Assassin (The Billionaire Series) (19 page)

“What can we do?” asked Donald.

“Nothing. When it starts, we just need to get to Rachel and
you stay behind me, OK.”

They didn’t have long to wait, the shouts soon grew to screams
as the first bout of fighting began.

Chapter 44

“I see them,” said Kano. “They’re just on the edge of the
beach.”

“How many?” asked Papa.

They had all dropped to the ground and were now moving away
from the point where they had been spotted. All except for Kano and Kisho, who
had moved towards the sea to try to see who was there.

“About fifteen, hold on, they’re coming towards me.” He
stopped transmitting. He and Kisho lay still as they watched the soldiers move
past them.

The soldiers were all dressed in black covert operations’ gear
and had thermal imaging equipment although it appeared they were happy not to
use it. They carried a mixture of weapons some with MP5 silenced submachine
guns, some with HK416 machine rifles complete with added grenade launchers. Two
of the soldiers were equipped with L96A1 sniper rifles and all carried Browning
Hi-Power pistols as they moved quietly and swiftly across the sand.

Just as they were passing, Kisho stood up. All fifteen
soldiers saw him and instantly levelled their weapons ready to fire.

“Not by strength, by guile,” whispered Kisho. Kano
understanding what he was doing, stood up also.

“Who the hell are you mate?” asked one of the soldiers.

“On your side I think. We’re here to get Donald Kennedy out.
You?” replied Kisho.

“I can’t say,” replied the soldier smiling, “what unit?” he
asked.

“Penarajans,” responded Kisho, knowing these were some of the
only men in the British forces who would know what he meant.

“Phew! Thank God you recognised us, or we’d all be dead. We’re
the SBS mate. Good to have you onboard,” replied the soldier who was the leader
of the team. “How many of you are there?”

“Eight,” replied Kisho.

“Jesus, I’ve never seen more than two of you guys in battle at
once and that was a sight to be seen, eight of you guys must be like a bloody
tornados hit.”

That was praise indeed. The SBS, the Special Boat Service, was
the lesser known of the UK Special Forces and some believed the best. You could
only gain entry after three years’ service in the Royal Marines which in itself
had a 30 week recruitment procedure seen as the toughest in the world. After
volunteering for the SBS, the volunteer would have to pass the SAS selection
and it didn’t stop there. They could then choose to join the SAS or continue on
to the SBS additional selection procedure. Failure rate was in the 90% region,
leaving only the toughest soldiers to join the small, secretive and extremely
capable unit.

“We spotted some soldiers on the way in but there was a young
girl with them, so it couldn’t be you guys. Have you seen them?”

“That was us, you spotted our cousin, Lela,” said Kano.

The looks said it all. What the hell were they doing bringing
a girl along?

“Trust me,” he said. “She could kick each and every one of
your arses, and ours and I don’t mean separately, I mean at once.”

Kisho could see their incredulous looks.
 

“He’s not kidding, she’s unbelievable, I’ve never seen
anything like it.”

The SBS soldiers who had experience of the Penarajans looked
at them in awe. The others continued to look at them as though they were mad.

“Kano, Kisho, what’s happening where are you?” called Papa
over the radio.

Kisho called back. “We have some help, there’s a squad of SBS
soldiers down here.”

“What the hell do
they
want?”

The SBS soldier overheard him.

“Tell him we come courtesy of the UK Prime Minister, he wants
Mr Kennedy released sooner than the Guineans are willing.”

Kisho began to answer. “I heard him,” interrupted Papa. “Are
they any good?”

The SBS squad heard the question and waited for Kisho to
answer, this should be interesting they thought. How did the Penarajans rate
them?

“Very,” replied Kisho knowing Papa’s next question would be
easier to answer.

“Ratio?” Papa asked. This was code for their rating of the
unit in respect to Penarajans, one Penarajan equalled how many of the other.
More simply, it meant how many of them would it take to beat an average
Penarajan.

“Four,” replied Kisho. Bloody hell thought Papa as he was
given the lowest ratio he had ever been given. It was normally around ten for
an average Penarajan. Of course, none of the Penarajans who had travelled to Equatorial
Guinea were in the average category. They were way above average with a couple
of exceptionals. Lela didn’t figure in the ratings, she had gone off the chart
the previous year and was, well, just Lela.

Suddenly, the rest of the islanders, including Lela, appeared
next to them. A couple of the SBS soldiers jumped as the islanders just seemed
to materialise from thin air. They all took a crafty glance at Lela, trying to
imagine how she could possibly kick their arses.

Papa quickly took control and scoped out the current
situation. The SBS were shocked to hear the number and quality of soldiers
protecting the prison. They had anticipated a very simple break-in and a fairly
easy extraction. Papa then laid out his proposed plan. The SBS looked it over and
soon agreed that it was very cleverly conceived. They called into London to get
the OK as they were deviating substantially from their original plan.

Chapter 45

The riot had started. The noise of shouting and screaming was
building up as the prisoners rampaged through their cell blocks. A guard ran
down the Kennedys’ corridor and began to unlock the cells. He wasn’t even
trying to hide what he was doing. The four prisoners next to Donald and Saki’s
cell wasted no time and pulled their cell door open. Saki stood ready. He was
delighted they had come to them first. His biggest worry had been Rachel in the
next cell. If their door had remained locked and hers open, they would have
been in big trouble.

The four men filled the cell. If there were any doubts as to
their intentions, they soon vanished as they each pulled out a long combat
knife. The first man made a move, pushing Saki out of his way to get to Donald.
Saki looked as though he wasn’t reacting but out of sight of the man’s
colleagues, he threw a short but huge punch to the centre of the man’s chest
causing his heart to just stop. The man’s body fell to the floor, dead before
making contact with the concrete. Not seeing what had happened, the other three
just looked on in bewilderment as their colleague slumped to the floor. Saki
gave them a fraction of a second to regret their inaction before inflicting
fatal wounds on them. One from a severed spinal cord and two from severe head
traumas. Saki had high kicked the second man in at the base of the skull before
smashing the other twos’ heads together as he spun back to the ground.

