Assassin (The Billionaire Series) (20 page)

“What do they want?” asked Rachel.

“I don’t know,” lied Donald.

Chapter 48

The two SBS snipers, having taken care of the watchtower
guards, moved back to their initial targets. The suggestion that the gate
guards didn’t know about the perimeter guards was accurate. The SBS soldiers
had observed the same uncoordinated behaviour and as suggested by Papa, were
going to try something a little out of the ordinary.

They lined up their shots and waited for the Go command from
their leader.

“Ready…ready…fire!”

As the order came through, they both pressed their triggers.
The bullets hit just one second apart. Although they did not kill their
targets, the shots were accurate and perfectly timed.

One of the guards at the gate screamed as a bullet struck his
shoulder, just glancing off the bone, causing no real damage but resulting in
the guard being thrown to the ground in excruciating pain. The gate guards
reacted to their colleague’s distress and frantically looked around to discover
what had happened.

As they reacted to the first shot, the same wound befell a
perimeter guard within their sights. The gate guards were so stunned to see
somebody so close to their position that they didn’t even wonder how the
injuries had been inflicted. No gunshots had been heard other than those inside
the prison which they had been told to ignore. The gate guards, unaware that
Jones’ men were officially guarding the perimeter, opened fire on the screaming
perimeter guard, killing him and two of his colleagues. Before they knew what
was happening, a major fire fight erupted between the two teams of guards.
Jones’s men, who were aware of Smith’s team, had no means of communicating with
them and had no option but to fire back. It didn’t take long before the two
remaining watchtower snipers entered the fray and began to pick off Jones’ team
using their thermal night scopes.

The SBS team just sat back and waited. They weren’t going to
risk being shot in the crossfire. The SBS snipers, however, continued their
efforts and helped Smith’s men pick off the perimeter guards.

Eventually, Smith and Jones were made aware of what was
happening and instructed their respective units to stop firing. But over half
the guards were already dead. It was a complete disaster. Smith and Jones were
screaming at each other.

Meanwhile, the SBS leader gave the signal to his men. They
moved forward and dealt with the remaining men, taking advantage of the
confusion.

The escape route was clear.

Chapter 49

The islanders split into two groups. Papa and his three
islanders in one group and Kisho, Kano and Lela in the other. Papa’s group took
one side of the building and Lela’s group took the other. They raced up the
stairs. Lela’s group went towards the gunfire and Papa’s went towards the
guards and prisoners they had followed in.

Papa’s group caught up quickly with the guards and prisoners,
the narrow staircase allowing the islanders to work their way through them
without alerting those in front. Within two minutes, sixteen men lay across the
staircase in varying degrees of agony, each having been plucked from the tail
of the group and dealt with.

Lela, Kisho and Kano didn’t have such an easy time. They raced
to the top of the stairs and found themselves at one end of a very long
corridor. Between them and the Kennedys were 7 heavily armed men in excellent
defensive positions. Kano and Kisho made it very clear that under no
circumstances was Lela to follow them. She grudgingly agreed.

As Kisho and Kano began to make their way down the corridor, a
burst of gunfire had them diving out of the way, narrowly missing them.

“Did they see us?” whispered Kisho.

“No. It came from beyond them, it may have been Uncle Saki,”
replied Kano.

“Perfect. We fly 3,000 miles to rescue him and he bloody
shoots at us!”

“He’s shooting at them,” said Kano pointing at the guards.

“I know that but he’s still the one shooting and we’re the
ones getting shot at.”

“Come on,” said Kano leading the way.

As they neared the seven guards, they could see where Saki was
hiding. His gun nozzle appeared again briefly and he sent another ten bullets
flying down the corridor. Seeing the movement this time, Kisho and Kano were
out of the way before the bullets whizzed past them. They moved again and got
closer to the 7 guards. They dealt with them quickly and quietly and moved
along the line until only one guard was left. Unaware of his single status, the
lone guard, looking intently towards Saki’s cell, gestured for his colleagues
to follow and whispered, “come on, let’s kill them now.”

“I think not,” said Kisho grabbing the guard’s hand and
snapping his wrist, before knocking him unconscious.

“Uncle Saki, we’re clear!” shouted Kisho as Papa stuck his
head round the door at the other end of the corridor.

“About bloody time, we’ve been here for three days you know,”
smiled Saki as he prepared to catch Lela who was running, ready to jump into
his arms. She quickly disengaged and did exactly the same to Rachel and Donald.

“Where’s Tom?” asked Rachel not sure whether she could be
completely relieved.

“He’s fine. He’s waiting in the jeep,” replied Lela, causing
Rachel to burst into tears with relief.

Five minutes later, they were waiting outside for Tom to
appear with the jeeps. After an emotional reunion, they headed to the airport.
On securing them into the jeeps, the SBS did not hang around. They had a
submarine waiting for them 12 miles off-shore and they had no intention of
missing it. Similarly, the prisoners did not hang around and made a run for it
through the open gate.

It was obvious that the message had got out and that the
authorities knew something was wrong. Helicopters and soldiers were swarming
towards the prison. Their initial orders to ignore any noise from the prison
were suddenly retracted and replaced by orders to get there as quickly as
possible.

The jeep pulled into the airport before anyone knew that the
Kennedys were missing. Alba One sat dormant at one end of the runway. However,
she was fully fuelled and ready to go. Her crew had been held in a nearby hotel
and on receiving a call from Tom, they had rushed to the airport, boarded and
prepped her for flight. Everything bar the lights were on.

They had not stopped talking since they had got into the jeep
but as they neared Alba One, Donald turned to Tom and Lela.
  

