The Rand Connection

By Liam Adair

My novel revolves around two main characters, Paul Blair from the UN and Jan De Boort, a mass murderer.

Jan De Boort is a vicious by-product of the apartheid system of South Africa, who discovers some diamonds by accident in a remote area of the Transvaal. In order to mine the diamonds, he must destroy an entire village of locals. He may have gotten away with this, except for the fact that two villagers escaped and lived to tell the rest of the world.

This would come to the attention of the International Court of Justice, where De Boort would be placed on an international warrant for arrest on crimes against humanity.

However, he escapes to South America to anonymity. Feeling secure, he creates an illegal drug-manufacturing plant to further his criminal empire.

Again Paul Blair, a former US Special Forces officer, now a civil and mining engineer working for the United Nations, is asked to track this individual. He has done this in the past for others, for the international court. The trail by now has gone cold, but Blair in his usual fashion does not give up and will track this person to South America.

Once De Boort's whereabouts are known, Blair sets about systematically destroying this person's empire before capturing De Boort and, in time, turning him over to the international court, where justice will be served for the villagers he slaughtered.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Jul 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503507777

Liam Adair

I am descended from a long line of Irish-Men, I received my education at a private boarding school in England. I am an author writing under the pseudonym of “Liam Adair.” I currently reside in Victoria, Australia. Since retiring from my former career, I undertook the task of president and tutor of the University of the Third Age, Geelong Victoria, before I dedicated myself entirely to writing, I was in my seventies when I began writing. To enhance the stories and scenarios in my books, I have used my employment history that took me to several countries around the world. Also, my previous military service, to create my first main character ‘Paul Blair,' a fictional character based on my life experiences. I am the author of: - The Sterling Connection. The Rand Connection. The Ruble Connection, The DC Connection, New Directions, (in that order) all of which are focused on the character of Paul Blair, and his team of former Special Forces. Following those are my latest novels all set in Canada? Introducing Detective Chief Superintend Steve Benson RCMP, and his staff of dedicated detectives. They are, Blood under the Maple Leaf, The Douglas affair, Evil in Command, and The First Nations Affair, and as a change of pace, I have now published a short Autobiography of the life and times of William James Adair: - Title “My life, It’s been a Hell of a Ride.”

Book preview

Chapter 1

Apartheid spawned a lot of atrocious actions committed mostly by sadistic people in the South African police and the armed services divisions of the government. One such person was Jan De Boort, a secret police officer. He was born in Johannesburg into a Bible family where the father read the Good Book every day and tried to instil Christian values into his son and two daughters, often with a hard hand, and occasionally with a whip. It was the sort of upbringing that either brings out the best or the worst character traits in a child, and certainly the worst in Jan De Boort’s case. He was a product of his time, moulded by circumstances and his own cruel personality. Other societies down through the history of man that were established using violence, intimidation, and fear created many examples of people like De Boort.

As a descendant of the Boer system he would, in time, excel at being a cruel thug. He got into trouble early in life by constantly playing mean tricks on his sisters. In public school he excelled in rugby. The other players didn’t stand a chance on the field when he used everything to succeed – boots, knuckles, and teeth, which were useful for biting ears. Still, he did get a reasonable education in spite of everything.

He was of Dutch/East German extraction, and he’d inherited all the bad qualities of that group of people. He was arrogant, with a reputation for exacting violence on anyone who got in his way. He was tall with a solid build and could hold his own with most opponents. He was definitely a man to fear.

With very little effort on his part, he earned a reputation for being one of the most brutal individuals during that time of political upheaval in South Africa. The reason De Boort survived as long as he did was that he had been recruited into the South African secret police. Because he was better educated, he quickly made officer, and from that point there was no stopping him. He had help early in his career when one of the senior officers recognised that he had the same cruel traits as himself. Murder was De Boort’s favourite choice, but it was the fact that he liked to torture his victims before killing them that was attractive to his senior officer. When he realized that De Boort had the same murderous intent as himself, he was responsible for De Boort’s rise up the ranks. His career took on a very definite pattern when De Boort realized he could get away with almost anything, as long as he planned it right.

