Assassin (The Billionaire Series) (2 page)

“No, it had nothing to do with you kicking the crap out of
those idiots!”

***

Lela and Tom lived as brother and sister although they were
from different families. Their parents had been thrown together fifteen years
earlier as a team of assassins had tried to kill Tom’s parents. Lela’s father,
Saki, had saved them. He was one of the most lethal fighters ever born.
Unfortunately, Lela’s mother had died during the attack but thanks to Donald,
Lela was saved. In gratitude, Saki pledged to protect the Kennedys forever and
that is how the bizarre union between the Scots and the South China Sea
islanders began.

Saki, like every islander, had been trained in a secret and
extraordinarily powerful martial art from birth. This tradition dated back to
his ancestors who first inhabited the island thousands of years earlier. They
were the sole survivors of an elite tribe, the most feared fighters ever known,
dedicated to the protection of an ancient empire and its emperors. Their
island, ‘Penaraja’, was named in their honour and meant ‘Emperors’ Guard’.

Saki had begun Lela’s training shortly after birth, such was
the complexity and intricacy of the movements required to master it. The art
was the first pure martial art which, over the centuries, has been diluted by
others into modern martial arts such as Kung Fu, Karate, Jujitsu and Tai Chi.
Only the Penarajans, with their intense training, had maintained the pure art.
Lela was an exceptional student and, at the age of 15, was probably one of the
best fighters alive, second only to her father and even that was debatable.

***

“So what can we do?” asked Lela.

“Other than support my dad, nothing. When is your dad due back
from Penaraja?”

“Soon I hope. We start school in a few days and he wants to
spend some time with us before we leave. I’m sure your dad will feel better
when my dad’s back.”

“Yeah, You’re right. Any idea what he’s been up to?” Tom
referred to the fact that neither he nor Lela believed what Saki had told them
he had been doing for the previous four weeks.

During their annual holiday to Penaraja, the island home of
Lela’s family, Saki and Donald had been very secretive and detached from the
rest of the family. Even Tom’s mother had commented that she did not know what
was wrong with the two of them. On the day they were due to leave, a mysterious
emergency resulted in Saki being left behind. Tom and Lela had noticed the
almost imperceptible nod between Donald and Saki and the one thing that Tom
thought he would never witness, Saki looking worried. Saki never looked
worried.

After the Kennedy’s had left, Saki had phoned every evening to
check that everyone was OK and to ensure that Lela was training. He would then
to speak to Donald at length, sometimes hours. Tom and Lela had tried, once, to
listen in on their conversation but heard nothing other than Donald’s “hmmm’s,”
“yes’s” and “OK’s.” Saki seemed to be doing all the talking and Donald all the
listening. Tom’s mother had caught them eavesdropping but instead of telling
them off, asked what they had heard. Her only response was “very strange.” She
too was in the dark about what was going on.

Four weeks on and Lela still had no idea what he was up to.

“None whatsoever, I’m very worried though. Whatever it is, it
can’t be good. I can’t help thinking it’s linked to last year’s kidnapping,”
she said.

“Either that or the assassinations. My dad’s very worried
about those.”
 

Tom jumped, Lela screamed as both felt a hand clamp down on
their shoulders, they had been the only people in the room.

“Hi guys!”

“DAD!” cried Lela throwing her arms round her father.

“SAKI!” shouted Tom hugging them both.

Chapter 4

Beaumont considered himself the smartest person he knew. In
his 35 years, nobody had come close. Of course, the President was a clever man
himself but Beaumont was not merely clever, he was a genius. Princeton,
Harvard, MIT, not only top of his class but perfect scores.

Today would see another more than perfect score, such was the
brilliance of Beaumont’s plan. The plan he had inherited on his father’s death
had been deeply flawed and would never have worked. Had it not been for his
father’s untimely death, the whole thing would have fallen apart. His
brilliance had turned a bad plan but a good idea, into a brilliant plan and a
realistic objective. Of course, it involved significantly more deaths than was
first envisaged but that didn’t bother Beaumont. It was as though his
brilliance consumed him, leaving room for nothing else, no compassion, no
emotion, no ethics.

 
Beaumont’s office
linked directly to the Oval Office, the President’s Chief of Staff having being
displaced to an office further down the corridor. The title on the door read
‘Special Assistant to the President’. Rumours were rife about just how
‘special’ Beaumont’s assistance was. He was always well presented, Saville Row
tailored suits, perfect hair, immaculate teeth, sparkling eyes. He was probably
the prettiest person in the Whitehouse and some said Washington. Women were
mesmerised by his looks while men envied his hold over them. However, in all
his time in Washington, he had never been linked to anybody in a romantic way.
He appeared to have eyes for only one person, his boss, the President of the
United States of America.

It was of course nothing more than speculation. In truth,
Beaumont had no sexual urges whatsoever, another symptom of his quest for
brilliance. The only satisfaction Beaumont required was power and sitting less
than twenty feet away from the President, was certainly a step in the right
direction. Working for the
second
most powerful man in the world was not a bad thing. On successful completion of
the plan, he would receive the promotion he knew he deserved, deputy to The
Chairman of the Committee. The Chairman of The Committee was
the
most powerful man in the world, far
more powerful than the President, and had selected Beaumont for his current
role of ‘supporting’ the President and keeping him in check. Beaumont could not
believe his luck when he had received the call from The Chairman. Beaumont’s
father, in the video, had explained the existence of The Committee - the real
power behind the power.

The Committee had been formed before the First World War and
comprised the wealthiest and most powerful men in the United States. They did
not approve of the power the Government had over their profits and concluded
that the only way to protect their interests was to control the Government
itself. The Committee met and agreed a path to take control of the Government,
not overtly but covertly, ensuring that key government positions were held by men
within their control. Many conspiracy theorists had alluded to a government
behind the government, controlled by big business. The conspiracy theorists,
for once, were right.

