by John Day
“Thank you again and I will be in touch.” Alan ended the call and then spoke to Albert Palmer to explain his reason for hiring a body guard.
Later that day, Dale Armstrong called one of his team into his office. He had just received the fee advance from Albert Palmer and the information he needed from Alan, to plan the protection detail.
Eva Alvarez walked in. The young Brazilian woman looked uninspiring, for a bodyguard. That would be the first mistake made by those who didn’t know her. Her fuller though shapely figure hid a powerful physique, honed by regular exercise and was unarmed combat ready. The Venezuelan Special Forces had trained her well in the use of weapons and she particularly favoured the knife. In the sort of urban protection work she now specialised in, and being a woman, she could get in close and personal. Eva had killed, but she preferred a near silent maiming to get her point across.
Dale recognised Eva’s potential when she had come to him for a job. She left military service under a cloud. Her strong views on how things should be done on an operation were not appreciated by those of superior rank.
They say nobody likes a smart-arse, but only those who can’t take good advice are threatened by it. Dale had been proved right, many times, to leave running the operation to her.
Eva had typed up her report on the job she had just completed and was still wearing her dark, lightweight business suit. She had been posing as a personal assistant to a business man at a very tense meeting.
Eva smiled warmly at Dale as she fluidly walked to the chair he offered her. “Please sit, Eva.
“I have a baby-sitting job for you, one I think you will enjoy. I have two Brits holidaying here and the brother wants you to work in the background so his sister is not aware she may be a target for kidnapping.”
“Not ideal, being distanced from the target, is it Dale, but nothing we haven’t done many times before. Do we know who we are shielding them from?”
“This is the good bit, Mendez seems to need the girl to control the brother. I know you take pleasure in frustrating Mendez and his schemes, so I know they will be in good hands, with you.”
Eva ran through the usual scenario in her mind, as she spoke her thoughts. “I suppose we will meet the client at the airport and shadow them until they leave the country.”
Dale picked up documents and photos relating to the Pattersons and tossed them over the desk, to Eva. “That is the plan. Who do you want to work with?”
Eva read the information and used a similar job she had done as a template for her wish-list. “I would like Ivan (Ex Spetsnaz) driving the sedan, Nico (pickpocket and general sneaky guy) to float on motorbike and on foot, with 2 armed natives in a hardened SUV.
“Initially, we will see who, if anyone, is waiting to intercept the Pattersons at the airport
“If I planned to snatch them, the airport would be ideal. I would guide them out of arrivals at knifepoint to a waiting car. As you know, strangers are always stressed and disorientated at arrivals, so a team of 3 with knifes could easily manage 2 civilians, without a scene.
“That will be our first point of contact with both sides. Ideally, neither side will know we are there, particularly team Mendez. The moment Mendez knows Patterson hired protection, our job will become much harder.
“After that, we will need to be creative.”
Dale smiled, he knew just how creative Eva could be.
“I asked Patterson to text us as soon as he knows where he will be heading next, during his stay here. He realised we needed the maximum notice to work effectively in the background. I think you will like him, he is not the typical rich ‘princess’ type we usually end up with. His sister means everything to him, so he will cooperate with us, fully.” Eva nodded, she appreciated a compliant client.
Dale smiled, he could see Eva was already getting the initial planning organised in her mind. “I will leave you to brief your team in your office. It will be in an hour’s time, they are off site at the moment.”
Eva got up, thanked Dale for the job and headed out of his office.
***
An altogether different young woman to Eva sat opposite Mr Mendez. He was instructing the lithe ex Mossad agent, Ziva Cohen, to kidnap Sarah Patterson. “The girl and her doting brother will be flying in very soon. I will give you the flight details when I hear from my man in London.
“Don’t harm the girl when you take her. I need her as leverage to control the brother. He will do his best to protect her, and he is crucial to my plans, so don’t damage him either. A few cuts and bruises will be fine, but nothing serious.”
Ziva was a Kidon, one of the ultra-secret Mossad assassins. She had been trained for killing, not kidnapping. Killing was the reason Mendez employed her in his organisation, but he was not paying her to sit around idly waiting for the next assassination. She would have to adapt.
Ziva shrugged, her sullen pout said it all, but she voiced it anyway. “If that is what you want, that is what you will get.” Mendez did not scare her one little bit.
There was nothing ambiguous about what Ziva did or said. Mendez liked her for it. When he researched her background, his contact in Tel Aviv mentioned one of her operations in the Congo.
After a terrorist group captured a Mossad agent in the Congo, they fed him to the crocodiles and sent the video of his final moments to the Mossad station chief.
Ziva was sent to avenge the agent’s death.
It was a story Mendez especially enjoyed and the reason he had taken a liking to her.
She had crept into a villa with a 1kg bomb and placed it under the toilet seat of the terrorist leader. It blew the villa apart and killed 12 terrorists. Everyone knew Mossad had done it, even though there was nothing to go on.
Her downfall was due to a mistake. The practice run to assassinate Saddam Hussain involved a mock-up of one his homes. The simulation was to use Rocket Propelled Grenades without warheads. She fired a live one and wrecked the compound. She took the blame for someone else’s mistake and left the organisation.
