Consequently, Ann believed even more strongly that she had made the correct decision to cut and run.
Two more weeks of this dreadful, agonising grief, crocodile tears and snivelling – and then she, Chloe and Suzi would run for cover and a life of obscene luxury and glamour.
It was the only realistic option and Ann was not to be prevented by moral and emotive argument. Why should she sacrifice her life for a plainly lost cause.
In reality, there was nothing left to fight for.
And it was time that the people around this table came to realise it!
***
‘Now, ladies and gentlemen, let's move on. Richard, would you bring us up to date with Operation Auric?’
‘Certainly, Dame Ann,’ replied Richard Castle. He was confident that his pre-arranged disappearance with US$80 million was only a few short days away.
He was in for a shock.
However, this evening he was playing Ann Fletcher’s game and re-briefed his colleagues on Op Auric.
‘As you are all aware, Operation Auric is a plan devised by Dame Ann to secure the British Gold Reserves from the flooded vaults beneath the Bank of England in London. Conditions on site continue to be unpleasant, but the team, led by the SAS is managing to do a fantastic job. This is day nine of the operation and on average, half a ton of gold is being extracted, processed and transported to a secure bonded store in Guernsey every twenty-four hours.
Half a ton of gold is worth approximately US$40 million at current rates – which stand at around US$2500 per Troy Ounce. The price of gold had soared since the disaster, and is set to rise even higher. We – the UK that is - have three hundred and ten tons of gold to be secured, and this is currently worth approximately US$27 BILLION.
There are sixteen times that amount remaining in the vaults after we extract what we own – which gives us approximately US$430 billion. At a, let's say, fifty percent finder’s fee, we should net around US$200 billion.
It's a start ladies and gents.’
Ann interrupted Castle.
‘So, how much of our gold is in Guernsey as we speak, and what is the estimate for the transfer to be complete?’
‘Forty-two percent of the gold is in secure and guarded store. We should be complete by the fifteenth of February. I believe the Swiss are inspecting on the third of March, and transfer to Zurich by aircraft commences on Wednesday the fifth.’
‘That is correct, Richard. Are you confident that Lt Bryant can maintain the rate of transfer?’
Richard Castle didn’t really know, but he wasn’t going to admit it to Ann Fletcher.
‘Yes, ma'am, I spoke to him just a few hours ago. Apart from a few minor medical issues, all is well in London. Processing is slick and the store in Guernsey is well guarded. I see no issues to forestall a completion date of around midday on the fifteenth of February.’
Ann was pleased and relieved, but still nervous. At some point she had to commit to certain dates for her escape plan, and that time was fast approaching.
‘Thank you Richard. Now if there’s nothing else……?’
At this point Ann was interrupted by Sir Steven Waldram, the senior military advisor.
‘Yes ma'am, there is one more item for discussion…if I may?’
‘Of course, Steven, please proceed, but make it quick, I have another appointment.’ Ann pressured him like the rest.
‘Yes, ma'am. We have been receiving reports of unusual activity in the UK. The Army, who are now conducting extensive ground searches for survivors, and corpses, are running into trouble. Unexplained disappearances are occurring countrywide and I'm concerned. At first, it was just the odd soldier going AWOL, but now the disappearances are spreading. In addition, we have reports of ‘missing bodies.’
Ann was impatient.
‘What do you mean exactly, Steven…missing bodies?’
‘Well, Ann, rescue parties are finding signs of occupation and survival in domestic premises – but no bodies. It's happening across the British Isles and the Republic, and is mystifying the Army.’
Ann was scathing in her response:
‘Well that's not unusual, is it? And what about the missing army personnel. Are we experiencing some sort of mass desertion?’
‘No ma'am, it's more complex than that. Soldiers, normally in ones and twos are just ‘going missing’. It's inexplicable. Why should a well fed and protected soldier just run off into the snow for no good reason? Up until today….’ and he consulted a ‘Secret’ pink file on the table,…. ‘two hundred and sixty three have vanished, including one squad of thirty men and their officer in South Wales.’
