Soft Target (Major Crimes Unit Book 2) (16 page)

“
They must have run flats,
”
Sarah realised.

“
Doesn
’
t matter,
”
Howard said. 
“
It
’
ll slow them down.
”

Mandy leant forward behind the
wheel, his eyes narrowing and his shoulders stiffening.  It wouldn
’
t be long before he caught them up to the TT. 

Sarah waited.  Should she
start firing at the TT, or would Mandy try to run it off the road safely?  She
’
d already killed Leanne Foster tonight.  Could she really take more
lives, did she even care?  The Fosters had given up their right to mercy when
they
’
d gotten involved with Hesbani.  There was no obvious link yet, but
Sarah knew that
Shab Bekhier
was behind all of this.  A shiver ran down
her neck.

They were right behind the TT
now.  Sarah checked her watch: 5:12AM.

“
Get ready,
”
Howard said.  He
’
d
placed the Sharpshooter down and was holding his pistol now. 
“
Mandy, try to run them off the road as soon as it
’
s safe.  If they refuse to stop, Sarah and I will have to take them
out.
”

Mandy brought the Jaguar up on
the TT
’
s rear bumper.  The Audi
’
s rear tyre had gone
completely flat now, and the vehicle hitched from side to side as Paul fought
against the steering.  Sarah could see Ashley sitting beside him, looking back
at them frantically.  Sarah gave the girl the middle finger.

Ashley fired back at them.

Sarah ducked down as the
Jaguar
’
s windscreen shattered, but she was right back up and returning fire. 
The TT veered back and forth wildly, still managing to keep its speed above
fifty.

Sarah let off another shot
just as a ricochet bounced of the Jaguar
’
s
roof and almost took the other side of her face.  Her ears were ringing, and in
the distance she could hear the sirens of alerted police.  She wondered what
would happen if they apprehended her.  The MCU was supposed to be secret, so
what would the police have to say about the dead woman she
’
d just left in a middle-class neighbourhood?  How much influence did
MCU have?

Ashley let off another barrage
and forced Sarah to duck back down in her seat.

“
River
’
s coming up,
”
Howard informed them. 
“
Let
’
s hope Mattock is there waiting for us.
”

Mandy yanked the steering
wheel and managed to bring the Jaguar up around the side of the slowing TT.  As
Sarah looked to her left, she saw Paul gripping the steering wheel and facing
forward defiantly. 

Ashley leant over her father
’
s lap and let off another shot. 

Mandy trod on the brake, dropping
speed and pulling Sarah out of harm
’
s way before Ashley
had opportunity to place her aim.  Sarah turned to thank him, but cried out
when she saw him bleeding and half-conscious behind the wheel.  His black clothing
made the source of the blood hard to detect, but the splatter around his neck
and face made it clear he was hit.

Oh shit!

Mandy slumped against the
steering wheel and the Jaguar suddenly went sideways.  Sarah and Howard were
powerless to do anything as the vehicle hopped the pavement and smashed headfirst
into a transit van parked at the side of the road.

Sarah
’
s
body turned to jelly and her bones rattled inside her skin.  Her head bucked so
hard that she thought it was going to fall off her shoulders.  Then, all of a
sudden, she could see only white. 

Her eyes remained closed for a
while, as she came to terms with the fact that she was still alive, but slowly
she opened them.

Something smothered her face,
making her panic.  It took her several anguished seconds before she realised it
was the airbag.  She pawed and swatted at it until it deflated and got out of
her way.  When it did, she could see nothing but pavement

Mandy hung upside from the
driver
’
s seat, held in place by his seatbelt.  He wasn
’
t moving and blood dripped down his forehead, pattering against the
roof beneath him.  Howard was lost someplace in the back. 

The only way Sarah could go
was ahead, so she began to drag herself.  Slowly, she shuffled forward, kicking
with her legs and pulling with her fingertips.  She saw blood leaking from a
gash on the back of her hand and moaned.  She couldn
’
t
lose any more blood.  She already felt close to passing out.

