Lethal Promise

by Paul Stretton-Stephens

  “I see. Wait one and don’t move.”

  Jago looked up the street to see the jogger cautiously heading his way. He called Mikey on the radio.

  “How close are you to your target? Over.”

  “I’m right behind him. Over.”

  “That’s good. Keep going, but try not to kill him. He’s on our side.”

  “Roger that. Out.”

  Jago removed the muzzle from the driver’s head but kept the weapon trained on him. Brolin breathed a huge sigh of relief.

  “Brolin, it seems we’re on the same side, and I don’t like to shoot our own – unless I have to, that is. Now slowly pass me your weapon and your ID. Pass the weapon by holding the barrel.”

  Meanwhile, Mikey’s target took cover beside a building about thirty metres away. Mikey closed in with his weapon ready for use.

  Mikey drew closer. “DROP THE WEAPON NOW.”

  The jogger froze momentarily, before deciding to drop the weapon.

  “That’s good. Now get on your knees with your hands behind your head.”

  Confused, the jogger asked, “Why didn’t you kill me?”

  “Because, according to my partner over there, we’re on the same side.”

  Surprised, the jogger turned to face Mikey. “But …”

  “Yes, I know. These things happen, mate. What’s your name?”

  “Peter.”

  “Right, Peter, for the moment keep your hands where they are and get to your feet. Then slowly walk towards your partner and mine.”

  Peter complied, and Mikey picked up Peter’s weapon as he walked behind.

  Jago waited until Mikey and Peter had reached him.

  “Mikey, sit him against the wall,” instructed Jago. “Brolin, you get out of the car and sit beside him. Oh, and give me the detonator.”

  Brolin alighted from the vehicle and reluctantly handed Jago a mobile phone.

  “Cuff them for now, Mikey. I want to have a chat with them.”

  Jago covered the pair as Mikey applied the cuffs. Then Jago squatted down to their level to look them in the eye as he talked.

  “How much explosive is in the car?”

  “There’s enough to take out the car and the ground-floor apartment,” answered Brolin.

  “Really? Why on earth would you use that much?”

  “He wanted to be sure.”

  “Who’s he? Bennet?”

  Brolin’s eyes widened at Bennet’s name.

  “Oh, so it was Bennet. Do you know where he is right this minute?”

  “No, sir, we don’t,” piped up Peter.

  “Where do you think he is? Come on, humour me.”

  The pair thought before Brolin answered, “I guess he’ll be in Perth.”

  “When did you last report in and when do you need to report in next?”

  Brolin sighed heavily. “Look, he told us you were terrorists planning an attack. We didn’t know who you really are.”

  Mikey intervened: “I’m curious. What were you briefed about me?”

  “He told us you were a rogue agent who was in league with an international organisation responsible for the massacre near Perth, and that your partner was a British assassin deployed here to eliminate the investigating officers. We were only following orders.”

  “Okay, so when did you last report in and when do you need to report in next?” asked Jago impatiently.

  “I messaged Bennet at 0800 hours and I need to message him when the job’s done.”

  “And what’s the code to confirm the kill?”

  “It’s a strange one. I have to message that the red line has been erased.”

  Jago fell silent for a moment, deep in thought. “What if I told you that Bennet is within five minutes’ walk of here? I watched him eat his breakfast this morning when you” – Jago pointed at Peter – “were following me.”

  Surprised, the two men didn’t answer.

  “How did you know where to find us?” asked Jago.

  “He sent us the coordinates and your photos.”

  “Coordinates, eh? I wonder. Mikey, what do you always have with you, no matter what?”

  “Err, I guess that would be my mobile phone. But I turn the tracking off.”

  “Take off the casing and look inside for anything unusual. What else is there? What about your keys? Do you have a keyring?”

  Mikey was disassembling his mobile phone and carefully inspecting it. “Yes, but the keyring is made of solid steel.”

  Jago walked around. He was thinking hard. “What about your holster, shoes?”

  “There’s nothing in the phone.”

