The Terminate Code: A gripping, page-turning, action adventure revenge thriller, with a fast pace, and a terrifying twist in its tail ! (Hedge & Cole Book 2)

by Kevin Bradley

  They cleared a space on the dining table in the Smith’s camper van, and laid out a map of a house.

  ‘Heat sensor analysis suggests that there are two bad guys in the building, along with the hostage, so just three occupants in total,’ said Jim.

  ‘What’s the situation at the moment,’ enquired Jackson.

  ‘Well, our negotiator is trying to coax them out, but we are not getting anywhere. They have threatened to kill the woman within the next hour. We know they are armed as a shot has already been fired at one of our police vehicles. I’m going to give it another thirty minutes. Then it’s over to you. If you can possibly resolve this without any casualties, then that would be preferable.’ Jim sounded a little deflated. He was hoping to sort this incident out with the minimum of paperwork.

  Jim nodded across at Jackson, and then left the motor home.

  Jackson turned to Maddock and smiled. ‘You heard the man, no casualties.’

  ‘Sure, no problem,’ Maddock replied. He sounded genuine enough.

  Lisa Smith had regained her senses and was surveying their brand new motor-home. There were cans of soft drinks all over the table, and half eaten sandwiches lying on the seats. There were weapons on the chairs, stun grenades in a bag on the floor, and military clothing all over the place. One of the troopers was stubbing out his cigarette butt in the stainless steel sink.

  ‘Can you guys take a bit more care please? This is our home you are slowly destroying,’ she shouted.

  ‘Sorry lady,’ Jackson tried to sound sincere. ‘However, this vehicle is now officially part of an SAS operation. You may wish to go and find somewhere more comfortable for the next few hours.’

  ‘I’m not leaving this van. You chaps will wreck it. Robin and I are staying put.’

  Jackson looked at Lisa and smiled. ‘Whatever you say is fine by me.’

  Jim came back to the motor-home earlier than expected. He poked his head inside the door. ‘We’re getting nowhere. It’s over to you Jackson. Remember, I want live people remaining.’

  Jackson looked round at his team and nodded. They were all ready to go.

  Exactly ten minutes later Maddock was abseiling down the front of the house. He had secured a thin steel wire to the chimney and had walked slowly down the tiled, sloping roof. He held his position just above the upstairs window to the main bedroom. He knew that the hostage was being held in this room by one of the kidnappers.

  ‘On the count of three,’ he heard over his headset.

  ‘Sounds good to me,’ he responded casually.

  Three seconds later there was a loud ‘crack’ as a high-velocity bullet hit the bottom left hand corner of the large window pane, instantly shattering the window. At exactly the same time, Maddock had swung out from his position and was crashing through the window into the room.

  He saw two figures, but he had no time at all to identify them. Everything that was about to happen would occur in a fraction of a second. His training told him exactly how the two people in the room would behave. The woman hostage would scream and raise her hands to her face, assuming they were free to do so. The bad guy would go for his weapon, but he would be slow, maybe reacting in between one and two seconds - way too slow.

  The MP5k that Maddock swung from his hips had a magazine of fifteen rounds. The firing rate of the weapon is around nine hundred rounds per minute. That meant that exactly one second after coming through the window, the entire magazine of bullets had been emptied into the target.

  Mad Maddock was an expert. He was probably in the top ten people on the planet for handling a weapon like this. He flicked his MP5k a small fraction of an inch, and that tiny movement caused the nineteen millimetre parabellum bullets to spray across the target’s body from his neck to his lower stomach. The low velocity bullets caused a trail of destruction down the body, pulverising all the major organs, and causing massive shock.

  An onlooker might typically say that the victim was dead before he hit the ground. It was a phrase that had a lovely ring to it. Unfortunately it wasn’t true. The massive damage caused by the bullets meant that the kidnapper was actually dead even before his knees started to buckle. In fact, his life had expired before gravity even took hold of his body.

  The woman was still screaming. Maddock told her to stay down on the floor. He checked the rest of the room.