De Boort was, in fact, finally chased out of South Africa when the authorities realized they could not cover for him any longer.

With his already well-known reputation, getting promoted was all De Boort needed. Once he was an officer, his rank gave him that much more protection against prosecution. He wasn’t the least bit perturbed when he found out there was an outstanding warrant issued for his arrest by the International Court of Justice at The Hague for crimes against humanity, because as far as he was concerned he would never be brought to justice.

His criminal career took a new turn when on patrol in northern Transvaal Province conducting some cross-border checks. He came across some loose stones on the surface of an old creek bed that turned out to be rough diamonds. It was easy enough to do a bit of prospecting to uncover more. Better still, he had a couple of subordinates with him that would do as he told them, and to him they were as loyal as it gets. He understood the risks, but no pain no gain, and whatever else happened he was determined to gain from this new discovery.

When he went about setting up the diamond mine, he knew he had to do something about the local village of Gwento. With his two subordinates in tow, he set about killing everyone in the village. After they buried all the bodies and cleaned up the area, he was ready to start. He debated with himself about what should be done with his two cohorts. There was only one thing to do – kill them as well and report them as casualties in a border incident. He reported that they had come under heavy fire from a group from across the border.

To make sure his story had some substance, he gave himself a flesh wound in the leg to show just how fierce the fire fight had been.

One thing was true: for the time being he had no intention of reporting to headquarters in person, at least for as long as he could get away with it. He knew his little venture may be short-lived, so he had to extract as many diamonds as possible in as short a time as possible. To keep the spread of information to a minimum, he recruited locals from across the border in Mozambique to use as a work force. He knew that no matter what happened they would not go to the South African authorities for fear of being put into slavery, or simply being shot out of hand. There was no way they would travel all the way to Pretoria to report him.

On his next trip to the capital he rounded up as mean a bunch of thugs as possible from the criminal element to act as guards and security for the mine. Once he had taken them back to the mine, agreed on a very substantial wage, and the promise of more riches to come, he left them to get on with it. He had put aside enough money from other criminal activities to be able to pay them in the initial stages while the mine was established.

Because of the distance between the mine site and the capital, it would be some time before the South African government found out that he had the small diamond mine in northern Transvaal. But once he knew that they knew and he would have to leave South Africa, he only went over the border into Zimbabwe. It was easy enough to return across South Africa’s northern border, so he could come and go as much as he pleased to oversee the mine and take away any stones available.

He knew that the bunch of vicious henchmen running the mine in his absence might steal a few stones, but that was to be accepted. He made them aware, and they understood that when they did and he caught them, the punishment would be savage in the extreme, and they would die a slow, painful death. Once he was happy his thugs would carry out his orders without question, he had no qualms about leaving them to run the operation.

He had his own form of discipline. Anyone who worked for him and was disloyal or stole was shot. If they killed one of the overseers they were viciously tortured, before a slow death by strangulation. For all that, he paid them a reasonable wage and let them live in the remains of the village once it was fortified. Just to drive home the point, when he caught one of them stealing some stones he hung him upside down outside the compound, slashed him with a machete, and left him there for the wild animals to finish off.

What De Boort did not know was that when he destroyed the village and everyone in it, a pair of villagers, a father and son, had escaped the slaughter of their neighbours. They managed to cross the border into Namibia, where they eventually reported the incident to the local police. Unfortunately, there was no follow up which allowed De Boort time to get on with the illegal mining operation for a period longer than he should have had.

When the information finally got to Pretoria and the authorities deemed to do something about it, way too much time was lost to be of any use. So when police finally went to his residence in Hekpoort, a small affluent township north of Johannesburg, he was long gone.