Mendez respected her loyalty.
Ziva spoke again, she snapped back like she was issuing terms. “I will need help. I will organise them myself. I will add their cost to my expenses.” Mendez couldn’t care less how she got the job done, or what it cost him, the stakes were well over $1.4 billion.
The stunning beauty, often used by Mossad in honey-traps, stood and left the office - her choice of team and plan of action already fully formed in her head.
***
Mendez’s phone rang as Alan and Sarah checked their bags on the flight to Caracas.
“Mendez” He announced curtly.
“The Pattersons are heading for Caracas on BA152 from Heathrow. I am sending a photo of them so you know what they are wearing. Please arrange to follow from your end. I am unable to join the flight, sorry.”
“I understand. Thanks for calling.” Mendez replaced the handset and thumbed through the contacts list on his phone. The name he needed appeared and he sent a text to the number.
Ziva Cohen, receiving the text, smiled as she read through her instructions. ‘Collect the sister as we discussed. Inbound BA152, leaving Heathrow in 2 hours.’
Caracas.
The long flight to Caracas seemed to take forever, though it gave Alan plenty of time to explain all about the submarine, and the mystery of the German speaking native.
Sarah found the tale intriguing, but he could have been speaking in Martian for all she cared. She was with him, close to him, listening to the sound of his soft and excited voice, and studying every aspect of him. It was as if she had never met him before and she adored this man more than any other she had met.
Desperate to probe for clues to her future with him, she just had to ask. “What does your girlfriend think about you swanning off with your stepsister?” Alan looked askance at her.
“I have no girlfriend, or any such person in my life. Admittedly, I find myself surrounded by beautiful young women, but that
is all they have going for them.
“God is obviously catering for the average man by mass producing beautiful, vacuous women. Apart from you Sarah, He has failed to produce a woman with good looks and a brain, in my life at least. The odd thing is that as we all get older, looks fade, but intelligence much less so. I want to spend my life with an intelligent woman.
“I have known you all my life and even though you have changed in appearance from child to woman, I don’t actually see you as you really are. The point I am trying to make is, when we spend a lot of time with someone, looks play no part in how we perceive them.”
He turned to look at Sarah and for the second time in his life, he saw a beautiful soul looking back.
Their eyes locked in a long admiring gaze and each knew they had fallen in love with the other.
Alan hadn’t noticed her chest heaving, as she felt increasingly breathless. Neither did he see her pupils dilate in her twinkling, moist green, brown flecked eyes.
She didn’t notice him easing forward to kiss her. She sensed it though and leaned ever closer to him, mesmerised and about to be swept up in a fevered passion, much needed and long overdue.
‘Ding Bong.’
The fasten seat belt warning sounded and the sign lit, followed by the announcement that the aircraft was in its final descent for landing.
With the spell broken, life returned to normal, on planet Patterson…
***
The sweltering heat of Caracas hit the pair of them, leaving them dizzy and gasping, as they left the plane. That suddenly changed to the icy blast of cool, conditioned air that sucked the moisture from their damp clothes, as soon they entered the arrivals hall.
Grabbing their luggage off the carousel, they passed easily through Customs and looked around for their transfer to the hotel.
Alan told Sarah their hotel had provided a taxi to meet them.
Looking around as they entered the main concourse, Sarah saw their names on a board held up by a driver in a smart chauffer’s uniform. When they walked over to him, Alan recognised him from the photo Dale Armstrong had sent.
The driver smiled at them and spoke in English with a thick Russian accent. “Welcome to Caracas Mr and Miss Patterson. I hope your journey was satisfactory. My name is Ivan. I have orders to take you and your luggage to your hotel. My limousine and I are at your disposal, during your stay here.” He leaned forward and took hold of their 2 suitcases and wheeled them across the concourse to the exit doors.
Ziva looked like any other family member waiting for loved ones to file through from Customs. She spotted the Pattersons and drifted away towards the door Ivan (ex Spetsnatz) the driver was now heading for. Three men in white T shirts with broad blue stripes, were now converging on Ivan, Alan & Sarah.
The voice of Eva sounded in Ivan’s earpiece, warning of the imminent attack. She was watching from the upper gallery.
“Head for the group about to leave the concourse.” Ivan diverted abruptly and quickened his pace. Alan sensed the tension in the man and urged Sarah to keep up.
Much to the obvious annoyance of the group of travellers approaching the exit doors, Ivan ploughed through the centre of them with the Pattersons close behind. Two men in lightweight suits closed Ivan’s path through the crowd and frustrated the 3 blue-stripes from breaking through.
Ziva saw what was happening and left the exit ahead of everyone, muttering instructions over her coms to the waiting driver to pick her up. The targets had escaped. The 3 blue-stripes also heard what she said and they split up. One man headed for his motorbike, the other two would meet Ziva and go in her car.
Ziva needed to identify the car in which the Pattersons would travel, so she could follow. She watched Ivan load up the car as they climbed in the back. She had time to get to her own car now and follow the targets to their hotel.
