Rogue Wolves

Prologue Antigua, Caribbean – September 1965 The diver had spent the past week swimming along the same stretch of the Antiguan coastline. It was a beautiful stretch; clear waters, perfect vacation brochure beaches, quiet atmosphere. It was the perfect place to relax and maybe even to retire to. One day… And why not? he was older now, with the free time and resources to be able to do that. Maybe he would retire here completely, leave the USA behind once and for all. Maybe write a novel here? Be like that Fleming guy and write spy stories. Well, they did say write what you know about. Didn't they? Richard Higgins had once been one of the CIA's shining stars – in fact, he had risen to the lofty heights of Assistant to the Deputy Director of Operations. He had been a Cold Warrior of the old school. A spy's spy. Until the fall…. To him, the fall was born out of duty and the desire to do the right thing. Some people, he was sure, viewed it as an act of revenge. And while many may have secretly sympathised with him, as professionals, they would cast a disapproving eye. Richard Higgins lifted his body out of the warm water and looked around at the coastline. There was nothing for miles, only tranquillity and peace. The only other 'neighbour' was a small sailing boat, bobbing about, anchored a mile away in the distance. It was seemingly empty. Should he go for another swim? Perhaps a bit further this time, maybe out towards the edge of the reef. Why not? Swimming was part of his daily exercise regime while he vacationed here. He jumped in the water again, feeling it swirl around his body and began to swim away from the shore with powerful strokes. The 'fall' had been forced upon him. The illegal operation that he had been a part of had come unstuck, the sources blown and the operation had come to the attention of the CIA. Higgins was left between a rock and a hard place. He had been called in and grilled by the interrogators from the Agency's Office of Security. He had held out as long as he could but it was a wasted effort. They already knew everything, anyway. It was a cluster-f**k. Then, while sitting in his interrogation room, at the 'Farm', the CIA's secure compound in Virginia, the door had opened and in had walked his erstwhile boss, the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, Roy Webster. Webster was the second in command of the entire Agency, answering only to the Director of Central Intelligence himself. He had hated Webster on sight. Higgins had been given a choice. Tell us what you know and we let you retire gracefully and with full pension. f**k us about and you'll spend the rest of your life in the Penitentiary. So of course he did as he was told. Really, he had no choice. His accomplices were dead and the illegal operation was blown sky-high. Better to retire with a few dollars to spend and try to rebuild his life post-Agency than to fight for a losing cause. He signed the usual confidentiality agreement stating that if he ever spoke out and embarrassed the CIA or the American government, he would be buried in the deepest and darkest hole they could find. So his life over the past four months had consisted of long walks, vacations and very little else. But he was okay, he could adapt… eventually. He had made it out to the farthest part from the beach; any further and he would be hitting the open ocean. For a man in his sixties, Higgins was wise enough to know his physical limitations and he decided to turn back, satisfied that for today, at least, his physical exercise was complete. Besides, it was nearly lunchtime and all this exercise had made him ravenous. It was when he was halfway back that he suddenly felt a huge tug on his leg, causing him to be pulled beneath the waves. His first thought was shark attack! But even in the shock of the moment, his mind was aware enough to know that there was no pain in his leg from a shark bite, no blood, nothing. It was as if he had been grabbed by a giant octopus. The shock of suddenly being pulled beneath the waves by this strong force made him gasp involuntarily and, as a consequence, he pulled a large amount of water into his lungs. He started to panic, his arms flailing, and his legs desperately trying to kick out as he was sucked down into the depths. But he couldn't kick out. Whatever it was that had him was incredibly strong and was pulling him further and further down. He looked around, letting his eyes acclimatise to being underwater, trying to see what kind of beast was determined to drag him down to a watery grave. He blinked and saw, not a monster of the ocean, but a human form wearing goggles, breathing apparatus and flippers. A frogman! The eyes behind the mask were invisible and the panicked reflection of Richard Higgins was the only thing that shone in them. The frogman was huge, strong, and powerful. He took a hold further up Higgins's legs, so that he had both of them wrapped up in one strong arm, restricting the panicking man's attempts to swim back to the surface. The only thing that Higgins could do now was to flail his arms to try to give himself some power. But his strength was ebbing, he was worn out, the last trickles of adrenaline had left his system and his body's oxygen reserves were almost zero. The frogman, aware of Higgins's situation, jerked on his body once more and began to pull him down towards the ocean floor. Once they had reached the bottom, and with Higgins exhausted, the huge frogman clamped one powerful hand around Higgins's throat and pushed him down on his back, onto the ocean floor. Higgins tried to gather up a last ounce of strength to fight back, but he knew it was useless. The frogman's hand was holding him in place, choking him, knowing that it would be mere seconds before death would come for his victim. The frogman continued to press down, putting his full weight onto the man's body. Higgins bucked and kicked a few more times, then, as his body went limp, the frogman began to relax the pressure. He knew that as soon as he released his grip on the dead man's throat, the body would start to rise to the surface. The frogman estimated that the dead man would be found washed up on the beach further down the coast at the next turning of the tide. And then it was done. The frogman let go and simply swam away in a different direction, leaving the drowned corpse to its own devices. Almost a mile away, the frogman climbed out of the water and into his little rowing boat that he had anchored up the coast. He stood to his full height of just over six foot five and stripped off his diving gear, wetsuit and goggles. Then he dried himself off and put on shorts, deck shoes, short-sleeved shirt and sunglasses. He had transformed himself into just another vacationer. His task, as requested by the CIA, was complete. It was the easiest million dollars that he had earned in a long time. He had been given the contract and had almost smiled at how easy it would be. No need for weapons, ammunition or any of the other tools of covert assassination. No, not this time. All that was needed was timing and pure brute strength. And he had that in spades. His other great skill was that he was able to make organised murder look like either an accident or natural causes. In this case, the body of the dead man would be found and it would be assumed that he had simply swum out too far and drowned, or had a heart attack. He cared not. But what he did care about was who he had killed today. The Agency had informed him that his target was a low-level agent who had blown an operation in Europe and needed to be removed. The name had been Phillip John, an American black market dealer in Berlin. But the moment that he had seen the photograph of his target, he knew instantly who the man really was. He knew because it was his job to know and that was why he was the best in the business. The target had been the Assistant to the DDO, Richard Higgins. The CIA had ordered the murder of one of its own senior officers. Now, that was a useful piece of intelligence that he had acquired… very useful indeed. Who knew, maybe one day he would be able to use that snippet of information for his own gain. But for now, he would store it in his vast memory, along with all the other useable intelligence that he had of the assassinations, espionage and general skulduggery that he had performed for the great and the good of the secret intelligence war.