After an hour of hearing Stephanie’s giggling from the armchair, her father asked whom she was messaging.
“Lindon,” she replied.
He looked back at her blankly. He didn’t want to see Stephanie hurt again, but he hadn’t seen her smile and giggle like this in a long time. “I’m going to go and read the book you got me, sweetheart,” he said.
“OK dad.” He stumbled over to his recliner chair and pulled the lever so he sat near vertical. He only got half way through the first page before Stephanie interrupted. “Daddy, do you mind if I borrow the car?”
“Right now?” he asked with a frown.
“No, in a few weeks. I’m going to go north and see Lindon,” she said.
“Ah, OK. Yes, no problem, but tell me the day before so I can check the washer fluid and make sure you’ve got plenty of fuel for the trip.” He turned his eyes back to his book and struggled to find where he was.
“Thanks daddy.”
Stephanie left him to his book and continued messaging Lindon. In the corner of his eye he could see his daughter grinning from ear to ear. He smiled to himself. Nothing made him happier than seeing Stephanie smile.
Chapter 35
Kioshi’s team had been working around the clock for days.
They had done a great job of hacking security cameras and they had managed to narrow the search down to six vehicles that Lindon could have been in when he escaped from London. They tracked all of them. Three stayed in London so Kioshi discounted them. One drove south. The team managed to follow it for about ten miles, but then lost it on the cameras as it pulled off a main road. The other two headed north; one went as far as Nottingham, and could be traced all the way to a small block of apartments but no further. The last vehicle was interesting.
The last place the team could track it to was the border with Scotland. It was an old Range Rover. The team broke through the firewall at the British Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. The owner had sent a letter to the agency explaining he had sold the car after receiving several parking fines through the post. They had uploaded a copy of the letter making it light work for the team to read. It had to be the car, but tracing it in Scotland had proved impossible. The only cameras were in the cities and the main roads. All the small country lanes and villages didn’t offer any coverage. The team hammered their keyboards and glared at screens.
“Here, here!” one shouted. There was a picture of the Range Rover going towards a port marina. Kioshi narrowed his eyes and rubbed his hands together. He immediately sent three of his team to Scotland. If they could find the car there was a chance that they could trace Lindon’s next move.
James’s team had been hard at work tracking vehicles in London and had narrowed their search to three cars. A Range Rover was of particular interest.
They had traced it to Edinburgh and spotted it near the docks. Local police had seized the vehicle when they found it parked illegally on a side street. James spoke to MI5 that morning. They agreed to send a forensic team to the vehicle. Everyone felt as if the net was beginning to fall on Lindon. James was happy to be on Lindon’s trail, although he wanted to focus on Kioshi after his conversation with Lt Felix. Bill and James had become much closer and both of them were now avoiding speaking to Roger. James gave Bill a detailed breakdown of the progress in finding Lindon. He was relieved to hear such progress.
“How is the hunt for Kioshi going your side?” James asked.
Bill didn’t have much to say. “There is a piece of the puzzle missing,” he answered cryptically.
“OK, well I’m refocusing my team. I want Kioshi more than I want Lindon,” James said.
“Yes so do I, but I’m concerned that Kioshi may get to him first. He always seems to be one step ahead,” Bill said cautiously.
“Yes he does,” James responded. The phone line remained silent for a few seconds.
“OK, well keep me updated,” Bill said.
“I will do,” James replied.
Early afternoon on Thursday was quiet in Langley. There was a dusting of snow outside and fewer cars than usual in the car park. James had taken an extended lunch to speak to a few friends in the FBI. He was clutching at straws but anything was better than sitting in his office staring at Kioshi’s file.
John Watkin had been a friend of James’s for years. He was the one who had persuaded him to apply for the job at the CIA. They met at a bench in the park once a month. The park was in a residential area a few miles from downtown with very little foot traffic. The odd dog walker or group of kids were the only people to frequent the park. Both men liked to test the other for any collective mistake by either agency; today would be no different.
“So I hear London was a resounding success?” John’s sarcasm was blatant.
“Yeah.” James was despondent.
“So I’m guessing it’s still a hot topic in the office?” John said with a wry smile.
“I think it’s a hot topic in every office,” James answered.
“Get over yourself. We’ve got plenty of our own work to get on with without worrying about what you guys have messed up,” John said, watching a silver car drive past.
“Really?”
There was a pause while John sipped coffee out of a Styrofoam cup. “Well… no,” he admitted and both of them shared a laugh. John continued, “After the recent triumphs we’re due a quiet period. That’s what happens when you actually get the bad guys. The CIA seems to forget about catching the bad guys while we pick up the terrorists, fraudsters, gangsters and anybody else that thinks about threatening our great land.”
“Even you don’t believe that,” James quipped back.
“Yeah well… what’s your problem with this guy then? From what I hear he was on our side and now we’re not so sure.” James took a second to realize that John and he weren’t talking about the same problem. His eyes swept towards John.
“You mean Lindon, oh no… Lindon isn’t my problem.” James repositioned himself on the bench.
