subject.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. I spoke to Mr Sakamoto today.”

Rachel sat up.

“What did he say?”

“Nothing much. It was just a quick call. The kids are doing great, they seem to have a great bunch of friends and some really nice classmates.”

“We know that from the kids. How’s he getting on?”

“He’s loving it although he’s been lumbered with an incompetent deputy called Weadle or Beadle or something. Anyway, he’s a right little weasel and has trouble written all over him. So he’s spending a lot of time watching his back.”

“Why the hell doesn’t he just sack him?”

“He’s looked into to it but it’s not that easy. The governors control appointments and they’re unmovable for some reason. I’ll have a word with Sam Mitcham after the IBC deal’s done and see if we can help.”

“When will the deal be finalised?” asked Rachel wishing the deal had never happened.

“Monday at noon. I’ll sign the papers and everything happens there and then. It’s actually quite unique in that the moment I sign, I take full control. Everything is in place. The owners of IBC and some of their senior managers have already checked out or retired. The signing on Monday just makes it legal.”

“But what happens if anything goes wrong between now and then and you don’t sign?”

“That’s not worth considering but even if I get hit by a bus, as unlikely as that is, any of the Alba International Directors can sign on my behalf and the deal will still be legal. What’s this?” asked Donald, pointing to a glass on his bedside table.

“A little treat, a hot toddy to help you sleep,” said Rachel.

“Lovely, thank you,” said Donald as he drank the mixture of honey and malt whisky.

Two minutes later, Donald was sound asleep and the hot toddy, a Rachel speciality, would ensure he slept through the night, especially as Rachel had switched his alarm off.

Chapter 39

“Go, go, go!!!” shouted Reaper. The operation began.

“Roger,” responded Kevin first as he relayed the Go message to his team. Team Idaho moved in. Each operative moved exactly as they had been trained over the previous seven weeks. Within two minutes, they had entered the school. Fifty armed men moved from corridor to corridor, rounding up students as they went, hunting for the two faces which had been imprinted on their memories. They experienced little resistance and any hint of it was stamped out brutally.

“Roger,” said Marco as he gave the Go command to his team.

Team Colombia moved in. Again, the operatives moved as one, trained to perfection. They too entered the school within two minutes and rounded up students and teachers alike. All operatives hunting down the two faces emblazoned in their memories.

“Roger,” responded Fadi who screamed the command to his operatives. Team Syria attacked and found the greatest resistance of all the groups. Five were cut down by guards and the group took five minutes to penetrate the school. After another two minutes, they secured the area and began rounding up stray students. Fadi and Muhammad were concerned about the level of violence being used by their operatives against the students and they used all their strength to regain control. They realised that, over the previous seven weeks, they had wound up their group into too much of a frenzy about their targets. They wanted them alive not in bits.

“Roger,” said Leroy, passing on the command. Team Zimbabwe made its way into the school with no resistance whatsoever. Within five minutes, they had complete control and the operatives were slowly but surely mopping up stragglers while hunting for the two faces they had really come for.

“Team Idaho here. Perimeter established and now in control. We’re still finding students but have not found the targets yet,” reported Kevin.

“Team Colombia here. Perimeter established and now in control. Stragglers are still being found but we have not yet located the targets,” reported Marco.

“Team Zimbabwe now in control. Perimeter established. Targets still being sought,” reported Leroy.

“Team Syria, in control and full perimeter established. Targets have been spotted and are being tracked,” reported Fadi.

Chapter 40

“What the hell is going on?” Tom asked Lela.

“I don’t know but there’s a lot of commotion out there.”

Their classroom overlooked the army base. The Accounts class came to a halt as the activity outside became manic, beyond any normal training activity. Their teacher was not the most dynamic man. Tom was sure that he read spreadsheets like other people read novels. In any event, with open warfare apparently breaking out just beneath his classroom, he had no idea what to do.

As they continued to watch events unfold, helicopters started to arrive. Tom assumed they came from the naval base seventy five miles to the North West. Ten minutes and ten helicopters later, a naval frigate pulled into the bay just outside the barracks. Whatever was happening was serious.

The students had received emergency procedure training on their second day at school. They had been in the middle of a French lesson when two fully armed soldiers rushed into the class and ushered them out of the building and through a network of tunnels under the school. They continued to usher the students through until they emerged at a dock where a flotilla of naval boats was waiting for them and which they promptly boarded. It was only once all the students were on board that the Headmaster announced that they had taken part in an emergency evacuation exercise and that they should congratulate themselves on completing the drill two minutes faster than the time required by the Health and Safety manuals.

The following day, a similar incident occurred during their Biology lesson. Again, two soldiers rushed into their class but this time, they were dressed in full biological warfare clothing. The soldiers pressed a button and their classroom was instantly sealed. Chemical warfare suits dropped from the ceiling and the soldiers instructed the students to put them on. The room was then unsealed and the students were ushered into an enormous underground chamber which sealed shut when all the students were accounted for. They were then allowed to remove their suits. By that point, a number of students were traumatised and the Headmaster’s confirmation that this was yet another drill did little to calm them down.

Many students reported sick the next day. Mr Sakamoto received hundreds of complaints from parents and he assured them that all future drills would be announced in advance. After fielding the last call of the day, Mr Sakamoto sought out Weadle who claimed that the second drill had been a clerical error. Mr Sakamoto smelt a rat and Weadle was one of the biggest and dirtiest rats he had the displeasure of coming across. He knew, without doubt, that Weadle had set up the second drill but could not prove it.

“Sir?”

“Yes… hmm…Tom,” hesitated the Accounts teacher who had to check the seating plan for Tom’s name.

“Is there another drill today?”

“Nope, definitely not. After last week’s fiasco, I imagine it’ll be at least a year before we have another one of those.”

“So what’s happening out there?”

The teacher looked out at the chaos for the first time.

“I don’t know, but I know who will.”

He picked up the phone and dialled a number and listened. He dropped the phone, “Oh my God.”

Вы читаете Kidnap
Добавить отзыв
ВСЕ ОТЗЫВЫ О КНИГЕ В ИЗБРАННОЕ

0

Вы можете отметить интересные вам фрагменты текста, которые будут доступны по уникальной ссылке в адресной строке браузера.

Отметить Добавить цитату