Assassin (The Billionaire Series) (13 page)

Tom then phoned his grandparents who were as bewildered as Tom
and Lela and knew nothing more.

Zach and his father had stayed with them but Tom insisted they
go and have some fun, there was nothing they could do. General Powers repeated
that if there was anything he could do to help, Tom was just to ask.

As they made their way out of the building, they caught up
with the Air Force aide who updated the General.

“General, I just got a call from our pilot. The plane is
fixed, they thought we were still there and were waiting for us. I’m sorry but
I neglected to tell them that we were flying ahead.”

“No problem, keeps them on their toes! Are they on their way?”

“Yes, they will just have taken off.”

“Dad, I thought you were staying for a while, you’ve only been
here an hour,” said Zach despondently.

“Don’t worry, we’re not leaving until tonight, I just prefer
to have my guys nearby and on standby.”

“So what shall we do now? Do you want to see the Special
Forces Base?” said a more cheerful Zach.

“No let’s leave that ‘til later, I’d love to look around this
school of yours. Maybe meet some of your friends. Work can wait for now.”

***

“It’s done and the plane is getting prepped to leave,” said
Jones. “Nobody suspects a thing.

“Good. When will it happen?” asked Beaumont.

“The plane will explode as soon as it hits 12,000 feet.”

“Where are you now?”

“We’re just about to take off. We want to get as far away from
here as we can before it happens. We’ll be back in the Congo in about four
hours.”

“OK, let me know when you land, I may have another job for you
sooner than expected.”

Beaumont hung up. He had already begun the handover procedure
for General Powers’ position. The new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was
on standby for his appointment by the President. It normally took some time to
appoint a new military boss and questions would be asked. However, Beaumont had
already covered this with a statement he had prepared for the President,
 
should any challenge be made.

Chapter 29

Tom and Lela spent the afternoon watching the TV and waiting
for a phone call which would tell them that their parents’ arrest had been a
huge mistake. When the news report was interrupted by more breaking news on the
Kennedy case, their spirits lifted. It could only be good news, it couldn’t be
any worse. But it was an update on the evidence which had been released to the
UK government and totally justified the arrest of its most prominent
businessman. The reporter could not give many details, explaining that the TV
station had received the information from a ‘reliable’ source inside the
government. In other words, a leak.

“This can’t be real, can it Tom?” asked Lela with tears
rolling down her cheeks. She had managed to remain fairly calm for the previous
few hours but this was too much. Their parents were accused of corporate
manslaughter and if convicted, would be sentenced to life imprisonment.

“It is real Lela. But it’s complete bullshit!” Tom was very
angry and was struggling to control himself.

Tristan knocked gently on the door and opened it, he had just
watched the same news story.

“Jesus guys! What the hell is going on? This is nuts! How can
anyone think your parents can be involved in this?” Tristan was visibly upset,
Donald was his godfather.

“Have you spoken to your dad? What’s he doing about this?” Tom
couldn’t understand why Tristan’s father, Roger, the British Prime Minister,
had not got his parents out of prison and out of Africa.

“Yes but very briefly. He’s doing everything he can. In fact,
he’s doing nothing else. He knows very well that your dad wasn’t responsible
for this.”

“For God sake Tristan, it’s a tiny African country. Just tell
them to back off. I don’t understand why this is happening…” Tom couldn’t
finish his sentence, he just broke down. Lela moved over and hugged him,
gesturing to Tristan to leave them just now. He nodded and quietly left the
room, closing the door on his way out.

Mr Sakamoto, The Academy’s Headmaster and old family friend,
almost crashed into Tristan as he came careering down the corridor. He threw
Tom’s door open and rushed inside.

“Oh my God, I’m sorry, I’ve just heard the news. I’ve been
locked in my office all morning catching up on paperwork. What’s the latest?”

Tom pulled himself together and filled him in on everything
right up to the conversation with Tristan.

