Scavenger Hunt

by Barry Buckingham

  Dave waited until the bike was about a hundred metres in front before pulling away from the kerb.

  Lucy kept an eye on him as he weaved through the procession of trucks, cars and bikes that crowded the roads.

  “It looks like our little friend is heading out of the city, probably to get his family and make a break for it," Dave said, as he dropped back.

  "Stay close. I think I know where he’s going, but we’ll watch him, just to see!” Bob said.

  As they followed through the traffic, Dave started to realise how ordered the roads were back in the UK.

  “I won’t miss driving out here, that’s for sure,” he thought.

  Just then, another moped darted across their front, nearly causing them to swerve into oncoming traffic. Dave shouted a few choice words, then set off again.

  “Shit I’ve lost him!”

  “Turn right at the crossroads ahead, Dave,” Lucy prompted. He threw the heavy vehicle into the turn. The back end twitched slightly, but the four-wheel drive kept it on track.

  "There," Lucy pointed. "Four hundred metres ahead."

  “Nice one, Lucy.”

  “Nicely spotted, sis. Don’t get too close, Dave, I've got a sneaky suspicion that near miss wasn’t an accident!”

  Thirty minutes later after weaving through traffic, losing him once but picking him up again near the Saddam Hussein monument, they ended up on the other side of Baghdad. Anshu pulled up outside a gate that led up to a big plush house. Dumping his bike against a wall, he had a quick look up and down, then darted inside. Dave pulled over, turning down a side street opposite the road Anshu went down.

  They waited for a few minutes, to see if he came out again.

  “I’m going to go in from the back, you two take the front door," Bob said, laying out his plan. He took three walkie-talkies out of a bag. Lucy and Dave went towards the front gate.

  They walked down the opposite side of the street to his moped and hid behind a wall adjacent to the gate he'd gone through. As they were waiting for Bob to signal he was in position, Dave said to Lucy, “I’m going to let the air out of his tyres, wait here.”

  He looked up and down the street, then jumped the wall, walked up the road about fifty metres, and was about to cross when someone shouted from behind him. He froze, putting his hand inside his clothes he gripped his handgun. He waited a few moments, then turned slowly, ready for a shootout. It was an old lady babbling something. She was pointing at the path he'd walked on, looking down. Dave realised he was standing on her freshly cleaned path, so he put his hands up, and said, “Sorry".

  She looked at him, huffed, turned and went back into her house.

  “Shit!” he thought, “I just said sorry in bloody English.” He looked around and crossed the road, then looked over at Lucy, “All clear?” he mouthed.

  She stuck her thumb up.

  Dave went along the wall to the moped and let the air out of both tyres, and for good measure, took the HT wire off and snapped the spark plug.

  “Try and run off now, you little shit!” he thought.

  Dave was about to go back to Lucy when he heard shouting. It was coming from the house Anshu had gone into. He didn’t understand it but got the drift that someone was telling someone to pack and move. He heard 'English' and 'suitcase' mentioned and realised he was getting ready to run again.

  He got back to Lucy and called Bob. “He’s packing up and moving out. And it sounds like he still has the suitcase!”

  “Okay. Let’s move in now. I’m round the back. There's a kid getting out of the swimming pool and running inside, there’s also a woman with a baby, must be his wife. Lucy, get the car. When we get him out we can’t stick around!”

  “Okay," she replied.

  Dave went in through the front gate, up the path and waited by the front door. Bob picked up his phone and speed dialled, waited for a reply, then said, “Stand-by. We have a possible on the suitcase.” He waited for the man on the other end to confirm, then hung up.

  Bob looked up, “Hope you’re watching, big brother because this could get dirty.”

  He went over the wall and headed straight for the back door. “Dave, are you in position?”

  “Yes! At the front door now.”

  “What can you see?”

  “The hall’s clear," he said, peering through the glass front door, “but there’s loads of noise coming from the back.”

  “Anshu's in the kitchen with a woman and the two kids. I’ll go in when I see you at the kitchen door.”

  “Roger.”

