Kane

'No problem captain,' he replied with a grin. 'I just hope the others aren't Irish.'

'No. They are the low life of London, so there's no problem of your countrymen being at the receiving end. Now as to collection of materials. My place where Charlie is working is under surveillance by the Special Branch, so you other two, put up your hands so that the others know.' I waited to find out who these other two were, apart from Digby, who looked after my interests in respect of the properties that ran alongside my place. Jimmy and Donald raised their hands, the last surprising me by being one who worked for me, dour as any Scotsman could be.

'We don't really want our material being collected where you live and work, so liaise with Colin of transport for this.'

That, basically was that. I gave out monies to all who needed it for buying what they needed and we set the time for meeting here in Notting Hill at four o'clock the following afternoon. It didn't give them a lot of time to get all that we wanted, but time was short and we would have to do the best we could with what we could get. The plan of attack had been decided as had the time, it was now just a matter of them doing their job the following day. They were a noisy lot as they finished off the beer and food before taking their leave in twos and threes.

'Phew! That was some heavy stuff you've loaded onto them,' Tracey said as he went and opened some windows to clear the lounge of the haze of cigarette smoke and beer fumes. Then began collecting up the debris left behind.

'Somehow I think they would have said if it was too much for them,' I answered him.

'Bollocks! I watched their faces as you were talking. Those men were more like fans. If you'd have said shit and eat it, they would have done so! Those blokes love you! I could see it in their eyes. They're old soldiers. They can't wait to get a whiff of cordite and gun smoke again. You've rejuvenated them, I could see it. I thought you were asking too much of them in such a short time, but somehow, I think they'll do it,' he smiled as he came over and took me into his arms. 'Those men love you nearly as much as I do,' he said as he kissed me on the nose.

'They will even bend over backwards for you, but it is me that is going to do that, or should I say bend forwards.' I gave out a laugh as I thought he was reading too much into their enthusiasm to really believe him.

'In spite of what we are going to do tomorrow night, I'd rather have you with me than any of them,' giving him a kiss in return on his nose before kissing his lips and running my hands over the cheeks of his bum underneath the dress he was wearing.

'I'd rather have you too,' he smiled as he pulled me towards the bedroom and Nirvana beyond. And heaven it was. We fucked each other twice before we went to sleep.

Chapter Fifteen

D-day! I woke up with a start and couldn't roll Tracey over quick enough to fuck him. Ramming into him like it might be my last time to do this and wanted to get the most out of what could be our last coupling. He even cried out at the savagery of my attack that was almost like rape, but I cried and apologised after and I think he understood why I had acted in that way.

I begged him to do the same to me but he did the complete opposite by being as gentle and loving as he could as he slowly fucked me as opposed to the rough way I had handled him.

'I once saw a film,' Tracey began as he made himself comfortable in my arms afterwards. 'It was really a documentary about an abattoir. There was this pen that held a lot of bulls, and as the slaughtering began, they could smell the blood and the whole lot seemed to go berserk. The bulls kept mounting each other and fucking as hard and as many as they could for I think they knew they were about to die and wanted to fuck anything to try and leave something of themselves behind before they were killed. Now don't take this wrong, but you reminded me of that film. Not that you are going to die, but the thought is there, somewhere back in your mind.

It happened in the last World war. Men went with completely strange women for sex with the same thought in their mind, that if they didn't come back, maybe they'd leave one of the women with a child that was part of them, and so they would still be an entity in the years to come even if they were dead.'

'You sure do have some strange thoughts,' I said.

'Don't laugh at me, for you have just behaved in the same way. The only thing is, I wish that I could have a baby by you. I am, and I hope that you agree, that I am your wife and that you are my husband. Just because we are of the same sex shouldn't matter when you are in love. Oh Christ, I'm crying now,' and he actually began to sob. 'I do love you Marcus and I want to be with you forever.' His tears brought tears to my own eyes and I kissed him and let our tears mingle together as they ran down our cheeks.