“Nobody can know you were ever here. You need to get back to
school asap.”

“I know, it’s our best alibi,” replied Tom who knew they would
have to go their separate ways.

“Look, we’ll work all this out,” said Donald, now a fully
fledged international fugitive.

“Where are you going ?” asked Tom, knowing that the UK was an
option. Afterall, the PM had just authorised a mission to rescue him.

“I’m not sure, anywhere but here.”

“Dad, just one quick question. Why did you land in Equatorial
Guinea? It wasn’t on your itinerary.”

Donald looked at Tom, how could he not know?

“We were forced to land. Two Mig 29s, I think that’s what Jim
told us they were, threatened to shoot us down if we didn’t land. Didn’t Jim
tell you?” asked Donald surprised.

“No we couldn’t get hold of him. The first time I managed to
speak to him was tonight.”

“Well you best fly nice and low, I know we will,” said Donald.

They said their goodbyes and the senior Kennedys made their
way up the steps of the darkened plane. The jeeps dropped off the rest of its
passengers in the hangar and picked up their two original passengers. They had
already removed the offending registration and Equatorial Guinea flag from the
plane, returning it to its original plain white.

Both planes powered up in darkness and took off. They didn’t
bother with permission from Traffic Control as it wouldn’t have been granted
anyway. They stayed close together until they cleared Guinean airspace. Jim
suggested that Tom climb and continue as normal. Alba One was the target and
there was no point drawing attention to himself. Alba One, however continued on
its low level flight, remaining in darkness as it powered East across Africa,
skimming tree tops.

Chapter 50

Jones’ ears were still ringing. Smith had ordered him to
report immediately to the Guinean presidential palace. He reminded him that he
was his boss and what the hell was he thinking not telling him he was there. He
held Jones personally responsible for over 50 deaths and more importantly, the Kennedys’
escape.

Jones double checked that the Kennedys were definitely missing
before heading to the palace. This was not good. He was escorted to the
Guinean’s President’s office where an extremely angry Guinean President and
Smith awaited him.

“Well?” Smith asked.

“They’ve gone,” replied Jones.

“Damn, I’ll have to report that we lost them. The boss will go
berserk.”

“What, you’ve not reported it yet?” asked Jones, seeing a
glimmer of hope.

“No, I was waiting for confirmation from you. There was always
a chance that our men had secured them somewhere,” replied Smith.

Jones could not believe this gift from the Gods. He smiled,
pulled out his gun complete with silencer and shot Smith through the heart. The
Guinean President was stunned and just stared at the gasping Smith who looked
in bewilderment at the hole in his chest. Jones then turned to the President
and pulling out a smaller pistol, shot him once in the head, the noise no
louder than a cough. His body slumped forward onto his desk. Smith fell to the floor
and watched as Jones placed the larger gun in the President’s hand and the
small assassin’s pistol in Smith’s paralysed hand. He then placed a wallet in
Smith’s inside pocket.

Smith was just able to hear Jones’ commentary.

“Mr Kennedy’s assassin caught in the act, well done Mr
President.”

Smith guessed the wallet would contain a passport with customs
stamps which would tally with most of the assassinations and no doubt a strong
link to Alba. Jones always was a clever bastard.

Jones surveyed the room, moved a couple of pieces of furniture
and when perfect, walked over to the window.

The last words Smith ever heard were “And by the way don’t
worry about the Kennedys, their plane has a very nasty surprise in store for
them.”

Part Four

Chapter 51

Two weeks later

The funeral was as busy as expected but the real mourners were
few. Only the first three aisles of the vast church held family and friends.
The rest of the church was packed full with the world’s media. Tom looked up,
he couldn’t understand what they expected to see. There were three simple
caskets for his mother, his father and Saki. Lela sat next to him, she had not
left his side since the news had come through that Alba One had crashed leaving
no survivors.

The media had gone wild for the story, Donald Kennedy was
dead. Rachel had managed little more than a mention by most of the press,
whereas Saki was suspected of being the ‘other assassin’. The assassin found
dead alongside the Equatorial Guinean President accounted for two thirds of the
world leaders who were killed. Speculation was that Saki was responsible for
the other third.

With the death of the assassins and their mastermind, came a
renewed feeling of security amongst remaining world leaders. As each day
passed, more evidence came to light proving beyond doubt Donald’s guilt. Slowly
but surely, leaders became more willing to emerge into the public eye. The
British Prime Minister was seen in public for the first time in over a month.

The call Tom received before the funeral had been a crushing
blow, the Prime Minister would not be attending. His diary would not permit, he
had tried but he just couldn’t make it. With that rejection, a flood of
rejections followed
 
and before
long, the funeral party dwindled to Tom, Lela, Tom’s grandparents, Papa and the
islanders and a few key staff from Alba.

Alba was also suffering badly. A worldwide backlash against
the ‘assassin’s company’ resulted in a major slump in business. Speculation in
the press suggested that the only option was to break up the company and sell
it off before the loss of millions of jobs.

Tom and Lela had spent the previous two weeks on the Kennedy
estate. The tragic news had been broken to them as they landed at The
Academy,
 
on their return from
rescuing their parents. They did not even get off the plane. They refuelled and
went straight home. Papa and the islanders whose jet was waiting for them at
the school, stayed with them and had been with them ever since. Tom’s
grandparents joined them at the estate and they all virtually disappeared from
life outside. Tom and Lela were inconsolable.

The press had camped at the gates and every time any of them
strolled too close to the walls, the Rottweillers went mad. On many occasions,
Tom considered opening the gates and letting the dogs loose on them. Lela had
stopped him twice just as he was about to push the button.