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Chapter One
How many times had he driven this freeway, but this time his mind was racing, thinking of all the possibilities that could come from a brief e-mail he had received only 10 minutes ago. "Be at the marina by 10:30 or you will never see Nicole again". The sentence was burned into his brain. Why now? [1] When Nicole was already dead, with cremation scheduled for later in the day? Who or what steals a corpse from the city morgue? Who or what then rings to bargain over the body? [2] It couldn't be those bloody loan sharks, they dont work that way. They would want her alive. [3] Then he asked himself the question - should he call the police? They could lay a trap at the marina. [4] He looked at his watch. It was already 9.45, and it would take him a good half hour to reach the marina. The idiots must have mixed up the twin sisters, Nicole and Nicola. They were supposed to have been travelling together. The fireman had pulled out Nicole's limp body from the burning house. [5]

Breathing a sigh of relief, he allowed the Subaru Forester 2.5XT to coast down from the insane 155mph to a more sedate 77, stroking her cruise control as lightly as a lover's nipple. For about fifteen seconds... until those same tortures returned, and he booted her back to her absolute 177 speed. Madness! [6] Madness that he'd agreed to her marrying into 'The Mob' - his darling sister joining la Costra Nosta...

His heart bled at the thought. Still she'd always been strong willed, no one ever said 'No' to Nicole - otherwise known by her trade name of Mariah - as she was the original black beauty. [7] In a typical twist of contorted logic he simultaneously acknowledged that this was the only reason the engine management map had been altered to defeat the programmed limiter. He knew the beast had lots in reserve. The only question was for how long, until the jewel-like 4-cylinder Boxer called TIME! [8] and shattered into hurtling red-hot fragments. What was left of the pistons punched clean through the camshafts, locking the transmission and blowing both front tyres. Robbed of grasp on the tarmac, the chassis became a projectile, leaping into the air and travelling for a half-mile before slamming [9] on to the Northbound carriageway of the M1. But the engine was merely a high powered starter motor for the real engine, a 6000HP Spitfire engine which used to belong to his late fathers uncle. The Boxer now cruised along the M1 a sauntering 250mph fultilely pursued by 17 patrol cars full of clampers. [10] Fearing for their lives and those of others, not to mention the front wheels whose titanium rims were now gouging grooves in the roadway, he smoothed his way onto the hard shoulder, shut down and waited for reality to bite. [11] In a short while,the patrol cars sped past him as if he were invisible-obviously he wasnt as important as he thought! [12] And since the Noble was basically a fast FIAT, with the reliability of a roulette wheel, one spade terminal had come loose and there was no ABS. The suicide bomber who had killed the teacher to get the car didnt know what a red light meant because his mind was full with black rage against his target. [13]

The teacher was dead of course, lying in a pool of his own blood beside the BMW he used as everyday transport. The Noble was merely a decoy driven by a minor terrorist while the assassin guided the Ferrari towards his target. He was not using brakes but the car was using TRACKER to report its locus. He did not hear the coded call from Whitehall telling the police to abandon the pursuit.Unaware of the JSTARS and AWACS 6 miles above, the Jaguar taxiing out to a runway 200 miles away, its combat systems already locked to his snail-like progress towards the Eurocrat meeting, he was ready to die. But not quite as planned. Faceless men in the TRACKER control room had seen to that. The police were now directing traffic off the M1 to give room. And the Jaguar was green to go, striated purple flames streaming from the twin tailpipes,airframe begging for brakes-off. Lethal as only man and machine can be. As the pilot gave in to its need for speed and the tremendous acceleration pressed his body into the seat, he reflected on the oddity of his mission. Destroy one car. Minimum damage to infrastructure. Thankfully. His beloved girl Nicola might be down there for all he knew. No mail during the emergency. [14]

