The Spear of Destiny (18 page)

  Bauer and Bossano got to their feet and followed once again hugging the walls. Dennis stuck his head into the relics chapel. All cabinets holding relics had been smashed, the treasures within looted. He gave pursuit quickly catching the other two. They got to the bottom of the stairs and threw themselves into cover behind benches. The gunmen were retreating backwards towards the main doors. Dennis motioned to Bossano and together they pushed the bench they were crouching behind over to give them better cover, the wood being thicker on the seat. This was met with more gunfire. As the gunmen reloaded Bauer ran, bent over double, and took cover behind a thick stone pillar. A burst of fire followed him. Dennis got himself into position so he could see towards the main doors. There were three of them moving backwards. One fired a burst at Bauer who dodged forward two rows of seats and took cover. Two of the gunmen kept up the gunfire as the third lifted the heavy bar that locked the front doors of the church. He swung the massive double doors open with tremendous strength. They were going out the front way. Bauer gave Dennis a signal to stay put and he gestured for Bossano to follow. They got up to move forward when three hand sized orbs came arcing into the church. One landed spinning next to Bossano. Bauer threw himself down flat on his face. Bossano, not so quick was staring at the object when it exploded, throwing him into the air in a spray of his own blood. His body landed with a soggy thud and Dennis looked into lifeless eyes as the other two M67 grenades exploded deafeningly inside the church.

  “Fuck,” Dennis said, “Grenades now! They’ve stepped up their game.”

Bauer got up from the floor. A quick glance at Bossano told him the policeman was dead. Then he pressed forward, moved into cover at the door, peered around as he heard more machine gun fire, saw Angelo’s body fall to the ground, saw two of the gunmen shoot the tyres on the police car as the black Hummer raced up to them and they got in. Bauer rushed out into the open air.

  “Bauer wait!” Dennis shouted rushing to the doors.

He watched in horror as the back window of the Hummer was lowered and the barrel of an MP5 poked out and sprayed Bauer with bullets. He crashed heavily to the ground as the Hummer sped away. Dennis ran out onto the piazza in front of the church. Bauer was face down and Dennis turned him over. He was still alive, his shirt soaked in blood. He tried to speak to Dennis but only blood bubbled from his lips.

  “Don’t talk,” Dennis said reaching into his pocket for his mobile phone. He dialled the emergency number and asked for an ambulance. Bauer was struggling to try and move.

  “Bauer stay still. Help is on its way.”

Bauer tried to speak again. Suddenly his body went into spasms then went still. Dennis watched as the eyes glazed over. The sound of the Hummer bouncing off the pavement and striking a parked car got his attention. It zigzagged across the road as it sped away. Dennis fished around in Bauer’s pockets until he found the keys to the Lancia. He let Bauer’s head down gently onto the road and stood up.

  “Goodbye Thomas,” he said.

He rushed over to the Lancia. The engine roared into life as Dennis stomped on the gas pedal and he had to swerve around Angelo’s body as he roared away back the way he and Bauer had come. The Hummer’s tail lights easy to see in the growing dark.

  Dennis got his phone out again and selected dial and rang Sonnenburg. The phone rang five times before it was answered.

  “Sonnenburg,” the voice said.

  “It’s Dennis. I’m in pursuit of a black Hummer which contains three armed men. They’ve attacked the church and killed the priests, two carabinieri and Bauer.”

  “Understood Peter. Are you able to follow long enough for us to get a helicopter to you?”

  “I think so. I’m in the Lancia driving down the Viale carlo Felice. Hang on! They’ve just swung onto the Via Appia Nuova. Jesus they nearly just ran a group of girls over.”

  “Hold on Peter I’m just getting a lock on the Lancia. We’ve got our problems here.”

  “I take it that explosion was the car bomb.”

  “It was.”

  “Anyone hurt?”

  “We lost the bomb disposal guys. The blast killed them.”

Dennis swallowed hard. Not wanting to ask the next question.

  “And Hutchinson and my girlfriend?”

  “They’re both fine Peter. They are right here beside me.”

Dennis closed his eyes with relief for a moment.

  “Keep me updated Peter. Where are you now?”

  “I’m trying,” Dennis said struggling to see the sat nav now he was driving, “I’m approaching a large, what must be a roundabout. They’ve just gone round it the wrong way. Now they’ve hit another car. It didn’t even slow them down.”