Ann was mildly intrigued, but couldn’t really generate any real concern or interest.
‘Okay, Steven. Please keep an eye on the situation and take any precautions you deem necessary. Report daily, please. Now anything else….no…then good night all.’
Ann stacked her papers, turned and strode out of the conference room back to her office.
God, she needed a drink!
***
Ann summoned Patric Silver and he conveyed her to her luxury apartment.
She viewed Patric in a completely different light since John Stubbins had ‘grassed him up.’ He wasn’t now just a sexual challenge, but a potentially dangerous spoke in her wheels. She chatted idly, watching for any unusual probing or questioning from her driver – but there was none. Nevertheless, she would need to have a contingency plan to deal with him when the crunch eventually came.
Back in her apartment Suzi was waiting with a large vodka & tonic, and Ann decided that she must divulge more of her intimate plan details, and that Suzi needed to complete some essential preparations.
Suzi slunk in a silk Japanese dressing gown, wearing nothing beneath, and had clearly spent some considerable time shaving and oiling her voluptuous body. She sprawled casually across a sofa as Ann kicked off her shoes and sat beside her, letting the Kimono fall open.
However, Ann had something to say:
‘Suzi, before we get down to the pleasure, I need to talk business.’
Suzi sat up and covered up – temporarily. She was extremely interested to hear anything about the plan, and if Ann was willing to talk – then sex took a definite back seat.
‘What's on your mind, Ann?’
‘It's administrative detail, really Suzi. It's about not leaving an electronic trace or paper trail when we leave. What assets do you have? I mean, what can you convert to cash? Although we will be well provided for, I have closed all of my conventional bank accounts, sold my properties in Florida, Spain and Hong Kong and transferred any other cash to a single account in Geneva. You should do the same. If anybody comes looking for us when we've gone – there should be no trace of us, or even a starting point.’
Suzi nodded in understanding and replied:
‘I've got money in Germany and Spain and an account in Lucerne. My only surviving property is in Provence. All of my parent’s assets are under water – like yours I imagine? I’ll put the house up for sale tomorrow.’
Ann amplified her suggestion:
‘Yes, do that and put it up for half price. I did that with mine and the Estate Agent immediately bought one, and my solicitor in Paris the other two. We need the quick sale and transfer of cash – there's no point in hanging on for the market price. The money is already in Switzerland. My UKRA salary goes there as well.’
Ann handed Suzi a slip of paper.
‘Here are the details of your new account in Basel. Under the name of Helga Carville. Close your European accounts and transfer the funds. Get your property sold – and quickly – you’ve got less than ten days! It's not so much the cash as leaving no spoor for the law enforcement agencies to follow. It's important that Suzi Macintyre and Ann Fletcher disappear without trace.’
‘What about Chloe?’ queried Suzi.
‘That's all in hand, darling. I'm going to speak to her in the next few days. She’ll fall into line – I'm positive. Now yo
u have some other work to do. Listen up and you might need to make notes.’
Suzi stood up and fetched a notebook from the desk.
‘Right,’ started Ann, ‘let me begin, but first another vodka.’
Suzi rose again, and Ann took the opportunity to stroke her leg under the Kimono, quickly finding the smooth and oily slit at the top.
However, Suzi was not going to let Ann be distracted and pulled away.
‘Later, darling, you’ve just said that we've got work to do.’
Ann withdrew her hand and licked her fingers, anticipating what was to come – her hopefully! Suzi fetched the vodkas and sat down on the chair opposite, ready to take notes.
‘I'm ready Ann.’
Ann sighed, stood up, stripped to her scarlet bra, suspenders and thong, and sat down again, stretching out on the sofa. She spoke softly, but confidently.
‘Okay, here’s the deal. We need to orchestrate an escape. One that baffles the police and MI6. We must get clean away and leave no evidence of where we are going. It's complex and I'd value any comments you may make on the subject.’
