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Andrews UK - Alan Wilkinson

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56 pages

English

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It's been three years since Genk Relbeck foiled Operation Snowstorm and all is quiet at The Grotto. But when Luther Averus is broken out of prison, Genk, Rakki and Santa face a whole new threat. And this time it's closer to home.

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Children's

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Publié par	Andrews UK
Date de parution	22 septembre 2014
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781783339846
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0100€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Title Page
THE CHRISTMAS FILES 2:
Averus Returns

Alan Wilkinson

Publisher Information
The Christmas Files 2: Averus Returns
Published in 2014 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
The right of Alan Wilkinson to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998
Copyright © 2014 Alan Wilkinson
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any person who does so may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Dedication
For Zara

Chapter 1
Burkett Prison, USA
Four days to Christmas
Spending time in a prison full of dangerous criminals wasn’t exactly Jackson Jones’ idea of a perfect Saturday night. He’d much rather have been at home with a pizza and a good DVD - something with fast cars and plenty of gunfights.
On this occasion, though, he was glad to be doing it. His wife had two tickets to see her favourite singer, Ricardo Lamont, and had expected Jackson to go with her. Jackson knew a simple no would have left him sleeping on the couch for the next two weeks, so he’d taken the easier option of switching shifts at work.
The only problem was Jackson was a warden on C-block, which was for small-time criminals - people who’d refused to pay their parking fines, that sort of thing. But the only person who would switch with him worked on G-block, where the murderers and psychopaths were held. Still, given a choice between them and a night with Ricardo Lamont, he’d opted for the psychopaths.
Jackson marched down the G-block corridor towards the control room. He’d just finished his 11pm round. He nervously fingered his baton as he walked. It had been a while since he had done a shift on G-block. It always put him on edge.
The prison was one of the newest in the country, all state-of-the-art security systems and white walls that dazzled in the harsh light. It held around 2000 prisoners and there were nearly six miles of corridors. Jackson had been working there for three years, but he still only knew his way around half of it. Even the warden had got lost the other day and had been found wandering about in the staff kitchens.
Inside the control room Jackson found Randall McRandle tucking into a tub of fried chicken. The tubby guard was keeping one eye on the CCTV monitors and another on a TV showing America’s Funniest Home Videos. He spluttered chicken down his front as a puppy was shown tipping a saucepan on its head. Then he grabbed up another helping of chicken in his podgy hand and crammed it into his mouth.
Randall wasn’t very popular with the other guards. He was known for sucking up to the superior officers. He thought it would help him get ahead. But, in fact, they just saw him as a soft touch and tended to give him all the dirty jobs. This was his seventh night shift in a row on G-block. Jackson felt kind of sorry for him.
“Anything happening?” said Randall through a mouthful of chicken.
Jackson shook his head.
“Nope, all quiet. I guess even murderers need their rest.”
Randall looked slightly deflated. He was always living in hope that something really dramatic would happen on his shift. Something that would help prove he was a hero.
Jackson stared over the monitors. There were 10 of them. Nine focused on a set of three cells each. Then there was the 10 th , which zoned in on a single cell. It had a special reinforced glass front instead of the normal bars and inside was a small man sitting up straight on the edge of his bed. Jackson knew him well. It was Luther Averus - the most famous prisoner in America. He was a billionaire who had been found guilty of stealing one of the world’s most precious diamonds and breaking into New York’s largest bank. The case was juicy enough on its own but Averus had raised the stakes even higher at his trial with the seemingly mad claim that he had been set up by a criminal elf called Genk Relbeck. The papers couldn’t get enough of it.
Still, Jackson didn’t see why he should be on G-block. And in the highest security cell at that. The man couldn’t be trusted and he still had power because of his money, but he was hardly dangerous.
“What’s Averus doing in there?”
“I think there’s rumours someone’s going to try and break him out.”
“And could they?”
Randall gave a snort.
“Not a chance. See that glass in his cell? You couldn’t break that with a 50-tonne wrecking ball. And besides,” he proudly tapped the console in front of him with a stubby finger. “This system is the most advanced in the world. With one flick of a switch I can lock down every door in this prison and get 200 US Marshalls on site within five minutes. There’s CCTV footage of every square inch in the block. We’ve got laser alarms guarding every entrance and motion detectors scanning every cell block. There’s even thermal sensors in the walls and floors, and the whole thing’s connected to the FBI headquarters. I’m telling you an ant couldn’t break into here.”
That was when the lights went out.

