*****
Words could not describe the smell my clothes had picked up but that was the least of my worries. Fifteen minutes later we were safe and in the car. We had an hour to get to the Kozlov’s warehouse and according to an internet journey planner, the route was meant to take almost an hour and a half. Trust the Kozlov’s to give us a huge drive, just to make things a little more challenging.
I had my foot down to the floor for most of the journey and we were making good time. We ran over the plan one final time. So many things had seemed impossible when we first attempted them, we had achieved them so why couldn’t we do this last one? This seemed the least likely to succeed somehow but there was a glorious feeling that if we pulled it off we may have finally reached the end of the tunnel. Emma reached over and held my hand; I couldn’t work out whether this was because she was scared or because she believed we were almost out of the woods.
I weaved my way through the parked cars and slow moving traffic of London and pushed on towards our goal. We were going to be late if we weren’t careful. Hurry up. I am not the greatest at controlling my emotions when driving at the best of times, but when racing to avoid execution from the deadliest men in the world, my temper rises to new levels. Especially when arrogant, convertible-loving, BMW drivers have the ability to go much quicker than they actually do. Move!
Eventually the traffic seemed to die down as we moved into a more industrial side of town. Well, it would have been industrial fifty years ago. The place looked derelict now and it was rare that we would pass another vehicle at all. It was like a ghost town (which wasn’t a good sign). We were almost there. According to my expensive watch we had thirty-nine seconds to spare when we arrived at the warehouse. The large door had been raised and the warehouse was open. Taking a deep breath, I swung my car through the entrance and moved inside.
The warehouse was a large, open space with vast wooden boxes lining each wall. There was no way of seeing what was inside but knowing the Kozlovs, I would bet it was expensive and illegally-obtained. The centre of the warehouse was empty except for a large, black van which was being loaded by the Russian cronies and a beat-up old banger of a car. Igor and Vitali stood by, keeping a careful eye on proceedings but not getting their hands dirty. Same old Kozlovs.
I pulled in and placed my car strategically. Not too close to the van, but not too far to convey fear. This was going to help later. I hoped. I switched the engine off and squeezed Emma’s hand. I couldn’t look at her. I was worried I would burst into tears. My phone lit up silently and I realised I'd got a text message. I looked at my phone as I opened the door; it was from Jack: ‘Good Luck.’
I smiled, hoping I wouldn’t need it.
Chapter Thirty
‘You have exceeded my every expectation.’
Walking confidently is harder than it looks. I wanted to convey a confidence as if this was an everyday occurrence for me. But walk too slowly and everyone ends up staring at you, waiting for you to arrive. Walk too fast and you can appear aggressive, too eager to get things started. Not good. I attempted a rhythmic swagger that was medium paced but ended up almost limping towards the Kozlovs. I had seen cool guys in movies do it but I looked like one leg was significantly shorter than the other. I bounced towards the Russians and after an eternity reached the theatre of conflict, determined not to be embarrassed for what I had just done. Confidence.
Emma was clearly concerned but she followed by my side and we stood tall and strong in the face of certain danger. Igor looked impressed as we walked towards them and Vitali removed his focus from the van and turned it solely to us. Igor was the first to speak.
‘Very impressive. Whatever anybody says about you, you’ve got balls Thomas. You had a gun held to your head this morning and you still have the guts to walk in here. That takes courage. I admire courage.’
I didn’t say anything.
‘Now, the most important part,’ he continued. ‘Did you get it?’
I remained silent once more, but opened the bag and pulled out the vase carefully. It was intact, which was good, and looked as beautiful as the others had. The fifth one was soon to be reunited with its family.
‘Well, I never. You have exceeded my every expectation. This task was impossible to everyone. But you two... You must feel very proud.’
I turned to look at Emma but she looked more worried than proud. Igor was playing with us and we both knew it.
‘Do you want to see the others?’ Vitali asked gently.
‘Sure,’ I replied quickly, buying some time.
He disappeared behind the van and I assumed we had to follow suit and did so. The van had two doors at the back of it which were opened and as I walked around, I could see the van’s contents. There were lots more wooden boxes, a few of which were open and full of jewelry, but the focus of our attention was clear. Five plinths were set up in the back of the van and inside four of them were four Yuan Dynasty Ewers in mint condition. Each one had a golden animal emblazoned on it and each was a spectacle to behold. I recognised the one we had taken from Amsterdam and the one Jack had shown me in pictures a lifetime ago. Vitali had taken the vase from Igor and leaped inside the van, placing it on the final plinth. He rejoined us and for a moment we just stood there, admiring the craftsmanship. They were truly beautiful and I could see how they were considered to be of utmost importance to the whole of China. It wasn’t the seventy million they would raise on the street. They were priceless and it broke my heart to see them in the clutches of unworthy criminals. Still, it would break my heart more to see Emma with a bullet in her head, so it was a price we had to pay.
‘Quite amazing,’ breathed Vitali. ‘These vases have been our obsession for the longest time. You will never know how many times we have attempted to get a hold of them, but each time we have failed... until now! We have you to thank for that!’
