To Kill Or Be Killed (45 page)

“He planned all
this to get to DIC and destroy it. Sternway has an orange coloured
cell phone and Robinson, the home secretary, is on the other end of
it. That’s the man you want. If you don’t believe me Sternway’s got
two lime green Bic cell phones, one of them was for me. If you
search here or his car you’ll find them and they’ll link him to me,
check the satellite based locations for the calls made if you don’t
believe me. He’s going to die and there’s nothing you can do. He’s
a monster and he deserves to die. He told me they’d accounted for
Robert Cole. DIC were getting too close, he said, a nuisance. You
know he has to die for what he’s done.”

“Don’t listen
to him McKie.” Sternway’s voice wasn’t pleading, he kept his
authority. “You’re paid to stop men like him. He’s going to kill
all of us, including my wife and children. Kill him. Kill him
now.”

Stanton turned
the gun pointed at McKie towards Della and the children.

“Move towards
the door you three.” Stanton’s voice held a note of finality.

“Nigel.” Della
was terrified and the children were whimpering.

“Do as he says
it’ll be alright.” Sternway was calm.

Della made her
way towards the door and Stanton repositioned himself pointing his
weapon at McKie as he moved and backing into a space between them.
Della and the children stood by the door. Sternway was across the
room from them and McKie stood in a corner. Stanton pointed the
Browning at Sternway and the revolver at Della and the
children.

“Kill him McKie
it’s your bloody job.” Sternway barked the order.

“Sternway if
you confess I let your family walk out that door and only kill you.
McKie isn’t going to shoot first.” Stanton’s voice was cold and
factual.

“Confess to
what?” Sternway held his party line.

“I’m going to
count to three and then I’m going to kill your son Sternway unless
you confess to McKie what you’ve been doing, why you hired me and
why all those people died.”

“I can’t
tell…”

“Please Nigel…
the children…”

“One…”

Ellie and Tony
were standing in the hall silent. Tony had his gun drawn. Della and
the children were too intent on the scene to see them, but McKie
glanced at Della’s pleading face and saw Ellie poised behind her.
His face didn’t betray their position.

“Please Nigel..
for once put the family first…”

“I can’t do
that Della…”

“Two…”

“Don’t do it
Stanton I’ll fire I swear I will. Put the gun down and we’ll talk
you can be a witness there might be immunity…” McKie’s finger
tightened on the trigger.

“Three…”

Stanton fired
both weapons. McKie fired. Ellie dived into the room shielding the
children and Tony pushed in and fired his weapon at Stanton.

Ellie screamed
as her body passed between Stanton and the children.

Sternway cried
out and spun around facing the wall as if punched.

Stanton hit in
the hand by McKie’s shot dropped the revolver then suddenly
crumpled with a blood stain appearing on the right side of his
chest from Tony’s shot.

Della grabbed
the children and rushed them from the room. Tony dropped to Ellie’s
side on the floor.

“Ellie!”

Ellie sat up
cradling her arm. Tony saw blood and whipped off his belt and made
a tourniquet. In his peripheral vision he saw Sternway turn back
from the wall and take a step. He raised his Sig.

“You stay where
you are!”

“My wife and
children.” Sternway muttered. Blood showed on his right shoulder
and he put his hand to it and looked at the blood.

David leant
over Stanton. He was coughing blood.

“You tried not
to kill me.” He coughed. “You shot the gun hand pointing at the
children too.” He felt a pain spasm and coughed heavily. David put
his hand on Stanton’s chest, there was a mass of blood, a pool of
it was gathering around him on the floor.

“I think he
shot an artery.”

“Forget… it…
time for me to go… everything I said… find the phones..” Stanton
closed his eyes.

“Is there a
message for someone? Family maybe?” David asked.

Stanton’s eyes
opened.

“No family… no
one…”

“I’m
sorry…”

Stanton slumped
and his body went limp. David stood up. There was the sound of
sirens, ambulances and police. He turned to Tony and Ellie.

“You okay
Ellie?”

“Just a flesh
wound.” Ellie grunted.

“Tough woman.”
David said and looked at Tony.

