Night In London (Night Series Book 2)

by Casey Christie

  “Our enemy are not to be taken lightly – they are highly trained combatants and on open ground I would suggest that we do not engage them in a firefight but rather try and negotiate their surrender peacefully. But they are not on favourable ground for their purposes and a time for them to surrender unharmed has now passed. They killed police officers. They crossed a line that even the most determined and ruthless life time career criminals think very carefully about crossing. They killed our brothers and a sister. Officers under my command. Your family.”

  “And my men! Your friends, Captain Night.”

  The group of police officers turned to the voice and Night saw the Flying Squad Commander, Captain Indaba, walk out of the shadows and into the light.

  “General Arosi said that I might find you in this gym. I’m here to offer you support in any way that I can, let us not forget that two of my men, Warrant Officer Snyman and constable Naidoo were also killed by these scum that you are about to face. Normally I would demand that me and a select number of my men are allowed to join you on this operation, unfortunately I simply cannot spare the manpower. There is a war going on out there, gentlemen, and now we are about to kick the hornet’s nest by staging an invasion of Alex, my officers will be needed to help contain the fallout that will surely spread throughout the city. Even now the alpha calls are starting to come in thick and fast as those criminal elements are forced to leave Alex tonight and ply their trade elsewhere. It also doesn’t help that those same criminals now know that the majority of the Johannesburg police force will be in Alex leaving the rest of the city a free-for-all. Having said all that I can offer you two vehicles for the duration of your operation. Both quick little GTIs should the need arise to hunt down any fleeing suspects and to help contain traffic.”

  “Thank you, Captain. The extra vehicles will be very helpful.”

  Captain Indaba’s phone rang and he quickly picked it up and listened for a few seconds before abruptly ending the call.

  The Flying Squad commander shook his head and clicked his tongue in disgust before addressing the gathered special operations police officers once more.

  “10111 has just put out an emergency call. I have to go to control, they’re already breaking under the pressure. Even Hotel Papa (Highway Patrol) have been called into to patrol the suburbs. Excuse me, gentlemen, but I must leave. You will find my men with your vehicles when you are ready to pull out.”

  “Thank you, brother. And good luck” called out Night to which Captain Indaba raised an arm with his hand in the thumbs up position as he walked out of the gym.

  The large frame of Sahara walked to the front of the men and he spoke in his usual harsh Afrikaans accent “Why are they not on favourable ground, Captain Night? The commandos, don’t they like fighting in houses?”

  Night looked at the large Sergeant, his massive frame a silhouette against the light and couldn’t help but see the incredible similarities to his own Sergeant Shaka. In both bluntness of speech and physique.

  “They train with long arms only. Only the officers train with side arms and even then it’s at a bare minimum. Inside a private property they will be severely handicapped against us as police officers who are primarily trained in the use of hand guns. As you know, and if you don’t, their primary weapon is the Vektor R4 with bi-pod, and in confined spaces such as bedrooms, hallways and the like it’s difficult to use, to say the least.”

  “Or even deadlier and messier” said one of the men.

  “Then why the hell are they holed up in a residential property, hey, surely they’d be better in a township or on a farm where they can position defensive snipers and create some sort of perimeter firewall around them?” asked Sahara.

  “I assume it’s because that’s the last place we’d ever think to look for them and to be perfectly honest if we didn’t receive the solid Intel we did on their whereabouts it is the last place on earth we would have looked for them. BUT that doesn’t mean we should take anything for granted.”

  “What about talking them out?” Captain Indaba asked while placing one hand on his hip and another on the lowest rope of the boxing ring.

  “They won’t come without a fight, they’re not career criminals and will find the prospect of spending any time at all in one of our jails worse than death itself. They will want to be taken by force at the very least.. I think.”

  “So what about the property, what do you know about it, Captain?” asked Kalahari.

  Night proceeded to draw a map of the property on the blackboard before answering the Warrant Officer’s question.

  “As you can see it’s a three bedroomed house that is hired out as a short term rental, usually attracting unsavoury types, the reason Shaka and I know the property is that we have been in it a number of times from drug calls to domestic violence cases. There are three beds per room with up to six single mattresses in the lounge. But I’m sure the arrangement changes, depending on the occupants and their needs.”

  Night then went on to explain how a church overlooked the property from its rear and how a tactical entry through a neighbouring property, over a shared boundary wall, was their best bet.

  “What I suggest is this: Shaka and I will take up position on the church roof providing eyes-on and over-watch. We can use the two flying squad vehicles to seal off any potential escape routes on the corners of Tenth Street in both directions. Once over the wall and on the property you can breach using the majority of your force, pushing from the rear entrance through the kitchen, you’ll be able to hammer forward to the front of the house room by room where you can leave a four man squad in the front of the property as your anvil, they won’t have space to maneuver and you should be able to neutralise them easily enough. Particularly if they’ve seen the special move into Alex and decide to celebrate their ‘victory’ of going undetected in the usual way.”

  “Then perhaps we’ll keep eyes on a little longer and let them get stuck into the drink while they think we’re all busy in Alex” put in Kalahari.

