But still the trafficker kept coming.
‘I mean it, Leyla …’
Her assailant was now only ten feet away, so gritting her teeth, Helen squeezed the trigger, determined to subdue her opponent.
Click.
To Helen’s horror, the chamber was empty.Shocked, she pulled the trigger again.Then a third time.But the result was always the same, the hammer clicking pointlessly on the empty chambers.Looking up, she was surprised to see that her antagonist was smiling.
‘Oh, they’re never loaded on site.Can’t risk damaging the merchandise, can we?’Leyla gloated, chuckling darkly at Helen’s surprise.
Alarmed, Helen raised the butt of the gun to strike, but she was too slow, the chain slamming into her cheek.Reeling, she staggered backwards, but a second blow to her neck felledher and she collapsed to the ground.Her attacker took full advantage, pinning Helen down with a heavy boot, whilst whirling the chain above her head.She now had Helen completely at her mercy.
And this time her nemesis planned to finish the job.
Chapter 96
Viyan hammered at her metal prison, each blow robbing her of energy and resolve.The temperature inside the incinerator was intense now, wave after wave of searing hot air ripping over her.Terrified, desperate, she maintained her assault, but slowly, inexorably, she was running out of power.Sweat poured from her brow now, stinging her eyes, the salt bitter on her lips.Her clothes clung to her as if she’d been for a swim, cloying and uncomfortable, impeding her movement, dragging at her arms and pressing down on her chest.Had she imagined hearing shouting outside?The sound of someone thundering towards the incinerator?It seemed so for now all she could hear was the triumphant clanking of the deadly machine as it pushed the temperature remorselessly up, up, up.
Her eyes were burning now and Viyan clamped them shut, desperate to find some relief from the assault on her failing body.It was getting hard to breathe in here and she exhaled heavily, but the air she expelled was hot and unpleasant.Finally, her resolve deserted her, her desperate hammering petering out in the face of total failure.Now she simply clawed at the burning metal, her fingertips stinging violently as her skin was seared off, and pulling her hands away, she collapsed to the floor in a cloud of ash.
For a moment, Viyan was transported back to her weddingday, the particles of dirt reminding her of the rose petals that had been thrown over her as she stood with her husband, smiling nervously at him.Those had been happy times, as had the miraculous joy of giving birth to Salman, Aasmah and Defne, her greatest achievements and perhaps all she would have to show for her short, difficult life.It seemed incredible, impossible that she should end her days in such an appalling fashion, but Viyan knew in her heart now that there would be no escape.Even down here on the floor the temperature in the giant metal can was beyond endurance and there was nothing the young mother could do now, but whisper her children’s names and pray for a swift death.
Chapter 97
There would be no escape now.
Emilia gripped the steering wheel as she watched the Scania truck indicate left before executing a long, lazy turn into the freight lane at Southampton docks.Her prey was in the port system and once he’d passed the initial barriers, there would be no way out.He would have police and border officials in front of him and behind him dozens of carefully concealed officers fanning out to cut off his retreat.He would be caught like a rat in a trap.
Slowing her Corsa, Emilia dawdled at the entrance, aware that a hatchback turning into the freight channel would inevitably attract attention.She was not concerned for herself, she could deal with the immigration staff, but shewasworried about alerting her nemesis to her presence, before he’d passed the threshold into the port proper.She was a little concerned that he might already have clocked her, the covering traffic accelerating past his truck on an open patch of road a mile or so before the docks.The sudden braking of his lorry had almost propelled her into the back of him, Emilia half-convinced that she’d clocked her quarry’s concerned face in one of the side mirrors.Panicked, she’d eased off on the gas, her mind frantically role-playing alternative endgames if the Dutchman changed course.Mercifully, progress thereafter had been smooth and uneventful,Emilia hanging back before happily merging with passenger and freight traffic as they approached the docks.
Now the chase was nearly over.Crawling past the entry to the freight terminal, Emilia was pleased to see the man she now knew to be Matthijs Visser chatting amiably with the Border Force official, who wore a broad smile as he confirmed the haulier’s passage and checked his passport.Emilia took in the scene, savouring the moment.For years, she’d wondered who her nemesis was and now, following her phone call with the police, she had her answer.Whether Matthijs Visser was his real name or not, Emilia couldn’t be sure, but it felt good to have something to call her attacker, a label which made him feel real, tangible, fallible.The man himself seemed supremely relaxed today, smiling broadly as the port official waved him through.And then he was gone, the lorry picking up speed as it roared away from the booth.So much the better, Emilia thought to herself, he’ll be in handcuffs quicker that way.
It had been a long journey to this point for her, physically, emotionally, psychologically, but it was nearly at an end.Soon he would be behind bars where he belonged, receiving the same pitiless treatment he’d meted out to her father.He would rage, he would protest, but most of all he wouldsuffer, his liberty taken from him, his future snuffed out.How Emilia would enjoy that, how she would revel in her triumph.He had won the early rounds, causing her enormous pain and hardship, but she had landed the final blow.And how did the saying go?
She who laughs last, laughs longest.
Chapter 98
This was it then.The moment of truth.
Charlie watched on, tense and expectant, as the truck moved purposefully towards them.Visser was stuck in the main freight thoroughfare now, queuing lorries on either side of him forming a channel from which he could not escape, his vehicle hemmed in on all sides.So far the seasoned trafficker seemed unaware of the danger, hurrying towards them as if eager to be on the ferry and heading home.But Visser would be going nowhere today, the assembled officers from MIT and Border Force would make sure of that.
‘Team A, stand by, please, over.’
‘Standing by, over,’ came the crackled response.
Turning to her own unit, who were concealed nearby, poised with stingers and a mobile roadblock, she raised the radio to her lips once more.
‘Team B, stand by, over.’
‘Ready when you are, boss,’ came DC McAndrews’ excited reply.
Finally, she cast an eye towards the pair of patrol cars concealed behind the dock buildings, their engines humming, radioing the drivers quickly to ensure they were ready for action.Satisfied, Charlie turned her attention back to the lorry, whichwas maintaining its healthy speed.She and her team were ready to receive Visser, the important thing now was to cut off any chance of a retreat.Such a course of action seemed highly unlikely, as he would have to reverse some two hundred yards up a very narrow corridor, but it wouldn’t do to take any chances.There was too much riding on this.
‘Team A, it’s a go.Repeat, it’s a go …’
A combined team of MIT and Border Force officers sprang into action, appearing at the entrance to the corridor, some fifty feet behind the advancing lorry, laying down stingers before sliding the heavy mobile roadblock into place, a weighty and effective insurance policy.Curious, Charlie returned her attention to the speeding truck, keen to see if Visser had spotted this first move by his pursuers.But the sun was strong today, glinting wickedly off the windscreen, rendering it impossible to clock Visser’s response.There seemed to be no marked reaction to the sudden burst of police activity, the lorry maintaining its brisk pace as it swept towards them.Surely he would have to slow soon to avoid having to brake sharply at the last minute, a manoeuvre which might send him skidding dangerously into the embarkation zone.He was certainly driving punchily, even recklessly.Just how keen was this guy to get away?
