in front of Antonia who’d sunk to the floor clutching at her throat as she tried to draw air back in. She stared at him with panic in her eyes. Something made him reach out to gently cup the side of her face with his hand. He tilted her face upwards noticing her eyes were flicking from him to the dead man on the floor as she gulped in air as though she might be deprived of it if she didn’t. She stared at the dead man and began to shake uncontrollably while still trying to catch her breath. Her eyes flicked wildly around the capsule. She was clearly in shock.

  “Look at me,” he said softly tucking his fingers under her chin to raise her face up towards him. “Look only at me,” he repeated a little more firmly when she continued to look at the dead man.

  She stared up at him and he held her gaze.

  “Slow your breathing. In, out. Not so fast. Watch me,” he tried not to speak to her as though he were soothing a child and made sure he held her eyes as he breathed slowly with her to help her gain a calm rhythm once more.

  As the wheel lowered the capsule to the ground, her breathing regained its equilibrium. But then the shaking and reaction to nearly losing her life really kicked in. More tears bulged in her haunted eyes and she was now having trouble keeping them in check. Gabriel threw caution to the wind and drew her into his arms. It felt natural and for a moment, she clung to him, burying her soft face against the hard muscle of his chest to seek comfort, protection and reassurance. Then she pulled back wiping away the tears that had escaped. She looked away embarrassed and tried to move away from him. He wasn’t letting her go anywhere. She was shaking like a pneumatic drill. Sitting down with her, listening to her teeth chatter and realising the shock was really setting in, he swept his arm around her and felt some relief when she did not object and leant against his chest allowing him to soothe and protect her.

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  “My name is Gabriel Malinov. I am a United Global Defence agent and I’m here to protect you. You aren’t alone anymore, Antonia. I will take care of you.”

  She didn’t say another word and he didn’t ask any questions. There would be plenty of them later. For now, he just wanted to make her feel safe. The Russian agent believed it was a feeling she hadn’t felt for a long time and he was honoured to be the one giving it to her.

  Antonia King was the only woman who could identify the IS jihadist fighter, masquerading as a refugee, co-ordinating a group of terrorists to suicide bomb European cities and Gabriel had to keep her alive. She’
d run across the jihadist almost by accident when she had been investigating the kidnapping of women for a sexual slavery ring operated by the Mafia. She’d discovered refugee women were being abducted from the camp and forced to become brides for rich businessmen, for jihadist fighters in Syria, Derna in Libya and other IS strongholds and sold to brothels and for online sex.

  Her investigation had inadvertently led to the uncovering of the organized radicalization of men in the camp. She had written about an operation in which an IS operative was radicalizing young disenfranchised men in the refugee camp to build an army of suicide bombers. The two girls she had been protecting in the camp had been taken from her and hidden with a family by the Mafia to stop her from pursuing the story. She would get the girls back if she dropped her investigation and stopped trying to involve the police. But the journalist refused to give up hope of finding the girls and exposing the Mafia and the bomber. The Oracle newspaper had given her a break and immediately ran her freelance story.

  Antonia was back in London determined to hunt down the manager of the camp who she suspected had known more about the abductions and the IS involvement in the camp then she had previously led Antonia to believe. Antonia suspected Adalina Morelli was involved with the Mafia. She had hypothesized in her article that the woman was so distraught at the conditions in the camp she was taking payments from the Mafia to help obtain food and tents for the refugees under her care. She’d also indicated it was possible the woman felt the only way to keep numbers down in the camp and help others survive was to allow the Mafia to abduct some of the women for sexual slavery.