  “Large roundabout,” Sonnenburg was saying, “All right I think you’re at the piazza De Re Di Roma.”

  “I don’t know. I can’t see any road signs.”

  “That’s because they’re up high on buildings Peter. I know exactly where you are. We’ve got a fix on the Lancia’s tracker. You’re heading for the Grande Raccordo Anulare….”

  “The what?”

  “It’s the motorway that encircles greater Rome. Now we’ve got them.”

Dennis didn’t answer. He was busy swerving around cars that were frantically trying to avoid the Hummer and the Lancia. Then suddenly a car was hit broadside amid a burst of sparks and it rolled onto its roof and onto the pavement until it tumbled to a stop. Two more Hummer’s burst onto the road to join the other one in front of Dennis.

  “Holy crap,” Dennis shouted into the phone whilst performing an emergency stop, “Two more Hummer’s have joined the chase and by the looks of it these two are armour plated.

  Dennis watched in his rear view mirror as the crashed car stopped moving.

  “Two more Hummer’s,” Sonnenburg replied, “Well they’re not ours. Peter I need you out of there now. We now have air support. Leave it to our ground forces.”

  “Understood.”

Dennis put the phone down and ducked his head down to look out of the top of the windscreen as a police helicopter whooshed past overhead, its bright searchlight on the road. He watched in the rear view mirror again as a group of bystanders rushed to the upturned car to help its occupants. Ahead, the helicopter banked and disappeared from view, blocked from his eyesight by tall buildings. Dennis reached down and picked up the blue light and put it on the roof of the car. He flicked it on then flicked the siren switch.

  “Peter what the fuck are you doing?” he said out loud as he stomped on the accelerator and the lancia roared away once again in pursuit.

  It didn’t take him long to catch up to the trail of destruction. There were smashed and dented cars and mopeds. He passed what was obviously an outdoor pavement café. The tables and chairs were smashed to pieces along with the barriers displaying the café’s logo. Dennis saw a group of people crowded around something laying on the ground amongst the destroyed furniture. Then he saw faces turn towards him as the people responded to the siren and blue light. He saw some of them stand up from crouching and move back. Then he saw the pools of blood in his headlights.

  “Bastards!” he said as he raced past.

The phone on the passenger seat began to ring. Dennis picked it up and pressed the green telephone symbol.

  “Mr Dennis I told you to stop your pursuit and yet I can see on the screen that you are still following….”

  “They’ve just run down some innocents who were enjoying an evening out for fuck’s sake,” Dennis shouted down the phone at Sonnenburg, “I’m not going to let them get away with it.”

  Sonnenburg glanced at Natalie who along with Hutchinson was standing next to the police chief. He saw the look of concern on her face. Then he turned back to the monitors.

  “All right Mr Dennis. You have just entered the A91 motorway. This road takes you to the Fumicino airport. It is also a toll road. They have made a mistake leading you onto this. We will be able to set up a road block at the tolling station.”

  “They must also know this. Why would they take a road you can block?”

  “This is the motorway that leads onto Tarquinia. For them it is the quickest route if they’re planning to escape this way.”

  “Well if you ask me it all sounds too easy.”

  “Relax Mr Dennis. We’ve got them now.”

Sonnenburg ended the call and nodded at Natalie.

  “Don’t worry miss. Everything’s under control.”

Dennis had the Lancia at 140KPH as he sped in and out of traffic, changing lanes, overtaking and undertaking, always gaining on the three black Hummers. They were speeding and chopping and changing lanes also. Dennis turned the blue light and siren off, hoping to catch up to them without giving himself away. What he was going to do once he caught up to them he had no idea. He eased off the accelerator and maintained a fairly large distance. He saw headlights in his rear view mirror and heard the sirens at the last moment as two police motorcycles blew past him and closed on the Hummers and Dennis watched in horror as men holding machine guns leaned out of the windows and sprayed the motorcycles with bullets. The first rider was killed instantly and fell from his BMW which slid on its side for a short distance before stopping, motorists frantically swerving to avoid it. The other one exploded when the fuel tank was hit and the rider was thrown clear. Dennis turned his head and closed his eyes for a moment as the body of the policeman went under the wheels of an articulated lorry. He opened them in time to see the back axles of the vehicle bouncing as they crushed the man.

  “Jesus,” Dennis muttered.

