by Peter Kozmar
“Sure,” Copeland said and wandered over to the operators.
Andy stood, aware he needed to get back to the hotel to prepare for the long day ahead. “Could you show me out, please?” he asked Carter. Carter nodded just as her cell phone vibrated again. She sent the call to voicemail, pulled on her jacket, pocketed her phone and headed for the door. Ten minutes later they stepped out onto Victoria Street, Andy turned to Carter, “I’ll be at the helipad tomorrow morning at eight-thirty. Will you be there?”
“No, you’re the one who needs to bring Mark in, I need to figure out the identity of the maintenance man I hope you find Mark,” she said as she turned and walked back up the steps into the building. “Good luck!”
Andy glanced at his watch, five-thirty, still too early to eat or head back to his hotel, instead he summoned an Uber. He would feel better if he could find Mark quickly and get him to a place of safety. Whatever was going on had put Mark in danger. Also, Durand’s shoot to kill threat was a still active. He felt a sudden urge to protect his son.
CHAPTER 12
Andy didn’t need to use the hidden key to gain entry to Mark’s rental the second time as the front door had been smashed from its frame, during the police raid. Andy had decided to return to the rental in case he’d overlooked something in his speed to leave and get rid of the white powder. A return visit would give him the time to search for further clues about Mark’s whereabouts or links to Brad Trojan.
He pushed the splintered door open wide enough to squeeze through, then closed it as best as he could behind him. He didn’t know whether someone would be watching, but at least they couldn’t get in without announcing their presence. There had been little damage to the apartment during the search, with the exception of the Arnold Schwarzenegger poster, which had been ripped off the wall and was lying prone covered in muddy footprints.
Andy took his time searching through the kitchen. He re-read the fridge magnets and studied the notes attached to the fridge. There were reminders for appointments with the dentist and physio as well as the start of what looked like a shopping list which he’d noticed earlier. He systematically opened each of the cupboards and drawers, occasionally removing items for closer scrutiny before carefully replacing them.
Andy headed back along the hallway towards Mark’s bedroom. He opened the door again and paused for a few minutes to reacquaint himself with the layout. He looked at the writing desk and decided it was as good a place to start as any. He walked over and sat down moving his eyes slowly across the desktop; nothing appeared out of place.
He turned his attention to the drawers and started working his way through them one by one. He slowly thumbed through their contents making sure he didn’t miss anything and, when he’d finished, he stacked them on top of each other on the floor. Nothing.
He turned back to the desk and started to run his hand under the desktop. Almost immediately he felt a different texture and unevenness. He moved his hand over the ‘bump’ and, with a gentle tug, loosened it from its hiding place and pulled it out into the light. It was a small black notebook, the remains of the adhesive tape securing it to the underside of the desk hanging limply off the sides.
“What have we here?” Andy said quietly to himself. He discarded the tape and place the notebook on top of the desk. His heart rate had quickened and his nervousness at what the notebook might contain, gave his hands a slight tremor. He carefully opened the notebook to reveal the same writing as in Mark’s hiking log book.
The first few pages revealed detailed notes about each member of the UN Wellington Station team, their personalities, background, family circumstances and their intelligence specializations. It was a pretty comprehensive breakdown of the team. Under other circumstances Andy would have been impressed by the level of detail, but he needed to find where Mark was hiding and knowing all about his work colleagues’ character traits wasn’t going to help find him.
He carried on reading about the wider Secretary General’s monitoring organization, highlighting the key players, including Marcel Durand. Again nothing stood out that would give a clue as where Mark might go if he needed to disappear quickly. There were notes that sketched out the intelligence community within Wellington and who Mark believed were agents for each country.
Andy found Brad Trojan’s name together with a brief, unflattering description, which Andy couldn’t help but agree with, even though he’d had a very limited encounter with the man. Andy was surprised at the large number of Chinese state actors Mark had identified as operating in Wellington and across New Zealand.