Suzi merely nodded.
‘You must treat the three of us as separate entities. And here's the first detail – our new names: you are Helga Carville – Canadian citizen, Chloe is Antonia de Marco – Italian citizen and I am Carol Leslie - Australian. Passports for all three ladies are in my safe, including birth certificates, driving licences, credit cards and other personal documentation.’
Suzi was gobsmacked.
‘Fucking hell, Ann! What are you really planning?’
Ann sipped her vodka and grinned.
‘All in good time darling! I've been arranging this for several weeks – as soon as I realised that such a fantastic opportunity had presented itself. It's cost me a small fortune – but the Belgian criminal fraternity have come up trumps. I set in place a convoluted trail of misinformation, and nobody has the slightest idea that I am involved. Who would believe them anyway?’
At this point Ann slid her hand down the front of her lace thong and started idly caressing her glistening clitoris. Talk of the plan was filling her with an extreme erotic charge.
‘Come on Ann, let's finish what we've started. There's plenty of time for that.’
Ann continued her finger work, but continued speaking nonetheless:
‘Your job, is to arrange the flights out of Europe. I suggest three differing escape routes from Brussels, three different flights to Paris – then three separate flights to Madrid and onto Caracas.’
‘On the same days?’ asked Suzi.
‘No. But all within twenty-four hours of each other. Use different airlines – and employ different travel agents in various, well separated cities, in unrelated countries. Only use cash and make the bookings personally.’
Ann continued to stroke her increasingly sticky labial lips as she watched Suzi take notes, plunging two fingers in deeply every few moments.
‘So, I'm to go on a tour of Europe over the next few days, arranging flights to Venezuela – ah….no extradition treaty – of course!’ she suddenly understood the reason for Caracas.
‘And accommodation,’ added Ann, now squirming vigourously on the sofa, her breasts exposed. Suzi was having difficulty concentrating.
‘Yes, hotels in and around airports – all different.’
Suzi tried to focus her mind on the business in hand, but it was clear that Ann was only interested in one thing. So, she threw off her Kimono and joined her partner on the sofa, kissing her passionately and replacing Ann’s fingers for her own.
The next few years could be exhausting!
Day 52
Tuesday 4th February - 1200
UKRA HQ - Brussels
Sir Ian James flew in to Brussels via Paris that morning, and drove straight to Dame Ann’s office for a full update.
The couple embraced and Ann set about bringing the Prime Minister up to date.
She referred to the minutes of Cabinet meetings and Sir Ian gleaned the necessary information. The briefing took a couple of hours, and so the pair decided to go to the CSC for lunch.
Bryan Wester showed them to their table and made every attempt to overhear their conversation. He picked up snippets but nothing he deemed important – until they rose to leave. Ann Fletcher was making a request or maybe confirming an arrangement.
‘So the twelfth of February will be alright, Ian. Just for a few days. I need a break from this horror – as I expect you do?’
Sir Ian responded wearily:
‘Absolutely fine, Ann, you get away for a day or two. Get some sun.’
Then Ann made a potentially fatal error and Bryan heard it:
‘Oh I intend to, Ian, I intend to!’
Bryan reported this morsel to Patric, who contacted Ross and Brady via their private telephone conference line.
‘Is there anything significant about the twelfth of February, Ross?’ asked Patric.
‘Not that I can think of…except that Op Auric is scheduled to conclude on the fifteenth…but I can't see an immediate connection.’
‘Okay,’ said Brady, ‘it's valuable to know her movements. Will you be watching her Patric?’
‘All over her like a rash, lads!’
***
Suzi Macintyre, mildly jaded after an extremely sensual night driven by alcohol and cocaine, rose and dressed well after Ann was in her office.
She had a road atlas open on Ann’s desk, and was planning her road trip to book flights and accommodation. She also had the three passports lying on the desk, and had studied them all closely for errors or obvious problems. There were none. They were aged well and even had the odd stamp from travel abroad. It was a decent and very professional job.
