Capital Falling | Book 4 | Sever Winkless, Lance (most popular ebook readers TXT) 📖

I am already heading to the patio doors to take the call outside when I see that it is Catherine calling.

“Good morning Captain,” she says in a husky voice as I put the phone to my ear.

“Good morning, I wasn’t expecting you to call me so early in the morning.”

“I can phone my man whenever I want, can’t I?” Catherine teases.

“Yes, you certainly can, I just thought you’d be asleep.”

“Did you get any sleep?” she asks me.

“No, afraid not,” I reply.

“Well, neither did I. I’ve been waiting to phone you. I wanted to wish you luck and remind you what’s waiting for you when you get back,” Catherine teases.

“It’s good to hear your voice. I can’t wait to see you again?”

“And why’s that?”

Her question confuses me for a second, but there can be only one answer. “Because I love you, Catherine.”

“That’s good because I love you too, so come back to me, Andy. And remember the promise you made me; do you understand?”

“I do, I will turn straight around if it’s changed. I’ll phone you as soon as I’m back on the boat, okay?” I explain.

“You’d better. I’ll be waiting for your call,” Catherine replies. She still resists the temptation to tell him about the events of yesterday. The phone call from Lieutenant Winters and then the helicopter landing next to the cottage. He has enough to think about without adding to his troubles.

“Okay, please try not to worry too much. Speak later, my love.”

She will be worried to death, I think as I take the phone away from my ear and look inside to see Alice speaking to Bill and Lillian. Before I have a chance to go back inside the phone vibrates again. This time, it’s not a number stored in my phone, it must be Karen and Jim.

I only speak to Jim, who sounds very groggy, like he hasn’t slept in days, which he probably hasn’t. He tells me that nothing has changed, they are still holed up in the same office. I tell him that we are all set to go and that they should try and conserve their energy and eat whatever they can. He tells me that they will, but they are running extremely low on food and water. We confirm that they will phone me back at the agreed time and we then say our goodbyes and good lucks.

This is it, I tell myself as I put my phone away and head back inside to collect my gear. Everyone turns to me as I enter to see what I say.

“Let’s get moving,” I announce as I get inside, my M4 slung across my back.

Josh and Alice’s faces immediately change, and they move to get their gear, as do I. Alice gives Bill and Lillian a kiss goodbye and Josh and I shake their hands thanking them for their hospitality.

Bill closes the door behind us, and he watches from behind the glass with Lillian as we march down his garden and leave them behind.

Not much is said in the darkness as we uncover the boat and get on board. The gear is double-checked under torchlight and once that is done, I move to the back of the boat, where the motor is mounted. Again, under torchlight, I show Josh and Alice the procedure for starting the outboard motor and then let Alice try to start it.

The motor roars into life as if it were a jet engine in the silent darkness of the early morning, at Alice’s first attempt to start it. Josh casts off and a quick explanation on how to control the motor is all that is needed for Alice to reverse us away from the pontoon and into the flow of the river.

We can see Bill and Lillian’s shadowy figures are still at the windows watching, as we reverse out. Alice gives them a quick wave before she adjusts the motor and brings us about to point the boat downriver.

We will be travelling downriver on the journey into London, and the river rather than the motor will do most of the work to get us there. The river Thames isn’t particularly full after the fairly dry summer that we have had and so the currents aren’t too difficult to navigate.

The overbearing noise of the motor dissipates as we become used to it and it is kept in low revs in the water as the river does most of the work. Josh and I show Alice the way with our torches and we make her aware if we see any obstacles that we need to avoid.

Daybreak is already underway and the sky in the distant east is beginning to brighten, it won’t be long until Josh and I can store away the torches. The town of Richmond is an affluent one, with large gardens, ample parks, golf courses and general greenery. In dawn’s dim light, the majority of manmade structures on the riverbank are hidden behind the greenery or lost in the darkness. Even the sound of any traffic that may be on the adjacent roads is subdued by the trees or drowned out by the boat’s motor. In the darkness, with the motor chugging away, I could easily be transported back to my numerous missions and training exercises that I have taken part in, on dark rivers around the world. I could easily be fooled into thinking I was in the jungles of Borneo, on route for a dawn raid on rebels hiding out in the deep jungle.

A car speeding across an upcoming bridge we are approaching soon bursts my illusions and my mind returns to the here and now.

“How are you feeling today?” Josh asks from beside me.

“I’m good thanks. Sorry about yesterday, I was a bit down because I was leaving the girls again and it got a bit on top of me,” I explain.

“That’s okay, I understand. I count myself lucky that I haven’t got your