Retribution - Michael Bates (the mitten read aloud .TXT) 📗

go to the Savoy hotel for lunch. I wanted to have a look at the window to the storeroom from the outside; to see what I was going to need to remove the bars, without making too much noise. I also needed to make sure there was somewhere legal to park the car, without it looking suspicious. The last thing I needed was to get a parking ticket; that would mean the authorities would have the details of the car. Where it was parked, and at what time; meaning, it wouldn't take the police long to put two and two together.

I walked around the rear of the hotel, not realising the enormity of the task; going down a narrow alleyway; I couldn't possibly imagine the scale of this building. It was enormous, with lots of other small alleyways leading off. It took me what seemed like forever, to find the window to the storeroom. Once I saw the window, I realised just how open the area around it was. What concerned me was the task of cutting through the bars undetected. I'm going to need to think about this one. I thought.

The next thing to sort out was where to park the car. I needed it to be legal, and as close to the window as possible; I didn't want to be running any long distances.

I decided to cut the bars in broad daylight. The window was down an alleyway that wasn't used that often. Therefore, I could act as a worker doing some repairs, and use a grinder to cut through the bars, but still leaving them in place. It was hardly likely anyone would use this alleyway; however, if they did, as a worker I wouldn't look out of place.I also noticed there were no parking restrictions down the alleyway, which worked out great.

Happy with what needed doing, I made my way into the hotel, to order myself some lunch, and have a last look around the place; to ensure I had not left anything out. The last thing I needed on the day, were any last minute surprises. I thought.

The meal was, as I would expect it to be in a hotel of this stature, along with the price tag. Whilst I was inside, I saw nothing that looked like it might cause a problem on the day. Happy with everything inside the hotel, I wouldn't need to show my face around here again. I decided to deal with the bars to the window, the day before the conference. That way there would be less chance and time for someone to notice they'd been sawn through.

******

In my hotel room I went to the top shelf in my wardrobe and dragged out an old shoebox and laid the box on the bed. I sat down and slowly removed the lid, inside was an assortment of photographs, some of the times I'd spent in the army, and more importantly some of the happier times I'd spent with Julie and Clair. I began to remove the photos, one by one, hardly glancing at the military photos before placing them down next to the box.

Every time I came across a picture with Julie or Clair on, I tried to remember the situation from which the picture was took. Had I taken this? Was I even there? Shit! I'd become so emotionally detached from my family, that I appeared to have lost all memory of my time as a husband, and a Father.

As I looked at a picture of Julie cradling Clair in her arms, I began to lose focus, as tears started to well up, and without warning, I suddenly began to break down. My whole body began to jerk up and down as I started sobbing uncontrollably. Clutching the photo to my chest, I lay back on the bed, and for the first time in a long time, allowed myself to succumb fully, to my emotions.

I continued sobbing until eventually; I fell asleep, still clutching the photo of Julie and Clair. A knock at the door stirred me; I opened it to find Spud stood there. "Jesus, Jack, you look like shit."

I wiped the sleep from my eyes. "Thanks Spud, nice to see you too."

He entered the room to see the photos covering my bed. "Been spending some time down memory lane have we?"

"Yeh, something like that."

He picked up one of the photos. "Jesus Christ. Jack, do you remember this?"

Scratching my head, still half in a daze, I looked at the picture. "Em, I think so... I'm not sure."

"Sure you do, this was taken in the Oman, while we were doing some freefall, out in the desert."

I searched around for a glass; I was in desperate need of a drink of water. "Look Spud, do you want a drink or something? I was still searching for a glass. "By the way, why are you here?"

"No thanks, and the reason I'm here is, I've managed to take some holiday I had coming to me, four weeks to be exact. So, I thought we could get to together, to start going through the plan you have for this Op."

Stunned, I stopped searching for the glass. "What now? At the moment I only have the plan in my head, I haven't put it down on paper, or drawn any diagrams or anything like that yet."

Still scanning through the photos, he turned to look at me. "Oh, right."

"Well I wasn't planning on doing a brief just yet. Look, give me a couple of days and I'll put something together, okay?"

