by S G Read
The news arrived. The man was a Russian hit man who was ex KGB and now hired out for money. Was this a Russian hit or did Winfield arrange it. To John it did mean that Winfield was now aware of Clementine’s whereabouts and that meant things would soon come to a head.
He was in two minds about contacting the head man in Russia, one Victor Davidov, to ask him what was going on. But if he did not know that Vlad was still alive, he would do after John had spoken to him. It was a tricky situation which needed one thing to resolve in, Winfield’s resignation, permanent resignation via John’s pistol. He was quite prepared to shoot him dead as soon as he saw him as pay back for killing Lorna.
A hand on his shoulder brought him back to the present. He looked up to see Ruth standing there with a cup of coffee.
‘My shift John.’ She said quietly and slid onto the seat as he got off.
He took the coffee, he needed it.
‘Wake me if you see anything!’ He urged.
‘Don’t worry I will, go to sleep.’
The waiting for the next chapter in this story seemed to go on forever. The vigil took its toll on both their wellbeing and their relationship, with all of them sleeping more than anything else.
Finally Ruth was watching and saw another man working on the same way in. The stingers had started to regrow but he was able to creep through them as far as the last man had reached and then he worked on. She shook John’s arm.
‘We have company.’ She announced.
Both John and Julie opened their eyes.
‘How many?’ John asked when he became aware.
‘I can only see one.’ Ruth answered.
‘After last time I expect he has back up somewhere.’ John said quietly as he started to dress.
‘I’ll have another look.’ Ruth replied and returned to the window.
She stood watching, but looking everywhere this time and not just at the man moving towards the house.
‘They say smoking is bad for you.’ Ruth declared a little later. ‘There is another one having a cigarette in the trees. Probably waiting for someone following the first man along the trail he is making.’
John opened his laptop and sent an email. Not coded but quite open, it read –the game’s afoot- He closed the laptop and checked his pistol.
He kissed both women.
‘That is just in case I don’t make it back.’ He said quietly.
‘So you are coming back then?’ Ruth asked.
‘If I am still up to the job I will be back.’ John answered.
He killed the security lights and slipped out the back door, going round the front of the house this time, just in case anyone was waiting round the back. Being careful had kept him alive up until now and he did not see any reason to change.
He knew the rough position of the second man and went in his direction. He now had the night vision glasses and used them to find out where the man was. He was no longer in the trees and he was no longer smoking.
‘Damn.’ John said barely audibly.
‘He’s gone round the front.’ A voice announced from the darkness. ‘Pierre is round there.’
‘Thank you Charles.’
‘I will follow this man and neutralise the threat.’ Charles added. ‘I will let you know when it is safe to come in.’
‘Too kind old chap.’ John replied and settled down to wait.
He watched but did not see any sign of Charles as the man in front made it to the oasthouse. He started to climb up to the first floor, where there was a balcony which he could access.
Charles appeared and started up after him. Above the man was forcing the door to the balcony open as Charles climbed up silently. John watched until Charles was climbing up and then followed him, moving toward the bottom of the climb. He saw movement and froze as Winfield appeared and followed Charles.
John took aim in case Winfield chose to shoot first and ask questions later but he just followed Charles up. John wanted to shoot him but his conscience would not let him.
Upstairs Clementine heard a noise and came up to investigate and found a man in her daughter’s bedroom.
‘What do you want?’ She hissed, moving to protect her daughter.
‘Just here to finish a job you failed to do.’ The man answered in Russian.
Clementine could speak Russian and several other languages. She chose to answer in Russian.
‘Over my dead body.’
‘Such a pity, then your daughter would be an orphan.’ The man answered.
Vladimir came running up the stairs to see what was going on and saw the man and the gun he was carrying. He went to lunge at him despite the weapon.
‘I should not Vladimir.’ A voice warned from behind in Russian.
‘Kill me but leave the other two.’ Vladimir ordered in Russian.
‘That is what we plan to do.’ The first man replied and aimed at Vladimir but a dull thud from behind made him crumple into a heap.
The man behind Vladimir took aim but another dull thud made him crumple in a heap and slide back down the stairs. Charles stepped into the room, from the balcony.
‘Hello Clementine, how is it going?’ He asked, slipping the pistol into his pocket out of sight.
Clementine looked past Vladimir to see Pierre doing the same before he walked into the room.
‘How did you know they were coming?’ She asked.
‘John told them I expect.’ Winfield answered from behind Charles.
He was perspiring as the climb was hard for him. Pierre tried to take his pistol out again.
‘I shouldn’t try it.’ A voice warned from behind him. ‘Turn any further and I drop you where you stand.’ She added when Pierre tried to see who it was.
‘A full set.’ Winfield declared. ‘You will be the two remaining Lautrec triplets and it is nice to see you again Clementine!’
‘I can’t say I am pleased to see you Winfield.’ Clementine answered.
‘Is this him mummy?’ The little girls asked from her bed.
‘Yes Nicola, this is him!’ Clementine answered.
‘And you must be the daughter who made all this possible.’ Winfield exclaimed wickedly.
‘What do you mean?’ Nicola asked.
