“Why?”
“Laura Manning has an assassin in the garden ready to shoot him.”
“An MP out to murder someone?”
“He’s a Mafia godfather, Laura Manning has been using his money for the DJP.”
She scrutinised him, eyes narrow.
“So, what’s the second thing?”
“John Kirkwell is not quite the person he pretends to be. I checked the deeds of this Manor house. You know who owns it? Silverman. And going through Italian birth certificates I found Silverman has a son, born the same hour and day as John Kirkwell in England.”
“I don’t understand, what are you getting at?”
“Kirkwell was born John Edward Roger Albert Kirkwell. A lot of Christian names which helps. They’re a combination of Silverman’s own and his father’s names. Looking through the birth records of Umbria in Italy, I found a boy born exactly the same time as John Kirkwell in England, one Giovanni, Italian for John, followed by Eduardo Riccardo Alberto Silverstroni. Silverman always wanted a son.”
“How can one child have two birth certificates from two different countries?”
“If your father is a wealthy and powerful Mafia boss he can have what he wants. Now, the most important point, if you take the first letters of each name and put Kirkwell instead of Silverstroni, you get Jerak. Probably the most brutal villain in this plot.”
Victoria sat back, mouth slightly open.
“But he’s gay. I saw him as a pleasant, decent fellow.”
“So was one of the Kray brothers, but they still killed people and I don’t think Kirkwood is gay, it’s all a pretence.” Sean checked his watch. “Now, time for dinner. Shall we go?” He stood and offered his arm. “Let’s see what crawls out of the woodwork.”
CHAPTER 27
On the ground floor they walked along the main front corridor and reached the dining room. The interior was grand with chandeliers and a long, polished table. Laura and Eleanor stood one end sipping cocktails served by one of the blonde angels.
“Welcome.” Laura came forward, arm outstretched.
“Hope we’re not early.” Sean took her hand and kissed her cheek.
“Just in time for a cocktail. Rita here makes a beauty named Blonde Angel.”
“Then we had better try it.” He looked to Victoria who smiled and nodded.
“Did you check on Aguzzi’s men? Have they gone?”
“We’ve been too busy wrapped in Parliamentary work, but the girls haven’t seen any. John Kirkwell is here. Would you believe his family owns this place?”
“Really.” Victoria feigned surprise, while reaching to accept her drink. At the same time distant laughter came from somewhere overhead, distinctly male. All looked up.
“Not so soundproof these old houses,” Sean said. “I think maybe one or two of Aguzzi’s men still linger,”
“Too many good looking girls. Shall I send them packing?” Eleanor said.
“No, later we might want to question them.” Victoria raised her glass and sipped. “Delicious.”
Behind her John Kirkwell entered.
“Hello, looks like we have a party. Paxos all over again.” He came towards them, hand extended. “To explain my presence, I’m a fully paid-up member of the DJP and this is my father’s house. We’re just taking refuge and making plans before the storm of the forthcoming General Election.” Fingers on hip he raised his eyebrows at Sean.
“Like you to meet my fiancée, Victoria.” Sean smiled, placing his hand on Victoria’s waist.
“Lucky girl and congratulations.” John made a face of mock disappointment.
Four of the blonde angels entered pushing trollies of food.
“Dinner is served,” Laura said and ushered them to the table.
In the darkness of the woods Joe peered through his binoculars to survey activities in the house. French windows gave a clear view of each room lit by an extravagance of lights. He could clearly see diners around the table and above them, Aguzzi’s grand bedroom. He sat on the bed removing his trousers, then shorts, all the time staring at what lay out of view, his face creased with sardonic lust. Then he stood, faced frontal to Joe’s gaze, waving his erect penis as he shouted unheard words. Perfect target, Joe thought. Why wait till morning? He placed one hand to lift his long-range sniper rifle while lowering his field glasses to the ground and positioning himself ready to fire but at that moment a naked young woman moved to block the view. She pointed to the bed but Aguzzi shook his head and laughed. Instead, he placed both hands on her shoulders and tried to force her down. Her body movements showed she clearly objected to what he wanted of her. Aguzzi was obviously a strong man because, by brute strength, he forced her to surrender, laughing as he thrust into her mouth. He stood, his upper torso a perfect target, the woman’s head at his waist.