The other documents were top class, and she felt confident that even the most meticulous customs official would not remotely question their paperwork.
She also studied the details of her new bank account in Switzerland, and decided to transfer outstanding funds immediately. She took a taxi into Brussels town centre and purchased four non-contract mobile phones. She used three to contact her banks in Madrid, Lucerne and Munich, requesting that the accounts be closed, and funds transferred to the new Swiss account. After giving the correct security responses, all three accounts became defunct within twenty-four hours, and around three hundred thousand Euros sped off to the Gnomes. The mobile phones – minus SIMs - were discretely disposed of in different public litter bins, inside used MacDonald’s bags.
She hired a car and decided to drive to the house in Provence, and arrange for an auctioneer/house clearer to gut it and put anything of value up for auction, and transfer any receipts directly to her lawyer. She employed an estate agent to put it up for sale at a ridiculously low price, and visited her French solicitor to sign the appropriate documents giving him permission to proceed on her behalf. She also signed over ‘Power of Attorney’ so that she needn’t be present at the various transfer and signing meetings.
She shouldn’t have worried. By 6pm on the same day, the solicitor rang to confirm that an offer had been made and accepted. In fact, he wanted to take advantage of the bargain, and Suzi agreed on the understanding that funds be transferred as quickly as possible, and paperwork expedited. He agreed and promised that the sale would go through in seven days, and funds electronically transmitted on the twelfth of February – just in time. He was not inclined to prejudice such a good deal.
On her return to Brussels, Suzi arranged for a car from the UKRA pool and checked it out for three days. The flight booking sequence was so complex that she had to write it out in detail, and amend it several times before she was happy with the final result. Ann had warned her not to use the internet for research – as that may leave a trail.
Her route through Europe was convoluted. It had to be if she was to plant as much confusion as possible:
Ann Fletcher/Carol Leslie. 13 Feb - am.
By car to Antwerp. Air France flight to Paris, Orly. Air Trans
avia from Orly to Madrid and then Iberia Airlines to Caracas. (depart 13th arrive 14th).
Susan Macintyre/Helga Carville. 13 Feb - am.
By train to Maastrict. KLM flight to Paris CDG – nightstop. Swissair to Madrid. Air France to Caracas. (depart 14th arrive 15th)
Chloe Fletcher/Antonia de Marco. 12 Feb - pm.
By train to Lille. Train to Paris. Nightstop. Air Europa from Orly to Madrid. Nightstop and Lufthansa to Caracas (depart 14th arrive 15th).
All Madrid-Caracas flights were reserved in Club Class in order not to attract too much attention.
Suzi journeyed to travel agents in five countries – Belgium, Holland, France, Germany and Luxembourg. She booked only one flight or only one hotel at each one, mixing and matching with complexity and paying with cash drawn from ATMs in five different cities.
It was so confusing that she had to stop several times to refresh her plan and make adjustments. She stayed in three different hotels and used the Helga Carville ID.
She arranged for Ann to arrive in Caracas first, followed by Chloe, with herself bringing up the rear, She had reserved three suites at the Renaissance Hotel in the Venezuelan capital commencing the twelfth of February. Future flights out of Venezuela were to be booked by Ann, who had not yet revealed the final destination.
By the time she arrived back in Brussels on Friday afternoon, she was exhausted. However, she once again sat at Ann's desk and created three folders containing all of the documentation, passports and tickets with a typed itinerary for all three travellers, which she locked away securely in the safe, for which Ann had now supplied the combination.
By the time she had finished she felt she’d earned a very large Bombay Sapphire G & T!
***
During the time Suzi was away, Ann was completing her plans for the termination of Richard Castle. She had the basic idea well-rehearsed, and now only needed to convince Suzi that she was the perfect woman for the job. Ann would have done it herself….but that was an impossibility – as Suzi would soon discover.
Snow! The Series [Books 1-4] Page 102