DELIVERANCE: a gripping action thriller full of suspense (18 page)

‘They went that way!’ the sheik shrieks, pointing at Prigg.

The panic worsens as the buyers and security men stampede towards the door. Prigg is knocked to the floor and trampled underfoot. As the group reach the door, they soon realise it will not open. ‘Get us out of here!’ the sheik screams at Ramsey, and then watches in horror as a bullet hole opens up where Ramsey’s eye used to be.

The sheik continues screaming as his face is splattered with Ramsey’s blood, and the three other security men hit the deck consecutively. All dead, all shot in the head or torso.

As the panic level increases, the men trample one another as they head for the front exit.

But it will not open either. There is no way out.

They scream, run and fall over each other in terror. It worsens as the terrible chemical smell reaches their noses.

Once he had set the first car alight, Marshall had headed for the SUV. He then pulled it around to the side of the building beneath one of the windows and then headed for the rear entrance.

Meanwhile Charlie had hotwired the large transport van with the camera logo, and driven it to the rear to meet Marshall. Charlie then climbed onto the SUV’s roof and watched through the high window. As soon as all of the men had cleared the room, he gave Marshall the signal.

Marshall entered the large warehouse, noting an office to the rear. He entered the main room and looked at the girls.

They were totally out of it.

Marshall calmly walked between them, and linked their hands together. Then he led the first girl out through the rear entrance and into the waiting van. Due to the drugs in their systems, they simply followed the girl in front by the hand.

The next part of the plan had come to Marshall when Charlie had mentioned sheep. Once the girls were safely in the van, Marshall had boarded up the rear exit. Meanwhile, as the men inside had panicked and ran for the back door, Charlie had dropped the security guys with the pistol through the window.

Now it was a race.

Marshall had driven the van as gently as he could around to the front of the building. He then boarded up the front door as quickly as he could. He got the last board in place just as the men inside had starting banging on the door. Charlie finished coating the exterior of the building with the cleaning fluid, and met Marshall around the front.

‘Are the girls okay?’ Charlie asked.

‘Hopefully,’ Marshall replied. ‘Are we set?’

‘Yes. But we just need a light.’

‘Well, bruv, I have a surprise for you.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I am going to drive the girls back to the airport and get them some medical assistance. You will follow in the SUV as soon as you have finished here.’

‘That doesn’t help me to light up the building, bruv. You did remember to get some fucking matches after all this, I hope?’

Marshall pauses for affect, then says, ‘Look in the boot, bruv.’

With that, he winks and grins, and then exits the car park to drive back towards the airport.

Charlie shakes his head and walks back around to the SUV. Presumably there is a blow torch or something inside, especially from the way that Marshall was grinning. Charlie pops the boot and stares in disbelief.

Christmas.

Nestled amongst some hard foam is a weapon. Not just any weapon either, but an AAR-12 Anti-Air Rocket Launcher.

‘Thank you, bruv,’ Charlie says aloud as he loads and mounts the launcher on his shoulder.

Chapter Twenty-three

Marshall hears the explosion in the distance as he pulls into the military personnel car park of the airport.
I bet Charlie enjoyed that,
he thinks to himself, chuckling.

Then, as he parks, he is immediately surrounded by three Military Police officers.

Luckily, one of them is the MP that led Marshall into the airport in the first place.

‘Marshall?’ he says, as Marshall steps out of the van.

Marshall looks around. ‘How about we cut the crap, boys. There are females in the back that need urgent medical assistance,’ he tells them plainly.

The two soldiers head to the rear of the vehicle whilst the MP remains. He looks confused, but Marshall can see respect in his eyes.

‘Just what is going on, Marshall?’

‘Right now there is no time to fill you in on everything, soldier. You are going to help the girls in the back, and then you are going to get them home. They have been victims of human trafficking. Also, get the medic to check their arms. They all have a wound in approximately the same place.’

‘Ok, then Marshall,’ the MP states. ‘Seeing as it’s you, consider it done. I’ve heard stories about you. You were kind of a big deal in your day.’

‘Just help the girls,’ Marshall sighs. ‘I need to get back in to check on my own party.’

The MP salutes and gets on his radio whilst the soldiers go to the back of the van to help the girls inside.

Marshall climbs from the van and is heading for the airport entrance when Charlie arrives.

‘Fuck me that was fun!’ Charlie exclaims.

‘All done?’ Marshall asks.

‘Dust,’ Charlie responds.

‘Let’s get inside and check on the girls then.’

As Marshall and Charlie reach the desk, Sergeant Hanni smiles at them.

‘You just about made it, boys,’

The brothers exchange glances.

‘What?’ they chorus.

‘Your scheduled departure time has been brought forward, but if you are quick, you should just about make it.’

‘Do the girls know?’ Charlie asks.

‘They have already been boarded.’