We strolled back round to the front of the van and an accomplice I'd never seen before closed up the van and locked it. He whistled and soon the rest of the men appeared. There were seven Russians in the warehouse in total. I was amazed how many had been busying themselves and was rather worried they were all going to take it in turns to hit us. To my relief, four of them piled into the worn down car and drove off. Their part was done. That just left the two Kozlovs, a driver and the two of us. The atmosphere was incredibly tense and you could feel something big was going to happen. Looking down at my watch I could see it had just turned four minutes past twelve. One minute left.
‘So, we are even?’ I asked carefully. I kept my gaze with both of them and refused to break my stare. I was not backing down now.
They remained silent, toying with our emotions.
‘Remember. That is what you said: men of honour. We've pushed ourselves further than I ever thought possible to get you the ewers and now they are yours. You have the whole set. So whatever Emma did to wrong to you in the past, however you were offended... it's over now, right?’
I was desperate for them to agree. Surely, they wouldn’t go back on it now. Then we wouldn’t have to fight anymore and we could go back to something... whatever that may be. Igor began laughing sickly. It wasn’t that sinister but it certainly wasn’t friendly either.
‘That is what we said, isn’t it? You have definitely held up your end of the bargain. But here is the thing. Your little bitch messed a lot of things up for us and we spent years finding her. Then you come into my hotel room and hold a gun at me... at my brother! No, you might have done wonders but nobody ever survives when they pull a gun on my family. NOBODY!’
It was like all of our worst fears coming true. It had been naive of me to think men like this ever operated with honour. There is no glory in the world they live in and I was unlucky enough to have got dragged into it. You only stay at the top if you kill everyone in your way and the two of us now knew too much. We were never going to get away. Like lightning, all three of the Russians had pulled out their guns and pointed them at us. There was
nowhere we could go, nothing we could do. I had a gun under my jacket but my hand wouldn’t get two inches before a bullet was inside my brain. I was too sick to feel anything. I was completely numb and I knew Emma would feel the same.
‘On your knees!’ ordered Igor. He was enjoying this now. He was like a child who knew they were getting a new bike for Christmas but couldn’t ride it for weeks. He had waited patiently and now he was going to get exactly what he wanted. Neither Emma or myself moved. If I was to die here, it would be on my terms now. No more listening to him.
‘No,’ I replied calmly.
He stepped closer and shouted once more.
‘ON YOUR KNEES!’ This time he was so close that he covered me with spit. Disgusting but not deadly.
‘If it’s all the same to you I’ll stand,’ I whispered, cockily.
There was a mixture of anger and respect in his eyes. He was going to enjoy killing me the most. He stepped a little closer and thudded his fist into my stomach. I doubled over a little but I didn’t go down. I'd been expecting to be hit and had been tensing my muscles as much as possible. I breathed in deeply, keeping my eyes on him the whole time. The minute has passed. My plan should have been working. Why wasn’t it working?
‘Fine, if you want to be a hero, let’s see how tough you are when I shoot your wife in the head? How tough will you be then?’
I didn’t say anything but I did turn to look at Emma. She was so scared. She had said beforehand that our plan was risky and she was resigning herself once more to this fate. A solitary tear fell from her left eye and I raised my hand to wipe it. I let my hand rest on her cheek and hold her beautiful face momentarily.
‘It will be OK,’ I whispered to her.
‘I’m afraid it won’t,’ came the sneering voice of Vitali and he swung his hand to aim the gun at Emma. This was it.
At that second, there came a confusion of noise and blue lights. A police car had raced around the corner and into the warehouse, screeching to a halt on one side and two police officers jumped out. They were armed and wearing full bullet-proof gear. The sirens stopped but the blue lights continued to flash.
‘THIS PLACE IS SURROUNDED. PUT YOUR HANDS UP IMMEDIATELY,’ said a calm voice over the police speaker system.
The Kozlovs turned on us at once.
‘Smart move, bringing the police. Do you think that will stop us?’
‘They are not with us,’ I whispered back. I gave them an honest look and I think they began to believe me.
‘They must have followed you. Fuck!’ spat Vitali. They dived around the back of the van and the two of us followed.
‘Igor, what if they have the place surrounded? We will never get out!’ Vitali was beginning to look nervous for the first time since I 'd held a gun at his face. They were feeling trapped. Welcome to the club.
‘What do we do?’ said a thick Russian voice, from their thick Russian crony.
‘COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP. FINAL WARNING!’
Igor glanced around the side of the van quickly.
‘It is just one car. Looks like two guys. We take them out and drive off. Simple.’
‘What if there is back-up outside?’
‘Then we take them out too. Listen to me. I will not rot in a jail cell. Not me.’
Igor took his gun out and pretended to walk towards them. He got a few steps away from the van before firing at the police car. A window smashed and both police officers dived for cover, but no one was hurt. Yet.
It took a few seconds for the bullets to be fired back. Both police officers drew weapons and fired them in our direction. Igor threw himself onto the floor and slid back behind the van. A bullet hit the side of the vehicle and all of us hoped the ewers would stay intact.
