Dead Secret

by Peter Kozmar

  He walked up another flight of steps which led him to a security area. Andy smiled to himself at his good fortune of being first in the line so he didn’t have to wait. He knew the routine and went through the process. By the time he’d cleared security and replaced his items in his pockets, his computer in his backpack, a small queue had formed behind the scanner.

  Andy checked the time on his watch and decided to head to the restroom before he’d go to the British Airways Galleries Lounge for a snack and soft drink. He quickly spotted signage for the restroom and followed it through the crowd of milling passengers. It struck him that many of the passengers were walking aimlessly to occupy themselves before their flights were called, while only a small proportion moved through the crowds with purpose.

  Andy had no rush to get to his departure gate. As he pushed the door open he found the restroom empty and selected the cubicle at the furthest end. He entered the cubicle, slipped the lock and went about making himself comfortable. He heard the outer door swing open and close, followed by the squeak of rubber-soled shoes crossing the tiled floor, then silence. Andy finished, adjusted his clothes and heard water running in a hand basin. Andy flushed the toilet, exited his cubicle and headed to the line of automatic hand basins.

  He recognized the man using the basin nearest to him as the man from the Swissair flight. Andy thought his choice of hand basin a little odd given the restroom had at least a dozen unused basins, the man could have selected a basin further along from the cubicle he’d been using. Andy became aware that the man was watching him in the wall length mirror.

  As Andy walked behind the man, out of politeness, he smiled. The man returned the smile and started to dry his hands using the air-drier built into the basin. The noise of the air-drier amplified as it echoed off the floor and wall tiles. Andy stood at a basin half-way along the row and looked down at the tap then waved his hands under the sensor to activate the water and started to wash his hands.

  He instinctively looked up when the noise of the air drier stopped. He heard the quiet squeak of the rubber soles approaching quickly across the tiled floor. The man bore down on him with a small knife in his right hand. His face filled with determination and eyes focused on Andy.

  Andy spun while stepping away using his backpack to try fend off his attacker.

  The man swatted the backpack away and down with his left hand.

  Andy held on to the backpack and jumped backwards as the man lunged forward with the knife and nearly made contact with his stomach.

  Andy’s heart raced and his chest tightened. He used his backpack to push the knife to the side then followed it with a swift kick aimed at his attacker’s stomach.

  The attacker hadn’t seen the kick coming, as it made contact he was, momentarily, forced backwards on to his heels. He was quick to regain his balance and, before Andy realized how close his attacker had got to him, the knife was thrust into Andy’s thigh.

  The pain didn’t register immediately as he watched the knife penetrate deep into the fleshy area. He brought the backpack round again so that the corner edge of his aging, heavy computer made solid contact with his attacker’s head causing him to gasp and release his grip on the knife. Andy saw the first signs of blood appear before he felt pain radiate from the wound. He didn’t have time to do think so continued to use his backpack as a weapon, striking his attacker and throwing him off balance.

  Andy could just about stand with the intense pain and knew he had to push through the pain or he wouldn’t be the one looking down at the next body on the floor. With new resolve be swung the backpack over his shoulder and brought it down with as much force as he could muster on his attacker’s head.

  His attacker saw it coming and used his left arm to absorb most of the energy giving him time to straighten-up and shoulder-charge Andy. The heavy blow knocked the wind out of Andy’s lungs pushing him hard against the hand basins. His attacker was now so close Andy could smell the sweet scent of his aftershave.

  In desperation, Andy thrust his head forward and made direct contact on the bridge of his attacker’s nose, a sickening crack was heard and blood gushed out of each nostril. His attacker was stunned and staggered backwards, his right hand holding his broken nose trying to stem the flow of the blood.

  Andy took full advantage of his attacker’s momentary lapse of concentration and, drawing his right fist back and, with as much effort and accuracy as he could muster, he delivered a direct hit to the attacker’s windpipe, making him bend double clutching his throat with his left hand. His attacker yelped with pain while emitting gurgling noises as he struggled to breathe.

