by John Gubert
The helicopters moved over towards the Italian Mafia’s landing ground. The helicopters on the ground started to move. Then the large helicopters opened fire. The whole area was under attack. And whoever was in the attacking helicopters was making sure that nobody escaped alive. This was a fight till the death. The Italians stood no chance. Not one of their helicopters seemed to make it. There were explosions. They could see bullets tracing through the open ground.
They glanced at the cameras near the hangers. No movement. No reaction. They must have expected the attack. That could only mean that it was the Russians in the helicopters. Somehow, they’d known about the Italians. Charles looked at Delaney. He had come to the same conclusion.
He muttered, “It’s the Russians. That means that either there was a leak from the Italians or someone close to Maddy knew about their presence and leaked it to the other side.”
Jacqui said sombrely, “And, if it’s Maddy‘s people are responsible, there’s been a bad breach of security. That could even mean there’s an outside chance they know about her role and Delaney’s men.”
They waited and watched. The helicopters had landed. There was an occasional blast of fire and then silence. The helicopters took off and then headed to the hangers. They landed near them. Some ten men jumped out. Two men came from the hangar and there was a discussion. Delaney was the first to speak.
“They’ve got two gun-ships. They could outshoot us. We’d be decimated if they attack us from the air. I’ve only small transport helicopters. We didn’t bring heavy artillery.”
Maria looked at the clock. Just eighteen minutes to go. “Can you bring some in? Can you get in some heavy artillery?”
He shook his head, “I can’t send the men in to be killed. We’ll be decimated. “
“Have you got any commandos?” snapped Maria.
He nodded.
“Couldn’t you use them and attack first?” she asked.
Charles shook his head, “The planes won’t land if there’s a battle out there. We’d only be able to strike once the planes had landed and taxied in. Otherwise, they’ll abort the landing and we’ll find it hard to set it up again.”
Delaney was talking on the phone. He was getting more agitated. Then he snapped orders. He turned to them.
“We’ll put commandos near the hanger. They’re advancing already. As soon as the plane lands, they’ll advance through the fence. Then they’ll get as close as they can to the helicopters. They’ll either plant plastic explosive or blast them with a small rocket launcher. It’ll ground them if they’re accurate. The plastic’s better. It’s like semtex, just more powerful.”
“What if they put guards on the helicopters?” asked Jacqui.
“We have to kill them,” he said. “If they know we’re around, they’ll have the pilot and gunners in the things. If not, they could be empty.”
“If they are empty, the leak is from the Italians and not Maddy‘s people,” interrupted Maria.
“Those helicopters could be to help take out the merchandise. They may prefer that to risking all on the road.”
“Let’s hope,” said Delaney.
Charles glanced again at the clock. Seven minutes to go. The area around the hangars was quiet. The big machines would be hidden from the view of the incoming planes. There was no movement on the field at all. He peered at the screens but it was impossible to tell if there was anyone in the machines. It was just too dark.
“We’re five hundred yards from the airfield. We are still going in from the North and East. The commandos are just by the perimeter fence. There are seven. We’ll hear nothing from them. They’re going in under radio silence.”
They waited. Still silence. The area around the hangar was still. The helicopters were in one corner of the frame and they could see no movement. The radar around the location where the Italians had been was motionless. There would be war if the underworld ever heard what had happened.
The Mafia would be at war and would tear its heart out until they were all dead. Or until a powerful enough Godfather arose to call for peace. Charles glanced automatically at Maddy. He wondered if perhaps they could let her live. She would be a target and she knew so much. Too much.
He looked up and noticed Maria and Jacqui watching him closely. They communicated their views clearly. Maddy was too dangerous despite the charade that had just taken place. Maddy was already dead, although she may have thought she had saved herself. And nobody would be able to pin the evidence on them. She had lived too dangerously.
Once again, he shot a glance at the clock. Four minutes to go. The whole place was silent. Nobody was talking. The world seemed to be sleeping. But they knew this was the calm before the storm. Then Maria called out, “We’ve picked up the planes coming in from the south. They’re flying in close formation and approaching fast. We have an estimated time of arrival of two minutes.”
Jacqui spoke quietly; “There’s movement around the hangars. The men are outside now but most are keeping in the shadows. Two are advancing near the runway.”
They watched the cameras at the airfield. Suddenly, the lights went on along the runway. They could see two men near the hangars. Then they saw the plane. It came in from the south and seemed to float down onto the runway. They saw it coming towards the camera as if motionless. It was hard to know if the camera was moving or the plane. Then, behind it, they saw the second plane. It mimicked the first plane and was soon approaching the hangars. The first plane had stopped and they identified the steps that were being moved up towards it. The second plane was taxiing in, its flaps down as it slowly moved to the hangar area.
“Men moving towards the helicopters,” whispered Delaney. “Those are our men.”
The figures approached the parked helicopters. They then seemed to move away without doing anything. They knew better. They would have attached the explosives. That took moments. They withdrew out of sight of the cameras. The area around the helicopters was silent.
