LATENT HAZARD: On the Edge

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LATENT HAZARD: On the Edge Page 41

by Piers Venmore-Rowland


  He pulled her close to him and kissed her.

  Kate pulled back and straight away sensed Rafi’s disappointment.She paused and spoke just before Rafi was going to. ‘I could do with using the bathroom for a moment. Could you do me a favour and find out when they finish serving afternoon tea?’

  A short phone call later, Rafi returned to the bedroom and called to Kate through the closed bathroom door. ‘Tea ends in just over an hour.’

  ‘Excellent… I’ll be with you shortly.’

  Rafi walked back into the sitting room, picked up and put on his jacket, and turned the lights off. He walked over to the balcony doors; it had stopped raining. He opened them and stepped outside into the bracing wind.

  Motionless, he stood looking out over the dark ocean, letting the fresh, salt laden air wash over him. He shivered and was about to turn to go back inside when he felt a pair of warm arms wrap around him. He was grateful for the body warmth. Kate nestled closer to him, then backed off. Following her unspoken instructions he turned. Her long sleeved blouse was unbuttoned. A gust of wind flapped open the soft material revealing a naked body… She moved forward and whispered a request into his ear.

  Some while later Kate and Rafi lay curled in each other’s arms. He placed a kiss gently on her cheek. ‘I’m going to have to keep my eyes on you! Taking me unawares like that. Whatever will you think of next?’

  Kate grinned.

  ‘No don’t tell me! You look so innocent, but underneath you’re a right little minx…’

  She poked him gently in the ribs. ‘Yes… but it takes two to tango!’

  Rafi looked at his watch. ‘By my reckoning we have half an hour before they stop serving tea.’

  Afternoon tea was as Kate had hoped: scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam in front of an open fire. They chatted, sitting comfortably on a huge sofa while time sped by.

  But their cosy little world was shattered when Kate answered a call from Jeremy.

  She filled Rafi in. ‘MI5 has intercepted a phone call; Popovskaya and Dranoff have met up, not ten miles from the hospital that Popovskaya escaped from. Unfortunately, they have lost them and have no further information. Neil reckons that they’ll lie low for a couple of days to let Popovskaya recover and then come after us. An SAS team is on its way to watch the hotel and to protect us. They should be here later this evening and we have been advised to sleep in another bedroom - incognito.’

  They dressed for dinner, and then moved into the new bedroom the proprietor had found for them.

  Dinner was enjoyable; they ate hungrily and chatted, but the vivacity had gone. The nightmare wasn’t over yet.

  Whilst they were having coffee, Jeremy phoned. ‘An SAS team of three are keeping watch over the entrances to the hotel. They like the fact that the hotel is so exposed because it makes it difficult for Dranoff to creep up unnoticed. I hope to be with you in about twenty minutes.’

  Sure enough, a short while later Jeremy appeared accompanied by a casually dressed individual.

  ‘Please let me introduce you to your SAS bodyguard: Corporal Brett Johnstone. He’ll be your shadow whilst Dranoff and Popovskaya remain at large. Have you eaten already?’ enquired Jeremy.

  ‘Yes,’ replied Kate, ‘but I can always find room for another pudding! Do come and have dinner – you’ll like the food.’

  ‘Excellent,’ grinned Jeremy.

  ‘How about I find us a nice, quiet table and see if I need to borrow a tie?’ suggested Brett.

  He reappeared a few minutes later. Jeremy and Kate were deep in conversation. ‘Dranoff and Popovskaya have disappeared off the face of the earth. We tried to lock on to their phone signals, but their phones are turned off. These two definitely know what they’re doing.’

  Jeremy and Brett tucked into a hearty dinner.

  ‘Neil is sure that you’re their target - payback time for those who got in the way,’ said Jeremy. ‘We have considered other possible targets, but we keep coming back to the fact that Popovskaya will be feeling pissed off, and you, Rafi, seem the perfect person on which to vent his anger. What worries us is who arranged for Dranoff to come to the UK to help Popovskaya. We thought we had all the main players under lock and key, and incommunicado. We know Miti is on the run in Africa, but we don’t believe his influence goes this far. There has to be someone else out there – part of the terrorists’ web -who is pulling the Chechen end of the strings. We’re looking again at the teams run by Kaleem Shah and Kim Chindriani to see if we missed someone, but haven’t found anything yet.’

