Night In London (Night Series Book 2) Read online

  The General half expected that this would be the greeting they received from the intruders but what threw him off though was the sawn off shotgun one of the criminals held and the cold, hard, look in the carriers eyes. There was enough of a chance to wait for a distraction and engage the criminals had they only been carrying pistols but going up against a shotgun at such close quarters would be fatal. The General would have to play this differently now.

  “Gentlemen to what do I owe this..”

  But before the General could finish his sentence he heard a crunching sound and then another and finally he felt warm liquid splash on to the side of his face. He turned and looked at the young constable that stood next to him just in time to see a large butchers knife being pulled from the side of his neck. Student constable Jan van Rooyen fell to his knees and blood gushed from the side of his neck and onto his uniform. Then he fell face first onto the hard floor and the last breath he would ever take left his body. The Generals world began to spin, he felt light on his feet and only the feeling of hands grabbing at his body and at his gun brought him back to reality but before he could react he felt a sharp pain from the top of his skull and he passed out into darkness.

  As instructed by David, Jabulani had exited the house via the backdoor through the kitchen and had circled around the property to reach the front door. As he approached it he saw the two policemen standing there and he noticed that each held a pistol behind their backs. He didn’t need instructions on what to do next. Or encouragement. He took great pleasure in killing cops, so much so that for every policemen he killed he had a small tear tattooed under his right eye and this pigs death would mark his third. Once, twice, he thrust he trusty knife into the neck of the young white constable and then moved quickly and knocked the bigger black cop, who he had correctly assumed was the General and their target, out with the opposite end of the same knife.

  A few minutes later and all four criminals and the unconscious General were upstairs in the main bedroom. The body of the constable had been dumped in the entrance hall after being hastily stripped of anything of value.

  Finger threw a glass of cold water into the face of General Arosi who had been tied to a chair. Arosi woke with a start. His head pounded in pain, his vision blurred.

  “Pig, hey pig, wake up! Wake up, man. I want you to see something hey” said Finger as his companions laughed.

  Arosi managed to focus his eyes and he searched around the room, first looking directly at the thug in front of him and then to the bedroom. What he saw stole his breath and stilled his heart. The three most important women in his life were tied face down on the bed. His former wife in the middle, his two twin daughters either side of her. They were all naked from the waist down and their legs were spread open, tied down and into position. The General roared in anger and every muscle in his body tensed. He could probably break through his restraints and kill the man in front of him he thought but that wouldn’t help as the others would drop him soon after. As angry as he was he needed to stall for time. The strategic commander in him was winning over the former heavy weight boxer, for the time being at least.

  “Now, motherfucker, you are going to watch us fuck them all! Fuck them hard to teach you pig a lesson. This is what uSuthane wanted, even the English Man was happy for us to do this, those were uSuthane’s last orders to us before he left. He told us about you and those other pigs that work for you, those black bloody bastards of Norwood, and how you were going to try and steal his gold. He knew you were coming and he told us that if you come back and he does not that we were to come here and punish you. To fuck what you love and then kill you. And now I will fulfill my orders and make even more money from the English Man who paid us to do this, but before I do you must tell me where is your safe, where are the weapons and where is the cash and jewelry. We have been staying here for three days but still we can not find it. So tell me, pig, where?” said Finger.

  “And why would I tell you that if you are going to rape and kill us anyway?”

  A thing like a smile broke across Finger’s face. “Because, pig, if you tell me, we will not kill your daughters. We will fuck them but we will not kill them.”

  “If you do not touch them, any of them, nor harm them, I will give you everything. Weapons, jewelry, the gold and cash. I will make you the richest man in Alexandra. But to do that we will need to go to my other property. That is where I keep my most valuable stuff.”

  Finger used the barrel of his AK47 to scratch at his head as though deep in thought and after what seemed like an eternity spoke “No. uSuthane warned me that you may try and trick me, offer me lots of money and weapons and things so that I do not fuck your wife and your little children. No, you will give me everything from the secret safe you have hidden here and for that I will not kill your little girls. That is all, your only option, you decide, pig.”

  Time. That’s all Amos needed. Surely the Norwood patrol vehicle would be here any minute now.

  “Okay. I will take you to the safe.”

  Finger slapped the General across the face.

  “NO! You will tell me where it is and give me the key or the combination. You will not move from here. You must stay there and watch everything.”

  “I have to come with you, I have to show you as I have to be there to open the safe. It uses my finger print.”

  The General was lying. There was no secret safe in the house. Maria had been adamant that she did not want any safe in her home. It just made her a target she had said and gave any robbers a reason to torture. How Amos now wished she had listened to him and had just had one installed so that it could always be left open and empty. “Because, Amos, then they would just say that because there is one there must be another. No I will not have any weapons and reasons to bring violence upon me and my girls anywhere in my home. End of” she had said in that tone that brooked no further argument.

  “Fuck man. Fine, where is it?”

  “It’s outside in the garden shed” lied Arosi.