  Mikey unclipped his holster and magazine pouches and inspected them rigorously. He removed his shoes and looked for signs of tampering.

  “The shoes are good, and the holster and pouches are clean too. What about the Glock? Can you track a Glock?”

  “That’s it, your pistol. Has it been in for a service or revision recently?”

  “Yes, it went into the armoury last month. Why?” Then Mikey realised: “They were supposed to return it the same day, but the technician took ill and I had to wait for two days until he could return it.”

  “Let me see your pistol.”

  Jago expertly disassembled the Glock on the pavement and inspected every part. And then he found it: a small electronic sensor concealed inside the hilt of the weapon.

  “This piece of kit relays your information to a central point. It can even tell if you’ve unholstered your weapon, the direction you’re pointing it in and when you’ve fired a round. It gives a full report of place, date and time of everything. They designed it to protect law enforcement, but it would appear that Bennet is using it another way.”

  “I can’t believe the lengths that man will go to, to cover himself,” said Mikey incredulously.

  Jago turned to the two agents. “Look, I’d love to trust you more, but we haven’t got time. I hope you’ll understand. Your work is done here and I need you to stay in our apartment until we’ve done our job. We’ll come back for you later.”

  Mikey and Jago helped the two men to their feet and walked them to the apartment block. Once inside the apartment, Jago and Mikey secured Brolin and Peter as comfortably as possible given the circumstances.

  “What now?” asked Mikey as he and Jago left the apartment.

  “Bennet will be expecting a big bang and we’re going to give him one. Let’s transfer the bomb to their vehicle and park it in that open space farther down the road. Then we’ll detonate it and call it in as a job done. But first let me have your pistol.”

  Jago carefully removed the tracking device.

  “We’ll leave the device in the car. When it explodes the signal will die, and that will be one more confirmation for Bennet.”

  The pair set about putting their plan into effect, and within half an hour they were ready to leave for Mossman Gorge.

  “Mikey, can you check with Shaza one more time before we do this? I want to ensure that Bennet’s still around to hear the explosion and that he’s still planning to go on his trip.”

  “Sure, give me a few minutes.”

  They sat in their Toyota waiting for a reply from Shaza. Then the phone vibrated.

  “She says he’s in the hotel lobby with the rest of the party waiting for the transport to arrive. And he seems to be alone,” said Mikey.

  “Right, let’s detonate and get out of here. Can you ask her to describe the transport when it arrives?”

  “Yeah, no worries.”

  Chapter 43

  “Have you put on your Deet repellent, Mikey?” asked Jago. He was standing at the rear of the vehicle in the corner of the Mossman Gorge car park.

  “Yeah, I lathered a load on earlier. You get all sorts of crawlies out here that want to take a chunk out of you. You know about the stinging tree, don’t you?”

  “Yes, that’s the one with the heart-shaped leaf, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah. It can give you a bad sting. I remember
the first time I was up here. I was with my wife and we went on a guided walk. The guide nearly scared us out of our wits. He said if we got stung by a stinging tree, he couldn’t guarantee getting us to a hospital in time.”

  “He was a bit dramatic, wasn’t he?”

  “Yeah, but it worked on us all and he had no problems after that.”

  “I spoke to one of the park guys over at the centre and he told me that all the tours congregate in the east car park where there are bigger bays for larger vehicles. He also gave me the route of the explorer tour that Bennet is on. They go north for about two kilometres, follow the gorge for another kilometre and then head west towards the Finlay Vale Road, before returning in a southerly direction, creating a circular route.”

  “Where do you suggest we meet Captain Bennet?”

  “I’d like to shadow the group from one of the parallel tracks for a while and see what he’s up to. If it is a meet, we could have more company than we bargained for, so I think it’s best to wait it out until they move south. Then we’ll find somewhere suitable to separate him from the group.”

  “That sounds like a plan. I’ll follow you, seeing as you know what you’re doing.”