“What is your problem then?” James shuffled his body weight again and leaned slightly closer to John. “How much of the London story have you heard?”
John took another sip of coffee. He continued to stare ahead of him as he spoke. “You went in with a team. Some freelancers, no agency boys… which by the way was your first mistake. Then there was a gunfight with an unknown person. Probably a lone wolf terrorist or something. Then your man sneaks away and now you’re sitting here with me, desperate for any intelligence you can get.” John looked at James and raised his eyebrows to give a look of ‘I know everything’.
“It’s the lone wolf I’m worried about. He’s not a terrorist or a lone wolf gunman. He was there to kill our guy. We were half expecting him to show up but couldn’t contain him. Lindon getting away was bad and at first I thought that was my problem but then I got a call.” James stopped speaking. This was all new information to John but he showed little reaction. “I got a call from Lt Donald Felix,” James said.
John’s expression changed. He turned his head to face James. “Lt Donald Felix…The Felix!” he said in a whisper.
“Yeah. I assume you’ve heard of him,” James said.
“Met him once. Officially he’s military but he’s headed pretty much every organization at some point. What did he say?” John was now a lot more interested in the story.
“Told me to forget about Lindon. He said my concern should be with another man. The shooter. A man called Kioshi Kamitoze.” James looked at another car passing by.
“Who’s that?” John crossed his legs and both men were now leaning in towards each other.
“He was the mystery man shooting from the other building. Trying to kill Lindon. He’s an American citizen but he’s acting on behalf of some organization in Japan. It’s a long story with a vendetta that hasn’t been settled since the Second World War,” James said, holding his coffee cup close to his mouth.
“What has the war got to do with this?” John a
sked, looking bemused.
“Let’s not go into specifics right now. It’s a long story and there are only a handful of people that know about this. Look, I need help, anything you can do to help me with Kioshi Kamitoze. I have to stop him before he finds our guy. I really need Kioshi dead yesterday. If he gets Lindon we could be facing a terror attack worse than this country has ever seen.”
“Worse than-“
James spoke over John. “Yes, worse than that. Much worse!”
“What about the organization behind this?” John asked.
“I suspect it’s a small but loyal team but very little is known of the resources Kioshi has in Japan,” James said. A breeze picked up the cold air and rushed it past both the men. The weather looked ready to take a turn for the worse and John became eager to leave.
“Let me speak to a few people,” John said, throwing his coffee cup away.
“Thanks John. This is on a strictly need to know basis. No one can know why we’re after this guy. We already think he has an informant and I’m concerned we may have a mole.” James stood.
John’s eyebrows raised at the thought of a mole in one of the agencies. “Don’t worry. I know the game. I’ll call you at the office if I have something.”
John walked away. James stood for a moment until John got in his car. He took a few lungfuls of fresh air and then walked in the opposite direction.
Chapter 36
Two weeks passed and Lindon began to grow in confidence.
He had driven through the local town a few days ago late at night and was planning to head out to the highway tonight. The roads were quiet. Snowplows and the occasional sight of a Volvo or Saab were all that anyone would see around the area. Lindon hadn’t seen a single police officer although the local police station only had a small contingent of officers to deal with fights and petty theft; they rarely left their offices. He felt as if he really had made the perfect getaway. Lindon had been exchanging text messages with Stephanie and two days ago they spoke on the phone for the first time in years. Stephanie was cautious on the phone. Lindon knew she would not just fall back into his arms, but he hoped the spark between them would still be there when they met. They had arranged to meet tomorrow. Lindon was slightly nervous, not because he hadn’t seen Stephanie in a long time, but because he was going to drive much further away from his lodge than he had so far dared.
Lindon woke up at 5am the next morning. The sun was not going to make an appearance for another five hours and the snow was falling in thick clumps in the darkness outside. Stephanie had agreed to meet Lindon in Gävla. It was approximately a two-hour journey for both of them. They were going to meet at a small pizza place on the outskirts of the city. It was family owned and didn’t have security cameras. Lindon showered and dressed, then trudged through the snow to the small outbuilding that housed his modified Land Rover. It took thirty minutes to clear a wide enough path to drive into the forest. The forest floor was relatively clear as the snow nestled atop the trees. Lindon changed into fresh clothes whilst his car warmed up.
Stephanie had a much easier start to the day. She woke up at 6.30am and had breakfast with her father. Stephanie needed to arrive at Gävla for 2pm, and after breakfast she disappeared to her bedroom to shower and dress. Stockholm had been unseasonably mild and so there was no snow outside. Stephanie’s father was still checking the car when she walked down the stairs at 9am. Every conceivable part of the car had been checked. The Volvo XC90 had barely 10,000 kilometers on the clock so the checks were fairly pointless but her father insisted. Everything from tire pressure, fuel, windscreen washer fluid, body panels and oil level was checked. The day before he had spent nearly an hour cleaning the car, despite the knowledge that within ten minutes of driving the sludge and damp roads would begin flicking dirt all over the shiny paintwork.