'I love you too Tracey, and will also continue to do so as long as I should live.'

That, if that wasn't a statement or declaration of love, I don't know anything about anything, but I loved this young man in my arms and would go through heaven and hell for him. There was not much more we could say so we just held each other tight exchanging the occasional kiss until nature called.

We got up and saw to the morning ritual of showering, teeth cleaning etc. making each task last and I came to realise that I was a bag of nerves. Was it always like this I wondered as I kept running through my mind the actions we would be taking this coming night? I had been going through each man's role and even changing some around but kept coming back to the original plan.

'You are thinking of the others,' Tracey said over breakfast when I mentioned this. 'Before, the fight has come to you and you've acted by instinct. To you and you alone, I was just a bystander as it were. This time you are taking the fight to them and feeling responsible for the men who will be behind you. I would say that it's a natural reaction on your part and I would probably think less of you if you didn't worry about them.'

'It's that I don't want to let them down or for them to get hurt on my behalf.'

'You probably are a very good captain but would make a lousy general.'

'Why?'

'Because you think of the men as they are and not as cannon fodder. You care, and that's what is important, so stop worrying for I'm sure that your crew will do you credit tonight.' Wise words from one so young and not really versed in war but knew of the danger that was involved. In spite of that, I still spent the morning going over the whole plan again to see if I'd missed anything that could backfire on us.

I forced myself to eat the lunch that Tracey prepared and was glad when the first car drew up outside and that Charlie and Flanagan had arrived. I let Charlie look through my notes while Flanagan told me what he had procured. The best was the four explosive devices which could be used for the diversion, though I wanted to hold back on two as a reserve. Flares, stun grenades, the lot, as well as guns and rubber bullets and also some live ammunition that would be for Charlie and myself to be used only as a last resort. Welsh, Tyler and Fraser arrived shortly afterwards in another vehicle.

Donald had the others bring in the clothing and let Tracey and I have first choice. Army surplus stores are great if you know what you want. Camouflage dress and sturdy boots and blacking that would be applied to our faces at the last minute.

'You look a proper soldier now,' Tracey said when I was dressed, even down to the beret.

'You look bloody good yourself,' I said, but he still looked like a woman in spite of the garb he was wearing. Then Knowles, Stiles, Jones and Foster arrived in a mini bus with the balance of what we needed. I was glad they'd all arrived early for it gave us a bit longer to go over our attack plan.

If we were to say that the building was square, which it almost was, you can picture it. The back was the North where I would be with Colin and Donald, covering the rear entrance to the kitchens and most likely place for the guardroom to be. Charlie and Nobby would cover the North East corner. David and Mark, the North West corner. Mick would cover the front and place explosives under any, or at least one vehicle at the front and throw if he couldn't place it, another charge at the front door. Dick would cover his approach on his right flank and the South East corner. Jimmy would cover his left as well as the South West corner. Tracey would be behind and well back to my left to watch for signals.

We'd noticed on our daylight reconnaissance that the guards patrolled in pairs. Now we wouldn't know till we got there if they had one or two pairs out at the same time which is what I would have done, though I would also have had a forward observation post of which I saw no sign there.

If two pairs were patrolling, they would or should be on opposite sides of the Manor on their rounds, so Charlie and Nobby would take one pair and David and Mark take the other, moving in as close to eight o'clock as they could though it would be on Tracey's signal that they were in the right place so that they could be taken out, without any alarm being given I hoped. Then Mick would set off the diversionary explosion and hopefully one against the main front door.

With the first charge going off, Colin, Donald and myself would go in through the kitchen and hope to catch the off duty guards before they were ready. Nobby would then go back to support Dick and Mark to support Jimmy. With Mick, they would then attempt to enter from the front while Charlie and David came to back us up at the kitchen.

From there, it would be in-house fighting to take out all that got in our way until we secured every room. With luck, we should all converge in the middle and then we would attack the upper floors together. Advance parties and those giving covering fire were sorted out and the briefing was over. Each man was given a tot of brandy and then we went out to the vehicles and set off for Wiltshire.

