The Christmas Files 2: Averus Returns

By Alan Wilkinson

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AUK Kids
• Release date: Sep 22, 2014
• ISBN: 9781783339846

Alan Wilkinson

Alan Wilkinson, an Anglican priest, has ministered in three parishes, was Chaplain of St Catharine’s College Cambridge and Principal of Chichester Theological College. He taught for the universities of Cambridge, Bristol and Portsmouth and for the Open University. Since 1988 he has been an honorary priest at the Portsmouth Cathedral. He has written extensively on the interaction between church and society in the twentieth century.

Book preview

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 10th, 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