Soteria Read online

  Alan Richards

  Soteria

  Copyright © 2019 by Alan Richards

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  Alan Richards asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book and on its cover are trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publishers and the book are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. None of the companies referenced within the book have endorsed the book.

  First edition

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  Thank you for choosing Soteria.

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  Contents

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty One

  Twenty Two

  Twenty Three

  Twenty Four

  Twenty Five

  Twenty Six

  Twenty Seven

  Twenty Eight

  Twenty Nine

  Thirty

  Thirty One

  Thirty Two

  Thirty Three

  Thirty Four

  Thank you for reading Soteria.

  About the Author

  Also by Alan Richards

  One

  Alexa was cold. The last thing she remembered was watching Tracey’s coffin being lowered into the ground and then walking back to the cars to leave the graveyard. Letitia had got into the car first and then …

  Why couldn’t she remember?

  She must have got in the car.

  She shook her head to try and clear the cloudiness that was stopping her from remembering or working out where she was. She assumed she was lay on a bed but she couldn’t be sure as she couldn’t see anything. The room she was in was pitch black, no lighting at all. She wasn’t tied or bound, she could move her arms and legs. She felt her body, she was still dressed. The clothes felt like the same she had been wearing at the funeral. More details were coming back to her; she could remember her clothes; she could remember the church.

  What the hell happened next?

  Her train of thought was broken by a strange sound coming from outside the room she was in. It was the sound of something sliding, a large garage or warehouse door maybe. Then a sliver of light appeared under what must have been the door to the room. She heard footsteps; more than one set getting closer to her location. She stood up and felt around for a wall, she found one to her right and stood with her back against it. She would try and fight her way out of this if she could. She hoped her eyes would adjust to the light quick enough for her to attack her captors before they could react. The footsteps stopped outside her room followed by the sound of a padlock being unlocked. Alexa braced herself as the door slowly opened, she forced her eyes to look at the light and adjust to the slow brightening of the room. As the door opened fully she could see a single male standing in the door way. She could make out the shape of a pistol in his right hand. Alexa pushed against the wall and took two short quick steps towards the door. As she reached the doorway she raised her right leg and kicked through the chest of the figure standing in the doorway. He didn’t have time to react and was knocked off his feet landing on the dusty concrete floor. Alexa carried on running at him and stood on his right hand. The gun had been knocked from his grasp and was laying a few feet to her left. She dived to her left and picked the gun up as she slid on the floor. She rolled onto her back and fired off two shots into the man she had left on the floor. Alexa was an excellent shot and both shots hit the man in the right side of his head and exited to the left leaving a trail of blood and brains on the concrete floor. Alexa jumped to her feet and started scanning her location for the people attached to the other footsteps she had heard. She could see no one. Had she misheard.

  She continued scanning her location, she was in a warehouse the only item in it being a large wooden structure; that must have been her room. As she scanned the warehouse a figure walked from behind the structure.

  “Excellent work Miss Blake.”

  She raised the pistol and pointed it directly at the man that had walked into view.

  “I would lower your weapon Miss Blake before one of my colleagues puts a hole in your head.”

  “I don’t see anyone else in here but you and me. So maybe I just put a hole in your head.”

  The man said nothing, he just made a pistol shape with his fingers and fired at the ground in front of her. As he did, a shot ricocheted off the ground, sending concrete splinters flying into the air.

  “I would drop your weapon,” he repeated.

  Alexa dropped the pistol to the floor and raised her hands. Better to stay alive and hope another opportunity would present itself.

  “Why am I here?” asked Alexa.

  “Well Alexa, you don’t mind me calling you Alexa do you?”

  “I don’t mind what you call me.”

  “Good. You are here to die. You will suffer first but eventually you will die.”

  “And how will I suffer?”

  “By watching the love of your life die.”

  Alexa watched as he waved his hand and two figures came through the doorway to the warehouse. As they got close Alexa recognised Letitia followed by a man holding a gun to her temple.

  “Don’t worry Letitia. I will get us out of this,” Alexa shouted.

  “And how do you expect to do that?” the man asked.

  “I have got out of worse and when I do you will be the one that suffers.”

  “Strong words Alexa, but pointless.”

  “Who are you? Why are you doing this?”

  “My name is Anikoloz Babadishvili.”

  “That means nothing to me.”

  “You may have met my children, Ionna and Pasha.”

  “Are you the reason they ended up so soft and useless,” she said trying baiting Anikoloz and it worked. He moved towards her and pushed his face into hers.