Joe quickly lifted the rifle and brought the telescopic sights to his eyes. When Joe fired, for seconds Aguzzi stood, the scream frozen, then he fell. The woman spat out whatever fouled her mouth, then disappeared from view.
Joe switched on his radio and spoke to Surveillance Command.
“Target down. Withdrawing from position.”
Collecting his equipment, he pushed back into the bushes and beyond.
Around the dinner table polite conversation stopped as all heard Aguzzi’s scream, followed by a thud.
“That doesn’t sound good,” Sean said.
“Marilyn,” Eleanor shouted and jumped up from her chair, followed by Laura and Victoria, Sean behind.
In the corridor above they caught a quick glimpse of Marilyn as she rounded a corner, clothes clutched to her chest.
In the bedroom Aguzzi lay sprawled, mouth and eyes wide open, a bullet hole in the centre of his chest.
“My God.” Laura covered her mouth.
“A dead man if ever I saw one,” Sean nodded his head. Joe certainly knew how to shoot.
Behind them Aguzzi’s giant entered the room.
“Boss, you OK?” Then he saw the body. “My God, you killed him. They killed the boss,” he shouted into the corridor and drew an automatic just as Sean drew his.
“Drop it” Sean ordered but the giant fired, missing Sean but Sean didn’t miss him. Immediately he ran and kicked the automatic from the wounded man’s hand. “Move and you’re dead,” Sean told him. “OK, call back up.” He turned to find Victoria already on her phone.
Shouting sounded from the hall, male and female voices. A second man burst in but instead of firing he ran.
“Wise,” Sean said and looked down at Aguzzi’s sprawled body. “Would Marilyn set him up?” he asked Eleanor.
“Marilyn certainly. But then she was never here, so couldn’t have.”
“That maybe hard to prove.”
“Aguzzi was gay, so it had to be one of his men.”
Rapid fire sounded from outside, followed by more shouting and running feet.
“But which one?”
“A dead one, I hope. I must go and check out my girls, see if any are hurt.”
“Don’t go, stay. I need protecting too,” Laura pleaded.
“OK, OK.” Eleanor held her. “My girls are capable.”
“We’ll check them. Back up should be here any time,” Victoria said and indicated Sean to follow.
Outside one of Aguzzi’s men sat wounded. Both ignored him and ran for the stairs where shouting and rapid fire crashed around the walls.
John Kirkwood peered from the doorway into the corridor. A man lay propped against a wall, wounded, an automatic clasped in his hand. Sean and Victoria were running at the far end of the corridor and on down the stairs.
Ideal, John thought. He turned back to the room. “You must stay hidden behind the bed,” he told Sarah. “Don’t move, don’t let anyone know you are here. I’ll return soon.”
The woman did as instructed, taking her daughter and the dog with her. John slid outside the door. Aiming his own weapon and checking no one remained in view, he shot the man in the ches
t, watching him slump dead.
“A perfect alibi,” he said. Using his handkerchief he lifted the man’s full automatic and moved to the bedroom where Laura and Eleanor remained hidden. Gunfire and shouting filled the hall below as he eased through the door.
“What’s happening?” Laura asked.
“One side killing the other. Great pity they came in here. Any luck with the code?”
She shook her head. He lifted the stolen automatic.
“What are you doing?” Laura clutched Eleanor.
“Down,” she shouted and pulled them both behind the bed.
“John, you’re supposed to be on our side.”
“I’m not John, I’m Jerak and I’m safeguarding my money.” He stepped over Aguzzi, pointed his weapon and shot Laura through the head.
Eleanor screamed, her face splattered in brain and blood.
“Now my little precious.” He knelt to jam the gun muzzle between her breasts. “I know you and your girls worked for Aguzzi, but who do you work for now?”
