The Financial Terrorist

by John Gubert

  He waited in the car. Claire crept closer. She was very close to the Mercedes. He didn’t know what she was doing. But she then crept back. She signalled to him to come, retreating all the time. He approached her and she ducked into the car.

  “Park here and wait,” she said. “We need to allow the Citroen to go. The other car won’t follow. I don’t think it would have in any case, but I’ve made double sure of that.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I slashed a tyre. They have no spare wheel. Even here, that’s going to delay them enough. I want to follow the Citroen without the fear that we could be followed by the Mercedes.”

  “I’d still half like to grab the nanny and Juliet and risk a gunfight. I know we can’t. It would be too dangerous. ”

  “She knows too much,” said Claire. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t disappear. But she can’t disappear forever. And we know who she is. She won’t see twenty.”

  They sat and waited in the car. Then the nanny moved away from the Mercedes, still holding an inert Juliet. She waved cheerfully at the men in the restaurant and got into the Citroen.

  “Claire, they either really can’t know that we’re here, or that is outstanding acting.”

  She agreed as they watched the Citroen rise gently in the air as the strange hydraulics set into motion. It was about to depart. But this time, they were sure that it would head to Geneva and not the Russian’s compound. This surely had to be an official Di Maglio operation.

  They pulled out behind the Citroen. “The good thing is that they didn’t notice us. So we start from scratch with the Di Maglio people here. The bad news is that they will leave the motorway if they head to the Geneva compound. What should we do?” asked Charles.

  Claire responded thoughtfully, “There’s no way we can track them to the Geneva compound. My guess is that they’ll cut across country. We’ll have to follow them as far as we can and then try to cut them off. If we can get ahead of them, we can double check where they are going. But, if they are heading to Geneva and they are Di Maglio people, there is no other place for them. The compound is the only really safe place around. I can’t believe he would risk this operation elsewhere. I’m still trying to work out why it’s happening like this.”

  “When we have time, Claire, we need to go through that. I also need to set up some business cover at the bank. There’s a mega deal in progress. I can’t let that go now. It’s all gone beyond the point of no return.”

  They drove on down the motorway. They kept well back. The kidnap had been ham fisted and the people in the Mercedes must have been amateurs. Otherwise, they would have taken more precautions and would have checked to see if they were being followed.

  Charles or Claire had done that repeatedly when they came to a long slip road leading off a motorway. Either they’d strayed on it with a keen eye on their rear mirror before cutting back, or they’d even exited the motorway on a couple of occasions. Both times, they had merely headed back on again and then sped up to get closer to the other car. But on no occasion was there a sign of someone following. That had given them comfort.

  They weren’t that surprised the Citroen wasn’t taking such steps itself. It thought the Mercedes had left England unnoticed. They had their guard down.

  “Could we attack them if they are so confident?” asked Charles.

  “Normally we could. The risk is that we’d never be able to get Juliet away quickly. Anyway, we can’t shoot up the car while she’s still in it.

  She was right and Charles knew it. It was frustrating being a hundred yards or so behind her and unable to do anything. They then got to the part of the motorway where there were several options. One was moving away from Geneva towards the South, another was to cut over to Switzerland. The Citroen turned to Switzerland.

  “Let’s drive on,” said Claire. “We need to take the risk. They’ll be watching carefully here for anyone following. We can’t be seen at this point.”

  Charles agreed with a heavy heart. Juliet was getting further away now. Another sign said ‘Geneva‘ and Claire told him to take it. She had a map in front of her and she directed him across the minor roads. They came to a main road and then a motorway.

  “This way is definitely longer but it’s the fastest I can think of. We need, though, to step on it. You’ll have to risk being stopped by the police. Just put your foot down and go as fast as you can.”

  He put his foot down and the speedometer soon moved up from the steady hundred and twenty kilometres they’d been going earlier to a hundred and fifty and then a hundred and eighty. That was well over a hundred miles an hour and he thought it fast enough.

  Claire muttered, “This is a motorway. You’re not fast enough.”

  He pressed the accelerator down further and soon was edging over the two hundred mark. At that speed, even in the heavy and powerful BMW, he could feel the wheels lose partial contact with the road.

  “If I go any faster, there’s a risk that I’ll become airborne.”

  “Stick to the road. These bits of tin make lousy planes,” was her cryptic response.

  They moved from motorway to main road and then through lanes onto other roads. The closer they got to Geneva, the better Claire knew the area. They would soon see the lake below. They were on a mountain road. Claire directed him over a path that was little better than a mountain track. He did seventy on the bumpy surface and was instructed to go faster. At a hundred he ignored her urgings.

  “This cuts off a huge corner,” she shouted over the noise of the car handling the ruts of the track. “Once we go down the other side, we’ll be on the main road and about twenty miles away from the compound. A bit after that, there’s a deserted barn overlooking the road. We have to stop there and hide the car. Anything closer and Di Maglio’s surveillance equipment will pick us up.”

