Blue's Revenge (7 page)

‘A professional killer has been hired to kill, or at least scare, Spyforce agents.'

Max and Linden gaped, wide-eyed, at what they'd been told. Ben slipped his hand into Eleanor's, squeezing it protectively.

They'd been summoned by Harrison to his office at Spyforce Headquarters in London and, using the Time and Space Machine, they had managed to get there in a matter of minutes. They now sat in two leather lounges facing Harrison's large oak desk. On one side of them was Secret Agent Alex Crane, Spyforce's top spy, with their newest Agent, Suave, whilst on the other was Steinberger. His head had been bandaged and several bandaids plastered his arms and hands.

‘Last night Quimby, Plomb and Steinberger were targeted by what we believe to be the main spam.' Harrison paused. ‘I of course mean the
same man
.'

Eleanor breathed in a small gasp. ‘Is everyone okay?'

‘Apart from a few cuts and bruises, yes, thankfully they are.'

Max clutched her backpack to her chest and looked towards Steinberger, who had moved to the
back of the room to set up a projector and laptop. He concentrated intently on the equipment, acting as if nothing had happened.

‘A professional killer?' Linden's skin prickled all over when he said it out loud.

‘We believe so,' Harrison confirmed.

‘Do you know who it is?' Ben asked.

‘A man named Andriya Sorenson.'

Alex and Suave got their palm computers out, ready to take notes as Steinberger pressed a button on the projector's remote and brought to life an image of the killer's face on the screen in front of them. He had shoulder-length blond hair and ice-blue eyes, with finely chiselled cheeks, nose and jaw line.

‘He's a contract killer who is active in countries all over the world.'

‘A contract killer?' Max felt like she'd swallowed a marble. ‘If he's known, how come he hasn't been caught?'

‘He makes it very difficult for anyone to find him,' Suave said, offering Max a warm smile. The last time they'd seen each other was after their mission in the Amazon, when Suave was thinking of leaving the Force due to an uncontrollable fear of worms. Even though Max hadn't liked him at
first,
⁷
he was a good agent and she was glad he'd changed his mind.

‘Take a look at this,' Harrison instructed.

Steinberger pressed the remote again. The screen filled with a black and white photo of a man stepping onto a yacht, his head turned, as if watching his back.

‘This one was taken on a wharf in Zanzibar off the East African coast. He was being followed by one of our agents who, after months of undercover work, had tracked him down.'

The photo was slightly blurred, but the heavy features, rounded paunch, thick black moustache and wavy hair of the man were clear.

‘Is that someone who works with him?' Linden guessed.

‘No,' Harrison corrected, ‘it's Sorenson.'

Max and Linden tried to see the resemblance between this man and the blond man they'd seen before.

‘That wasn't his best. Look at this one.' Harrison nodded towards Steinberger.

This time, the image of a crowded marketplace appeared.

‘This is a street in the Austrian town of Kleinhattenberg,' Harrison said.

Max studied the picture. ‘This guy is good. That looks like a real nun.'

Harrison looked at Max. ‘She is a real nun. Look behind her.'

Apart from the sound of the projector fan, there was silence as each agent studied the picture. There was a butcher shop, a flower stall, clusters of clothes racks and a barrow packed with cheeses.

‘There!' Linden pointed. ‘He's the street performer.'

Amongst the milling shoppers and sellers, they saw him. A tall, thin man dressed in tights, with a whitened face and heavily coloured red lips.

‘He has the same looking-over-his-shoulder expression he had on the yacht.'

Harrison smiled. ‘Well done, Linden. Sorenson is not only an expert of disguise but of language as well, and as he has no fixed address, he is very difficult to pat down … I mean,
track down
.'

‘We've been close to capturing him on several occasions,' Alex said pointedly. ‘But he's managed to disappear just before capture. He works alone, has no ties, and when he has killed, he leaves no traces it was him or clues as to where he is going next.'

‘It's as if he becomes invisible,' Harrison concluded.

‘If he's so good,' Max frowned, ‘how come none of the agents are …' She couldn't say the word sitting on the edge of her lips.