“That’s my
girl.” Said Tony keeping his pistol trained on Sternway.

Before the
police came David went into the garden to see what the DIC listener
had got and found him unconscious. Tony helped him get the
unconscious man into the house. David made a thorough search of the
house. He worked around Della Sternway as she packed. He found a
Bic ‘disposable’ cell phone, orange coloured, in Sternway’s suit
jacket and two lime green Bic ‘disposable’ cell phones in the
Jaguar.

Ellie was taken
away in one ambulance with Tony. The DIC listener was taken away in
another and Nigel Sternway had a police escort in his. He had tried
to speak to his wife, but she had cut him dead and defeated he had
sat looking at the ground whilst Tony held him still at gun
point.

Ten minutes
after the gun play, the only blue light left was a waiting police
car and the ambulances had gone. David stood in the door way of the
house having answered all police questions he was able to. The DIC
badge had done most of the work, DIC official stand down not having
been something that would be externally broadcast.

On the doorstep
Della held out her hand for the Jaguar keys. The children were
dressed and there were bags on the floor.

“Do you need a
hand with those bags.” David asked.

“That’s good of
you thank you.” She said softly.

David took the
bags to the car and put them in the boot. The children got in the
car. Della stood by the driver’s door.

“I didn’t know
exactly what he did at work. I knew that he was MI6, but I never
asked. I didn’t realise he was so cold blooded… he wouldn’t even
stand in front of us, to protect us, he was more concerned about
his secrets.”

“I thought he
was moving you away from him so that Stanton would shoot at him not
you, I thought he was protecting you.”

“You’re a good
man Mr..?”

“McKie, David
McKie.”

“Do you have a
family?” She asked.

“Yes.”

“Don’t ever put
your work before your family like he did. His work turned him cold.
He wasn’t like that when we first met, his work changed him.”

“I’ve heard a
lot about that, killing rotting the soul.”

“Then you’ll
know to be careful.” She said and opened the car door and turned to
face him. “We’ll be at my sister’s house if anyone wants us. I
expect you can get the address easily in your line of work.”

David nodded.
He watched her get in the car and pull out of the drive.

He turned his
own steps to the Citroen C4. It was getting on for eight o clock
and he had a meeting to get to.

CHAPTER
108

EUSTON TOWER

8 p.m.

April 19th

Brook hadn’t
heard anything from anyone. He hadn’t been in contact. Once you
were into the tube of an E order you kept out of contact and kept
heading for the target.

He had prepared
well on the information Stanton had given them and done some
research on the floor layout of the building from the plans, which
were available, but didn’t show any of the details, just the
structure.

He walked into
the revolving door at the tower. It moved slowly, very slowly. The
guards watched him. The x-ray showed the holstered weapon and the
infra red showed he was hot, sweating probably. The guard at the
desk readied a weapon. When the door revolved to let him into the
lobby he made his way to the desk and held up his badge. The MI6
people had quickly made a copy. It was good.

“Hi lads Leigh
Taylor new guy reporting for duty.” Telford held out the badge.

The guard
looked at the badge and then at the roster and the list of expected
people on the screen in front of him under the desk.

Telford noticed
a second guard appear from a door to the side. He was a heavily
built man. He leant on the door frame.

The guard
behind the desk rose and opened the sliding gap in the long desk
pressing a button under the table.

Telford walked
through, walked up to the two lifts and pressed the button. The
door of the left hand lift opened instantly. He stepped in and the
door closed. The two guards smiled at each other and one picked up
a phone. DIC medical team came down in the lifts behind the hidden
entrance door and deployed themselves outside the left hand lift
door.

In the lift
Telford had a second’s abject fear as the lift filled with gas and
then he passed out and slumped to the floor. Fans switched on and
sucked the gas out.

Minutes later
when the doors opened the medical team put Telford on a stretcher
and unconscious he was loaded into a private ambulance. The guards
were back at their posts serious faces, but there was an
atmosphere.

Suddenly one of
them laughed then the other joined in. Their laughter echoed around
the lobby.

“Silly
bugger!”

“I wonder who
he was?”

