General Arosi then got onto his radio network and gave a SITREP to the incoming reservist Captain and some minutes later the convoy of police vehicles was within the compound and Tony Tshabalala was being stretchered into one of the ambulances as the mercenaries were rounded up, handcuffed and placed into the four police vans.
The Special Task Force Oryx chopper vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
The General spent the next hour informing the proper channels about what had transpired. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate were informed and an investigator was assigned to the case. A docket of Murder was to be opened against Captain Michael Night and the yet to be named Special Task Force member or members who opened fire from the helicopter. Until the case was closed Night would now be a suspect in a murder investigation. And in Africa that case might stay open for months, even years.
The area duty officer was informed of the two dead suspects and a mortuary van was arranged and the scene was officially handed over to the Reservist Captain until all appropriate evidence could be gathered, such as photographs, finger prints and bullet casings.
Night, Shaka, Kalahari, Snyman and Demon were all sitting inside the Casspir chatting when General Arosi finally appeared after a long discussion with the Reservist Captain.
“All right, guys. I’ve officially handed over the scene. Lets get out of here.”
With some enthusiasm the men nodded their heads and Demon got into the driver’s seat and the MRAP roared to life.
On the highway about five minutes from Norwood barracks after a drive in total silence the General spoke after receiving a text message on his mobile phone.
“Tony is stable. Critical and unconscious but stable.”
“Where is he, General?” asked Night.
“Advanced Medgate Roodepoort. But I’ll have him moved to Linksfield as soon as he is well enough.”
“Should we visit him?” asked Demon from the driver’s seat.
“No point now, constable. He’s out of it, from the wound and from the medication.”
“How bad?” said Kalahari.
“It’s bad. Very bad. The bullet made it into the brain. Even if he does recover… well..”
Silence.
The Casspir finally pulled into Norwood police station and made its way to the back to the parking garage. After a successful operation, particularly one where contact (gun fire was exchanged) was made with the enemy the police officers would usually head to the Radium Beerhall or another official ‘police pub’ which legally allowed the men to drink in uniform. But not this night, not for the Captain whose only thought was to get into his car and go see his Fiancé. And not for the General whose only concern was to get home and be with his ex-wife and daughters.
The Casspir parked and the men debussed.
“Anyone want to join us for a dop (Drink) or two?” asked Snyman as the men walked to the armoury to book back their weapons.
Night and Arosi politely declined. Zulu and Kalahari agreed and then the STF officer looked to the General.
“By the way, General? Where am I sleeping while stationed here?”
General Arosi stopped walking and put a hand to his forehead and explained that he had totally forgotten to speak to the station’s logistics officer and have a room arranged for him.
“You can have my room for the night, Kal” said Night who then withdrew a pair of keys from his tac vest and threw them to his friend who caught them one handed.
“I’ll be staying at my girl’s place tonight. But be warned, it’s nothing fancy.”
Kalahari happily pocketed the keys and thanked Night. The men then proceeded to the armoury and completed the long winded and overly bureaucratic process of handing back the weapons. This wasn’t a problem for Night though, as his weapon had been taken by the detective back at scene for ballistics testing to confirm that the suspect did indeed die by his rifle’s rounds. Night quickly wished the men a good night and made his way to his vehicle which he had parked just outside of the station near the entrance to the Police Barracks.
“Mike Night. Just the Captain I wanted to see” said a female voice from behind him.
Night spun on his heel and immediately stood at attention and saluted the Norwood Station Commander who returned the salute.
“Congratulations, Michael. Your friend certainly knows how to get things done. I couldn’t even get you promoted to Warrant Officer.”
“Thank you, Colonel” said Night who was now very tired, adrenaline fatigue was starting to kick in and all he wanted to do was get to Lisa’s place and collapse.
“I was hoping we could chat now but I see that you are rather tired. Would you be able to report to my office first thing tomorrow morning, say zero seven hundred hours?”
“Copy that, Colonel” said Night with the most polite smile he could manage.
Colonel Lembedi returned the smile and got into her own car and left.
Night took his time walking around his own vehicle, his prized Lumina SS, and making sure there was no damage and that all four tires were indeed still on the vehicle. Tire theft was a very common occurrence in Norwood. A vehicle would simply be lifted off the ground by one or usually two men and another would unscrew the lock nuts and be off with the tyre leaving the car on bricks. Even right outside the Police Station was not totally safe, safer for sure, but not untouchable.
Night got into his car, happy that no important parts had been stolen, and enjoyed the sound of his vehicle’s powerful engine as it came to life and sucked in that life giving air. He tuned in to his favourite radio station. He was going to take a slow, relaxing drive to Kensington where Lisa lived with her parents. Then he would begin to look towards the following day and deal with this meeting with Colonel Lembedi. Night had always avoided the Station Commissioners for some reason. He had been at Norwood during the tenure of two other Station Commanders – both male, white and Afrikaans, and he had avoided them too. Not that he didn’t like them. He thought that to date all of the Commanders had been capable, he just thought it better to avoid contact with them. After all the only other police officers he regularly saw with the station heads were either brown noses or trouble makers. He still had no idea why she wanted to see him, she was a pencil pusher and had no tactical experience whatsoever. The only time the other Commanders wanted to see Night was for Special Operation and other force on force matters. Or to be congratulated or lambasted for the actions of the Black Bastards. Well, whatever it was, it would have to wait until the morning. And once that was over with he could go and see his boy… then unexpectedly a tear filled one of his eyes and he was almost overcome with emotion. He pulled his car to the side of the road and took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly and took a moment to compose himself before pulling off once more and heading ‘home’.