  “Don’t fucking talk about my children. You killed them and now I will kill you and your friend.”

  “Have you ever heard of the story of Icarus?”

  “What?”

  “Icarus, you must have heard of Icarus?”

  “Of course I have but what the …”

  “He got too close to the sun and died.”

  As she uttered her last words Alexa head butted Anikoloz right between the eyes on the bridge of his nose, breaking it instantly. As he fell to the ground Alexa ran and stooped to pick up the pistol. Still running she raised the pistol and fired off a single shot that hit Letitia’s captor in the forehead, he was dead before he hit the ground.

/>   “Run,” Alexa shouted and she hurtled towards the warehouse door where Letitia was still standing in shock.

  Alexa ran as quick as she could, expecting shots to be fired at her from the men that Anikoloz had used to fire at her feet earlier. But there were no shots. She kept running grabbing the static Letitia as she reached the doorway and running out into the open air.

  “Come on we need to get out of here before he recovers and comes after us,” Alexa screamed.

  She stopped as she cleared the warehouse door, looking around the landscape to try and find a way out. There was a black Land Rover parked to the right of the doorway.

  “Quick, we can use that to get out of here.”

  She dragged the still shocked Letitia to the car, tried the handle to the rear seats; it opened. She bundled Letitia into the back of the car and ran round to the driver’s side, opened the door and jumped into the seat. She hurriedly looked around for a way to start the car. It was one of those modern cars with a start button, without a key she wouldn’t be able to start it. While she was combing every inch of the car for a place to hide a key, the passenger door opened. Alexa turned and pointed the pistol she still had in her right hand at the door.

  “I wouldn’t do that Miss Blake. I have the key so you can start the car.”

  “Who are you?”

  “My name is Giles Trent and I’m here to help.”

  “How the fuck do I know that?”

  As she finished her sentence the passenger door next to Letitia opened. She couldn’t turn to look who was climbing into the car; she was concentrating on keeping Giles in her sights.

  “I don’t give a fuck who just got in the back but if you touch Letitia this dick in front of me gets a bullet between his eyes.”

  “He may be a dick Alexa, but he is my boss.”

  Alexa paused, she recognised the voice. She turned to look in the back of the car and saw Drew sat there. He looked at her and smiled.

  “Its nice to see you again, but could you put the gun down please. Guns make me nervous.”

  “How do I know I can trust him?”

  “Because I trust him and he really is here to help you.”

  At that point Giles interrupted. “As Drew has said, I am here to help you. Maybe if we go somewhere a bit more comfortable we can have a chat and I can answer all of your questions.”

  Giles made himself comfortable in the passenger seat and put on his seat belt.

  “Lets go then Miss Blake. I could do with a nice cup of tea.”

  He leaned over and punched in an address into the cars Sat Nav. Alexa sat back in the drivers seat, pulled on her seat belt and pressed the start button. The engine kicked into life. She pressed the accelerator and headed towards the exit of the warehouse complex.

  “In one hundred yards take the next left.”

  She always did find those Sat Nav voices annoying; she hoped this wouldn’t be a long journey.

  Two

  Alexa pulled the car up in front of an impressive manor house in the middle of nowhere.

  “Shall we go and get that cup of tea,” Giles said as he undid his seat belt and left the car.

  Alexa alighted the car grabbing the pistol from between her legs as she did so. It had been to hand all journey and she wasn’t prepared to lose her advantage just yet. She rounded the car and took Letitia’s hand as she climbed down from the Land Rover. She had had one hell of a day and Alexa wanted to make sure she felt safe. Giles was already part way up the steps to the large wooden double width door as it opened and a quintessentially English butler exited from inside.

  “Welcome home sir.”

  “Thank you Blain. Could you garage the car and then bring us some tea and biscuits in the drawing room please.”

  “Of course sir.”

  Alexa followed Giles up the steps and into the marble floored hallway. Wood panelled walls rose up from the edges of the black and white chessboard style floor. Painting’s of men in uniform adorned the walls on all sides. The first painting was of a young man in what Alexa assumed was a dress uniform with the full regalia that he was obviously so proud of. She had no idea what era it was from but it certainly wasn’t from the current era of service uniforms. Giles saw Alexa looking at the paintings.

  “Its a bit old hat but everyone who has been in charge here is up there on the wall.”

  “What is this place?”

  “Soon Miss Blake. Let’s get comfortable and we can talk.”

