BlindFire (26 page)

  “I want those names or this happens to the girls!” Said Jack. “Don’t take yer’ eyes off young Godfrey, blink and you’ll miss all the fun.”

   Godfrey Jennings Suddenly exploded, the
building
shuddered and
shook throwing them all to the floor. Danny
was on his feet first.

  “Jesus Christ he just blew the kid up
."

  "Do as I say
or next time I’ll pebble dash those girls of yours all over the street.... Danny
, can you save your family this time. You have twenty four hours t
o come up with my list or else.
"
The
n the
line went dead.

  “I can't see anyone down there, but get the emergency services here anyway."

  Within a few short hours the mess was cleared away, all the camera crews had dispersed and so had the Emergency services.

  No one slept
that night
, they couldn't. With only nine hours until the handover they just sat in silence staring at the telephone. It was two hours later and one o’clock in the morning before it suddenly sprang to life, in a strange sort of way it sounded louder in the night.

  "It's me." Said Jack. "Now here's the plan."

  "What plan?"
T
he Colonel
scoffed
.

  "Are you going to shut up and listen or what."

  "Ok. I'm listening."

"Have ye'ever heard of a
place called '
Scafell Pi
ke
."

  "Of course it's the biggest mountain in
England
..... In the
Lake District
. Why?"

  "
Cos
' that's where the exchange will take place."

  "You're joking."

  "No, I'm not
joking, alright dickhead....
You don’t have to be in the SAS to be able to climb a little hill.
When you get to the top there's a circular wall of stone, you bring the package..... All three of you
, mind
. Midnight tomorrow.
.!
"

  "What do you want us to do when we get up there?"

  "Wait for me." Then silence again.

  Danny
put his face in his hands and rubbed them through his hair. "I went up there
last year climbing
." He said.
”Beth should be OK, but I don't know about Sahra."

  The Colonel was thinking aloud.
”Why there? Why take them all the way up there? Anyone of us could catch him on open ground."

  "
It’s very rocky at the top." Danny
a
dded.

  "Once the handover is successfully completed, he would need to get away quickly, what is he thinking?"

  Gunter spoke up for the first time. "Maybe he doesn't want to get away. He is the kill or be killed type of guy. I noticed he asked for all three of us. Why?"

  "Because..!" The
Colonel
said
. "
Maybe h
e's got a team of trained men
waiting for us up there, maybe a bunch of mercenaries
." He was thinking aloud again.

  "How many?" Asked Gunter.

  "Four, at the most five...... I doubt he will even take his hostages up there."

  Danny
stood. "Hey hang on... That can only mean...."

"We need to find them and soon."

  The Colonel went back to the monitors. "Can we actually see that number plate?" He ask
ed.

  "Yes." Gunter
replied
. "I can even run it up on the police computer." He took his place at the terminal and started tapping keys. A few seconds later the screen on one of the televisions filled with a blurred Number plate.

  "That fist letter is an 'F'. Is that a Two?"

  Gunter squinted. "F242  PL
B." he started tapping more keys.
And t
hen
he
waited as the screen filled up with information.  "It's a blue transit van."

  "We already know that much."

  "And it is registered
to Mr.
James Kay. He's got several parking fines and a couple of speeding tickets outstanding."

  "Any more details on those tickets?
Such as
where they were presented."

  "All were written out in a place called Keswick.”
Gunter shrugged, he had never heard of it."....Except one. That was near here just two days ago."

  "Come on." Said Danny
. "Tell us then."

  "I know the place; it’s a chip shop near the old power station."

  The Colonel grabbed his coat. "Sounds like a good place to start."

  "This guy lives in Keswick, wherever that is?"

  "T
hat's very close to  Sca Fell Pi
ke. Maybe he's been living the
re the last few years." Said Danny

  The Colonel didn’t voice his own thoughts, but he was concerned about the choice of location for the handover. A war could be
fought in those hills
and no one would ever know and if he had been living up there, then he would have the advantage of playing in his own back yard. "I think I'll go and arrange for some more fire power."

  Gunter spun around in his chair just as the Colonel left the room. "Is he talking about men or weapons?"

  Danny
shrugged. "Let’s check out this power station, perhaps he left us something."

  Danny
and Gunter angled their way through the crowded chip shop. The air was heavy with the smell of fish and cigarette smoke. A fat annoyed middle-aged man in a wheel chair was taking orders faster than he could produce the goods.

  "Hi." Danny said
, trying to attract some attention.

  "The fish is off, cos of the broken fridge. If you want out’ else, get in line."

  "No...We're looking for someone! An Irishman with a blue van."

  "Are you two coppers?"

  Danny
forced a laugh. "No of course not. We're looking for work."

  The crowd was becoming impatient; a man at the back made a comment about cold chips and walked out.

  "Now look what you've done.”
He said slamming the till shut.
"You'll find paddy working down
the
old
power station. He's only been there a couple of weeks; he might have work for you."