All this was just fancy, his mind raced nearly as fast as his car No sooner was he already at the Marina never having exceeded 120-km/hr and with his car fully intact as it had always been in its fairly well kept manner. Unfortunately, through traffic and all it took him over the half hour expected, and worse, not a policeman in site, not even the imaginary ones who followed Jake in his troubled mind. It was a misty day and the Marina was ominous. No one stirred about and the boats creaked with the approach of each wave. The only audible sound now was fear. 10:30 was around the corner as he counted the seconds confusingly but incessantly. Who were these thugs? How many were there? Where are they hiding? Is this some kind of a trick? Did they have Nicola? Was she here at the Marina? Is this a sick joke? Or where they really actually speaking of Nicole who was already dead? But why would they threaten a dead body? Panic struck, fearful of his own life he ran down the dock and jumped into the fastest torpedo boat he could see started the engine and raced out of the Marina at full throttle. Little did he know he was not alone. A stowaway, the daughter of the owner of the torpedo boat was sleeping under a blanket hidden under the rear seats. . [15] His mind raced ahead of the surf, what to do ? Where to go?.. Then from somewhere below him a voice, the voice of a woman,"Where are we going, Dad? I thought we were waiting for Mum". He froze; who the hell was that? He had to get away before she saw him, but where could he go? Only one place; the sea. [16] As he prepared to dive overboard, not even his wildest flights of imagination could have prepared him for what he saw just ahead. A vortex was opening and there was no time to avoid it. As the boat passed through it, he had the sinking feeling that things were about to get very interesting indeed. [17] Instinctively,he chopped the throttles and looked back. This was no vortex.It was a surfacing submarine whose ugly black snout now broke the surface.An Upholder.Silent.Lying dead 500 yards behind him.Suddenly the afterdeck was lit,a dinghy inflated and a black-clad individual climbed aboard carrying a long black case. As he climbed in, the Upholder snorted air and sank, leaving the dinghy all but invisible. Moments later, it seemed to Jake, the wetsuit-clad member of the Special Boat Service climbed onto his deck, the 0.5" calibre sniper rifle naked now, slung over his shoulder. [18]

