A Coffee And A Job Well Done

• Chantal Davisworth, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2013

He arrived on the island at 3am that morning. There was nothing strange about the man - but something caught Stone’s eye. It wasn’t the pit-bull appearance, nor was it the two gangster looking men unusually close by his side. It wasn’t even the unspeakable hour of this dull Sunday morning that they were out. Something was wrong – Stone could just feel it.

Hayden Stone is, or rather was, a member of the 22 SAS Regiment. Now he has been forced to work for the British Government in deniable operations as a K. As a K, you get no help – once you get into trouble, the government disowns you to cover their tracks. You are left to defend yourself and if you make it out, and that’s a big IF, you get no more than a cup of coffee and a “good work, here’s your next task”. A lot of people, and even Stone sometimes, wondered what he was doing in a job like this. He left the army to get out of those miserable patrols where 90% of the time you are soaked head to toe and were on limited rations – but five years later, he still has pretty much the same job description.

Stone watched the men closely but still couldn’t quite identify any of them. He watched as one man gave his companions a nod. So he must be the boss man, Stone thought. The two bodyguards, Buff and Boldy, did a quick double back and nodded back. This guy must be pretty important. That’s when Stone saw it – the distinct print of a concealed gun in Baldy’s waistband. Apart from that, something else was bugging Stone. Something deep inside his gut; something important he just can’t quite remember.

The slight limp of Boss Man, the jagged scar running down Buff’s face and Boldy’s distinct swagger; all of these bits and pieces were coming together like one giant jigsaw puzzle of memories. And that’s when it clicked – the last piece to the puzzle. It was Boss Man’s accent that gave him away; Latino. It had to be Carlos Alberto, the well-known Columbian drug trafficker. Stone was sure of it.

Carlos Alberto and his two associates, Andres Felipe and Juan Fernando have been on Britain’s number one wanted list for decades. For almost 23 years, Carlos and his boys have been trafficking over 31 billion US dollars of heroin to places all over the world. His operation has been one of Great Britain’s priorities since their setup back in 1990 and huge sums of British money has been put towards stopping them.

Stone had a call to make.
…

“Ahh, pleasure to see you again Mr Stone”,
“The pleasure is all mine sir,” replied Stone,
“Let’s get straight to business shall we. We got a positive ID on your friends you bumped into the other day. We successfully apprehended those bastards. Well done Stone; now, please, help yourself to some coffee and we can discuss your next assignment.”