  “No, that’s what we’d usually do, Warrant. But this time I want to end this thing as soon as possible, as soon as we confirm that they are the suspects and that any spotters are withdrawn from the road or keeping an eye on the special, we move in. Our flash-bangs and other toys will ensure we hit them off balance. What about explosives, Captain Night?” finished Captain Indaba, while studying the map on the white board.

  “Will they have any and will they have booby trapped the place? Unlikely. Besides their former commander, now my informant, Swart, was the only EE on the unit as far as I’m aware.”

  The officers then spent the next few minutes fine-tuning their planning for the operation as three hundred men and women of the South African Police Force stood to attention on parade outside Norwood police barracks as the National Police Commissioner briefed them on the operation to enter Alexandra township in force for the first time in over a decade.

  Chapter Twenty Three

  It was a cloudless, warm, evening as Night lay prone on the roof of the church that overlooked the target property in Orange Grove. Sergeant Shaka lay next to him on his right. And to his left lay a man introduced to him only as ‘Skerp,’ short for the Afrikaans word for Sharp Shooter, Skerpskieter, Night figured. The name Skerp suited the man perfectly, not only because the officer was a Sniper but because he was stick thin and whenever Night looked at the STF constable he thought his bones looked ‘sharp’ indeed. Night couldn’t fault the sniper as he only ever spoke when spoken to and was extremely well mannered. Night wondered if all snipers were the same – taciturn, good natured, well mannered and absolutely deadly at range.

  They had been in position for just under ten minutes, leaving the Norwood police station only minutes before the special operation into Alexandra township had departed to snake its way in one massive convoy to the informal settlement.

  The Special Task Force Team had been split into three elements for the attack:

  Tango Alpha, the m
ain attack force of six operatives led by Captain Indaba, would enter through an adjoining property and sweep forward through the property from the back entrance of the kitchen.

  Tango Bravo, the blocking anvil of four men, would position themselves at the front of the property with sniper capabilities led by Warrant Officer Kalahari.

  Tango Charlie, were the three-man sniper and observation team led by Night.

  “Tango Charlie in position” reported Night over their radio net.

  Night and Shaka observed the target property through two pairs of Night Vision Optics provided to them by the Special Task Force Commander. Skerp also looked at the property through his optics – the scope of his Accuracy International Arctic Warfare .338 sniper rifle.

  “Mike, why don’t we have gear like this?” asked Shaka.

  “Because we’re not that cool. See any movement?”

  “Nothing yet..”

  “I do. First window on the extreme left-hand side of the property. Two Whisky Males, talking, laughing and more, look through the small parting in the curtains” said Skerp.

  Night adjusted his optics to the stated position and found the two men. Both men were naked from the waist up yet still had their rifles slung across their backs. Their military training absolutely forbade them to separate themselves from their rifles no matter the situation while in a state of ‘war.’

  “I see them.”

  “Permission to engage?”

  Somewhat surprised, Night pulled out of his optics and looked sideways at the STF Sniper, not sure whether or not the man was joking, though nothing the police officer had said or done to this point would lead the Captain to think the sharpshooter was just jesting. And then Night saw Skerp gently place his finger on the trigger and take the slack off of it and take a deep breath through his nose and hold.

  “Negative, Skerp. We’ll wait for the green light from Captain Indaba first, as per the briefing, remember?”

  The Sniper allowed the air to leave his lungs before speaking.

  “Ja, okay, Cappy, I just thought it couldn’t hurt, hey, as look those okes are in a separate room and the door to their room is closed and locked from the inside and if I’m not mistaken those okes are fairies so the other okes probably won’t want to disturb them, even if they hear what sounds like bodies hitting the floor, if you know what I mean, Cappy. I just thought I could get them out of the way while everyone else gets into position, but if you say so.”

  Night stared at the man for just a moment before placing the Night Vision back over his eyes and quickly finding the two men again. To Night’s embarrassment he saw that Skerp was right – the two men were naked from the waist up and only had on boxer shorts, Night had just assumed that the former soldiers were wearing pants, and the men were now passionately kissing each other. Night looked beyond them and saw that the door to the room was indeed closed and keys were inside the lock indicating that they had barred it from the inside.

  Night felt the gaze of Shaka on him and looked at his friend next to him.

  “Did you notice that?”

  “Not a chance, Mike.”

  “We better up our game, brother.”

  “Don’t worry about it Cappy, why did you think they call me Skerp?”

  “Not for that bloody reason.”

  Night’s radio crackled in his ear.

  “Tango Fox Nine, Tango Fox One” said Captain Indaba.

  “Send for Tango Fox Nine” replied Captain Night.

  “One Motor Vehicle entering the property now. Tangos Alpha and Bravo will move into position once you confirm occupants of the M/V are inside, copy?”

  “Affirmative, stand by for confirmation.”