We were ahead of schedule so there was no need for speed and our convoy was kept within the limits. I was in the lead car with Colin bringing up the rear as he also knew where we were going and we had the mini bus in between us. The light was beginning to fade when we reached the place where I wanted to park the vehicles. It was a track we had found off the main road that led into a copse and out of sight of the main road and about five hundred yards from our objective.

We parked and disembarked and donned our berets and blacked up our faces before sorting out our weapons. Charlie and I were to be the only ones carrying pistols with live ammunition, the rest had rubber bullets, which, if hit in the right place, could still render a man unconscious. We all loaded ourselves with stun grenades and a pencil flashlight. Flares and two explosive charges were carried by Mick for his frontal attack. I carried the other two charges.

Tracey was over the moon to be given his first gun and gave me a big smile as he slipped the carrying strap over his shoulder so that it nestled in his arms.

With everybody ready and watches checked, we moved off for a quick look at the target before the last of the light disappeared. This was a line of trees about a hundred yards from the Manor that was just now beginning to put on the inside lights. With us hunkered down, we saw that they had in fact put out two patrols as I had predicted, and they moved round the place so as to be on opposite sides at the same time. They didn't meet as they were both moving in a clockwise direction which meant that we could take one out without the other one knowing, but I wanted both out at the same time for I didn't want them about when the first explosion came.

With a lot of whispered good lucks, we separated to take up our positions. We had been at the South West corner and so Jimmy didn't have to move as we left. Mick and Dick didn't have as far to go as the rest of us. We were all in our respective places a good five minutes early and so we sat and looked at our watches as the minute hand slowly crept round towards eight.

Tracey, at two minutes to the hour, gave me a kiss and a hug, much to the amusement of Colin and Donald, and moved off to his position. I prayed and wished that no harm came to him in this endeavour and that we all would come out safe at the other end.

Chapter Sixteen

The Manor had lights on and we could see the guards as they patrolled and though my watch pointed out that it was eight o'clock, I didn't see or hear Charlie and Nobby take out their two guards, or that of David and Mark, but Colin nudged me that Tracey had received the signal that it had been done and so another signal would have been passed round to the front for Mick.

I was sweating inside my clothes from the anticipation of going into action at any second and even so, was still unprepared for the explosion that sounded very loud as Mick set of his first charge. But I was still up first from the crouch before the other two and was running towards the light of the kitchen when the second explosion occurred just as I hit the kitchen door like a battering ram.

No finesse like knocking at the door and turning the handle. It was with my shoulder and full body weight that I hit it, taking the whole thing off its hinges as I stumbled in after it. Colin and Donald were right behind me firing their guns and knocking the shit out of the six people inside. I was pulled back up as we suddenly retreated and two stun grenades thrown back inside.

The noise was deafening, but we tore back inside and just clubbed all that we found in there. Another grenade went off to be followed by another almost immediately at the front part of the Manor, and we went on and into the dining room in time to hit two other people from the rear who'd survived one of the grenades.

Then we met the others in the big hall.

'All okay?' I shouted, still slightly deaf from the concussion of our grenades. I got a thumbs up and so we split apart to scour the ground floor.

I didn't know of Sir Bernard's bolt hole, and so I missed him as we swept through the Manor, joining up when the lower floor was cleared and we then tackled the upper floors. Servants were found on the top floor, cowering in their quarters who were spared and the place was ours, no opposition being found above ground level.

There was another burst of firing from outside and the sound of a vehicle revving very fast. I raced downstairs just as Tracey finished off the clip of rubber bullets, in time to see the brake lights come on as a car shot round a curve of the drive.

'I hit the bloody thing but it didn't stop,' he cried out.

'Who was it?' I shouted out.

'I think it was him. Bee Bee.'

'Fuck,' I swore as I watched the tail lights that had been switched on, disappear from sight. 'Let's get back inside.'

