It was a very difficult shot. There were probably only two people in the world who could make it and Kano was one of them. He rested the AS50 Accuracy International Magnum Variant sniper rifle on his shoulder and looked down the barrel. It had been modified for extra distance and with the chopper being airborne, that distance extended even further. He took aim and after a few seconds, he took the shot. The huge. 338-calibre bullet ripped through the air and destroyed the rotor mechanism as planned. The helicopter shuddered, lost all forward momentum and began dropping to the ground. The rotors went into emergency mode and as the chopper dropped, they spun faster and faster to minimise the impact. The chopper crash landed in the centre of a deserted park. Nobody was going anywhere. Although nobody had died, everybody had sustained at least one broken limb.
Pieter’s chopper landed just as Tom and Lela touched down. Kisho had planned his landing perfectly to block any other landings in their immediate vicinity. Pieter was forced to land a few hundred meters away with a number of buildings between him and his targets.
As Kano dealt with the chopper, Tom, Lela and Kisho waited for Reaper’s men. They had made their way into a terminal building to ensure that whoever was coming for them, would have to be unarmed as metal detectors and sniffer dogs were everywhere. Tom had been informed by one of his contacts that the baggage area was under repair and was a perfect rendezvous point. Tom, Lela and Kisho had been the first to arrive. They were completely alone. Tom’s phone rang.
“Where are you?” said Reaper.
“I’m in the baggage terminal under repair, standing at Conveyer 3.”
“OK, my men will be there in two minutes. Are you alone?”
“No.”
“Who is with you?”
“Lela.”
“Stop being smart,” said Reaper. The call ended.
Tom looked across at Kisho who was hiding in the conveyor hole.
“Two minutes,” he said.
Kisho put his thumb up in acknowledgment.
“Frightened?” Tom asked Lela.
“Yes, you?”
“Wetting myself. Where are they?”
On receiving the go-ahead from Reaper, Pieter left two men to watch the chopper and took eight men into the terminal. He was not happy, they had no weapons. Before that day, he would have thought it was overkill but not now.
Pieter and his men spotted Tom and Lela standing by the conveyor, they were both small. What the hell was the problem? Nobody else seemed to be around. Where were the five soldiers who’d been with them? He had least expected them to put up a fight.
As they approached the conveyor belt, they heard a door slam behind them. They looked around and saw six brutish looking thugs, wielding baseball bats. Five of Pieter’s men broke off to deal with them. It was no contest, his guys were easily the best.
Pieter and his remaining men turned back towards Tom and Lela who were now less than five metres away but found themselves looking at Kisho as well. Kisho stepped out in front of Lela and Tom and walked towards Pieter and the three men.
“Pathetic,” said Pieter. “You’ve got six thugs and him to deal with us. Surely, you could have done better than that,” he said.
“And me,” said Lela stepping forward.
“Don’t, please, you’re killing me,” said Pieter laughing in Lela’s face.
Lela stepped forward and hit him harder than he had ever been hit before. She had focussed all her energy and rage into her right fist which hit him just below the ribcage. He slumped in a heap, the smile vanishing from his face. Kisho watched his little cousin with pride, she was definitely Saki’s daughter. He had only ever seen one person hit someone harder and that had been Saki. But Lela was half his weight and size.
Pieter’s men were initially stunned at what they had just seen but quickly regained their composure and made a move on Kisho.
Tom watched in awe as Pieter’s three men were pummelled by Kisho. The first man made the mistake of taking a swing at Kisho. His arm snapped and his nose exploded as Kisho deflected the punch and drove his own punch home. As the punch landed, his right foot connected with the second guy’s chin which sent him flying twenty feet across the terminal floor. As the foot finished its work, the third man received Kisho’s second and third punch, one in the stomach and one on the side of the head. The three men were down and out before the other five had made contact with the bat wielding thugs.
In the meantime, Pieter had attempted to get up. However, a very hard kick from Lela meant he would not be going anywhere for some time.
Pieter’s five remaining men were caught in no man’s land and did not know what to do. Their boss had just been taken out by a young girl, which unnerved them completely. The guy who had taken out three of their colleagues, had done it so quickly that they didn’t know what he had done. On top of this, they were faced with six very large thugs with baseball bats. They looked at each other and weighed up the options. The guy and the girl or the six thugs with bats. They went for the thugs.
What the thugs lacked in training and skills, they made up for in brute strength and many years’ experience. Although they received a few punches and bloody noses, it did not take long for them to deal with Pieter’s men, especially when Kisho came and dealt with two of them. He had offered to assist further but the thugs were having fun with the last three and declined the offer.
When the last man was down, one of the thugs opened the door. A young boy entered the baggage hall. Tom ran over to greet him.
“Rolf, I can’t thank you enough!”
“No problem! Anytime. My father sends his regards. He would have been here but it’s a little too public. So what’s going on?”
“I’m sorry, I can’t tell you. Not because I don’t want to but because it would endanger lives, including yours.”
“I understand. When I received your call, I spoke with my father. He said that whatever you need, you can have.”
“I really appreciate that. What I need is for these guys to be kept somewhere very secure and very private until I get in touch again. You can then release them to the authorities.”
“It would be a pleasure. And I’m sure my dad’s men will enjoy having some playthings to keep them amused.”
“We have one more in the helicopter.”
“Make that three. Kano just called and there were two more in their helicopter but he has them.”
“OK, good. My father will be eternally grateful for your help, as am I, Rolf.”
“As I said, my father made it clear that whatever you need, you will get. He said that he would give up the shirt on his back for your father.”
“Thank you Rolf, you and your father are always too kind.”
“Not at all. Is there anything else we can do?”
“Well actually, there is a helicopter full of soldiers in a park about one and a half miles from here, most of them will be fairly badly injured, you couldn’t grab them also?”
“Already done. We have them all, you already asked.”
“Of course, I’m sorry. There’s been so much going on. Great, thank-you.”
“I can’t wait to hear the story. We have to go now as the officers we bribed will need to come back shortly.”
“Thanks again Rolf, I’ll call you as soon as I can.”
Lela ran over, she had been retrieving Pieter’s phone. She gave Rolf a huge hug and thanked him profusely.
As Rolf and his men left with their excess baggage, Kisho turned to Tom and asked, “Who, exactly, was that?”
“That was Rolf.”
“And who is he?”
“He is the son of the king of the South African underworld,” replied Tom.
“How do you know him?”
“My father has a lot of interests in South Africa and before they sorted out their problems, we were having a lot of problems with gangs and violence. Despite being an underworld boss, Rolf’s father is a very honourable man. He does not deal in drugs but concentrates on gambling and money laundering. He says he makes more than enough money on that. It was getting to the stage that my father was going to have to close down most of his businesses in South Africa. Rolf’s father heard rumours that my father was going to pull out and so contacted my father to ask why. My father explained that the companies’ losses were directly attributable to violence against his staff, armed robberies and corruption. It got to the stage where he couldn’t sleep at night for fear that his staff may be injured or even killed. Rolf’s father explained that the effect of Alba International moving out would be devastating to the economy and a large number of decent families would suffer. My father flew down to meet him and they agreed that Rolf’s father would organise security and secure our businesses if my father made a commitment to keep the companies in South Africa. They agreed and my father was delighted with the results. The companies flourished and as a gesture of thanks, my father gave him a 10 % stake in his South African businesses. It’s all done through offshore businesses but it’s his and it’s legitimate. My father reckons that Rolf’s father is one of the least corrupt and most honourable men he’s ever met and they’ve been friends ever since. Bizarre but true.”