Chapter 16

 

Working at Expatriatedotcom had taken on a whole new meaning for Milton. Pups had provided him with exactly what he was looking for; now he needed to work out a way to gather evidence in order to smash the group.

But that was not going to be easy. Firstly, it had become apparent very early on to Milton that Jacks was very much in command and told his foot soldiers only what they needed to know. Secondly, Milton was enjoying life like he had never enjoyed life before. He was alive and had regained a thirst for fun which had all but dried up through years of mundane family life, not to mention the rigours of and sacrifices for his job. He had built up close friendships with his new work colleagues and felt part of a family, something he had not felt for some time back home.

Dubai was indeed a city that was young and vibrant. Every night was legendary and better than the previous one. There was always something to do in the evenings and the weekends were spent basking under the gorgeous autumn sun. Milton had acquired a taste for the expatriate life and it was something he did not particularly want to let go of, just yet.

Smashing this ring would mean the likes of Jacks, Stardust, Chalky, Lenny, Kirk, JT and Pups would be put away for a very long time. It was something he didn’t wish to contemplate and it sometimes took a phone call to Waite back at HQ to remind him which side he was actually on.

Pups had told him plenty but not enough and he didn’t want to probe him any further. Otherwise he might actually start sounding like a policeman again.

Milton had to get close to the men that knew Jacks best and that would have to be either Stardust or Chalky, the men Jacks had known the longest and served with in the Gulf War. If Pups was right, these three had spent weeks behind enemy lines in Kuwait saving each other’s lives on a daily basis. If that did not make them close then nothing could.

With Jacks and Chalky out of the country in Paris, presumably planning ahead, Stardust was placed in charge of the company. With a stroke of luck, Milton was paired with Stardust during a post-work workout on the Tuesday night.

“You know, Stardust, coming to work here makes me realise just how much I missed the craic in the regiment,” he said as the two stretched off at the end of the hour.

“You/me the same, mate, you/me the same,” replied Stardust as he poured a cold bottle of water over his sweat-drenched hair.

“What was it like in the Gulf War, Stardust? I joined too late and they were rounding up the Iraqis by the time I came out of basic training.”

“It was tough, mate,” Stardust replied, handing Milton a sports drink.

“I had left the army a year earlier. I was in the Royal Signals and specialised in communications. I did four years’ training and you know where they stationed me? The Falkland Islands.

“I did three years of looking at sheep from our base and I might as well have become a Buddhist monk for all the shagging I did. I decided to see it through because I was seconded to the Special Forces when they were conducting exercises on the islands. I dedicated myself to my job because there was fuck-all else to do.

“I was close to going nuts, Milton. Every day I got out of bed; went to the office; went to the mess for a few beers with the other hairy arses; and then back to bed. Some life for a lad in his early 20s eh?

“My tour of duty approached its conclusion and guess where they decided to send me? A listening-in intelligence centre on the Orkney Islands!

“I couldn’t face it, spending hours sifting through phone calls and trying to intercept anything that might be of use.

“I bailed out quick sticks. I got in touch with a couple of the Special Forces fellas that I had served with in the Falklands and one was Chalky who had just left the SAS. He had been in for three years and had decided to work as a shadow for rich Arabs holidaying in London.”

“A shadow?” asked Milton.

“Yeah, you know. A bodyguard or minder. He was getting paid twice as much for walking around hotels with some rich Arab kids and making sure they got a taxi home okay at the end of the night. He put in the word for me and I joined him. It was easy money all right but I was itching to get back into communications.

“Then the invasion happened. One of the Arabs we had been shadowing in London was kidnapped in Kuwait and we got the call-up. We were offered big money and both of us were keen to get back into what we had been trained to do.

“We arrived in Dubai and met Carson in a hotel and he told us the plan. You could tell immediately that this geezer was the dog’s chestnuts, so we put our trust in him 100 per cent. We were getting paid well to do it but he made sure we knew the risks.

“A week later, after a little desert training, we were off. We met Kuwaiti resistance fighters at the border with Saudi who smuggled us into Kuwait City. The place was a mess and there were men being executed in the streets in front of their own families. It was terrible.

“We spent five days in hiding and were able to obtain accurate plans of the building where the sheikh was being held. Then we moved in. The place was heavily guarded. There were seven of us and we reckon we took out at least 40 of them. They were poorly trained soldiers but heavily armed and three of our men were cut down.

“Carson refused to leave the bodies behind. We had seen what they had done with the dead. The strung them up and cut off the skin on their chests to attract the birds to eat them in the streets.

“We got out of the building and were assisted by dozens of Kuwaiti resistance fighters on the streets who fought a whole garrison of Iraqi troops right through the night so we could get clear. We managed to get to the safe house and buried the three dead in the desert.

“We were stranded. Our Kuwaiti friends reckoned up to 5,000 Iraqi soldiers were looking for us. This number of soldiers being reassigned from the front line to search for us probably saved hundreds if not thousands of lives too. We were moving every day and spent more nights than not sleeping in pipes, drains, under scrub, in fact anywhere that gave us cover. It was nearly a month until we made it out across the border and into Saudi Arabia.

“It was one hell of a mission, Milton, but there were no medals or promotions waiting for us when we got out. British army generals denied the raid had taken place and we were all officially listed as dead or missing in action. The British Government branded us as gold-digging mercenaries, which I suppose we were, but they also said men like us were doing more harm than good to their war effort. It was devastating and none of us wanted to go back to the UK after that.

“But Carson came to the rescue though and the rest, as they say, is now history.”

Milton could tell that Stardust was bitter about the whole thing and so he chose his next words wisely.

“You know what, Stardust?” he said. “Sometimes people are never grateful.”

The two nodded their heads and looked to the floor before they burst out laughing.

“Sod ’em all,” said Stardust. “It is time for me to kick your arse next door.”

The pair got to their feet and headed for their next hour of combat training with JT and Kirk on the mats.

 

* * *

 

It was bizarre, but no one seemed to know anything about Jacks before 1991, before the Gulf War. Pups only knew that he had served with his brother, but the vagueness of his account could either be put down to his being so young at the time or to the fact that the pair was in the Specials Forces and reluctant to talk about it.

Judging by what Stardust had said about the operation in Kuwait and the way he ran the business in Dubai, the latter seemed the most likely, but there were no military records for a Carson Jacks. Waite had requested the Ministry of Defence to look time and time again but to no avail. It must be a false name and he had to find out for sure his real identity.

His chance would come on the Saturday night. Jacks and Chalky returned from their trip to Paris on the Thursday, Chalky in the morning and then Jacks in the evening. Jacks had had to fly back via Germany to tie up a few loose ends for the business deal he was working on two weeks earlier.

Chalky stormed into the warehouse in his usual indomitable fashion and was soon taking the piss out of his favourite targets.

“How was the trip, geezer?” asked Stardust in typical Cockney English.

“You’ll be glad to know, Stardust, that Paris is indeed gay and you and your hairy rear are in for a great time!”

Stardust joined in the laughter. He had no choice really, as Chalky was always quicker to release the witty one-liners.

Chalky called a meeting of all the staff and handed out an envelope to everyone.

He said, “As we’re such a caring company and as we’re going to be very busy over the next couple of weeks, we have decided to throw a barbecue this Saturday night at our compound. Feel free to bring a partner and as much booze as you like!”

The invite was warmly accepted by the lads. Milton slid his finger under the envelope flap and ripped it open. Inside were his open invitation and a map on how to get to the venue.

He had worked hard all week, he thought to himself, so a party was exactly what he deserved.