‘Because he didn't intend to kill them,' Harrison answered. ‘Take a look at this.'

It was a photo of Blue standing on a podium in front of a well-dressed dinner crowd. Even though they'd had news of his death, his face was still enough to drive a shiver into Max.

‘This was taken a few months ago, before Blue's imprisonment. Here he's being honoured by the Royal Humanitarian Society.'

‘Anyone told them yet they got the wrong man?' Linden asked.

‘Look closely at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen,' Harrison continued.

Steinberger zoomed in. There was a table at the back of the room, swathed in darkness, and standing behind it was a man with his arms folded. He was dressed in a tuxedo, wore thick glasses beneath a balding head and had that same guarded, over-his-shoulder look.

‘Sorenson?' Max asked.

‘Yes. After photographic analyses were
conducted on all four images, Quimby has confirmed that the man in each picture is Sorenson.'

‘So Sorenson was working with Blue?' Eleanor shivered at the idea of two such devious minds working together.

‘We believe it is here that Blue's relationship with Sorenson started to take shape,' Alex informed them.

Linden stepped towards the screen to take a closer look at the killer's disguise. It was good. ‘But if Blue is dead, why is Sorenson doing this?'

Harrison's brow bulged into a complex tangle of lines, as if there wasn't enough room for all the thoughts crammed into his head. ‘Before he was attacked Steinberger received a disk containing a message that was recorded yesterday.'

Harrison nodded to Steinberger, who slid a disk out of a round cover and placed it in his computer. A startling image appeared before them.

It was Blue. Thinner than his usual self but with the same self-satisfied grin he wore for his most victorious moments.

‘But he's dead?' Max said more as a question.

‘So we thought,' Harrison replied.

‘It must have been filmed before the fire,' Ben suggested.

‘Locked within the digital code of the disk is the time it was recorded,' Suave added. ‘Which was several hours after the fire took place.'

‘So it's really him?' Eleanor spoke softly.

‘We still have Blue's Vibratron reading from his days at the Force, which confirms the fingerprint-like identification of his vibrations,' said Alex.

‘You can measure those vibrations from a digital image?' Linden was amazed.

‘With Quimby's Vibrations Decoder we can, yes, and it is an identical match.'

Max deflated. It was getting harder to know what was real and what wasn't.

‘It's either him or a very good copy.' Steinberger pressed play, causing the image of Blue to come to life.

‘I thought it was time we all had a little chat,' Blue's voice reverberated around them. ‘I'm assuming you are all there after being summoned by your gracious leader and, like good little minions, you have responded to the call.'

Ben flinched. Seeing Blue's face again brought back all the lies Blue had told Ben while they
worked together at the Department of Science and New Technologies.
⁸

‘Bravo on your little plan to put me away like some common criminal after our short time together in the Amazon, but I'm afraid it will take much more to keep me locked away.' Blue sniffed. ‘As you all know, I am dead, or so the world thinks. Terrible fire it was, and such a tragedy to die after all I did to save the lives of my fellow inmates. To reach death with such valour is truly heroic, don't you think? Anyway, enough of my bravery, you'll want to know why I have orchestrated my own death. I won't tell you how,' he spat with particular disgust. ‘You're the top spy agency, you work it out. For now, this is my request: it is time you and I met, Harrison, for a little chat at one of my properties. The details of which I'll tell you once you have accepted my invitation.'

The look in Blue's eyes made Max realise that if Harrison did meet him, he may never return.

‘You will find a number on the upper side of this disk that can only be revealed under UV light. It is a direct line to me.' He smiled a salivating smile. ‘I would hate for you not to accept, for
who knows what other accidents may befall those around you.'

Ben flinched in anger. ‘So it was him who attacked the agents.'

‘But how could Blue be dead and then send a message?' Linden was trying to understand what was going on. ‘The guards at Blacksea had his body in the morgue.'

‘Quimby is working on ideas of how it could be possible.' Suave looked up from his palm computer. ‘She believes she's close and will have the answer soon.'