  His attacker wasn’t finished yet. He moved in a blur and struck like a prize fighter, his fist slammed into Andy’s chest, knocking him backwards several feet. Now Andy was bent double, his chest exploded with pain.

  He couldn’t breathe.

  He wanted to vomit.

  Andy turned and staggered away from the sinks into a more open space, so his attacker couldn’t pin him against the hand basins again.

  His attacker rushed forwards and landed a powerful kick against Andy’s ribs sending him spinning backwards. As he spun his wounded leg gave way and he crashed into the cubicle he’d used only a few moments earlier. He fell heavily next to the toilet.

  Andy quickly sat up and realized he’d dropped his backpack.

  He saw it lying outside the cubicle and out of reach.

  His attacker paused for a second as he recovered from the blow to his throat. Then, he raised his arms to his front and charged at Andy.

  With Andy wounded and cornered in the cubicle, Andy’s attacker had the tactical advantage. His attacker rushed into the cubicle, his right fist drawn back ready to launch a powerful blow, he grabbed Andy’s jacket collar with his left hand pulling Andy to the right to give a clearer target to strike. His attacker’s right fist started to move forward then stopped, his eyes widening with surprise and he let out a soft groan.

  His attacker looked down at his chest. He saw the knife pushed in, hilt deep.

  Andy twisted the handle left and right before pulling the blade out. Arterial blood pumped from the wound and his attacker’s eyes lost focus and stared into the distance before his body fell heavily to the floor beside Andy.

  “Fuck you!” Andy cursed at the corpse.

  Andy removed his handkerchief and used it as a field dressing to stem the bleed from his thigh. He pressed it firmly in place with one hand and, with the other, quickly removed the neck tie from the dead assailant using it to secure the improvised dressing.

  Andy closed the lid on the toilet seat and using both hands raised himself up and sat on the seat where he steadied his breathing for a few moments.

  He checked on the wound, the bleeding had slowed.

  Andy struggled with his leg wound as he dragged the heavy body into the cubicle, and closed the door. The effort exhausted him, but he didn’t want to risk someone coming in before he’d searched the pockets. He found nothing of surprise: wallet, cell phone, passport and boarding pass for the same British Airways flight to New York. The UK passport and boarding pass were in the name of Paul Simms. In the wallet were several credit cards under the names, Simms, Talbot and Pascal, along with receipts from the UK, New Zealand and Switzerland.

  Blood had now soaked through the dressing and heavily stained his trousers. There was a risk he’d be stopped by the police as he walked through the terminal. Andy remembered his clothing had been packed away in his luggage bound for New York. He looked down at the body and saw a solution.

  He pulled himself upright, exited the cubicle and limped over to the attacker’s carry-on luggage. He pulled the case back into the cubicle, closed and locked the door behind him before he sat on the toilet seat. He was in luck: the case wasn’t locked. Inside was a pair of jeans which he removed. He held them up and checked their size, they were slightly too small, but it didn’t matter, he’d have to wear them regardless.

  Andy slid the tourniqu
et away and removed the handkerchief before he carefully pulled down his trousers and slowly took them off. In the attacker’s luggage his eye caught sight of a clean handkerchief. He pressed the clean handkerchief against the wound and used the tie to secure it, then squeezed himself into the attacker’s jeans. Andy’s frustration grew as the button on the waist wouldn’t fasten. He conceded they were too small for him. He breathed in as deeply as he could without passing out and made one final attempt, to his relief the waist button fastened.

  As Andy stood, he noticed the jeans were too long, Damn! He folded the bottoms up a good inch and slipped into own his shoes. They didn’t look too bad, but he didn’t want to have to bend over too many times. Andy reached inside the attackers case and removed a single sock then, placing his hand inside the sock, he picked up the knife and used the attacker’s jacket to wipe the blood and his fingerprints off it.

  He held it up and studied the knife closely, wondering how the attacker had been able to get a knife through the airport security.

