BlindFire (22 page)

  "Where would he go?"  Said Beth, voicing the thoughts of the others. "...
and w
hat would he do?"

  "....Of course he would go after those that sent the hit men."

  Danny
remembered his conversation with the old man in the toilet. "...I spoke to him; I think I left him alive."

  "Someone survived then."  Gunter
said
sarcastically.

  "Give it a rest."  Said Beth.  "I saw you.  How many did you leave alive Gunter?"  She asked.

  Gu
nter’s c
heeks flushed.  "You were there?
"

  "Well you didn't think I was going to stay by that car did you?"

  "Perhaps I got a little carried away but I only killed the ones that struggled."

   "St
op, just
stop
it
."  The Major had had enough.  "We are all in this together now. If anyone wants to leave
, you can
just go
now
."

  There was silen
ce as all four of them considered
their options, and then Gunter spoke: "So we need to go back to that farm again."

  The Major breathed a sigh of relief. He knew the other two wouldn't walk out; they had too much to fight for.  "It seems to be the only way forward. If we snatch their top dog McKay could feel obliged to get him back."

  "Could?
That’s a sor
t of maybe word isn't it?"
Beth
said
.

  "Let’s snatch the guy. I should imagine McKay wants him bad enough to make a mistake."

  There was a short silence again. "They won't expect us to come back tonight.
Drive in, grab the guy and get out
."

"It will never be that easy."  Beth
said
.

***

  He hadn't found his cousin until he went to the toilet and heard groaning coming from the bath. Ripping open the curtains sent shivers of disappointment running down his spine.

  "Help me."  Said the old man, blood still oozing into the bath from the wound on his head.

   "Em... Yes just stay there and
I'll be back in a minute."  Charles turned away his mind spinning. He had to do something; his leadership depended on his actions in the next five minutes.

  But he was his cousin, how could he kill
him and pin it on the
attackers? There was no guards about, then again there wouldn't be. The ones that survived were mostly in intensive care. Striding briskly across the hall, he went in to a bedroom and grabbed a pillow off a bed.

  The throbbing pain in his head was subsiding, but his breathing was getting more and more difficult. Twenty years ago he would have absorbed such injuries but now they left him spent. Where was Charles, what was taking him so long?

  He was standing by the bathroom door trying to think of a good reason not to kill his cousin, but he couldn't. The first step was the hardest the rest just seemed to follow; soon
he was looming over
the old man.

  "I'm sorry."  He said and meant it, then lowered the pillow over
the pale bloody face of his cousin
.

  He struggled as hard as he could, but the strength just wasn't there. Now the
Real
IRA had a new leader.

  Tears streamed down Charles face as he took the pillow away. Finally after all these years he was the man, he was the struggle and he was the blood on the hands of every British Soldier. He also felt sad, his cousin had been a great leader, a great fighter and he had come to this, dead in a bath at the age of sixty. The attackers would pay for his death with their own lives.

  He got the body moved; blaming it on the Loyalists everything was
always
their fault.

  Retiring to the back room he drank Whiskey straight from the bottle, and then lit a cigar, a King Edward. It had been a hard but rewarding few days he deserved a rest. Now the Army, Police and News Crews had gone, he could relax a little. He slowly drifted off to sleep dreaming of his Swiss bank accounts breaking under the strain of all his money.

  He’d hardly closed his eyes
when he suddenly awoke with a
start. It couldn't have been a
dream, someone really had slapped him.

  "Who the f…
?"  He struggled to stand up, but found he was handcuffed to the chair. "Who are you, what do you want?"
He recognised Danny
straight away from the night before, but not the
other. He was a big stocky man,
a mean looking gorilla.

  Danny
spoke first.  "We are looking for the man I left in your bath last night."

  "He's dead. I found him earlier."

  Danny
laughed. "Bo
llox, he was very much alive
when I left him."

  The Major suddenly came tearing through the door. "McCaughey... Who the hell promoted you?"

  "I... I don't know what you mean."

  "Lets get him out of here, he's the one."

  A grin appeared on Danny’s face as he slowly
sho
ok his head
. "Oh dear, big bad Jack's mad with you."

  "You won't get away with this. My men will tear the world apart looking for me."

  "Hopefully, but just in case they don't know where to start looking we
have
left a message for Jack."

  "Jack...  Jack's dead."

  Danny
burst out laughing.  "Jack's back here
you Muppet
,
and he’s going to come l
ooking for you."

  Charles pani
cked. "Don't let him get me. That
man's a killer."

  "
Aren’t we
all?” Danny commented
.

  Gunter picked
the struggling Irishman
up, threw him over his shoulder and easily carried him to the waiting car.

  "Where are you taking me? This is outrageous; I demand you release me at...."

  Gunter punched him just hard enough to knock him out.

  "You know I'm sure I didn't kill th
at old guy last night."  Danny said and j
umping in to the front seat
he reached into the glove compartment and pulled out an apple
.

