To Kill a Grey Man (17 page)

“That will start bonding back to the eye immediately,” he said
moving all the equipment over to the left eye.

Collins checked on The Grey Man.
 
He looked okay and Collins squeezed his hand for reassurance.

Once the left eye was done, the doctor removed the clamps and gave The Grey
Man what looked like a thick sleeping mask similar to the ones you find in
hotel rooms.

“Wear this till tomorrow morning,” he said.
 
“Then spend at least another twelve hours in
a dark room.
 
No sun light for twenty
four hours.
 
Okay?”

“Understood,” said The Grey Man, obviously greatly relieved the
procedure was over.

Collins led him back to the Range Rover.
 
Surge and Jonathan rubbed down all the
equipment to get rid of finger prints and lifted out the surge generator and
equipment which they stacked carefully in the corner of the car park.
 
They all got in the car with Collins at the
wheel.

“Where can I drop you, Doc?” asked Collins driving slowly back up
the High Street.

“Would Bournemouth Railway station be okay?” he replied.
 
“I can get a train straight up into central
London and from there, home.”

“Right,” said Collins.
 
“And I
will ensure the rest of your money is transferred today.
 
However what I would advise is this.
 
Do not go home but disappear for at least
three weeks, take a lovely holiday.
 
The
guys after us are not nice and you could be in some danger.”

“Don’t worry about me old chap,” said the doctor.
 
“I will be fine.”

“In that case if you do get picked up tell them you were kidnapped
by us and made to do the surgery by gun point.
 
Is that clear?” said Collins.

“Sure, sure,” said the doctor.
 
“You worry too much.”

“One last thing,” said Collins.
 
“If they do get you, tell them this to look at Deuteronomy 32:35.
 
Can you remember that?”

“I think so,” said the doctor and he repeated it to himself.

They drove for an hour back to Bournemouth and Collins stopped about
a quarter of a mile from the station.
 
It
was now just turning 2.00 am and everything was dark and quiet.

“The trains will not start running for a couple of hours.
 
Will you be okay?” said The Grey Man.

“Fine,” said the doctor obviously pleased to be leaving them.
 
He shook hands with all of them, wished them
luck, grabbed his Gladstone bag and walked out into the night.

Collins swung the car round and gunned the engine.
 
“We cannot go back to Swanage,” he said.
 
“Anyone have any ideas?
 
Also we need to ditch this car quickly.”

“I have a place,” said The Grey Man and gave the address to Collins
who punched it into the sat nav.
 
“About
an hour away tops,” he said.

Chapter 22

Consequences

Dr
Alding
walked slowly to the station
down the deserted streets thinking about what he was going to do with the money.
 
Just as he got to the main entrance a man
stepped out of the shadows and walked up to him.

“Dr
Alding
I presume,” he said with a
friendly smile.

The doctor smiled back and extended a hand, “Do I know you?” he said.

“No.
 
But you will,” said the
man as the doctor was grabbed from behind and bundled into the back of a waiting
van.

There were three of them, all big men.
 
Two of them patted the doctor down roughly, found
the envelope with the ten thousand pounds in it and threw that into the
Gladstone bag.
 
Then they sat Dr
Alding
between them on a bench in the back and the other
man started the engine.
 
No one spoke.

They drove north for nearly three hours until the sun started to
come up and flood the van with light and then they stopped.
 
The driver jumped out and opened the door to
a large industrial unit.
 
He got back in
and drove the van inside, before locking the big door and then opening the van
to let them all out.

They grabbed the doctor by the arm and frog marched him to a small
set of offices by the far wall.
 
Waiting for
them inside was The Enforcer.

Dr
Alding
was roughly pushed down onto a
wooden seat.
 
“What happened?” said The Enforcer
coming forward.

“I was in my office,” started Dr
Alding
trying to hide his fear.
 
“Two men came
in and kidnapped me.
 
I was taken away to
a house where they kept me for a
while,
I am not sure
how long.
 
Then at gun point I had to
perform an operation on one of them to ease an eye complaint.
 
They gave me an envelope full of money and
let me out by the station.
 
I was trying
to find a policeman to report the whole thing.”

The Enforcer lent forward.
 
He
took the doctor’s right wrist in his left hand and pulled it towards him
holding it tight.
 
He then bent back two
of the fingers with his right hand until they snapped with an ugly sounding
crack.
 
He did it slowly and deliberately
trying to produce the maximum level of pain.
 
The doctor screamed and slumped forward
holding his hand.

“You are a surgeon,” said Keith.
 
“If you keep on with this crap I will ensure that you never have the
ability to work again.
 
