The Oxford Code

by Ray Christie

  Mikhail is given a tour of this fine vessel before being guided to the Sky lounge area; the sliding custom-made bullet-proof privacy door provides the men with an added layer of protection as Mikhail lays bare his proposal.

  ***

  “Paris my dear, the city of lights, forgive me to launch some business into this night,” said Trevor. Noticing how she was becoming comfortable and relaxed he raised the ante on their relationship.

  “Interrupting our beautiful occasion to talk shop, I knew it wouldn’t last,” replied Anjeze, who now turned to look for the fresh bottle of wine.

  “My apologies Anjeze, I wanted to clear up some work before we can concentrate on each other, I know you would love the break,” Trevor offers a reassuring moment of comfort by placing his hand over hers and rubbing her fingers. Looking at his delicate touch she enquires about his comment.

  “Will you be with me? I mean in the city of love, or will I be all by my lonesome? what if I can’t handle it and meet a dark and handsome stranger there, someone who whisks me off my feet and makes a proper lady of me!” With a spark in her eye, she teases Trevor with her thoughts.

  Smirking to himself Trevor looks off to the next table briefly, watching other couples talking quietly and comfortably. ‘Lucky they are’ thinking to himself, ‘they don’t have hours to organise a few kills.’ With a deep slow breath, he resumes his attention to Anjeze’s dark brown eyes before speaking softly. “For one Paris is not the city of love, stop reading woman’s magazines, I’ll take you to the city of love after...”

  “What the hell”, laughs Anjeze, “You think I am the type of lady that sits on the sofa each and every night pouring over trash magazines?”

  “I certainly hope not.”

  “Ok big hotshot, what do you need? who am I working for? and you still have my swiss details, no need an invoice I presume?” With an air of confidence, she removes the wine bottle from the waiter’s hands on his return and fills her own glass. Waving the waiter away she places the bottle on the table and nods slowly. “Hit me with it.”

  ‘Checkmate,’ Trevor has a plan, and everything is falling into place. Much like he planned many months ago. He knew his dodgy connections and the amount of time and money he spent on them would pay off. Slowly he begins describing what he needs Anjeze to do and how he wants her to report back. Leaving the fine details out until the alcohol is out of her system, he concentrates on building confidence in her abilities. Tonight, like most nights Trevor will eat and sleep well. The nihilist will cast off this woman in a heartbeat for the lure of the prize.

  FOURTEEN

  Paris, France

  Mark kicks the end of the bed frame with his foot, calling for Jack to wake up. Stirring slightly Jack quickly sits upright before swinging his legs out of the bed and putting his feet on the floor. He immediately knows his sleep would not be disturbed for no good reason. “What’s the go,” asks Jack with a fixed stare at Mark.

  “I’ll wait for Ben to join us,” with that Ben entered the room running his fingers over his face forcing some blood into his tired head.

  “Ok, Frank has reached out, he concludes the same as us regarding Trevor, telling us to ship out.”

  Taking a moment to digest what Mark has said the two newly awoken men look at each other. Ben speaks first, “Trevor didn’t know about this apartment, and from what I understand we haven’t been followed here, this is our place and not the agencies.”

  Jack shakes his head, there is not much Trevor does not know, I never identified this place, but with the frequent trips we make back I am sure we never felt the need to cover our tracks. Knowing Trevor now and what we are dealing with he could have watched us for years.”

  An hour ago Sam left the surveillance to Gordon to check around the property, now returning to the apartment and enters the bedroom to give his assessment, “I had a scout around the building boys, it looks all clear but I did notice some express mail in the lobby, never seen mail left there before, I took the details of vehicles in the back streets, and no persons of interest.”

  “Good work, has anyone returned a message to Frank?”

  “No, not yet”, Mark shows Jack the email draft.