  The Major looked at Charles.  "Forget it, there's no telling what happened in that bathroom anymore. Let’s go Beth."

***

  Jack was still nervous even since arriving back in
Ireland
, there was no one to turn to. How could he face anyone even his own father would kneecap him.

  If
only
he could just speak to Charles
and
reason with the man.  It was only another mile to the
f
arm; Charles must be there he wasn't at his own place. He moved quickly through the trees avoiding any roads, there was no telling who wa
nted a pot shot at him now.  Soon
he could see the house, it was very quiet. Jack had never seen it like this before there was always someone coming or going.

  Suddenly a startled pheasant shot out across his path. He fell behind a bush, his heart in his mouth he hugged his stomach, a pain from an adrenalin overdose sent butterflies
tearing
through his gut.

  Off again he moved quicker and soon he was inside the house. The front room was a mess, like a party had recently taken place. He saw a glass of flat beer sat on a chair and drank it down in one go.

  As he tilted his head back for the residue in the glass bottom, he saw it scrawled on the ceiling in giant red letters. "IF YOU WANT CHARLIE COME TO THE SCRAPYARD, YOU KNOW WHICH ONE."

  He only knew one scrap yard the one where he had shot that undercover informer all those years before. He smiled almost laughing, it was time to go on the offensive
and besides, he knew where the f
arm hid its haul of weapons.

   He wondered who they were these brave people, to challenge Jack McKay. It didn't matter now; once Charles was dead he could take care of the others in his own time.

***

  The scrap yard was derelict it didn't look like it had been used since the incident. In the past it had been the main bomb making factory for the whole of the IRA.

  The factory, smashed by the Major and the other undercover operatives now lay in ruin. The main buildings burnt to the ground in the firefight.

  One solitary shed was all that remained and then there were the scrapped cars, hundreds of them stacked four or five high and for as far as the eye could see.

  They had to gag Charles he just wouldn't shut up; he lay on the dusty floor trussed like a Christmas turkey.

  "Sto
p struggling Charlie."  Said Danny
.  "Or Gunter here may have to hit you again."

  He stopped immediately once had really been enough. John looked through his binos at the lone shed. Only an idiot would have stayed in there out in the open with no escape path. He looked over to his left at the red car where he had taken that bullet that nearly killed him. He had been so sure McKay was dead.

  "John."  Said Beth.  "
Are y
ou alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."

  "Yes I'm fine. I think we should all get some rest, it may be a while."

  Beth settled down beside Danny
resting her head on his shoulder. She wondered how many would come with Jack and then she looked at t
he others, John, Gunter and then Danny
wondering who would survive, if any.

  Soon it was dark, pitch black. The Major had banned lights of any kind so as not to attract a surprise attack. Setting his Binos on night vision he scanned around the yard the only thing moving was a lone rabbit and that disappeared under an old wreck.

  "I'm going to have a look around."  Said Gunter.  "I can't sit here any longer."

  The Major nodded in approval, he knew he had nothing to loose by letting Gunter off the leash, he could be trusted. Gunter sidled out of the shelter made from old cars and drew his pistol checking his magazine was full. Vision wasn't too bad once his eyes had adjusted themselves and distant street lights gave a reassuring effect.

   He set off moving from car to car searching for any sign of disturbance. The main gate was still closed and the approach road bereft of any life.

  The Major couldn't help it, everytime he used the binos they took him straight back to that red car and that night. Something had gone terribly wrong. It must have been a tip off they were waiting, hiding in the cars.

Dozens of terrorists equipped to the hilt with weapons of all sorts and sizes. He and his men had held them off for forty minutes taking massive casualties, until the Special Air Service had arrived abseiling in all over the yard
from helicopters
. They were like phantoms appearing out of the shadows taking out a man, then disappearing. Their battle was over in minutes. He remembered the strike of the bullet with disturbing clarity as it smashed into his chest, tossing him to the ground in spasms of pain. He lay there accepting death as the obvious conclusion, and then looked up only to see Jack astride two cars taking aim for the fatal shot.

  If it hadn't been for the SAS trooper letting off a burst of his own, John knew he would have most certainly died. When the smoke cleared no trace of the shooter was ever found.

    "John."  Said Danny
tapping him on the shoulder.  "Its time."

   "Is he here?
"

 
 
"Gunter just
saw a van pull up at the rear of the premises
."

 
They untied Charles and frog marched him to the centre of the clearing.

  "You know he's going to kill me."  Said Cha
rles shakily, fear now showing o
n his
ashen
face.

  “Well that’s stating the bloody obvious!” Danny said.

  "Where's Beth?"

  Danny
nodded towards the car, camouflaged with bits of old metal to make it blend in with the heaps surrounding it.

  "Tell her to keep her head down. She's our only way out
of here
."

 
Danny
pursed his lips in anticipation. "Let’s do it."  Reaching under his coat he tore out the Spas and cocked it in one fluid motion.

"Have you been practicing that?" 
T
he Major
said and grinned
.