The door opened and she was greeted by grey haired man with a Russian accent.
“Welcome aboard the Lady Heloise.”
Chapter 21
Tim had left the airport and made his way directly to Watford General Hospital. Getting back had proved less difficult than he had imagined. He had managed to contact Stiles who was already aware of Jackie’s kidnapping. The British Embassy worked with the Egyptians to get him a flight to Cairo then onward to the UK.
He found his way to Intensive Care and was shown into the room occupied by John. As he entered he saw that Anne and Daniel were sat at his bedside. He was clearly unconscious, had tubes and wires attached to every part of him
Anne looked up,” My daughter?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “She was snatched on the quayside. I have no idea where she is.”
“John, has he been shot?”
“Stroke, they fired at him but the bullet missed. We have to wait and see what the damage is.” Tears were in her eyes.
Daniel had risen from his seat. “I want Mummy.” There were tears in his eyes as well.
Tim put his arms around him. “Mummy will be fine, I promise.”
Anne’s arm was heavily bandaged and plastered. It was dubious if she would ever regain full use of her arm where the bullet had smashed into the bone and tissue. Only time would tell.
“What is going on?” she asked
“I honestly do not know. There is a Russian connection that is all we can say at the moment.”
“What can it have to do with Jackie?”
“Trust me the whole of MI5 is looking at this but so far they can see no connection.”
“How long before we know how John is?” he asked.
“It could be hours, day or even weeks. They know there is brain damage to the right side and he will have some paralysis but they can’t say at this stage.”
Tim looked at Anne and Daniel. It was a sad sight. She was looking very old and frail. Daniel was looking pleadingly at him, with tears in his eyes, to make it all be alright. He felt terrible guilt at their plight as though he should have prevented all this and protected his wife and family.
“It is no good feeling sorry for ourselves, we just have to pick ourselves up and get on with it,” said Anne in a forced attempt at positivity. “We need to focus on the here and now. Keep busy and not dwell on things.”
Tim knew she was right in a way. He knew there was a reason for all this and he had the resources at his finger tips to sort it out. He knew if there was a connection in all this, GCHQ would piece it together. They were the two dead Romanians, Vadim and Andrei for a start. One in London and one in Luxor. As he sat here talking, MI5 would be tracing all the links, looking for connections. For all intents and purposes, this had been a terrorist attack targeting a MI5 employee and his family. They had the resources and the motivation, but he knew it would take time.
“Listen,” she continued, “just before all this happened, John picked up the bottom tier of the Wedding Cake and some table decorations. I thought it a shame to waste them, the ones with the beautiful freesias woven into them. They are still in the boot of our car. He forgot to get them out and they have been there all this time. They will be starting to rot by now.”
I’ll sort it,” he said. “What is happening with Daniel?”
“I get out today and they have organised support for me at home. If I cannot manage I will call you. Don’t worry.”
“Find Mummy,” said Daniel.
“I will trust me,” he said. He got up to leave. “I’ll be back later.”
“Key”
“Oh yes” he said as she handed him the car key.
“You might as well borrow the car and leave it at yours. Neither of us will be driving for a long while yet.”
He gave Anne and Daniel a big hug and left the room.
Stiles sat in his car, waiting in the hospital car park, “Alright?”
“Not really I am so worried about Jackie. What is going on?” Tim sat in the passenger seat and Stiles turned on the ignition,
Where to?”
“Jackie’s parents’, I’ll use their car to drive back home.”
“We have been working hard at Thames House and we have a good idea who the two Romanians were working for”
“Who?”
“Sokolov Yerik, he is one of those Russian billionaires with links to the Kremlin.”
“What the fuck would he want with my wife and family?”
“That we don’t know. But you must have done something to him or his cronies. The CIA and MI6 routinely keep tabs on guys like him. The Americans are trying to put the squeeze on the Russians with sanctions, as you know. It is working, Putin is under pressure at home as the economy is grinding to a halt. They are looking at hitting the Oligarchs like Yerik in the pocket by freezing their bank accounts World wide.”
“Where is this Yerik now?”
“Not completely sure. He was sighted on his boat moored in Monaco where he met up with two other billionaires, a pair called Lesta and Nikhil. They are all muckers and are all ex what was the KGB. They carved up the Country between them when Communism collapsed.”
“I have no knowledge of these people. They are not even my area at the office, as you know. I deal solely with Middle Eastern threats to the UK. It has to be something to do with Jackie but she hasn’t any connections to Russia whatsoever. It just makes no sense.”
“We’ll get there,” said Stiles,” One thing that is positive, is that they want her alive and have gone through a lot of trouble to keep her that way.”
“I just want her home and Daniel wants his Mum back.”
The traffic was horrendous as usual and they were crawling along at a snail’s pace. It took nearly an hour to travel the few miles from Watford to Pinner.
“Will you be ok?” asked Stiles as Tim got out of the car.