  Jeremy paused. ‘Neil doesn’t think they know that we are on to them. My colleagues are keeping an eye out for stolen guns or vehicles reported between here and their last known locations.’

  ‘When do you think that they will come for us?’ asked Kate.

  ‘Unfortunately,’ said Jeremy calmly, ‘As soon as the paparazzi are on to you, your location will become public knowledge. Realistically, you could expect company any time from tomorrow early afternoon. Neil would like you to stay put, so if they do come for you, the SAS can protect you. The alternative is for you to go into hiding and wait for them to come after you… which I wouldn’t recommend.’

  The conversation moved on to the terrorists captured at Safi.

  ‘They’re due to arrive in Plymouth tomorrow. I shall be there to greet them; one of the perks of my job!’ said Jeremy.

  ‘How badly were the terrorists damaged by their investments in the markets?’ asked Brett. ‘Jeremy has been describing what they were aiming to do, and how they got caught with their pants down!’

  ‘I spoke briefly to Aidan earlier today,’ Rafi said. ‘He says that the markets have been remarkably resilient. But in the areas where the terrorists were playing the derivatives market, prices have moved sharply against them. They’re sitting on some truly massive losses. With Maryam, Jameel and the sheikh unable to make contact with their dealers, their positions will be sold. Aidan reckons their collateral will be too little to cover their margin calls. As a result the dodgy banks that acted as intermediaries will also be put through a financial shredding machine.’

  Jeremy smiled. ‘Good – serves them right.’

  ‘Aidan is optimistic that several other shady people will be caught red-handed. He’s been liaising with Neil, who’s following up a significant list of very interesting leads. Maryam, it seems, is in bed with a number of European investors, many of whom are super wealthy, very well connected and of dubious character. Time will tell if they are just plain greedy or are in fact crooks,’ added Rafi.

  After dinner, Brett and Jeremy walked with Kate and Rafi to their room. Brett had been given a room on the other side of the corridor, near the top of the stairs, and proceeded to set up a selection of listening and monitoring devices in their room and along the corridor.

  Rafi and Kate said their goodnights and retired to their new twin bedroom. Rafi sat tentatively on the edge of his single bed.

  ‘I’d been really looking forward to this evening,’ said Kate. ‘Now we’re stuck with single beds and bugs!’ she grinned. ‘Would you like a good night’s sleep or company?’

  ‘Both please.’

  ‘I wonder how we might manage that?’ Kate said with a grin. She headed for the bathroom. ‘There’s no bath but we do have a big shower,’ she called to Rafi.

  As if he had read her thoughts, moments later he was standing at the bathroom door in his next to nothings.

  ‘You don’t hang around,’ said Kate.

  To Rafi’s delight the shower had a range of settings. He was under a warm torrent when Kate joined him and changed the setting to a fine drizzle.

  ‘Now where would you like me to start?’ Kate picked up the bar of soap and smelt its inviting scent. ‘How about your back?’

  Rafi turned round and faced the shower wall.

  ‘I hope this doesn’t hurt,’ said Kate as she looked at the bruises on his back.

  He felt her fingers softly glide on the silky lather, ge
ntly massaging his muscles. They slowly worked their way from his shoulders down to the bottom of his back, skirting around his bruises. She was in a playful mood.

  Kate recalled her first sight of him in the interrogation room. He had looked ordinary and cheerless. Then seeing him after his shower in the changing room at Wood Street police station, partially undressed, it had been a revelation. She smiled, he was gorgeous. His body was willowy but manly… The soap slipped out of her fingers. As she bent over to pick it up he tickled her.

  Kate let out a loud shreik.

  Moments later, there was a loud bang as the bathroom door flew open. There on the other side of the steamed up glass was the outline of a man holding a gun. Rafi’s heart missed a beat as the faces of Radu Dranoff and Aslan Popovskaya flashed into his mind. He stood petrified, his pulse racing. Time stood still.

  ‘Sorry mate, I thought you had unwanted company!’ came an embarrassed voice. The door closed and Brett, the SAS man was gone.

  Rafi stood motionless under the hot drizzling water. ‘Are you alright?’ asked Kate.

