by David Woods
Stan was feeling sick and just nodded.
“They’re obviously suffering from concussion”, said Harris. “We’ll question them later, after hospital treatment.”
The ambulances arrived, and whilst the suspects were carried out on stretchers, a small crowd gathered and watched in disbelief as seven injured men were carried out of the semi-detached house. Each was closely guarded by two officers, who climbed into the ambulances with them.
Inspector Harris was delighted and shook Randall’s hand. “Well done, our timing was perfect.”
“Yes Sir, and we got the South London Mob as well.”
Harris frowned. “I suppose we should have got here quicker.”
Randall grinned. “We couldn’t help getting stuck behind that furniture van, could we?”
“No, of course not. Besides if we’d arrived earlier, it would have been us in the ambulances. But there is one outstanding matter.”
“Yes, the uncut diamonds. I wonder where they are.”
“Out of the country by now. Probably via the illusive Belgian we keep hearing about.”
“And we don’t even know his name.”
“No, but we’ll contact the Belgian police. They might be able to help. You do that whilst I have a word with Special Branch.”
“What about leaning heavily on the Jones Brothers?”
“You can try, but our best bet is Special Branch or, possibly Interpol. If they give us the Belgian’s name, we’ll stand a better chance of co-operation from them.”
Chapter Eight
After leaving Liege the country became much more interesting with wooded hills and valleys. With the road good and plenty of fast bends, Brian enjoyed the ride despite having to look behind regularly for possible pursuers.
Anna was nervous and held Brian tight. She had her rucksack on, which was resting on top of Brian’s holdall that was strapped to the rear carrier. She was happy about this because it acted as a barrier in the event of them being shot at again from the rear. With any luck the bullets would not pass through all that clothing.
Brian looked behind again to a clear road stretching back to the last bend and began to feel better, thinking perhaps they will leave us alone to enjoy the trip. About an hour later he thought of stopping for coffee, and kept an eye open for a café. Not long after when he reached the top of a hill he saw a sign with an arrow to the right. He slowed down and turned into a narrow road which led to a small café, set in the woods, about seventy yards from the main road. This is perfect, he thought, as he stopped in the small car park.
Anna was pleased. “Good idea. I am ready for a drink.”
They unstrapped the holdall, took it inside and sat at a window table, enjoying coffee and biscuits. Brian looked at the narrow road which disappeared around the back of the café. “I think they must have given up.”
Anna smiled, reached across the table and pulled Brian’s scarf. “I hope so. We have more important things to do than being chased and shot at.”
Brian held her hand and said “I can’t bear the thought of you getting hurt.”
They chatted for another few minutes and then left, feeling happy as they walked across to the bike. “We’ll stop for lunch in a couple of hours. Hopefully it won’t rain before then.” Brian announced, looking up at a rapidly clouding sky.
Still in a happy mood, and feeling Anna getting comfortable on the back, he entered the narrow road only to be confronted by the big black Opel, slewed across the road to prevent them getting through. He turned the bike and rode through the trees back to the café car park, remembering the road and following it around the back of the café. He felt angry and upset. Why don’t they give up, he thought, as Anna moved closer and squeezed him tight. The road turned into a rough track, and it ran along the side of a hill with trees either side, suddenly dropping and curving half way down. Brian tried to go as fast as possible without sliding on the loose stones, but as he took the corner he noticed a clearing in the trees to the left of the track, and decided to leave the track before the car caught up. He stopped behind a clump of trees just before the clearing and they both quickly dismounted. Brian lent the bike against a tree, and they stood trembling as the car rushed by. Brian started taking off his riding gear.
“What are you doing?” Anna asked. “We should be on our way.”
Brian looked at her pale face. “We’ve had enough of this. We can’t spend all our time looking over our shoulders or we’ll end up nervous wrecks.”
“If we don’t get a move on, we could end up dead. What are you going to do?”
Try to immobilize that car.”
“How?” she asked sharply.
“I’m not sure, but I know I must do something.”
“I don’t like it, please let us go.” She pleaded.
“I’m going to stop this crazy chase so that we can enjoy ourselves. If I’m not back in an hour and a half go up to the café and ring for help, in the meantime I want you to stay hidden here.”
Anna knew she could not change his mind, so she removed her helmet as Brian exchanged his motorcycle boots for baseball ones. He stripped down to his shirt, then pulled a recently fallen tree branch over to hide Anna and the bike, and ran back to give her a brief kiss. “I won’t be long my dearest Anna.” He vanished through the trees before she could say anything.
She felt distraught at this latest turn of events. Only fifteen minutes ago we were so happy, she thought, and now I am sitting here on a tree root worrying about Brian and listening for that car to return.
Brian walked quickly through wood which was made up mainly of mature beech and oak trees, keeping to the high ground and stopping every few yards to listen but heard nothing. He felt at home in this older type of woodland because it reminded him of the woods on the side of the Kent downs. After ten minutes the hard wood trees changed to firs, the side of the hill became very steep, slowing his progress, and suddenly he came to a clearing where the fir trees had been cut. It was about fifty yards wide and stretched three- hundred yards down a steep bank to the track. He stopped and noticed the black car parked below him where the track widened, and he could just see a wooden building on the lower side of the track. He listened but all he could hear was the sound of water, which he thought must be a river just below the track in the valley. I wonder where they are, he thought, retreating into the trees and carefully making his way downhill, trying not to make a sound.
