Urban Assassin (11 page)

‘You planning on shooting through the roof any more?’ said Gaz.

‘Not any time soon,’ answered Mitch.

Two Moons aimed his rifle at the hole that had appeared in the ceiling, and Nelson joined Mitch by the bed. The attacker was dead, the telltale exit wounds visible at the back of his head. He was wearing Kevlar body armour, but Kevlar didn’t protect the head, neck, arms and legs. Mitch’s blind shooting through the ceiling had torn into the man in all those places.

While Mitch kept his gun ready for action, Nelson turned the man over so they could see who it was. Was it Deacon? No. It was Walter Kornick, the CIA agent.

‘One down,’ murmured Mitch.

Two Moons looked up at the shattered ceiling.
‘How the hell did he get in there?’ he demanded.

‘He must have got up in the ceiling cavity some time before we arrived here,’ muttered Nelson. ‘He parked himself up there, ready to bore himself a nice little spy-hole.’

‘How did he know which room I was going to be in?’ demanded Mitch.

Nelson shook his head. ‘I don’t think he did,’ he said. ‘He must have waited until you moved in before positioning the spy-hole.’

‘But how did he do it without you noticing, Mitch?’ asked Two Moons.

Mitch sighed. ‘I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I had to go to the toilet this afternoon,’ he said. ‘I figured with the colonel in the hall, everything was secure. I didn’t factor in the ceiling cavity! I guess he used that opportunity to make his move.’

‘So why didn’t he shoot you earlier? Why now?’

‘I think he was intending to get away,’ said Nelson. ‘That meant waiting till it was dark. Shoot Mitch, then smash his way out through the roof.’

Two Moons shook his head suspiciously. ‘I don’t like it,’ he said. ‘There are too many coincidences. If you ask me, someone inside this operation is leaking intel to the opposition.’

‘One of Gerald’s people?’ asked Mitch.

‘Well I sure ain’t suggestin’ it’s one of Delta Unit!’ snorted Two Moons indignantly.

Nelson turned to Mitch. ‘What do you think, Mitch?’

Mitch shook his head. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Don’t get me wrong – I don’t trust spooks, but in this case, if Deacon really knew what our plan was he wouldn’t be here trying to kill me, he’d be going after the real prime minister.’

Two Moons gave a scowl. ‘Damn! I should have thought of that!’ he grunted.

‘What’s the situation?’ came Benny’s voice.

‘Kornick tried to shoot Mitch,’ Nelson reported. ‘He was hiding in the ceiling of Mitch’s room. Luckily Mitch shot him first.’

And then the lights went out.

It was pitch dark.

‘Night vision!’ yelled Nelson. The soldiers were already pulling on their goggles.

‘He must have blown up the transformer that supplies electricity to the whole area,’ said Benny.

‘Guys, I’ve got a problem,’ came Tug’s voice. ‘I was in the lift between the first and second floors when the power went. I’m going to have to get up through the trapdoor in the roof and climb up the cable. Can anyone see if they can get the lift doors on the second floor open for me?’

‘You’re gonna have to stay there for the moment, Tug,’ replied Nelson. ‘We got something urgent on our hands.’

‘Copy that,’ said Tug.

‘Why hasn’t the emergency generator cut in?’ demanded Benny.

‘I guess Deacon’s dealt with that, too,’ said Nelson. ‘OK, boys, keep sharp. We don’t know which way they’re coming from, but with the power gone it has to be the stairs and the roof.’

‘Copy that, Colonel,’ said Benny. ‘I just heard gunfire below.’

‘I’m with you,’ said Nelson.

Mitch saw Nelson rush through the door to the stairs. The next second rapid gunfire came from the stairwell.

Two Moons appeared from his room to take Nelson’s place in the corridor by the doors to the lifts, becoming the last line of defence between the attackers and Mitch’s room.

A burst of automatic gunfire from above made Mitch look up.

‘They’re on the roof!’ came Gaz’s voice over the gunfire. ‘Two of them.’

So, Deacon wasn’t using any disguises after all,
thought Mitch. Just a straightforward, full frontal attack. Two on the roof. There had to be two in the stairwell. So where were the others?

The answer came quickly. A figure dropped out of the ceiling and landed right on Two Moons. Mitch watched as Two Moons battled with the assailant. In hand-to-hand combat an automatic rifle was no use. Two Moons had discarded his, and was getting to grips with his attacker, fists and feet striking out as both men tried to get the advantage. There was a flash as a knife blade appeared in the attacker’s hand.