“I expect Jack
will tell us when he gets back from Downing Street.

CHAPTER
109

10 DOWNING STREET

8-15 pm

April 19th

Tarquin
Robinson sat on the same side of the cabinet room table as Gary
Braine. Across the table Diane Peters sat with an MP3 player
attached to speakers in front of her. Next to her Jack Fulton sat
with his face like stone looking over at the photographs arranged
in front of the PM. They were photographs of Sternway and Mrs
Robinson leaving La Rueda, separately.

“This is
ridiculous!” Robinson was in full flow. “I have no idea what this
is all about. That could be Nigel Sternway’s voice, it sounds a bit
odd, but Melinda didn’t meet him there as far as I know, even if
she did we’ve met socially, she could have been there to ask a
personal favour.”

“You know why
she was there.” Jack’s voice was flat.

“This doesn’t
change anything Fulton. We need to suspend all DIC activity until
this whole sorry mess has been investigated.” Robinson was
adamant

“I’m sorry
Jack, it doesn’t look good. I’ll admit the tape does show Mrs
Robinson speaking to Sternway, but frankly Jack I’m shocked you’d
make the accusation on such flimsy evidence. The Home Secretary has
a point, you’ve hardly distinguished yourselves.”

Jack looked at
Diane and Robinson smiled.

A phone rang.
The phone was in Robinson’s pocket. He took out the orange coloured
Bic cell phone and pressed cancel.

“I’m sorry…” He
went to put it back in his pocket but it rang again. At the same
time the cabinet room door opened and David McKie walked in holding
an identical orange Bic ‘disposable’ cell phone in his right hand.
In his left hand he held a sheaf of papers.

“What’s the
meaning of this?” The Prime Minister asked tersely. Jack looked
quizzically at Diane.

“I’m sorry
Prime Minister. I’ve just come from Nigel Sternway’s house where
myself and another DIC officer shot Trevor Stanton…”

“This is
ridiculous!” Robinson shouted. “Your duty teams were suspended
Fulton. I want this man arrested.”

“.. Stanton
spoke before he died. Sternway was injured and a female DIC
officer, unarmed, shielded Sternway’s children with her own body
and was also injured.”

Jack looked
horrified.

“It’s alright
Jack she was just a shot in the arm, Ellie’s fine.”

Robinson rose
from his seat.

“I must protest
Gary…”

“Sit down!” It
was Diane’s voice.

Robinson
suddenly bidden by her voice did sit down glowering and was
beginning to feel warm and uncomfortable.

“Stanton told
me about the plot to discredit DIC and he told me about this cell
phone. It was in Sternway’s jacket. I checked the locations of
phone calls.”

David moved
around the desk and put the papers by the Prime Minister. Then he
reached into his pocket and took out two lime green cell
phones.

“These link
Stanton and Sternway. The orange ones link Robinson here and
Sternway. That’s the chain. There are two dead bodies, Stanton’s
work, at an MI6 safe house. Sternway was there earlier this evening
and he took a call from that phone whilst he was there. The whole
plot was to discredit and disband the Department for Internal
Concerns. Stanton told me that Sternway had Cole killed, by Marco
Spencer, the man who died at Perth, no less. Della Sternway is a
witness to everything Stanton said. Sternway himself is in hospital
with a police guard, shot in the shoulder.” David looked at Jack.
Jack gave a grim smile.

The Prime
Minister looked at Robinson, who was no longer protesting then he
looked at McKie.

“Good work
McKie. Now call a police officer and have Mr Robinson
arrested.”

“Gary
really?”

“Robert Cole
was a friend of mine. I always wondered about his death. You’ll
answer for all of this.”

“I’ll go
public.”

“You think MI6
will want the scandal?”

“What are you
suggesting?”

“Think about
it.”

McKie
re-entered with two police officers and Robinson was taken
away.

“Take him out
the back please.” The PM called out.

Mr Braine
turned to Jack and Diane and said “Sorry Jack I should have trusted
you.”

Jack got up and
went to gather the evidence.

“Leave it there
Jack." The prime minister said and Jack nodded in answer.