Chapter 7: Switzerland, March 2021

I took a deep breath of the cold Swiss mountain air. The air was refreshing, and the view from Mont Saleve overlooking the Geneva region was breathtaking. I sighed. I had told Elaine that I wanted to be alone to prepare for tonight's mission. It didn't feel good at all. While I had killed people in New York, that was more in the spur of the moment after a botched robbery. But today, my mission was to break into a man's house and murder him in cold blood.

The current CEO of the World Bank was Chakri Apinya, a Thai man who loved his country. He was against Pierre Beaumont's attempts at financing a large mining complex in the Daen Lao region of Thailand. I sympathised with Chakri as natural preservation was important. However, Pierre's suggested mines were crucial for our survival as a species. Under the Daen Lao mountain range, lay a unique range of rare earth minerals. These minerals were pivotal for our technological advancement as a species. Chakri's unwillingness to mine them would slow down human technological progress. The clock was ticking, only 110 years left until the gamma-ray-burst would hit Earth.

Pierre would frame famous Buddhist leader Arhat Somchai for the murders. Pierre hadn't revealed how, but it was of no concern to me. Framing Somchai made a lot of sense. Arhat Somchai was a leader of a Buddhist order who considered the Daen Lao mountain range sacred. But if Pierre framed Arhat for Chakri's murder, that would bring Arhat's movement into disrepute. After that, they wouldn't be able to stand against Pierre's ambitions.

I lay down in a sunbed. Despite being in a snowy mountain, the sun warmed my face and soothed my nerves. I wrapped a blanket around my body, and I fell asleep.

***

Elaine and I were sitting in a windowless van with fake plates close to Chakri's rented mansion. Pierre had promised that there would be a change of guards at midnight, and that was the time to strike. I looked at my watch, it was five to midnight.

"How are you feeling?" Elaine asked.

"Not too flash. I wonder if it would be better if I were to die. What's the point of killing people to stay alive?" I pondered.

"I understand where you are coming from, but this is bigger than any of us. The future of humanity is at stake." Elaine urged.

"But, what if it's all a lie?" I asked.

Elaine looked away, and I could hear her sobbing. I touched her on gently on the shoulder. She turned around with teary eyes and spoke.

"I used to believe in Jesus without any form of evidence. Now that I have witnessed true miracles, how can I not believe in the divine will and our purpose." Elaine asked rhetorically.

I didn't have the time to answer, as it was midnight and my screen showed that the Chakri's bodyguards were leaving the house.

"I got to go!" I said, pointed at the screen and grabbed my silenced pistol.

***

I was at the front gate of Chakri's mansion. I used the access card that Pierre had given me, and the door opened. I walked across the courtyard and entered the pin number at the front door '5432', and the door opened. It was almost too easy as if there were more people than Pierre who wanted Chakri dead.

I didn't have the time to ponder the question, I needed to move. Pierre had said that the changing of the guard would take a couple of minutes, and I didn't want to be in the mansion when the new bodyguards arrived. I rushed towards the master bedroom of the palace, as I assumed that Chakri would sleep there. Pierre had promised that Chakri's wife would be attending a late fundraising soiree so that I wouldn't have to deal with her.

I hurried into Chakri's bedroom, but to my dismay, he wasn't asleep.

"Hey, who are you?" Chakri exclaimed in terror.

I had no intention of answering that question, and I aimed my pistol at Chakri. I was about to shoot when Chakri a sound startled me.

"Daddy, I can't sleep!"

I turned around and instinctively shot at the voice. I realised to my shock and terror that I had shot Chakri's toddler, who was now bleeding out on the floor. This terrible realisation put me in a state of shock, and I froze for several seconds. I came back to my senses, when my monocle flashed, 'danger, danger'. I managed to dodge the bedside lamp that Chakri swung after me. I turned my pistol and shot Chakri from a prone position hitting him with several bullets, with his blood splashing all over me.

I got up and were about to leave the room when I heard Rangda's voice. "You cannot leave a witness!" She screeched. I froze for a second, while I was looking at Chakri wounded boy. The monocle revealed that my bullet had ruptured the boy's spine. If I spared him, he would grow up as a cripple who had witnessed the murder of his father. The merciful thing to do would be to kill him. I shot the boy between the eyes and ran away from the scene.