‘You put yourself on the bone marrow donors register and that is how I found you.’ Winfield answered.
‘I wouldn’t have done it if I knew it would lead you to them.’ Nicola replied.
‘And who do you think I am little girl?’ Winfield asked.
‘You are my mum’s old boss and you ordered her to kill daddy but she didn’t and you want to do it now, and she says you will kill her!’
‘Oh that I will and you will grow up to be one of my best agents.’ Winfield retorted.
‘No, not that!’ Clementine cried. ‘That would be too wicked.’
‘He is a wicked man.’ John answered from behind Winfield.
‘Hello John, fancy meeting you here tonight.’ Winfield replied.
‘Lower your weapon Winfield or I will shoot you where you stand.’ John ordered with no emotion.
‘I am not alone.’ Winfield warned.
‘I didn’t think you were. You might as well show yourself Lana, or whoever you are.’ John declared.
‘You had no idea.’ Lana retorted, moving to where she could see him.
‘That is one thing about interrogation, you have to ask the right questions!’ John advised her.
‘What do you mean by that?’ She asked, her pistol now aimed at John, who in turn was aiming at Winfield’s back.
‘What I say, you have to ask the right questions. There are some things that aren’t volunteered by the subject and if you don’t ask them the right question, you will never know the answer.’ John answered.
‘What was the right question then?’ Lana asked.
‘Do you fancy men or women would have been the right question and saved you a lot of hard work.’ John answered. ‘Lana probably fancied you more than me.’
‘
I knew there was something in the way she looked at me, like she was enjoying herself.’ Lana hissed. ‘When I get back I am going to make sure she doesn’t fancy anyone again!’
‘So she is still alive, thank you for that Lana.’ John replied gently.
‘It is Abigail Saunders, remember the name. Now drop your pistol or I start shooting and I am quite a good shot!’ Abigail ordered.
‘You know I can’t do that Abigail. I came here to stop Clementine and her family suffering at your hands and I will do it, if I have to die trying.’ John answered.
‘Die then.’ Abigail hissed but there was a loud bong, something like a dinner gong being rung and she gasped before falling on her face.
‘Well shoot them Johnny.’ Julie cried.
Winfield tried to shoot Clementine, the first shot hit her chest but before a second shot could hit her, Vlad knocked her to one side and seconds later Winfield was dead, John saw to that.
‘You alright Clem?’ Vlad asked, cradling her in his arms.
‘It hurts like hell.’ Clementine declared.
‘I hope you remembered to put your vest on mummy?’ Nicola said indignantly.
‘It still hurt sweetheart.’ Clementine answered and opened her shirt to reveal a Kevlar vest with a bullet which would have killed her stuck in it.
‘That’s alright then.’ Nicola declared. ‘You are the bird watcher.’ She said looking at John as he emerged from the shadow of the balcony.
‘I am. I followed a dodo in here but it appears to be extinct now.’ John answered lightly.
‘Who is he mummy?’
‘This is your Uncle John who has come to pay us a visit.’ Clementine answered and climbed to her feet.
She walked over and threw her arms round him.
‘Thank you Uncle John.’ She said quietly.
‘Anytime Clementine.’ He looked to see who had wielded the frying pan. ‘If I had known you were coming, I would have let you climb up instead of me.’
‘That was my job.’ Ruth answered form behind him.
He looked at her and saw that she had the bread knife in her hand.
‘What about the shotgun?’ He asked, knowing that they had a shotgun in the manor.
‘We couldn’t find the cartridges.’ Ruth answered.
‘Oh Aunty Ruth, you are hopeless.’ Nicola declared.
‘Can you clear up this rubbish Charles?’ John asked, pointing to Winfield, the two Russians and then Abigail.
‘We can, we are prepared for such a contingency. What if she is still alive?’ He asked.
‘Don’t let it worry you.’ John answered. ‘Too bad really, she was a really good secretary. As Winfield is still head of his department I cannot sanction any payment for your work but I am sure something can be worked out.’
‘We are prepared to do this for nothing as I am expecting you to take over from Winfield. When you do I am sure more work will come our way.’ Charles answered.
‘I do expect to be appointed to replace him when the PM hears about what I find at his safe house. If Lana is still alive then she will be able to give her account of what went on and that should leave Winfield out in the cold.’ John replied.
‘And wet.’ Pierre added.
‘Now Clementine, I will speak to Hercules about Vladimir to see what his intentions are, so hang fire on any plans to uproot, until I have done so.’ John said earnestly.
‘How long will that take?’ Clementine asked.
‘That depends if he answers his mobile or not.’ John answered and walked out onto the balcony to phone.
The phone rang for several rings and then a man answered.
‘Victor Davidov.’ He said testily.
‘Hello Hercules.’ John replied.
‘Now that is a name I have not been called in some years, is that you John?’
‘It is Victor. Some ex KGB agents tried to kill my agent tonight and I wondered if you had sanctioned it?’
‘Which agent?’
‘Clementine.’
‘I doubt very much if she was their target, they were more than likely after Vladimir, who Clementine reported killed.’ Victor answered. ‘A little bird told me he was still alive despite me sending in a report of his demise to my superiors. To pay someone to go and kill him would let my superiors know I failed in the first place and that they are not going to find out. I might have to shoot a little bird though.’