  ‘I guess so,’ replied Rafi shakily. He still had the outline of the gun framed in his mind. ‘That gave me quite a shock.’

  Kate changed the shower’s controls and, under a torrent of water, quickly hosed off the sea of bubbles.

  ‘Brought reality back with a bang… Ehh?’ and gave Rafi a

  hug. ‘Let’s get you dry and tucked up in bed’.

  The low morning sun streamed in to the bedroom through the small gaps around the curtains. A ray of light danced on Rafi’s face. The daylight had woken Kate half an hour earlier. She had come round to find Rafi asleep in her arms, with his serene face close to hers, and had carefully examined every inch of it many times over. Kate smiled as she thought about the man lying next to her.

  The fluttering of Rafi’s dark eyelashes brought her out of her daydreams.

  ‘Good morning darling. I hope you slept well,’ she said softly.

  ‘Like a log.’

  Kate lent forward and gave him a kiss. ‘How about breakfast in bed?’

  ‘Nice idea. What about a full English breakfast with orange juice and coffee, in say half an hour? And we don’t even need to use the phone to order.’

  ‘Pardon…? Oh, I forgot that our SAS friends are listening in.’

  Half an hour later there was a knock at the door, and Brett entered carrying a tray laden with their breakfast. ‘I hope you don’t mind me using the spare key?’ He put the tray down and smiled at Rafi and Kate snuggled up in a single bed. ‘And I hope I didn’t barge in on you.’ He grinned, turned and left.

  Their breakfast was interrupted by a phone call from Jeremy. ‘There’s no sign of Dranoff or Popovskaya. Have you seen the morning papers?’

  ‘Not yet,’ replied Kate.

  ‘Well, there’s a picture in one of the tabloids of the two of you having dinner. If that’s not a red rag to a bull, I don’t know what is. The terrorists now know exactly where you are. Brett has asked for you to stay in your room. Sorry if it cramps your style, but…’

  ‘That’s alright,’ butted in Kate. ‘Rafi and I’ll be fine.’

  The rest of the morning passed slowly. Rafi read the papers and was in particular fascinated by an article in The Independent which gave details of the exclusion zone around Stratford and provided a summary of the building works that were in progress, and of those planned. It showed maps and explained how the transport and key utilities were being rerouted around the newly named ‘Isle of Stratford’.

  Kate meanwhile lazed around, read a magazine and wrote postcards to her parents and her brother.

  They opted for an early lunch in their room.

  ‘Now what?’ enquired Kate. ‘I’m fed up with writing cards and reading.’

  She picked up the hotel brochure. ‘Hey Rafi, do you like swimming? There’s a heated indoor pool. I wonder if Brett would let us go for a swim later?’

  ‘If you can find me a pair of trunks, I’ll be there,’ replied Rafi.

  Kate got up, rummaged around in her suitcase and pulled out two swimming costumes. ‘I packed these just in case - I love water.’ She held up a black Speedo one-piece and then a couple of scraps of blue material. ‘A friend got me the bikini in Brazil a couple of years ago, but I haven’t had the courage to wear it!’

  ‘I can see why,’ said Rafi with a big smile.

  ‘Would you like to see it on?’ enquired Kate.

  ‘Yes please.’

  Kate disappeared into the bathroom. Several minutes later she reappeared. ‘So what do you think?’

  Rafi looked at her. The Speedo swimsuit fitted her like a glove - flattening out her contours, giving her figure the look of a teenager.

  ‘This is what I usually wear. It’s not very flattering is it? Now what do you think of this…?’ She peeled off the one-piece, revealing the skimpy bikini.

  Rafi’s eyes were drawn to the small blue triangles which accentuated her subtle sexy curves. ‘You look amazing…’

  Kate moved towards Rafi, her fingers playing with the thin blue strings that held the flimsy bikini together. ‘Now if I pull this and this…’ she said, stepping forward in her nothingness, ‘You get just me!’

  At 4.30 p.m. Brett knocked on the door and entered carrying a tray of Cornish cream tea. ‘Hope I didn’t wake you, but I thought you might like some sustenance.’ He put the tray down on the side table. ‘I have some news. Jeremy phoned. He hopes you are not getting bored stiff, and says that Jameel and co. are safely in custody on English soil and are seriously disgruntled. All they want to know about is what the long gilts index and interest rates are doing. We haven’t broken the bad news to them, as yet. Oh, by the way, Maryam is under lock and key at a safe house. Neil Gunton is looking forward to playing her off against the others.’