Chapter Two
Mrs Joyce Brown was standing by her car in an agitated mood. The police had pulled her over for speeding and were about to give her a breathalyser - she knew she would never make her appointment to meet her husband and daughter on board the torpedo boat at the marina. The police were of little help, [19] programmed by their training and her sex to assume, wrongly,that booze lay behind her recent speed and present agitation. She knew that the reading would be zero because ethanol was not her drug and she relied on the hypnotic effect of her proudly-displayed cleavage to get her off the speeding rap. Knowing that her last drink had been twelve weeks ago, at the wedding, she wasnt worried, just impatient to see her daughter and ex as arranged. [20] What made matters worse was that the officers were even indifferent to her vexation at missing the Classic fM Quiz, which the presenter had said would be on in 5 minutes. Luckily it was 20 minutes, so she just caught it!- and won!! Meanwhile, her poor husband and daughter [21] were facing a brutal police cross-examination. They always seem to speak to you in that quasi polite patronising way. Yet they both looked about twelve years old, a sign of age she thought ruefully. She would have to think fast to pacify both the officer speaking to her and her family when she met them later at the marina. [22] Suddenly the mood changed to apology. "We had to be sure Madam, "the burly one said, "that all three of you are the right people." His face had a kindly look now. "You and yours are at risk from your ex-husbands associates. So is he and your eldest. They are guarded now and so are you. The question is, will you just accept that, or are you willing to help us bring these bastards to justice, plug another hole in our defences against their kind or what?" Joyce couldnt answer immediately. Her mind filled with images from her first marriage. Gold everywhere. Midnight calls. Guns, drugs and infinite cash. For what? "Are you going to help or not? Your ex has a lot of unfortunate associates. Hard drugs. One of our lads is risking his life to protect him right now. And your firstborn. Are you with us or not? And, before you decide, think. Say "yes" and every resource of the Government is with you. Say "no" and you are on your own. So is your mother. These people stop at nothing. Joyce was momentarily stunned. She managed to wring out "Theres a policeman on the boat?" The officer raised an eyebrow and simply said "No love, he isnt a policeman any more than we are. We are different. Altogether more effective. We kill vermin,efficiently." [23] The shot that followed came so fast the body dropped before a sound was heard. "Sorry love, but vermins vermin" he said, picking up the rat that fell from the [24] bridge above.Suddenly all the bottled frustration,fears and hatreds of her past fifteen years exploded and she flew at him, puny fists flailing the Kevlar vest."Bastards", she screamerd, "why cant you leave me alone?" He didnt move an inch."We will", he said,"they will not. Good luck." [25] The gun vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Joyce disintegrated at that moment. It was too much to comprehend. Vision blurring, she sank to the unyielding ground and heard the beat of an approaching rotorcraft. Before she completely passed out, her last thought was "What now and why me?" [26] The yacht was 20 metres long and worth millions. That was small change to Danniele de Carvalho. What interested her now was its radar. Jake's boat was there as planned but the brief appearance of a second object nearby puzzled her. It had been there for 2 minutes, far too long to be a sea echo. [27] Danniele left the warmth and dry of the wheelhouse and, leaning into the biting squall, searched the heaving gray water for it. Her way out. Find it and Jakes gone. No more dodging customs boats, no more deals in manky keyside pubs. Find it. Sell it to Allesandro. Wait for Jakes body to wash up. [28] But the container she sought was not in the water... Because of strong headwinds it was still in the air. Just 75 feet above the swells, strapped in the rear seats of the Cessna Caravan floatplane. Its pilot knew it didn't contain sugar, but with $10 million in the bank he didn't care. He cared about the rendezvous. [29] Danniele, however was astonished by what she did see in the water. This could not be real, it had to be an illusion. Dragons simply do not exist! At least only in myths and legends. Sure she had lost her mind after all that had happened to her, Danniele jumped. [30] It was the most exciting thing that ever happened in her life! However, she just had to get that container. So, she focused her mind elsewhere. [31] Eduardo was after her in an instant, neither knowing nor caring what new dread had driven her. He knew her trade and recognised her addiction but love drove him into the chill sea to save her. As he reached her there was a light and the sound of a turbine as the Cessna swept overhead, turning, slowing. [32] As the pilot saw what was below him, he lost control of the Cessna, in shock, he stared at the scene below him, but rapidly getting closer, his last thought, as the Cessna hit the water was of $10 million. The crashing Cessna, sent a huge wave over the stealth boat projecting the hologramatic dragon. [33] The fireball that followed came from fuel in the ripped-off left wing and the impact tore off the entire nose. But the 208 was built tough and the trusses and floats held on, leaving it afloat and Eduardo with a choice. Danielle or the container? Lives were cheap and his now hung on the container. [34] Seven hundred kilos of cocaine. The biggest shipment the organisation had ever attempted. Worth close to £100 million. Carlos would not be sympathetic if it sank. So he swam for the mangled aircraft, not as if his life depended on it, but because it did. [35] Perhaps he could do resuce both afterall. Reaching Danielle, he put his own lifejacket over her head and swam for the Cessna. Ensuring the girl had a good grip on the float he heaved himself up and wrenched open the door to get at the container. Designed to mimic a yacht liferaft the white cylinder slid easily out. [36]

Joyce moved to the large locker and taking a key from her cleavage, opened the lid to reveal a motorised submersible and wet suit. Putting the suit on, she pressed the button and released the submersible into the water. She looked at the picture on the underside of the lid and remembered [37] how happy she had been with this present on her first anniversary with Jake. Meanwhile her burly guard remained silent as the helicopter lifted off the dockside and disappeared into the night with his colleagues. Joyce was going to search under the mooring of Jakes boat where often riches lay. [38] As she slid beneath the surface, he pulled out a radio and made contact with the twig of an aerial that was all of the submarine that was above surface. After a brief exchange, the stealth boat was ordered away and the remaining question was who was going to try to kill who first? [39] Eduardo knew. As he winched the container aboard his next step was to get to the marina, kill Jake as Carlos had ordered and sail south with his cargo to Suffolk, where an alternative distributor was waiting for it. With Dannielle safely below and his Glock automatic leaded, he was almost ready to go [40] Jake meanwhile was slowly motoring back to the marina and was deep in conversation with his SBS guardian, Nigel. He seemed to know little except that he had to protect Jake, who filled him in a bit about the drugs trade, his part in it and the death sentence passed on him by Carlos. All he got was a grunt. [41] Jake assumed it was one of approval as he was now on the side of the government. Meanwhile Joyce was returning empty-handed to her boat. "Nothing there yet", she reported. "Well", said her guardian, "either it got lost in the crash or it is on that yacht. If it is, will they bring it here or not?" [42] Not, she said. All they want here is to shoot Jake. At that moment an outboard became audible, slowly entering the marina. Eduardo. Sadly for him Nigel was already prone on the quayside with his rifle and night vision scope and as Eduardo drew his Glock there was a bang and his head was gone. [43]