Of course, he’d been tipped off by one of his paid watchers. Still, in spite of everything, word of the atrocity eventually found its way to the International Court of Justice. The court got a full report on the slaughter of the villagers from the two survivors. Now that the court at The Hague had the word, there was a chance of taking De Boort out of circulation permanently.

What the UN didn’t know initially was that he had fled to South America, where he made contact with elements of the low-life criminal brigade. Here he had the perfect location to set up another little empire of crime. Nonetheless, his whereabouts did become known, and the UN recruited Paul Blair to work his magic and try to bring De Boort to justice.

Paul Blair was the choice because whoever went after De Boort would probably have to penetrate the South American drug trade. De Boort himself was reasonably confident that he could cover his tracks when he went to South America. The South African government did not put much energy into looking for him, so he and his exploits quickly passed into legend.

It meant that when Paul Blair and his two friends, Alex Craven and John Gannon, took up the chase for The Hague not a lot of evidence would be left to help them track De Boort. But they did track him and eventually caught up with him, and from that point the clock was ticking on the criminal empire of one Jan De Boort.

Chapter 2

It had been just over a year since Paul Blair left his onetime friend, Charles Spencer, to his fate at the International Court of Justice. He had kept himself reasonably busy doing small consultancy projects and similar work around Australia. He didn’t expect to hear from the United Nations again because he was certain that there were a lot of people they could call on to do what he had done, although deep down he was a little disappointed just the same.

There was no doubt that when Blair walked into a room he had a presence that said he was not a man you played games with. His military bearing, broad shoulders, and muscular body set him apart. In spite of his earlier life under fire on many occasions, he had a ready smile and a wicked sense of humour. He knew there had to be a point in time when he would have to live a humdrum life. He just hoped it would happen later rather than sooner. He was still young enough to miss the adrenaline rush of being in action when you took the fight to the enemy.

The most important thing that came out of his move to Australia was meeting his lovely partner, Margaret. She was a tallish, very feminine lady with a good figure, and enough sense not to take any nonsense from Paul Blair, and that trait was what he loved about her. One thing he was not going to do was rush off to any foreign construction job like he had done in the past when he had wrecked his first marriage because he didn’t know how to say no. He was determined to hold on to this beautiful woman and to hell with trying to save the world (well, some of it anyway). He also knew that when the time was right he would ask her to marry him. Although if she said no he had no idea what he would do next, and that was totally out of character for him.

Then he had an unexpected call from his two friends, Alex and John, to tell him that they would like to come for a visit to Australia, but with the stipulation that they could bring their two lady friends with them. Margaret was especially pleased at this news for Paul. She knew he missed their company, because they had been in so many dangerous situations together when they had only just made it back from the brink.

When Alex called and asked if they could come for a visit, he told them to get on the next available flight. When Alex also told him they would be bringing along their ladies, Blair had said the more the merrier. We have plenty of room for the four of you, so get on a plane and get your asses here.

It was nice that Alex and John had decided to come to Australia and visit. He was determined to make sure they had a very pleasant stay. They all did some local trips before the four visitors went off on a trip to Queensland to have a look at some of the rest of Australia. Blair kept it as casual as possible, so they sat around on the veranda with cold beers on quite a few days, reminiscing about some of their adventures, although half the time Blair wasn’t sure that the two men weren’t trying to impress their lady friends about what great heroes they were. Perhaps they were just using Blair as a backup to keep the stories going. Still, it all made for a very pleasant sojourn.

He was pleased that John, Alex, and their ladies had gotten on with Margaret in a big way. The visit was supposed to be an excuse for them to bring paperwork that needed to be signed off for the Africa Trust Fund that had been set up using the ill-gotten gains of Leif Johnson, Spencer’s construction manager, the man directly involved in the killing of his three friends in Kuwait. Lief Johnson had also met with an untimely demise because of his association with Spencer. The Trust had already contributed to three humanitarian projects in Africa, and Blair hoped there would be more in the future.

