The Assassin
Chapter 1 the stakeout
Rain glistened on the barrel of the sniper. The man holding the gun wiped his sweaty hands on his already damp trouser legs. This man's face showed his past, he had a scar about an inch long above his left eyebrow and a small chunk missing from the tip of his nose. He also had very distinguished features. He had tanned skin which looked like it had spent several years being beaten on by the sun which gave it a leathery look. His eyes were wide almost fearful one was blue the other a blue green. His nose was bent; it looked like it had been broken at least twice. His mouth was thin and had a scab a few days old at the left corner. This man's name was Thomas Mackay.
Thomas Mackay had served as a sniper for 6th Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland. He had been deployed in Iraq twice and Afghanistan 3 times. He had been home 2 weeks after serving in Afghanistan for 6 months. He had come home to find his wife in a debt that not even the richest of men could pay. "They" whoever "they" were threatened to take his 3 year old daughter and kill his wife if he didn't pull the trigger tonight.
The building Thomas was camped in was empty because of construction. Ladders were propped up against walls and set underneath lighting. The furniture that was in the room was covered in white sheets which were splattered with specks of a cream coloured paint. Suddenly Thomas adjusted the RPA Rangemaster.50 so that it was supported by its stand. He slowly but silently loaded the magazine box into the sniper. In this magazine were 5 high velocity .50 cal BMG bullets.
Thomas looked down at the street below. This street during the day would be crawling with business men / women and shoppers but at night the street was empty and silent too silent. While Thomas was looking at the street below a meeting was just about to start across the street between 3 men and 2 women. The target was CEO of a business, his name was James Watson. As the meeting begun Thomas took a picture of the man, he had been looking at it for the past hour. He looked down the scope and has no problem identifying his target. He lined up the cross hairs of the scope carefully with James's forehead. Thomas took a long breath and held it. Slowly he started to pull against the trigger...
Chapter 2 The Challenge
A sharp pain was throbbing in the back of Thomas's head. There was an egg sized lump forming where it hurt the most. The sniper lay on the floor broken and the bullets gone. The building across the street was empty and there was nobody in sight. As Thomas stumbled to his feet he checked for any wounds except the lump on his head. Nothing he was all good except his wife and daughter were now in grave danger. As he tried to get down the stairs his legs gave way sending him crashing to the bottom of the staircase. As he stammered out the door Thomas drew his L9A1 Browning pistol and loaded a magazine of 13 bullets into the magazine well. Thomas's house was 2 blocks away.
When he arrived at the house his fears had been confirmed "they" already knew he hadn't taken the shot and "they" were in the house. The house was heavily manned. There were 2 stocky heavily muscled men outside the house with M16 assault rifles. These men were also heavily tattooed with the same hair style as his which suggested only one thing, military personnel. Another 4 shadows were visible through the window guns were clearly slung over their backs. Thomas had raided many Al-Qaeda drug strongholds and training camps and killed many Taliban but this challenge looked more difficult, there was only one of him and possibly 6 or more of them and he had no support unlike when he was in Afghanistan.
As Thomas stepped towards the drive of his house he attached a silencer and his heart started to race and his breathing became faster and wheezier. As he turned into the drive he was still hidden from view by the 4x4's "they" had driven. He placed both hands on the gun and turned from behind the car and shot 2 bullets which were accurate and deadly. The men guarding the house had been telling jokes and their last laughs were still etched upon their faces. The men he had killed he did not know but they were both definitely military. Thomas opened the back door slowly and crept in quietly and shut the door without making a noise. The kitchen was in shambles, the usually clean worktops had papers, cutlery and several other items strewn upon them. Whoever was here was looking for something.
As Thomas approached the living room he heard 2 men speaking with Scottish accents. One of the men sounded familiar. As he peered through the small gap where the door had been left open he seen his wife and daughter safe but at gun point. The men in the room he recognised as none other than his c/o Sergeant Major Robert McKay and Sergeant Ross Ford from his battalion. Flabbergasted, without thinking Thomas burst through the door and roared "Not you!" Thomas had had a rocky history with his c/o but this made Thomas's skin boil. He was disgusted that his c/o would be blackmailing him and more importantly jeopardising the safety of his family. Now Thomas was staring down the barrel of not only one gun but 3.
Chapter 3 The Great Escape
The situation stood that if Thomas didn't put his gun down then he and his family would be shot. The silence was broke by Robert "Put the gun down Tam it's not worth the struggle." The prospect of never seeing his family again got to Thomas but he had been foolish and was now in an awkward position, he had nowhere to go and no chance of saving his family if he ran.
As the 4 men were distracted by the entrance of Thomas, Sarah his wife and been working through a plan and that was to make a run for it. This plan may get her and her daughter Harper to safety but not Thomas. Thomas had been halfway through putting his weapon on the floor when Sarah made her move she dashed towards the kitchen door and slammed it with an almighty BANG! There were 3 audible gun shots fired, that could not have been good. All of them had gone through the kitchen door. Blood pumping, heart racing Sarah daringly opened the door to see her husband standing in a blood bath. It was all finally over.
Thomas embraced his wife and ushered three words "I'm so sorry." Sarah choked on her words and burst into tears. It seemed to be hours before they finally let go of each other. Thomas had been hit in his right shoulder. On further inspection of the bodies Thomas found a mobile with lists of numbers all referring to Black Arm and then a name. This was far from over. The men he had been listening too for the past 7 years had been frauds and criminals and notorious members of the Black Arm Gang.
Thomas, Sarah and Harper got into one of the jeeps as darkness fell over the city of Edinburgh and left the house and never to return.
Chapter 4 Leaving The Country
As Thomas stepped out the jeep he was blinded by the sunlight that overlooked the airport. Morning had come and Thomas, Sarah and Harper were standing in front of Newcastle airport heading for a new life, try and start a fresh somewhere else. As Thomas walked towards the terminal building he wondered whether leaving his job, friends and family behind was the right thing. He had lived in Edinburgh his whole life and now he was about to leave all that behind.
As the plane took off and started on its journey to Madrid, Spain Thomas gave one last look at the country he had called home for the past 25 years and smiled as he realised that now it was over for him and his family they could now relax and never have to worry about being troubled ever again.
By RFCellieRFC