  ‘All clear in here,’ he spoke over his headset.

  Jackson voice came back loud and clear. ‘Did you remember what Commander Jim said about not killing anyone?’ There was a slightly mischievous tone to his voice.

  ‘Oh shit. I completely forgot about that,’ replied Maddock.

  Outside the house, Sergeant Jackson was talking to the police commander.

  ‘Are you sure there was more than one bad guy?’ said Jackson.

  Jim was looking concerned. ‘Yes, we definitely picked up two of them.’

  ‘Well, where the hell is the other one?’

  ‘We’re not sure but …’

  Both men turned when they heard the gunshots. There were two loud reports and they looked over towards the motor-home. The first thing they saw was a large hole in the roof of the cabin, just above where the driver sits. In the front, sitting behind the steering wheel, was Robin Smith. Just behind him, holding a black, metallic pistol was the second suspect.

  ‘He must have escaped from the house somehow,’ said Jim.

  ‘Brilliant, Sherlock.’ Jackson was shaking his head.

  The engine of the motor-home started up. Robin Smith, sitting in the front with a pistol at his head, looked terrified. The onlookers could see the expression of panic on his face. They could see the large patches of sweat spreading out from just under his armpits. What they couldn’t see was the urine running down his left trouser leg.

  Robin couldn’t see that either, his vision had blurred, and his head was thumping.

  The van started to pull away. Then it suddenly stopped. The man standing next to Robin in the front of the van crumpled into a heap. He went straight down, so that the people watching from outside the van could no longer see him. All they saw was an angry looking Lisa, now standing behind her husband. She was holding a large frying pan in her right hand.

  Maddock had just walked up behind his boss. He was still holding the deadly looking MP5k in his hand. He threw it down and it clattered on the ground.

  ‘Well that was a waste of ten grand. Just get me one of those pans next time.’

  Then he walked off to see if he could find something to eat.

  Chapter Forty One

  The Shard, also known as the Shard of Glass, rises to a height of one thousand and sixteen feet. It is the tallest building in the United Kingdom, and is situated in the Southwark area of central London. The structure is primarily made from concrete and steel, with the outer surface then being clad in thousands of panes of reinforced glass. The highest point that most visitors can reach is the observation deck, which is just over eight hundred feet from the ground below. From this point, those looking out on a clear day will be able to see most of London, and some of the surrounding areas.

  Cole was standing on a solid steel deck very close to the top of the tower. He looked at the dial on his Garmin wrist watch. It showed an altitude of a fraction under a thousand feet. Looking around behind him was a tall, metal pole, primarily used as a communications mast, but also with observation cameras mounted on them. These had all been turned off for the remainder of the day.

  He was feeling very relieved.

  The good news about his wife’s rescue had been passed on to him a short while ago. The happiness he felt had washed over him like a warm summer breeze. The black clouds that had enveloped him these last few weeks had completely gone. He felt reborn and newly energised.

  He wanted to be with her. He was desperate to hold her, and to talk to her. But it would have to wait a little longer.

  He had something that needed doing.

  From the top of the Shard he could see the Londo
n skyline laid out before him. He’d been lucky with the weather today. It was clear and bright, and the wind was just a gentle breeze.

  He turned his attention back to the job in hand.

  Just in front of him, sitting on the surface of the metal decking, was his Dell fourteen inch laptop. On the screen was a series of grey boxes, laid out in three rows. He turned the computer slightly so that the other man with him on the roof of the Shard could also see the boxes on the screen.

  ‘So, this is how we are going to play this out,’ said Cole. ‘You tell me which box you want to reveal, and I will do the rest. Most of these grey squares will just give you one more minute to enjoy the view, but we are looking for the two important boxes. Or rather, we are looking for just one of them. The first one of the two magical squares that we reveal will decide your fate. Will it be “Release” or will it be “Terminate”. I think you know how this game is played, don’t you. So let’s get on with it.’