The V.O.D.E (Violence Overdose Effect) was kicking in early this time.
Chapter Six
Night arrived at Lisa’s parents’ place situated on a rise in the leafy suburb of Kensington. Night hooted and a few moments later the large electric gate opened and Night pulled in, keeping a close eye on his surroundings before doing so and making sure that no hidden figures were lurking within the driveway.
Once the gate was safely closed once more, Lisa’s father opened the door to the house and then the security gate and came outside to greet his soon to be son-in- law.
“Mike, good to see you man!”
Night got out of his car and shook the man’s hand.
“It’s good to see you again, Mr Van Der Westhuizen, everything okay I hope?”
“Ja, Mike, everything is as good as we can expect it to be. Lisa has been delayed at work, apparently the person booked in to take over her channel is running very late so she’s only going to be home around midnight. Come inside.”
The two men made their way through to the kitchen and Lisa’s father made a very strong point about making sure everything was locked up tight.
“You seem even
more vigilant than usual, Mr Van Der Wetshuizen?
“I am, Mike. Of course, after what happened to Mrs Grey, I have to be, don’t I.”
“Your neighbour, what happened?”
“Oh, I thought you knew… well she was murdered, killed in her bed while she was sleeping.”
As the motion sensor light switched off and then on again, obviously being triggered by the high winds moving the low hanging tree branches, in the driveway where Night had just parked his Lumina, and outside the barred window of the kitchen, Night noticed an estate agent’s sign lying on the floor at the base of the wall, it had “SOLD” written in red across it.
“Mike, didn’t Lisa tell you?”
“Huh? What was that, sir?” said Night while pulling his head away from the sign.
“I suppose she didn’t tell you about the house breaking and murder because she didn’t want to worry you.”
“Ja, I suppose so. And where is your missus?”
Mr Van Der Westhuizen was a short man and he had to look up into Night’s eyes to address him. Despite his tiredness and in the better light, Night now noticed the large bags under the man’s eyes and then the revolver sitting awkwardly in his pants pocket.
“Lisa obviously hasn’t told you much, has she?”
Night then sat at the small round kitchen table and Lisa’s father produced a bottle of Scotch from a cupboard and poured each of them a healthy triple shot and joined Night at the table.
“She’s not well, Mike. She found the break in and poisoning of Wamba very disturbing. Then to make things worse Mrs Grey was killed a week later, we heard the gunshots… now she spends most of her time sleeping.. and she takes those pills to help her sleep and to calm her nerves.”
Night didn’t know quite what to say but the old man seemed to be in no mood to talk as he downed his drink and then stood to leave.
“I’m going to watch some TV and wait up for Lisa. You are welcome to join me or as I am sure you are tired you can get your head down and I’ll wake you when she arrives.”
Night needed no further invitation to get some sleep and quickly moved to Lisa’s room and put his head on the pillow, still fully dressed and with his state issued 9MM Vector Z88 next to the bed in his shoe with the grip angled up and towards him for quick access if needed. He began to think about that sold sign but before he could process it any further he was fast asleep.
The sound of a door closing loudly woke Night with a start and immediately he went for his gun. His heart skipped a beat as he realised it wasn’t there. He then looked down at himself and noticed he was completely naked. He relaxed a little as he saw Lisa lying next to him, fast asleep. She looked even more beautiful than he had remembered. He stroked her soft face and kissed her lips and immediately he began to feel a powerful urge rise inside of himself. As if sensing it or perhaps even feeling it herself Lisa woke and raised herself onto her elbows.
“Hello, sleeping soldier” she said.
“Lisa, I’ve missed you” Night replied while holding the back of her neck and moving in closer for another kiss and perhaps more.
“Aren’t you late, Mike?”
Night then turned around and looked out of the window and saw that the sun had well and truly risen. He had passed out and had slept straight through to the next morning.
“Ag, shit, man! What’s the time Lis?” he said as he jumped out of bed and hastily found his clothes that had been neatly stacked on a dresser table.
Lisa looked at her mobile phone which she kept next to her bed and replied “It’s seven fifteen, Mike.”
Night dressed as quickly as he could and then found his shoes, one of which still contained his 9MM which he quickly holstered.
“I’ve got to go, Lisa” he bent down and kissed her on the head and quickly headed for the door.
As Night reached the door and turned the handle she said: “We’ve got to talk, Mike.”
Night looked at her: “Of course, we’ll talk as soon as I get back today, I’m not on shift, I just have a meeting with the Colonel and then a few other things… speaking of which; you’re going to come with me to see Wamba?”
