It was 5.00 a.m. when Beaumont’s phone rang. It was The Chairman.
“Hello,” answered Beaumont tentatively. He was expecting the call asking him to go down to let his executioners in.
“Operation Sandy failed. Williams couldn’t pull it off. They really are a bunch of tricky bastards. You’re back on, you’ve one last chance. Operation David and don’t mess it up.” The phone went dead.
Beaumont had never wished for a Committee operation to fail but thanks to Operation Sandy, The Chairman’s baby, he was to live another day.
He jumped out of bed, pulled out the plans and within five minutes was up to speed. Two minutes later, he was barking orders down the phone. He was back!
He checked General Powers’ condition, he was stable and definitely out of the picture for the very near future. It was imperative that he remain so for the following few days. He was the only one who could stop Operation David.
He called Williams and told him what he wanted him to do.
Chapter 85
“So where next?” Tom asked his father, everyone else had gone to bed.
“No idea. This is where our all info led us. Beyond this we’re stuck unless one of those guys talks,” replied Donald pointing to the lower deck where Saki and Papa were ‘talking’ to the lieutenants.
Saki joined them in the main cabin.
“Nothing. Those guys know nothing. They believe they’re members of a secret multi-national army and work for something like the UN, sorting out major international incidents.”
“Did you try the latex gloves technique?” asked Tom. Donald stared at him. “The what?” he asked.
“Yep, worked a treat. That’s when they told us about the multi-national army. Trust me nobody is better at the latex glove trick than Papa. He even had me terrified,” said Saki
“What the hell is this? Some kind of barbaric torture thing?” asked Donald.
Tom explained the technique to Donald as Papa entered the cabin. He had locked the lieutenants up and joined them to discuss tactics.
The four carefully sifted through the information they had, to try to work out what to do next. They were struggling, finding nothing but dead-ends.
Tom’s phone rang. It was Daniel. Donald had told Tom and Lela to keep their reappearance secret. Tom put the phone on speaker.
“Hi Daniel.”
“Hi Tom, sounds like you guys have been busy. The assassination attempts at the Sandy Lane are all over the news down here. Well done! Suggestions are already being made about your dad’s innocence, it won’t belong before his name’s cleared.”
“Excellent! Any news on Operation David or who’s behind all this?” asked Tom, keen to skip over the bit about his father, he didn’t like lying.
“Maybe,” replied Daniel. “Tom, everything points to Washington. That’s where Jin’s grandfather and Sofie’s mother are going. Along with a number of others on the G20 list.”
“Bloody hell, so what’s the reference to David?”
“The meeting was scheduled to be in Washington. However, we’ve just learnt from Jin that her grandfather has been told that the meeting is now going to take place elsewhere in the interests of security. Guess where?”
“Camp David?” suggested Tom.
“Exactly. They’re going for the big one — the President and the remaining leaders at Camp David. The meeting starts Tuesday night.”
“Jesus, it’s like a fortress, there’s no way they’re getting in there. Hold on, I’ll get Zach.” Tom buzzed Zach. Two minutes later a sleepy Zach emerged into the main cabin. Tom brought him up to speed quickly while he muted Daniel. Donald also told him not to mention they were there. Tom released the mute button.
“Zach, do you want to give us the background on Camp David?” asked Tom.
“No problem. Since about the 1940s I think, Camp David has been the retreat for serving presidents, 125 acres of the most protected soil on earth within the Catoctin Mountains, 75 miles north west of Washington. A company of Marines from Marine Barracks provides camp security while the Secret Service provide personal security. Now we know that our enemies are resourceful, but getting past Camp David’s electronic security, 150 marines and the Secret Service seems just a little too much.”
“Maybe they’re just going to nuke them?” suggested Tom.
“Don’t think so, the guest-list includes a lot of the new leaders. I doubt if they’ll be targeted,” replied Daniel.
“OK. Zach, keep an eye on Camp David. If anything happens, let us know straight away. Anything else Daniel?”
“Yes, the first report is back from the raid on the lawyer’s office. A telephone number in Washington ties in with the times of the bids for Alba but it doesn’t exist or at least the phone company says it doesn’t. It’s getting raided tonight. Other than that, nothing.”
“Thanks, I’ll talk to you soon.” Tom ended the call.
“Washington it is then,” said Donald, sending the instructions to the bridge.
Everybody felt a rumble as the engines were pushed to full power and the bow of the huge yacht lifted as she accelerated first to thirty knots and then a second drive system was engaged taking the yacht to over 45 knots.
It was time to go to bed. They would be in Washington, 1800 miles away, in less than two days.
Chapter 86
The rest of that Sunday and most of the Monday were spent resting and working through the information to try to find what or who was behind everything. Daniel’s guys had drawn a blank at the phone company which was bizarre. The number had been used to make calls and receive calls but the phone company’s records showed the number had never existed. Zach had picked this up now, there were only a few people with the power to have non-existent numbers.
It was Monday evening when everybody noticed the ship slowing down, back to less than half speed.
“What’s happening?” Tom asked his father.
Donald didn’t answer, he just pointed to the sky. Four helicopters were flying towards them. Before Tom had a chance to ask who they were, the first helicopter touched down on the stern pad while the second touched down on the bow pad. Ten men jumped off each one and ran towards Papa who was standing, in the centre of the boat, with his arms up. The two helicopters took off but were immediately replaced by another two. With another seventeen men deposited, they also took off and flew back towards the coast. Before they were even out of sight, the boat was already back up to full speed.
Tom looked at the men and recognised all of them. He had known them all his life. They were more islanders. Papa and Saki had obviously called in reinforcements. They didn’t know what they were up against but if somebody was going to launch an attack on 150 marines, they were certain to have a fairly impressive force.
The islanders were delighted to see that Saki, Donald and Rachel were alive and well and after a very warm greeting, they made their way below deck to get some rest. They had been flying for the best part of a day.
Donald looked at Tom.
“Well that evens it up a bit, don’t you think?” he said jovially.
“Depends. Whoever they are plan to take out 150 Marines.”
“Hmm true, if they use gas or chemicals, we’re buggered,” thought Donald.