  “No wonder we couldn’t find it. Very clever, we would never have looked there, hey boys.”

  Fingers underlings nodded their agreement.

  “David, take the pig outside and get the stuff from the safe and take Marky with you. And watch him, David, if he tries fucking anything, shoot him and then we’ll just cut his finger off and use it like that.”

  David grunted and motioned towards Marky and between them they untied the General and heaved him to his feet and together moved towards the bedroom door.

  “But try not to kill him because when you come back he’ll be just in time to see me inside his wife” cackled Finger while unbuckling his belt.

  The three men reached the bottom of the stairs and headed towards the kitchen exit that led into the back garden and to the shed where the safe was supposed to be concealed. David was sharp and always stayed one foot behind of and to the left of the General, his finger never off of the trigger of his raised shotgun. Marky was a sloppy amateur and walked carelessly in front of the General leading the way with his weapon in his hand but swinging haphazardly by his side. The men reached the back door and walked into the cold and wet night. Their shoes crunching into the damp grass.

  “Where the fuck are they, surely they should have been here by now” Thought the General to himself. “Did I give them the right address, did I even give them my address? Did I say my house in Hyde Park or my house in Houghton. What if no one at the station knows my address? Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

  The men reached the end of the garden and the entrance to the large lawn shed.

  Amos Arosi was still deep in thought and doubt when a sharp slap to his face brought him back to the present and he heard the one they call David’s voice.

  “Open the fokken door, fucking dog!” said David.

  General Arosi looked down to see that the shed door was locked via a small padlock.

  “Ah shit, guys, I forgot about this lock, the key is back in the kitchen on the key hooks, we�
��ll have to go back and get it.”

  Time. That’s all I need. Time. They’ll come. Just need more time.

  “Fuck that!” said David and moved towards the door and with one swift motion used the butt of his shotgun to break the small padlock.

  “There, no key, easy”…

  Marky opened the door and led the way, General Arosi followed and David brought up the rear.

  The police commander was intensely worried now. There was no safe and the shed was small. In fact this was the first time he had even entered the shed. His ex-wife paid cash to a lone gardener who came into the property twice a week to rack the leaves and water the plants. Then he saw it – a pick axe used for loosening dirt before a shovel could be used to dig a hole. Common apparatus in South Africa for planting new trees or turning the soil in the large gardens of wealthy homes.

  It was now or never he thought to himself.

  “The safe is there, under that box of tools and beneath the floor” he pointed to a spot just beyond the pick axe leaning against the side of the shed.

  Then he began to make his move and reached for his impromptu weapon but before he could grab it he heard the noise of a weapon being cycled behind him and then an insistent command.

  “Hands! Let me see your fucking hands! Now!”

  General Arosi slowly put his hands in the air and turned and to his relief his saw two police officers on the lawn just outside of the small shed. Both officers had their 9MM’s drawn and pointed at his captors while walking slowly towards the two men.

  “Drop your weapons and put your fucking hands up, now!” said the officer in front. A constable, from what Arosi could see and a striped student constable following slightly behind him.

  After a quick look at each other and with a nod from David, Marky slowly let his pistol fall to the ground and Marky carefully placed his shotgun on the floor.

  A part of the General had wished that the constables had just shot the men but he knew their actions to be correct both from a legal standpoint but also from a more practical view that any shots would alert the two men inside that no doubt the constables didn’t know were there.

  Arosi quickly looked to the two lapel badges where the constable’s names should be only to find that the more senior constable had none. The student did though and it identified him as Dlamini.

  Without words the powerfully built General moved behind the two thugs now standing with their hands up and kicked them one after another just below the knees on their legs causing both to fall to their knees. He then instructed the student constable to bring him both sets of handcuffs and he proceeded to swiftly shackle the two criminals.

  The General first thanked the two police officers for their actions and then asked the older constables name.

  “Constable Juhu, General. We have met before. But only quickly, at a funeral of a partner of mine.”

  “Well, I apologise for not remembering.” The General then bent down and put Marky’s pistol in his waist and held David’s pump action in his hands.

  “There are two more of these thugs inside the house. With my wife and children. Did you know that?”

  Juhu just shook his head in the negative. Dlamini spoke, his eye’s widening as he turned back and forth between the house and the General.

  “No, General. We did not. Our vehicle broke down about a block from here and we had to run to your home. We couldn’t get in from the front of the property so we jumped over the lower wall of your neighbour and then into your house from there” he pointed to a low partition to the left of their current position that adjoined one of his neighbours properties. “That’s when we saw them escorting you here, that’s how we got them from behind General.”

  “Good, that means the bastards inside don’t know that you are here. And now we outnumber them three to two.”

  “What about them General?” asked Dlamini while pointing to the two criminals now handcuffed and on their knees.

  “Bring them with us. We can use them as shields.”

  The General placed one of the criminals directly in front of him and pointed the shotgun with one hand over his shoulder while taking a firm grip of the man’s waist with the other. The two constables, at the direction of the General, positioned the other gangster directly between and in front of themselves each maintaining a firm grip of the man with one hand and holding their weapons out and in front with the other.