'I hit the bloody car several times,' Tracey cried out, 'but these fucking bullets of yours didn't stop him.' I laughed and put my arm round his shoulder and gave him a hug.

'It doesn't matter. You did well to be out here and but for those rubber bullets, you might have killed him. Now let's get inside and see what we've got.' I looked at my watch and saw that it was only nine minutes past eight. The whole action taking place with us coming out on top in less than ten minutes. Now to find out if we'd suffered any casualties and what we'd netted.

A cheer went up as we entered through the shattered front door by the rest of the squad. Tracey had taken off his beret and shook his head so that his hair had flared out and settled in its normal form to frame his feminine face. A quick head count showed me that all of ours were still standing and that made me very happy.

'Okay, get a couple of the servants down here to identify their own, the rest are to be tied up. Jump to it!' I shouted, 'before they recover. They use real bullets.' This galvanised them to move fast to secure every one they could find till all were dragged into the hall.

The head butler had been knocked out in one of the explosions, so it was the under butler who identified staff members among those tied up and so they were released and put into his care. For the rest, including those guards from outside, were laid out or were sitting up, tied for Tracey to identify those that he knew of being members of Boyle's gang. With a little persuasion on the part of my men, we got the names of the others. I got this under-butler to instruct the staff that they wouldn't be harmed and we would deem it hospitable if they were to lay on some food for us, the unexpected guests.

'That was a bloody good show Captain,' Charlie enthused as we settled down to a debrief of exactly what happened. There was a chorus of agreement from the others as we sat round the dining room table and were quickly served some food by the shaken servants of the Manor.

'Okay,' I said round a mouthful of chicken that I was eating, using my hands and fingers instead of a knife and fork. Wine had been supplied and it went down perfectly and I didn't make any limits on the men as to how much they should drink.

'The main bird got away, but we have his castle, and somewhere inside are his secrets. So when we've eaten, I want the place torn apart till we find what I've come to find. A safe, a strong room, I'm not sure, but you'll know it when we find it.'

We didn't have to tear the place apart for we were told where the safe was by the butler, who'd eventually come round. Mind you, the study was the first place we would have gone to in any case. It wasn't really a safe but more like a vault. It was behind a movable bookcase and proved to be a steel door that could only be opened by having the combination. The combination I used was explosives, the best lock picker in the business. I passed over one of the charges that I had been carrying to Mick and he set it up and blew the door clear off its hinges. So much for the combination.

It was an Aladdin's cave for me I found when the dust had settled. The vault, for that was what it looked like, was full of shelves. If it wasn't folders, files, boxes or packets, it was money. There were piles of it.

I immediately put it off limits to the squad and told them to find as many bags, suitcase, boxes, whatever, for us to get this lot out. While they went hunting out these items, Tracey being exempted from this task, helped me sort out some small stacks of this money we'd found, to pay off the guys. The rest, well a lot of it was going to be ours. The good guys which I think I was representing, could have the rest, along with all the files and boxes which I was sure was enough evidence to put Sir Bernard behind bars if he was ever caught.

The lads came back with what I'd asked for and so we emptied the vault and packed it away, leaving the money till last. This, I told them as we packed what I'd put aside, is for you to share out as your part of the spoils. The rest, the treasury gets which will keep them off our backs. This is for the staff, and so I had the butler get everybody lined up and to each, I gave a packet which contained at least a thousand pounds.

'Now let's get this straight,' I said. We were all out in the big hall as I gave each of them a packet. 'This place was suddenly attacked by who, you do not know, it was so quick. The thugs that we will be leaving behind were in the employ of Sir Bernard. You can say what you like about them, for the police will be here very shortly. Now I trust that these little packets that I've given you will have robbed you of any memory of what we look like. Do you understand what I'm saying?' I got lots of nods. 'Just remember that we were ten taking on twenty, so please, for your own sake, do not remember anything but the fact that the place was attacked and your boss fled, leaving you at the mercy of us. For I assure you, we will come back if any one of you identify us. I think the wage I have just paid you will ensure your silence.'