  ‘Thanks Brett,’ said Kate, ‘And thank you for watching over us.’

  ‘My pleasure. Let me know if you need anything else. If not, I’ll be back at supper time,’ he smiled as he left.

  Kate picked up the bedside phone and rang reception. ‘What time does the post go…? OK, thanks.’ She leant forwards and kissed Rafi warmly on the lips. ‘I have to nip downstairs to buy stamps - the post goes in five minutes. Sending cards to the family is something we always used to do… I thought my parents would like a card showing the hotel and its beach.’ Kate dressed quickly and went downstairs.

  Wrapped in a bathrobe Rafi sat by the window. It was dark outside. The floodlights accentuated the driving rain. He sat there thinking of very little. Next to him on the table, was a Sig Sauer P226 revolver, which had been given to him by Brett. ‘Its small size,’ Brett had explained, ‘Means you can carry it on you without showing a telltale bulge. All you need to know is that it has seven.38 calibre rounds, which will stop a man if you hit him anywhere in the torso. Remember, it has a safety catch on the thumb side for right-handers. This little beauty has only a modest kick; aim a little low unless you’ve had time to cradle the gun properly.’ Brett had shown him how to hold the gun. ‘Be instinctive and please bear in mind that if you are aiming at a person thirty feet away, your accuracy as an amateur will be in the order of six feet. So please be extra careful of bystanders!’

  Rafi recalled his fervently hoping that he would never have to use the gun. Kate had put hers in her handbag. He’d left his on the table; he didn’t know what else to do with it.

  He watched as a pair of bright headlights arced down the windswept drive. They belonged to a silver Range Rover. It parked opposite the hotel and out stepped a well-built man wearing a flat hat, plus fours and a checked sports jacket; he also had a Barbour jacket slung over his left shoulder.

  If it had been me in this rain, Rafi thought, I’d have had the Barbour on and not draped over my shoulder. Rafi watched as the man glanced around, turned and strode towards the front door.

  Rafi sensed something wasn’t right. The man’s face was obscured by his hat and coat. He was walking straight towar
ds the door; in front of him was a large puddle. He didn’t walk around it but straight through it, and that’s when Rafi noticed his shoes. They were heavy, black, scuffed leather boots – the sort one would associate with a navvy or a soldier. He was thickset and his gait wasn’t that of a well-heeled City gent.

  ‘Oh my God!’ Rafi gasped and jumped to his feet. He felt certain he had just been looking at Dranoff. He picked up his gun and bolted out of the room, running down the corridor barefooted, with his white bathrobe untied and streaming out behind him. As he passed Brett’s door, he banged on it and shouted, ‘Dranoff’s downstairs and so is Kate!’

  At the top of the stairs an elderly couple shrieked as he ran past them. Rafi grabbed the banister rail with his good left hand and swung round and down the wide stairs.

  In a couple of bounds he’d reached the half landing. As he headed down the last flight of stairs, the man came into view - he was walking through the reception area. Rafi focused on what little he could see of his face. Yes, it was Dranoff!

  Neither of the SAS men from outside was following him. Rafi saw Kate sitting across from the bottom of the stairs, sticking a stamp on to her postcard. Dranoff was just on the other side of the glass divide between her and the reception area.

  Her eyes looked up and met Dranoff’s as he pushed through the glass swing door between them. Out from under the Barbour jacket came a sawn-off shotgun.

  ‘No! It can’t end like this,’ thought Rafi. He let out a bloodcurdling scream, flicked the safety catch off and pointed his pistol towards the terrorist. He couldn’t shoot at him - there were too many people close by and with the gun in his bruised hand he could hit practically anyone within ten feet of what he aimed at. But he had to shoot to distract Dranoff and to draw his fire. Still screaming, Rafi fired at the plate glass window next to Dranoff.

  There was a loud bang and a crash of splintering glass.

  Dranoff swung his gun round and fired both barrels. The wooden banister rail at Rafi’s side erupted into a swarm of flying splinters, as he fell headlong down the stairs.

 

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