Abi called Dom. “Hi, Dom. I can confirm that the images you sent me were of Mr Boris Fischer and his accompanying staff. Interestingly, the bodyguard shows up as a James Walker. He’s American and served in the US Rangers. The PA is Barbara Pugh, an ex-librarian no less. Is there anything to report?”
“No, nothing. It’s all quiet – too quiet. You know when you get the feeling that something’s not quite right?”
“Yes, I hear you. You be careful out there. Oh, wait a minute. I’m getting a message through from our liaison in Gold Command. It reads: ‘Stop identified targets at all costs. Cavalry on way. ETA twenty-five minutes.’ Did you get that, Dom?”
“Yes, I heard. I’m on my way. I’ll disable the helicopter. Can you at least get the local police to close the road or something?”
“I’ll do what I can. Be careful, Dom.”
“I’ll try.”
Dom packed up his gear and ran back to the cottage to collect his weapons and a prepacked backpack. He checked his weapons quickly, slung his MP5 over his shoulder and then jumped onto his SilentHawk motorcycle, which, fortunately, was silent. He rode at speed the short distance to the mansion entrance, where he found the gates open. As he rode up the long, tree-lined drive to the main house, another helicopter, a red and white one, crossed the sky ahead of him. It was coming in to land. He quickly pulled over into the trees and ran to the edge of the tree line. He took out his monocular and called Abi.
“Abi, I’m just on my way to disable the helicopter and another is coming in to land. I’m not sure that photos taken at this distance without my scope would be of any use to you, so I’ll describe the players. Stand by … Okay, we have two, possibly three bodyguards and our man in the centre is about five foot six or seven. He has an abundance of short, dark hair. He’s wearing sunglasses, white shirt, green sweater and beige trousers. He’s carrying a tan-leather man bag.”
Abi immediately replied, “Dom, the description matches that of Carlos Vega Fernandez. Approach with caution. His bodyguards are all ex-mercenaries. Where are they going?”
“They’re entering the house through the main door, like the others did. I take it you want me to disable their chopper too?”
“If you would be so kind, sir. I’ll contact the approaching teams and update them.”
“Right, I’m off to do my good deed for the day.”
Chapter 31
Dom returned to his motorcycle and rode to the low outbuildings that housed the garage. Sneaking inside, he found two vehicles, a four-by-four and a large saloon car. He attached a silencer to his pistol and shot out all the tyres on both vehicles. He peered out of one of the dirty windows in the garage doors and saw that both pilots were walking away from him. They were deep in conversation.
He left the garage, mounted the SilentHawk and rode on the grass at low speed towards the helicopters. He was careful to avoid the gravelled drive because of the noise. As he neared the aircraft, he looked for the pilots. They remained out of sight, walking in the grounds. He parked his bike on the far side of the helicopters, away from the house, and approached them on foot.
He grabbed two small packs of C4 explosive with timers from his backpack and placed one in each cockpit. He set the timers for one minute, before returning to his motorcycle – at which point a man ran over towards him, shouting, with a gun in his hand. Dom took the line directly away from the running man and rode farther into the grounds. He looked at his watch: only twenty seconds left before the explosives ignited. He stopped, turned and watched from afar as the first helicopter exploded, closely followed by the other, and the running man ran no more.
Dom rode to the edge of the tree line and watched as the bodyguards came running out of the house. Then, behind them, came five men carrying boxes. It was as if they were getting ready to board the helicopters with some of their goods. Two of the bodyguards ran to the garage to commandeer a vehicle. Dom smiled to himself when he noticed that they didn’t look happy as they exited.
He rode along the track through the woods towards the main drive and stopped briefly to take a call from Abi.
“Dom, the cavalry is a short distance away. Can you keep eyes on and meet them at the top of the drive? Bernie is searching for the schematics of the building and we’ll get back to you ASAP.”
“Sure, tell them I’ll be on the left-hand side of the drive. What’s their ETA? Because our friends here are getting ready to leave.”
“Their ETA is … nine minutes. I repeat, their ETA is nine minutes. Can you hold them until that time?”
“I’ll do my best, like I always do.”
Dom took up position and watched the mayhem resulting from his actions. Two bodyguards ran towards the main drive; they had obviously been tasked with finding transport. Dom waited until they were out of sight of the main entrance and just ten metres away from him, and then, using his silenced pistol, he shot into the ground in front of the men. They froze momentarily and then went to reach for their weapons.
“Now don’t do that, not if you want to stay alive. Put your hands behind your head.”
The men complied slowly, trying to work out what was happening.
“That’s it. Now walk this way, towards my voice, nice and slow.”
Both men obeyed, their eyes searching the shrubbery for the voice that commanded them.
“Okay, that’s far enough. Get down on your knees, both of you. Now you, the one wearing a red tie, with one hand slowly reach for your gun and pull it out with forefinger and thumb, and then toss it over here into the bushes.”
The man complied without question.
“That’s good. And place your hands behind your head again. Okay, you without a tie, you do the same, and no funny business because I won’t hesitate to shoot you.”
The man reached inside his jacket for his gun, but then he dived to the ground as he produced his pistol. Dom shot him twice, and then quickly trained his weapon on the other man.
