AWOL 3 by Andrew Lane

Author:Andrew Lane
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781848126688
Publisher: Bonnier Publishing Fiction
Published: 2018-12-10T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

Bex felt the fingers of her captor digging hard into her shoulder. From beside her she heard Bradley gasp: the same thing was happening to him.

‘The minute you touched the screens on the tablets,’ a voice behind her growled, ‘your fingerprints were scanned, and we checked them against all the databases we can access. Apparently you both work for the British Secret Intelligence Service. Who knew? Bad luck for you that we’re technologically literate. Good luck for us that you’re not.’

‘What do you want me to do?!’ Kieron shouted in Bex’s ear.

‘Just wait,’ Bex said, trying to make it look like she was talking to the man who was now dragging her away, then added, ‘We can explain everything!’

‘Including how you stole the invitation from two of our guests and faked your way into this demonstration?’ The fingers clamped hard on the soft tissue of her shoulder, biting into the nerve. ‘We look forward to seeing how you do that. I have to admit, we wondered about those two people standing on the pier as we left.’

The thugs twisted Bex’s arm behind her back and pushed her to the end of her row of chairs. They shoved Bradley ahead of her. He kept casting anxious glances back at her. Bex had to remind herself that, despite the fact that Bradley had been through the same training courses she had, he’d never actually operated undercover before. He knew the theory, but he’d never had to put it into practice.

‘Stay strong,’ she mouthed to him. ‘We’ll get out of this.’

The audience of criminals, terrorists and foreign intelligence operatives watched them go, glowering suspiciously. A couple of them seemed to want to head for the quayside and get out of there, but the remaining guards gestured to them with their guns, indicating they should stay where they were.

‘Do not be alarmed,’ Katrin said over the loudspeakers. ‘This wouldn’t be a decent party without gatecrashers. They will be dealt with, please rest assured. Now – let the auction continue!’

The thugs dragged Bex and Bradley across the space between the first row of chairs and the stage. Rather than take them up to the stage itself, with all the attendant publicity, they dragged them around the back of the screen.

Bex’s mind raced, trying to work out ways of getting out of this. The problem was, she couldn’t think of any. Every plan she came up with got them away from the immediate threat but landed them in more trouble with the other armed guards, or left them exposed to the entire audience of bad guys.

Being behind the screen was like being backstage at the theatre while a production was taking place. People with headsets walked back and forth, muttering intently. A table had been set up with an audio-video mixing desk on it. Cables led off in all directions, like a multifunctional and technological octopus. Off to one side, a portable generator quietly chugged away.

In the midst of it all stood Hekla – tall, blonde and with perfectly sharp features.

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