Chapter 51

Bullseye

Humphrey fiddled with his computer and grew increasingly impatient. There were no new messages from Olaf. They were sitting in a car on top of a small hill, overlooking the Cabal’s airfield. They had gone there hoping to see some sign of him. So far, nothing had happened. No one was there. He switched off the computer.

‘We are wasting our time, Mother. We might just as well go back and watch television. It would be no more ridiculous than this. It’s the weekend and it’s getting dark. They’ve all packed up.’

‘Not entirely …’

Kirstin reached for her binoculars.

‘There’s a white van down there. It’s just turned off the highway. I’ll get a better view in a moment when it’s gone past the trees.’

Humphrey sat back and waited. They had only one pair of binoculars and Kirstin was using them. She insisted that his eyesight was so bad they would be wasted on him. He squinted into the distance and saw the van stop in front of the main gate then drive on.

‘It’s going to Olaf’s workshop,’ Kirstin said.

‘Probably delivering something.’

‘No, it’s not. Olaf’s just got out.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes. He’s left the door open.’

‘Oh. My God.’

‘Now what?’

‘The van rolled forward and someone stopped it … a young man … he leant across. I think I know who he is … and he’s with somebody.’

‘Who do you think he is?’

‘Mario Mendez-Klein.’

‘And the other person?’

‘I can’t see.’

Kirstin moved forward to get a better view and Humphrey glanced back down the road. For a long time, nothing seemed to be happening. Now, it was all happening at once. He tapped Kirstin’s arm.

‘They’ve got company.’

‘Where?’

‘Back the way. A car was following them. It’s pulled over onto the grass and stopped behind a bush.’

Kirstin refocused her binoculars.

‘She’s hiding from them.’

‘She?’

‘There’s a woman in the car.’

‘Do we know who she is?’

‘Yes. The lady who speaks bad French with a Spanish accent and wears clothes cut in the South American style. She has a habit of turning up in the Café Noir when we are there.’

***

Mario moved into the drivers seat and turned on the engine. He wasn’t going to wait for Olaf to reappear. There was work to be done and it might take a long time. He had to get into the tunnel and break into the strongroom where the explosives were kept.

A locked gate was the first obstacle. He used bolt cutters to remove the padlock and chain holding it shut then drove to the entrance of the tunnel, where he was confronted by a steel door.

The door was strongly built but the lock was welded in place as if it was a later addition. An edge grinder, from the castle workshop, cut through the weld in a few minutes. He pushed the door open and drove the van inside.

The strongroom lay ahead. He had examined it on a number of occasions and wondered how it had passed inspection. There was something appallingly lax about sighting a room with explosives next to a store stacked with tools that could be used to break into it.

He entered the store and turned on the lights. He had helped the mining engineers carve out the galleries for the visitors centre and had used their equipment. It wasn’t necessary to be big and tough to operate the rock drills. Skill was what mattered. You had to know what you were doing and do it properly.

The hinges of the strongroom door were set in concrete. It was a lot harder than rock but not so hard that it wouldn’t yield to the drills. Mario kitted himself and Petra out with safety gear and sent her off to shelter in an alcove

The drills were mounted on wheels and worked by compressors. He connected one up and wheeled it to the strongroom door. What followed was tedious and very noisy.

Petra could feel the vibrations and wondered about the noise they were making. Mario said the whole area was deserted at night. She hoped he was right.

Hours passed and nothing happened. Then a figure appeared. To her relief, it was Olaf. He entered the circle of light where Mario was working and shuffled towards him. Mario turned off the drill and removed his earmuffs and facemask.

‘I’m almost there, Olaf.’

Olaf nodded but didn’t say anything. Petra watched as he retreated into a corner and started to wave his arms around as if conducting an imaginary orchestra. She was reminded of his behaviour in the van and wondered if he was going through the movements needed to steer drones and kill people with them.

Suddenly, it was all over. Mario sprang back and the door broke away at the hinges. It didn’t open fully but there was enough room for them to get inside and remove boxes of explosives. They waited for the dust to clear and began loading them into the van.

***

Kirstin adjusted her binoculars. If the man in the van was Mario Mendez-Klein then he was a very different person from the mild-natured young fellow she had been told to expect. Within minutes of arriving at the airfield, he had forced his way through a locked gate and opened a door with some sort of hand tool.