Mitch swapped his automatic rifle for his H&K23 pistol and tried to get a clear aim at the man, but it was impossible while he grappled with Two Moons.

Where was the other assassin, Mitch wondered?

He heard the
phut
of a silenced gun and felt a thud in his chest as his body armour took the bullet, the force of it sending him staggering backwards. He recovered his balance and swung his gun towards
the corridor. As he did so there was another
phut
and a searing pain in his right hand. His pistol was torn out of it and went clattering to the floor. Clenching his teeth against the pain, Mitch reached down for his fallen pistol, but another shot sent it spinning away from him.

Mitch looked up. A man dressed completely in black had just entered the room, night-vision goggles in place and a pistol in his hand.

‘I’m sorry about this, Mitch,’ said the man. Mitch couldn’t believe it. It was Mehmet Koman! ‘I got suspicious when I saw you holding a pistol,’ said Koman. ‘It struck me that it didn’t seem the sort of thing a British prime minister would do.’

‘Where’s Deacon?’ asked Mitch.

‘Where’s the prime minister?’ Koman countered.

Mitch shook his head. ‘It doesn’t have to be this way, Mehmet,’ he said. ‘The job’s a bust. Give yourself up.’

‘And what happens then?’ demanded Koman. ‘When I get back to Turkey? I’ll be killed. Not
officially, of course, but we both know how it will happen. An “accident”.’

‘You’ll stand trial here,’ said Mitch.

Koman laughed. ‘I won’t be safe here, Mitch, and you know it,’ he said. ‘There are powerful and very rich people behind this operation. They won’t want us alive and talking.’ He hesitated, and then added: ‘I have to finish this job.’

‘Why?’ appealed Mitch.

‘Money, of course,’ said Koman. ‘What else?’

‘But why this way?’ asked Mitch. ‘I was told that Jimmy Deacon was some master of disguise. Yet you’re coming in like a parachute battalion.’

‘It seems our paymasters want it this way,’ said Koman. ‘Lots of carnage and explosions so everyone will know what happened, and why. It’s a message. Don’t mess with these boys.’ He shrugged. ‘That’s the way they want it, that’s the way they get it.’ He jabbed the pistol at Mitch. ‘Now answer the damn question. Where’s the prime minister?’

Out of the corner of his eye Mitch saw Two Moons crash to the floor, his assailant on top of him. Gunfire was still coming from the stairwell and the roof above him. No one was coming to save him any time soon.

‘Forget it, Mehmet,’ said Mitch. ‘You’re gonna kill me anyway.’

Koman shook his head. ‘I always keep my word, Mitch,’ he said. ‘If I say I’m going to kill the prime minister, I’m going to do it. If I say I’ll spare your life if you tell me where he is, I’ll do it.’

‘No you won’t,’ said Mitch. ‘You’re a professional.’

Beneath his night-vision goggles, Mitch saw Koman’s mouth curve into a rueful smile.

‘Maybe,’ he said. ‘And right now I’m a professional holding a gun on you, and I might be telling the truth. One thing I
will
promise you, if you don’t tell me where the prime minister is when I count to five, I’m pulling this trigger. Because I intend to get out of here alive, but we need to know where our target is.’

Koman pointed the gun firmly at Mitch’s head. Mitch tensed, ready to throw himself towards Koman, but he knew he’d have no real chance. The Turk had made sure he was at a safe distance from Mitch.

‘I’m getting impatient, Mitch,’ said Koman. ‘The countdown starts now. Five. Four. Three. Two. One . . .’

BANG!

The shot, when it came, exploded in Mitch’s night-vision goggles in a blinding flare of white. Mitch threw himself to one side, expecting to feel the pain of the bullet tearing into the side of his head, but nothing happened.

He crashed into the hospital bed and recovered his balance as a second shot rang out. He looked around, towards Koman. The Turk was lying on the ground, writhing in pain. Behind him stood Tug, automatic rifle in his hands.

‘Seems I got out of the lift just in time,’ said Tug. ‘You OK?’

‘Apparently so. Thanks.’ Mitch nodded.

Two Moons got to his feet next to Tug, looking down at his assailant whom Tug had also
dispatched. ‘Who’s that?’ he asked.

‘Mehmet Koman,’ said Mitch.

In their earpieces they suddenly heard Gaz: ‘I’m hit!’

‘I’m coming up!’ responded Mitch.

‘Me too!’ called Tug. They ran for the door to the stairs, Mitch snatching up his rifle on the way. As he did so he called to Two Moons, ‘Keep your eye on Koman. He’s tricky!’