  Gunter spoke up. "What exactly is he doing over there?"

  "Must be the demolition... Heard a couple of explosions the other day."

  "Does he come in here a lot?"
Danny a
sked.

  "Most nights around seven."

  Danny
bought a bag of greasy chips just to be polite, and then they both left
and headed for the nearby disused power station.

  "This must be some sort of base of operations." Said Gunter. ".....But what operations?"

  Three giant grey chimneys, towering menacingly above
London
’s East end came in to full view around the next bend in the road. This only made the two men walk faster.

  "I think we should split up before we get any closer....."

  "Let me t
ake the southern side." Said Danny
and was gone before Gunter could ask him if he had a weapon.

***

  Five men from 'G' Squadron had been briefed up, kitted out and were on the
ir way to Keswick
by the time the Colonel walked into the QM store. The brief for the men from 'G' squadron had been simple. They were to dump off weapons and ammo and then act as a shadow, if things were to go badly for the Colonel and his team then 'G' Squadron would mount a clean up operation.

   "Afternoon Sir." Said the Quartermaster. "I think that
I managed to get everything
you asked for."

  A cursory glance over the equipment stacked neatly on to a pallet confirmed this.

"That looks fine but I’ll require some tactical beacons, about four should do."

  The Quartermaster was way past asking what all this kit would be used for, or if he would ever see it again. "
There's already one with each Rucksack
." He replied.

  "That's great then. Do you want me to sign anything?"  Asked the Colonel as a smile spread across his face.

  "Sir. You know as well as I do th
at this is all ‘buck shee' kit
, you could say it fell off the back of a big green lorry."

  As soon as the
two soldiers finished loading
his
borrowed
L
androver Discovery,
he was back on the road heading north to Keswick, and to the Kings Arms in the town centre
where he would meet up with Danny
and Gunter.

***

    It was getting too dark to see anything now, Beth didn't dare sleep. She could hear rats scurrying about, all the time getting closer. Perhaps they could smell the dried blood on her face or the congealing wounds on her wrists.

  She recoiled in terror and screamed as something furry brushed up against her leg. A few seconds later, somewhere close by, a generator kicked in and soon the room was once again bathed in light.

  "Sahra." Beth
w
hispered. "Are you alright?"

  Unmoved by the rats and stench of human waste she remained huddled in a ball, staring in to space and mumbling words only she
k
new the meaning of.

  "Oh Sahra..... Come on..... You've got to snap out of it."   

  It wasn't long before Jack returned from his short trip to switch the generator on. He entered the room in a panic, darting about trying to fit his things in to an old duffle bag.

  "What's happening?"  Beth
said
nervously.

  "That bastard husband of yours
, that’s what!
"

  "He's here!" Beth didn't know whether to be h
appy or even more scared. If Danny
was in the area, then perhaps John and Gunter were also moving in.

  "Thinks I can't see him skulking about in the shadows." Jack laughed nervously. He was scared and it showed in his fumbling hands as he tried to cut the ropes holding Be
th and Sahra. "Make that
kid walk.... Or I'll shoot her now."

  Beth viciously hauled Sahra to her feet. "Come on Sahra, you've got to walk."

  "Now move it, or else she's dead."

  It was a comforting relief to breathe
the fresh
air and see the star speckled night sky. Beth tried to see in to the dark, look for a sign. If there was to be some sort of rescue bid she needed to know where it was coming from.

***

    Gunter was in his element, moving with the powerful grace of a jungle cat hunting his prey. His eyes searching for the unusual, his ears concentrating on the silence, waiting for the slightest noise.

  He had criss crossed his own area several times, without finding anything out of the ordinary. Then he heard an engine of some kind burst in to life somewhere around the other side of the chimneys. Gunter reacted immediately and froze motionless against the dark background. Generators usually meant only one thing, light. It was almost a full five minutes before he moved again, only this time towards the sound.

  Danny
had picked a high spot on top of one of the buildings for himself and rested his night vision binos on a loose brick. He could see the van clearly, obviously Jack hadn't been too concerned about hiding it, but there also seemed to be a razor wire fence around the whole area. The extent of the construction work surprised him.
To do all this - on his own. He
shook these thoughts from his mind, some where down there amongst god knows what, his wife and daughter were waiting for him.

  He thought he saw movement behind the van and rubbed his eyes, then picked up the binos and peered down them all the time concentrating on the figure  he could see messing around with a petrol can.  

   An instant later Danny
got a good look. "Jack..." He said under his breath. The shock almost physical
,
he dropped the binos, which in turn knocked a stone sending i
t rolling down the roof top. He
ducked down unsure if the noise had been heard, then lowered himself to the ground and fell behind an old oil drum. He sat there for a while waiting for some response, and when there wasn't one climbed to his feet and moved forward. It was the sound of the
generator
starting up that sent him diving for cover, scrambling forward through a deep puddle he came to rest behind a pile of empty cable reels.