That was one part of the evening’s entertainment. The other was provided by the woman from the Café Noir. She left her car and took up a position on a grassy knoll where she could see what was going on. Kirstin guessed that her binoculars where equipped with night scopes, like her own.

A spy, spying on a spy.

It was a classical situation. She had lectured on it when she was supervising recruits in George Paget’s counter espionage department. Top spies spied on other spies and she was doing that now. The other woman didn’t know she was being watched.

Her attention was on Olaf who was spending most of his time wandering back-and-forth between his workshop and a plane that was standing nearby. He kept it up for hours. Finally, he seemed to have finished whatever he was doing and headed towards the tunnel.

The woman left the grassy knoll and stumbled off down the slope, peering through her binoculars and bumping into things. Kirstin had been in similar situations. People who equipped operatives didn’t always supply the correct gear. They should have given the lady a pair of night-seeing goggles and they hadn’t. Kirstin wished she’d had the foresight to bring a pair for herself.

She tapped Humphrey’s arm.

‘Time to go!’

***

Mario stepped forward with another box of explosives and placed it in the rear of the van. Olaf added a box of detonators and closed the door.

‘That’s enough.’

‘I thought you needed more.’

‘No,’ Olaf shook his head.’ That’s enough. I’ve modified one of the planes. We’ll use that instead of the van.’

‘You mean fly it like a drone?’

‘Yes. I’ll aim at the Great Hall. The rose window will be my target. We won’t need much explosive. I’ll wipe out Cuthbert Maguire and the rest of his gang in one big hit.’

‘That what you think, Olaf Magnusson.’

A powerful light lit his face and a voice rang out.

Mario turned and saw a woman with a gun.

‘I’ve been watching you.’ She flicked her flashlight. ‘Some people have been taken in by your lies and Carmel Mendez-Klein is one of them. I see you have her little boy with you.’

Mario recognised the voice. The lady’s name was Jane and she came from California. When she spoke to his parents she used Spanish. When she spoke to Olaf she used English.

He shielded his eyes from the glare and saw two more figures. One was a fat male and the other a slim female. Jane seemed to be unaware of their presence. She continued to harangue Olaf as the woman advanced with slow gliding steps … arms outstretched.

‘Drop your weapon!’

Jane froze.

‘Do I hear Kirstin Hansen?’

‘Yes. You do!’

A bullet ricocheted above their heads.

‘Now. Drop it!’

Jane’s gun fell to ground.

‘Move away!’

The fat man directed her to the wall.

Mario guessed that the newcomers were the secret agents employed by Charlie. He moved closer to Olaf.

‘Are they the Hansens?’

‘Yes,’ Olaf nodded.

‘We don’t want anything to do with them.’

‘No,’ Olaf agreed.

Mario signalled to Petra to get into the van. She slipped round to the passenger side and Olaf followed. Mario got into the drivers seat and turned the ignition key. The engine purred into life and the lights came on. Angry shouts followed as he accelerated away.

***

Humphrey watched the van disappear. They were in an odd predicament. The people they were meant to protect had deserted them and it was far from clear what their next move should be. He glanced at Kirstin and Jane who were standing with bewildered looks on their faces. Jane was the first to speak.

‘I think we should see what’s happening.’

Kirstin scowled at her.

‘You won’t try anything silly.’

‘Certainly not! We are professionals, Kirstin. We know how to behave. You will shoot me if I don’t follow the rules.’

‘And so will Humphrey. Don’t forget that. My son is not as stupid as he looks.’

Humphrey decided not to challenge that remark. Kirstin had a way with words even if he didn’t always agree with them.

‘I’ve got some guys outside,’ Jane said.

‘What sort of guys?’ Kirstin asked.

‘Heavies …’

‘You mean the sort that come in with guns blazing?’

‘Yes. And we don’t want that to happen.’

Kirstin shone her flashlight in Jane’s face.

‘If any of these gentlemen put in an appearance, I expect you to convince them that we are on the same side. If you don’t … I’ll fill you with bullets.’

‘The same side?’

‘Olaf Magnusson is a mass murderer with a long history of killing people. He is evidently in league with Mario Mendez-Klein and Petra de Villiers. The three are determined to wipe out your employers. In all probability they will succeed. You and your colleagues will then be without a job. Humphrey and I are in the same position. Our charges have abandoned us.’