  Giles turned the large brass handle on one of the large oak doors that led off the hallway and stepped through followed by Drew. Alexa and Letitia followed. The room was as ornate as the hallway with a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The wallpaper was the type you would find in an old manor house that the National Trust had restored and opened to the public. Everything about this house screamed old money. Giles gestured for everyone to sit down. There were two large sofas either side of a gold legged coffee table. Letitia and Alexa sat opposite Giles and Drew.

  “I think we should lose the pistol Miss Blake. Its not really conducive to conversation is it.”

  “I would rather keep it as insurance if you don’t mind.”

  “Of course but you won’t need it. You are more than free to leave at any time and return to your home.”

  “In that case,” Alexa said as she rose as if to leave.

  “Sit down Alexa,” interjected Drew.

  “Just hear him out. I wouldn’t have stayed here after you left if I didn’t think we achieved anything.”

  Alexa reluctantly sat back down.

  “And like I said, what is this place.”

  Alexa clutched the pistol tighter as she noticed a door opposite her start to open. She loosened it just as quickly as she saw Blain enter the room with a tray of tea and biscuits.

  “Would you like me to serve sir?”

  “No thats fine Blain, we can cope. Can you prepare a room for Miss Blake and her companion in case they decide to stay for dinner and need to freshen up.”

  “Of course sir.”

  Giles leaned forward from his position on the sofa, he found it a little more difficult than it should have been but he had sank into the plush cushions and his movement was limited by all the injuries and scars he had suffered during various war campaigns.

  “Lets answer some of your questions Miss Blake. Firstly who we are.”

  “That would be nice.”

  “We are an organisation that has been around since the times of Queen Victoria. Originally the purpose of the organisation was to protect Queen and Country. Her personal little army if you like.”

  “So how do I fit into the protection of the current Queen.”

  “You don’t Miss Blake. The organisation outgrew its original remit and during the reign of King George it joined forces with similar organisations around the world. Over time we have evolved into an autonomous organisation that is not controlled by any government”

  “How do you fund all of this.”

  “Through investments. Many of our original founders came from old English families with lots of old money and they donated it to the organisation. Over the years the organisation has become self-sufficient, we work closely with the head of each security service in the different countries but we pursue our own agenda and do not answer to any government.”

  “What is your agenda?”

  “It’s not my agenda. Each country lead sits on the team that runs our worldwide organisation and it is that team that decides what we do and who we target. Our sole purpose is to protect the freedom and rights of the worlds citizens.”

  “Freedom, how does that work then?”

  “By ensuring criminals do not profit from crime or stay at large. We either gather the evidence that police can use to convict them or we fabricate the evidence… You should know something of that.”

  “I never fabricated evidence in my life.”

  “I beg to differ Miss Blake. Your attempted framing of Martin Fenner was very si
milar to what we do here.”

  Alexa took a sip of tea from her cup. She realised he was right, she had tried to frame Martin Fenner for the murder of his wife and a prostitute. She had tried to kill both women and make it look like Martin Fenner carried out the shooting in a fit of jealous rage. It hadn’t worked but it was evidence fabrication all the same.

  “So as you can see Miss Blake we have very similar goals.”

  “And if you can’t find or fabricate evidence?”

  “We eliminate the problem.”

  “You kill them.”

  “Yes.”

  Up until this point Letitia hadn’t said a word. She just sat listening taking regular sips from her cup of tea.

  “What are you called?” she asked.

  “Will that make any difference to Alexa’s decision do you think?” Giles asked.

  “Probably not but in all the good spy movies any organisation like your’s has a cool name.”

  “Soteria. It is the name of the Greek Goddess of safety and salvation.”

  “Who chose that? It sounds silly.”

  “It’s been the name of the organisation since its inception.”

  Alexa interrupted the conversation between Letitia and Giles. “What do you want from me?”

  “We want your help. You have unique skills that can help us achieve our goals of closing down criminal gangs and making our country a much better place to live.”

  “Will I have to kill?”

  “Does that bother you?”

  Alexa paused. She had spent the last six months not thinking about what she had done. She had seen her pursuit of the killers of Tracey as a campaign against one person, but was it more about the removal of evil from the world than it was revenge for a friend. Giles interrupted the silence.

  “We don’t need to think about that now. I want you to join our organisation but it is entirely up to you.”

  Alexa thought about it, she had been to hell and back in the last few months. She had lost her job; the only job she ever wanted. She was now being offered the chance to make a difference.

  “If I join your organisation what assurances do I have that I won’t end up in prison again. The beds are terrible, there’s no room service and some of the residents have very questionable hygiene,” Alexa asked.