New Encounters (25 page)

‘I’m not sure if I am hungry Robert.’

‘You look gaunt Bella, so you need to at least try to eat.’

‘Okay, I will try.’

I sit down on the couch and Robert joins me. Then he scoops me up into his arms and puts me in his lap. Cuddling me and holding me tight. I can feel the warmth of his skin, slight stubble on his chin scratches at the skin on my face. I nuzzle my head into the crooks of his neck. His scent makes me feel safe, as does his arms that he has tightly around my body.

‘Make all this go away Robert. I’ve never been so scared in all my life. I will do anything to get Ash back safe and sound.... anything’

‘Shhh baby... I know’ He rocks me back and forth and my tears have returned again.

‘Let it out Bella... that’s it.. let it all out’ I sob, hard. As my sobs subside, Robert tilts my head up and kisses me gently on the lips and brushed away my tear sodden hair from my face.

‘You want to kiss me, even though I look like this?’ I smile weakly at him.

‘I want to kiss you, no matter what.’

‘Even with tears and snot running down my face and red eyes. ‘

‘Even then Bella... even then’

I stand up and walk over to the bathroom, and blow my nose and wash my face. I look dreadful. I feel dreadful as well. There is a knock at the door and Robert goes, and it turns out to be our room service. His phone starts to ring and he takes the call.

‘Yes?’

‘Okay.... keep me posted.’

Its like the shortest phone call in history.

‘Robert I thought you wouldn’t be around for a few more days yet. Did you finish early?’

‘I had to finish early Bella, I wanted to be with you when all of this was going on.’

I feel like his sentence has confirmed to me even more that I trust him, I find it reassuring. I nod and he guides me over to the table and sits me down. Arranging my plate and cutlery, pouring my drink. He sits down and nods at me, encouraging me to eat like I am a 4 year old.

I pick my knife and fork up and start to eat, slowly. But I find it hard to swallow, having a constant lump in my throat.

‘David said that the Police were asking you questions about me Bella.’ It was more of a statement then a question. So I just reply with a simple ‘Yes’

‘What were they asking?’

‘They asked Emma if she had met you. They asked me how long we had been together, how well I knew you. Things like that. To be honest, at this point Robert, I can’t remember in exact detail as I have been asked so many questions in the past 24 hours by everyone.’ I refrain from saying that the detective said if I ever needed help I just had to call. It didn’t seem the time or the place. I was still trying to make sense of it in my own head.

‘Sorry... I know you have. They are only doing their job Bella. It’s important that they check everyone out that has been in contact with Ash.’

‘Yeah, that’s what I thought.’ I hadn’t though... but it was a good explanation. I am pleased the detective is checking out everyone. That’s a good thing, and it shows that they are doing everything they can. I take one more mouthful of food, but I really can’t stomach anymore. Its too much. I pour myself more wine instead though. I can see Robert is about to comment on my lack of appetite, but I think from the look I gave him he thought better of it.

Robert gets up and heads to the bathroom and I can hear the shower splashing. He comes through to me

‘Come on Bella, shower then bed.’ I stand up and go through with him. Feeling numb I don’t feel as though I can make any decision at the moment, even the simple ones like showering and eating. Robert gets undressed in front of me, and all I do is stand there and stare into his eyes. He walks over and takes off my top and my bra, then undoes my jeans and pulls them down and off my legs. He then pushes down my knickers and I step out of them. We both get into the shower. He starts to wash me, but this time there is no arousal there. This time its with gentle love rather than in a sexual way.

I am to numb for arousal right now, and it is clear that he is to. Washing me with tenderness and with care. Afterwards, we step out of the shower and he dries me off with a towel and wraps one around his waist. He walks me into the bedroom and slips my nightie over my head and pulls back the covers and eases me into the bed.

‘Thanks’ I mutter. He just smiles at me, with a caring smile and kisses me on my forehead.

Robert walks around the rooms and switches everything off, and I can hear him putting the chain and lock on the hotel door. He comes back through with a hot cocoa and puts the tv on very low. Drying himself off, he slips into the bed next to me with a mug of something and hands it to me.

‘Drink up Bella, it will help you sleep. ‘

I do as I am told, I just feel so tired, its chronic fatigue. I drink my cocoa, and slide further down into the bed. Robert pulls me into his arms and whispers.

‘I love you Miss Stone.’

‘Love you too Robert.’ But with that my eyes begin to shut. Everything goes dark.

CHAPTER 31

His clothes were damp, and the cramp was beginning to start in his feet. Flexing them back and forth, very slowly so he didn’t compromise their position. His elbows are planted firmly on the ground, and his neck is feeling the burn. The house that they were watching had motion sensors around the perimeters and a lookout tower. If they were seen at any moment, they were in the shit. Chris was watching intently through his special binoculars, that didn’t give off any reflection. So many people made that mistake when spying it was ridiculous. All it took was for the sun to be bright and bam. Game over. A few bullets in that vicinity, and you can kiss everything goodbye.

In this climate, it was always hot and humid so you were constantly covered in a layer of sweat. But the thing that pissed Chris off the most, and he is sure he wasn’t on his own, was the insects. When you came to places like Colombia the insects were not normal. Evil kind, that’s what they were. They didn’t look normal, they would be an abnormally big size for an insect and sometimes they were the brightest of colours. Shit camouflage. It was the bloody bites that he was always left with. They must like his blood or something, but it didn’t matter where in the world Chris was... he was eaten. He always put the stuff on, but rarely did it work. It’s like the little shits smelled fresh blood. The worst place was the jungle, hot, humid, and full of freaky animals and freaky insects. Working in the jungle was a hard slog. But, he had signed up for this. It’s what he did best.