“I’ll be fine. I’ll drive over to Muswell Hill, sort out the mess from the burglary and clean out the boot of Jackie’s Dad’s car, then I’ll get into the office and try and work out what is going on.”
Chapter 22
The two cheetahs looked in fine condition. They walked from one side of their cage to the other following the men, as they walked up and down trying to get a good view of the animals.
“I told you they were in perfect condition,” said the vendor
“They do look good. Remind me why you have them for sale?”
Enrique Rojas was about thirty miles from Buenos Aires, the Argentinean capital, on a cattle ranch talking with a man in his early fifties, tanned and clearly used to the outdoor life. The owner of the animals had no idea of who the mysterious buyer of exotic animals was.
“They were destined for a private zoo. They are a breeding pair,” he continued. “I used to work in Hollywood providing exotic animals for the movie industry. That was a long time ago now. I could let you see some of the films that have animals I trained in, if you are interested. I supplied the Lions in …”
“Perhaps later,” interrupted Rojas, who had no intention of sitting in the middle of nowhere watching videos with him.
You were saying?”
“Ah yes, the cheetahs, they were destined for a private zoo. I had the usual problems getting the necessary licences and permits but after several months I got the paper work sorted and the beasts into the country,”
“So why are they here?”
“Just the usual in Argentina, the guy who wanted them is in prison, political corruption. So now I am stuffed up with a couple of wild cats.”
“So I can take them off your hands for nothing?”
The gaucho laughed,” No I couldn’t do that, but I would be happy to make my money back and some for the time, trouble and effort involved.”
“I do want them but there is the problem of getting them back to my zoo in Mexico,” Rojas thought for a moment.
“I can get the export licensee, if you arrange the transport?”
&
nbsp; He was clearly eager to get the cats off his hands. Rojas knew that with the right payments bringing the animals into Mexico would not be a problem. He also knew he wanted the cats. He was determined to have the best collection of exotic animals he could for his estate.
The deal was done and he settled into the back seat of the limo for the tedious drive to the Capital. This trip would serve two purposes, the first was the purchase of animals for his zoo, crucially though, it would allow Rojas to escape the attention of the Drugs Lords in Mexico. Since the DEA had been hitting shipment after shipment into the US the suspicion was at fever pitch. Every member of the Cartel suspected the other of being the rat. Rojas had been clever in targeting his and every other dealer apart from his major rival, Oscar Perez Rodriquez.
Rodriquez was not a stupid man and strongly suspected that Rojas was setting him up and targeting his share of the trade. He had been watching Rojas’ every move and any hint of suspicious behaviour would have attracted the attention of the other members of the Cartel. Rodriquez would have ensured that.
All the drug lords knew of Rojas’ obsession with his private zoo and his desire to be more famous than Escobar and his zoo. They were not surprised at his trip to Argentina to buy some animals. Of course life would be easier if he could just go north to the US and buy animals. In some states individuals had kept bears, snakes and even Tigers in their homes but he liked to see the animals he was buying and travel to the States was fraught with danger. His presence may have been too good an opportunity for US law enforcement to pass up and he could well have found himself the wrong side of a prison wall.
Travel in Latin America was far less dangerous to his freedom, so it was not unusual for him to travel there looking for the stock for his growing menagerie. Free from the prying eyes of the other drug lords, he settled back in the car for the drive to Buenos Aires. There were two further men in the car with him as well as the driver, his bodyguards who watched over his every move.
The old part of the Capital was impressive and had an almost Parisian feel with the Haussmann architecture copied at the turn of the previous century. The traffic blocking the wide Boulevards was, on the other hand not, at all impressive. Eventually they arrived at the thoroughly modern and expensive shopping area. Rojas and his two guards stepped out of the car. They walked past the designer shops in the pedestrian section until they reached the intersection where the restaurant was situated, where Rojas next appointment waited on him
Trist was sat at a table on the pavement under a Sun canopy in front of the steak house. He rose as Rojas approached and extended his hand. The two guards took up position on either side of the table and remained vigilant. “Pleased to see you again,” they shook hands and both sat down.
“The steaks are amazing in this country even better than prime US,” said Trist as they ordered the flame grilled beef.
“Truly wonderful,” agreed Rojas “but we have not come all this way to talk about the cuisine. Have we?”
Trist nodded his head. “The DEA are very happy with the information you have provided.”
“Let me guess, now that they have had what they can get from me, they would like to severe their links permanently to save any potential future embarrassment?”
“More or less,”
“No more, no less, they want me conveniently dead. We knew this would be the outcome but did you mange to get me the murderer of my Father?”
“I have done better, I have managed to put myself in the position of being the one to control and organise the whole affair.”
“That is indeed very good Mr Trist. Now tell me what the DEA expect to happen?”
“They expect me to engineer your demise using Annubis. I am to convince you that he is here to assassinate your rival Rodriquez, while in fact you will be his target.”
“But you will in fact commission him to kill Rodriguez”
“Correct”
“But how can I be sure that you will not double cross me?”