  Dave took a deep breath. He could feel the adrenalin building, the buzz running through his body. He slowly turned the handle on the door, it opened with a slight squeak. He stopped and waited a few moments. No one responded, so he pushed the door open.

  He went in on the left side, hugging the wall.

  There was a room on his right, a few paces up the hall. He took a deep breath, counted to two, and stuck his head in. “Clear,” he thought, letting out a deep breath.

  Moving slowly towards the kitchen, his handgun ready, he kept glancing behind, then stopped at the kitchen door, which was open.

  Anshu and the others hadn't noticed him, but he could see Bob peering through the corner of one of the windows. Bob spotted Dave and nodded. He stood back and then walked forward and kicked the back door open.

  Anshu and the woman froze, Bob had his weapon pointing at Anshu’s head. “Get on the floor, now!” he shouted.

  The kid and the woman started screaming and crying, but Anshu shouted, “Shut up!” It seemed to work, the woman went quiet, the kid stood there sobbing. Anshu looked at Bob, then said something and the lady and kid got down.

  They stared at the two men in their house. Dave looked at them, they were petrified, but the woman looked calm. He thought, “There’s something about her that’s not quite right!”

  Dave went round and grabbed Anshu by the scruff of his neck. It was at that point he got the impression Anshu hadn't seen him, as he jumped out of his skin when he was grabbed.

  The woman looked around at Dave, the look on her face didn’t change.

  “She’s one cool bitch, or we’re definitely missing something here,” he thought.

  Bob looked at Anshu, “Tell me where the suitcase is, now! Or I will cut your other hand off!”

  The woman pointed at a cupboard and started shouting at Anshu. He told her to shut up again. Dave realised he was speaking bloody good English. Dave nodded, indicating to Bob at the way Anshu was sweating.

  Dave went over and opened the doors slowly, standing to one side. As soon as they opened, the little badges they'd been given by Diane, started to beep. Dave looked at his and watched as it changed colour.

  “Close the cupboard door,” Bob shouted.

  It stopped beeping straight away.

  “Shit!” Bob cursed. “That thing’s leaking like a sieve!” He got on his phone and speed dialled the number again. “Positive on the suitcase, but it’s activated our badges.”

  “Copied that. Hold position,” came the reply. Meanwhile, Anshu kept looking from Bob to Dave. Bob warned him, “Anshu. If you make a move I'll shoot you where you stand, in front of your kids. Do you understand?”

  Anshu nodded and seemed to relax, but he was still sweating.

  The man on the phone spoke to Bob for a few moments, Bob repeated the instructions, and said, “Okay. ETA four hours at pickup point one. Be advised there will be seven to pick-up: two children, five adults.” He hung up, “Let’s go.”

  “What about the suitcase?” Dave asked.

  “If it’s on the roof of the car it won’t hurt us. We’ve got to get to the pickup point near the lake.”

  “Okay.” Dave looked at Anshu, and said, “Get the suitcase. Take it to the car.”

  Anshu hesitated, but Bob said, “It’s either that or we get your wife to carry it, your choice!” Anshu looked at the woman, smiled, then got it out of the cupboard and carried it out.
<
br />   He placed it on the car roof, and they gave him a blanket to put over it and some bungees to secure it. When he’d finished, they took his wife and kids and put them in the boot compartment. They tied Anshu’s one hand, to his right foot and told him to keep quiet. Bob saying, “If you cause any trouble, you and your wife will be out on the road with a big sign explaining how you helped us.”

  The badges were going bonkers when Anshu got the case out of the cupboard but stopped beeping when they got in the car. Overall, they must have been exposed for about twenty minutes.

  The journey to the pickup point took about three and a half hours. They had to drive back to Baghdad, then on to the lake. Anshu dealt with the checkpoints, he co-operated well, but then again, he did have a gun pushed into his side.

  At the lake, Bob got out, walked away from the car and got his phone out, holding it up above him. He waited twenty seconds before it rang.

  “What took you so long?” he said, sarcastically.

  “Do you still have the case?” the caller asked, ignoring his comment.

