The Darkness Below

Chapter Thirty Six - 1970

As Mr Smith arrived at the residential street which led to John Wood's flat he saw Wood come out the front door of his flat and dash across the road. Wood was carrying a package wrapped in plastic. Could this be the photos Mr Smith thought? He watched and followed for a few minutes and saw John was heading out of town up a hill.

Smith figured he was going to hide the photos in a safe location up on the hill. Smith recalculated his plan, he could catch him putting the items in his secret hiding place, grab anything else he had hidden there and then beat John Wood mercilessly until Smith got the information he wanted. Smith is determined not to let the photos slip through his fingers again.

***

John Wood headed up the hill on a small road which went past the Village Hall. He felt more confident as he left the buildings on the outskirts of the village behind as it made it easier to see if he was being followed by anyone.

John knew the gravity of the situation and the danger of the information he held in his hands. If the British Security Services found out he would be arrested and spend many years in prison if he was lucky and if not and the plan to destroy the Centre Point Tower was an operation so secret and sensitive he might just vanish or be found dead in mysterious circumstances, a suicide perhaps he thought.

Alternatively the secrets he and Grace had liberated from the Centre Point Bunker could fall into the hands of a Soviet spy, how this could happen John could not think. If that did happen the KGB might kill them or if the British Security Services find out he and Grace would be charged with Treason and possibly face the hangman's noose!

John thought about destroying all the evidence they had and pretending it had never happened but he refrained from doing this for two reasons. One he couldn't bear to look so weak in front of Grace, a woman for whom he felt an immense attraction. Two if he buried his head in the sand and the Centre Point Tower was blown up and it lead to World War Three neither he nor Grace would ever forgive themselves.

John tried to snap out of it and focus on the plan as agreed with Grace; he needed to focus on what he was doing now! With that John looked around...am I being followed? If so by who and how would they be on to me?

In the gloom John saw a man further down the hill on the road walking in the same direction as him. John's first instinct that it must be the farmer or someone walking his dog. As John turned fully around the person realised John was looking toward him and he flinched as if he was nervous. This struck John as odd and snapped him out of his determination not to believe in his paranoia. The man was definitely following him, John was sure of it from his nervous disposition.

John was now in a full blown panic. He had already contemplated destroying the photos and all the evidence and now he was being followed he thought it an increasingly attractive idea.

Damn he thought, John wished Grace was not waiting in his flat, if he were caught and arrested they would search his flat and find Grace waiting there. They would rightly assume she was an accomplice.

John tries to subtly increase his pace and get some more distance from his pursuer. He made it to the fence of the Redoubt Fort and follows it off the road into a field and follows it around on a curve. The fence curves away and he knows that the man following cannot see him, so John lifts a panel of fence which has been damaged and ducks in. He knows the area like the back of his hand since playing here as a kid and is confident he can lose the man following him in the maze of tunnels and rooms.

***

Mr Smith in a moment of naivety, allowing his human instincts to get the better of him, flinched as he saw John Wood look around and look in his direction. Mr Smith suspected John Wood had seen him and noticed his amateurish reaction and was now suspicious that Mr Smith was following him.

Mr Smith tried to reduce the distance between them but John Wood was moving faster now. The darkness of the fast approaching night was closing in fast and Mr Smith found it had to get a clear look at John Wood and what he was wearing. Mr Smith was pleased that he had a torch on him but he couldn't use it now without making it obvious that he was chasing John Wood.

Mr Smith lost sight of John Wood as the fence curved away and by the time that Mr Smith caught up John Wood was nowhere to be seen. Mr Smith came to a stop and tried to listen for any sound...he heard the occasional rustle but that could easily have been a wild animal as a man stalking in the shadows.

Mr Smith had to rely on his years of knowledge and experience as a soldier and police officer and looked around for clues. He noted a slightly more pronounced foot print in the heavy clay soil which led him to believe it was more recent. The foot print was part way under the fence...strange. Smith pulled on the fence and found it was loose and lifted the panel and snuck inside.

Mr Smith was feeling excited, he was closing on John Wood and once he found him Smith would make him pay for his difficult behaviour.

Smith moved slowly and kept low, he wanted to go undetected as he stalked his prey. As Smith came over a small rise he saw an old concrete built fort stretch out before him. It was overgrown with trees growing all around but he could clearly see the horse shoe shaped collection of semi buried rooms. It looked like some sort of army barracks and armoury, most likely from late in the last century.

Mr Smith's interest in the sight before him distracted him and out of instinct and panic he turned his head quickly to look behind him...there was no one there. Smith realised he was operating without a safety net and if John Wood got the jump on him and attacked he would be in serious danger. John Wood didn't know who Mr Smith was and there was no telling what he might do if he managed to sneak up on him. Mr Smith was convinced John was a Soviet spy so could have a weapon and highly trained in close combat. Smith felt an involuntary shiver go down his spine as the danger of the situation dawned on him. His anger and determination to win back the respect of all those at the Met Police who now looked down on him had blinded him to the danger he had put himself in.

Mr Smith slowly searched the area as the gloom of the winter afternoon closed in. He could hear someone moving ahead and he got his torch out of his pocket ready to shine it in John Woods face once he caught him. He peaked over the rise and saw John hunched over some sort of box or device.