Deadly States (Seaforth Files by Nicholas P Clark Book 2) (5 page)
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Authors: Nicholas P Clark
spectre in the semi darkness. His pace slowed considerably when he
noticed that Barry was resting a pistol on his left leg.
“Expecting trouble?” Jack asked, as he sat down on a chair in front
of Barry.
“I don’t know Sean, why don’t you tell me,” Barry said.
Barry
calmly lit a cigarette before
offering
one to Jack. Jack took
a cigarette
out
of the packet that Barry was
extending towards him
and then he leaned forwards to catch a light from a match that Barry
struck for him. Jack took a long draw on the cigarette.
“By now Barry, you probably know as much as I know,” Jack said.
“The attack on the soldiers at Warrenpoint went according to plan, as
well as the attack on Mountbatten. Lisburn and Banbridge both went
south. Cathal was shot dead by an army patrol and I have no idea what
happened in Lisburn.”
Barry sucked hard on his cigarette.
“Aye Sean, it has all turned into
one hell
of a
mess. Many
good
men are either dead or in the hands of the Brits.
After what we did to
the Brits today I wouldn’t want to be an IRA volunteer in their custody, would you?”
“It wouldn’t be much craic,” Jack said, simply.
Barry took another long,
deliberate
drag
on
his
cigarette
before
continuing.
“The
one thing that I
can’t understand is how in the midst
of all
this chaos, you managed to get away. How did you manage to do that,
Sean?”
“I could ask you the very same thing,” Jack said, defiantly.
“You could Sean, but the fact of the matter is that I am the one
with the gun. Now, I’ll ask you again, how did you manage to escape?
This time I am afraid that I am going to have to insist on an answer.”
Jack leaned forwards and as he did so Barry took hold of the gun
and pointed it at him.
“The bullets started to fly and I bailed out
of the lorry,” Jack said.
“Cathal went
on a suicide run. That is something that I
didn’t sign up
for. The instructions were to come back alive, even if that meant being
captured, not to go out in a blaze of glory.”
Jack leaned back in his seat and Barry moved the gun back to rest
on his leg, but with his hand firmly around the handle of the weapon.
“You bailed out
of the lorry and the army just let you go?” Barry
asked.
“Yes Barry, that is about the long and the short
of it. We saw the
checkpoint and Barry stopped the lorry. Then without a word he began to drive towards it. That’s when I jumped out. I ran into a housing
estate and I didn’t stop running until I was in the fields on the outskirts
of the town. There were army Landrovers and police cars everywhere.
There were even a couple of helicopters at
one point,
but I
managed
to get away. The grace of god, or the luck of my Irish ancestry. Call it
what you like, that’s how it went down.”
Barry stared at Jack intently as if he was trying to look into his very
soul.
After what felt like an
eternity Barry finally
broke the intense
look that he was giving Jack.
“OK Sean, let’s say you are the luckiest
man this side
of Dublin
and leave it at that,” Barry said, with obvious disbelief in his voice.
There was another tense pause.
“And what about you Barry? How is it that you are the only member of your team to make it to safety?” Jack asked.
“I was scouting the motorway
outside Lisburn to make sure the
escape route was still clear. That’s when all hell broke loose.
Army and
cops came at the town from all sides. There was nothing that I could
do,” Barry explained, with slight embarrassment and mild anger.
“Then it would seem that we both have a lot to be thankful for,”
Jack said.
“So it would seem,” Barry replied.
Barry stood up and walked towards the door. Jack remained seated. When he got to the door Barry turned around to face Jack. Barry
banged on the door five times.
“If any
of the
others
made it through the security
blanket they
should be here by now,” Barry said. “Are you coming?”
Jack stood up and he walked towards the door, which opened from
the outside before he reached it. The sailor who helped Jack
onto the
container ship was standing guard in the corridor
outside the room.
The
man walked in the
opposite
direction to Jack and Barry, who
made their way back up to the deck of the ship. They walked across
the empty main deck towards the side of the ship which was closest to
the harbour. There was no sign of the small transport boat.
“Maybe they
couldn’t make it to the harbour because of the security forces?” Jack said, with optimism.
“Maybe Sean. If they are on the run they better be across the border. If the Brits catch up with them in the North today they will be
shot on sight. No questions asked.”
The two men stood by the side of the deck looking
out across the
sea but there was nothing to be seen. A pained expression shot across
Barry’s face when he realised that the container ship was speeding up
and steaming away from the harbour.
“Damn
it,”
Barry
snarled.
“Another
ten
minutes
wouldn’t
kill
them.”
“And then what Barry?” Jack asked. “Ten more minutes? Ten more
after that? If they
haven’t
made it
by
now then they aren’t going to
escape on this boat.”
Barry smirked mockingly at Jack.
“What is it mate?” Jack asked.
“I
think I
understand
how you
managed to
escape,” Barry
explained. “Coward.”
Jack hadn’t noticed the sailor approach them until he was standing beside him. The sailor heard what Barry said to Jack. The sailor
grinned, sensing a fist fight was about to break out. It was clear to Jack
that Barry was going to be a problem and so he used the opportunity
granted to him by the insult to do something about it. Jack rushed at
Barry and he pushed him to the ground. Within seconds Jack was
on top of Barry and planting a few heavy punches to his face. Barry
groaned as he struggled against Jack’s weight and ferocious onslaught.
Barry managed to strike back with a blow to Jack’s left temple, and it
was enough to send Jack spilling backwards onto the deck of the ship.
Barry regained his composure and he quickly got to his feet. He
pulled out the pistol that he had tucked into the back of his jeans and
he walked over to where Jack lay. He pointed the gun at Jack and as
he did Jack kicked Barry hard on his left knee. As Barry responded to
the kick Jack kicked him again, this time sending the gun spinning
across the deck.
In a
life changing
moment
both
men locked
eyes
briefly. They
knew that whoever made it to that gun first would live and the loser
would die. They scrambled to their feet and sprinted for
the gun. Jack
slid the last few yards ahead of his rival and he scooped up the weapon.
Spinning from where he lay
on the deck Jack fired the gun twice at
Barry,
hitting him centre
mass. Barry
hit the deck hard and he fell
silent.
Jack turned when a strong hand grabbed at the weapon from behind him. It was the sailor. Jack knew that he couldn’t kill this man as
well so he released the gun. The sailor tucked the gun into the top
of his
jeans, at the front, for easy access, should Jack change his mind about
being cooperative. The sailor then helped Jack to his feet.
“Remind me never to call you a coward,” said the sailor. Jack
smiled.
The two men walked across the deck towards the bridge. Jack assumed that he was going to be brought before the Captain who would
decide on his fate.
“I told the Captain that you Irishwould betrouble,” said the sailor.
“I’m a Scot,” said Jack.
“And your friend?”
“He’s Irish,” Jack said, as he turned towards Barry’s body.
Jack and the sailor looked at
one another with
disbelief.
Barry’s
body was nowhere to be seen. Jack and the sailor ran across the deck to
where they had left Barry. Jack followed a trail
of blood to the side of
the ship. He looked across the sea behind the ship. There was nothing
to see except for the white froth that was being generated by the ship’s
mighty turbines. Barry was gone.
18