  Both of the men were wearing Australian military multi-camouflage clothing and magazine pouches. They were also both carrying a small multi-cam backpack. Within minutes of entering the jungle foliage, they were invisible to the untrained eye. They picked up the parallel track they’d planned for and waited silently for Bennet’s group to appear.

  They had been in position, within some fern-like plants at the base of some tall trees, for about forty minutes when a noisy, multicoloured group of people appeared on the lower track.

  Jago scanned the group with a high-powered monocular. There was a uniformed guide front and back of the group of ten. They stopped periodically and gathered around one guide, who was no doubt imparting his wisdom of the area.

  Mikey made eye contact with Jago, and Jago ever so slightly shook his head from side to side. They waited.

  Thirty minutes later, another group appeared. The two guides, one male, one female, wore different uniforms, and their T-shirts had ‘Explorer Tours’ emblazoned upon them. Jago studied the twelve, one of whom was clearly Captain Bennet, dressed in a pair of long beige trousers, a grey short-sleeved shirt and a green jungle hat. He was carrying a small navy-blue backpack and a camera case. He looked like a real tourist.

  Both Jago and Mikey made eye contact once again and Jago nodded his head in confirmation. Their vantage point enabled them to watch the group for about half a kilometre without having to move. As soon as it became apparent that they would lose their view, they moved stealthily along the track, keeping the group in view.

  They’d been shadowing the group for about two and a half hours when the group stopped beside the gently flowing water in a wide part of the river. Most of the group, except the guides, Bennet and one woman, took to the water. Bennet, camera in hand, wandered around the periphery, taking the odd photo. Then Jago spied a man approaching Bennet. He looked to be alone, and as far as Jago could tell from their body language and eye contact, the two men gave the impression of knowing one another. Jago kept watch, and there it was – the subtle exchange of what appeared to be identical cameras.

  The man disappeared into the jungle and Bennet nonchalantly returned to the group and studied the flip-out screen on the camera. He seemed agitated, looking back in the direction of where he and the man had made the exchange. The members of the group in the water were enjoying themselves, and the lone woman was chatting with the guides and taking photos of the rest of the group. Jago watched as Bennet took one guide to the side and spoke with him. The guide pointed back down the path from where they’d come and Bennet set off that way on his own. Initially, he strolled, but as soon as he was out of sight of the guides, he quickened his pace, and Jago and Mikey rapidly covered ground on their track.

  Jago paused to walk alongside Mikey. “We’ll intercept him after the bend. Our track cuts the corner and we can drop to his level before he rounds it,” advised Jago in a low tone.

  “Okay, you’re the boss.”

  They continued at pace, glimpsing Bennet now and then through the dense undergrowth. As their track swept inwards, they lost sight of Bennet. They raced ahead and descended. They approached the lower track. Bennet was nowhere to be seen yet. Jago crossed the track and concealed himself in the foliage, while Mikey positioned himself facing the direction from which Bennet would emerge.

  A minute later, there was Bennet. He was running with a rhythmic cadence, eyes fixed firmly ahead. He was twenty-five metres away when Jago fired a single suppressed shot into the earth at his feet. Instinctively, Bennet dived for cover and anxiously removed his backpack. He took out a Glock 22 while assessing his options.

  “Bennet, you may as well come out. There’s nowhere to hide,” called out Jago as he raised his head and weapon slightly to get a better fix on Bennet.

  Bennet scurried to his left, into dense cover, and Mikey, upon seeing the movement in the undergrowth, fired a short burst, forcing Bennet to return to his original position.

  “You can understand someone setting up a retirement plan, can’t you, Jago. I mean, you’re a private entity,” called Bennet.

  “I can understand investment and financial planning, but not when it’s illegal and when lives are lost in the process. Do you realise how many of those people have life-changing injuries?”

  “Yes, I do. And I am sorry for that. I didn’t know their plan fully. I just helped divert resources on the day.”

  “But you took the money, and I bet you didn’t return it, did you?”

  There was silence.

  Jago signalled for Mikey to close in on Bennet as he continued, “By the way, Bennet, have you checked your account in the last couple of days?”