A minute later, I got into the van. Elaine stared at my blood-soaked clothes and exclaimed: "What happened."

"I'll tell you later, just drive!" I shouted.

Elaine did as I instructed, and we left the scene.

***

I was sitting in Pierre office, in the Geneva branch of the World Bank. My head was spinning from exhaustion and shock. I hadn't slept at all, and everything seemed unreal, like a nightmare that I wanted to wake up from.

"I would prefer to love your work, but you fucked up, didn't you?" Pierre stated.

"You didn't tell me about the child. This is your fault!" I lashed out at Pierre.

"Bah don't blame me for your lack of research. How could I possibly get the child out of the Chakri's house at night? And besides, it shouldn't have been an issue." Pierre replied.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"Because all you needed to do, was to shoot Chakri and then knock the kid out. A child that young can't testify anyway. Instead, you shot the kid, froze up, and got in a fight with Chakri creating a mess instead of a clean crime scene." Pierre replied.

"How do you know this?" I shouted.

"Have a look!" Pierre said and handed me a tablet.

I checked the tablet. It was the security footage from Chakri's mansion. Pierre had recorded my every move. Seeing this, I sunk down into my chair, filled with despair.

"Don't worry too much, Martin. I am looking out for you. Look what I have organised." Pierre said, smiled grimly, and handed me another tablet. On the tablet, there was an edited video where I had been digitally replaced with Arhat Somchai. I kept looking and the next video showed how Arhat confessed the murders, declared his manifesto, praised Buddha, and slit his own throat.

"How did you do this?" I asked in amazement.

"I told you already. The monocle gives me many great talents, but violence is not one of them. But Vladimir was a significant help. Thank you, Vladimir." Pierre said and gestured to someone behind me.

I looked around and there he was, Vladimir Kravchenko. The full-blown psychopath who had killed Rajesh and Jorge Santiago during our ordeal in Nepal the previous year.

"You smell delicious," Vladimir said menacingly.

"So, so, Vladimir. Act civilised. You're working for a bank, remember?" Pierre said.

"Yes, Pierre," Vladimir said, and got seated next to me.

Vladimir is incredibly talented. While you were messing up your hit on Chakri, Vladimir drugged and kidnapped Arhat Somchai. Vladimir did so well with Arhat so that his confession video and suicide looks authentic. The work of a true professional.

"So, why did you need my help in the first place?" I lashed out.

"Because I was testing you. And now I own you." Pierre stated.

"No, you don't!" I said, got up, and was ready to hit Pierre.

"Vladimir, subdue him!" Pierre said. A second later, everything turned black.

***

I woke up in a beautiful room, overlooking the Geneva region. Spring had come and melted away the last remains of snow. Beautiful flowers filled the entire valley. Elaine smiled at me.

"Welcome back, Martin," Elaine said.

"What happened?" I asked in confusion. Everything seemed so unreal to me.

"Pierre said that you had another seizure. We moved you to rest at this beautiful clinic, while he sent his agents to find another crystal to save you." Elaine replied.

"And he found another crystal I presume?" I asked.

"Yes. Pierre apologised for not being here when you woke up. He needed to supervise the new mining project in the Daen Lao mountains. The initial reports indicate that the mountains are incredibly rich in rare earth minerals. These minerals are crucial for securing our future." Elaine said and smiled.

I pondered whether I should tell Elaine the truth. That I had murdered Chakri's toddler and how Pierre had played me around. I decided against it. It wouldn't make any of us happier, and besides, everything was turning out good in the end? At least I hoped it would. Instead, I asked: "So, what are we going to do now?"

Elaine looked out through the window and replied. "I want us to stay here for a while. This is such a beautiful region, and I want to paint the landscape. You need the rest, and hopefully, these beautiful mountains can give you inspiration for the book you're writing."

I considered Elaine's suggestion, and I decided to follow it. This was a beautiful location and perhaps some mediation and solace could bring me peace. Besides, I didn't have anywhere I needed to go until my mission in Colombia the following year.

"You're right, love. Let's stay here for a while and focus on our creativity and our arts." I said.

Elaine smiled seductively at me and spoke. "Perhaps, we can focus on something else for the next fifteen minutes?"

"Sure, why not!" I replied.