to be continued...

Suggested Endings
He meets a beautiful girl called Marie, and pardon the pun, they get married, have children, and live happily ever after in a cottage by the sea, with an obedient dog called Moy. [1]

[1] Nov 28 2005 - Peter McIntyre, Sydney, Australia
[2] Nov 28 2005 - Amanda Love, Stockport, UK
[3] Nov 29 2005 - Laurence, Winnipeg, Canada
[4] Dec 5th 2005 - John, Bedale, UK
[5] Dec 5th 2005 - Peter Tan, Singapore
[6] Dec 6th 2005 - Mus, Schreveningen, Netherlands
[7] Dec 7th 2005 - Amanda Love, Stockport, UK
[8] Dec 8th 2005 - Bob, Middlewich, UK
[9] Dec 13th 2005 - Bob, Middlewich, UK
[10] Dec 13th 2005 - Eugene, Dublin, Ireland
[11] Dec 13th 2005 - Bob, Middlewich, UK
[12] Dec 15th 2005 - Sandra Mason, Glenrothes, Scotland, UK
[13] Dec 21st 2005 - Bob, Middlewich, UK
[14] Jan 7th 2006 - Bob, Feasterville, USA
[15] Jan 10th 2006 - Paul, New York, USA
[16] Jan 11th 2006 - Sue White, Thetford, Norfolk, UK
[17] Jan 13th 2006 - Dave, Federal Way, USA
[18] Jan 23rd 2006 - Bob, Middlewich, UK
[19] Feb 1st 2006 - John, Bedale, UK
[20] Feb 2nd 2006 - Bob, Middlewich, UK
[21] Feb 3rd 2006 - Simon Bates, Christchurch, Dorset, UK
[22] Feb 13th 2006 - Rufus McFee, Crewe, UK
[23] Feb 17th 2006 - Bob, Middlewich, UK
[24] Apr 26th 2006 - Pickles, Peterborough, UK
[25] May 30th 2006 - Dorothy, Sheffield, UK
[26] May 31st 2006 - Duckie, Trevose, USA
[27] June 28th 2006 - Liz, Philadelphia, USA
[28] June 29th 2006 - Pete, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
[29] July 10th 2006 - Annette, Stockholm, Sweden
[30] July 12th 2006 - Lynn Jessett, Llanelli, Wales, UK
[31] July 12th 2006 - Will Rhodes, Churchville, PA, USA
[32] July 12th 2006 - Bob, Middlewich, UK
[33] July 14th 2006 - Lynn Jessett, Llanelli, Wales, UK
[34] July 16th 2006 - Huizen, Knolraapje, Netherlands
[35] July 17th 2006 - Bob, Middlewich, UK
[36] July 18th 2006 - Dorothy, Sheffield, UK
[37] Sept 6th 2006 - Jet Ink, Singapore
[38] Sept 10th 2006 - Bob, Middlewich, UK
[39] Sept 12th 2006 - Duckie, Trevose, USA
[40] Sept 13th 2006 - Bob, Middlewich, UK
[41] Sept 14th 2006 - Dorothy, Sheffield, UK
[42] Sept 21st 2006 - Bob, Feasterville, USA
[43] Nov 20th 2006 - Bob, Middlewich, UK

[1] Dec 7th 2005 - Lord Byron, Cragellachie, Scotland




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Mark Griffiths