“Don’t you move a muscle, or you’ll get the same. Like I said, I won’t hesitate to shoot.”
Dom threw the kneeling man some PlastiCuffs. “Lie on your belly and put your hands behind your back and through the cuffs.”
The man followed the instructions, and Dom emerged from the bushes with his pistol still trained on the man. Dom placed a foot in the small of the man’s back, bent down and pulled the cuffs tight. He then held the man’s arm, helped him to stand and led him into the bushes, where he cuffed his ankles together and used the man’s tie as a makeshift gag to prevent him from calling out. Dom then returned to drag the wounded man into cover. Before moving him, he checked his vital signs and found that was breathing, albeit shallow. He moved him into the bushes and applied dressings to the entry and exit wounds and made the casualty comfortable.
Abi called. “Dom, we’re sending the schematics and there’s one thing you should know. It looks as though there’s an underground tunnel which emerges approximately half a mile directly to the south of the house. On the satellite image it looks to be obscured by landscaped trees and shrubs, but we can see tracks leading to that area from the road about three hundred metres away.”
“Thanks for that. I can hear the cavalry coming now and I’ll brief them.”
As the vehicles drew near, Dom stepped to the edge of the trees where they could see him. He identified himself and explained the situation to the police commander, before joining him in the lead vehicle. The four vehicles took up positions at each corner of the mansion, and teams of armed officers alighted and trained their weapons on the building. The commander had told Dom that two more vehicles were staging a checkpoint on the road leading to the main gate and that another two were on standby. Dom asked that the commander deploy one vehicle to the end of the track south of the mansion.
As one team prepared to enter through the main door, Dom heard the rotors of a helicopter approaching. It hovered above the mansion as the team entered the building. And then the people inside the cellar broke the wi
ndows and fired shots at the officers. The officers ran for cover and then returned fire. As they did so, they took fire from the rooftop. Someone on the rooftop was shooting at the police helicopter too, and it veered away to the south to avoid the contact.
Another team entered the large mansion, and Dom knew it would take a while to clear the building. He tapped the commander on the shoulder.
“Look, I think this could be a diversion while the others get away down the tunnel. I’ll go and support those officers. If I’m right, they’ll need all the help they can get. How many officers did you deploy in that vehicle?”
“There are four per vehicle. Do you really think this could be a distraction?”
“Look at it this way. Those shooting out of the windows are the foot soldiers, and you might get lucky and seize a chem factory or a cache of arms, but you won’t get the generals. They’ll be long gone, and to insure themselves, they’ll have their best men with them. Your four officers won’t stand a chance. They won’t know what’s hit them.”
The commander evaluated Dom’s words. “Okay, I’ll deploy two more vehicles. You go and they’ll follow. I’ll also get the helicopter pilot to maintain surveillance in that area. We’ll know soon enough.”
“Thanks, Commander. I’ll see you later.”
Dom jumped on his motorcycle. Knowing the police were to the southeast of the tunnel entrance, he headed silently to the southwest. He found a spot behind some large ferns to park his bike out of sight. He edged forward to get a closer look at the tunnel entrance and he could just make out a police officer crouched on one knee in the distance. The commander had made them aware that Dom was in the area and providing support.
Dom observed the lichen-covered entrance, which was partially obscured by other overgrown vegetation. The distant firefight continued, with the occasional flashbang explosion. Then, suddenly, an armed man cautiously emerged from the tunnel. And then two others joined him. The three knelt at the entrance of the tunnel, looking down the track and scanning all around. The police officers had slowly retreated into the foliage, as had Dom, at the first signs of life. All three of the men held automatic weapons in a position which showed that they had training. They waited and listened. They were taking no chances.
Dom focused his vision. The delicate fern leaves gave him enough room to see and sufficient cover to conceal him. One man got to his feet and stepped outside of the tunnel, close to the foliage, while the other men stayed in their positions at the entrance. The man on foot walked cautiously, scanning the area about five metres to the west of the tunnel. He seemed satisfied, and turned and picked up his pace to check the east side of the tunnel. He repeated the action, walking about five metres past the tunnel entrance on the track. When he saw no suspicious movement, he returned to the tunnel entrance. He now stood right in the middle of the entrance with an armed man either side of him, and he beckoned to others within the tunnel. But then he heard a helicopter drawing near, and the man motioned for everybody to move back into the tunnel until the helicopter had passed.
Within a few minutes, the three heavily armed men were escorting their armed bosses out of the tunnel and in a westerly direction along the track – towards the armed police unit. They had carefully walked about thirty metres when the police challenged them and a firefight ensued.
Dom stayed put, waiting for the dregs to come his way. He didn’t have to wait long before a bodyguard came running towards him with his boss. Dom waited until they were a few metres ahead of him and then let rip with a short burst into the ground in front of them. They had already passed the tunnel entrance and had nowhere to go. Dom gave instructions from behind the fern.
“Toss your weapons and lie face down on the ground.”
The bodyguard looked at his boss for guidance. The man nodded his head and threw his weapon into the undergrowth. The bodyguard followed suit, and both men lay flat on the ground.