Donald had to be guided out of the room by Saki as he stood
gawping at Saki’s aftermath. As they made their way into Rachel’s cell,
gunshots started to ring.

Chapter 46

“We’ve got the OK,” announced the SBS leader.

“Excellent, let’s go,” said Papa.

Lela radioed Tom and Daniel to let them know that Britain had
sent over the SBS to rescue Donald and that they were now working together.

Good old Roger, thought Tom hearing the news. Despite the
assassination story, the British Prime Minister had sent in troops to rescue
his father. He couldn’t help think that the Guineans must have really annoyed
him or did the UK have the same listening system as the Mossad? He thought how
ironic it would be if they all had it and all thought they were the only ones
who could hear everything. Tom could see by the look on Daniel’s face that he
was thinking the same thing.

“Good luck and be safe,” he radioed back to Lela.

Lela didn’t respond, she was in the process of receiving her
instructions. The islanders would sneak through the perimeter, enter the prison
and secure the Kennedys. Meanwhile, the SBS would create mayhem on the outside
and take out the guards at the gate and the perimeter, allowing the islanders
to emerge with the Kennedys and get them out to the airport.

Shouting could be heard from the prison and it was obvious
that things were becoming restless. Papa was very keen to get moving but at the
same time, wanted to make sure that the SBS knew where they would be. He didn’t
want to plan this operation perfectly and end up getting shot by friendly fire.
It didn’t take long for everybody to know exactly what they were doing. The
islanders and SBS split up, the islanders disappearing into the night on their
way to the prison and the SBS to take up offensive positions against the
perimeter guard.

It was not an easy route into the prison. Despite the
islanders’ ability to disappear into the night,
 
the highly trained perimeter guards had
sensed their presence but could not see them. Fortunately, the islanders made
it to the prison wall undetected and huddled in position. Two prison guards
protected the small side gate which allowed the islanders easiest access. There
were two watchtowers which also protected that portion of the wall but it was
clearly not manned by normal prison guards. Their sniper rifles were easily
worth $30,000 and were certainly not standard issue. Papa signalled to the SBS
that they had a problem. A second later, two almost inaudible “puts” were the
only indication that the watchtower guards were no longer an issue, having been
dispatched by SBS snipers.

 
While the
watchtower guards had been taken out, Kano and Kisho had been dealing with the
guards at the gate. They had slammed the handles of their pistols into the base
of the guards’ skulls, rendering them unconscious. Thankfully, the shouts and
screams from inside the prison had covered the noise of the small explosive
charge used to open the gate and allow the islanders into the prison.

As they opened the gate, a swarm of prisoners rushed towards
them. Papa could not afford to let the prisoners go just yet as they would
create confusion on the outside and interfere with the SBS task.

“Keep them in,” he ordered, holding onto Lela’s hand, she was
staying there next to him.

Kano, Kisho and the other four islanders rushed forward
towards the mass of prisoners. Within two minutes, the flow had reversed and
the prisoners, recognising Saki’s skills backed off, leaving behind a few
wounded bodies. Papa left two islanders to guard the gate, nobody was leaving
until he said they could. Kano picked up one of the unfortunate prisoners who
had tried to leave but he didn’t speak English. He tried another, neither did he.
As he made his way to the next wounded prisoner, a shout came from the group of
prisoners who had been forced back.

“I speak English,” the prisoner shouted.

“Do you know where they are keeping two men and a woman?”
asked Kano.

“Yes but what do we get in return for telling you?”

“Your freedom but not just yet. The prison is surrounded,
you’d be shot the minute you put your head through the gate.”

“When then?”

“When we leave, we’ll leave the gate open for you.”

“OK, they’re in that building there, top floor far end,” said
the prisoner pointing to the next block where 10 guards and six prisoners were
seen entering.

“Quick,” shouted Kano. “Let’s go!”

The first gunshots of the night rang out. Not from outside but
inside the prison and the tell-tale gun flash told them that it came from the
top floor of the building they’d just been directed to.

Chapter 47

Donald and Saki rushed into Rachel’s cell just as she
screamed. The guard who had unlocked the cells had come back to pay her a
visit. Saki tapped him on the shoulder and as the guard turned around, Saki
smiled and delivered a punch so hard that the guard’s jaw shattered. The snap
of the bone ricocheted around the bare stone walls of the cell as the guard dropped
to the floor. It would be a long time before he was back on solids. Saki then
noticed that it was his friend with the fancy gun, the small sub machine gun.
He grabbed it along with the spare cartridges and ran back to the cell door.

Donald grabbed Rachel and hugged her.

“What now?” she sobbed.

“We stay behind Saki,” replied Donald remembering his
instructions.

Saki looked down the corridor. It wasn’t good. There were 10
guards working their way slowly and carefully down the corridor towards them.
Saki considered their options, they didn’t have any. All he could do was hold
them off as long as possible and hope for a miracle. He pointed the gun down
the corridor and sent a barrage of bullets towards the guards. They were still
quite far away but he did manage to hit three of them. Three down, seven to go.
As well as reducing their number, he had slowed them down and they would be
even more careful now.

“What’s happening?” asked Donald.

“There were 10 of the new guards we spotted earlier coming
towards us.”

“What? Did you get them?” asked Donald hopefully.

“Now there are seven,” replied Saki. He then paused for a
second and put his hand up, indicating quiet.

“There are more coming, I can hear feet pounding up the other
staircase. They’ll be surrounding us soon,” he whispered.