The last few pages with writing were a series of cryptic notes:
Moscow. President. Compromised. Fourth floor. Video. Hookers. Honey trap. Brad. Release. Patriot. Fake? Discredit. Lies. Leverage. Hotel.
Andy gave a quiet whistle and rubbed his chin with his right hand as he processed the information. Could whatever Mark was investigating, be what got his colleagues killed?
Andy put the notebook in his pocket to study it in more detail later. He picked up the sticky tape and put it in his pocket. If someone had been watching the house and came in, he didn’t want to leave any clues that he’d found anything. Sticky tape in a waste paper basket that hadn’t been there before would definitely provide a clue for others.
His thoughts about the waste paper basket prompted him to check out its contents. Peering inside, at the bottom he saw the packaging for a thirty-two Gigabyte USB memory stick along with a receipt. He picked it up: the memory stick had been purchased ten days earlier.
The nearby sound of car doors closing jolted Andy back to the present, then movement outside caught his attention. Four well-built men in dark suits were making their way up the steps from the road.
Their haircuts screamed ‘Military’.
The bulk under their left shoulders screamed ‘Armed’.
The voice in Andy’s head screamed ‘Run’!
There was no way to avoid these guys out via the front, so Andy dashed to the back door and slipped out closing the door gently behind him.
He turned around to find he was in a small enclosed backyard. The wooden fence stood a good five feet high and very little in terms of cover. His heart was racing as he decided on his course of action. With only seconds before the suits would gain entry to the house the same way he had. Andy took a run and jumped, grabbed the top of the fence, pulled himself up and over the top.
Keeping a low profile as cleared the fence he dropped into the neighbor’s shrubs. Andy smiled at his ability to clear the fence without making much noise to alert the neighbor. Peering around, he saw this garden was less maintained and offered better opportunities for concealment. This helped with his next decision; lie in the undergrowth until the coast was clear. From the sound next door, he could tell the suits had forced the front door and were moving around inside Mark’s house.
Andy removed his cell phone and called Copeland who answered after five rings: “Copeland.”
Andy kept his voice hushed as he spoke, “Hi, Inspector, Andy Flint.”
“An unusual honor, what can I do for you Mr. Flint?”
“Well I’ve got some great news.”
“Go on,” Copeland sounded skeptical.
“Mark’s here with me.”
“What? Where?” Copeland spluttered.
“At his home. He’s just come in. Look, we’ve got a lot of catching up so I thought it would be okay with you if I bring him into the station tomorrow morning.”
“Hold on a minute Andy I’ve just got another call coming in, stay on the line.” The line to Copeland went quiet for nearly a minute. “Hi again Andy, I’m back, sorry about that, the wife called me and I had to take it.”
Andy knew Copeland was lying, but that was what he wanted. Copeland had taken the bait. “I know how it feels Inspector, mine’s the same, you’ve got to take the call or there’s grief when you get home,” Andy lied in return.
“How is Mark? Is he okay? Is he armed? What’
s he said?” Copeland asked.
“Slow down. Slow down. He’s fine. Physically that is. I’d say he’s been through a huge trauma seeing his co-workers’ bodies. He’s not armed and he said he didn’t do it.”
“Can you put him on the line so I can speak with him?”
Andy needed to spin this out longer and buy more time. “He’s in the bathroom. Might be some time. I think it’s the first time he’s been able to stop for a few days. You know how it is when you’ve been keeping it all bottled in.”
“Yeah I know. Look, I’m not doing anything this evening. How about we all meet up?”
Andy sensed it was Copeland who was now playing for more time. “Sure,” Andy replied. The silence of the neighborhood was disturbed by the growing wail of police sirens as they approached from a distance. He heard them for several seconds before they fell quiet. Andy wanted to get off the call, he needed his wits about him. “Look Inspector, I’ve got to go, Mark’s shouting something to me. I’ll call you back later. Bye.”