Now, let’s start
at the beginning.
 
You were called by one
of them as you have done work for them before possibly when they were with the Secret
Service.
 
You agreed to see this patient
for let’s say, ten grand.
 
You tell them
you can make him see again and they offer you
alot
more
money to go with them.
 
Have I got
everything correct so far?
 
We have
talked to your housekeeper and your secretary.
 
Both assure us that you were under no duress when you left.
 
Am I on the right track?”

Dr
Alding
sat up and nodded.
 
Tears were starting to run down his cheeks
from the pain.

“Right,” said Keith unmoved.
 
“Where did they take you?”

“A large white house in Swanage, I think, overlooking the sea,” said
the doctor.

“Good, good,” said Keith.
 
“Carry
on.”

Over the next two hours Dr
Alding
told
them everything he could remember in as much detail as possible, every scrap of
information about the house, the operation, the roads in and out of Swanage and
everything that had been said with particular emphasis on anything about their
future plans.
 
Keith got on the phone and
by the time the doctor had finished they had located the house, ascertained it
was empty and were putting together a squad to break in.

Keith phoned John Sea.
 
“Not
good news.
 
The Grey Man will have his
sight back by tomorrow.
 
We have found
out where they were hiding but I am sure they will not go back there.
 
One strange thing - they left us a message.”

“What’s message?” said John Sea.

“That we should look at
Deuteronomy
32:35
.”

“Give me a second,” said John Sea pulling down
a bible from the book shelf.
 
He found
the right page and read it out to Keith.

“To
me
belongeth
vengeance
and recompense;
their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand.”

“Okay,” continued John Sea.
 
“We know their next move.
 
They
are coming after me.
 
Let’s call off
everyone from looking and get back here.”

“What do you want done with the doctor?” asked Keith.

“I for one don’t want him walking around flapping his mouth.”

Keith put down the phone, and walked over to Dr Alding, who was
still sitting in the chair nursing his broken fingers.
 
The Enforcer stepped behind him wrapped his
arms around his neck and then pulled up and to the right nearly taking the doctor’s
head off.
 
His neck broke instantly.
 
“Get rid of this idiot,” he said to the two
minders.
 

.
  
.
  
.
  
.
  
.
  
.

John Sea called up Sir Thomas, “We have twenty four hours before
they come for us he said. What are you going to do?”

“I have no choice.
 
I will not
sit here and be hunted,” he replied.
 
“I
am going to put out a private contract on all of them and then hope I can clean
the mess up afterwards.
 
The worst case
for me will be a reprimand and to lose my job, possible exiled to my country
estate.
 
No way will the British Government
put me on trial.”

“What should I do?” said John Sea.

“I would suggest you bring in every murdering bastard you can find
and wait for them to come to you.
 
Remember
these are three old men and a boy.
 
Do
not phone me again unless you have their bodies.
 
We have never talked.
 
I do not know you.”
 
The phone went dead.

John Sea was alone.

Sir Thomas sat at his desk.
 
He
had the resources of all of the British Secret Service at his disposal but knew
you could never be safe from a determined assassin especially one as good as
this who was backed up by the greatest intelligence brain he had ever met.
 
He put a call into a secret group that had
done work for him outside the constraints of The Firm and placed the contract.

He then called Hugh McDonald, “How are you getting on?”

“Good,” said Hugh.
 
“We have
had some problems.
 
We wrecked two major
computer systems but are now attacking the core using standalone computers.
 
So far five are down but we are learning more
each time.
 
It is quite ingenious.
 
The Grey Man has invented a whole new level
of security.
 
It appears it can detect
our approach,
then
instruct our computers to wipe
themselves clean.
 
We thought at first it
was a virus but it isn’t.
 
It is a piece
of software that attaches itself to ours then takes over.
 
Truly clever.”

“How long before you break in and we can control everything?” asked Sir 
Thomas.

“No more than five or six days, a week tops,” said Hugh.

“You have twenty four hours at best before The Grey Man comes after
you,” said Sir Thomas.

“I will see what can be done,” said Sir Hugh.

Chapter 23

Hideout

After dropping off the doctor, Collins turned the car towards London.

“How long do you think we have before he is picked up?” said
Surge.

“Thirty minutes at most,” said Collins.
 
“They will have all train stations and
airports covered.
 
He knows nothing and
interrogating him will take some time and then they will waste more turning
over the Swanage address.
 
Time enough
for us to disappear I think.”

He drove up the M3 towards London.
 
At Sunbury he turned off the motorway driving past Kempton Park race
course and towards Hampton Court Palace.
 
He took a left through Bushy Park where Henry VIII used to hunt and
where deer still roam.
 
