Sam could not hide her disappointment. It was not the reaction she had hoped for.
“Let me ask you an important question,” he continued. “Why am I here? Are you just using me? Will you be finishing with me the minute I have served your purpose?”
Sam was shocked by the questions. She wasn’t sure how to answer and now was beginning to regret ever arranging to meet Eduardo.
“Be honest,” he prompted. “I don’t entirely mind being used. Indeed please feel free to do so again tonight. However, I need you to be honest with me. Is this just a few days together in return for my helping you?”
Sam shifted nervously in her chair. “I will be honest,” she said softly. “I needed your help and I know you have always liked me so yes I suppose that is perhaps a form of using you. But I don’t think you’re an eejit, quite the opposite. I have always liked you too but thought you were only interested in the obvious.” She looked up into his eyes but couldn’t determine what he was thinking. “I haven’t put a time limit on this. Maybe it will be days, maybe it will be weeks or if you want, even longer. I don’t know.”
Eduardo was thoughtful for a few seconds. He stroked his chin and looked directly into her eyes. Then he smiled. “I believe you,” he said. “Please understand that in my position I just have to know you are being honest with me at all times. I will not be made a fool of but you are right I have always liked you, so I would take this time with you even if it is only a few days. Although I do hope it will be longer.”
Sam relaxed a little. His words encouraged her. She smiled. “There are no conditions to my being with you,” she said. “I understand you can’t do anything about Connor but that doesn’t matter.”
“You misunderstand, Sam. I said I could not be seen to interfere. From the first moment you told me what he did to you, he was a dead man. He is a pig and I will see he is spit roasted over a very hot fire. I just wanted to be clear about why we are here together in this hotel room.”
Sam gave a huge smile. She jumped up out the chair and threw her arms around him. She snogged him full and deep on the lips. “Gracias,” she said simply when they came up for air. They had an agreement that despite her language skills, she generally wouldn’t speak Spanish with Eduardo, as he liked to practice his English.
“My pleasure.”
“Actually there is one condition about my staying with you,” Sam said teasingly. “You must keep making love to me the way you did earlier.”
“Well I am not sure about that,” he replied with a mischievous smile. “I had a few rather different ways I wanted to try out.”
Connor was positioned on the flat roof of a small row of shops opposite the back of the court. He had worn two jumpers and a thick coat, to keep out the inevitable cold that would assault him, while he laid in wait. He had woollen gloves to protect his hands, with the ends of the fingers cut out so he could grip properly.
He had a clear sight of the busy road and the imposing double gates, which formed the rear entrance. He heard them approaching before he saw them. Two police motorbike outriders with sirens blaring, blocked the crossroads fifty yards up the road, so that the convoy would have an uninterrupted path through the traffic lights. Then he saw the van and two accompanying police cars, followed finally by two further police on bikes.
Connor raised the weapon to his shoulder in anticipation of the van’s imminent arrival at the rear gates. The convoy slowed and the gates began to open. He knew he would only get the one shot. He also knew how valuable the RPG rocket launcher was. They had very few weapons of this magnitude still available after the decommissioning in 2005. It would be bad enough missing the target but especially so as he would be leaving the almost irreplaceable weapon behind.
He hadn’t used one for a few years but they were simple enough to operate. He just had to point and fire. The van was the normal type regularly used to transport prisoners to court. There was no special armour to protect it from the rocket shell Connor launched in the direction of the van’s rear doors. Any armour would in fact have been worthless anyway as the RPG was designed as an anti-tank weapon. It pierced the rear doors and exploded in a fireball, engulfing anyone inside the rear of the van and throwing the heavy van ten feet in the air.
The blast from the explosion threw two of the policemen from their bikes and the escort cars screeched to a halt, trying to avoid the wreckage of the van. The police car immediately behind the van had braked and swerved so hard the driver lost control for a few seconds and it skidded into the oncoming line of traffic. This led in turn to further cars breaking and swerving. There were at least two further impacts. Pedestrians were running from the scene of the devastation, worried both about further explosions and the mayhem of the skidding cars.
Connor didn’t intend to hang around. He was confident his objective was achieved. Jones had come through with the correct information about the time and place. The Chief had come through with an appropriate weapon and he had done the job. It was a good result. Connor left the weapon on the roof with a touch of regret. It was extremely valuable to the organization but he had no choice. It was much too bulky to take with him.
In the confusion he was quickly down