  They bounced from the path onto a main road and, for once, she told him to slow down. Then, suddenly, she shouted, “Stop at that path.” When he did, she got out, swung open a gate and motioned him through. She closed the gate and jumped back in. “Up the track and to that barn.” Half way up a pretty steep hill that he had to take in first gear was the barn she’d mentioned. The path skirted it and he turned right onto some waste ground at the front of the place. She nipped out again and ran to the wide doors that were secured by a bar. She unlatched them and the doors swung open. She darted in and checked the place out, gun in hand. She came back and gestured impatiently for him to get in. Once he had, she bolted the barn doors shut. The bolt on the outside was attached to one inside. One could lock it from both sides.

  “We need to go up onto the ledge. There’s a window there that looks over the road.”

  She started to climb a ladder and he followed. They sat on either side of the window and watched the road below. Minutes passed. They sat in silence. Charles felt tired after the hours of non-stop driving. Then he spotted the car in the distance.

  “Someone’s coming from over there. I can see them against the hills.”

  The car moved closer. It was black. It was a Citroen. It was the Citroen. Charles had a terrible urge to go down and shoot it to a halt. But he knew that wasn’t practical. The helplessness was infuriating. Claire moved over, as the car passed. She placed her hand on his arm.

  “We’ll rescue her soon. But we need to plan it. And we need to be careful. At least we know where she is and who has her. The chances of her being harmed physically now are limited. We need, though, to get her out pronto. We need to talk and we need to get in touch with Jacqui.”

  “We can only do that tomorrow when she goes to the office. She said she’d be there. It’s the safest place for us to talk. Elsewhere, we could be traced.”

  “Should we stay here the night?” asked Claire.

  “I think it’d be safer. If we head off to a hotel nearby, there’s a risk that we could be noticed. The car seats will go back. You can use that. And I’ll sleep up here. The s
traw’s not uncomfortable and it’s actually dry.”

  “Why are you so coy all of a sudden? I don’t mind if I stay here with you. In fact I’d prefer it. This isn’t the most homely of places but it might be the best. It’s better not to sleep in the car. If anyone comes in, they can’t miss the car. We’d be better to shift our stuff up to this level and sleep here. That way we get a warning of intruders and a chance to get away. In the car we’re sitting ducks.”

  So they shifted their bags up to the ledge and set up the guns in case they were disturbed. They were getting famished but agreed that there was no way they could go and find food. So they made do with the rest of the chocolate that Douglas had left in the car and some water.

  “This is a pretty miserable way to spend a Sunday night, even in Switzerland,” said Claire.

  “I wonder how Juliet is,” said Charles. “I wonder if we could get Jacqui in there to see her.”

  “How would you do that?”

  “Get her to go there for sanctuary. She needs a doctor to see her arm. Her father can arrange that. She could give us an inside lead.”

  “Di Maglio would never show her Juliet.”

  “Perhaps not, but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t find her. It’ll be easier as an inside job. And we could support her from the outside.”

  “Don’t you need her in the bank?”

  “You’re right. I need Jacqui in the bank. Otherwise, I have nobody to trust there. Maria would be all right but I doubt she could get my instructions through to people there. But they’ll all obey Jacqui.”

  It was not long before they decided to get some sleep. It had been a long day with the drive across France and down into Switzerland. Outside it was dark and gloomy. Occasionally, the moon would surface from behind a cloud, but not for long. The Swiss landscape was too uninviting for gazing out of the window for any length of time. The night was soundless. There seemed to be nobody in their world, not even animals. They gave up looking out on this wasteland.

  Charles burrowed a hole in the hay and stripped off his trousers and the sweater. He grabbed the sweater again and used it as a pillow. His body soon warmed up the cocoon he had created and he started to drift off to sleep. Claire, meanwhile, was looking dreamily in the distance. He could see her profile framed by the window. From time to time she ran her hands through her blond hair and then let it fall again over her shoulders.

  That was the last thing he noticed as he drifted off to sleep. Then he felt a cool hand stroke the back of his neck. At the same time he heard a bird singing outside. It was such a melodious sound. It dispelled his gloomy memories of the nightscape he had left behind. It was still dark but morning was approaching and there was a fresh and friendly breeze in the air.

  He turned and realised that his burrow had been changed. Next to him in a communal straw enclave was Claire, her head resting on his sweater and just inches from him. He turned towards her and saw that she had still the healthy glow of sleep about her. Her face was smiling and her eyes were inviting.

  The hands moved from his back to his chest and gently stroked him. The languid, wistful movement was soothing and exciting. The smell of her hair, the cleanliness of the hay and the perfume of her body blended together erotically. The warmth of her body and the moist caress of the hay burrow pushed them together. The tempting and timid glow of early morning light drifted over them. In that mixture of smell, heat and light their senses awoke as they drew together.

  Their few bits of clothing interrupted this pleasure but did not reduce it. The gentle smoothness of her body came through the material. In any case they soon rid themselves of that inconvenience. Their bodies, now liberated, moved together. They relished in the feel of skin and hay.

  He made love to her for the first time since a long ago day in Barbados. Then her body had been warm and enquiring, friendly and comforting. Now it was still gentle and soft, but there was urgency, a keen desire and a longing that he had not sensed before. Her body arched as she sought him out. She drew up her legs to welcome him more. She clung to him as if she never wanted the new closeness to be over.

