word that his Apache chopper had run out of fuel and returned to base. The other helicopter was still in pursuit with eight soldiers on board. They were about thirty miles behind Tom and Lela but as they were also in an EH101, they would be unable to catch the targets before they landed. However, they would be right behind them when they touched down.
Reaper had expected to hear from Tom sooner but thought he would give him five more minutes. Reaper walked into the kitchen which had become their Operations Hub. The den, just off of the kitchen, had a wall of TVs which were perfect for keeping an eye on the different news feeds.
“So what now?” Leo asked.
“We just need to find out where they’re going to land. Pieter is standing by, ready to go whenever we get the landing position. And with the other helicopter hot on their heels, they should get quite a welcome.”
“Excellent, so we should have them in our hands by…” Leo looked at his watch “…five hours from now, about 5.00 p.m.”
“Yep.”
“What about the soldiers who are with them?”
“Pieter has three snipers and don’t forget we have Ling on board so there won’t be a problem.”
“What are the parents saying?” asked Leo.
“They want to talk to them of course, but I have told them no way, they get the kids when we get what we want.”
“Are they buying that?”
“At the moment yes, but we need to get them in our hands soon or we may have a problem. I don’t think they’ll buy it for two days.”
“Excuse me!” shouted Donald from the adjacent room.
Reaper left Leo and made his way back to the lounge.
“What?”
“Do we have to stay here or can we move around the house?”
“You can do whatever you want, but just be assured you’re not going anywhere and all communications have been cut. Any calls coming in are being intercepted by us.”
“But I’m in the middle of a big deal. If I disappear, people will wonder what’s wrong.”
“Oh, don’t you worry, I know all about your deal. You will be allowed to work on that. In fact, it’s imperative that you do but not before a colleague of mine arrives. He’ll be keeping an eye on everything you do. One slip and the man holding the knife to your son’s throat, will let it slip. Understand?”
“Yes, clearly. Is this what this is all about then, the deal?”
“All will become clear.”
“But you took all those schools just because of a business deal?” Donald had pieced it all together.
“Very clever Mr Kennedy. They said you were a very bright man. Now be very bright, keep quiet and you’ll get to see your son again.”
“And Lela?” Donald added quickly.
“And Lela, yes. If you want to go to your bedrooms or use the toilet or watch TV, feel free. My men, however, will be with you. Any silly moves and the children die. Clear?”
“Yes,” said Rachel quickly, she just wanted Tom and Lela back unharmed. Saki nodded, as did Donald, resigned to their predicament.
Chapter 51
“So who are we up against and why?” asked Kisho. They all congregated in the cockpit to decide what to do next.
“Not sure but whoever it is, they’re a very big player,” said Tom. “And I’m guessing that the four schools were taken in order to get the troops off of our island. That is a massive operation. As to why, no idea but whatever it is, it obviously involves me and Lela which probably means my dad.”
“Who cares about that. What are we going to do?” asked Lela.
“Can I see the charts?” asked Tom. “The first thing we need to do is keep them happy and that means telling them where we’re going to land.”
Tom disappeared with Kisho into the main cabin. Kano and Lela were left holding the controls.
“I didn’t know you two could fly helicopters,” said Lela impressed.
“We can’t, only Kisho can. I took the ground vehicle courses and he took the flight courses.”
“But you’re flying now aren’t you?” she said with panic in her voice.
“Not really, we’re on autopilot. If anything goes wrong, I’ll call Kisho, don’t worry,” he said as reassuringly as he could.
Lela thought for a moment.
“I can’t believe it, all those children in those schools, all because of us. You know they’ve killed some of them?” said Lela, the enormity of the situation hitting her. “We have to do something!”
“I know,” said Kano.
Tom and Kisho were poring over the charts.
“Right. This line signifies how far we can go on the fuel we have and these are the options open to us,” said Tom pointing out the options.
“Yes, but wherever we tell him we’re going to land, I have a funny feeling we won’t get a welcoming party,” said Kisho.
“I know, so we have to be very clever and be one step ahead,” said Tom as he began to hatch a plan.
First, he wanted to know what they were up against. This was actually quite simple. He took out his handheld PC, and his satellite phone and dialled a number. After five minutes, he had tapped into his home PC. To Kisho’s amazement, Tom pulled up the Estate plan from the security system. Tom was stunned that there were forty five blips on the screen, which meant there were forty two men guarding their house. This was going to be much harder than he had first imagined.
“Forty two. Bloody hell!” Kisho exclaimed. “These guys are not messing.”
“Add to the fact that our Estate is like a fortress. This is a nightmare, I imagined four or five gunmen, nothing like this.”
Tom’s brain went into overdrive as he thought through the options.
After a while, he turned to Kisho.
“I think I have a plan,” he announced.
Tom dialled the number he had been given.
“Hello,” answered Reaper recognising Tom’s number.
“Johannesburg, Randburg Heliport is where we’re landing,” he whispered.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, they mentioned it when they checked on us a minute ago.”
“Why are you whispering?” asked Reaper.
“You told me not to tell the authorities about you and they are the authorities. Didn’t I do the right thing?”
“Yes, yes of course.”
“Can I speak to my dad?”
“No, not yet Tom.”
Donald walked in as Reaper was on the phone to Tom.
“Is that Tom?” Donald had heard him say ‘Tom’.
“Yes,” said Reaper who could not believe his luck.
“Tom!!!” Donald screamed.
“Dad, dad, we‘re ok, are you ok?” Reaper had taken a calculated risk that Tom would not mention his status in his first sentence and had put the loudspeaker on. He put it off again before Tom could say anything more.
“We’re fine son, where are you?” Donald screamed in response, elated at hearing Tom’s voice and hearing