Then he turned left
and left again until he passed the world renowned National Physical Laboratory
or NPL.
 
On either side of the road were
large houses pressed closely together.
 
He
slowed down until he saw a small driveway on the right flanked by two large
grey pillars, just wide enough for the Range Rover.
 
He turned into this and drove one hundred
yards and turned right until he was behind the house that fronted onto the road.
 
After a couple of hundred yards he turned
left, in front of him was a huge old house with enough parking in front for at
least twenty cars and a big wooden garage attached to the side.
 
The house was almost on its own island.
 
Originally it had owned all the land that
surrounded it but had sold that off to build the other houses, leaving it
tucked away in the centre with just a small driveway in and out, invisible from
either of the main roads.
 
The
neighbouring
gardens all backed onto the house giving
around a thirty foot walk way around the house at the back and the big parking
space at the front.
 
Large pine trees
with branches down to the floor were planted all round the edge so close
together they looked like one giant hedge surrounding the property and gave
complete privacy.
 
The trees stopped any
nosy
neighbours
from prying.
 
From the ground it would be invisible.

Surge jumped out and opened the huge garage and Collins drove in.
 
There was another car parked there covered
with a dust sheet.
 
Surge removed it to discover
a three year old, seven series BMW in a dark metallic blue.
 
They took everything from the Range Rover and
Surge and Jonathan used the dust sheet to cover it up.

The Grey Man asked Collins to remove a brick from the back wall and
inside in a small, leather bag was the keys to the house.

The house was mid-Victorian, built around eighteen sixty, square
fronted with the door in the middle and two large bay windows downstairs and
three sash windows upstairs.

They went through the ornate porch and the heavy dark blue, wooden
front door into a hallway with parquet tiled flooring and dark wooden paneling.
 
Two small crystal chandeliers hung from the high
ceiling.
 
The Grey Man led them into the
large front sitting room furnished with an expensive Persian rug, two huge
leather sofas surrounding a coffee table of dark wood and glass, in front of an
ornate fireplace and a huge flat screen TV.
 
It was all very opulent and expensive.

Surge did a sweep of the rest of the house to find every other room was
bare.
 
Just the hall and the sitting room
were decorated to show nosy
neighbours
.

The Grey Man then led them all along the hall to a door under the
stairs with an ornate keypad.
 
He told Collins
the code which he punched in.
 
The door
opened and they all stepped carefully down into the cellar.
 
Collins turned on the lights and could see
that this area had been enlarged to house The Grey Man’s tools of his trade.
 
Collins then flicked the main switch and a bank
of computers came to life.
 
There was
also a camp bed and a small kitchen and bathroom.
 
The Grey Man showed them the emergency
exit out through a
neighbour’s
garden.
 
He then instructed Jonathan to bring the
computers on-line, Jonathan punching in the codes and passwords The Grey Man
using a fingerprint decoder. They then started up the perimeter security
systems complete with CCTV and sensors.

Surge moved all the kitchen equipment upstairs to the empty main
kitchen.
 
He also moved all the stores
from the pantry, mainly tins, jars and other foods that could be stored for a
long time without going off.
 
He also
brought in the fresher food stuff they had bought with them.

He found towels and soap which he put in the large bathroom upstairs
turning on the immersion heater and bedding which he shared between the army
bed and front room sofas.
 
The rest he
took upstairs to the top bedroom with the best view of the road in, to make
himself a nest.

The Grey Man settled himself into the camp bed and Jonathan and
Collins went up to the front room and took a sofa each.
 
All were tired and needed some rest.

Surge spent some time looking out of the window.
 
He thought about what was to come.
 
He had hated being hunted and now wanted
desperately to take the fight to the enemy.
 
This is what they did and had done for the past few decades, but laying
here he could feel his age.
 
Now in his
mid-fifties, he was as fit as any man could be but both his back and his knees
were playing up and he knew he was slower than he should be.
 
He went through a series of stretching
exercises, then some sit-ups and press-ups to warm up then worked his way from
simple karate Kata’s to more and more advanced moves until his body was flowing
and his mind was elsewhere.
 
Then he slowly
bought himself back under control and slowed all the movements down finishing
with some beautifully smooth, almost ballet type tai chi moves.
 
With sweat rolling off his body, he went to
the bathroom where the water had reached temperature.
 
He took a long shower before wrapping himself
in blankets and wishing for a deep sleep and the chance to dream, where he
hoped his lost love,
Pru
would be waiting for him.

The next day Collins, Jonathan and Surge met in the kitchen.
 
There was no sign of The Grey Man and Collins
was loath to disturb him, he was after all an old man and needed his sleep.
 