‘Don’t worry,’ said the big Sioux. ‘I’ll take care of him.’

Inside the stairwell, Nelson and Benny were keeping up a steady stream of fire as they worked their way down the stairs, forcing the attackers back down towards the lower floor and the MI6 backup.

Tug raced up the stairs towards the roof, Mitch close behind him, both of them tearing off their night-vision goggles as they did so. On the roof, with the lights of London giving them sight, the goggles would be more of a hindrance than a help.

They crashed through the doorway on to the roof, both of them rolling as they did so to avoid being hit. They dived behind a low parapet. Tug was the first to regain his position and balance and he swung round, levelling his rifle, taking in the situation. A burst of gunfire smashed into the bricks of the parapet, sending a shower of stones and shattered brick pieces over him. The captain responded immediately, letting off a tracer of bullets in the direction the shots had come.

Mitch saw Gaz lying on the roof, one arm trailing brokenly beside him. A dead MI6 man lay next to him. Gaz was struggling to hold his rifle with his one good arm. Mitch worked his way towards his friend, speaking into his mic: ‘Gaz down. Two hostiles still operative. Support needed.’

Mitch used a knife to rip open Gaz’s sleeve so he could see the wound. The bullets had torn an ugly hole in the Geordie’s upper arm as they exited, after breaking the bone.

‘It’s not pumping,’ Mitch said. ‘They didn’t hit
an artery, but you’re still losing blood. I’m going to have to tie it up.’

‘Hurry up!’ groaned Gaz. ‘We got a battle to win.’

Gaz winced in pain as Mitch placed a large dressing from his field pack over the wound, and then fixed it in place with an adhesive bandage. All the while Two Moons and Tug were firing, and return fire was coming back at them, bullets ricocheting of the stonework beside them.

‘Rest it now,’ Mitch instructed Gaz. ‘Leave it to us.’

With that, Mitch snatched up his own automatic rifle and joined in the firefight. Suddenly he saw that one of the attackers was sliding away, heading for the edge of the roof.

‘Cover me!’ yelled Mitch. He broke into a run, chasing the man, his rifle pouring bullets. But the attacker dived behind a chimney stack. There was no return fire from him.

He’s out of ammo or his gun has jammed, thought Mitch.

Mitch sped towards the chimney stack, zigzagging as he ran. He was aware of the bullets continuing to fly behind him as Tug engaged the other assailant. Mitch reached the chimney stack and saw the attacker break out of hiding and make a definite run for the edge of the roof. He was obviously planning to jump across the gap between the hospital roof and that of the next building. Mitch aimed low at the running man’s legs and pulled the trigger . . . and nothing happened. He was out of ammo too.

There was no time to pull out the empty clip and replace it – by the time he did that the attacker would have vanished.

Mitch dropped his rifle and gave chase. When they’d checked out the hospital and the surrounding area before this operation, the gap between the buildings wasn’t just straight across; there was also a drop of about three metres. The attacker reached the edge, jumped and disappeared out of sight. Mitch, hot on his heels, ran faster to make sure he
was at speed when he hit the edge. As he reached it he propelled himself with as much force as possible into space. He was aware of the street dizzyingly far below him as he sailed through the air, then he was dropping and the next roof was coming up fast. He just made the edge and rolled forwards, then sprang up.

As he did so he felt a sharp, searing pain in his right ankle. He was sure he’d fractured a bone. He cursed and looked up. The man also looked to be limping badly as he tried to run. He had definitely injured himself in making the jump.

Mitch reached for his pistol, then realised it was still on the floor of the hospital room where Koman had shot it out of his hand. He was unarmed, except for his knife. He wondered what sort of weapons the attacker had on him.

‘Halt or I shoot!’ yelled Mitch.

It was a bluff, but it was one worth trying. The man stopped limping along and turned towards Mitch.

‘Well, well,’ he said. ‘We meet again, Mitch.’

In the dim light Mitch couldn’t see the face clearly. But he recognised the voice. It was Deacon.

‘Don’t make me shoot you!’ called Mitch.

‘With what?’ asked Deacon, his tone mocking. ‘If you had a gun you wouldn’t even be talking to me. You’d have shot me by now.’ He shook his head. ‘I think this conversation is over.’

And with that he turned and began to limp away fast. Mitch tried to follow, but his ankle buckled beneath him. ‘Damn!’ Mitch cursed.

Mitch pulled his knife out, balanced it, and threw it as hard and as accurately as he could, aiming for Deacon’s legs. It would be no use hitting the body armour.