‘He has already been plucked Victor and I expect to take over from him but Clementine is in deep cover for me playing a housewife of all things and I want her and her family left alone until the job is done.’
‘When is that, when they have grandchildren?’ Victor asked with a laugh. ‘They and their little girl have nothing to fear from me John. You have a good time being in charge of that sector.’
‘When I am appointed I will send you your favourite chocolate.’
‘What a good man you are John Fairchild, now can I get back to what I was doing?’
‘Does she have a name?’ John asked.
‘Mind your own business Mr. Fairchild.’ Victor answered and switched the phone off.
John walked back inside.
‘All done. None of it came from Victor, it was all Winfield getting his own back.’
‘So we can stay Uncle John?’ Nicola asked.
‘Yes you can stay Nicola and everything goes back to normal, well as normal as it can be!’ John answered.
‘Goody, will you be about for show and tell?’ She asked immediately.
‘Unfortunately, in my profession there is nothing to show and I am not allowed to tell.’ John answered, then added. ‘But you can take Auntie Julie, who disarmed an intruder for you.’
‘She did didn’t she and what a noise it made.’ Nicola agreed.
‘You seemed to take it very well. Men coming into your bedroom and trying to kill you.’ Pierre said with interest.
‘Mummy told me what she used to do and that she had enemies from it, so I wasn’t really surprised. They could have come in the morning though, so I could phone my friends and tell them about it!’
Pierre laughed and looked at John, but he merely looked at Clementine and Vlad, she was their problem!
With the dead Russian removed by Charles and Pierre, Clementine started cleaning up the blood, trying to get it out of the carpet.
‘Now that is something I didn’t think I’d ever see!’ John exclaimed.
‘Very funny.’ Clementine retorted. ‘You know how hard it is to get dried blood out of a carpet!’
‘Funnily enough, no.’ John replied.
She looked up at him but this was not the time or place to discuss how many people he had killed.
‘Take my word for it, it is a pig to get out if you let it dry.’ She declared and continued washing the carpet.
‘Can I use your phone?’ John asked.
‘Use my mobile, it’s down stairs.’ Vlad answered.
John walked down the stairs and found Vladimir’s mobile phone.
‘All done this end, we need to move on the safe house before they know something is up. We will leave immediately, lives depend on it.’ He ordered and then rang off.
When he turned round Julie was there.
‘You will save Bill for us?’ She asked worriedly.
‘If he is still alive I will bring him home Julie.’ He answered, trying to assure her when he did not really know what he was going to find in the pub.
He walked to the door and both women came for an embrace before he left. Clementine came down the stairs as he was going out.
‘Nicola wants you to visit us.’ She announced.
‘Then I’ll be back, Clementine, if I live through all this.’ He answered and walked out. He had a long drive in front of him.
He hurried over to his car and drove away without looking back. Tonight had gone well but he had been lucky, he had to be more careful in the future. He should have pulled some men of the stakeout to make sure the family were in no danger, wh
ich they obviously had been. He drove through the rest of the night and arrived in London in the early hours of the morning. He stopped in a street two streets away from the pub and walked to the house they were using to watch it.
‘Who’s on?’ He asked when he was inside and the door was closed.
‘Whizzer.’ The man watching answered.
‘Good, when is he due to go back inside to relieve himself?’
‘Half an hour, give or take ten minutes. It does seem to vary without a pattern.’ The man answered.
‘Let me know when it is close Alfred and we will take him out.’ John ordered and sat down to rest, he was a tired man.
It seemed only seconds later that Alfred shook his arm.
‘He will soon want a leak boss.’ He said softly.
‘Okay, we will go out and take his place.’ John answered, making a snap decision.
Silently men moved along the front of the buildings either side of the pub, toward the man who stood in the shadow, in front of and office building. The whole street was dark, with no street lights and no lights on inside the buildings that would shine out.
The sentry just stood there without moving. He had a radio to keep in touch with those inside, in case of trouble. He used that to tell them when he was coming in to use the toilet, he did not want to go in a doorway like the others did.
The approaching men moved closer until one was in a position to take the man out. It was possible that lives were at stake and for that reason they were not going in gung ho, mob handed with a lot of noise. They were trying to get in without the occupants raising the alarm.
‘All quiet out here.’ The man in the doorway reported. ‘I’m coming in for a piss.’
As soon as he clicked the radio off again, he was hit by a Taser. He collapsed in a heap and writhed on the ground. Seconds later the same man took his radio and he was carried away. Now they moved to the doorway. Two knocks followed by two knocks opened the door and the man inside felt the Taser hit him as he was about to shout out. He collapsed on the floor writhing and men poured in. Silently they glided from floor to floor, making sure all opposition were taken out as they went and then John walked in. He was in his suit and every inch of him look like he was in charge.
‘What do we have?’ He asked the man in command of the strike team.
‘There are rooms in the cellar with strong doors which could have people inside them and they are locked. We did not go in, in case there were people in there with orders to kill the occupants if we did.’ The man answered.