Out of the Shadows (Akira and Deane Thriller Series Book 1) by Tim Jopling

shoulder and sat
back down. ‘Good news, mate, really good news. I’ve found a buyer
already. Great money, too. You want another drink to
celebrate?’
    Burton put the empty glass back
on the table. ‘I don’t normally drink this much, must be the stress
or something.’ He mumbled. His senses became alert as he looked at
his friend. ‘Hold on, did you say good news? How much?’
    Harry smiled a toothy grin and
lit another cigarette. ‘It’s a good deal mate. One hundred and
fifty thousand quid! Minus my fee, would normally be an even
hundred grand but seeing as it’s you, I’ll make it up to one
fifteen ok? Congratulations mate, you’re out of trouble!’
    Burton breathed
a sigh of relief. I am out of
trouble! ‘Uh…oh that’s so good, god, I
never thought I’d get out of this one. I owe you one big time,
Harry.’
    ‘Well I gotta
go, the money will come in either end of today or tomorrow. A
couple of days at the very latest,. I’ll be in touch yeah?’ He
placed a hand on Burton’s shoulder. ‘Nice doing business with you,
mate.’
    Burton stopped
his friend from moving away. ‘Listen mate, did you manage to
protect me? No names, right?’
    Just for a
moment, Harry furrowed his brow, not entirely sure what to say.
Then, an air of confidence came over him as he smiled down at the
half drunk Burton. ‘No names, mate. You’re in the clear. It’s gonna
be fine, yeah. I’ll see ya.’
    Burton, who had
worked for MI6 for nearly three decades, watched his friend leave
and dropped his head in his hands. What
have I done? You’ve saved your family, that’s what! His entire body was on an adrenaline high,
together with feelings of guilt and pure joy that threatened to eat
away at him at any moment. For one moment, he appeared to leave the
pub and find himself in Oman, with the sun beating down on his
sweaty face. In front of him were the likes of Deane, Olsen, and
Prince David under attack from a large group of masked attackers.
They were outnumbered. As one agent fell, he found himself
screaming out in anger, wanting to stop it, join in and do what he
had always done, make a difference. However, it was too late, the
damage had been done, there was no going back, he was no longer on
the same side.
    Burton woke up,
slumped on the table in the Moon and Shine pub, his whole body in a
cold sweat. His breathing erratic, several other people were
staring at him from the other tables. The father of one pulled
himself together, wiped his face with his jacket sleeve and
stumbled out of the pub, barely able to walk straight. He found his
wallet in his trouser pocket, opened it, and saw the family picture
of him with Kate and little Oscar, in happier times. The image
staring back hardly looked like him but Burton was focussing on his
wife and son. With the guilt beginning to take hold, he cleared his
mind and knew he had done the right thing. His family would stay
with him forever. They would never leave. He was free to rebuild
his life and be with his loved ones.

     

Chapter 8
     
    Sunday, March 4 th 07:00,
    Muscat (Capital City), Oman, Middle
East.
     
    Olsen ran a hand through his short dark
brown hair and continued to walk through a hectic Seeb
International airport. Wearing sand coloured trousers, a sky blue
shirt and light brown jacket, Olsen still felt hot. With every
step, his stomach turned and his body felt increasingly
uncomfortable. Never had he imagined himself stepping foot in Oman.
His mind was a frenzy of memories concerning his father. The heat
took his mind off the ordeal for a moment; it had hit home the
moment he had disembarked from the comfortable air conditioning of
the aircraft. Using a magazine as a fan, Olsen looked around for a
taxi. At the exit, several cars passed him but none of the orange
and white colour of a taxi. Moments later, one appeared, just
turning into the airport area. Although English was spoken in
Muscat, Olsen had already decided to use his Arabic to the full on
this