Andy heard two cars approach at speed and pull up behind the rear of the property. The sound of car doors opening and heavy footsteps moving quickly towards the fence. It took a few seconds to figure out the next sound. His heart raced as he realized they had a police dog straining at its leash only feet from him, on the other side of the fence.
“Zero-four in position with K9.” A voice over the fence whispered.
Andy could hear more cars pull up outside the front of the property. Moments later the rear door to Mark’s rental burst open followed by the sounds of the suits making a hasty exit into the backyard. However, before they made any further progress, a voice boomed out:
“Armed police. Stop or we’ll shoot.”
“Guys. Hands up. Let’s not make any trouble. We don’t want to get anyone shot,” a voice with an American accent called out.
“On your knees! Get on your knees, now! Hands behind your heads!” the booming voice commanded.
“Do as he says,” the American said calmly.
Andy could hear activity as more people rushed through the house and into the rear garden where the suits had been detained. A new voice spoke.
“This isn’t what I expected,” it was Copeland, he sounded perplexed.
“We are US Government employees. We work at the Embassy,” the American called out.
“Cuff them and take them down town,” Copeland said, “we can sort out the political niceties later. Are you diplomats?”
“No, Sir, we’re Marines.”
“Damn! This is going to be messy, are you armed?”
“Yes, Sir.”
Andy could hear Copeland groan from the other side of the fence. He heard the sound of movement and the ratcheting of handcuffs being snapped into place. The officer with the booming voice spoke next: “Four loaded pistols recovered.”
“Don’t book them in until I’ve taken advice on this. This is well above my pay grade,” Copeland sighed.
Andy remained hidden under the neighbor’s shrubs. He’d switched off his cell phone in case Copeland tried to call him from over the fence. Andy was amazed at his good fortune that no one had searched the adjoining properties or gardens to completely clear the area. They were probably on a high having bagged four armed American Marines.
An hour later, when the last of the police had left the scene, returning the neighborhood to peace and quiet, Andy scaled one more fence before exiting from a side gate onto the main street. There were groups of neighbors gathered in clusters talking about the police activity and what they’d seen. Andy switched on his cell phone and hailed an Uber ride back into the city. His cell phone showed several missed calls from Copeland.
Copeland can wait until the morning.
CHAPTER 13
Andy arrived early at the helipad and wasn’t surprised to see Copeland and Carter already waiting for him. Andy smiled as he approached and gave a small wave. Neither responded. Neither looked happy.
Copeland spoke first making no attempt to hide his irritation, “Why did you pull that trick yesterday? Do you know how much trouble you caused?”
Andy shrugged, “Hey, it wasn’t me who broke into Mark’s house. It wasn’t me carrying a gun. You caught some seriously bad guys.”
“You could have just called it in without the story about you sitting with Mark drinking a few beers,” Carter interrupted.
“You wouldn’t have turned up. It proved there was a connection between Mark, the US Embassy and possibly the murders. We saw Mark being chased on the surveillance feeds and, yesterday you caught them in his house.”
Copeland squared up to Andy thrusting his chest out, his chin up and jabbed his index finger hard into Andy’s chest, “I’m here to tell you not to pull any more stunts like that, understood?” Copeland turned and walked away without waiting for a reply.
Andy rubbed his chest and once Copeland was out of earshot, he spoke, “You know that man couldn’t find his own ass with both hands.”
Amy snorted with surprise and laughed. “Seriously, what the heck happened to you yesterday?”
“I sat in the neighbor’s garden just feet away as Copeland, and the rest of the Keystone Cops, took down the US Marine Corps. No one thought to have a quick peek over the fence. I’m surprised he didn’t hear me laughing.”