  Guided by the General the men made swift time of entering the house through the kitchen and climbed the staircase. They halted in front of the bedroom and listened for any clues for what was happening inside. They heard the muffled cries of the women and the two criminals were laughing. The door was closed.

  The General whispered: “On my count we enter. Don’t shoot unless you have a clear shot but we mustn’t lose the element of surprise. Armed or not if they make any sudden movements, and you have a kill shot, take it!”

  “Slowly, open the door” the General whispered into the ear of constable Juhu.

  Juhu moved to the side of the entrance and slowly opened the door and swung it open. In seconds the General, followed closely behind by young Dlamini and his human shield had entered the room.

  To the Generals surprise and disgust neither criminal had his weapon on him or even drawn, and noted the AK47 leaning against a wall. Rather the two villains were both on the bed and their pants down exposing their erect penises. The men were on top of the older women and her children toying with their breasts but had obviously yet to make penetration. In their sick pleasure they had not even heard the policemen enter.

  “GET OFF THEM! NOW!” Commanded the General with such force that the younger of the criminals actually fell off the bed. The gangs leader just turned, slowly, and looked at the General and took in the scene of the two accompanying police officers, weapons drawn and his friends in handcuffs placed carefully in front of the officers as shields.

  Without conscious thought Finger briefly looked at his weapon leaning against the wall.

  “Please, make my day and go for your weapon, you sick animal!”

  Now Finger smiled and very slowly got to his feet, pulled up his pants and hopped off the bed while holding his hands in the air.

  “Looks like you have us, General. But I must say..”

  But before the General could hear the rest of the thugs words he saw the look register in the eye’s of his still gagged former wife looking in shock behind him. He turned to look at what had startled her so much and in utter disbelief he saw constable Juhu holding his gun to the back of the student constable’s head.

  “Drop your weapon General or I will kill the boy and then shoot your little girls.”

  The distraction was enough for Finger to quickly move forward and yank the shotgun from the General’s grip. The weapon left Arosi’s hand easily enough as he was still in astonishment from a betrayal he never thought possible. He knew their were plenty of dirty cops but never like this, not like this.

  The criminals used as human shields, hands still cuffed behind their backs, quickly moved forward and stood next to their leader who now spoke. “My brother, I knew the day would come when you being a pig would be really useful… now let’s..”

  But before he could continue his sibling cut him off.

  “We must hurry and prepare. More cops are coming and very dangerous ones. We’ll just have to wait for them downstairs and shoot them as the enter..”

  “Too late, brother, we’re already here..” said a voice from behind him.

  And in an instant the room filled with the sound of deafening gunfire. Sergeant Snyman ended the dirty cop’s existence with a precision round of 7.62MM ammunition fired from his R1 assault rifle. The bullet split constable Juhu’s head and caused it to explode like a watermelon. Blood and brain matter exploded from within and the corpse dropped to the floor like a sack of cement. Simultaneously his partner, constable Naidoo, known throughout the police force and most of Johannesburg to the criminal underworld only
as ‘Demon’ unloaded his pump action shotgun. First to the chest of Jabulani who had drawn his butchers blade and then to the head of Finger who was reaching for his assault rifle. Fingers face exploded out of the back of his head and his body collapsed to the floor where it stood. The two remaining gangsters sunk to their knees and began to silently weep.

  An eerie silence gripped the room as the smell of burnt cordite permeated through it. Without words the two flying squad officers moved to each suspect in turn checking for any hidden weapons and a pulse on each man and then finding none confirmed they were both deceased. Though it was obvious to everyone present that neither man could have survived their gunshot wounds, the professionalism of the officers dictated that they had to make sure.

  Then Sergeant Snyman walked over to the still stunned General and put a hand on his shoulder: “General, it’s okay. Look after your girls now.”

  Seemingly brought out of his shock the General stumbled to the side of the large bed and began to untie and reassure his ex-wife and daughters that everything was going to be alright and that they were safe now.

  Snyman then addressed Dlamini: “Are you okay, shark?”

  “Ja, Sarge, I’m okay, I think, but is this my blood hey?” Dlamini said while wiping the blood on the side of his face with the back of his hand.

  “No, it was his blood, you’re okay” said the sergeant while pointing at the body of the dead turncoat now resting lifeless on the floor.

  Sergeant Snyman then instructed his partner, constable Naidoo, to pick up the two still breathing and handcuffed suspects from the floor and take them downstairs while Snyman went to go fetch their vehicle. He told Dlamini to stand outside the bedroom door and not let anyone in until the General was ready.

  Twenty minutes later and the flying squad officers had placed the two surviving criminals, now under lawful arrest, in the back of their vehicle and had called radio control requesting a full house attend the scene which included a duty officer, photographer and finger print specialist, the detective on standby, crime scene investigators, another ‘cheese van’ to transport the suspects to Norwood police station for processing and a mortuary van for their comrades and the unfortunate young student constable who was knifed to death.