Marshall opens his mouth to protest, but Hanni cuts him off.

‘Yes, I did double check credentials for the flight attendant that collected them.’

Marshall closes his mouth.

‘How long do we have until the flight leaves?’ Charlie asks.

‘Ten minutes, but Captain Tyomi will take you straight to the plane. He is waiting for you in his office.’

‘Thank you, Sergeant.’

‘You’re welcome.’

As they approach a door marked: Cpt. Tyomi, Marshall pats Charlie on the back.

‘Home stretch, Bruv,’ he says.

But the note on the door changes everything though.

Marshall,

I hope you enjoy watching your new friend die.

Once you have finished crying, you should meet us in England.

I have not finished with you yet.

Much love,

Quinn.

P.S. You have seventy-two hours to find us. I shall keep them alive until then.

Marshall opens the door and immediately shouts an order at Stephen Avens who is strapped into Tyomi’s chair. He is badly beaten, but alive.

‘Do not speak,’ Marshall orders. ‘Do not even whisper, or you are a dead man!’

Tyomi is lying on the floor, dead. He has a bullet wound to the centre of the forehead. Marshall bends and checks for a pulse, a habit he needs to get back into. He shakes his head wearily at Charlie.

Marshall then hands his Glock to Charlie and walks around the desk. He peers beneath the chair and finds what he was expecting.

A bomb.

He follows two blue wires up around the leg of the desk and finds them secured to Avens’ throat. He then follows four purple wires around the chair legs and finds they end at the straps holding Avens in place.

Avens and Charlie exchange glances, and then look to Marshall, who simply holds his index finger up to his lips, and raises his other hand in the air gently to silently but firmly suggest they all need to stay calm and quiet.

Marshall has dealt with these people before and knows what happens next. The bomb is set to detonate if the straps are compromised, or if Avens so much as whispers. The explosion will be localised, but it will certainly kill Stephen Avens.

Marshall finds a pen and paper and writes this down in short hand before showing it to the other two men. Then he writes that Stephen should remain silent. They will be back for him soon.

He shows this to Avens, and then motions Charlie outside. Once in the corridor, he closes the door.

‘What the fuck is going on?’ Charlie says quietly.

‘I am guessing that after the girls were boarded, Tyomi and Stephen were ambushed,’ Marshall answers. ‘And I reckon if Stephen speaks, it will detonate the bomb.’

‘Shit! So there may still be hostiles here?’

‘No,’ Marshall states resolutely. ‘If they were here, there would be no need for the elaborate kill plan. We would be drawing fire by now. I’d say that the hostiles will be on the plane and waiting for the girls in England.’

‘Or Germany,’ Charlie adds.

‘Indeed.’

‘So what the fuck do we do now?’

‘We go back and speak to the Sergeant. This is a distraction tactic in order to slow us down. They know we won’t just leave Stephen.’

‘Maybe we should split up?’

‘Good idea. Or it’s the best option going, anyway. Now let’s get back to the Sergeant. We can tell her what has happened, and find the runway for that plane.’

As they run back along the length of the corridor, Charlie enquires how Marshall knew about the bomb.

‘I recognised the set-up,’ Marshall answers flatly.

‘Africa?’

‘Yes.’

‘What happened?’

‘The bomb squad got involved and a lot of people died.’

Charlie does not say any more. He knows that Marshall has a habit of blaming himself for things, regardless of whether he could have prevented them.

They slow down a little as they near the sergeant’s desk.

‘We have a situation,’ Marshall tells her.

‘What situation?’ she asks. ‘It’s been quite a long day already.’

‘Tyomi is dead, and Stephen Avens is strapped to a chair with a bomb under it.’

The sergeant is obviously not new to emergency situations and reacts well. She does not ask stupid questions, and she does not hesitate. But she does call security.

And then she draws her weapon.

‘I’m going to need you to place your hands on the desk in front of me,’ she calmly orders, ‘and I need you to do that right now.’

‘You have this all wrong,’ Charlie warns. ‘We aren’t the bad guys, and we really don’t have time for this…’

‘Final warning,’ the sergeant says, raising her gun a little higher. ‘Place your hands on the desk within the next ten seconds, or I will shoot you.’

Is she involved?
Marshall wonders,
Did Quinn leave a woman behind pretending to be a sergeant?

Surely, he reasons, if she was with Quinn then she would have killed us already. She’s had plenty of chances. So he walks towards the desk with his palms flat side up, but then stumbles a step, at which point Charlie vaults the desk and kicks the sergeant’s gun clean out of her hand.

Charlie grabs her arms and holds them behind her back whilst Marshall stares directly into her eyes.

‘If we were a threat, sergeant, you would be dead now. We have a Glock each, and your sidearm is spinning around on the floor. But we are not the bad guys, and you aren’t dead, okay?’