Another man was running up behind them, escaping the firefight. When he could see that his two friends were lying on the ground, he ran back into the tunnel. Dom could hear shots from within the tunnel: the police entry teams had cleared most of the building and were now working their way down the tunnel.
Dom threw a couple of PlastiCuffs on the ground and instructed the elder of the two, the boss, to apply the cuffs to the younger man first. This he did reluctantly. He then lay on the ground with his hands behind his back as Dom emerged and fixed his cuffs in place. By this time a police team was emerging from the tunnel and meeting up with another team from the firefight.
Dom approached the police teams. “Is everyone all right?”
A policeman removed his face mask. “We’ve arrested one from the firefight and neutralised the others. We have three officers wounded, which was lucky considering the firepower they had. And you, are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m good, and I have two for you. Neither of them are wounded. One of them is a highly trained bodyguard, so keep a good close eye on him, and the other is of significant interest to several countries and international police forces, so don’t let him out of your sight. I’m going now, if that’s okay with you, as I need to see what’s been going on in the mansion.”
A policeman who had just emerged from the tunnel chipped into the conversation. “You name it and it’s been happening in that mansion. There’s a chem factory in there, enough weapons to start a war and enough money to fund the country for many years. Most of it is in the cellar, but there are suites of computers in some rooms. But no sign of any old lady. I bet she’s long gone.”
Chapter 32
Jago and Fi arrived at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport in Mauritius and collected their rental car. Abi had booked them into the Waterfront Hotel in the capital, Port Louis, and Jago entered the coordinates into the car’s satnav. Fi finished loading the luggage into the car.
“Fi, can you make sure that the response kit is within reach, please?”
“It is, Boss, it’s in the centre of the footwell behind us and within easy reach. I see that we have company too. Dark-skinned male; black trousers and cream patterned shirt, and plimsoles. He’s been close since we left the booking desk.”
“And his friend is driving the silver Mercedes parked over there. Can you get the gear ready to set up the front and rear mini-cams while we’re underway?”
“I’m on it.”
After a few minutes, Jago and Fi were leaving the airport and setting out on their forty-five-minute journey. In the rear-view mirror Jago watched as the Mercedes stopped to pick up the man in the cream patterned shirt and then followed at a not-so-discreet distance. Jago kept an eye on his tail and carried on as normal.
Upon arrival at the hotel, Jago parked in the car park. Fi tested that the car’s mini-cams were streaming footage to their mobile phones. They functioned well, and having booked in to their room, Fi and Jago could see that one of their followers remained in the Mercedes in the car park, close to their car, while the other must have entered the hotel. He was probably in the lobby, monitoring their movements.
Jago and Fi each took a small rucksack with the items they needed for a short excursion into the night. They left their hotel suite and used the fire escape stairs to descend the five floors to the parking area. They flanked the Mercedes and its lone occupant, who was smoking with the windows down. Fi approached from the passenger side and leaned into the window.
“You must be really bored out here all on your own,” said Fi.
The man looked startled and didn’t know what to do.
“Look, we’ve come to keep you company. Now just keep your hands on the dashboard where we can see them.”
Jago appeared on the driver’s side and tasered the unsuspecting target. They quickly tied him up and gagged him, searched him, and put him in the boot of his car.
“Fi, can you check his mobile phone while I check this message from Abi.”
“Sure, no problem. Do we have his access PIN?”
�
��No, but I’m sure you’ll persuade him to give it to you.”
Fi opened the boot of the car and the man set his eyes on her.
“Listen, I will only ask this once. Do you understand?”
The man made to shrug his shoulders and opened his eyes a little wider.
“I’ll take that as a yes. I want you to give me the PIN to access your mobile phone. Remember, I’m only asking you this once.”
She waited for a reaction from the man. There was none.
“I haven’t got all day.”
The man said nothing behind his gag.
“Very well, have it your way.”
Fi unsheathed her combat knife. She grabbed the binding around his ankles and swung his legs around so they were hanging out of the car boot. She removed the sandal from his right foot, firmly hooked her arm around his ankles and applied pressure with the blade of the knife to his little toe. He wriggled, to try to pull away from her as she cut into his toe. He grimaced, then cried out in agony through his gag. Fi stopped short of taking the whole toe off and looked him in the eye. He was nodding furiously.
“That’s better; we understand each other. I’m just going to remove your gag, and all I want you to tell me is what I asked you, nothing more.”
She pulled him towards her and removed the gag.
Struggling for breath and sweating profusely, the man gave the information: “One-three-two-three. There, you have it, but now I need—”
Fi replaced the gag. “I told you, nothing but the PIN number.”
She made sure his bindings were secure and closed the boot. She entered the PIN number and searched the phone.
Meanwhile, Jago was absorbing the message from Abi:
Boss, we have intel that Augustus Marne and his wife, Flur, will be holding a meeting of some sort tomorrow at lunchtime. This will be at their private residence, Maison du Miel et du Vin, on the banks of The Rivière du Rempart. I’ve sent you the coordinates separately. Three private jets have arrived this evening, one of which I assume is yours. Another three are due throughout the night. Apparently, this is unusual.
Lethal Promise Page 20