Black 13 by Adam Hamdy

Black 13 by Adam Hamdy

Author:Adam Hamdy [Hamdy, Adam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Published: 2020-01-22T16:00:00+00:00


Part Two

Chapter 33

Leila had struggled to bring her things into the house and had deposited them in the hall before propping herself against a bench seat that was built into an ornate mirror. A beaten face looked back at her and she’d been glad of the twilight, which had thrown most of the house into shadow and concealed the worst of her fatigue and shock. She’d sat there for some time, expecting Wollerton to reappear, but he never came. Eventually, after what had seemed like an age, she’d leaned heavily on her cane and shuffled through the hall into a living room that contained a few pieces of decrepit furniture.

She’d walked on to find Wollerton sitting in another room at the back of the house. A dark varnished table and twelve gothic chairs were arranged to her left and two tatty corduroy armchairs faced the chipped French doors, which were open, filling the air with the smell of the sea and the rhythmic crash of the Moray Firth. Beyond the ragged line of trees, the water sparkled in the moonlight, shimmering and dancing before Leila’s eyes. Without asking, she’d taken the chair next to Wollerton, who hadn’t raised any objections.

The two of them had sat there in silence, watching the waves roll in, listening to the music of forest and sea. As time drifted on, Leila’s thoughts had turned to Pearce and through him to her family. She’d had too much grief for one lifetime and as the smiling, happy faces of the dead came alive in her mind she’d felt tears well in her eyes.

‘Don’t you want to know what happened?’ she asked eventually.

‘It’s written on your face. If he needed saving, you would have told me by now,’ Wollerton said. ‘He’s gone the way of many good soldiers.’ Leila couldn’t help feel that Wollerton’s words were tinged with envy. ‘I’ve been here too many times. Too much sadness. Too much loss. All for nothing.’ His voice had a slight Highland lilt. ‘What do you want from me?’

‘We just need somewhere to stay while we figure out what to do,’ Leila replied quietly. ‘Scott told me to find you. I’m not sure why.’

‘I recruited him,’ Wollerton explained. ‘But when they kicked me out, I wanted nothing to do with anyone from my old life, so we lost touch. He trusts me but he doesn’t know where I am, which means he can’t give you up. Someone he can trust, somewhere safe. This is where I would have sent you. How did you find me?’

‘Pension records.’

‘Bureaucracy,’ he smiled wryly, ‘the enemy of national security.’ He hesitated. ‘You said “we”…’

‘There’s a lawyer, and she’s got a close protection officer.’

The sound of the waves filled the ensuing silence.

‘Pearce,’ he sighed. ‘I think about all the good friends I’ve lost and I wonder what they died for. I sit here listening for the answer in the tide and the birds and the whisper of the wind. And do you know what they all



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