The last few days had been very traumatic for
him and they still didn’t know if the operation had worked.
 
If it hadn’t, The Grey Man would need time to
adjust and the journey ahead could be long and hard.

Surge cooked the three of them breakfast of toast and eggs and
coffee.
 
After they had eaten he went
upstairs to his room to watch the driveway and Jonathan and Collins went into
the front room to sit and quietly talk.

The Grey Man heard them moving about above him and lay in his camp
bed, the eye patch still in place.
 
He
took stock.
 
Over the last few days he
had learnt a lot about himself.
 
For most
of his life he had stood on his own two feet asking nothing of any man, remote
and untouchable.
 
As a child he had been
abused and that had set him on a long and lonely path, not being part of the
world but trying to stand apart, an observer not a participant.
 
Not for him lovers and family and friends, in
fact, in this house were the only friends he had ever had, bound together over
the years by danger and necessity.

Being blind had meant he had to rely on other people for the first
time in his life, needing someone to take an arm when he walked, expecting
others to make his meals and having to ask for help even in the small things
that he had taken for granted.
 
The big
lesson over this time for him had been how willing his friends were to step up
and support him, to do all these things with no expectation of any kind of
reward, just out of friendship.
 
He was
amazed at how much love and concern they had shown and he realized asking and
receiving help had not diminished him in any way, in fact this blindness had in
many ways opened his eyes to what he had been missing all these years.

He wished now that he had learnt this lesson earlier in his life,
being involved and part of a group is, he realized, so much better than
loneliness and living apart from humanity.

He thought about the next step.
 
If the operation has failed and he was to remain blind he would embrace
it and control it, he still had his mind and knew that there was a lot he would
still be able to accomplish.
 
Going on
the run, assuming they would do that, was a worry but he had complete faith in
his friends.
 
He also had huge wealth and
knew he could still live a useful life.

If the operation was a success, then he would take the fight to
those bastards who had attacked him and his friends and they would rue the day
they went after The Grey Man, The Assassin and The Surgeon.

He gingerly raised his hands to the mask and slowly eased it off
over his head.
 
He expected everything to
be blurry but in fact everything was crystal clear.
 
The room was dim but he could see everything
perfectly, better than before.
 
His
eyesight must have been deteriorating for some time he reasoned.

As he lay there, small tears ran out of his eyes and dropped to his
pillow.
 
A feeling of elation and joy
swept through him.
 
He finally got up,
composed himself and went to the bathroom.
 
For the first time in several days he shaved himself and then had a long
shower.
 
He went to the wardrobe and
there laid out for him, as in every one of his safe houses, were his clean
clothes - new shirts still in their protective wrappers, shoes and a rack of
grey and blue suits.
 
He dressed
carefully and then went over to the main computer.
 
Logging on he pulled up The Firm and started
to investigate the damage, then said aloud, “Dear Hugh.
 
Are you in for a
shock!
”

Collins placed his ear against the door to the cellar.
 
He could faintly hear the clicking of the
computer keyboard which meant The Grey Man must have regained his eyesight.
 
Happiness almost overwhelmed him.
 
He went upstairs to tell Jonathan and Surge, quietly
swapping smiles, hugs and handshakes.
 
Finally
he went back to the kitchen and on the work surface he took out his guns laying
them all out slowly and carefully before stripping, cleaning, oiling and
rebuilding each one as he knew they would be needed.
 
“Time to take the battle to the enemy,” he
thought.

At lunchtime The Grey Man came up from the cellar into the front
room.
 
“How are you feeling,” said
Collins.

“Great,” said The Grey Man with a small smile.
 
“Never better.
 
Now time for work I think.”

Jonathan went off to make some sandwiches and when he returned and
in between bites The Grey Man said, “I have managed this morning to take re
-control of The Firm and sent a message out to all the heads of security in
Europe that I am fine but have been in-capacitated by an illness.
 
Apparently no one suspects what Sir Thomas
has been up to
nor
must they if the British Secret Service
is to have any credibility in the wider community.
 
We have to take care of this mess ourselves.
 
I have also limited Sir Thomas’ and the
British Secret Service’ access to The Firm pending a review which I have set
for ten days time with the Director General.
 
This means they cannot use The Firm to hunt us.”

“Sir Thomas has sent out a private contract on all of our heads.
 
As far as he is concerned the best assassins
in Europe are stalking us and he is sitting back waiting for that to happen.
 
I have quietly revoked it without him knowing.
 
That should give us some time as well as some
piece of mind.”

Collins sat back impressed.
 
He
had no idea this little old man had so much power.