Free To Kill a Grey Man by D C Stansfield Page B

windows provided a stunning view right across the water to Lausanne.

 
    A small neat man dressed in a blue business suit got up from a
window seat in the corner and came across towards Keith.   The rest of the place was empty.   The man shook Keith’s hand and smiled.
    “Please take a seat,” he said in a well spoken Oxbridge accent.
    Keith assumed at one time he must have been an officer as there was
something military about his manner and speech.   They walked back to the corner from which the man had come.   Keith went to sit in a chair to the right of
the man but the man gestured to him that he should sit opposite in a large sofa
type chair with a view of the lake.   “You
may call me Martin,” the man began.   “Please
sit perfectly still for a second would you.”

 
    Keith looked down.   On his
shirt was a small round red light obviously from a sniper’s laser scope.   As he looked out he could see a large
pleasure cruiser and assumed the shooter must be aboard it.

 
    From his pocket Martin pulled out a small rectangular device which
he pointed towards Keith.  

 
    Before he turned it on he said, “This detects any kind of surveillance
equipment.   If the light on this goes red
you are dead.   Now, do you want to go on
or leave while you have the choice. ”

 
    “I would like to go on,” replied Keith.   So Martin hit the button and the light stayed
green and the red dot on Keith’s chest disappeared, much to his relief.

 
    Just then Keith heard a door open and he turned his head.   Two men walked in.   They looked more like the mercs Keith was after, both fit and muscled wearing T-shirts and jeans with arms
covered in tattoos.   They sat behind
Keith, one to his right and one to his left.

 
    “These are my associates,” said Martin.   “They would like to listen in.   What is the job?”
    “I want you to kill a man,” said Keith.   “It is, on the face of it, a simple operation
except for the person who I want you to hit is special.”
    “Okay,” said Martin.   “More
details please.”
    “This man lives alone but is a surveillance expert working for the
UK government.   I want you to storm his
house and kill him.   Use the maximum
force that you feel you need,” said Keith.
    “Look,” explained Martin.   “We
are not spooks.   We do not work in that world.   If this guy is an expert, he will see us
coming and be prepared.   We would need to
get extensive background knowledge on how and where he lives, habits, etc, and
even then, if he is any good, it is more than likely he would spot us.”
    “I understand,” said Keith.   “But we have two advantages.   One
is we know exactly the layout of his house and many of his habits from an
inside source so you will not need to go anywhere near him beforehand and two,
he is going blind or at least will be partially sighted so will not be able to
send off an alarm until it is too late.   It
could happen any time so we would need to set this up quickly.   The place where he is currently staying is
quiet and remote and immediately he loses his sight you will need to go in.”
    “Okay,” said Martin.   “Sounds
a little better.   I will want to bring
along five men and you will need to set us up in a remote farmhouse or
something similar to the building the mark is staying at.   I will need plans of his place and two Land Rovers
with military number plates.   Can you
arrange that?”
    “No problem,” said Keith.
    “Now to price,” said Martin.   “And this is not open to haggling.   There will be five of us.   I want
£200,000 for me and £100,000 for each of my men, half now, half on completion,
£50,000 for travel and £50,000 for weapons and ammunition.   We need one week to prepare and for every day
after that, if we have to wait you will pay each one of us £10,000 for a period
of four weeks.   If we have not heard from
you by then, we will assume it is no longer safe for us to stay