Last Man Standing by Stephen Leather

Author:Stephen Leather [Leather, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
ISBN: 9781473671850
Amazon: 147367185X
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Published: 2018-11-27T16:00:00+00:00

20

Standing called Kaitlyn on FaceTime as he waited to board the flight to Los Angeles but there was no answer, so he sent her a text with his flight details. He slept most of the way. The queue at LAX immigration was, if anything, longer than on his first visit, and the man who scrutinised his passport seemed to have taken it as a personal affront that Standing was trying to get into his country. He was a big man but carrying more weight than was good for him, bald with a neck so thick that hands alone wouldn’t have been enough to strangle him. He frowned at the passport, and his frown deepened. ‘So you were here for, what, three days? Then you went back to the UK for two days. Now you’re back.’

Standing grinned. ‘I thought I’d left the stove on.’

The immigration officer stared at Standing with unblinking pale-blue eyes. ‘You think this is funny?’

‘I was just trying to lighten the moment,’ said Standing. He stopped smiling and met the man’s gaze. ‘I was here to see a friend. Something cropped up back in the UK, business-related. I flew back to take care of it and now I’m back here to see my friend again.’

‘Who is this friend?’

‘Kaitlyn Barnes.’

‘So a girlfriend?’

‘Not really. She’s the sister of a friend.’

‘And you’ll be staying with her?’

Standing nodded. ‘Sure.’

‘And what sort of business are you in …’ he squinted at the passport again. ‘Mr Standing?’

Standing knew that lying to an immigration officer was never a good idea. Retribution could be anything from the rubber-glove treatment to being put on the next plane back to the UK. ‘I’m a soldier,’ he said.

The man’s eyes widened a little. ‘You don’t say. Who do you serve with?’

Standing met his gaze. Lying still wasn’t a good idea but no serving member of the SAS ever admitted to being in the Regiment. ‘I’m a para,’ he said.

The immigration officer frowned. ‘A para?’

‘Paratrooper. Third Battalion, the Parachute Regiment.’

‘So you jump out of planes and shit?’

‘It’s been known, yes.’

‘Served out in the Middle East?’

‘Some,’ said Standing.

The man nodded. ‘My father was in Operation Desert Storm.’

‘Before my time,’ said Standing.

‘It’s still a mess out there,’ said the man.

‘And probably will be for some time,’ said Standing.

The immigration officer handed the passport back to Standing. ‘Have a nice day,’ he said. ‘And thank you for your service.’

‘Right back at you,’ said Standing.

He walked out into the arrivals area. There was no sign of Kaitlyn. He took out his phone and called her on FaceTime but there was no answer. He figured she was probably driving, so he headed for a coffee shop and ordered an Americano and a sandwich. He ate the sandwich and drank the coffee, then called her again. Still no answer. He frowned as he stared at his smartphone. It wouldn’t take her much more than thirty minutes to drive to the airport from her apartment, though there was always the possibility that there had been an accident on the freeway and she’d been caught up in traffic.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.