  “Ok, use a new SIM, send a message on that telling him to meet us at Paris-Charles De Gaulle, give a number to call once he arrives, we will watch him arrive, from there we will send him to another location and you guys can trail him looking for followers.”

  “I will pop down to check on Joséphine.” Ben has a liking for the gentle and caring woman, her love for the building and its inhabitants is a mirror of how she treats life in general. Always there to lend a hand and to offer assistance to the tenants of this fine building. Ben himself had a few French lessons in return for him installing and landscaping her private garden. Being the best inhouse self-appointed manager of the apartment block, he loves spending an hour of his time in her immaculate apartment. On his previous stays in Paris, he would make a habit of paying her a visit every few days before lunch, bringing fresh baguettes, croissants, and his favourite brioche fait maison from Boulangerie Julambre. She always had the best selection of honey, his sweet tooth allowed him to dip into the lavender honey from Provence, Pyrenees Chestnut honey and some of her own homemade recipes. It also gave him an opportunity to learn about the local area and those who have moved in.

  As Ben buttons his shirt on the way out the door the other men establish a route out and their options of travel.

  “Gordon, go and pick up your Audi, you and Mark hang back and watch this place, keep your phones charged up, grab some food. You might need to go around and take some of the money from the storage locations. Find out where we can get a truck from. We also might need security.” Jack now looks at Mark and gives him some tasks. “Mark, you can be on recruitment.”

  Smiling back at Jack he removes some fruit from the fridge and throws it into his black hold-all alongside his firearms. “I know off a few Delta guys who have rotated back from doing work in the Middle East. They would be happy to take a drive through the country for some Euros, I’ll hit up a mate of mine who would know how to get in contact with them.”

  “That’s good, keep them American, no local boys as we don’t know how far Trevor’s web is spun, Ok, check in every thirty minutes.” With that Jack checks his watch and the Mark and Gordon leave the room.

  ***

  Joséphine in her haste to provide a warm reception to the workmen still had not enquired about the work to be carried out. Displaying her polite charm and charisma she pours the men glasses of freshly minted iced tea and enquires of the origin of their strong exotic accents. “We originally came from Croatia, but now call Paris home, we love it here and our wives are even more so happy with our choice of country.”

  Joséphine looks towards one of the men’s hands and fails to see a wedding band. The man moves to the side of the kitchen table and removes a few screwdrivers from his pocket setting them carefully back into his toolbox. “Sorry to interrupt your day madam,” he says as he begins to dig into his toolbox. “We will hurry up with our work so there are no more internet problems.”

  “I never noticed we had a problem! I don’t use the internet too much…” Joséphine never had a chance. A strong blow with a lead pipe against her neck stopped any query into these men’s real intentions. “Grab her legs and drag her into the bedroom.” In seconds Joséphine was laid out in bed, stripped naked and the blankets pulled over her. Allowing someone at first glimpse to think she is either sleeping or has died. Her unconscious body now with a heavy injection of heroin will ensure the men will not be disturbed as they begin their surveillance work.

  Suddenly the doorbell rings in Joséphine’s pastel-coloured apartment, the men froze suddenly in their movements. After a few quick heartbeats, the man closest slowly creeps towards the side of the doorframe and removes a firearm from his jacket. The two men were about to drill holes and install their own security cameras and various devices to monitor the buil
ding.

  The man knows if he peers through the peephole the person on the other side may see the flash of darkness across the fisheye lens. Desperately wanting to identify the unwelcomed visitor all he can do is wait for their next move.

  Ben views his unanswered doorbell as strange, on a morning like this he remembers Joséphine would normally be doing her cleaning. In his previous visit, he stood in the hallway listening to Joséphine singing a song by Juliette Gréco, Parlez-moi d’amour, one of the many old-fashioned vinyls’ she would play on her classic Telefunken German turntable. Joséphine had an amazing voice, so much so that Ben often would stand there soaking up the sounds before knocking.