Eventually she pulled herself
into a shaft of sunlight and managed to crawl into the hole left by the missing
windscreen.  It was a tight fit, but gradually she made her way through.  What
made it more unsettling was that she
’
d done this before.  This
time, instead of the heated sands of Afghanistan, Sarah pulled herself out onto
the coarse pavements of England. 

The sound of footsteps and
Paul Foster was pointing a gun in Sarah
’
s
face.  Ashley stood beside her father, sneering. 
“
Just
kill the bitch, dad.
”

“
I will,
but you get out of here first.
”

“
No way.
”

Paul looked at his daughter. 
“
Don
’
t you hear that?  The police will be here any minute.  Get out of
here now, while I deal with this.  I
’
ll be with you soon. 
You know where to go.  There
’
s still work to be done.
”

Ashley took off like lightning. 
The girl had nine-lives.  Sarah didn
’
t have the energy
left to take them all.  She was done, defeated.

“
I
’
m really sorry about this,
”
Paul told her, still
pointing the gun. 
“
But you
’
re part of the problem.
”

“
What problem?
”
 
Sarah was genuinely curious.  She didn
’
t want to die in ignorance.

“The problem of being a human being in today’s
world.  You’re fighting to protect a system that’s all wrong.  We live by greed
and selfishness.  We take what we want and leave our victims to suffer.  Being
rich is the goal everyone strives for, so that the poor can clean their toilets
and eat the cheap food that they don’t want.  We live in a world where 99% of
us suffer and toil to make life wonderful for the other 1%.  Don
’
t you think that
’
s wrong?

Sarah nodded.  It all sounded so reasonable.

“
Again,
I
’
m really
sorry about this.
”
 Paul pressed the gun barrel against her forehead.

No!  This wasn’t going to happen again.  Sarah
had been on her knees waiting for death only twenty-four hours ago, thanks to
the Foster family, and she was sick of it.  She’d lived through the clinic car
park and she would live now.  She was done being a victim.

Sarah sprung to her feet and
barrelled into Paul just as he was about to pull the trigger.  The sudden blow
caught him off guard and he went staggering backwards.  Sarah took the
opportunity to strike him square in the chest with the heel of her palm.  The
air went rushing out of him and his face puffed up like a balloon.  She went to
strike again with an elbow to the temple, but Paul recovered and punched her in
the gut, then rugby tackled her as she was reeling backwards. 

As soon as Sarah hit her back,
Paul headbutted her in the face.  She tried to shake the blow off, but as soon
as she did, there was a gun pointed in her face again.

“
You just made this a whole lot easier,
”
Paul
said, snarling. 

He pulled the trigger.

AFGHANISTAN,
2008

Sarah
didn
’
t know how long she
’
d been asleep when they dragged her from
the cell.  They took Hamish too, who
’
d recovered enough from his beating to share his bread and water
with Sarah.  As it turned out, the soldier killed by the IED had been one of
the privates, not Sarah
’
s
corporal as she
’
d originally
thought.  Hamish had been dragged out of the Snatch shortly after Sarah
’
d been taken.  He
’
d tried to put up a fight, but had been beaten bloody for it.

Now, they were being
manhandled and dragged out of their cell.  Every time Sarah stumbled, she
received an elbow in the back or a sandal up her backside.  She was subdued,
but Hamish was irate.  He bellowed and cursed, even when the men slapped and
punched him for his defiance.

“
Shut
up, Hamish,
”
Sarah said. 
“
They
’
re going to kill you if you don
’
t shut up.
”

Hamish huffed. 
“
They
’
re gunna kill us both anyhow.  Why make it easy for
‘
em?  I
’
m Glaswegian.  They can break my bones, but not my spirit.
”

“
They
’
re going to let us go,
”
Sarah told him. 
“
Al Sharir told me so last night.
”

Hamish looked at her
quizzically. 
“
Really?
”

“
Yes,
so behave.
”

Hamish was shoved in his back,
but this time chose to remain quiet.  They were taken to a dusty yard, walled
off on all sides.  There was a group of men there, Al-Sharir and Wazir Hesbani
among them.  A boy knelt, crying.  He looked about fifteen, wearing jeans and a
t-shirt.  It was only his fuzzy beard and cheap sandals that gave him away as a
native Afghan.