At 11am Stephanie put her route into the GPS. Her dad wrote down the location with a pencil and Stephanie told him the phone number of the pizza place. Her father tried not to be too overbearing but Stephanie was all he had left in the world. After losing his wife he knew the pain of losing someone he loved. They both knew he couldn’t face going through that again.
“I’ll be fine daddy,” she said, placing her phone in a storage compartment.
“I know, sweetheart. I’m just making sure,” he said, slowly stepping away from the car door.
“Well can you do it out of the car so I can leave?” She pointed and smiled.
“OK, OK. I’m going, have a safe trip, what time do you expect to be back?” he asked, taking his first full step back.
“Around eight, but don’t worry if I’m late,” she said as the wheels began to roll.
“I’ll be up,” he called.
Stephanie knew she would likely find him asleep in his recliner chair with an empty glass in his hand. He loved her immeasurably but after a heavy dinner and a few glasses of whisky he would end up snoring in the living room before she got home as usual. Stephanie reversed out of the garage and onto the street; she waved as she pulled away.
Lindon’s drive to Gävla gave him time to think. A question had remained in his mind since his escape. Who had tipped him off? If it hadn’t been for the text messages that he had received before the job he may well be locked up somewhere right now, or worse. Lindon was unlikely to get an answer any time soon. Whoever had helped him would remain a mystery for now. As each mile passed his concentration lurched from a paranoia of other drivers to the mystery of the person who had tipped him off. It made the car journey feel very short and before he knew it he could see the city ahead of him in the distance.
Lindon arrived at the pizza place at midday. He had driven around the block and then by the restaurant several times, scouting the area. The plastic chairs outside the restaurant remained empty in the sub zero temperature. Lindon checked his current co-ordinates and committed them to memory. He knew Gävla reasonably well but co-ordinates worked better in his mind than street names. He then set a charge blast inside the car in case he had to escape without it. It was an extreme measure but leaving the sophisticated software open to de-coding would compromise his retreat and everywhere he had been.
At 1.55pm Stephanie had driven past the pizza place twice. Lindon wasn’t there and there were no free parking spaces outside. On her third pass one of the patrons returned to their car and drove away. Stephanie quickly swooped into the parking space but there was still no sign of Lindon. Her heart was pounding, and she thought about turning back home. Stephanie got out of the car and something didn’t feel right. Questions raced through her mind. Was she in the right place? Where was Lindon? Her nerves were on edge and the butterflies in her stomach fluttered. Stephanie’s ears where spiked up and she could feel a tingle down her spine. Then at the back of the vehicle a person appeared.
She heard a voice, “Stephanie.” She froze and jumped forward. Every part of her felt sensitive. Stephanie turned to try and face the man.
“Stephanie, it’s me, are you okay?” Lindon said.
Stephanie exhaled and began to relax. “Lindon! I… I… it’s good to see you,” she said as her nerves calmed and her heartbeat settled.
“You seem a little on edge,” he said.
“I was but I’m not now, sorry. I think I was just nervous.”
“Don’t be sorry. Well anyway… hello, nice to see you after so long.” The two hugged. It was an embrace that felt normal, as if they had seen each other last week.
“So do you have a story as to why I haven’t heard form you in so long?” she asked in a flat tone.
Lindon smirked. “I do…inside?” He gestured to the door with his arm and Stephanie turned. “I must say you look as stunning as I remember you, Stephanie,” Lindon said. It was as if both of them had become sixteen years old again and were on their first ever date.
Stephanie giggled. “Lindon, your story better not be as bad as your flattery.” Stephanie was pleased with herself for her quick answer. Lindon stayed silent and reached f
or the door to let Stephanie walk through first.
“Hey Hey” came the call from the woman behind the counter. Lindon replied in broken Swedish. Stephanie sat in the plastic chair by the window; it was the exact sort of place that a sixteen-year-old girl would be taken on a first date, but Stephanie didn’t care. The pair made small talk and when the food arrived neither was hungry. They picked at the pizza and stared at each other.
“Well are you going to tell me where you’ve been then?” she asked innocently and looked out of the window as a car drove past. Her body language tried to convey a message saying ‘this better be good or I’m out of here’. Stephanie had wanted an answer from Lindon for a long time.
“I wish I had the perfect answer, but the reality is… I don’t.” Lindon exhaled through his nostrils looking directly at Stephanie’s left ear. She continued to look out of the window. Lindon was concise with his reasons. He had to go away on work and he wasn’t allowed to keep contact with civilians. He hadn’t wanted to leave; after the tough missions he was no longer in the military but had embarked on a much more dangerous career and now he had decided to retire. He no longer wanted to be tied up in a life of mystery… but for now, he still was.
“Why Sweden?” she asked. “I have my retreat here, as well as a good friend.” Stephanie thought Lindon meant her and was a little disappointed. The butterflies in her stomach stopped fluttering. I’m just a friend to him, she thought. Lindon continued to speak after a sip of coffee.
“And, well, there’s you. I couldn’t get you out of my mind. Whenever I had a moment to think, I always thought of you.” Lindon attempted to look sincere. Stephanie felt better now that she realized she wasn’t considered as nothing more than a friend.
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