chopper.
And with them was Lucy. All thoughts of taking Tremain evaporated as Shelley wrenched the wheel to the left, steering the Land Rover onto the lawn and aiming it towards the waiting helicopter.
Curtis and Boyd saw him. They looked from the helicopter to the Land Rover and Shelley saw them frozen in time. Curtis decided not to make the dash and hauled Lucy back; Boyd decided to chance it and increased his speed; the helicopter pilot was desperately unbuckling as the black Land Rover hurtled towards him.
Shelley threw up his hands to protect his face as the Land Rover ploughed into Boyd, then crunched into the chopper. The banker screamed in pain, crushed between the car and the helicopter. Feeling blood ooze down his forehead, Shelley emptied half a magazine into the instrumentation in the cockpit and then finished off Boyd. The screaming stopped and the rotors were slowing as Shelley rolled out of the shattered Land Rover and landed on the lawn.
There was no time to recover. His shoulder and head shrieked with pain, but he was already under attack. A bullet slapped into the metal shell of the helicopter, and Shelley turned to see Curtis firing wildly. Using the buckled door of the Land Rover for cover, Shelley trained his sights on Curtis, about to take him down and finish the job.
But Curtis saw the danger. He scuttled behind Lucy, using her as a shield, the pistol at her temple.
The helicopter wound down, finally becoming silent. From the woods came the occasional rattle of gunfire and shouts of confusion. Otherwise, a curious silence had descended on the lawn.
‘Throw down your weapon, Shelley, or I’ll put a bullet in her,’ commanded Curtis.
‘You’d probably miss,’ Shelley said calmly. He could just make out the tiniest sliver of Curtis behind Lucy. Couldn’t risk a shot.
‘It’s all over,’ called Curtis. ‘We’re going to make our way to a Land Rover, and if you love your wife, you won’t try to stop us.’
Shelley didn’t blink. ‘Didn’t she tell you about us?’ he called.
‘We haven’t had time to become acquainted,’ sneered Curtis.
‘It might have been a good idea. She could have told you what she did before marrying me.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘I’m talking about the three-man team in Afghanistan. It was me, Cookie and a third operative. Only thing is, there weren’t three men in our team. One of them was a woman.’
It was the cue for Lucy to make her move. She sidestepped and elbowed Curtis at the same time, a move so fast it was almost blurred.
And it gave Shelley all the time he needed.
He fired once. Curtis grew a third eye in the centre of his forehead and dropped.
CHAPTER 28
Four months later
TREMAIN ESCAPED THE midday Spanish heat and came inside from the pool area, and the first thing he saw was Claire lying face down on the floor tiles.
She wore her bikini, but she was breathing, and in his final moments Tremain was grateful for the fact that she wasn’t dead; that the revenge wasn’t to be merciless and indiscriminate.
Because what Tremain knew at once was that Shelley had found him.
Sure enough, the next thing he saw was Shelley, sitting on his sofa with a silenced pistol trained on him.
‘Shelley,’ said Tremain, and Shelley shot him in the foot.
He hit the floor hard, and the random thought that he wished he wouldn’t have to die wearing swimming trunks occurred to him.
Shelley stood up and walked over.
‘Hello, Tremain,’ he said.
Tremain stared up at him, his mouth working, no words coming out.
‘You didn’t honestly think I’d let you get away with it, did you?’ asked Shelley. He crouched. ‘I mean, I can accept that the Establishment managed to convince everyone that it was a terrorist attack at the estate; that the world at large believes Kenneth Farmer and Cowie and Kiehl and Curtis and Boyd all died heroes trying to stop it. And I might not even have minded that you and Claire escaped, because after all,
And with them was Lucy. All thoughts of taking Tremain evaporated as Shelley wrenched the wheel to the left, steering the Land Rover onto the lawn and aiming it towards the waiting helicopter.
Curtis and Boyd saw him. They looked from the helicopter to the Land Rover and Shelley saw them frozen in time. Curtis decided not to make the dash and hauled Lucy back; Boyd decided to chance it and increased his speed; the helicopter pilot was desperately unbuckling as the black Land Rover hurtled towards him.
Shelley threw up his hands to protect his face as the Land Rover ploughed into Boyd, then crunched into the chopper. The banker screamed in pain, crushed between the car and the helicopter. Feeling blood ooze down his forehead, Shelley emptied half a magazine into the instrumentation in the cockpit and then finished off Boyd. The screaming stopped and the rotors were slowing as Shelley rolled out of the shattered Land Rover and landed on the lawn.
There was no time to recover. His shoulder and head shrieked with pain, but he was already under attack. A bullet slapped into the metal shell of the helicopter, and Shelley turned to see Curtis firing wildly. Using the buckled door of the Land Rover for cover, Shelley trained his sights on Curtis, about to take him down and finish the job.
But Curtis saw the danger. He scuttled behind Lucy, using her as a shield, the pistol at her temple.
The helicopter wound down, finally becoming silent. From the woods came the occasional rattle of gunfire and shouts of confusion. Otherwise, a curious silence had descended on the lawn.
‘Throw down your weapon, Shelley, or I’ll put a bullet in her,’ commanded Curtis.
‘You’d probably miss,’ Shelley said calmly. He could just make out the tiniest sliver of Curtis behind Lucy. Couldn’t risk a shot.
‘It’s all over,’ called Curtis. ‘We’re going to make our way to a Land Rover, and if you love your wife, you won’t try to stop us.’
Shelley didn’t blink. ‘Didn’t she tell you about us?’ he called.
‘We haven’t had time to become acquainted,’ sneered Curtis.
‘It might have been a good idea. She could have told you what she did before marrying me.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘I’m talking about the three-man team in Afghanistan. It was me, Cookie and a third operative. Only thing is, there weren’t three men in our team. One of them was a woman.’
It was the cue for Lucy to make her move. She sidestepped and elbowed Curtis at the same time, a move so fast it was almost blurred.
And it gave Shelley all the time he needed.
He fired once. Curtis grew a third eye in the centre of his forehead and dropped.
CHAPTER 28
Four months later
TREMAIN ESCAPED THE midday Spanish heat and came inside from the pool area, and the first thing he saw was Claire lying face down on the floor tiles.
She wore her bikini, but she was breathing, and in his final moments Tremain was grateful for the fact that she wasn’t dead; that the revenge wasn’t to be merciless and indiscriminate.
Because what Tremain knew at once was that Shelley had found him.
Sure enough, the next thing he saw was Shelley, sitting on his sofa with a silenced pistol trained on him.
‘Shelley,’ said Tremain, and Shelley shot him in the foot.
He hit the floor hard, and the random thought that he wished he wouldn’t have to die wearing swimming trunks occurred to him.
Shelley stood up and walked over.
‘Hello, Tremain,’ he said.
Tremain stared up at him, his mouth working, no words coming out.
‘You didn’t honestly think I’d let you get away with it, did you?’ asked Shelley. He crouched. ‘I mean, I can accept that the Establishment managed to convince everyone that it was a terrorist attack at the estate; that the world at large believes Kenneth Farmer and Cowie and Kiehl and Curtis and Boyd all died heroes trying to stop it. And I might not even have minded that you and Claire escaped, because after all,
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