THREE
They stood by the side of the graveyard for a few minutes when three men dressed in black opened the doors a small while van. The Graveyard looked like a haven of serenity away from this chaotic world. It a places where people could find a welcome in the of bosom of the earth.
The three men walked towards Lloyd and Norman. Norman froze for a second or two. He watched as Lloyd automatically scanned the area around them both. Both men swiftly worked out if they were in danger or not.
Lloyd who was much older than Norman was wished he had a gun on him. He remembered the good old days when special agents wore arms. Those days were now gone.
‘Gentlemen, welcome to France’, one of the man said with the twang of a French accent that made his words far more sophisticated than they actually were.
‘We hope you enjoy your stay’ said one of the other men.
‘Please come with us’.
It was more of a command than an invitation.
The five men turned right and walked into the woods taking a path directly parallel from the graveyard. The lilacs and wisteria were in bloom across the whole of Paris. As they turned into the woods, a wonderful fragrance consumed all five men. Horse-chestnut trees line the path blooming in their glory with high stalks of white flowers. The day was warm, calm and almost serene. It felt like they were going for a walk in the park at lunch time rather than on behalf of the secret services of France, United Kingdom and the United States who were coming together to plan to topple the Chinese.
‘You OK, Norman’, enquired Lloyd
‘Keep a look out, I don’t really trust these guys’
‘Did you come armed or did you follow protocol’?
‘Protocol’ answered Norman. His voice failed to hide disappointment. He knew from the tone of Lloyd’s voice that he was expected to come armed.
‘That’s Ok, Norman that’s Ok’ reassured Lloyd.
One of the men asked if Lloyd and Norman were hungry in French. There was laughter and Norman thought he could make out the men saying that the roast beef’s do not speak any language other than English.
Norman had to fight back the urge to speak French to him and to criticise the man’s assassination of the French language. His accent placed him from the South of France.
After a pause the man than asked the question in very wooden English. You could sense from his expression his loathing of the English language.
The front man then tossed them both a French stick as well as a small bottle of water.
He then said, ‘Hope you enjoy French Cuisine’ before everyone started to laugh.
The group of men then made their way through the garden and park areas, while Norman and Lloyd started to eat their French bread and enjoy their mineral water.
The five men arrived in the centre of the park, where they were ushered into a small shed that was used for storing heavy park equipment in the past. It smelt of oil and dust.
The shed was of a Saltbox design with a high front wall, lower back wall and an off centre pitch inside the shed.
Their opposite numbers in the CIA and French special service had already arrived. Both operatives had set up their stalls inside. Both groups of men looked untrustingly at each other. Old wounds from the past surfaced itself.
As the British approached the shed, the tension was shattered with both sides exchanging news that the two British Agents were approaching under the guardianship of three bodyguards.
In the shed sat three senior American CIA officers. Norman and Lloyd knew them both. Lloyd knew the two French Special Agents. Outside stood the several French security guards who were scanning the area for visitors while a helicopter circled the area above.
The atmosphere felt very formal and correct and was not very friendly. It was obvious to all that the French and American had been talking to each other for quite a considerable time before the meeting had started.
The discussions immediately got down to how to deal with the problem at hand and the details of the possible actions that each side proposed and the consequence of the actions. Norman concentrated upon emphasising the points raised by Tony.
During the discussions, Norman made it known that the Chinese president had a daughter who studies in Edinburgh and was due to graduate in the summer for which the Chinese president would be visiting.
Lloyd took a mental note to congratulate Norman for thinking on his feet so well.
This then became the focus over the next few hours.
Much discussion followed. It was decided that it would be the best to take out the target and that the three services would create a link to some extremist Jihad Islamic group based in and around the Edinburgh or the Northern England area.
With an agreement made all the men shook hands and began to leave the shack one after another. The French guards took up position to the front and back of the column of men.
Each group of men left the building and started to head off at a different angle. Both Lloyd and Norman began to walk back towards where the taxi was.
Ahead of them walked two men who searched the surrounding area for any threats. They looked like two hawks searching the area for their foes. The men put the fear of god in Norman. An officer walked to the back of the men watching everything behind them. He spoke into a mouthpiece propagating instruction to his men.
Lloyd suddenly stopped. He raised his hand
‘Norman stop!’
‘Something is up, let’s wait a minute.’
Ahead of them, a Fiat car pulled up just at the entrance to the park. The driver looked like he was Chinese.
Lloyd knew what was coming next as he watched the tell-tale signs of an attack unwrap before his eyes.
All of a sudden, the vehicle erupted into flames.
Lloyd and Norman as well as their guards dived onto the ground.
The Fiat car which was packed full of explosives erupted into a gigantic ball of flames. A massive column of smoke erupted into the sky. The explosion was so strong that the men could feel the heat from it some 500 metres away. The explosion ripped away the walls of the graveyard and a nearby building as well as setting several trees alight. The car sent shards of glass and debris throughout the area killing everyone that stood in its path.
One of the French Secret Agents stood not far from the vehicle. He had been having a smoke while the meeting was on. When the vehicle erupted into its inferno, he was killed in an instant. His arms and legs were blown off in the blast. The explosion gutted a four-story apartment by the side of the graveyard and shattered windows over the area. Like an orchestra car after car started to come alive as car alarms rocked into life.
Lloyd and Norman realising they had survived the attack were rushed away from the blown up vehicle. The French security officers that survived the bomb attack ran towards their dead friend. Panic ensured.
The American and French teams were also pulled away from the scene and all fled the area with great speed.