  Team Charlie watched as a single blue Volkswagen Jetta entered the property after the passenger got out and opened the locked gate and drove up the driveway that ran alongside the house before coming to a stop. The driver got out of the vehicle and immediately went to the boot, opened it and produced a case of Castle Lagers. After carefully locking the gate once more the passenger joined the driver and retrieved another case of beers from the car boot before closing it and both men left the vehicle and walked to the back-door kitchen entrance of the house. They stood there for only a moment before a man in a full khaki uniform opened the door and then the security gate and stepped out into the back yard, a fully automatic R4 assault rifle in his hands as he scanned the property. Shaka ducked down as the man looked up to their position on the church roof.

  “No need to duck, Cappy. The moon is in front of us and his eyesight will have been light-fucked from the inside.”

  The sniper then reached into his pocket and handed a device to Night.

  “Point that at them, Cappy, and then put the earpiece in.”

  Night took the electronic device from the sharpshooter and did as was suggested and the voices of the men now standing just inside the kitchen became crystal clear to him.

  “… time to get wasted hey okes! Those cops are going to shit all over Alex tonight looking for us!” said the driver.

  “Did they really go in to Alex, hey? All of them?” said the guard who had let them in.

  “Ja, we followed the convoy right up to Balfour Park and watched them head off into Alex.”

  “Ja, boet, they’re going to start fucking world war fucking three because of us, ha-ha, why Blackie insisted we shoot those…” said the passenger.

  Suddenly the gate guard stopped laughing, put a hand on his friend and moved outside and looked up at the church roof again followed by his two comrades.

  Shaka was about to duck down again when Night quickly put a hand on his shoulder to stop him before whispering.

  “Movement attracts the eye, keep still.”

  “What the fucks wrong with you, boet? Scared of ghosts hey!?”

  “Nah, just get in, I feel like something’s like watching us.”

  With that the men filed through the kitchen door and first the security gate was barred shut before the door was slammed closed behind them.

  “What did they say, Cappy?” asked Skerp.

  “Stand by, Skerp, keep eyes on and listen to comms.”

  “Tango Fox One, Tango Fox Nine.”

  “Send for Tango Fox One.”

  “Occupants of vehicle are confirmed inside. Occupants of property positively identified as our suspects. Driver and passenger of motor vehicle watched the special enter Alexandra. I can confirm through voice and sight that we have our suspects.”

  “Copy that. Tango Alpha moving into position now. Tango Bravo give us three mikes before moving into your position. Yankee vehicles move into your positions now. Please confirm.”

  “Tango Bravo, copy that.”

  “Yankee three and four copy that.”

  Night turned to Skerp.

  “Can you blow that lock off of that gate, Skerp?”

  “Ja, Cappy, not a problem. It’s the door that’s going to be more difficult though. They’ll have to bang it a few times to get in, will make helluva noise and will draw a lot of attention.”

  Without any form of long weapon Night felt practically useless lying on the church roof as he dwelled on the fact that it would be up to Skerp alone to keep any responding force off of Team Alpha before they made entry. Night had wanted to insist on taking an R5 up on the roof with him but knew that the stock iron sights his R5 had on it would be no good in such poor night visibility, Night and Shaka were also both not sufficiently trained or authorised to use the STF Sniper Rifles.

  The seconds seemed to pass like hours for Night up on top of that roof while he waited for the rest of the teams to get into position.

  He wiped away the sweat from his forehead yet again as he wondered how exactly he had found himself in such an impotent position of observer, something that was a new experience for him.

  “This is fokken weird, hey, Mike?”

  “What is?”

  “Lying here just watching while we know our brothers are about to get into a firefigh
t..”

  “I know what you mean, feels wrong.”

  Night’s earpiece broadcast the voice of Captain Indaba and then his 2IC.

  “Tango Alpha in position.”

  “Tango Bravo in position” responded Kalahari.

  “Tango Charlie, give us a SITREP and an all clear for the green light.”

  Night was about to give the all clear for the green light when his emergency phone began to vibrate. Despite the odd looks he attracted from both Shaka and Skerp Night reached down into his pants pocket and took out his phone. It was General Arosi.

  “Tango Charlie, give us a SITREP and an all clear for the green light!?”

  Skerp was now glaring so fiercely at the Captain that Night thought the man might burst an eyeball.

  “That’s a positive for a go, situation is a go!” said Night hurriedly.

  “Copy that. Go, go, go!”

  Night let go of his mic and put his mobile phone to his left ear.

  “Amos, this better be good?”

  “It came from Orange Grove, Mike! Orange Grove! He lied to you, Swart made the call from Orange Grove!”

  “Ah shit!”

  Night ended the call and was about get back on the radio net to try call a halt to the operation when he noticed the first of the six man attack element scale the boundary wall of the target property and within a couple of heartbeats the rest of the team were over the barrier and moving in stack formation to the kitchen door with the leading man behind a bullet resistant shield.

  Night put the night vision goggles to his face once more and began to scan the neighbouring properties.

  “Mike, what are you doing, what did the General say?”

  “Captain may I have permission to engage the two mikes in the locked bedroom now?”

  “Affirmative, Skerp. But quickly and then get eyes back on the kitchen..”

  But before Night could finish his sentence the sniper had already let off two suppressed rounds in quick succession killing the two armed criminals instantly.