Danger In Havana – Episode 31
Danger In Havana by Cara Cooper
« Previous Post- 1. Danger In Havana – Episode 01
- 1. Danger In Havana – Episode 31
NORELVIS, too, was wired and ready.
“I explain to Davido what occurred. He says we to follow him and these polices.” Norelvis nodded towards the two officers. “Santiago and Luis. But we hide at back of house, wait for them to bring out the German Mr Otto, and save Miss Anna.”
For a moment, Mark frowned while he gathered his thoughts.
He wasn’t happy leaving it entirely up to the Cubans. They might well be good policemen, but there were only three of them.
Then he pursed his lips with determination. He had his own plan for what to do while they stormed the front of the house.
As the police approached the house, Mark, Norelvis and Bryony were motioned to wait in the bushes while Davido and his men crept around the front. All was silent in the half light, apart from a cockerel crowing way across the valley.
Mark knew that surprise was the best form of defence in such situations. He didn’t like the thought of the back of the house being undefended.
“Keep an eye out for me,” he whispered very quietly to the others. “I’m going up that tree; there’s an open window on the first floor I can get through.
“At least, that way, I’ll be near Anna’s bedroom when the police go in. She’ll be terrified, not knowing what’s going on. I can help her out from there if needs be.”
“Mark.” Bryony’s face was taut with worry.
It was as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t. The situation was too tense, the stakes too high.
“Oh, just be careful. Really careful, please. I couldn’t bear it if . . .” Her eyes were full, her knuckles white.
If what? If he should come to some harm, if he should disappear from her life the way Warren had, suddenly, shockingly?
Was it possible she cared for Mark the way he had come to care for her?
He held out his hand, and she gripped it tightly, and in that moment it was as if he was being supplied with liquid energy, straight from her veins into his.
Bryony watched on tenterhooks as Mark scaled the tree. Strong arms, strong legs; a large man but surprisingly nimble. Her heart sank. What if he slipped, what if someone inside heard him and . . .?
It didn’t bear thinking about. And Anna?
Would he be able to get her out before Otto Weber’s guard realised the house was surrounded?
Without warning, there was a loud crack, and Bryony nearly jumped three foot in the air. Gunshots, from the front of the house!
Her eyes darted to where Mark had been.
He’d disappeared.
Norelvis went to run forward, but Bryony held him back. She couldn’t cope if something went wrong and the youngster came to harm. How could she face his mother, knowing that Norelvis was only here in their bid to save Anna?
Bryony was in a state, not knowing what to do for the best. Were they needed inside, or would they simply be putting themselves in danger?
As if pulling a rabbit from a hat, Mark appeared at the top floor window with Anna and waved to Bryony. The guard must have gone to check on the gunshots, while Mark broke into her room.
He ushered Anna out and she crawled across the branches of the banyan tree and on to the ground where she dashed towards her waiting mother.
Mark followed closely, running to save his life, gunshots ringing from inside the house. Bryony ran to her daughter and folded Anna into her arms, pulling her back into the safety of the undergrowth.
Still shots rang out, crows awakened from their perches in the trees and flapped about the air squawking in the mayhem.
Anna sobbed uncontrollably. The terrific din had started every dog in the valley barking at the top of their voices.
Then men were shouting, until suddenly they stopped. Bryony and Anna stood open-mouthed, waiting for what was to come next.
Had Otto Weber and his guard somehow managed to triumph? Had they overpowered the police, or had the police got their man?
Mark started to run to the side of the house, but he didn’t need to. There, plain as day, being walked around to meet them, was Otto Weber, fat and waddling, his sausage-like fingers held high in the air.
He was vanquished, with Davido triumphantly walking behind him, his gun pressed into Weber’s back.
Next to Davido walked Luis. He pushed the guard, now disarmed, in front of them.
The other officer, Santiago, his face wreathed with smiles, followed with his gun trained on the two criminals. All the policemen nodded to each other; they’d done their job well.
“Look, Mr Mark!” Norelvis yelled. “All is well. We got them.”
All Bryony knew was that Anna was safe and well. She had no cuts or bruises, though she was shaking in her mother’s arms. They held each other so tight, like they would never let go.
When Mark came over, Bryony’s eyes filled with tears of relief.
“Oh, thank you, Mark. Thank you so much. How can we ever repay you?”
He nodded, then put his hands on his knees, bending down to relax the tenseness in his neck and shoulders, stretching.
When he straightened up, he finally gave her one of those elusive smiles, and at long last, all seemed well with her world.
Nothing could go wrong now, could it? Not only did she have Anna back, but she had found this wonderful, caring man. She didn’t think she’d ever wanted another relationship, no-one else could match up to her near-perfect husband.
But looking at Mark and all he’d risked to help her she might, she decided, have found someone as good as Warren. Or possibly, even better.