“You’re funny. But once Keith realized he’d been played, he wanted to murder you. He had to field calls from the Police Commissioner, the Police Minister, the Cabinet Office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Eventually he released the Americans without charge. Officially, we had been conducting a counter-terrorist training exercise in close co-ordination with our international allies. It’s been spun as a big success for the New Zealand Police. The Commissioner has already been on breakfast news speaking about it as the neighborhood had been active on social media when it all kicked off, so we couldn’t say nothing happened.”
“Oh, I can understand why he’s so pissed with me now!”
“Also, I think Brad Trojan may have taken you off his Christmas card list.”
Their conversation was interrupted by the distant clatter of rotor blades carrying across the still waters of the harbor. It was a good minute before they saw the chopper approach from the direction of the airport. “I think this is my ride,” Andy said as the helicopter quickly closed in.
“Don’t do anything stupid and be careful out there. People die each year in those mountains. It’s nothing like the Milford Track,” Carter advised, “and don’t call Keith, he won’t take your calls!”
The dark blue helicopter circled once overhead and descended. The noise from its powerful engines was deafening. Andy noticed crowds had gathered along the waterfront to watch.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ve got my lucky hat,” Andy shouted above the noise as he pointed to the black balaclava he wore. Moments later the helicopter touched down. The pilot gestured for Andy to join him. “I’ll call you later!” Andy shouted as he jogged towards front of the helicopter, his eyes fixed on the pilot, his head ducked down as the rotor blades spun a few feet above.
He reached the passenger door, threw his small pack inside and quickly climbed in beside the pilot. The pilot handed Andy a red headset to wear complete with a microphone. With the headset on, the engine noise became bearable. “Andy, can you hear me?” the pilot asked.
“Yes, I can, thanks,” Andy replied.
“Great. Get buckled up. I’m just going to stow your bag properly so it doesn’t get flung around should it get a bit bumpy up there, then we’ll be on our way.” The pilot removed his headset, unbuckled himself, climbed out and moved to the rear of the helicopter’s cab where he recovered Andy’s pack and placed it in a locker. Andy twisted awkwardly in his seat to see the pilot secure the locker with a clasp and a small catch.
The pilot returned to his seat, strapped himself in and re-homed his headset while Andy fastened himself in and pulled the webbing straps tight. “All done,” Andy called out.
The
engines screamed louder as the pilot applied more power and the helicopter twitched left, right before climbing rapidly into the air. The machine picked up speed with its nose pitched forward. The helicopter headed over the harbor and flew parallel to the railway line and main state highway with its bumper to bumper morning commuter traffic heading into the city. As the helicopter gained height, below along the valley floor he could see a large urban settlement, while over to his left he was treated to views of the Kapati Coast and the Tasman Sea beyond.
“Where’s that?” Andy asked pointing to the valley floor.
“Lower Hutt, we’re following the Hutt River, we’ll go past Upper Hutt before we climb over the Remutaka hills. It’ll get a bit bumpy when we climb over those hills.” As the helicopter continued to climb, the houses became fewer and the roads quieter.
“Just to confirm, my first drop off will be Jumbo Hut?” said Andy
“Yes, we’ll land near the hut, you can’t miss it.”
Andy sat in silence as he enjoyed the stunning views of the rugged mountains, the bush clad valleys and sparkling rivers which cascaded over boulder strewn riverbeds. “That’s Mount Hector to the left. It’s one of the highest mountains in the ranges,” said the pilot. Andy looked down and saw a memorial in the shape of a large cross set in place on the peak of the rocky mountain top. “You can see Kime Hut down there. In a minute you’ll see Powell Hut and then we’ll be dropping down to Jumbo. If your son isn’t at Jumbo, we’ll go to Powell.” Andy nodded in response.
The helicopter started to circle and slowly descend. Andy could see the hut located just above the bush line on the side of a mountain. The mountainside above the hut supported alpine tussock grassland which gave way to weathered rock and narrow, eroded ridgelines on the higher peaks. He thought this would be a great place to explore, particularly in good weather like today. The helicopter landed on the only piece of flat ground in a slight clearing less than fifty meters from the hut.