  He notices the post that had been laid on the side table, the packages were too large to fit through the letterboxes. Normally Joséphine would take these and hand deliver to each apartment, she knows each tenant by name and who is at home and those at work. This is quite rare for many apartments, people choosing to keep their personal life somewhat secret. For Ben and the rest of the men, it suits them well to keep good relations with Joséphine and maintain their different covers.

  Ben heads upstairs, back to the apartment with the warm freshly baked bread.

  ***

  The one hour and twenty-minute Air-France flight touched down at Paris-Charles De Gaulle. Ben and Sam are in a position to cover Frank and to shadow him to the new meeting point. Hoping he is followed so they can discover who is behind the setup. Frank walks out of customs carrying his leather travel bag, he activates his mobile phone and reads the newly received message in his inbox. A frequent visitor to Paris he knows his way around this airport, he slips the phone back into his jacket and changes direction. Sam remains within the thick crowd covering Frank’s movements and Ben got into position a short distance behind Frank as he made his way to the bag storage services. From there he collected a bag, which was placed earlier by Sam, containing a jacket, hat, a few thousand Euro’s, a phone, firearm, and enough ammunition to help hold off a couple of men. He then placed his own phone and any identifying credentials he did not require inside the locker and briskly left. Both operators never detected the female observer, Anjeze Kokalari. Her objective given to her before she left was not to follow Frank once he set foot on land, this gave her the upper hand as both Sam and Ben would have picked anyone being observant within the arrivals area.

  Anjeze did not expect to be on the same plane as Frank, the flight was booked for her at late notice. From coming home after a late-night with Trevor her head is recovering from the wine and a few hours’ sleep, yet her grey tailored business wear is highly professional allowing her to blend in with the other commuters quite comfortably. Trevor had played Anjeze like a puppet, he wanted her to display the appearance of a weary business executive, someone not looking their best but still capable of performing their duties.

  Trevor was able to use his many connections and have some random businessman removed from the flight for ‘security reasons’. Seated behind Frank she was in a position to stick a small GPS transmitter into a fold in his thick leather bag when he had used the cabin bathroom.

  Anjeze clears customs quite fast and heads to the airport convenient store for some headache tablets, a bottle of water and a copy of the financial and business magazine Le Nouvel Économiste. Flicking through the magazine Anjeze walks towards the taxi rank giving any keen observer the impression she is simply another businesswoman.

  Frank now makes his way to the Metro RER blue line, and boards a train destined for Châtelet les Halles station. Forty minutes later as the train approaches the platform, he receives a message from Sam to depart and make his way to L'Escargot Montorguei four hundred meters north of the station. As Frank makes his way along Rue Rambuteau Jack receives the call from Sam on Frank’s location and he confirms there are no signs of any surveillance teams. Waiting in the street a couple of blocks north of their position Jack views the distinctive figure of Frank strolling up the pavement. Walking west towards him on Rue de Turbigo Jack heads into the Église Saint-Eustache. Without acknowledging each other Frank calmly also heads into one of the most visited Catholic churches in Paris. The crowds which normally attend the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral before the huge fire have all turned their attention to this place of worship. Providing a large mass of people for the men to hide amongst Jack now weaves his way through the pilgrims towards the rear of the church. From there he was seen by Frank accessing the door into a small room, holding it ajar Frank then slips inside closing it securely.

  Jack removes a handheld multi-channel bug detector and checks Frank and his belongings. Finding the GPS transmitter Jack smashes this with the heel of his boot before nodding to Frank and welcoming him to Paris with a roll of his eyes. “Time to get moving I guess, who was on the plane with you?”

  More embarrassed than Startled by the thought of a bug being planted on him he looks up slightly and shakes his head. “My God boy, I am I getting sloppy in my old age.”

