The Rock by Chris Ryan

Author:Chris Ryan
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Coronet
Published: 2011-01-06T00:00:00+00:00

9

0041 hours.

Time passed like kidney stones in Interrogation Room 3. López grilled Gardner in a voice that sounded as if he had loose gravel in his lungs. One thing was clear from the moment his deputy, Carlos Guerrero, cuffed Gardner to the metal table: they believed he was responsible for both corpses in room 39. López read out the accusations against him like a shopping list. Guerrero pulled faces and made not-so-subtle threats. Made Gardner almost miss the days when capture meant a hot date with crocodile clips and a piece of 2x4.

‘What were you doing at the King’s Hotel?’

‘I was there to protect a man called John Bald. He was the guy in the hotel room.’

‘Pull the other one. We’ve checked the hotel’s books. They’ve no record of anyone by that name staying in the hotel.’

‘He was there.’

‘We found her body, friend. You know who we’re talking about, don’t you?’

‘No comment.’

‘You headed to the apartment, where you found her sleeping with another man. You raped her, choked her, beat her to death and then slashed her wrists to make it look like a suicide. Then you killed her lover. That’s an evil thing to do, friend. Any jury in the world is going to send you to the prison up Windmill Road and tell us to throw away the key. You’ll be living on rats and maggoty rice for the rest of your days.’

‘No comment.’

Gardner had been batting away their questions for an hour or more when an officer barged in and breathlessly announced an urgent call. López and Guerrero left. The deputy flashed Gardner a smile, his small eyes disappearing into the fleshy folds of his face.

Thirty minutes passed. Neither man returned. Gardner could do nothing about his own predicament until he got a lawyer, so he tried to figure one or two things out.

Aside from the murders, the police had him on an assault charge and possession of a firearm. López sounded bullish about pressing charges. Gardner had his doubts. For starters, he hadn’t laid a finger on the Wren’s body. If she had been raped, DNA testing would also prove it wasn’t his semen. Gill’s death was harder to explain. His handiwork was all over that body.

He doubted the Firm would come riding to the rescue. Shit, he thought, they’re probably covering up their tracks at this very moment.

Gardner turned his attention to Mr Crowbar. He had seen that fighting style elsewhere. In the Regiment he’d received instructions in the way of the fist and the sweet science. Won medals in both taekwondo and boxing and studied other techniques to become a master of close combat. He loved its focus on individual skill in an age when the Yanks preferred to conquer entire countries from thousands of feet above.

So Gardner knew a fellow expert fighter when he saw one. And the guy at the King’s Hotel was one of the best he’d ever traded blows with.

The door was unlocked. Gardner looked at the table like it was the most interesting thing in the fucking world.

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