Although Beaumont’s father had mentioned the Chairman of the
Committee in the video, he had not revealed his identity. In fact, nobody knew
anyone else’s identity in The Committee except for The Chairman who knew them
all. Entry to The Committee was hereditary and by invitation only after the
death of a father, never before. There was one other form of entry which, until
recently, had never been invoked - a personal invitation extended by The
Chairman.

Beaumont’s call came the day after he had seen the video. The
Chairman began by asking whether he had watched the tape. When he said yes, The
Chairman introduced himself merely as The Chairman of The Committee. He
welcomed Beaumont to The Committee and asked him to carry out his current role,
Special Assistant to the man the Committee were backing to become the next US
President.

At the time, it looked likely that their candidate would lose
as the other candidate was way ahead in the polls. However, The Chairman was
sure that with Beaumont on board, this could be turned around. Their candidate
was a very charismatic and extraordinary man who was also a member of The
Committee and had been carefully groomed for the role as part of a larger
initiative. However, they were concerned about the flaws in his character which
required controlling. Beaumont accepted the task, excelled in his role and
delivered The Committee’s first presidential victory for many years. Since the
election, he had continued to control the President’s flaws bar one major blip,
the business the previous year with the Kennedys.

Beaumont had spent days deciding whether he should tell The
Chairman the truth about the President’s involvement but that would have
alerted him to his own failure in controlling the President. Therefore, he
omitted to mention it during his weekly update with The Chairman. The President
was of course completely unaware of where his Special Assistant’s real
loyalties lay.

Beaumont’s phone rang.

“Hello?” he answered.

“Canada is done. I’m just waiting for final confirmation from
Argentina…hold on a second,” the caller listened into his radio and confirmed
to Beaumont, “…yes, it’s done.”

“Excellent. Any problems?”

“Of course not,” said the caller, irritated at the suggestion.

“Good.”

Beaumont was using the best personnel and could still not
believe how stupid the President had been a year earlier, launching an
operation without his involvement and selecting people recommended by low-life
acquaintances.

“Unless there’s anything else, I’ll get my team some well
earned rest,” suggested the caller.

“Yes, fine, I’ll talk to you again in a week.”

Beaumont ended the call and opened the safe beneath his desk
for which only he had the key. He extracted the plan and crossed off Canada,
Japan and Argentina. Fourteen down and three new members to add to The
Committee.

Chapter 5

“Where have you been?” asked Lela.

“Penaraja,” replied Saki.

“How did you get in without us knowing?” asked Tom. “I mean
the dogs, how did you get past them?”

Saki gave Tom a knowing look and winked.

Tom really wished he could do what Saki and Lela could do. But
he couldn’t. Lela had tried to teach him some moves but after a couple of
months had given up. Tom would never be supple enough and was far too awkward.

“So, tell me about your birthday?” said Saki changing the
subject. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.”

“Not a lot to tell, no friends, just my grandparents, had a
nice dinner, that’s about it.”

“…and your present?”

“Amazing!”

“Well, how are you getting on with it?”

 
“You just get back
and all you want to do is talk about birthday presents?” interrupted Lela
bringing the subject back to her original question. “Where have you really
been?” she asked more forcefully.

“OH GOD NO!!” screamed Donald from the kitchen.

The three rushed through and looked at Donald as he stared at
the TV screen.

“…to recap three, I repeat three, world leaders have been
assassinated in the last four hours. Heightened security has been implemented
around the world as investigators continue to try to make sense of the fourteen
assassinations which have now taken place in the last year. We’ll keep you up
to date with any developments, in the meantime, we’ll pass you back to your
current programming…”

All stood open-mouthed at the shocking news. Donald turned to
look at them and then spotted Saki. He heaved a huge sigh of relief.

“You’re back!” he said. “But I didn’t hear you come in, how
did you get past the dogs?”

“Don’t ask,” said Tom.

“You know, just checking I’ve still got what it takes,” said Saki.

Tom and Lela both noticed the look between Donald and Saki. It
was as though a thousand words had transferred between them without speaking.

“So, I was just asking Tom about his new pressie,” said Saki
breaking the silence.

“Yes, very exciting. His mother is livid with me, she can’t
believe I could be so stupid. Anyway, after last year’s endeavours of flying
the A380 test plane, Tom proved he’s more than capable.”

“I can’t believe he didn’t guess,” said Lela, pinching Tom.

Tom couldn’t believe he didn’t guess either. The day of his
birthday had arrived and unlike the previous year, it was to be a fairly quiet
day. No parties, no Saki, just his grandparents visiting for a birthday dinner.
However, one thing was planned which was very exciting, Alba One was ready for
delivery. Alba One was his father’s new Airbus A380, a new private jet
replacing a smaller Boeing 747. It had been delivered overnight to Glasgow
Airport and was to be unveiled as part of Tom’s birthday celebrations. Tom was
a plane fanatic and would have preferred to see it arrive from Toulouse but his
father had refused. The plane was arriving too early in the morning and he
wanted it perfect for the unveiling.

The Kennedys boarded the helicopter for the short trip to
Glasgow Airport. Throughout the trip, Tom’s mother was livid with his father.
Tom had no idea why but whatever his father had done, Tom had never seen his
mother so angry. They arrived at Glasgow Airport and landed in front of a new
hangar specially erected to house the new plane. The hangar was massive, over
100 metres long by 100 metres wide.
 

A ribbon had been placed in front of the hangar doors for Tom
to cut which he did before the others had even reached the hangar, such was his
excitement. Once the ribbon was cut, the doors to the hangar began to slide
open and Tom’s father asked him to turn around and look away.