  The knife had a thin blade and was surprisingly light. He realized, it was a ceramic knife and it wouldn’t show up on the airport scanners. He placed the knife in his pocket and, to slow the identification process, he kept his attacker’s wallet, boarding pass and passport. Andy removed the sock and placed it in his other pocket.

  There was a laptop in the case and he thought it would be useful to take it with him. If asked, he could just say it belonged to Mark. He’d get someone to crack the password and then, maybe, find out more about the dead man. He put it in his backpack.

  Andy opened the cubicle and placed the luggage outside before closing the door and locking it on the inside. He stood on the seat, gripped the top edge of the cubicle and struggled as he pulled himself up with as much strength as he could muster. His discomfort amplified by the thin metal edge at the top of the cubicle which dug into his hands and the tightness of the jeans.

  He swung his body to the left and raised his left leg as high as he could and kicked at the top of the cubicle. After several exhausting kicks he finally hooked his foot over the edge and used it as an extra lever to pull himself over. Moments later he’d lowered himself down into the adjacent cubicle.

  He stood on the toilet and used his sleeve to wipe away his fingerprints from the top of the cubicle. Andy knew it wouldn’t take the police long to lift a clean print, but he needed to buy himself as much time as possible. He wiped down the door handles of both cubicles. Andy looked back at the cubicle and was relieved that only when he bent down and glanced under the door could he see the body lying in a dark pool of blood.

  He stood and looked at his reflection in the in the wall-length mirror, he stepped closer to it and checked his appearance for blood stains. He used the sink to wash his hands and remove the blood stains from his right sleeve. Happy he’d removed most of the visible stains, he splashed his face with cold water. His ribs started to burn with pain and the leg wound throbbed as the adrenaline wore off. He looked at the sinks, fortunately they had sensors, so he’d not touched any taps, soap dispensers or air driers. Andy gathered his backpack, grabbed the dead man’s case and headed for the exit.

  To the right of the exit he saw a door with a discrete metal sign indicating it was the cleaner’s closet. Andy reached into his pocket and removed the sock and used it to pull at the door handle it opened easily. Andy scanned the small space and found what he needed. With the sock covering his hand, he picked up the cleaning sign and pushed the door closed with his elbow.

  As he left the restroom he placed the large yellow, ‘Out of Service – Cleaning in Progress’ sign outside the door and walked away as quickly as he could across the bustling terminal to the British Airways Lounge. To reduce the chances of his being noticed in the crowd and attracting unwanted attention, he focused his mind on walking without a limp. He moved quickly, with purpose, and tried not to grimace with each painful step.

  The lounge was located on an upper level and, much to Andy’s relief, it was reached by an escalator rather than stairs. At the entrance, two staff members checked his boarding pass and welcomed him to the lounge. Andy smiled as best as he could and made his way into the busy lounge where he looked for privacy in a quiet space.

  He found two unoccupied high-backed winged chairs, which faced each other to form a cubicle, a small table filled the space between the chairs. Andy placed his backpack down on one of the chairs and wheeled the attacker’s luggage to the edge of the table. His hands started to shake as fatigue and shock set in. He made his way to the restroom where he washed his face with cold water. Using paper towels to dry his face he took an extra towel which he used to retrieve the ceramic knife from his pocket and placed it in the bin along with the used towels.

  On re-entering the lounge, he went over to one of the many food counters and, after a quick scan of the options, selected two bread rolls and generously filled them with bacon. He scooped a large teaspoon of ketchup onto the side of his plate, grabbed a soda and returned to his seat. He tucked into the food and felt himself become less jittery as he fueled his body with a much needed shot of energy.

  Andy looked at the nearest flat screen display which showed departures and saw his flight number status had changed to ‘Boarding’. Andy used a paper napkin to wipe down the attacker’s luggage paying particular attention to the clasps, carrying handles and edges. Andy stood, grabbed his backpack and made his way out of the lounge, leaving the attacker’s luggage behind to be found by a staff member and handed in to lost property.