Norman immediately suspected that the Chinese knew about the meeting. It was obvious to him that the Chinese must be aware of the plans that the British, French and American’s were making. This was a warning to them all.
The men were ushered towards the south of the park. This was the planned escape route and it ran in a complete opposite direction to the fireball that had just erupted.
Both men and their escorts were glad to be away. The speed of their initial walk was good and it gave everyone time to blow away their fears and concerns.
A little while later Lloyd and Norman boarded a black car just to the South of the park. This time three cars escorted them. Once in their car they felt safe. The sides of the vehicle felt strong, thick and both men sensed that the danger was now over.
Twenty minutes later, they were completely away from the area. Norman looked back and could see the massive black cloud still rising up into the sky like a mushroom.
A few turns and they were on the local motorway heading back towards the railway station. Norman now turned his mind to the job at hand.
He had an agreement with the French and Americans and had managed to complete his job as planned. Tony would be happy with the outcome but not the method. There was surly no way of tracing all this back to MI6.
‘Norman you did really well there you know’
‘I think we should give our coffee a miss and get back to London as soon as possible’
I think head office will be pleased with how you handled this situation’
Just over an hour later, they were dropped off at the station.
As they left the entourage of vehicles, both men walked purposely down a bustling street, a helicopter screamed overhead. Many Pedestrians looked up. They continued walking towards the station undisturbed. Across the street were more pedestrians. None seemed sure what they we’re supposed to be looking at. One of the cars accelerated away from the men a little too fast. Across the street a young 17 year old the girl in the mini-skirt peeled off into a shop. One man turned and waved at another man across the road. It was not Norman and Lloyd he was waving at. He was greeting another passer-by, who walked over the road and, shakes the man’s hands. Normality began to return.
Lloyd seemed very quiet as they walk back into the Railway Station. He began to tell Norman he was off to the toilet and he would see him on the train.
Norman walked into the station. He noticed that there was a very grand arcade at the entrance to the railway station. However many of the shops were now closed for the day. The shops that were open did not have much to sell. In the centre, an American Café occupied the middle space, under the high vaulted ceiling. A young hopeful singer sang songs from the side of the arcade; He was hoping some music mogul would notice him. Men and women sat around tables. Some were playing chess, others drinking coffee, a mother breast-feeds her baby, and was the hum and clatter of chatter in the background.
Norman mutters under his breath ‘The ordinary world.’ Lloyd looked back at Norman and nodded in agreement. Although Norman knew he has not heard him, he felt that he was in agreement. He watched Norman as he walks off to one of the toilets in the station.
Lloyd walked into the Toilet. He locked himself into one of the toilet cubicles.
Sitting on the toilet, he sat there for a few minutes taking in what had happened. His thoughts turned towards what would be happening in MI6 and GCHQ. It had been a long time since Lloyd had been in the field. The last time, felt like it was such a long time ago. It must have been about Eight years ago.
Lloyd thought about it as though it were yesterday.
He remembered watching a young girl from the window in a house in Berlin. He had approached the house across a snow packed garden. He crossed the garden with stealthy footsteps that allowed him to approach the window undetected. That was when Lloyd appeared. He stepped into the frame, watching the girl through the window. Her name was….
He paused trying to remember. He looked down at his hands looking for inspirations observing some of the scratches and marks on his hand and then he remembered.
Joan Lacto was her name. She was no more than ten. He remembered her now. Yes, she had appeared in the living room window in her nightdress, she was playing with a toy doll.
He taped on the glass with one hand. Joan looked up and was surprised. Behind his back was a long, bone-handled knife.
Suddenly a man appeared behind Joan. The man was a string bean of a man. It was George Lacto. He stood watching Lloyd, and with a coolness, he stood binding his silk dressing gown as he cautiously approaches the window.
On the other side, Lloyd the intruder stood. He was smoking a very strong Czech cigarette.
George looking through the class called out ‘This is private property.’
‘Who are you?’
He gave Lloyd a once over taking in the man before him. He was filthy and unshaven. Most would have mistaken him for a tramp. Nevertheless, beneath the grime and dirt, Lloyd was tanned and his eyes had a dangerous, wild and untamed edge to them.
To George, Lloyd had secret service written all over him. He did not know which side he came from but George knew that he and his family had been found.
Without a flicker of doubt, George called him forward and with a smile, he began to speak
‘I want to talk to Control. And I want your guarantee that my family will remain safe’.
A few hours later, he was on a plane bound for London. However, that plane never arrived. George and his family died and Lloyd was never able to keep his promise.
Lloyd had always felt a pang guilt for George and his family. Not so much for George he knew what he was getting himself into but for his beautiful and vulnerable autistic daughter.
‘How is your mother’, came a booming voice in French,
‘You know she keeps holding out’, came the reply
This brought him back to the present time and the job at hand.
Composing himself, he stuck his fingers in his mouth and he fished out several pieces of plastic prosthetics that changed the shape of his face. He then ripped off his plastic latex nose and actors putty off, transforming his face immediately
He laughed; glad to be himself once more. Lloyd was in fact dead. He had died almost six months ago. The green and naive Norman did not know that of course, he just presumed that Lloyd had been sent to support him.
He left the toilet, walked past Norman who was looking very agitated and concerned that Lloyd had been gone so long. He then walked anonymously through the great swirl of passengers, before he boarded the train for Saint Denis. One stop later, he got off the train. Leaving the station behind him, he walked into the train car park. There he found the perfect non-descript car waiting for him. He climbed into his car and set off for Calais and his escape.