Lethal Promise

by Paul Stretton-Stephens

  You should know that there was an assassination attempt in an Islamabad hotel room last night where Mrs Marne and a man who goes by the name of Bryn Khan-Wright were both staying. The would-be assassin was killed. Mrs Marne is en route to Mauritius.

  Dom has had a successful couple of days, which has resulted in the capture of one of our players, Boris Fischer. Another, Carlos Vega Fernandez, was killed, along with eleven men and two women, and they captured seven others. Three police officers were injured, one seriously. The mansion was being used to store a large cache of weapons and explosives, and they’d set the basement up as a drugs factory. Also, two rooms were fully kitted out with a dozen computers. The place is pretty shot up as a result of the firefight and assault, but forensics are looking at the drives now. They found two heavy-duty safes on site and the security services are accessing their contents now. We should know soon what’s on the hard drives and in the safes. Incidentally, Mr Marne’s mother was nowhere to be seen. We assume that she’s at one of his other properties, but we don’t know which one at this stage.

  Bernie and our resident black hats are busy chasing Marne’s assets around the globe and they report that we’re getting close. Then we can begin some real disruption and heartache.

  “Boss, can we talk over here?” asked Fi, indicating a space away from the car. “There’s not a great deal on this phone. Except two texts that show that our man needs to be at somewhere called Maison du Miel et du Vin tomorrow at eleven a.m. And he needs to be smart and bring Javi with him.”

  “That would tie in with Abi’s message. She has intel that Marne will be holding a meeting there tomorrow lunchtime and Mrs Marne is flying in tonight.”

  Jago spent the next few minutes relaying Abi’s message to Fi before hatching a plan to recce the Marne residence.

  They loaded their backpacks onto the rear seat of the car and drove out into the bustling streets.

  ***

  As they approached the Marne residence they pulled over in a tree-lined area, and then set off on foot for the remaining distance. As they neared, they donned their NVGs and could see that it was a large, imposing, two-storey property. An armed guard manned the main gate, and they assumed there was at least one other guard on patrol. They waited and watched for an hour to determine the patrolling guard’s schedule. He circumnavigated the property every ten to twelve minutes. On every third round he stopped off at the gatehouse and chatted with his colleague for about five minutes.

  “Right, let’s take the east side of the house and see what measures are in place. But first deploy your MPDs,” instructed Jago.

  They both deployed their MPDs and broke cover, quickly crossing the small private road. They walked under the cover of abundant trees and shrubs running parallel to the property’s perimeter wall. The wall was about eight feet tall and broken glass was cemented into the top. Jago scaled a tall tree to get a better look over the fence. He could see lights on in the ground floor, and the two guards were still within his field of vision. He scanned right and observed a woman busy in the kitchen. It was far too dark for him to see the riverbank clearly. He returned to the ground.

  “There’s activity in the kitchen and lights are on in the ground floor. Either Marne never goes to bed or, as Abi reported, Mrs Marne is on her way and the staff are preparing for her. Let’s go down to the riverbank to see whether there’s any access that way.”

  They made their way down the narrow track to the river under cover of bushes and trees. The perimeter wall extended right up to the riverbank, and spiked steel rods were fixed in a wide arc to the wall’s outer edge, to prevent anyone climbing around and onto the property. On the other side of the wall was a single steel rod, approximately two and a half metres tall, with an infrared camera mounted upon it. It pointed in the direction of the riverbank.

  Jago appraised the situation. “We can assume, due to the width of the property, that there may be one or two other cameras along the riverbank. We can also assume that the gatehouse guard is the one monitoring the cameras. The mobile guard is on his third pass now and will most likely stop to chat to the gate guard. That will give us a chance to get past the cameras. I’ll get in the river and have a look at the camera situation first.”

  Jago entered the river close to the spiked rods. The water was still and the moonlight was reflected on its surface. He submerged himself up to his neck and swam slowly and silently. He used his NVGs effectively to monitor his approach. Slowly, he made his way around the rods to the riverbank of the property. The camera closest to him would have been detecting movement from ten metres or more away. He could also see a second camera, which was mounted on the rear of the house. It was directed straight out to the riverfront, and even if he assumed that it had a wide-angle perspective, it could still only detect anything along a twenty-metre stretch of the frontage. He swam upstream to check if there were any other cameras and their angles of view. He also checked to see if there were any infrared beams on the perimeter of the riverside property. There were none. He swam back to Fi and briefed her.

  “If we stick close to the camera’s support, we’ll be out of its scope of vision. Just keep a lookout for pressure plates. Let’s head for the east wall of the house, below the kitchen window.”

  Fi slid into the water and followed Jago up onto the riverbank. They made their way to the wall under the kitchen window, where they could hear a radio playing and movement from within. Jago looked at his watch. They had seven minutes before the guard passed their location. Jago placed his back against the wall of the house, bent his knees and cupped his hands together. Fi took a few paces back and ran at Jago. She stepped into his hands, sprang into the air with a lift from Jago, reached up and grabbed the bottom edge of the first-floor balcony.