Charlie releases her arms, bends at the waist and picks up her gun. Then he hands it to her.

This is the point where things could go pretty wrong. Marshall and Charlie have done this type of friendly take down more times than either one can remember. Sometimes they understand, sometimes they don’t, and they start shooting.

But the sergeant does not start shooting.

‘Okay,’ she says with wounded pride. ‘So who
are
the
bad guys,
as you put it?’

‘It would take too long to explain, but my brother needs to get on that 747 to secure our girls. I will stay until I know that Stephen is okay.’

‘Why?’ the sergeant asks.

‘Because he and his brother have done a lot to help us. We can’t just leave him.’

Hanni types a few keys on the computer in front of her and looks at Marshall sadly.

‘I’m afraid the flight to England via Germany just departed.’

‘Fuck,’ Charlie exclaims.

‘I’ll call the bomb squad,’ the sergeant says.

‘No,’ Marshall orders. ‘Don’t do that. We are dealing with a specific set-up here, one that I have dealt with before. What I need is someone you trust to do a couple of things for me.’

‘Such as?’

‘First of all, call off security please,’ Marshall requests. ‘We can’t be knee-deep in bloodhounds just now.’

The sergeant puts in the call.

‘Okay,’ she says. ‘Now, what do you need?’

‘I need you to find me some wire cutters and a domestic cat.’

‘Are you serious?’

‘Yes,’ Marshall responds sharply, ‘and the longer you keep asking me stupid questions, the nearer our girls get to the bad guys. So make that call now, will you? And when you are done, meet me in Tyomi’s office. Oh, and bring with you the passenger manifest for the flight that Sarah, Jane and Phoebe are on, okay?’

The sergeant nods. Then Marshall and Charlie take off back along the corridor.

‘A cat?’ Charlie asks.

‘Yes Charlie, a cat.’

‘I’ve never seen a bomb squad use a cat!’

‘That‘s why I don‘t want them here,’ Marshall responds.

Charlie just smiles.

‘We need to move the body and clean up the blood first of all.’

‘Because cats are sensitive souls?’ Charlie jokes.

‘Something like that.’

They re-enter the office and immediately move the body of the captain out into the corridor. Not the most respectful thing to do with a captain, but necessary in the circumstances. Then Charlie goes to the sink unit and retrieves a cleaning product.

‘Will this do?’ he asks.

‘No. Get the bleach.’

Charlie retrieves the bleach and the brothers scrub the pool of blood until the carpet is devoid of colour.

Then the cat arrives.

There is a knock at the door and Marshall goes into the corridor where the sergeant is standing holding a cat. It’s a placid enough looking tabby.

‘One cat,’ she states, looking doubtful. ‘I have the wire cutters in my pocket.’

‘Is it your cat?’ Marshall asks.

‘No, it belongs to my sister. I’m just cat sitting whilst she is away.’

‘I need you to hold it for me.’

‘Where?’

‘Under the chair. Come in with me, but once we are inside do not speak to Stephen Avens, okay.’

They enter the room together and Marshall sees the sergeant draw back from the smell of bleach. They walk around the desk and Marshall writes a note for Stephen explaining what is happening, and places it on the desk where he can read it. Stephen nods. Marshall then motions the sergeant to sit under the chair with him. She kneels down with the cat on her lap. Marshall then grasps the wires coming from the explosive device. He counts thirteen wires in total, excluding the purple and blue trigger wires.
Lucky for some
, he thinks. Some will be false wires, but two or more will be the live detonation wires. Marshall takes hold of the sergeant’s hand and strokes it along the cat’s back. After a second, she understands what he wants and continues to stroke the cat without his help. Then Marshall tries to spread the wires out as best he can, but there are too many, so he separates them into three groups. He reaches into the sergeant’s pocket for the wire cutters and lays them by his side. Then he takes a deep breath, and holds the first four wires up to the cat’s mouth. Nothing happens for a second. But then the cat begins to sniff with its mouth open and its tongue poking out slightly. Marshall keeps the wires held rock steady, and the cat licks one of the wires. Marshall moves the wires away and rearranges them slightly, then places them back in front of the animal just to be sure. After another quick sniff, the cat licks the same wire again.

One down, but how many more to go?

Marshall crimps the wire with the cutters, but does not cut it. Then he offers the next set of four wires to the cat. This time the cat shows no interest in any of them. He removes them, adjusts them, and places them back under the cat’s nose, but still there is no response. Marshall then clasps the remaining five wires and holds them up for the cat’s assessment. This time, after a long forty seconds, the cat licks two wires. Marshall repeats the removal and replacement of the wires to ensure that the cat has definitely chosen them, and sure enough the cat licks the same two wires again. Marshall then crimps the wires, stands up and walks carefully away towards the door, ushering the sergeant and Charlie out of the room with him.