  Mikey crept along the ground slowly, all the while maintaining a visual ahead in Bennet’s direction.

  “What do you mean?” asked Bennet. “There’s no way you could access my accounts.”

  “Really? Wait a second.”

  Jago took out his mobile and read from the email Abi had sent him. “Account number 255938020, Cayman Atlas Banking, amount 9.2 million US dollars. Clydesdale Finance, Isle of Man, account number 733956791, 3.2 million US dollars. Need I go on?”

  There was a long pause. “Okay, so you found the accounts, so what?”

  “Oh, Bennet, you really don’t understand who you’re dealing with, do you? We’ve emptied your accounts for you – all of them.”

  “No, you can’t have emptied them all. It’s not possible.”

  “Well, that’s where you’re wrong. All that money has gone to the trust fund to help the injured people and the families of those who died in the massacre. How does it feel to have been so generous to such a good cause, Bennet?”

  Bennet couldn’t believe his ears. His money all gone, everything he’d put his job and life on the line for wasted. Anger welled up inside him and he steadily rose to his feet and ran towards Jago’s voice. He fired into the foliage where he thought Jago’s voice had come from.

  Jago appeared right of that position, taking careful aim at Bennet. Bennet redirected his firing towards Jago, who held his ground. Jago gently squeezed the trigger and fired a short burst, hitting Bennet directly in the chest. Simultaneously, Mikey fired a single round that thumped into the side of Bennet’s torso.

  The force of the rounds impacting his body rotated Bennet awkwardly as he fell, and he came to rest, gasping beside the track. Jago and Mikey advanced. Bennet was still alive and grasping his pistol. Jago stomped on his hand and kicked away the pistol. He knelt down by Bennet, who stared at him.

  “You helped destroy my life with Rebecca. For God’s sake, you accompanied me to the morgue, you sick bastard, and you helped those who hurt my friends and all of those other people. You are scum.”

  Bennet tried to utter something but it was unintelligible.

  �
�Save your words; we don’t want to hear them.” Jago turned. “Mikey, check the track, would you?”

  “Sure,” replied Mikey without hesitation.

  Jago withdrew his combat knife and plunged it upwards and diagonally under Bennet’s sternum, twisting it once until the blade was in up to the hilt. Bennet’s body tensed upon the blade’s impact and his face contorted in agony as Jago twisted and removed the steel. Jago wiped the blade on Bennet’s clothing.

  Jago spoke in a low tone, “I’m going now, Benny. You’ve got what you deserved, as have the others, and now I will bury my Rebecca. I’m satisfied that you’re dead, or will be in, I don’t know, less than an hour maybe. Now I’m just going to take your pistol, mobile, keys, camera … oh, and your backpack. And then I’ll roll you over into the undergrowth a bit more and cover you up. We wouldn’t want any little do-gooders coming along and finding you, would we? I mean, if they whisked you off to hospital and saved you, that wouldn’t do at all. No, best to cover you up, and let you suffer and die in peace.”

  Mikey returned to find Jago concealing Bennet.

  “Is he dead?”

  “No, not quite.”

  “Aren’t we going to make sure before we go?”

  “He’ll be dead soon enough with three bullets in him and a stab wound to the heart.”

  Mikey was insistent: “I’d prefer to know for sure before we leave. Wouldn’t you?”

  Jago moved to one side. “Be my guest, Mikey. He’s all yours.”

  Jago didn’t think Mikey would do anything, but to his surprise Mikey stepped forward and shot Bennet in the back of the head twice.

  “There, he’s dead now.”

  “Do you feel better now?” Jago asked.

  “I do, as a matter of fact. That bastard tried to have me killed more than once.”

  They fully concealed Bennet’s body, and then gathered his gear and took it with them back to their vehicle.

  “I want to see what it was on the camera that spooked Bennet at the river,” said Jago curiously as he opened the flip-out screen.

  He flicked through some inconsequential images and then the last few taken.