“One, you presumably will not pay me the five millions dollars that would facilitate a comfortable early retirement for me and two I shall personally deliver this Annubis to you.”
Rojas looked surprised. “How will you do this?”
“It will be a double hit. The plan is fairly simple. You will call a meeting of the Cartel at your hacienda at which Rodriguez will be present. Annubis will be charged with killing Rodriguez and I shall ostensibly be your assassin. When he has killed Rodriguez I will not kill you but turn my weapon on him and disarm him and if possible deliver him to you alive.”
Rojas finished his steak and smiled with satisfaction, both at the quality of the food and with the thought of avenging his Father’s death. “Walk with me? I think if you can get this piece of shit that murdered my Father into my hands alive you will be pleased with how generous I can be. Let’s say another five million if you do what you say.”
Trist smiled and nodded his thanks.
“We are being followed,” said Trist
“The young man in shorts and trainers in front of us and the two older thugs behind,” said Rojas.
“Yes”
“They intend to mug us,” said Rojas. “It is common they snatch bags in this area or relieve people of the possessions at knife point in the richer areas.”
“The boy in front, seeing that there were few bystanders, turned and doubled back towards Rojas and Trist, drawing a knife. His two friends closed up from behind and also pulled knives intending to surround Trist and Rojas.”
Rojas body guards who had been fully aware of the mugger’s attention came up from behind the two muggers, moving in from the rear. They did not see it coming, Rojas bodyguards stabbed both the muggers and lowered them gently onto the side walk and continued walking. As the younger mugger approached from the front he never saw the knife Rojas held. He slumped to his knees, a surprised look on his face as he died.
They walk on as though nothing had happened. Trist knew at that point that he had better keep the right side of Rojas. He was a very dangerous man who enjoyed the hands on approach to murder. There had been no need to kill the muggers, the guards could have revealed their presence and the potential assailants would have faded away looking for a softer target. Rojas had enjoyed the killing and that was the type of creature he was.
Chapter 23
Yerik sat in the stateroom of his Yacht waiting for Jackie to be brought up from her cabin. He was in a reflective mood and his mind wandered back to the past. It seemed an odd set of circumstances that had brought him to this point in life.
He had attended university and looked for a career and more by chance than design had ended up working in the security service. He had been sent to the Andropov Red Banner Institute in Moscow for training by the KGB. The school had been renamed after the famous head of the organisation. They had been trained in their craft and there, he had meet Nikhil and Lesta.
They most strenuous part of the training was to be proficient in foreign languages. He had been fortunate in that his Degree had been in English and German. He had a natural ability for languages. Apart from lectures on the State and Communism, which were incessantly preached at them, they were taught their spy craft. The final part of their course and the most exciting was a three day exercise in Moscow simulating running a field agent. They had all passed and were posted to various countries. He had been sent to England.
Of course, many changes had happened to his home land since those days, the most dramatic being the break up of the USSR. The break up, the social and political upheaval had of course presented opportunities for him and his friends with whom he had stayed in contact.
Now they were rich beyond anything they could imagine. It had not come without a price. Russia was intrinsically corrupt and to stay near the top of the pile you could not be bounded by any form of moral constraint. Yerik did wonder how he had reached a point where he would snatch an innocent woman from her honeymoon and order the death of her husband wit
hout a second thought. It was a long way from the idealistic vision he had once held of protecting his beloved Russia.
They had questioned Jackie about the documents and he had considered some form of torture but he knew from his years of experience when some one was lying. It was obvious she did not have a clue what he was taking about.
The documents were somewhere and needed to be recovered. Firstly, to avoid embarrassment, proof of corruption that led all the way to the Kremlin. That would be a propaganda coup for the Americans. Secondly to avoid the loss of their ill-gotten gains, should the Americans decide to extend the sanctions to blocking individual bank account..
In one way, that this woman’s husband had not been assassinated as planned when she was abducted might be a blessing. Lee had posted the incriminating documents to her, it was just a matter of locating them. The key would be this woman’s husband. Somehow he needed to make contact with him and get him to find the documents and hand them over in exchange for his wife. Yerik’s fear was that Tim would find the documents and turn them into MI5. That had to be prevented.
Jackie entered the room accompanied by her gaoler.
“Good evening,” he said, as though this was just a normal social encounter and she had not been forcibly taken from Egypt to a boat in the middle of the Mediterranean.
She sat at the table where he indicated. “I should like to have a little discussion over diner, if that is alright with you?”
“Do I have a choice?”
The waiter came in and poured the wine and the starter of smoked salmon soon followed. The quality of the food did little to make Jackie feel any happier.
“What has happened to my son and my parents?” she demanded.
“I assure you they are fine.”
She did not know if to believe him or not. In any event she had no choice in the matter, “My husband?”
“He to his well and fighting fit, as they say.” “Is the food to your liking?”
Bank (A Tim Burr Thriller Book 2) Page 9