***

Olaf pointed to a plane and Mario pulled up beside it. He recognised the aircraft as belonging to Cuthbert Maguire and wondered if Olaf had chosen it for that reason. There was something appealing about using one of Cuthbert’s planes to wipe out the Cabal.

He helped Olaf load boxes of explosives on board and placed detonators amongst them. The detonators were of the percussion sort that go off upon impact. Olaf checked the load and turned to him.

He held out a hand.

‘Goodbye, Mario.’

His face was composed and his voice was level and unhurried. He appeared far saner that Mario had ever seen him.

‘Goodbye, Olaf.’

Mario shook his hand.

‘Please turn the van’s headlights back on. It will make it easier for take-off.’

‘I’ll do that, Olaf.’

Mario returned to the van and switched on the headlights. He guessed what would happen next. Olaf wasn’t going to the fly the plane as a drone. He would be in it when it reached its destination.

‘He’s going to kill himself,’ Petra said.

‘Yes,’ Mario nodded. ‘It’s probably for the best. He seemed almost normal just now. There was no dribbling at the mouth. He knew what had to be done and how to do it.’

‘He’s left us this’

Petra held up an electronic device.

‘It’s his remote,’ Mario said.

‘His remote?’

‘He uses it to open the gates.’

They watched as the plane sped down the runway and took off. Mario turned off the headlights and waited for his eyes to become accustomed to the dark. There was a new moon and just enough light to see by. They could sneak out the back way and get well clear of Jane and the Hansens.

***

They reached the airfield as the plane took off. Humphrey saw it race down the runway, illuminated in the headlights of the van. He guessed Mario was driving. The headlights went out and the van continued down the runway towards the back gate, which opened automatically when the van reached it.

He returned his attention to the plane. It had completed a circuit and was heading towards the castle. The ancient building was floodlit and stood out majestically on its pinnacle of rock. As he watched, a dark shape appeared in front of the main tower. He saw it silhouetted against the famous rose window at the end of the Great Hall. Moments later, the hall erupted in flames.

Humphrey had watched demolition teams at work. Top operators could bring down a building and leave surrounding structures unscathed. Olaf had done that. The Great Hall had caved in. The occupants would be dead but people in other parts of the castle would have escaped injury.

He threw out his arms.

‘Surgical strike!’

The women ignored him. Neither seemed to appreciate the brilliance of Olaf’s achievement. Jane turned to Kirstin.

‘Can I have my phone please?’

‘What do you want it for?’

‘My heavies will arrive soon.’

‘What about them?’

‘They can’t get in. Olaf has immobilised the gate. I’ll tell them not to break it down. They can wait there. I’ll walk across and join them.’

Kirstin handed her the phone.

‘And I’ll give you this.’

Jane took a card from her pocket.

‘It’s got my email on it. Could you put in a good word for me with Charles Paget? I’ll send him my résumé if he’s interested. Tell him I speak Spanish and French. Jane Smith is my professional name. I have other noms de guerre.’

Kirstin watched her leave. Years of experience told her that the case was over. They had done as much as they could. She turned to Humphrey.

‘Time to go.’

‘Yes, Mother. I suggest we leave by the back gate. Mario left it open. Perhaps he was thinking of us.’

 

 

Epilogue

David flicked through the TV-channels. Yet another Islamic terrorist group was claiming credit for the outrage. A hall, packed with some of the world’s richest people, was totally destroyed when a suicide bomber flew a plane into it. Pictures showed investigators sifting through the rubble. An interview followed. Mario Mendez-Klein said his parents were amongst the fifty-four people who died in the incident. He and his friend, Ms Petra de Villiers, were returning from a visit to Foix when they saw the hall in flames. Mr Mendez-Klien said he hoped those responsible for the terrible crime would be brought to justice.

David turned off the television.

‘They’re a smart pair … Mario and Petra.’

‘What do you think they’ll do now?’ Kate asked.

‘Take a long rest and get to know one another better.’

‘Like us?’

‘Yep.’ David reached for his beer.

‘How long can we keep it up?’ Kate asked.

‘Until Charlie’s bankcard runs out.’

‘Do you think he is still alive?’

‘Dunno,’ David shrugged. ‘He’s been through worse. Charlie is a great survivor.’

END

 

 

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

The Invisible Drone is Book 5 in the Hansen Files Series. The Emerald Buddha is Book 4. To receive a FREE COPY: http://eepurl.com/c3W_iD

 

 

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