  Solomon just shouted a muffled reply. It was the best he could do as his mouth was completely covered with strong, brown tape. His arms had been tied tightly behind his back, and his legs had been roped together. A thick nylon cord had then been attached to the bottom of his legs and this was securely fastened to a steel pole. The pole was leaning out from the building at an angle of forty five degrees. Solomon was hanging upside down from this pole. When he looked down, all he could see below him was a thousand foot drop to the ground below. His eyes were darting all over the place, and despite the gentle wind, his face was covered in perspiration.

  ‘If you look left, I’ll move the cursor to the left, and vice versa. Let’s give it a go,’ said Cole.

  A small gust of wind suddenly blew the upside down man away from the building for a few seconds, before he gently swung back. He tried to scream through the tape over his mouth, but it just resulted in a stifled grunt. The man had tears in his eyes, and he looked over at Cole with a face of desperation.

  ‘That looked like a glance to the right,’ shouted Cole.

  He moved his finger over the sensitive pad at the front of the laptop, and the cursor on the screen moved to the right. It landed on a grey square. Cole pushed down on the pad. There was a gentle clicking sound and the box on the screen was replaced with the words ‘one minute.’

  ‘Okay. That’s good. Let’s take in the view for a bit longer.’ Cole smiled and looked out at Solomon hanging by his feet. He glanced down at his watch as if he were making a note of the time.

  After a short while, Cole returned to the laptop. ‘Let’s try another selection then, please.’

  He looked out at Solomon. The man was still sweating profusely, and trying to mouth something. His eyes were bulging with panic and fear.

  ‘That looks like up and to the left,’ said Cole.

  He moved the cursor, clicked on another box, and read out the words ‘one minute.’

  ‘This is fun, don’t you think.’

  Solomon didn’t think it was fun. He was absolutely terrified, desperately trying to say something to his captor, but unable to form any coherent speech. He saw Cole move back towards the laptop, just as the wind spun him round on the cord holding him to the steel pole. He caught a three hundred and sixty degree view of the ground beneath him as he spun. It was a frightening sight, this high up. Especially as he was just being held up by a thin, nylon rope. He struggled against the bonds holding his arms together, but they were tied tightly. He tried to scream out loud, but it was a waste of time.

  Cole clicked on the screen one more time.

  ‘I don’t believe it. Will you look at that? You are a lucky bastard.’

  On the laptop in front of Cole was the single word “Release”.

  ‘What about that then? And I was really hoping for the “Terminate” code. That is very disappointing.’

  Cole closed the laptop lid, and placed the computer in a small holdall nearby. He delved a little deeper into the bag and brought out a knife. It looked like a standard kitchen type knife, with a serrated edge, and a steel blade around six inches long.

  ‘Release, that is disappointing. Not what I was hoping for at all.’

  He strode over towards where Solomon was hanging. The upside down man had gone quiet. He seemed to have settled down a little. His eyes looked hopeful. His face looked like that of a man who had somehow managed to cheat death.

  ‘Release, would you believe it?’ said Cole shaking his head.

  He leaned out from the building, and with one movement of the knife, he sliced through the cord. Solomon’s body was immediately released. It began its thousand foot plunge to the ground below. Cole thought he heard a faint, muffled cry, or was it the wind, he wasn’t sure.

  ‘You lucky, lucky bastard,’ he mumbled to himself, as he turned away from the edge of the building.

  Chapter Forty Two

  Docherty sipped his coffee. It tasted good. Strong, and black, just how he liked it. He put the cup down and looked across the table at Cole.

  ‘So the official report states that our man Solomon has simply disappeared. I have made a formal request to the Turkish embassy in London, asking them if they have him in custody. So far they haven’t responded.’

  Cole shrugged. ‘He’s probably left the country by now, I’m guessing. Just make sure your contact in Turkish intelligence lets us know when he resurfaces.’

  Cole was hoping he didn’t sound too relaxed about the disappearance. He had managed to pull a few strings with a contact at the Home Office. His man had arranged for the mangled body found on the pavement in Southwark to be disposed of without any fuss - not an easy thing to do.