  Having climbed over the balcony rail, Fi secured and lowered a black knotted rope, which Jago expertly climbed in seconds. They recovered the rope and both lay motionless on the balcony. Their only worries were their wet footprints and the fact they were slightly dripping from their rapid-dry clothing. The guard passed, with music piping through his earbuds, and they heard him strike up a conversation with the other guard in the distance.

  Fi set about opening the balcony window and climbed into what seemed to be a prepared guest room. The bed was made and neatly folded towels and flowers were placed on it. Jago entered the room and opened his dry bag and gave Fi a small towel. He and Fi dried off. Jago produced two mini-cams and a microphone and gave them to Fi. He then took two for himself.

  They listened at the door and heard nothing. But just as they were about to open the bedroom door, they heard the kitchen door open. They froze. The sound of the radio in the kitchen was louder, and judging by the noises, a maid was doing her chores. They calculated that the maid would be below them and out of sight, and that the additional noise would give them cover to leave the room.

  Fi went to the left and Jago to the right. They found themselves on a landing area, off which were five bedrooms and two bathrooms. One part of the landing formed a balcony overlooking a large, open-plan room with high beams that ran both ways across the length of the room, and rotating fans. The room was empty and the lights were off. Fi climbed over the railing and balanced on a beam. She attached a mini-cam to the centre of a fan, and strategically placed a slimline omnidirectional microphone alongside a beam-mounted light and its power cable. Fortunately, she could secrete the small power pack on the back of the light. She then traversed a beam, hung with bended knees and placed a mini-cam in the mouth of a wall-mounted deer’s head. She climbed back along the beam to the landing.

  Meanwhile, Jago had planted one mini-cam at the top of the stairs in a vent looking down the stairway. He climbed up onto a beam and placed the other looking down onto the kitchen door area.

  They reunited in the bedroom, where Jago had stashed his dry bag under the bed. He retrieved it and pulled out a monitor with an earpiece to test the cameras and microphone. He could faintly hear the music emanatin
g from the kitchen.

  They watched the guard through the window and timed their exit to perfection. Upon returning to the car, Jago saw that their captive had received half a dozen missed calls from his partner. Jago listened to the messages, all of which reported that he and Fi were still in their room and that Javi needed picking up at the front of the hotel.

  “What did the messages say, Boss?”

  “Our man wants picking up at the front of the hotel. It would be a shame not to oblige, don’t you think?”

  Chapter 33

  Fi dropped Jago off on a side road by the hotel.

  “Give me three minutes to get into position and I’ll call you,” said Jago. “Let it ring three times before driving around to the forecourt.”

  “Okay, will do, Boss.”

  Jago entered the hotel through a side door that led into the bar and briskly walked through to the main lobby. Half-asleep, Javi sat close to the main door. Jago called Fi and watched. A couple of minutes later, Javi rose to his feet at the sight of the Mercedes saloon. He walked out to the front, and Jago appeared behind him and stuck his pistol in Javi’s ribs.

  “Get in without a fuss.”

  Fi pulled up, and Jago bundled Javi into the back seat, pushing his face into the seats. He searched Javi and took his mobile phone and a four-inch folded blade before cuffing his hands behind his back.

  Fi drove out into the darkness of the countryside for about thirty minutes before pulling over at the side of the road near some trees. She turned the engine off and left the car to survey the area. Except for the slight balmy breeze, the only sounds were from the abundant nocturnal creatures. There were no buildings in the vicinity and no street lights, just the blanket of stars.

  Jago alighted from the car and joined Fi. “These guys need to be at Marne’s residence tomorrow; to prevent them from attending, we need to secure them somewhere remote. Let’s tie Javi up and put him with his friend. Then we’ll try to find somewhere.”

  Fi opened the rear door. “Javi, come on out.”

  Javi shuffled along the seat and swung his legs around. Fi grabbed his jacket and heaved him out of the car.

  “Turn around,” ordered Fi.

  “But why? What are you going to do? I just watch and report – nothing else, I swear.”

  “So, what can you tell us? What have you watched recently?”

  She pulled out her mobile and set it to record, then turned him to face her.

  Javi looked downwards, inwardly reflecting on what he should and should not say.

  “Look, Javi, we haven’t got all day. There are two ways of looking at your situation. We’re not from here, so there’s no chance of us bumping into each other again. Equally, we’re not bothered if we have to put a bullet in your head and leave you right here. What you tell us may help determine your future.”

  “But if I tell you certain things, my employer will still be here and there’ll be repercussions,” said Javi with a worried tone.”

  “But that’s in the future, Javi. Nobody knows what will happen in the future. But if what you tell us now helps us, maybe it can change your future. Imagine we take out your boss. If that happens, there are no more repercussions for you and you are your own boss. We’ll be gone, and we’re all happy. On the other hand …”

  “Yes, yes, I understand.”

  Jago butted in, “What do you understand, Javi? I mean, do you really understand? We need answers and we need them now. Are you the person to give us those answers?”

  “Where’s my partner?”

  “Where do you think he is?” replied Jago, setting Javi thinking about the demise of his friend.