Now Lisa looked away from Night and let herself sink back onto her pillow.
“I don’t think I could face that, not today, Mike. And my parents and I have to go somewhere…”
Night, now lost for words just stood there for a moment, his hand still on the door handle. Then he felt his phone vibrate in his jeans pocket.
He fished it out and then answered.
“Sergeant Night speaking?”
“You mean, Captain Night, my brother” said a deep voice on the other line.
“Zulu, what’s up, brother?”
“You’re late, boet and the Colonel is looking for you, apparently you had a meeting here at seven?”
“Ja, that’s right, I’m on my way.”
“Okay, brother, I’ll see you at the station.”
“Lisa, I’ve got to go, we’ll chat later..”
“Ja, Mike, rush off to your brothers, it’s okay, I’ll see you later” replied Lisa who then turned on her side and covered her head with her pillow obviously declaring the conversation to be over.
Night shook his head and made his way through the house passing the kitchen where he bumped into the house maid Happiness.
“Good Morning, Mikey”
“Morning, Happy.”
“I’m sorry if I woke you with the door but the wind is so strong that it slammed it shut.”
“In fact, Happy, I am very glad that it did wake me up, I’m late for a meeting with the big boss of my station.”
“How, how, Jo, you better run then Michael!!”
The short, fat and round maid then ran to the kitchen door and quickly opened it and then the security gate and held it open for Night.
Night got into his car and waited to reverse it out as Happiness pressed the button to open it, Night had forgotten to reclaim his own control to the gate from Lisa. As Night reversed through it Happiness came to the driver’s window and said to him:
“Michael, now that the Mr and Mrs have sold the place and they are all moving to Cape Town do you think you could ask around if anyone you know needs any help? You know either full time or even part time?”
Night had totally forgotten about seeing the sold sign lying on the floor last night and the question and it’s implications stunned him.
“Mikey?”
“Ja, ja sure, Happy, I’ll ask around.”
Norwood Police Station.
“You’re late, Captain” said Colonel Lembedi flatly from behind her large and neatly ordered wooden desk as Michael Night entered her office after respectfully knocking.
Night looked at the clock on the wall which read 0729, 12 minutes from Kensington to Norwood, a new personal best.
Night stood to attention and saluted.
“Apologies, Colonel. I overslept, last night was.. eventful.”
He then noticed that although the station commander was seated and seemingly in full swing of work she still had her entire dress uniform on, even her hat. The one star and one castle representing her high rank sitting on each shoulder gleaming under the rays of early morning sun streaming in through the large window that looked out onto the grassy area in front of the police station where the South African flag proudly flew.
“Please sit, Captain.”
Night took a seat and noticed for the first time that Colonel Lembedi had a framed picture of herself, sitting on a cabinet behind her, with General Arosi and both were out of uniform.
“Indeed, I heard about last night’s operation. It has everyone at National talking. You killed one of the men, is that correct?”
Now Night was lost for words and didn’t quite know how to respond. To flat out say yes, even though he knew for a fact that it was he who had eliminated the RPG threat, would legally speaking, be stupid. That is until a formal statement had been taken from him, under oath, and other formalities were taken
care of. He would of course admit it to friends, family, his crew and other police officers he trusted, but not to his direct commander. What he did wasn’t illegal of course but Night had long ago learned to be very careful about talking about contact situations and on the job shootings. No matter how morally correct or indeed legally upstanding a shooting may have been.
“I acted as I saw fit, Colonel. To protect life” Night recited a line told to him by one of the hot shot reservist lawyers that worked out of Norwood, another one he often used given to him by the same reservist/lawyer was ‘I shot towards the suspect’ never ‘at’ – ‘You must never shoot at suspects, Mike, remember that’ he had been told.
“I’m sure you did, anyway I won’t ask you any more questions and I won’t keep you long” the Colonel then opened a drawer in her desk and produced a plastic bag and passed it across to Night.
“Your stars, Captain”
Night took the bag and opened it to find four sets of rank insignia each bearing three stars declaring his rank as Captain.
“Thank you, Captain. That is very kind of you, but how did you get them so quickly, it normally takes weeks if not months to get them from Pretoria.”
The Colonel smiled.
“They were mine, once. Thought they may come in handy one day. And you know the old SAPS saying to beg, borrow and steal. Well, you won’t have to beg me for them, just wear them well.”
“Thank you, I’ll try.”
“And that’s part of the reason why I wanted to see you, Michael. Now that you are a Captain I am in a position to put that command ability of yours to work for the station and the residents of Norwood policing area.”
“Sure, Colonel. How?”
“I know you are friends with General Arosi and I know he has plans for you but let me say this..” the Colonel then put her elbows on the table and interlocked her fingers.. “He is involved in things high above your rank, mine even. Amos is a high stakes player and while he seems to think you are ready to get involved at a National level, I do not. He wants you at National with him but it’s a snake pit there and that’s not even taking into consideration the kind of circles Amos associates with. For instance, do you know where or should I say who the General is with today?”
Night In London (Night Series Book 2) Page 8