  Docherty looked across the table with a blank expression on his face. If he knew anything more about the disappearance, then he wasn’t making it obvious.

  Hedge had been watching the two of them. These were hard men, he was thinking. People being tortured, killed, and being disposed of, was just bread and butter to these guys. He felt a tightness in his stomach just thinking about it.

  As he sat pondering, he toyed with the sugar bowl. The sugar was loose and fine, apart from several small lumps on the surface. Using the tea spoon, he gently broke up the lumps, mixed the sugar up, and levelled off the surface until it was quite flat. Then he placed the spoon neatly to one side of the bowl. The impact of doing such a minor task was immediate, and his anxiety subsided significantly.

  Docherty was talking to Cole. ‘There was something else I was going to tell you about Solomon.’

  Cole looked up. ‘Go on.’

  ‘Interpol came back with a small file on him. It seems they have been looking for him for several years. He was a suspect in a murder case in Cyprus. Quite a nasty incident, as it happens.’

  ‘In what way was it nasty?’ Cole was intrigued.

  ‘Well, a Greek man living near Paphos, in the South West of the island, was found dead by local police. It seems that an intruder had broken in when he was alone in his house. The man had been tied up and doused in pure Ethanol. That was after he had been forced to drink almost half a gallon of the stuff.’

  ‘Ethanol, Isn’t that the same as alcohol? Surely he would have just got very drunk,’ said Hedge.

  ‘Yes and no,’ replied the MI5 man. ‘Pure ethanol is nasty stuff. Inside the stomach it would have stung like hell. The lining of the gut would have been badly corroded by such a large quantity.’

  ‘A horrible way to go,’ said Cole.

  ‘It gets worse,’ said Docherty. ‘The man was set alight while he was still alive. As well as burning from the inside, he was now being roasted on the outside. The forensic report states that death was finally caused by a massive explosion inside the stomach. This would have been due to the ethanol reaching a critical temperature. As well as blowing the man to pieces, half the house was demolished.’

  ‘I’m guessing they didn’t find much evidence after that. So why do they think Solomon was involved?’

  ‘Correct, they found very little. A few charred body part
s, a set of fire damaged teeth, and a partly melted, glass ball. The latter, they believe, may have been the kind that someone would use if they had lost an eye at some point in the past. A witness said he saw a man leaving the scene. He managed to come up with a very good description of him. A computer generated image was sent to Interpol, who ran it through their files. Four men came up as possible suspects, with Solomon getting a seventy nine percent match.’

  ‘Why didn’t they arrest him?’ Cole shrugged his shoulders as he said this.

  ‘The guy disappeared. No trace of him anywhere.’

  ‘Well, he’s vanished again now. Hopefully we won’t see him again for a long while.’ Cole sounded genuine.

  ‘Hopefully not.’ There was still no hint of suspicion in Docherty’s voice.

  ‘By the way, I wanted to give you this.’ Docherty took out a thick file from his briefcase and slid it across the table. ‘You should read it. It was sent to me by a private secretary who works for the Turkish ambassador. I didn’t have time to go through it all, but there may be parts of it that is of interest to you. Apologies, I forgot to ask. How’s your wife bearing up? I do hope she is recovering from her ordeal. Not a pleasant experience to go through. Do send her my regards.’

  Cole nodded, and then took the file. It was heavy. He opened the thick cover. The first few pages consisted of a typed manuscript, then there were various other documents and reports, and at the back was a collection of loose papers.

  ‘There’s a lot of stuff here. I’ll check it out and see if it means anything to me.’

  They finished their drinks and parted company. Docherty headed off to Heathrow airport in a black London taxi. Hedge was returning home. He was cooking dinner for Maddie that evening. Cole picked up the file and headed off to his parked car.

  Later that evening, Cole sat alone in his study. He had opened the file and taken out the contents. Spread out in front of him was the typed manuscript, various printed reports, and several pages of other material. Included in the bundle were also three black and white photographs.