Al-Sharir summoned Sarah and
Hamish, who were shoved down on their knees beside the boy.  Sarah gritted her
teeth at the pain in her wounded thigh.  The hole had been weeping blood all
night.

Al-Sharir gave her a thin
smile. 
“
Hello, Captain, how
are you feeling today?
”

Sarah looked him in the eye. 
“
Looking forward to you keeping your word.
”

“
I
will keep my word, do not worry.
”

Sarah let out breath.  She
’
d been anxious that Al-Sharir would change
his mind.  It was a relief to hear that he hadn
’
t. 
“
Thank you,
”
she said.

“
We
have some business to attend to first,
”
Hesbani said. 
“
We
won
’
t keep you longer than we
have to.
”

Sarah frowned.  What business
was there?  She just wanted to go back to Camp Bastion. 

A large crowd assembled in a
semi-circle around them.  Suddenly, Sarah felt overwhelmingly anxious.

Hesbani pointed at the
teenaged boy. 
“
This man has been
found guilty of murder.  Under Islamic law, he is to be put to death.
”

The boy wept.

“
He
’
s just a child,
”
Sarah said in disgust. 

“
He
has been found guilty of the worst crime,
”
Hesbani told her. 
“
He has slaughtered and must be held accountable to Allah.
”
 

Hesbani struck the boy,
bloodying his mouth.  A man standing in the crowd caught the boy and kept him
upright on his knees. The boy cried out louder.

“
Leave
him be, yer tosser,
”
Hamish
spat.

Hesbani glanced at Hamish
curiously. 
“
What is
tosser
?
”

“
It
’
s a fella what hits kids.
”

Hesbani sneered. 
“
Then I am, indeed, a
tosser.
”
 
He struck the boy again.

Sarah closed her eyes. 
“
Please stop.
”

Al-Sharir raised a hand to
stop Hesbani.  He took a step towards Sarah. 
“
Would you like to know this boy
’
s crimes?  His actions have caused many deaths.
”

Sarah knew what the kid would
be guilty of, it was clear from his clothing. 
“
He
’
s been helping
the allied forces.  Informing on the Taliban.
”
 
The boy had probably grown up in a village controlled by NATO
forces, lived on their handouts, and begging for Western clothing. 
“
He
’
s just a kid doing what he thinks is
right
.  Leave him alone.
”

Al-Sharir stared at her. 
“
He is Taliban.
”

Sarah
’
s
jaw dropped. 
“
No
…”

Hesbani sniggered. 
“
Confused by his clothing, are you, Captain?  He dress that way to
get close to Western troops.  He spy on them from only feet away.  IED that
take you and your men, was his creation.  A very clever boy, no?
”

Sarah shook her head. 
“
That doesn
’
t make any sense.  The IED belongs to you.
”

Al-Sharir shook his head. 
“
Taliban leave IED.  I just clean up mess.  That is not why boy is
here.  He has been setting up bomb for fun.  He is evil.
”

Sarah looked at the sobbing
child and shook her head. 
“
I don
’
t believe you.
”

Hesbani laughed. 
“
Why?  Because he is just boy?  He is killer.  You are looking at a
Taliban trained from birth to make and set bombs to kill your soldiers.  He has
killed many dozens.  Your own men among them.  Murder is all he know.
”

“
It is
true,
”
Al-Sharir said. 
“
He is well known to us.  He has a talent for death.  The Taliban
have trained many innocent children to be killers.  Once they reach a certain
age, they are irredeemable.
”

“
But
…
what do you care what he does against the
West?
”