  Her movements carried him to greater desire. Then it was over. Then there was quiet and peace bar the heaviness of their breath and the occasional rustle of the hay. Their sense of the world outside slowly returned. Their bodies regretfully parted. They were still together for they could not bear to separate so soon.

  Her voice was as soft and gentle as she had been, “I should have met you long ago. We could have gone to my farm together. Now we can only make love every now and again.” She became wistful, “And that will be every few years. For most of the time we will be friends, just family friends. Then, maybe, we’ll be lovers again for a passing moment. This can’t be more than that. It wouldn’t last. It wouldn’t work.”

  He sensed he knew what she meant, the beauty of the moment had struck him as much as her. He knew this was different. It could not be mimicked or equalled unless desire, situation and circumstance repeated themselves in a different environment with as little premeditation as had occurred that morning.

  They dressed slowly. This was no normal affair. It would last in their minds for a long time. This was a fleeting insight into the intensity of passion, the strength of desire and the power of physical love. Dressed, they looked out at the milky sky. It was a pale colour, with long thin streaks of cloudy white brushing over it and falling to the earth. The sun, a slow burning ball of distant light, crept over the horizon. It made an imprint on the fields around, having moved slowly across the hills in its search for life. It seemed to burst into a momentary intensity, until, assured of its survival, it lapsed into a pleasured serenity with the world around it.

  The spell needed to be broken. The moment had passed. They had to return to their task. They picked up their few possessions and moved to the car parked below. Charles opened the door to their refuge, gun in hand and careful in case any intruder was about. But all was quiet and peaceful as they drove back to the road and left the barn behind in the lonely solitude of their secret.

  They drove down into Geneva and parked near the centre. They picked up their bags and selected a modest hotel where their slightly bedraggled appearance would not be out of character. Nor would the early hour of their arrival be a problem as long as they showed willing to pay for the privilege.

  They went up to their room. The bed dominated it, more due to the size of the room than its own scale. But they had no intention of ruining the day by seeking out each other’s bodies so soon after the uniqueness of their recent communion. They stripped off their clothing and headed for the bathroom where they showered with each other. It was the final rite in a celebration that had started with the hint of dawn. It refreshed their bodies and minds as they returned fully to the evil world of Di Maglio.

  They breakfasted in their room for it was just after nine. They waited another hour and then called the office. Jacqui was at her phone and immediately asked about Juliet.

  “We know where she is but we had no chance of rescuing her. We know who took her. We’re in Geneva.”

  “Oh, my God. It was him. He did it. He would even harm his grand-daughter to get his own way. This time he’s gone too far. When we have her back, he leaves our life for good.” Then, with a bitterness and brutality that shook them, she added, “And the only way we’ll achieve that is when he’s dead.”

  Ignoring her anger, Charles said, “We’re finding it difficult to know how we can get through to Juliet. They don’t know we’re here.”

  She said, “I’m the only one who can get there and get her back. We have to swap places. One of us is needed here and the other has to get Juliet. You return. I’ll meet up with Claire and we’ll both go to the compound. I can use the injury as a cover. You can insist I take refuge. We’ll use the baby as an excuse if he seems too suspicious, although I’d rather not tell him at the moment. But it’s a good fallback. After all, Rastinov was the cause of that miscarri
age I had in France; I could be petrified it would happen again. He’ll fall for that as a story.”

  “All right. We considered that but felt it could be too dangerous. I hadn’t thought of taking Claire as well as a further insider. I’ll check the flights from Geneva. We can meet at Heathrow. You could catch the plane I arrive on.”

  He explained all to Claire. She smiled, “I thought she was being a bit broody. I had wondered if she were pregnant. She seemed dreamy at times. That was out of character. I wonder if I’ll be, too.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I could be pregnant. It wasn’t planned today. I don’t go around sleeping with every man I meet. I didn’t prepare for it. Don’t be concerned, the chances are not too high. It’s just possible. And I won’t cause trouble.”

  She kissed him, “And Jacqui must never know. It’s a bit like you and Maria. You don’t sleep together without reason. You need each other at times. It makes you alive again for others. It takes away the sadness of events you’d rather never happened. Some people are like that. I am. Maria is. And you are. We know that. And we understand it. That’s why we’ll not let others into the secret. It would be wrong, they couldn’t understand.”

  So with the thought of that bizarre and unwelcome possibility, Charles left Claire at Geneva’s immaculate airport and joined Jacqui in the sterile alleyways of London’s Heathrow. When he saw her, she was pale. Her arm was in a sling and her step was slower than usual.

  “Don’t look so worried. It hurts a bit and I lost quite a bit of blood. But it’ll make everything more convincing. We should, though, make the call now.”

  “No. I have to let you arrive in Geneva first. We want you to join up with Claire before he sees you. Otherwise, your father could send someone. He’d then know that Claire was already there. We’ve also changed the car. We had to in case the old one had been noticed. Claire will have gone shopping and she’ll have some clothes. So you two should pass scrutiny. In any event your father has no reason to doubt her loyalty.”