  CHAPTER 40

  The flight was delayed by twenty minutes as the airline made several announcements across the airport for: ‘Passenger Paul Simms in transit to New York’, please go to the gate as the aircraft has boarded’. Eventually, they gave up on Mr. Simms and off-loaded his luggage. The Captain apologized for the delay and announced that the aircraft would be pushing back shortly from the gate.

  As they approached their cruising altitude, the fasten seatbelt sign went out and Andy got to his feet and removed his backpack from the overhead storage bin. He put it on his seat, removed his cell phone and using a paper cloth in his hand, removed the attacker’s passport, boarding pass and wallet. He powered up his cell phone and took a photo of the ID page of the British passport. Next, he took a photos of the driver license and credit cards. He carefully wiped each item with a paper cloth before returning them to the wallet.

  Andy made his way to an unoccupied restroom. He locked the door and posted the wallet, passport and boarding pass into the waste chute. With the damning evidence disposed of, he sat on the toilet seat and slowly pulled his jeans down. He carefully inspected the knife wound. The handkerchief and tie had done a good job at stopping the bleed, the skin around the wound was bright red and warm to the touch. Angry purple-colored bruising had started to form across most of his thigh.

  Andy replaced the bloody handkerchief over the wound and re-secured it with the tie. Using a handrail attached to the wall of the cubicle, he pulled himself to his feet, grimacing as he stood. He pulled his jeans up and, after zipping them, decided not to struggle with the button, so he untucked his shirt and was relieved it covered the top of the jeans.

  He cleaned his teeth and left the cubicle. He returned to his seat to find it had been reclined into a flat bed with a thin mattress and duvet. Andy kicked off his shoes and lay down, the post adrenaline crash, the exertion from the fight, his nervous energy and his long day made it easy to fall asleep.

  ***

  Even with sore ribs and the agony of his thigh wound, Andy managed to sleep soundly through the flight, only to be woken by the cabin crew with a hot towel to help him freshen up as he came round. He yawned and checked the progress of the flight on the screen of his entertainment system and saw they were just over an hour out from JFK. The pilot had made up the time they’d lost with the aid of strong tail winds.

  The cabin crew brought his breakfast choice which they carefully placed on his table. Sitting u
pright, Andy tucked into his fresh juice, small bowl of granola and fry-up which he washed down with a black coffee. Leaving his seat for just a few minutes to freshen up and brush his teeth, Andy was pleased to see his breakfast tray had been removed and his bed put away when he returned. A fresh cup of hot black coffee was waiting for him on his table.

  Andy looked out of the cabin window in awe of the massive city which spread out for miles; its lights ablaze in the dark of the night. The skyscrapers grew larger, higher and brighter as the jet made its descent into the JFK airport. New York had a twenty-four-seven appetite which needed to be fed as more and more people moved in making the city grow both upwards and outwards to the suburbs.

  The large jet made a smooth landing on runway three-one-romeo. It quickly taxied across the airport to its gate at Terminal Seven. Andy looked out of the window and saw a Port Authority Police cruiser shadowing the jet, it’s strobe lights flashing in the darkness. He didn’t have a good feeling about this.

  There were four more Port Authority Police vehicles waiting as the British Airways jet pulled into the gate. He looked at the air bridge as it swung into place and saw at least half-a-dozen uniformed officers waiting with the ground crew for the passageway to connect.

  The talk in the cabin went quiet as an announcement came over the cabin intercom: “Ladies and Gentlemen. This is your Captain. Please keep your seat belts fastened and remain in your seats until you’re instructed otherwise by the crew. We have received a report of a security incident on board and the police will be entering the aircraft to deal with the issue.”

  Andy looked across and saw four of the cabin crew standing nearby, their gazes fixed on him.

  The Captain’s reassuring voice continued: “For your own safety and for the safety of your fellow passengers, please stay in your seats. Any passenger who interferes with the police or impedes their progress will be arrested. Thank you for your co-operation. We’ll have everyone disembarking as soon as we can.”