“You, Master.”
“Excellent reply. It saved your life. So when you are asked, Aguzzi’s men shot Laura, understand?”
“Yes, Master.”
“If you say anything else, no matter where you go in the world, I will hunt you down, you will suffer the most painful death at the hands of one of my specialists. However, if you truly work for me, you and your girls will be richly rewarded. I now own and control my father’s empire. All his money, all his property, all his businesses, from slavery to drugs. Betray me and you will be roasted alive. Understand?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Excellent.” He stood.
“So who killed this bitch?”
“One of Aguzzi’s men.”
“Don’t ever forget it. I will be in touch when this is over.”
Jerak stepped back, checked he had no blood on him and left the room. Stopping by the corpse in the corridor he replaced the stolen automatic in the dead man’s hand, carefully wrapping his fingers round the butt.
“Bad man, killing the bitch,” he said and stepped away.
Back in the bedroom he found Sarah and Grace cuddled behind the bed, the dog beside them. Down on the ground floor the noise had subsided. Outside came shots then the crunch of a crashing car. Jerak locked the door but left the key in place.
He stared at mother and child, debating if he should kill them or not. He decided against it. They still believed him to be John Kirkwell the faggot, still believed him to be on the good side.
“Just stay calm and lie still. I got urgent computer work to do.” He crossed to the desk, laying down his automatic and logging onto the Internet.
“I don’t like it in here,” Grace said. “I want to go and see nice people.”
He gave a sarcastic smile. “Just stay still and be quiet.” Tapping keys he brought up his father’s banking site then put in the codes from the brooch. The long list of different sites appeared. The first one having been emptied he went to the second and entered Sarah’s birthday code. The site emerged but what it contained read zero.
“What,” he shouted, his face screwed in disbelief. He went to the third, fourth and fifth sites. All read the same, zero.
“You been messing with the banking codes, stealing my money?” He strode to the bed, automatic in hand. “You bitch, tell me what you’ve done or I’ll shoot the child.” He pointed the weapon the same time a bang came on the door as someone tried to open it.
“Sarah, Grace, you in there?” Sean shouted.
“Sarah, open up, it’s me, Victoria.”
For seconds Jerak hesitated, unsure, just as Grace sprang from bed to door where she grabbed and turned the key.
“Leave it you little bitch.” Jerak swung the pistol in her direction but Sarah had launched herself, hitting him the same moment the automatic fired. Both tumbled to the floor, him trying to turn the muzzle, Sarah digging her nails into his face. He crashed the pistol butt against the side of her head then managed to roll away. This was not meant to happen, what had gone wrong?
On his knees, he turned to shoot her but the door had opened and Fagan stood, pointing the automatic.
“Drop it or I fire.”
In response Jerak also aimed and fired but too late as Fagan’s rounds thudded into his chest, his own rounds going wild.
Sean lowered his weapon while Sarah crawled across the floor to cuddle Grace.
“Brave, beautiful girl,” she whispered, tears on her face.
“Where’s Scamp?” But Scamp already tried to push between them.
“He said I stole his money, he wanted to kill us.”
“’S OK.” Victoria knelt to embrace them both. “My boss told me she’s been to see his father in hospital. The money’s safe.”
“Jerak, you called him. Who’s Jerak?”
“Your brother, or half-brother. Same father, different mothers.”
Sarah stood, lifting Grace to hug her.
“My brother. I never realised, he played the part so well. I trusted him, considered him my friend.”
As she spoke Joe entered the room with four armed policemen.
“Cavalry’s here,” he said. “All enemies dead or captured.”
“Laura also, I’m afraid,” Sean told him. “Shot by Jerak.” He nodded at his corpse, watching Joe’s face crumble. The man turned back into the corridor and leant his forehead against the wall. “Sorry,” Sean said.
Outside the flashing lights of police cars and emergency vehicles lit the night sky. Inside, the only sound came from Grace, gently sobbing against her mother’s shoulder.