“
I
care because every death he cause bring more in return.  I believe in fighting
for Afghanistan freedom, but buried bomb and booby trap not way to get it.  No
honour in creating something that kill children as easy as soldier.  Last week
one of boy
’
s bombs kill
innocent girl, five year old.  Her father saw her blow up.  He bring remains
back to village and weep for days.  I see it with my own eyes.
”

Sarah swallowed.  Part of her
had stopped caring what had happened to the boy, but another part reminded her
that it was not the boy
’
s fault that he had been raised by the Taliban. 
“
H
and the boy over to Camp Bastion.  Why cause more death?  You said
you want the fighting to stop, so cooperate.
”

“
Cooperate
with foreign invaders?
”
Hesbani
snarled. 
“
We deal with own
problems, enforce own laws.  We want death to end, but can only happen if we
unite against West.
”

“
My
friend is right,
”
Al-Sharir
said softly. 
“
Why should we
hand boy over when it our laws he broken?  You wish imprison boy when Allah
demand deeper punishment.
”

“
Kill
the bastard.
”
 
Hamish shrugged. 
“
If you don
’
t, our lot will once they get him.
”

Sarah stared at her corporal. 
“
What?
”

“
We
lost three young lads to that IED.  The kid deserves an execution.  He
’
s Taliban.
”

“
That
’
s not who we are,
”
Sarah said. 
“
We
’
re here to help this country, not execute its children.  We are not
executioners.
”

“
No,
”
Hesbani said,
“
That is what
we
are.  Boy has been found guilty by Islamic
law.  What British think is irrelevant.
”

Al-Sharir raised his hand to
Hesbani. 
“
Perhaps Captain is
right.  Maybe we compromise.  Boy does n
o
t
have to die.
”
  Al-Sharir placed a hand against the boy
’
s
bruised cheek and said,
“
Ta shaista starge lare.
”
  Then he gave
Hesbani a nod and the boy was unceremoniously dragged to his feet by the man.

“
Your
lucky day,
”
Hesbani said,
grabbing the boy by his throat and holding him up.  With his free hand he slid
a rusty
peshkabz
from a scabbard on his belt.  The ceremonial dagger was
commonplace amongst the hill tribes of Afghanistan, but not so common in the
South.

The boy yelled in terror,
kicking his legs so hard that both sandals flew off his feet.  Hesbani
controlled the boy with only a single hand, while waving the dagger in front of
the boy
’
s face with the other. 

Hesbani shoved the dagger into
the boy
’
s left eye. 

Then the right.

The boy slumped to the ground,
howling in a way that wasn
’
t
human.  He clutched his ruined eyes and began convulsing in the dirt.

Sarah lurched forward and
threw up.

Hamish moaned beside her.

“
Your
turn now,
”
H
esbani said,
grabbing Hamish by the back of his shirt and tugging him to his feet. 

Hamish struggled and was
struck across his face.  Tears blinded him and the fight left him.

Sarah cried out to Al-Sharir. 
“
Leave him alone.  You said you
would let us go.
”

“
I
said that I would let
you
go.
”

“
Please. 
Please, don
’
t kill him.
”

Al-Sharir tapped his chin with
his forefinger and seemed to think for a few seconds.  Eventually he nodded and
said,
“
Okay.  I have idea. 
Wazir, take his eyes.  We send back with captain as gift to British camp.
”

“
No!
”
Sarah screamed.

“
Just kill me,
”
Hamish moaned. 
“
I
’
d rather die.
”

Sarah tried to get up, but a
firm set of hands from the crowd held her down.  Hesbani kicked Hamish in the
back of the legs, sending him to his knees.

Al-Sharir stood in front of
Sarah. 
“
Do not struggle,
Captain.  You have innocent one inside you, remember?  It is the only reason you
yet live.
”

Hamish looked at her with wide
eyes, surprised by the revelation.

“
Just let us go,
”
she begged. 
“
You
’
ll just make things worse if you execute a British soldier.
”