“OK, let’s make some calls and see what we can find out.” He
shut the door and sat down next to the phone.

Chapter 30

“My God it’s 6.00 p.m. already. We need to go soon,” said
General Powers.

Zach and his father had spent the whole afternoon looking
around the school buildings, grounds, and marina. The General and his staff
were very impressed, they had never seen anywhere like it. General Powers had
thought that Zach had exaggerated a little about the school’s facilities but he
now realised that Zach had actually undersold it. It was amazing.

“OK, I’ll take you to the airfield, we can stop at the Special
Forces Base on the way,” said Zach who was driving the golf cart. His father’s
aide and secretary were sitting in the back and had said little over the
previous four hours other than, amazing, wow and spectacular.

Zach drew the golf cart to a stop at the gates. He knew all
the soldiers well, particularly the American ones. They always made sure they
kept the boss’ son happy. However, the gate was manned by a German KSK
(Kommando Spezialkraefte) soldier, whom he didn’t know. Zach and his father had
agreed that they would try to surprise the base’s Commanding Officer. He was a
Delta Force lieutenant Colonel and an old friend of General Powers.
Fortunately, the General and his staff were in civilian clothes so the young
German guard didn’t recognise the visitors and in particular, the General.

“Hi, is Colonel Jackson available please?” asked Zach to the
ramrod straight guard.

“Who may I ask is asking?” he responded.

“Zach Powers,” he replied. The guard motioned to the other
three passengers, “and friends” added Zach.

He picked up the phone and buzzed the HQ. Two seconds later,
he was speaking to Colonel Jackson.

“Sir, I have a Zach Powers and…” the German was interrupted
before he could mention the three friends.

“Jesus man, send him straight through!” said Colonel Jackson.

The guard replaced the phone, lifted the barrier and pointed
to where Zach should go. They sped through the base as fast as the cart would
take them and pulled up outside the HQ building. Zach led the way through the
corridors and tapped gently on the Colonel’s door.

“Come in, come in,” he ushered.

As Zach opened the door and entered, the Colonel came towards
him.

“Jesus Zach, how you doin’ son? You holdin’ up OK?” The
Colonel gave Zach a huge hug and wouldn’t let go. He whispered how sorry he
was, over and over again.

“Hey, Colonel, I’m OK. But are you OK? ”
 

Zach had never seen him so emotional and didn’t understand the
need for such a huge hug and what on earth was he sorry about?

Such was his emotional state that the Colonel hadn’t noticed
his other guests, patiently standing in the doorway.

The General had been watching the Colonel and was as bemused
by his behaviour as Zach was.

“What the hell has come over you man?” boomed General Powers.

The Colonel froze at the sound of the General’s voice. He
looked up and stepped back, visibly shaken. A second later, under the gaze of
four bemused faces, he finally smiled.

“Oh my God! Thank God! Am I pleased to see you! I knew it
couldn’t be true! General Powers killed in a plane crash? Never! It would take
a nuclear missile up your ass to kill you, you son of a bitch!” The Colonel
opened his arms and walked over to hug the General.

But the General stepped back.

“We’ll have none of that nonsense Colonel. What the hell are
you talking about? What plane crash?” he asked.

The Colonel explained that he had literally just received notification
from Washington that the General had been involved in a tragic accident. He was
told that the General’s aircraft had crashed soon after take-off from Durban,
killing all on board. He was instructed that the news was being suppressed
until all ranking officers in the US forces were informed.

“My God! If weren’t for the fact that
 
Zach’s friend picked us up, we would
have been on the plane. Are you sure there were no survivors? And what caused
the crash? ” asked the General.

“No survivors and I don’t know,” replied the Colonel.

The General was stunned. The realisation that his flight crew
were all dead hit him hard. The Colonel continued to read the statement he had
received from the President.