He dropped the photos he was holding onto the bed. "Okay, give me a call when you're ready. This'll give me time to enjoy a few days of my holiday, undisturbed."

I walked over and opened the door. "That's great; I'll call you when I'm ready."

Thank God. I thought, as he walked through the door. I just wasn't in the mood for him right now.

I collected all the pictures up and placed them back into the shoebox, then hid it away, along with my emotions. Swearing, to never let them out again; at least not until this thing was over. I couldn't afford to let my guard down like that again, it would leave me too vulnerable. A weakness I could ill afford right now.

I decided to go to the gym and work off some of the stress I was feeling, and clear out the cobwebs. An hour on the treadmill, followed by a session on the punch bag, always does me the world of good, and I needed to start getting my body and mind into shape, ready for the coming Op. I wanted to ensure I was in top shape before starting to work with Spud; the last thing I wanted to do, was to show myself up in front of him.

******

I began getting some material together, ready to brief Spud on the plan. Using Google Earth, I printed off two satellite pictures; one was of the area around the Savoy Hotel, and the other one, of the area between my lock up and the Savoy. On the latter, I marked the route; I was planning to take, to and from the Savoy. On the other, I marked the areas where the car was to be parked, and where the entry and exit window was situated. I began to make an Ops board on one of the walls in my hotel room; along with the satellite pictures; I had blown up photos that I'd taken during my CTR. Photos of the escape window, the conference hall, and of the dais; next to those, I had a timetable, with a list of all the actions we needed to carry out, and a time that each of these actions needed to be performed.

1100 hrs: Leave the lock up.

1145 hrs: Arrive and park at the rear of the Savoy.

1200 hrs: Enter the hotel via the window.

1215 hrs: Gain entry into the conference hall, and set
incendiary device on dais.

1245 hrs: Press allowed into conference hall.

1330 hrs: Target arrives at hotel.

1400 hrs: Conference begins.

1405 hrs: Neutralise Target and set off incendiary device.

1410 hrs: Leave the Savoy by car.

1500 hrs: Arrive back at lock up.

1505 hrs: Destroy all clothing.

1515 hrs: Leave lock up via a taxi.

1545 hrs: Arrive at pub in Covent Garden.

Along with the timetable was a list of things to do, before the day of the Op.

Item One: Change the number plates on the car, check
fuel, and oil.

Item Two: Test the incendiary device.

Item Three: Check and test the darts and gun.

Item Four: Check clothing; gloves, masks, and
disposable boiler suits.

Item Five: DOUBLE CHECK EVERYTHING AGAIN.

Once I was happy with my briefing board, I could call Spud and give him a full heads up on how I expected the Op to go. This was the first time I've had to involve someone else in one of my Ops. However, the upside was that Spud comes from the same background as me, so he would be able to have some input, and could possibly put a different slant on things. When it comes to planning, two heads are always better than one. I at least learned that much, in my time at Hereford.

The next thing I needed to do was find a way to see if Spud was up to the task, both physically and more importantly, mentally. I felt fairly confident that Spud would've kept himself in shape; but whether he was still up to handling the pressure of a killing situation was a different matter. The last thing I needed was for him to go to pieces at the critical moment, and end up getting us both arrested; leaving Clair, with no hope of getting out of this alive. The thought of that was incomprehensible for me.

I also wanted to spend some time on the shooting range, just before we embarked on the Op. I knew Spud would be able to arrange this, as he trains his own security guards in the use of weapons. As well as the dart gun, I would be carrying my Glock 9mm pistol, as back up, I also wanted Spud to be carrying a handgun too. Furthermore, be prepared to use it as well, if the need arises.

Happy I had everything I needed in place; I called Spud and made an appointment. I arranged to meet him in my local pub, so we could have a drink to quell the nerves, before I took him to see my lock up on the south side of town. Once I had shown him the set up down there, I would take him back to my hotel room and using the briefing board on my wall, give him a full operational brief on the proposed plan. Finishing off with a short set of SOPs, (Standard Operating Procedures) a set of procedures to deal with any unforeseen eventualities; along the lines of, What if.

The meeting was set for tomorrow morning, so I decided to stay in and watch a bit of telly. I wanted to