He had to brake hard and swerve as motorway users performed emergency action to avoid the carnage and now the traffic was slowing ahead. Two police cars raced past headlights and blue lights ablaze. Dennis switched on his siren and blue light again and changed lanes until he was on the hard shoulder. He raced the Lancia’s engine through the gears and hammered down the middle lane now the road in front clear as far as the Hummers. The two police cars were keeping a safe distance. Dennis could hear their conversation with control over the Lancia’s radio.

  The Hummer’s were back in traffic now. They raced past the junctions for the Fumicino airport. The traffic here slowing into two lanes. The telephone on the passenger seat began ringing again.

  “We’ve got you on the scanner,” Sonnenburg began, “We’re setting up a road block. As you pass each junction more police cars will join. The idea is to box them in and slow them down, eventually stopping them.”

  “You’d better tell them not to get too close,” Dennis replied, “They’ve got machine guns and they’ve already killed two of your motorcyclists….”

  Dennis read the road sign ahead.

  “Civitavecchia,” he said, “Is that the port where the big cruise ships dock?”

  “It is. Tarquinia is just beyond it and if you maintain the speed you’re doing you’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

  Sonnenburg was right Dennis was thinking as he and the police cars tailing the Hummers raced past the exit for the port. Above, the helicopter kept a distance from any potential gunfire. Dennis was at the back of the carabinieri cars which were keeping a formation to stop any vehicles from behind in overtaking. Then ahead in the distance in the fading light Dennis saw the unmistakeable bulk of a transporter plane flying low. The flashing lights on the aircraft drawing his attention. Even from this distance Dennis recognised it as a C130 Lockheed Hercules. Dennis was going to dismiss the aircraft but it suddenly occurred to him that it might be heading for the airfield bought by Von Werner. What was it called? Tarquinia?

  Then Dennis saw the sign for Tarquinia and he knew that must be where the transporter was heading. He picked up the phone to ring Sonnenburg to warn him when the unthinkable happened. Almost as if in slow motion Dennis saw the Hummers pass a coach full of tourists. As the last Hummer passed a man leaned out of the back window, aimed his gun and fired a burst of bullets at the front wheel which exploded in large lumps of rubber. Dennis imagined the driver fighting for control and then suddenly it was swerving across the lanes without slowing. The twelve ton coach ploughed into the central reservation, destroying a few metres of it before the vehicle mounted it. The front end of the coach rose into the air, the chassis clearly visible, before it came crashing back down on its side in a shower of sparks and broken glass. The coach slid along the carriageway for a short distance and then completely stopped. The first two police cars were unable to stop in time and they ploughed straight into the wreckage. The third lost control and slammed into the central reservation. Another police car slammed into the two already embedded into the coach. The last was able to stop. Dennis in the Lancia was also able to stop, the Lancia’s tyres squealing black smoke. Then Dennis was throwing open the driver’s door and he was out running to the scene.

  He got halfway when one of the police cars exploded, picking him up and throwing him through the air. Dennis landed in the road, his ears ringing. Then slowly he was able to get up and he groped past the other police car that had stopped. The driver of this car also slowly getting to his feet. Dennis helped him then moved forward. Three police cars were burning and he shielded his face with his hand as he got closer. A sickening pall of black smoke rising. Then Dennis was running for the coach knowing it too would catch fire at any moment. The smell of burning flesh was nauseating and Dennis saw the burning policemen sitting upright in their car seats and he fought the urge to vomit. He swallowed the bitter tasting liquid that had found its way into his mouth.

  A window on the coach exploded and he heard the screams of the passengers trapped inside. Dennis made his way round to the front. He could see the coach driver was dead. Then the vehicle began to burn and the screams intensified. Some of the passengers were scrabbling through the smashed window and they crawled along the side which was now the roof of the coach. One man was struggling and he fell back twice. Willing hands outside tried to pull him up and then suddenly the flames leapt and he was consumed. Those trying to help him scrambled to safety. Dennis ran around to the back of the coach knowing there would be an emergency exit, the back window. He could see there was no outside handle to open it. It required a special hammer to break it. The hammer was inside. The back window like all the other windows was tinted and he could see hands frantically thumping at it. Then he saw a child’s face appear at the glass and he began kicking the toughened glass. He kicked it repeatedly but it wouldn’t break. A policeman suddenly appeared alongside him and together they tried to break it. Still to no avail. Other faces appeared at the glass now, panicking. Then Dennis grabbed the policeman’s gun and he banged hard on the back window.