Peacemaker (The Gabriel Wolfe Thrillers Book 15) by Andy Maslen

Author:Andy Maslen [Maslen, Andy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tyton Press
Published: 2024-09-29T00:00:00+00:00

40

Horrified, Gabriel looked down at the sheet covering his body. It was soaked in blood. The surface was shiny with it. Bubbles popped wetly, releasing fine sprays of scarlet that floated in the air towards his face until he inhaled them.

He threw the squelching sheet back. Eli lay beneath it, her abdomen ripped apart. Somewhere a baby cried.

He sat bolt upright, screaming. Scrabbling to get away from the bloody corpse of his wife. But the bed was empty. The sweat-soaked sheet lay in a twisted rope on the floor. He jumped out of bed and ran into the kitchen, gulped down a glass of water then fled the house for the veranda.

Breath coming in ragged gasps, Gabriel stared out to sea, following the silvered line of broken crescents that led away to the moon.

Gripping the worn wooden rail with both hands, he threw his head back and moaned loudly.

Dry wood cracked at the side of the house. Instantly alert, he dashed back inside and emerged a few moments later with a pistol.

A voice came from behind him. Calm, unhurried. In command.

‘Put it down, Gabriel. Put it down right now. One twitch and I’ll cut you in half.’

Gabriel didn’t hesitate. He dropped the pistol onto the decking boards and kicked it to the edge of the veranda.

‘Turn around. Slowly.’

Gabriel complied, to find himself staring down the barrel of a Colt M4 carbine. Holding it was the man who’d so recently tortured him in the Battalion 3-16 secret prison.

‘Are you here to kill me?’

Mason shook his head. ‘My boss wants to talk to you. Sound good to you, Trooper Wolfe?’

So he knew about Gabriel’s service in the Regiment. How? The British Government never released that kind of information. And Gabriel had never volunteered it.

‘Do I have a choice?’

‘Sure you have a choice. You can come with me or I can kill you right here. Believe me, that would be my preferred option. Only, the man paying my not inconsiderable wages has other ideas. So what’s it to be?’

‘Where is he?’

‘In my car. I’m parked on the outskirts of town. You don’t mind a little walk, do you?’

‘I need some boots.’

‘Nah, you really don’t. Let’s go.’

Gabriel knew plenty of moves to disarm an armed opponent holding you at gunpoint. But as he walked in front of Mason, the ex-spook showed he knew them too. He hung back, out of range. Gabriel faked a stumble and slowed right down. Drawing Mason in. Trying to kid a kidder.

Mason’s voice was sardonic.

‘Think I should come closer? Maybe give you a good old prod with my rifle? Sorry, buddy, I do krav maga, too. Bunch of us trained with the IDF. How about you? Did that wife of yours teach you? Eliyah, wasn’t it?’

Gabriel whirled round, teeth bared, fists clenched, his heart pumping wildly, battering against his ribs.

‘Don’t you fucking dare say her name!’

Mason was standing ten metres off, gun levelled at Gabriel’s midsection. And he was smiling.

‘Whoa, whoa, whoa! Steady, there, cowboy. Never make a man holding an assault rifle nervous.

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