He had not moved far when he noticed in the clearing a large stack of wood perched precariously on the side of the hill, held up by two props. The almost perfectly round lengths of wood, about ten feet long, were piled ten feet high and the stack was about thirty feet long. He listened and thought he heard sounds coming from the long low wooden shed. They must think we are hiding down there, he thought, so I will have to act quickly. He looked at the car immediately below the pile of wood and thought I can only try. He selected a stout pole laid by the pile, and after a brief glance towards the car, he placed the end under the first prop. Suddenly the prop sprang out of the ground taking a lump of earth with it but the pile of wood did not move. He looked once again towards the car, and ran around the other side of the wood pile to lever the other prop, but found this one harder to manoeuvre than the first. Eventually he managed to re-position it and by this time sweat was pouring off him. After glancing nervously downwards, he gave a mighty heave and the prop sprang out of the ground. Nothing happened for a second and then there was a strange rustling sound as the logs started to shift.
Brian ran back into the wood and watched from behind a tree as the logs gathered pace, bouncing and spreading out as they hurtled down the steep hill towards the car. As he looked down he saw the two men walking back from the shed to the car. They looked up and froze when they saw the avalanche of timber descending towards them, and then ran as fast as they could towards the nearest trees, making it ju
st in time.
The logs, travelling at a terrifying speed and sounding like thunder swept across the track, hardly any of them touching the ground, and crashed into the side of the car. The noise was deafening with the breaking of glass and screaming of metal being pounded and bent. The car turned over, and as the underside was pounded by more logs, it toppled over the edge down the hill and out of sight, crashing and banging on the outcropping of rocks further down the hill. There was then a loud splash as the car fell in the river at the bottom of the valley. It was quiet again with just the sound of water and leaves rustling on the trees. The two men ran across from the trees and looked down the hill, the taller man turning and looking up, shaking his fist and bellowing.
Anna heard the rumbling sound followed by a loud crash. She wondered if Brian has been hurt, and what was that crash, she thought. Then she remembered he said he would immobilize the car, but surely he had not pushed it down the hill. Then there was the strange rumbling sound. She could contain her curiosity no longer and walked on through the wood keeping the track in sight to her right.
Brian watched the two men talking, noticing they were waving their arms about, and he felt a chill go through him when he saw they were both carrying pistols. After an obviously heated argument in which Brian could hear their raised voices they split up, the taller man walking towards the fir trees. Across the clearing from where Brian was standing, he could see the shorter man walking up the hill towards where he was hiding, and he picked up a stout piece of wood to deal with this man who was quite near to Anna’s hiding place.
Anna walked on until she heard voices. As she crept nearer the voices became louder and she moved closer to the track. When she saw the two men she crouched down behind a bush by the track, managing to hear a few words but then they parted. All she could see were logs on the track so she stayed listening as the short man walked out of sight up the hill, muttering and snapping twigs under his feet. She just caught sight of a gun before the man disappeared. She was frightened and thought her heart must be thumping so loud the man could hear it, but she told herself not to be silly and to stay still. Brian must be all right otherwise the man would not be walking up the hill with a gun in his hand but then she shuddered, thinking about the danger he was in and wished she could see him.
Brian saw the short man coming. He knelt down, selected a few short dead twigs and carefully walked into the wood where he found a tree with low branches. He glanced back towards the clearing and saw him walking slowly and looking straight ahead. Brian climbed up about ten feet from the ground, snapping one of the twigs. The man stopped dead and turned towards the trees, but Brian moved behind the main trunk and snapped another twig which was so loud it made him jump. He heard the man advancing, pausing beneath the tree and then walking slowly under the branch on which Brian was standing, his gun pointing steadily from an outstretched arm. Brian threw the heavy piece of wood he was holding and it hit the man’s hand, knocking his gun to the ground. He dived forward to retrieve it, but Brian leapt from the branch and landed on the man’s back before he could reach the gun. Brian got up quickly, kicked the gun away, pulled the winded man up to his feet and punched him hard under the chin. He collapsed, completely immobilized, and Brian stood wondering what to do with him. He noticed a branch had been cut off the tree about eight feet up, so he did the man’s jacket up at the front and grabbed him by the back of his collar, pulling him upright. The man was still breathing, much to Brian’s relief. He climbed up on to the lower branch, lifted the man and hooked his jacket collar over the sawn-off branch stub, leaving him dangling about two feet above the round. Brian jumped down and searched for the gun but without success and walked back to look at the man still unconscious and hanging from the tree. That will keep him out of mischief, he thought, grinning to himself as he walked slowly but carefully back to the edge of the clearing. He stood behind a tree looking across the clearing, but could see no movement, so he knelt down and found a short length of wood about four feet from the last tree. He crawled slowly and reached it, pulling it back behind the tree. This will have to do, he thought. It was cut about four feet long and two inches in diameter, obviously too small to be stacked with the rest of the pile.