  “No doubt you’ve watched us all the way here, so you know the answer to that one.”

  “Do you still have the case?” the caller asked again.

  “Yes. We do still have the case. Are you on your way to get us?”

  “The recovery teams left three and a half hours ago, they should be at your position in twelve minutes. They’ll be coming in from the west.”

  Bob looked over and gave the thumbs up, so Dave got out and joined him, saying to Anshu before he walked off, “If you don't want your other foot shooting,” he looked at Lucy and nodded, “then don’t do anything daft. Got it?”

  Anshu nodded, his eyes wide, looking at Lucy smiling.

  Dave opened the boot and Anshu fell out onto the floor, cursing. He spat at Dave boots. Dave was about to kick him, when, Bob said, “He’s not worth it, Dave. Get him up and bring him over here. He can sit next to the case.”

  A few minutes later, Bob said, "Ten minutes out. When it gets here, you and Lucy get on with the two kids, I’ll bring Anshu and his wife. They’ve got people who’ll come and get the suitcase.”

  "Bob, remember John, back when we found the diamonds?” Dave said, sounding concerned.

  “I know what you’re thinking, Anshu looks the same,” he said, looking at Anshu.

  They went over to Anshu, Bob asked, “How’d you get the suitcase?”

  “You really don’t know who you have, do you?" Anshu sneered. "You’re nothing but a bunch of fucking amateurs!" he cursed.

  “What happened to the "OK" then?” Dave said, looking at him.

  “I think we may have inadvertently caught the leader of the little group he’s been going on about,” Bob smiled.

  As he said this, right on schedule, two Chinooks came in low and fast, circled round and landed in a cloud of dust and sand. The back ramps came down and twenty soldiers came out and took up positions around the aircraft. Four men in NBC suits and respirators followed and went straight for the suitcase.

  Lucy and Dave took the kids on first, Bob followed with Anshu and his wife. The men in the NBC suits put the suitcase into another larger suitcase and climbed back in the other Chinook. The soldiers followed them in and they took off, hugging the roofs the way they had come in. All in all, it took seven minutes.

  Once they were airborne, Dave tried not to think about what had happened the last time they'd got in one of these. When he looked over at Bob, his face was saying the same as Dave was thinking. Lucy, though, had the biggest smile Bob and Dave had seen for a few weeks.

  She looked at Bob, "So, this is how you used to travel?”

  Bob smiled and nodded.

  Dave looked out the side window and spotted two Apache gunships in front, two behind and two F18 Super Hornets over-top, circling. He sat back and started to relax, and thought to himself, “Don’t relax too much, Dave, not till we’re on the ground!”

  They headed out to sea where there was an American aircraft carrier waiting, landing right at the end of the ship. The back ramp of the Chinook opened up and they were met by a team of fully armed soldiers, who put them in their sights. They told, in no uncertain terms, that if they move they would be shot.

  They stayed there until the suitcase was off the other Chinook and on its way to wherever it was going, then Anshu and his wife were escorted with their kids to the sickbay at one end of the ship. Bob, Dave and Lucy were escorted to the other end.

  They were given full medicals and briefed on where they could and couldn’t go on the ship. They were shown to their bunks. Basically, they were put in a four-man cabin and told it would be their home for the duration of their stay. Once they'd showered and had some food, they were given a health and safety brief followed by a guided tour of the ship. They were also told if anyone heard them calling it a boat, they’d be thrown overboard!

  Dave felt the ship move off, and thought, “It’s over, thank God!”

  ****

  Two days later, they were flown the short trip back to Abu Dhabi, where they were escorted to their hotel.

  Dave asked their hosts why they didn’t simply take them back there in the first place and was told "Security protocols.” They had to make sure they were who they said they were. Also, the extra time allowed them to make sure the radiation hadn't affected them too much before letting them go.

  55

  Lucy fell on to Bob's bed and started crying. Bob and Dave let her be for a while. When she’d settled down, Bob went and spoke to her.

  "Hard few days, aye, Sis?"

  “I’m thinking of poor Harry. And those kids, what are they going to do now? They must be so scared, it wasn’t their fault.”