CHAPTER 28
Sean and Victoria sat on a sofa looking across the room to Sarah and Libby. Having been released from hospital, Libby’s head remained bandaged which gave the appearance of war wounded. Grace sat cross-legged on the floor, totally involved with stroking Scamp.
“So how does it feel to be a wealthy woman?” Sean asked.
“Like I’ve won the lottery. Crazy. The best thing I can do after I’ve looked after myself and Grace is to give it away. It’s Mafia money, not mine.”
“The money came from all over the world, gathered by your father. No one knows who it belongs to, so it might as well be yours.” Sean stood. “If you need any help, any time, give our office a call.” He handed over his card. “I don’t think anyone is going to bother you, but just in case. We’ll be here immediately. Take care. Bye Grace,” he waved.
In MI5 headquarters Alice Sibree looked at those sitting round the table.
“Thank you all for attending this debriefing. Some of you have had traumatic times but then that comes with the job. Joe, welcome back to the fold. Your help in this matter has been excellent.”
“So, you get any suicide jobs, I’m your man,” he grinned.
“Eleanor, you still need to answer a lot of questions but I am sure we have an opening both for you and your girls. Now you have renounced all ambitions to be President, plus the ultra-right and the Mafia, Eleanor has assured me she and her girls had nothing to do with the death of the DJP husbands. I ask you now again, did you have anything to do with the deaths of our MPs’ husbands?”
“No. Neither do I grow black roses.”
“Just the sort of operatives I need,” Colonel Fox from CAT spoke out. “You and your girls can work for me anytime. Your contacts will be invaluable.”
“And what about the money?” Sean asked.
“Twenty billion.” Alice smiled. “I went to see Silverman while he lay in Intensive Care on life support, the only thing keeping him alive. Out of fear we might switch off the system he told me the missing code. The team here soon had it all in a safe Government account under MI5 control.” She smiled and looked about the table. “Safe,” she repeated. “I say all but not quite all. Fifty million was missing from the first account. As suspected, we found it in his son Jerak’s account. In theory we couldn’t touch it so we transferred it to his next of kin, his half-sister, Sarah.�
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“Best place,” Sean said. “And Silverman?”
“Unfortunately someone did turn his life support system off. He died. Three top Mafia bosses, Krata, Silverman and Aguzzi, all dead due to the efforts of those around this table, plus a little monetary boost for the Security Services.”
Cobbart grinned. “I’m sure we’ll all be receiving our just share.”
“I’m sure,” she smiled back.
“And what of the DJP?” Victoria asked. “As Eleanor told us, Laura Manning was up to her neck in Mafia dealings.”
“The DJP plus Parliament mourn her loss. How sad. But the DJP goes on, without their criminal associates. The remaining MPs are all honest, law abiding people. You never know, if they play their cards right they might even get a little funding from an anonymous donor.”
That night Sean stared up at the ceiling as he lay in bed with Victoria.
“Funny old life,” he said. “Never turns out as you expect. The last weeks have been somewhat testing but I think the outcome is OK.”
“I agree.” She took his hand. “For me it couldn’t have turned out better.”
“You’re going to stick with the job then. I must admit, I would never leave.”
“I would, in fact, within six months.”
“What?” He lent upon his arm and looked down at her. “Leave, you never could.”
“Oh yes, for a whole different life.”
“You can’t.”
“I can. My dream job’s on offer. You see, I’m pregnant with our child.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James McKenna was born during the bombing of London in WWII and as the child of a British Army officer, spent time amidst the wretchedness of post-war Austria before travelling with his family to the Far East.
At the age of 15 he joined the British Army and attended the apprenticeship college at Harrogate, then the Royal School of Military Engineering. At 17 he passed selection for the Paras serving in the Gulf and Europe. Afterwards running his own electronic and physical protection company gave insider knowledge for his crime thrillers The Unseen, The Uncounted, The Unwanted, Global Raider and The Black Rose Conspiracy.
The Black Rose Conspiracy Page 20