Red Station by Adrian Magson

Author:Adrian Magson [Adrian Magson]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: C429, Extratorrents, Kat
Publisher: Severn House Publishers Ltd
Published: 2010-07-31T14:00:00+00:00

FORTY

Harry felt the air go out of him in a rush. After what seemed an age, he tore his eyes away from the screen and forced himself to continue walking. He was getting careless; every second he stayed out here increased the risk of discovery.

He tried to reason through the significance of Maloney’s message. There was no mistaking the words; dead was dead. An overdose and a climbing accident. Maybe Brasher had been depressed following his shock posting and the humiliation of going back. It might have been enough to break anyone of a cerebral nature, especially an analyst. But Gulliver? He recalled what Clare had told him about the MI6 high-flyer. Thirty-two was a young age for an exalted position in the Service . . . but an even younger one to die.

Two returns, both dead. What were the odds? But it answered another question that had been niggling at his subconscious: how was it he’d never heard of Red Station before? Secrecy may have been their game, but security services staff were notorious gossips when it came to internal rumours. And any staff member returning from a punishment posting in the back of beyond would have had colleagues buzzing around them like flies on an old steak, eager to hear every salacious titbit. News would have leaked out. It always did.

Unless the returnees were in no position to talk.

Stanbridge was exactly where Harry had left him, half prone and hanging off the sink support. In spite of the obvious discomfort, he was asleep, his eyes closed, breathing heavy and ragged.

Harry kicked him in the leg.

‘Wake up, sunshine. Why are your mates tooled up and staking out Clare Jardine’s place?’

Stanbridge came awake angry and resentful. He scrambled to sit up. His wrists were swollen and purplish in colour, and the skin had been scraped off in his struggles to get free.

‘Armed? That’s bollocks. When are you going to let me go?’

‘When you answer some questions. Do you know Clare Jardine?’ When the man nodded, Harry continued, ‘Your mates were sitting outside her flat. They were armed.’

‘Can’t be.’ Stanbridge looked confused, his eyes wide and red-rimmed.

‘Really? Why is that?’

‘Because we’re not authorised, that’s why. Jesus – we’d get shot if we were caught with guns in this place. We’ve got strict orders not to break cover . . . Who said they were armed?’

Now Harry was confused. The response sounded genuine, and he was certain Stanbridge was too dazed to concoct any lies. Or maybe he wasn’t as dopey as he was pretending.

He squatted down next to him. Time to exert some pressure.

‘Listen, son. I’m pretty pissed off at the moment. I was posted out here on a whim, I’m not allowed to leave and if our information is correct, there’s a shit-storm heading this way in the shape of the Russian army. Now, I’d like to get out in one piece and go home. But with you lot sitting on our tails twenty-four hours a day, I doubt that’s on the agenda.

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