Motive by Alan McDermott

Motive by Alan McDermott

Author:Alan McDermott [McDermott, Alan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2020-03-18T22:00:00+00:00


* * *

The next morning, Ryan went to see the CO. While his roommates had gone to the mess, Ryan had spent the night in his barracks, chewing over Brigshaw’s proposal.

His initial reaction was to dismiss the idea. His career was mapped out and everything he wanted was within his grasp. He was confident that he would pass SAS selection, and within a year he’d be badged and working towards his first deployment. He had joined the army to fight, and it was all he’d ever wanted.

Until Brigshaw—if that was his real name—had turned up with his unexpected offer.

The more he thought about it, the more appealing it sounded. Three years wasn’t that long, and he’d probably learn a new range of skills in this assignment. The extra money would come in handy, too. He could put it toward a deposit on his own home after releasing from the forces. That, and both an army and a civil service pension to look forward to.

The job didn’t sound too difficult, either. Growing up in one of the poorer areas of Leeds, he’d mixed with villains all the time. Most were just brainless thugs, but there were some real bad boys around at that time. Ryan had never got involved in anything like drugs or theft, though. He’d always known he’d enlist and went out of his way to keep his nose clean. He’d been in a couple of scrapes with some of the hard cases, but had given as well as he’d got. People had soon learned not to mess with him.

It wasn’t that Ryan was scared to walk into a lion’s den. He could look after himself, and hanging around with career thugs would be like going back to his school days. What really concerned him was going in alone. In the army, his mates had his back. Out there, he’d be on his own.

After hours of consideration, Ryan could see no real downside, and he’d fallen asleep with visions of James Bond playing in his head.

Ryan knocked on the CO’s door and waited to be ordered inside. After saluting, he got straight to the point.

“Sir, I wish to accept Mr Brigshaw’s offer.”

Colonel Crofter looked disappointed. “That’s your prerogative. I trust he explained the situation fully?”

“I know that I’ll be gone for three years at the most, and that I can come back here and continue where I left off, sir.”

“That’s right, though don’t assume you’ll get that third stripe the moment you return. This little venture will put you back a year, at least.”

Ryan could sense that Crofter wasn’t enamoured with the whole arrangement, but that was to be expected. If Ryan were running the show, he wouldn’t want a civil servant coming along and cherry-picking his best men.

Having to wait another year to make sergeant wasn’t that big a deal anyway. He’d apply for the SAS the day he returned and earn his extra stripe there.

“I understand, sir, but I still want to go ahead with it.”

The Colonel picked up a pen.



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