Chris opened the flap on the side of his cargo pants and slowly pulled out a muesli bar. He mused while he ate that it was standard practice. Always rest, eat and drink regularly. You never know when you are about to go without all three, or for how long. It also kept you alert. Going on stag was always a shitty job. It was always sods law that you didn’t get what you needed quickly.... oh no... quite the opposite. It was always sods law that it was in a shitty environment, with shitty weather. Not only that, but what you needed would take a week, 2 weeks and sometimes... when it was really shite... a month. Being on stag was renowned for being utterly boring. But, it was imperative.

It always gave you too much time to think. You had nothing to do but lie there and watch and wait. Chris remember leaving the SAS, he had done a good stint, in fact... a great stint. But he was made to leave to become a deniable operative. Basically a law unto himself. If the Government, CIA, MI5 didn’t want anything bouncing back on their precious reputations, it was the likes of Chris and Bob that were hauled in. Given a black ops, another term used for a deniable operation. If it went tits up and you were caught... well... you were on your own. You never acted on behalf of anyone but your own. Chris remembered the day he was told that he would be doing it. He had excelled at being a Reg guy. For that, he was punished. One of his team members were captured and beheaded and it was streamed online for the world to watch. The other was killed before being captured, Elliot. Elliot was a tough bastard and he knew, the last place he wanted to go was with those guys... so instead he went out in a blaze of glory and sprayed them with bullets before they ripped into him. He was told that if he didn’t cooperate they would blame that on him and dismiss him from the regiment as a disgrace. He wouldn’t even be given the pension, left up shit creek without a paddle.

It wasn’t the pension that fucked him off, it was the fact that they were threatening to disgrace him and chuck him out. That was what really got him. So he started as a deniable operator and did so with rebellion. Everyone who had to deal with him, dreaded dealing with him. He could tell by their arrogant tone, the way they looked at him. They just made it worse. So whenever he could piss them off, even if it was childish... he would do it. He wore that Reg badge with pride. He was part of a team, a family.... the closest family you could ever have. But now, he was a solo operator. Now and again, he was paired with someone, rarer.... he would be put into a group. But it was difficult, working with different people all the time. You didn’t know if you could trust them, how they worked, if they were capable. Chris only trusted himself, but he had worked with Bob a few times... so he knew he was good. It was great when there was a regular person like Bob that you worked with now and again.

Chris could sense movement to his left and he froze. Breathing in and out through his mouth, his training and everything he has ever learnt, proves automatic. As he breaths in and out through his mouth his hearing becomes sharper. He tunes into his peripheral vision so he doesn’t turn his head and cause unnecessary movement. Ever so slowly, with the arm furthest away from where the noise came from, he places his binoculars down and places his hand on his weapon. Not his rifle, it’s too big to pick up, but his Sig Sauer handgun. He hears the noise again, and again, it’s moving closer. Chris keeps still... and then he sees it at the corner of his eye. It’s a bird, looking for food. Chris takes a deep breath.

Lifting his binoculars back up he focuses back on the house and the surrounding area. There is always two guards on watch duty up the tower. Around 20 guards that do perimeter checks every 20 minutes. As he sweeps the surrounding dense jungle area slowly, he sees a glimmer in the distance. It’s difficult to make it out until it hits the clearing which is a couple of miles from the house. After a minute or two, the glimmer comes more into focus and it turns out to be a convoy of vehicles. Big hummers, 4x4’s all robust vehicles. He presses on his mic

‘Nob head.’

‘Fuckin hell. Do you just wait until it’s my turn to sleep.’

‘Haha.. Joker. I think this could be it. We have a convoy coming down. I am looking at hummers and some other vehicles. Hold on they are coming into more view at the clearing 2 clicks from the house... there are 1..2...3....4.... 5.....6... 7....8....9.... I think we have 9 vehicles en route.’

‘Hold out, keep watch, I am on my way.’

Chris flicks his binoculars back to the house, and the tower must have spotted them as well. The guards are all out, standing guard... but not from the on coming convoy, at the perimeters to welcome their guests safely. Nob head is behind me now and he crawls next to me and my camouflage den to watch. He is looking through his binoculars and he has his radio phone at the ready.

As the convoy pulls up, Chris and Bob use their powerful binoculars to zoom into the faces. They need to spot the 10 guests that they have etched into their memory from photographs.

‘There is one... two... three.... four...’

‘five... six... seven.. eight.... and yep outta the hummer makes it nine and ten.’

‘This is it then, the meet we have been waiting for.’

‘It sure is, I will call it in now.’ Pressing the radio phone to his ear, Bob says.

‘This is Charlie Tango. I repeat, Charlie Tango. The last supper is ready and lit. I repeat the Last supper is ready and lit................. understood.’ He hangs up and says.

‘Light it up then dick head... they will be 10 minutes.’

Chris, points the special weapon on the building, and through the lens he can see a giant red dot on the roof. To the naked eye, you wouldn’t see a thing.

‘Well they must have fucked off the government pretty bad. I mean taking out 10 cartel leaders at once is pretty extreme.’

‘Yeah mate... I know. I always wonder though.... why now? They have been in their jobs for a long time as the cartel. Why is it such a problem now for our chiefs?’