Day Twenty Four: 4:01pm
Lucas and Jim had positioned themselves in the trees outside the Estate where Roberts was staying and were now waiting for him to appear on his daily walk. He made a habit of taking a stroll in the gardens each day at around 4pm.
Mohammed's role was to take care of McNeil and he was this very moment laying in wait for McNeil to come back from a visit to the local military camp and would then enact their plan to make him silently 'disappear' while on his return journey.
Sarah Caulfield had left the complex yesterday and their MI6 colleague Barbara Templeton had been tasked with placing the Caulfield woman under home arrest with this assistance of the Police to avoid her causing any further trouble. An operation which they had received word had been completed smoothly some ten minutes earlier.
They had agreed that once the operation had been completed they would travel in two vehicles the first ten miles. Ideally they would have each travelled separately but they could only locate two vehicles in the time available and petrol was of course limited, as the police needed access to all the available supplies. They reasoned that they should have at least ten minutes before the military were alerted to the assassination and they should use this time to remove themselves from the area. They would then split up and proceed the rest of the way towards London on foot. Lucas had insisted that he accompany Jo, and the others had agreed that it was a reasonable precaution, given the dangers that would face them and the fact that a single female would be considered to be an easy target for troublemakers.
"That's him now," Lucas muttered softly to himself as he saw Roberts appear at the door. He caught Jim's eye and nodded to indicate that Roberts was in sight. Jim was positioned in another tree some twenty metres away from Lucas. They had agreed that they would station themselves from different positions and would each take aim at Roberts upon the signal so as to increase the chances of a successful assassination attempt.
Robert's took his time strolling around the garden. When he entered a shrubbery areas which was hidden from view from the main house by a stone wall, Lucas caught Jim's attention and raised his hand slightly to give the signal. He held his breath and counted to five and then pulled the trigger of his rifle, simultaneously with Jim's.
He watched cautiously as, as if in slow motion, Robert's clutched his chest and fell to the ground, letting out a feeble moan. The entire operation had been carried out swiftly and quietly, and fortunately there was no sign that anyone in the house had heard them. After observing the scene for a few seconds, Lucas and Jim sprinted away from the scene towards where the car was hidden some hundred metres away, with an anxious looking Jo waiting inside.
Within a matter of seconds of entering the car, they were away with Lucas in the driver's seat, and Jo and Jim crouched down in the other seats.
They had mapped a route which avoided the military camp and any possible encounters with soldiers and reached the point where they were to hide the car and proceed on foot. Once they exited the vehicle, Lucas and Jo quickly scrambled to collect their belongings and Lucas hastily pulled out his map, taking the opportunity to familiarize himself with their route once more. As with their car journey, it had been designed to minimize the risk of possible encounters with the military and they would avoid major towns until they reached the outskirts of the city of London.
"Well," Lucas said brusquely, looking at Jim, "I guess this is goodbye. For now, anyway – until we regroup in the city. Best of luck to you," he finished, shaking his hand.
"Yes, good luck to you Jim," Jo chipped in, smiling warmly at him.
"Good luck to you both," Jim replied, patting Lucas on the back, before turning and walking the opposite way to begun his journey via another route. After a few seconds he hesitated and turned round to call out to them, "take care of yourselves – both of you."
**
That first evening Lucas and Jo had managed to travel some fifteen miles before finally settling down in a deserted barn for a couple of hours sleep. The next morning Jo awoke, her legs still sore to find Lucas prodding her rather brusquely in the ribs and peering at her. When she scrambled out of the hay, still feeling sleepy, Lucas stood looking at her with an amused expression on his face and then moved forward to pick off a couple of bits of hay from her hair, commenting that if she was to walk around looking like she'd been for a tumble in the hay that would likely raise a few glances.
By lunchtime Jo's legs were positively aching and she was ravenous. She was grateful when Lucas finally announced they could stop for ten minutes and have something to eat from their supplies.
After a short break they resumed their journey. So far, everything had proceeded according to plan. But a little after 3pm things began to go badly wrong when they rounded the corner in a quite country lane to find a detachment of three troops on foot some ten metres in front of them. There was nothing for it but to play cool. After staring at them for a few seconds, one of the younger officers let out a cry, "that's them – that's the one's what killed Roberts."
Lucas and Jo took their chances and made a break for it, quickly turning and running back towards where they had come from, hoping to escape around the corner. Lucas monitored the troops as he ran and was alarmed to see one of the soldiers point his rifle towards Jo. Lucas quickly aimed his rifle at the officer and fired two shots. The young man fell silently to the ground, his colleagues following after him in hot pursuit. Lucas looked up to see another soldier taking aim towards him but quickly picked him and his colleague off in rapid succession, as Jo continued running ahead.
After the shots had been fired Jo turned to stop and waited for Lucas to catch up to her.
"You ok?" she asked, checking him over to see if he was alright.
Lucas nodded silently. "Best keep going now," he said in a strained voice.
They had been hurrying through a field for at least ten minutes before Jo turned to wait for Lucas once more. It was unusual for him to lag behind and she watched him as she waited.
Unobserved, she could see a rather curious expression on his face. It was only when she looked at him more closely that she saw for the first time that his face was unnaturally pale and yet wet with perspiration and then she saw with horror that when his coat moved to the side in the breeze it revealed a dark red stain from where the bullet from the soldiers rifle had entered his body.