‘You two go that way,’ called Vitali, talking to his fellow Russians, and pointed in the opposite direction to the way he was moving. They spun out either side and rained bullets down on the police car. It lasted several seconds and as quickly as it began, it stopped. We waited in eerie silence for a second to see if they were successful and at first it seemed possible. The silence and the Russian’s hopes were broken by the sound of gunshots in our direction.
We were stuck in a stand-off. The police were protected by their car, although it was taking some severe bruising on the one side. We were safe as long as we stayed behind the van. The conflict lasted another few minutes with neither side really affecting the other. The Russians had not been prepared for a full-scale war and were beginning to run out of bullets.
‘I swear to you Thomas, I will save two of these bullets to put in both of your heads,’ Igor spat at me, angrily.
‘Yeah, bringing the police won’t protect you,’ chirped in Vitali.
‘I didn’t bring them. They must have been following us. Probably since Amsterdam!’ I shouted back as they opened fire, once more.
‘Either way, you’re dead as soon as they are!’
The driver spun round once more, having just reloaded his gun with his final round. I didn’t know his name but I could see how eager he was to impress the bosses. You kill two police officers and maybe there is a promotion in it for you. At first he had been cautious, only throwing his arm loosely around the corner of the van. But as the stand-off continued his courage grew and he decided to take a step to the side and get a good look at what he was firing at. It would give him a good chance to hit somebody but it had its drawbacks. Potential death, for one.
As the driver spun round, he didn’t even have to focus his view before a bullet had struck him in the shoulder. One of the policemen was particularly accurate. He let out a whimper and fell backwards on to the floor. Igor turned his attention and saw his colleague fall down. He shouted out a name in Russian and slid over to him. They looked more like friends at this stage than criminals. Perhaps they were both.
Igor was whispering quietly in the ear of the driver. Were they praying? Vitali didn’t know what to do. His gun was now empty but he raced over, picked up the driver’s gun and sent a few shots over the bonnet of the van. Wasted shots and he knew it. He decided to save his last few.
Emma and I had been standing pressed up against the side of the van whilst all of this had been going on. We were safe, although a little shaken by proceedings (as you could imagine). This was all about to change.
Vitali charged at us and held his new gun an inch away from Emma’s forehead. The movement was so quick that it took us by surprise, and she had no time to move.
‘THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!’ he shouted. ‘Time to die.’ I had to do something. I pulled my gun from under my jumper and held it to the side of his face.
Check.
‘Put the gun down. I will kill you,’ I breathed quietly.
From behind me, the cold touch of steel brushed my temple and I could just see in my peripheral vision, Igor holding his weapon to my head.
‘Not before I kill you,’ muttered Igor.
Checkmate.
We had no way of getting out of this one. I might be able to take down one but not both. There was no way Emma and I would both get out.
‘If you kill us, you will never get out of here. I can get you out of here but you leave us alone forever,’ said Emma quietly. ‘Our lives for your freedom. That seems fair. Or you can kill us and rot in jail for the rest of your lives. Your choice.’
There was a silence. Once again we had a small window of opportunity. They needed us one more time.
‘How the hell do you get us out of this?’ Igor asked, desperate for us not to be lying.
‘We cause a distraction. We will walk directly to them, turning ourselves in and you get in the van and drive out. Simple.’
‘Why would you turn yourself in? This is a trick!’
‘How can it be?’ Emma replied softly. ‘We would rather be alive and face some jail time than die here today. But if you ever come within a hundred miles of us in the future...’
She left the sentence hanging in the air but we all kne
w exactly what she meant. I was beginning to see how brilliant she was. In times of crisis she rose out and began showing who she really was. It was incredible.
The Kozlovs thought this was a perfect plan. So what if we got arrested? They would send someone to kill us within days, whether we were in prison or free. They knew it and we knew it. But it was a start. Igor lowered his gun tentatively and I followed suit. That just left Vitali. With a grunt he did the same and soon we were all breathing a little more easily. Death was something I was getting used to being threatened with, but as far as I can tell, it never gets easier.
‘Right. I’ll go first. You guys get into the van and get out of here when we get in the car. They will be happy to have some of us, and my guess is they won’t go after you guys before you can get away.’
Emma smiled and kissed me on the cheek before walking out slowly. This was the hardest bit. She had to convince the police she was not a threat, but walking slowly and raising your arms just gives your opponents an easier target to hit.
Emma made it a good way out into the warehouse before the speaker system was used.
‘KEEP YOUR HANDS UP AND STAY WHERE YOU ARE.’
Emma kept her hands up but continued to walk towards the police car.
‘DROP TO THE FLOOR AND STAY WHERE YOU ARE,’ came the voice of the law.
Emma continued with her pace, arms aloft and head held high.
‘EMMA STOP,’ I yelled but she didn’t hear me. Or if she did, she didn’t listen. She continued walking as before.
‘FINAL WARNING. DROP TO THE FLOOR!’
Emma, in all her beauty and glory, marched on towards the sunlight and towards the danger.
‘STAY WHERE YOU ARE!’
There was no sound for a second and then…gunshots! Three insignificant bullets were fired in quick succession of each other. I screamed before I had heard the third, but it was no use. The bullets hit her square in the chest and knocked her off her feet. Emma was thrown to the floor and crumpled over, completely lifeless.