They waited. The first plane had stopped. The second was just turning into the hangar area. The door of the first plane opened. The video camera picked up the flash and the results of an explosion. Then there was another flash. More debris flew across the screen. The helicopters were destroyed. Men were now rushing out of the hangar. They were confused. Then all hell broke loose.
Soldiers poured into the field. They could see the flashes of the guns. They could see the tracing of the bullets. The second plane moved to return to the runway, but more men poured into the field and it stopped dead in its tracks. They suspected that the tyres had been shot out. Then they saw explosions as men threw grenades. It was strange watching the explosions. They could see the figures running around. They could sense the noise but couldn’t identify it. Confusion reigned.
Men were swarming everywhere. There were explosions all around. Then they spotted planes on the radar. They saw the rockets streak from them and then picked up the explosions again.
Delaney said grimly, “That’ll be the trucks they had in the woods. The planes would have hit them. Our friends have nowhere to go. And our second group are still waiting in our helicopters.”
The fighting went on. Delaney picked up his mobile. “No contact unless by your secure land line,” Charles snapped. “There would be radio monitoring of the area now. Maddy is right. The Russians would have had their information from the Italians. The Russian bosses will assume that there was another leak from the Italians to the authorities and that got to the FBI and others. That makes things easier for Maddy. They’ll look for her. But not with as much purpose as if they thought she were the source of the leaks to the authorities.”
More helicopters landed and more men streamed across the airfield. There was no more shooting. They could see men being herded into a pen. The battle was over. Once again the screen was tranquil. The movements were more measured. The guns were silent. The explosions had ended.
Delaney was on a landline, c
hecking out with his office. He took notes and then he turned to them.
“We’ve taken eleven prisoners. We have five wounded on their side, two seriously. We had four injured, none seriously. We destroyed their trucks with our planes. Any men there were killed in the explosions. We wiped out the helicopters. We don’t believe there was anyone in them. We are approaching the planes. The first one had the merchandise. It is being checked out to see if it all tallies with your manifest.”
“What’ll happen to the prisoners?” asked Maddy.
“They’ll be taken to Toronto. They’ll be handed over to the Canadian authorities. Depending on what we find on them, there could be an extradition attempt by the US. But, for the moment, they’re involved in drug running, at the minimum, involvement in homicide and armed resistance. That’s enough to keep them out of circulation for some time.”
Charles walked over to the drinks cabinet and poured three juices. He passed one to Maria and one to Jacqui. “Take what you want,” he told the others. “Your game is over. Ours is just starting.” And they left Maddy and Delaney together.
They walked upstairs into the house. Jacqui kissed Charles by a small door in the hallway. He headed through it and Maria followed. It led to a stairway that took them down some steps into a wine cellar. They calmly walked between the wine racks and came to the end one. It was a floor-to-ceiling rack, full of bottles of wine. Charles pressed a brick on the left-hand side. He pushed the one below it twice. Then he pressed the first brick again. The racks split in two and swivelled round about thirty degrees. There was now a gap between them and in the gap was a door.
They walked through. Charles pressed a button on the other side and knew that behind them the wine rack would move back into place. He and Maria followed the path for about two hundred yards. They came to some stairs and climbed them. At the top there was a door. It opened into a shed at the bottom of their garden. They checked out the area. It was clear. Quickly, they walked through a door in the garden wall into the street. Opposite was a parked car and they both climbed in. They pulled away to the end of the road, turned left and left again and then along another tree-lined road. At the end, they turned left. They now parked near the junction. The house and the front door were visible. They sat and waited.
Then Delaney appeared. And with him was Maddy Brown. Delaney got into his car with Maddy. He pulled away. They waited for his escort to do likewise and then followed at a distance. Delaney’s car stopped outside the hotel. He and Maddy went in. Minutes later he came out alone. Maria slipped out of the car as they drove up a side road. Moments later she returned.
“What room’s she in?” he asked.
“Three seven five,” said Maria calmly. “It has to be. There’s a guard on it. They arrived when I did. You can tell British Intelligence from a mile off.”
“So Delaney has given her protection,” he said. “Let’s get out before we’re picked up on CCTV.”
He drove a short distance away and parked in a residential street.
“Dress as a tart and return,” Charles said to Maria as he stopped the vehicle. She nodded and headed to the main road. He saw her hail a taxi and waited. She returned half an hour later. She now looked the part. She wore lipstick, high heels, short skirt and low cut top. A blond wig covered her dark hair, while a large pair of dark glasses shaded her eyes. While she’d been away, Charles had changed and put on a dark sweater. They returned to the hotel.
He entered the lobby and went to the lift, keeping his face away from the cameras. He headed up to the fourth floor. He walked down a flight and waited at the top of the stairs. He held the door half-ajar. He could see he was close to room three fifty. He waited. He knew Maria would come through a side entrance and join him there. Soon enough she walked along the corridor.
Charles slipped out of the door and they walked arm-in-arm along the corridor. They approached three seventy five and saw the two agents guarding the door. They glanced at them and one looked keenly at Maria’s legs. They approached them and passed the agents. Then, the knives flashed. Maria’s target dropped dead, with her trained precision the stiletto pierced through his heart. Charles’ target struggled for a moment and then was still. They searched the victims, found a key card and placed it in the slot. The green light flashed and they pushed the door open.