“In this troubled time, it is imperative, in the interests
of national security, that no chink in the US’s armour is shown. I have
therefore taken the unprecedented decision to immediately appoint General
Powers’ replacement. With immediate effect, Admiral Harold Walker will assume
the title of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

The Colonel stopped reading. There was more but he knew that
the General had heard enough.

“What in the hell is going on??!! Walker…, why would they give
that weaselly little turd my job?” The General’s mind was racing. “Give me that
phone,” he snapped. He was now shaking with fury.

“Get me the President,” he barked to the Whitehouse
receptionist.

“Who may I say is calling,” she responded professionally,
ignoring the General’s rudeness.

“Tell him it’s
one
of his
ChairMEN
of the Joint Chiefs.”

Missing the relevance of his emphasis, the receptionist put
the call through as a call from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

The President was in the middle of a call from the Russian
President and would be another minute. Beaumont had entered the Oval office as
the call from the General had come through and decided to take it for the
President.

“Hi Harold, how are you settling in? Congratulations on the
promotion,” he said cheerfully.

“I’ll HAROLD YOU!! GET THAT IDIOT BOSS OF YOURS ON THE PHONE
NOW!!! BEFORE I COME OVER THERE AND RIP YOU A NEW ASSHOLE!!!”

Not many people scared Beaumont but the tones of General
Powers’ screaming voice chilled him to the core. His face dropped. The
President, seeing the look of dread on Beaumont’s face, distanced the phone
from his ear and left the Russian president talking to thin air. Beaumont did
the same and the General’s expletives could clearly be heard through the
earpiece. The President mouthed “who is it?” Beaumont responded, “Powers.” The
President dropped the Russian president on the floor, the full impact of the
situation hitting him. He too was scared of General Powers.

As Beaumont rescued the Russian President from the floor, a
tentative President and boss of General Powers took the phone, his hand visibly
shaking. The torrent from the General was even worse than expected and he
thanked God that the man was 9,000 miles away.

The General pulled the phone away from his ear and screamed
for his aide. They had all left General Powers to it, their eardrums could not
take the abuse.

“Yes General,” said the aide on entering the room.

“Get me a scramjet, I want to get back to Washington
yesterday.”

“Yes Sir.”

The General ended the call to the president informing him he
would be back in 2 hours and would be straight over to see him.

***

Back in Washington, a very worried and very angry President
replaced the receiver and turned to Beaumont.

“What the hell have you done Beaumont?! The man was merely a
liability, now he’s a full blown enemy. He’ll never forgive me for this, he
hates Walker. The fact that I chose him as his replacement has really pissed
him off. What the hell happened? How the hell could you get it so wrong? Why
didn’t you know Powers wasn’t on the plane? Wasn’t even in Durban?! What an almighty
mess! How can you be so stupid?”

Beaumont stood speechless. This was not good. His mind was
working through the permutations. This really, really was not good. General
Powers was a very powerful man and very astute. The President was right, Powers
had been a liability but now he was dangerous. He would be watching their every
move. If only they hadn’t announced Walker. That was their biggest mistake from
which it would be difficult to recover and it was all his fault. He, Beaumont,
had pushed hard for it.

The emergency red phone buzzed on the President’s desk. He
grabbed it, what next? The digitised voice of The Chairman of the Committee was
instantly recognisable. He wasn’t taking this call on his own and put the phone
on speaker.

“Beaumont’s here as well,” said the President. The Chairman
did not mince his words and expressed his astonishment at their incompetence.
He was also extremely concerned at the cavalier change in the timetable and how
dare this be done without his knowledge. Both knew by the end of the call that
they could not afford to make another mistake no matter how minor. Not because
they sensed it but because The Chairman spelled out exactly what would happen
to them if they did.

***

The scramjet arrived at the island thirty minutes later. It
had been stationed at Diego Garcia airbase, a secluded airbase located in the
middle of the Indian Ocean. Although the airbase was well-known, it was almost
1000 miles from nearest landfall and only accessible by military transport.