  Javi stared up to the heavens and took a deep breath. “Okay, okay, I’ll tell you.”

  “That’s better. Now we’re getting somewhere at last.”

  Javi swallowed hard. “There’s an old factory at the foot of the Long Mountain on the side of Creve Coeur. It’s been out of use as a factory for many years. It has a cave on the west wall that goes deep into the mountain.”

  “Who owns the factory?” asked Jago.

  “The boss does. You won’t see his name on any of the paperwork, as it’s all done through shell companies. But he owns it all right. The cave is used for storage.”

  “Okay, don’t keep us in suspense – what do they store there?”

  Javi hesitated and Fi said encouragingly, “Don’t stop now, Javi. You’re doing well.”

  He looked at her and then down to the ground. “It used to be stolen stuff transported here ready for redistribution, normally high-value goods that were stored for a while and then moved on. But in the last year or more, they’ve been storing heavy-duty kit – you know, military-grade equipment, weapons and tons of ammunition. So much so they’ve placed armed guards within the factory. And they’re not islanders, they’re professionals from outside – mainly Asian, which means they can mix well with our people in and about the towns.”

  Jago fetched a map of the island from the front seat. He located Creve Coeur on the map and showed Javi with his finger. “Where exactly is this factory?”

  “Go left past the Pied La Fourche and go left at the fork. It’s about five hundred metres on the left. The main office of the factory is on two floors at the front of the building and it’s painted blue.”

  “And tomorrow, what’s happening at the boss’s residence tomorrow, Javi? What’s so important about the meeting?”

  Javi looked nervous. “Haven’t I told you enough?”

  “No, Javi, you haven’t,” said Jago. “There’s something you’re not telling us. You don’t want to end up like your friend, do you?”

  Javi’s eyes closed. “Okay, okay. There’s a meeting tomorrow with all the major investors in the Asian Envelope Project.”

  “Will these be legitimate investors or are we talking false investors, or terrorists even?”

  “Yes, there are legitimate investors, but they have no morals. There are some very bad people involved. I don’t know if they are terrorists, but they could be, judging by their previous behaviour.”

  “How many of them are there, and what was your role?”

  “There should be the boss and his wife; she oversees most of the operational side of things. She’s always away; we never really see her. Although we know that she’ll do anything for money and power. There are two elderly gentlemen, one from Europe – Switzerland or Austria, I think – and the other is a South African. There are three men who pray together. I don’t know where they come from. I’ve heard them say Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Spain frequently, but I couldn’t be sure. All three bring at least two bodyguards with them.”

  “Are there any more?”

  “There are normally two or three other people who don’t physically attend. They connect through a conference call. One man has an English accent and must be thirty to forty years of age. He’s smart with his words and always leaves the others wondering what they’ve agreed to. He also seems to travel a great deal. The three who pray together call him Eajib Wahid.”

  Jago thought and understood the Arabic name to mean ‘the marvellous or wondrous one’.

  Javi continued, “The other two participants are both American women, and one is very young.”

  “The Asian Envelope Project, what does this mean?”

  “I don’t know exactly. It’s something they’ve set up to choose the next projects. I think they all make their proposals and they place these in an envelope. At the end of each meeting they draw two, and these are the projects for the next six months to a year, depending upon the size of the project.”

  Jago eyed Javi with suspicion. “Javi, you seem well informed about all of this. How is that so? What is your real involvement in these meetings?”

  Javi realised that the level of detail he’d conveyed had enabled Jago and Fi to understand that he was not the simple watcher he’d made out he was.

  “My brother and I do some surveillance for the boss, but we’re al
so his aides. In the meetings we set up all the recording and cellular-blocking equipment. Then we encrypt the transcripts and provide a copy for each person in attendance. We’re in the room when it all takes place, listening and watching certain people for the boss and monitoring the equipment.”

  “And you have copies of the recordings?” asked Fi.

  “Of course, we do. We’re in debt, not stupid; it’s our insurance policy. Some of these people are very bad people. Other aides have disappeared, and we don’t want the same to happen to us … well, just me now.”

  Jago moved on. “Javi, what countermeasures do they take? Do they sweep before meetings?”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

  “Do they look for hidden microphones, cameras, bugs and things like that?”

  “Oh that, that’s done by my friend’s uncle. He does it for all the businesspeople who come to the island for meetings. There’s a law that says you can’t bring in this kind of equipment without a permit, which doesn’t exist. He searches visually and has a little handheld meter that’s about a hundred years old. He charges some extortionate fee for an hour’s work that’s useless. The last time we had him in before a meeting, we found him with his feet up on the table, half-asleep. I could do a much better job.”

  Javi’s last comment made Jago think.

  “Javi, are you happy doing what you’re doing, or would you like to do something with better pay and prospects? I mean, do you even get paid well?”

  “No, we get paid a pittance. You see, I’ve been trying to get out of this for four years already. I only got into it because my stupid brother ran up a gambling debt at the boss’s casino and he had to repay it with work. I helped him to reduce the time he needed to work.”