He covered the interior and found himself staring at Maddy. And Maddy was holding a gun. The silencer on Charles’ worked perfectly but hers had none. There was a roar and a bullet streaked past him. It wedged itself into the wall.
Maria pulled the two men into the room with his help. They waited carefully. Nobody seemed to take any notice of the gunshot. They looked at each other, breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the tasks they had still to do.
They first checked the three bodies. They were all dead. They‘d never doubted that but one had to be careful and eliminate any evidence. They placed the explosive and set the timer for two minutes later. And then they headed back out of the room. They made their way to a service lift, where Maria clipped the cable of the CCTV as they rode down to the basement. They left the hotel by a side door, avoiding any other cameras.
The explosion was muffled and they saw no smoke. They returned unseen to the car and drove off silently. Ten minutes later they were back in their street. They got back into the house by their earlier route. Maria stripped off and put on the clothes she was wearing before. He pulled off his sweater and put it into a bag with her outfit. They would collect it later and get rid of the incriminating clothes.
They walked into the office. Jacqui was there. She smiled at them. “Welcome back. You’ve just made a call to Douglas at the island. He’s been telling you of the changes he is going to suggest at the house. You also made that call to Maddy‘s number two. I played that tape as well. It sounds good. You ordered them to be careful and not to make too many large shipments. And said that you suspect Maddy may have gone AWOL, as she hasn’t contacted anyone for so long. Nice touch to ask them to put an alert around the place.”
They waited a few minutes and the phone rang. It was Delaney. “Maddy was killed. And they also killed two of my agents. Be careful. You must be under surveillance. Otherwise they couldn’t have found her.”
“Where did it happen?” Charles gasped in mock horror.
“Her hotel, Park Lane” he said.
“But she stayed there always when she came to London. She used to use false names. But everyone knew. They’d have watched the place. Why on earth did you choose it?”
“She wanted to stay there. It was her choice,” he said. It was as if he knew she would be killed and had decided that was the best way out.
“Were there any witnesses?”
“No. Not yet. We’re going through the CCTV tapes. We suspect they’ll be disguised. They knew what to do and how to do it.”
“Watch yourself Delaney. They may know you are involved. The Mafia is hardly forgiving. And don’t forget we’re likely to be heading for a prolonged period of gang warfare. Things are going to get worse before they get better.”
And with that Charles put down the phone. He turned to the others. “So far, it’s worked. I suspect Delaney knows who killed her. But he has chosen to keep it quiet. Perhaps even the ultra correct Delaney has a price. And he may have access to Maddy’s account. We’ll monitor it. That could be useful in the future.
Now, all we have to do is encourage the gangs to destroy each other. But let’s focus first on the bank. Phase two is about to begin.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Maria gave him a strange look as she left. She knew what was going through his mind. They had been through this before, but somehow this was worse. One of the victims had been Maddy Brown. He had employed her. And now he had killed her.
Jacqui put her arm round him and they walked to the children’s room. He kissed Juliet and she smiled in her sleep. He walked over to the baby. Claire was asleep and he kissed her on the hand.
He thought of the other Claire and then of Maddy. There would be no little Maddy. They would have no memento of her. She would join the others in oblivion. The people he had killed, or had had killed, in Europe or America. She was one of those people who had no future in their plans. They were people who had got in their way. One had to be ruthless to succeed and the world they inhabited had little sympathy for losers. He thought of Wendy, Jefferson, Rastinov, Stephens, Di Maglio, the detectives and now Maddy. The list was getting too long, but at least this stage was coming to an end.
They walked into the bedroom and slipped into the bed. Jacqui stroked his face. He burned with desire for her. He wanted her body to clear the painful pictures from his mind. But it wasn’t to be. He fell asleep in the end but it was not a restful sleep. He kept on seeing Maddy‘s face. She would have shot him but he had got her first. He saw the flash of hatred and fear, then the moment of her anguish before the eternity of nothingness.
He got up the next morning well before Jacqui awoke. He washed and dressed, still feeling the weight of the events of the previous night. He drove through the early Saturday morning traffic, looking at the people he passed. He drove into the City and was at his desk before seven. He took a coffee from the machine and glanced at the papers that were on the desk. He found it hard to concentrate. Then Maria walked in.
She gave him the same strange look she had given the night before. She produced a key from her bag and locked the door from the inside. She walked over to him. He pushed his chair back and watched her approach. Maria was dressed in a dark short skirt and white, open necked blouse. Her face was flushed, her lips were moist. Her eyes were bright, her breath was hurried
They kissed passionately. He slowly undid the buttons of her blouse one by one. She loosened his tie and then took it off. The buttons of his shirt were undone much more quickly as if there was a race. He took off her blouse and then they quickly tore off the rest of their clothes. Maria’s eyes sparkled even brighter. Her breath became more laboured and her face became more flushed. He was panting excitably too as he pressed his mouth against hers.