Spoils of War by Tim Earnshaw & Michael Lockwood

Author:Tim Earnshaw & Michael Lockwood [Earnshaw, Tim & Lockwood, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Endeavour Media
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Thirty Two

Without wasting time thinking, Walker unsheathed his Ka-Bar and popped the crate lid. It took a second to register what he was staring at - a big polythene-wrapped block of hundred-dollar bills. But thrown in on top was something even more surprising - a canvas valise with United States Foreign Service and the Seal of the US Department of State printed on the flap. Walker opened it in the beam of his penlight, which nearly fell from his teeth as he saw the banded stacks of ten-thousand-dollar Chase bills that filled it. Instinctively, he reached inside to touch them - that dead man’s skin texture. Momentarily paralysed, he was distantly aware of shouted orders and the belch of diesel motors kicking into life - there was no time to do anything except get the fuck out. He slammed the crate lid shut and leaped out the back, crimping the seal on the latch just as Hassan appeared.

“Everything okay, Mr Mitchell?”

Walker realised he still held the flashlight in his teeth, put it back in his belt. “Yeah.”

“We’re moving out, sir.”

The eighteen-vehicle convoy threaded slowly through the chicane, paperwork minutely checked and re-checked by the guards, and out of Al Rasheed airbase. Walker’s Chevy gun truck, the open bed modified to accommodate a lone Iraqi machine gunner protected by angled plate metal - was last through. The cab was silent except for Hassan’s occasional rote response to radio comms. Walker’s mind was anything but quiet as they followed the two kilometre-long caravan out onto MSR Tampa. Some things seemed obvious - he was guarding the looted M:WI cash; according to Taylor, a hundred million dollars. And the cherry on the cake - a diplomatic bag stuffed with the highest denomination currency he’d ever seen. He tried briefly to estimate how much was there, and gave up. A shitload. Maybe two shitloads. The inescapable inference was that Paveway was as dirty as diesel exhaust. Walker remembered Taylor’s keynote speech about money being the only thing that made sense, and the shameful gun-running to his personal profit and increased risk to his men - it wasn’t that much of a leap to ripping off a crate of cash intended to bring water to Baghdad. Walker couldn’t now recall a single conversation with Taylor that wasn’t about money; the Middle East as a gold rush, everybody grabbing what they could. “Money makes its own rules.” The New Stevo - the Dubai apostle of wealth by any means.

His anxieties led him up a blind alley. What could he do? Stopping the convoy would be insanely risky on a road where stoppages and breakdowns were quickly targeted by insurgents. With a feeling of mounting dread, he realised his precious salary - Stacey’s treatment - was in the balance. This whole trip could very easily be for nothing, or worse than nothing. If he somehow managed to blow the whistle on Paveway, he’d be off the payroll immediately, whether they were found guilty or not. Jobless and broke, embroiled in a long court case, and blacklisted by every PMC in the world.

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.