‘What's the security situation here?' Ben knew it would be good but he needed to know Blue had no chance of getting any closer to Spyforce than he was in that recording.

‘We recently changed the security fields around the complex and will do so every twenty-four hours.' Harrison looked at Max and Linden. ‘It's like changing the locks on a house as well as moving it to a new location. It's very safe.'

‘We will do everything we can to keep Spyforce HQ and agents safe.' Alex looked at Max for the first time since they had arrived, offering an almost smile. One that seemed to promise to Max in particular that she would be safe.

‘There is one more thing.' Harrison had been saving the hardest news for last. ‘Max, we know where your mother is.'

Max felt like her breath had been forced out of her in one painful punch.

‘The readings came through identifying the men in the helicopter. One is a known ally of Blue. The other was Sorenson.' Harrison held out a folded piece of paper. ‘And there's this. It was an attachment we printed out from the disk.'

Max was unable to move, afraid of what it might contain.

Linden took it and handed it to her, whispering, ‘We're all here for you, Max.'

She gulped a steadying breath and cautiously took the paper.

When she opened it out, she saw a photo. It took whole seconds to make sense of what she saw. The room began to waver around her and she felt herself falling like a parachutist into a cloud. She slumped slowly down into the lounge and saw the photo fall from her fingers and float to the floor.

‘Max?' Eleanor rushed from her lounge and knelt beside her niece. She picked up the photo and felt sick at what she saw.

It was a picture of Max's mother. She was
standing in a darkened room, her hands clasping the iron bars of a prison cell. She was still wearing her wedding dress, which looked dirty and torn. On the back was a scribbled message that said:

 

Wish you were here,
Love Mum

 

‘Where is she?' Max wanted what she was seeing not to be true.

‘With Blue,' Harrison answered quietly.

‘What is he playing at?' Ben was furious.

‘Revenge mostly,' Harrison explained. ‘But there are other reasons he has yet to make clear to us.'

‘Revenge? What has my mother ever done to him?' Max could feel the blood racing through her veins as her fury rose.

‘We've yet to work that out but, with respect, Max, it's not about your mother. Or Steinberger, Quimby or Plomb. Blue likes to savour his revenge by working towards his main target through those around them.'

‘His main target?' Linden looked puzzled.

‘Me.'

Max and Linden fell into a breathless silence.

‘He has wanted his revenge on me for years for
kicking him out of the Force and now he aims to get it.'

Linden glanced at Max and knew he was ready to do anything to save her mother. ‘What should we do now?'

‘I've accepted Blue's invitation.'

‘But sir …?' Steinberger's head shot up. ‘If something were to happen to you …'

‘Sir,' Alex spoke frankly. ‘You will be walking into a trap. One that Blue will not let you escape from.'

It was obvious Harrison had wanted to make his announcement without any discussion.

‘Max's mother needs our help and …' Here Harrison's voice gave away a deeper, hidden level of anger. ‘… I will not let Blue toy with Spyforce agents any longer. If he wants to have his revenge on me, let him have his chance.'

His words were edged with defiance. ‘Agents Crane and Suave?'

Alex paused only momentarily. ‘We stand by your decision, sir.'

‘Absolutely, sir,' Suave added.

‘Steinberger? Do I have your support?'

Steinberger stared at Harrison. He dreaded the outcome of his decision, but his loyalty and
trust towards the Chief of Spyforce far outweighed that dread.

‘Completely, Mr Harrison.'

Max's mouth went dry as she listened. How could they agree with him? Harrison was a brilliant leader and he had been a great spy when he was young, but once Blue had him where he wanted him, it would be a fight that would not be over until someone was dead.

‘Sir, why don't you send …'

Max was interrupted by beeping from Harrison's computer. He looked down at the screen and activated the message link. It was Quimby.

‘Sir, we have the answer to Blue's apparent double existence. A few years ago Blue was working on a Doppelgänger, a device capable of creating perfect human replicas. You may remember that after the ramifications of such a device were explored, your father, then head of Spyforce, refused to let the experiments continue. The project was cancelled and all the research was destroyed.'