***
The traffic was heavy and slow, so Ziva had no difficulty in following Ivan. Her alternative plan was already prepared, she would snatch the girl that night from the hotel.
Vehicles were repeatedly inching forward and stopping. It would take an hour at least before they reached the area where all the top-class hotels were. She was not worried, it could take all day, for all she cared. The only way of getting through the jam quickly was by motorbike, just like the noisy one near the rear wheel of her car.
Nico (pickpocket and general sneaky guy) forced the hypodermic needle through the wall of Ziva’s rear car tyre and drove away.
There were many ways to prevent Ziva’s car from following Ivan, but none more innocent and frustrating than a puncture. A nail in the tread would effectively seal the hole and it would be many miles before the tyre went flat. The needle would let the air out quickly. When flat, the tyre wall would break up the needle as the wheel turned. If the remnants of the needle where ever found, it would be unclear whether it was accident or sabotage. Either way, they could not follow with a flat tyre.
Minutes later, cars behind Ziva hooted to warn of the puncture. Hemmed in on all sides, the vehicle had to pull over, and change the wheel.
Ziva’s man on the motorbike was wilfully boxed in by two local idiots in a battered SUV. They seemed to take great delight in forcing their victim into an adjacent lorry, destroying the bike.
***
It was a long journey to the Cayena-Caracas Hotel. Alan and Sarah pretended to study the scenery along the way rather than talk. Now the emotional cat was out of the bag, there was a lot to think about.
As they checked into the hotel, there was a glitch in the booking. Sarah had made it quite clear that they required separate rooms, but a room with single beds had been allocated. The management made the usual soothing noises, but the place was fully booked and it was that or nothing.
“I am so sorry Alan, this is so embarrassing. I was most careful with the booking and these wretched people have misunderstood my instructions. Do you mind sharing?” Alan shrugged his shoulders and left the decision up to her.
“I am OK with whatever you decide Sarah, if we share, we won’t feel so alone and we can talk about old times.”
Just like him, she thought, no concept of propriety. Still, he is quite right, we have a lot to talk about.
Sarah spoke assertively as she set out the rules. “Well, it is fine by me, but I do insist on the bed nearest the bathroom.”
Alan addressed the concierge. “It’s a done deal then, we will take the room.”
The man was relieved, he hated having to deal with the tantrums of wealthy clients. They always insisted on making a big fuss over the smallest inconvenience.
Ivan had been waiting patiently behind them, idly looking around the palatial reception area. He had noted the two men in lightweight suits talking face to face, but actually they were watching for trouble over the other’s shoulder.
Eva sat in a prime position watching guests come and go, whilst preparing to go up in the lift with the Pattersons. Nico was within earshot when the room number was mentioned, as the keys were handed to Alan. Nico dashed away and used an electronic gismo to enter the room and check it was safe. Eva got the all clear in her earpiece as the lift ascended.
Nico took up surveillance in the street outside the hotel. One of the suits had the rear access covered.
The team knew it would only be a few hours before team Mendez traced the Pattersons, via the police, their passports having been registered at the hotel desk.
An attack would come tonight.
***
As soon as the luggage arrived in their room, Alan settled down to make phone enquiries with CNN. He followed up the news report of the German speaking native. It took a while, but eventually the switchboard put him through to the person who researched the story.
“Speak to the Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona, I interviewed their Ranger, Jake Saunders.”
Alan thanked him and wrote up some notes. Then he and Sarah made plans for the evening. Sarah paid no attention when Alan listed their travel plans to
the bodyguard by text. A reply confirmed the team were still with them in the hotel. A suited man outside their door, Eva in the hotel lobby.
It was Sarah’s idea to explore the City and they saw the sights, with Ivan as tour guide.
Secretly, Sarah was stalling for time, worrying what would happen in their room tonight, as she replayed the moment they had almost kissed…
That night, Sarah lay their snuggled in her bed, waiting, hoping Alan would come calling.
Alan rather hoped Sarah might feign inability to sleep or claim to be scared of the dark. Anything to use as an excuse to pick up the looming kiss where they left off. When he eventually heard her snoring, he rolled over and slipped into a deep sleep himself. Apparently, the thought of intimacy continued to rob them of their ability to speak freely and frankly, as they had done all their lives.
***
During the early hours of the morning, Alan received a text. ‘Your suspicions were correct. Will hold 4 men and a woman until you are beyond reach. Will continue to shadow you. Eva’ A sleepy smile crossed Alan’s face as he speculated the kidnappers’ fate, if Mendez had sent them.
***
Over a late breakfast and feeling refreshed after a good night’s sleep, Alan and Sarah discussed the first step in their plan to track down the German speaking native.
Even in the shade of the parasol on their balcony, the heat was becoming uncomfortable.
Their first call would be to the office of the Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona to speak with Jake Saunders, whom CNN had interviewed.
Later in the day, the man called Alan back. “Hello, is that Alan Patterson? Jake Saunders here. My office have informed me that you were interested in the native I met, who spoke fluent German. Is that right?”
“Yes, it is Jake. The native might be the missing link I am looking for, in my research.”
Filled with curiosity, Jake remarked “that sounds most intriguing, what are you researching?”