[Spider Shepherd #13] - Dark Forces by Stephen Leather

Author:Stephen Leather
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Mystery, Action & Adventure, Fiction, Suspense, Terrorism, Crime, Thriller
ISBN: 9781473604063
Publisher: Hachette UK
Published: 2016-07-27T23:00:00+00:00

Mohammed al-Hussain carried the case up the hill. Ash followed him. He had a pair of binoculars in a leather case hanging over one shoulder. They had left the car in a sheltered field a hundred yards from the road. The sun had just come up, there had been no other vehicles around, and the nearest house was miles away.

Sunny had headed off in the opposite direction with the bag of fruit.

They were in a valley, and much of it was still in shadow. Al-Hussain stopped and turned to check on Sunny’s progress. He was just over five hundred metres away, heading for a stone wall that wound its way across the hillside on the far side of the valley. Al-Hussain had explained to him several times what he had to do because there was no mobile-phone coverage in the valley and he’d be too far away to hear either Ash or him shouting.

He headed up the slope again, treading carefully. It wasn’t especially steep but there was dew on the grass, making it slippery. When they reached an area that was pretty much flat, al-Hussain stopped and looked around. ‘This will do,’ he said. He put the case on the grass, then took a blanket from his backpack and spread it over the ground.

Ash took out his binoculars and trained them on Sunny. He was a hundred metres from the wall and appeared to be finding it hard going.

Al-Hussain knelt down and opened the case. He flipped the folding stock open and locked it into place, then attached the sight and screwed the suppressor into the barrel. He rested the rifle on the case and slotted five rounds into one of the stubby magazines. He put it on the ground and loaded another.

‘He’s at the wall,’ said Ash.

It was about eight hundred metres from them, the perfect distance. Al-Hussain attached the bipod to the front of the rifle, and eased in one of the magazines.

As al-Hussain lay down and prepared himself, Ash watched through his binoculars. Sunny used both hands to place a large green watermelon on the wall. It was about twice the size of a man’s head. He bent down and picked up a honeydew melon. It was slightly smaller than the watermelon, the size of a child’s head. He placed it three feet away from the watermelon. Further along, he positioned a grapefruit, then an orange.

‘Not going for a grape, then?’ asked Ash, lowering the binoculars.

‘I have shot a man in the eye from this range,’ said al-Hussain. It wasn’t a boast, it was the truth.

‘Where was that?’ asked Ash.

Al-Hussain realised he had said too much so he ignored the question and concentrated on adjusting his sights.

In the distance, Sunny walked away from the fruit. He took a dozen paces then turned and waved at them to show he was ready. ‘You can start when you want, brother,’ said Ash. He focused his binoculars on the largest fruit. ‘Watermelon first, right?’ he said.

‘Of course.’ Al-Hussain sighted on the watermelon, took a breath, released half of it, then slowly squeezed the trigger.

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