The Protector by Duncan Falconer Page A

returned from the dark hallway and Ali shook his head at his brother.
    Hassan directed his full attention to the top of the stairs. As he placed his foot on the first step it creaked. He paused before applying his full weight but the step creaked again as he raised his other foot and placed it on the next one. That creaked too but the third did not and Hassan continued slowly towards the top, the business end of his pistol leading the way.
    The others mounted the stairs behind him. Ali and Arras avoided the first two steps. Karrar nudged Abdul forward: he placed his foot on the first step that once again creaked loudly. Arras stopped to look back with a scowl and Karrar jabbed Abdul viciously in his side.
    Abdul winced at the blow and placed his other foot higher up. Arras maintained his warning glare for a moment longer before looking back towards the top of the stairs and taking another step up.
    Hassan reached the final step where a closed door blocked access to the floor.The others closed in behind him.
    Hassan looked back at his pack to ensure that they were ready. Every white eye, encircled by its black woollen slit, was wide and alert - except Abdul’s. His eyes flickered with frightened uncertainty. He was jammed tightly between Arras and Karrar, both of them holding their pistols at the ready.
    Hassan faced the door which was painted dull brown, leaned forward and pressed his ear to it. His free hand reached for the doorknob and slowly turned it. He gave it a slight push but the door did not move. Hassan exhaled through his nose - the sound was quite loud in the still air - and stepped back until his arm holding the doorknob was at full stretch. The others leaned back to give him room. With a sudden sharp intake of breath, Hassan shoved his full weight forward. His shoulder struck the wooden door, the bolt inside sprang free and it flew open.
    Hassan moved forward with his own momentum and his men followed. Abdul was caught up in the press of bodies as Karrar shoved him hard and they spilled into a room that was bathed in a dull golden glow from a benzene lamp.
    The room was not very big and was sparsely furnished with a couch and a dining table. A kitchenette took up one corner. Abdul saw two people lying on mattresses, one a man in his fifties, his eyes wide in shock and holding a book next to the lamp. Ali and Arras were upon the two figures like hyenas, Ali grabbing the man by his neck and jamming a gun into his face.The other figure, a woman as old as the man, awoke and sat up as her eyes tried to focus, her mouth opening in fear. Arras threw his weight onto her while shoving his hand over her face, brutally pushing her head back onto the mattress.
    Meanwhile, Hassan continued through the room to its only other door. He raised his leg and kicked open this latest obstruction. Karrar shoved Abdul across the room to the doorway where he left him. In the second room a man and woman were in bed under a sheet. Karrar joined Hassan as they sat up. Hassan pulled back the sheet to reveal that they were both naked and, grabbing the woman by her hair, dragged her off the bed as she screamed. Karrar took hold of the man by his throat and shoved his pistol in his face.
    Abdul watched in confused horror. These pathetic-looking people were not the hardened desperados he had been expecting.
    ‘Bring him,’ Hassan shouted. Karrar obeyed, brusquely turning the frightened man over, twisting his arm halfway up his back and pulling him off the bed. The man yelped at the pain while complying as best he could with Karrar’s efforts to get him to his feet, around the bed and to the door.
    The slender woman was in her early thirties and Hassan kept a firm hold of her thick long dark hair as he pulled her past Abdul and into the main room. The naked man followed, grimacing while balancing on tiptoe as he struggled to reduce the pressure on his arm. The man’s skin was white and his hair was light, neither feature uncommon in the