  Bob gave her a hug.

  “The contact from the embassy will be here tomorrow to debrief us, she can tell you what’s going to happen to the kids. So for now, we have to stay put.” He got up and went to the door, “Get some sleep, you’ll feel better in the morning. You did good, goodnight. Love you.”

  The next morning, Diane turned up at ten. She took one look at Dave, smiled and looked to Bob. “The suitcase has been sent for tests, it will then be decommissioned.” She looked at Lucy, and said, “Taken apart.”

  “Thank you," Lucy mouthed. “Anshu will end up in jail somewhere in America. He'll be a political prisoner. Seems our Anshu had a hidden agenda, turns out he didn’t like the West. He blames them for the death of his family and his friends and has been acting out his revenge ever since. He’s been working for the Taliban for years, setting up soldiers, destroying convoys, basically anything to upset the peace process. So don’t feel bad for him.”

  “What about the kids?” Lucy asked.

  “The kids and their mother will end up in America somewhere, or wherever their mum wants to go. She didn’t know anything about any of it, pretty naïve really, but that’s the way they live!"

  “Good," Lucy smiled.

  Dave butted in at this point. “Diane, I know you think I’m an idiot, but the mum, there’s something not right about her. She seemed too calm.”

  “Rest assured, Dave, we have some of the best negotiators in the business working on this and they’ve said she’s clean. Now, as for you three.” They waited for the charges to be read out, and the goon squad to march in and arrest them all. “Thank you! That’s from the British, and American governments for a job well done.”

  Dave looked at her, “Is that it? Just thank you. No threats? No, You will not come back to the U.K., you will not pass go!”

  “We could send you all to prison if you prefer! Or have you shot! Your choice, Dave.”

  Dave slunk back in the chair and shut up.

  “Good choice. Now, we’re flying you back today, you have one hour to get ready.”

  "What about the money?” Bob asked.

  “What money?" she smiled. "Oh, I nearly forgot, we picked up the man who was with Mr Graham, he was boarding a ferry at Dover. No sign of our Mr Graham though. So agai
n, thank you.”

  Dave stood and looked at Diane, he was about to say something, when she stopped, turned and looked at him. She smiled, moved her jacket to one side and showed him her sidearm, then left.

  Bob and Lucy laughed. Bob said, “Beer, mate?”

  “No, Champagne!” Lucy cried.

  “Now you’re talking, Lucy,” Dave said.

  They headed down to the bar for a drink, before heading out to the foyer to wait for their lift.

  56

  The flight back was long but comfortable. They landed at Heathrow early the next morning, in torrential rain. They got soaked walking to the transport that took them to the terminal.

  Bob said, “Good old Blighty, you can always guarantee a good soaking after a holiday.”

  Lucy looked at him and smiled, “You know, Bobby, I think I might get used to this travelling lark. Do you fancy going somewhere else soon?”

  “As long as it’s not hot,” Dave said.

  They both looked at him and started laughing.

  To everyone’s delight on the bus, they did a little dance in a puddle that had formed by the door. A couple of bemused marshals stood and watched them for a few moments, then ushered them onboard.

  They got the train to Kings Cross and then up to Peterborough, they jumped into a taxi and headed back to Docking. Lucy was about to say to the taxi driver where they were going when he turned around and smiled. “Hello, it’s the, "you haven’t seen my gang”. You all look nicely tanned, have a good holiday?”

  They looked at each other, got out and went to the next taxi along, but before the other taxi driver could move off, their first taxi driver got out of his cab and came and opened the door of the taxi they got in. He apologised to the driver, looked at the three of them, and said, “This one is on me. I’ve just dropped a fare off so I’m going back anyway. Would you like a lift?”

  The driver was about to say something, but took one look at him and turned around and looked out the front.

  "Why not?” Lucy smiled. Bob and Dave just shrugged.

  On the way home, he tried to make small talk, mainly directed towards Lucy. Dave smirked at his attempt to hit on her. Lucy wasn’t having any of it and blanked him.