  “I’ll remind you we are standing in the house of our Lord,” shaking his head Jack smirks as he removes a firearm from under his jacket, checks its condition and places it within easy reach. He then calls Ben, “Frank was bugged, we need to get moving, say goodbye to Paris. Pick us up now.” Ben and Sam had made their way back to their new hire car. The black Mercedes GLE Coupé was hired when Jack swapped his over, claiming it was too slow and bumpy, he was looking for something more powerful to navigate the fast roads of Europe.

  Now Ben and Sam go over their maps one more time in the event a new route is required, memorising the main roads and back streets they are confident they can wind their way out of difficulties.

  With the call made he inched the door open slightly and peered out at the hundreds of Catholic followers admiring the giant organ containing the eight thousand pipes making it the largest in France. “Anyone walking around not interested in the beauty of this building is a target, keep close and we will be in the car in less than one minute.”

  With that Jack heaved open the heavy oak door and made his way down towards the exit. By the time they both reached the back door the car was waiting outside La Pointe café. Sam was in the driver’s seat, so it was Ben that was outside the car providing cover for the two leaving the cathedral.

  “Hold on,” says Frank. Fearing for the worst Ben reached into his jacket and wrapped his hand snugly around his firearm. Jack was following Frank checking the street in front and to the side when he figured what Frank was dragging his heels about. Shaking his head slowly Jack takes up cover across the street. Winking at Ben, Frank walks straight towards the café and disappears inside. A tense wait for the old man at a time when death is close is not what the men wanted. Their professionalism though allowed for any and all changes to their plan. A full five minutes later Frank emerged from the café, sidestepping the outdoor seats and tables that face the street giving the customers a full view of the Parisian street. His arms full of small bags containing sandwiches and coffees for the men, with a proud grin in his face he climbs into our escape vehicle and proceeds to remove his shoes. “Keep your shoes on Frank, in case we need to bail,” orders Sam as he adjusts the driving control dial from comfortable mode to sport. Frank hands in a coffee, and by the time Sam secures his cup Jack and Ben are inside and checking all around them. Sam then moves out into the traffic and zips along the partially congested roads with Ben providing guidance and directions. Jack concentrates on the rear whilst Frank is happily feasting on one of the Carpaccio de Bœuf and parmesan baguettes that he convinced the bistro staff to make.

  “Did you take the photos as I asked you to do Frank?” Removing a small device from his pocket and holding it up proudly, “Yep, most of the people queuing up in the airport and everyone in business class, whoever bugged me their mugshot will be in this little baby.”

  Jack keeping an eye on the retreating streets opens up a laptop installed with British military encryption and connects the device to pull up Arthurs photographs of po
tential spies.

  ***

  Providing directions for Sam gives Ben the opportunity to temporarily push the image of Joséphine ‘s drugged face out of his mind. When she did not answer the door for him, he dismissed any thoughts of coincidence out of his mind. Scurrying upstairs to tell Jack of his plan, the two men then came back to the apartment to do more than provide a welfare check. Knowing the layout of the building they designated the sectors each man would clear, with no time to lose a final equipment check was completed as they descended the stairs as they reached the ground floor and full of aggression they jumped into action. There was no door knock or bell ringing as Ben swung a heavy sledgehammer at the door lock busting it free in one thump. Jack was the first through the door, a firearm in front he swept from the left side of the room followed by Ben to the right maintaining their sector of fire. As they made their way to the bedroom Jack being the number one man entered first, when the room was declared as safe Jack briefly looked at Joséphine before moving on to the other rooms at the rear of the property. The words ‘clear’ rang out as Jack moved from room to room, only slightly processing the progress being made, Ben could only stand and look at the poor woman lying in bed. Joséphine’s contorted face sent a chill down his spine, the sight of her tells him all he needs to know. Jack on his return spoke calmly with the news, knowing Ben was hurting. “They made a break for it out the rear doors into the patio area, and onto the street.” Allowing Ben to digest the situation Jack made a quick call for Mark and Gordon who would have hopefully set up close by, directing them to look for anyone suspicious.