What pleased Paul the most was that John and Alex had brought the two ladies, Julie and Beverley, with them from the U.S. for the vacation. Blair had despaired for the day when those two would find ladies that would make their lives complete just as Margaret had done for him. The word lovely didn’t do them justice; they were attractive, charming, with good figures, and fun-loving outlooks on life, just what those two layabouts needed. Alex and John had met them when they had moved to New Jersey to be nearer the office for the Trust.

As they sat around Paul Blair’s barbecue in the back garden, on one of those balmy days in Australia when the temperature sits in the high twenties, the last thing he expected was the coming phone call.

Chapter 3

Since he’d last spoken to Alex and John, Paul and Margaret had moved a short distance down the coast of Victoria, a bit closer to the water in a much larger house. Not only was he expecting the two boys to visit, he was also hoping that eventually his old construction boss, Joe Boyd, and his wife would also come for a visit. Because he had a good life now in Australia, he wanted Joe to experience it as well.

On this particular day for lunch they were ready to tuck into some prime Australian steak and potatoes, and the best sausages from the local butcher which had won several culinary prizes for their quality and taste. This was accompanied by some excellent wine from the local Victorian vineyards. That was when the phone rang. There is always some idiot trying to ruin a good thing. I’ll give them a quick brushoff and be back in a couple of minutes, Blair said when he got up to answer it.

Now be nice, Paul, Margaret said.

He picked up the phone. Blair speaking.

Is this Mr. Paul Blair of Mornington, Victoria?

Yes, and who is this? You are ruining my barbecue, so state your business and let me get on with my lunch.

Someone with an Eastern European accent but in good English said, Hello Mr. Blair, I’m Deputy Director Igor Nechemskey of the United Nations, and I would like to talk to you about a project that requires your special talents.

I would love to talk to you, but we were about to start lunch with some friends, so if you would kindly give me your direct phone number I will call you after lunch.

That would be fine, Mr. Blair, he said, and he gave him the direct international number.

As soon as he re-joined the others, Margaret asked him who it was. It was a deputy director of the UN and he wants to talk to me about some project which, as he put it, requires my kind of special talents. So I put him off until after lunch. Now let’s get into these steaks.

Paul made sure he took his time with lunch before saying, Sweetheart, you and the two girls sit out here while I drag the two misfits inside and get this guy on the speaker phone. I want John and Alex to listen in, in case they’re also required for whatever it is, assuming I agree to do it.

They went inside and he called the deputy director back. Hello Mr. Nechemskey, this is Paul Blair. Before we start, I have put you on a speaker phone so my two friends, Mr. Alex Craven and Mr. John Gannon, can hear what it is that you think I can do. If you’ve had me checked out, which I’m sure you have, you will know who they are. Now, when you are ready.

Yes, I have done my homework, Mr. Blair. This request is for a similar project to the one where you brought Sir Charles Spencer to justice. I needed to mention that so you would know up front what may be involved. If I have made you uncomfortable, I apologize. I know that Spencer was a personal friend of yours and that he died in prison.

No problem on that account with me, Mr. Nechemskey, so please carry on, Blair said.

This is really something we should talk about in person. Can you and your two friends come to New York soon?

Well, my two friends are here in Australia on holiday staying at my home, so it would be up to them when they would like to go back. They’ve also brought their ladies with them, so the time of departure would also affect them. I take it that this project is important, or you would not have called me direct.

Yes, Mr. Blair, it is very important. In fact, I do not have a lot of time to play with. I would actually need you here in New York immediately.

OK, let’s do this. I and my guests will have a talk about this, and I will call you back with an answer ASAP. Before we consider this I will want a definite agreement that the UN picks up all costs, and all our flights will be first class. Is this understood?

Yes, I have no problem with that at all.

Give us half an hour or so to kick this thing around and I will call you with an answer. Is that alright?

I’ll be waiting for your call. Thank you, Mr. Blair, he said, and with that, he hung up.

Well, there’s a boy that doesn’t mess around, so let’s go out and talk to the ladies.

When they went back outside, Margaret could