Chapter 2
SLED HQ, The North Pole
Commander Snark Elvenhall sat across from Genk Relbeck. A frosty silence hung in the air between them. Elvenhall lifted a sheet from the table in front of him and glanced carelessly at it.
Extract from SLED Archives FILE 000798
STATUS: Top Secret
The following is a description of Operation Snowstorm - a criminal enterprise which took place in the run-up to Christmas three years ago.
Operation Snowstorm was a plot masterminded by billionaire businessman Luther Averus to kill Santa and take over Christmas. It was foiled by Genk Relbeck, a former thief who claimed to have had a change of heart after originally aiding the conspiracy.
Although the main aim of the plot went largely unnoticed by human authorities, Relbeck’s intervention did lead indirectly to Averus being jailed for break-in and theft. SLED officers then conducted their own investigation in the Polar region which saw Grotto chairman and Santa Claus’s right-hand man Ulf Lemontahl convicted of conspiracy and sabotage. The elf Slurk Stenson was also implicated but as Relbeck’s testimony was deemed unreliable due to his criminal past he was never charged.
In the wake of the plot, a number of new measures were implemented by SLED. A dedicated unit was created with sole responsibility for Santa and the Grotto. This unit was to be on constant Orange Alert with at least 10 officers on duty at all times. Santa was assigned a personal guard and the Grotto was given a new security system with criminal profiling of all employees.
The lessons of Operation Snowstorm meant these measures were the most comprehensive in SLED history.
Elvenhall pushed the file aside and let out a pointed sigh. Genk opened his mouth to speak but was cut off as the door to the office swung open and Santa Claus and Rakki Unkrich crept into the room before shifting nervously into seats beside him.
Elvenhall was chief of SLED - the Arctic Authority’s Surveillance and Law Enforcement Division. He was a wiry, fit elf with steely grey hair who hadn’t let his time in authority add inches to his waistline. Stories of his heroics as a younger officer were legendary throughout the North Pole. One tale of how he took out five elves riding polar bears single handed was used as the main example for combat training at SLED Academy.
He looked across at Santa and nodded curtly.
“Things going well?” he asked.
“I think so. Elfbook likes are up to five million, whatever that means.”
Elvenhall decided to dispense with the usual pleasantries.
“Averus is out,” he said.
Santa, Genk and Rakki all gasped loudly.
“What do you mean ‘out’,” asked Santa. “Did they let him out?”
“No, he was broken out. Less than three hours ago. The authorities have managed to keep it quiet so far, but the news stations will be picking it up soon.”
“But how? I thought he was in the most high-security prison they had.”
“He was but whoever sprung him had real resources. Used an electromagnetic pulse to knock out the power for six miles around. Whole place was without power for 10 minutes and when they got the lights back up Averus was gone. No sign of forced entry, no trace of him ever being there. He’d just vanished into thin air.”
Elvenhall paused for a moment. His expression was deadly serious.
“To be honest, it may have been daring but it seems stupid. Averus got seven years. With good behaviour he was going to be out in the next six months. And he had been of good behaviour. He’d been a model prisoner. Claimed to have turned his life around and wanted to use all his money for good causes.”
“So why did he do it?” asked Rakki.
“I’ve no idea but I’m worried. He must have had a reason that he couldn’t wait to get out and with it coming up to Christmas the most likely reason is something to do with you. We’ve checked his financial dealings and he’s been shifting huge amounts of cash. We’ve no idea where to. The money trail goes through so many companies and funds it’s impossible to follow. How he managed it when he’s being monitored in prison we don’t know but it looks like he’s planning something and he’s putting the cash in place to back it.”
He stared at the three across from him.
“I