Murray McDonald - Assassin

Once everyone had calmed down, Donald began to explain what they had been doing.

“Before we left for Africa, Saki and I knew that we were being set up. It was not until we got to Africa that we realised how badly. We weren’t just being framed, we were going to be murdered. It was only thanks to Tom and Lela that we survived. When we left Guinea, we flew low level over Africa and landed in the middle of the night, in complete darkness, on Desroches Island, part of the Seychelles. We’d arranged for the Tylanni to meet us there, once she’d been given a complete make-over and change of name. We’d always planned to disappear but not to die in the process. We knew we needed to hide out and we knew that we would be arrested for the assassinations on our return.

Donald paused and looked at his wide-eyed audience who wanted to know more. He continued.

“The plan was that Jim would then take off and after a short while, climb to a normal cruising height and head home. He would claim that we had never boarded the plane and didn’t know where we were. We didn’t expect him to crash. That was a massive shock. Poor Jim, he was a good man. Anyway, we realised that the plane crash wasn’t a complete waste. We were reported dead, so it covered our tracks. It broke our hearts to think how you must have been feeling.”

Rachel burst into tears again, it had been the hardest few weeks of her life. Tom then explained that the crash was no accident and that the moment Jim had reached 12,000 feet, he was doomed. Donald had not known this nor even thought that the crash had been anything other than an accident. He was visibly shaken by the news at how close they had been to dying.

Donald then explained that they had continued to work through the evidence and clues which he and Saki had amassed. They worked out who the next targets would be and began to make their way to Barbados. Saki, however, insisted on going via Peru because he knew that Tom and Lela were going to Machu Picchu. He guessed that if they were going to try to kidnap or murder Tom or Lela, that’s where they would access them most easily.

As the information sank in, Lela blurted out that it must have been Saki who saved Tom from the sniper. Tom and Rachel looked at each other in horror, neither had known anything about it.

That final revelation brought them back to where they were now, having just saved the UK and Australian Prime Ministers.

Tom took over at that point to update his parents and Saki on the intelligence they had and on how Lela had been kidnapped and had escaped. Tom could see that Papa was in trouble. The look on Saki’s face when he heard about Lela’s capture did not hide his feelings which would keep for the time being. Tom went on to explain about Operations Sandy and David and how they had led them to Barbados but that David was still evading them. He kept thinking Camp David but there were over 150 Marines guarding that, never mind the Secret Service.

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.

“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.”