Anna, who had stayed crouched behind the bush so long she was getting cramp, stood up slowly and started walking, as silently as she could, up the hill and through the trees within sight of the clearing. As it was difficult to avoid standing on twigs which made a noise and frightened her, she stood behind a tree for a while and listened.
Brian, who was watching the clearing, noticed the wind freshening and blowing dead leaves about, the clouds became darker and the trees behind him were rustling. It will rain soon, he thought, his attention focusing on the wood across the clearing, where a man was emerging and walking towards him. Brain walked slowly back to a large fir tree, about five yards from the clearing, and watched the man through a gap. He was tall with blond hair, wearing a brown pullover with brown trousers. Brian was frightened by this man, who seemed much more careful than the short man; looking from left to right all the time, and as he entered the wood standing still for a minute as though listening and adjusting his eyes to the darker surroundings. He moved forward with his gun held firmly in his outstretched hand, sweeping around in an arc. Brian shrank back behind the tree and waited, his heart thumping and his knuckles white from gripping the cudgel. The man walked slowly up to the tree and stopped only three feet from where Brian was standing. Suddenly there was a crack as a twig broke somewhere just down the hill, the man spun around and pointed his gun towards the noise. Brian seized the opportunity and brought his cudgel down across the man’s arm, he yelled and dropped the gun that Brian kicked away and they stood facing each other.
“So you’re the bastard who nearly killed us?” Brian said, his voice rose in anger.
Venk found himself staring at a very well built muscular man with fair hair, crouching like an animal, with blazing unblinking eyes that seemed to bore into him. For the first time in his life he was scared by an unarmed man. He looked for his gun but could not see it. Brian had thrown aside his cudgel and looked straight into the man’s eyes, feeling more confident as he saw the man searching for his gun, and was ready when the first punch was aimed at his head. Brian ducked and managed a feeble punch to the man’s side, but Venk turned quickly and threw a punch at Brian’s guts. Brian braced himself just in time and Venk felt as if he had just punched a wooden plank. It hurt his hand and he was shocked. Brian saw his hand drop and landed a punch hard into his ribs. Venk slumped forward on top of Brian, who put one hand in the man’s groin whilst the other gripped his neck, lifted him over his head and threw him against the nearest tree with all his strength. As Venk crashed against the tree he let out a loud gasp and groaned as his limp body fell down the tree trunk, landing like a rag doll on the cone strewn ground. Brian charged towards him roaring like a lion, and was about to kick his teeth in when he heard Anna shout at him.
“No, Brian. You will kill him.”
Brian spun around to see Anna running towards him. He was trembling with rage and she nearly knocked him over as she embraced him. After a moment when she let him go, he sank down to his knees exhausted with tension.
Anna looked at the unconscious man slumped by the tree, felt his pulse and to her relief found he was still alive.
She went back to Brian. “Come on, we must go quickly.” She helped him to his feet. “Where is the other man?”
“Over there. Hanging about in a tree.”
They walked to the tree to find the man dazed but still there, muttering something quite incomprehensible. Anna stared at him and grinned. “I wonder how he got up there.”
They agreed to leave him, walked down to the track, and by the time they arrived back to the bike Brian was feeling better, although still shaky. When he held Anna’s hand he found she was trembling. “I’m sorry I put you through all that.”
She just cuddled him. “Let us go quickly.”
They rapidly put on their waterproof gear. Brian checked his watch. “No wonder I’m feeling weak, we missed lunch.”
“Never mind. We will find an hotel in Luxembourg. It is not very far.”
It had started to rain and was slippery as Brian rode carefully and slowly up the track, entering Luxembourg one and a half hours later and stopping for petrol just outside the town. They filled up and went across the road to a café where they enjoyed a large mug of coffee each and a slice of delicious cake. Brian felt much better. “Let’s find an hotel.”
Anna agreed. “I do not enjoy riding the bike in the rain.”
“Neither do I. Besides we ought to hide the bike.”
They located a small hotel with a garage for guests’ vehicles, and Brian was relieved to get the bike inside. Anna booked them in to a pleasant room with a double bed and large bathroom, and they were able to hang up their wet clothes.
Anna looked worried. “Do you think they will give up now?”
“I hope so. They’re not in any fit state to chase us now, are they?”
“No, I suppose not.” She smiled as she sat on the bed.
Brian looked in the bathroom. “Look at the size of that bath.”
Anna looked at him and winked. “Let us have a bath together.” She was still tense and nervous as she watched Brian undress. She admired his body. I have never seen such a well- built man, she thought, and began to get sexy as he took off his shirt.
Brian noticed she was watching him. “I’ll undress you in a minute.”
They made love, and all the feelings of anger and tension disappeared from his mind as he was overcome with love and desire. His previous violent actions were replaced with extreme tenderness.
After a while Brian laid her on the bed and went to run the bath, making sure it was just hot enough. When he went back to the bedroom he found she was still curled up on the bed with her eyes closed. He picked her up gently and carried her into the bathroom, lowering her slowly into the steaming water, and feeling he always wanted to be kind and gentle with her because she had become so precious to him.