Read Soft Target (Major Crimes Unit Book 2) Online
Authors: Iain Rob Wright
Al-Sharir raised an eyebrow.
“
Ah, but I save more than I kill. Boy killer will set no more
bombs. Any debt I have to British Army are even, no? I tell you what, I let
you decide corporal
’
s fate. I already been fair to you, but still you ask more. So, do
I have Wazir kill corporal or should he take eyes?
”
“
Neither.
Please, neither.
”
Al-Sharir nodded.
“
Okay, third choice: I let him go and blind
you instead. Your child safe and corporal will live. Your face already very
bad, no? At least you not have to look in mirror.
”
“
Y-you
’
re sick!
”
“
You
offend me. I am being more than kind. Make choice now.
”
Sarah caught Hamish
’
s gaze and they looked at each other in
complete horror. Neither of them made a sound.
“
Make
decision!
”
Al-Sharir shouted at
her.
“
I can
’
t!
”
Al-Sharir
’
s face grew thunderous.
“
Fine. Choices now shrunk. I blind you or
kill him. Your sight or his life.
”
Sarah couldn
’
t find her voice.
Al-Sharir folded his arms.
“
Fine. Wazir, take Captain
’
s eyes. We send corporal back unharmed, to
tell everybody what hero is his commander.
”
“
No!
”
Sarah gushed in floods of tears.
“
K-kill him. Don
’
t hurt me. Kill him.
”
Hamish stared at Sarah with
bloodshot, terror-filled eyes. He looked truly stunned.
Sarah stared down at the dirt.
Al-Sharir huffed.
“
And there we have it. You British have
forever seen yourselves noble and just, yet none of you prepared to suffer for
convictions. You rather watch friend die than lose something of your own.
Your greed, your selfishness will be downfall. Wazir, get over with. I sick
of being around these soulless devils.
”
Sarah couldn
’
t help but watch. She
’
d sentenced her corporal to death; the
least she could do was watch what her decision had wrought.
Hesbani took the already
blood-soaked dagger and swiped it across Hamish
’
s throat. Blood spewed onto the sand and Hamish fell backwards,
clutching his opened neck in silent terror. Sarah looked away and wept as the
crowd of cheering men yanked her to her feet and dragged her away.
OXFORD,
2014
Paul
’
s dead body was dragged aside. Sarah
’
s rescuer, a middle-aged man with a face that looked like it was
made of rock stared down at her. A large scar sliced upward from his forehead
and cut a furrow along the top of his closely shaved head, almost like the seam
on a tennis ball.
“
You
alright, luv?
”
Sarah couldn
’
t verbally respond.
The man patted her down with
harsh, all-business hands. His expression was oddly affectionate considering
the harshness of his battle-hardened face.
“
Are you in pain?
”
he
asked her.
Sarah managed to shake her
head.
“
Can
you stand?
”
Sarah nodded.
“
Let
’
s give it a go, then.
”
Sarah took his hand and was
yanked to her feet. She dusted herself off and tried to regain her senses. She
went to speak, but her rescuer bolted off toward the crumpled mess that had
once been a Jaguar XFR.
There were other men around,
too, perhaps six in total. They all wore urban combat suits covered in
pouches. In the middle of the road was the Foster
’
s Audi TT. Its flat tyre had finally brought it to a stop.
Sarah watched the chaos for a
moment, but then snapped into back into reality.
“
Howard!
”
she
yelped.
“
Mandy!
”
Both men were still inside the wrecked Jaguar. Mandy
had been shot. She had to get them out of there.
Sarah raced to the upturned
Jaguar. The man who
’
d rescued her, along with his team, had produced the Jaws of Life
and were in the process of forcing the vehicle
’
s
frame apart.
“
Stay
back, Captain. We have this under control.
”
“
You
’
re Mattock,
”
she said.
“
Yes,
I am, and you
’
re Captain Stone. What the bleedin
’
hell happened here?
”
“
I don
’
t know.
”
It was the truth. Sarah
’
s mind was a blur.
“
We were trying to run them off the road.
Mandy got shot.
”
Mattock grimaced.
“
Mandy took a bullet?
”
Sarah swallowed. She
’
d never exchanged two words with the giant
from MCU, but she hated knowing he was hurt.
“
I don
’
t know how bad
it was,
”
was all she could
say.
“
How
about Howard? Is he okay?
”
“
I don
’
t know. He was in the back.
”
“
We
’
ll
‘
ave
‘
em out soon
enough, luv, but we need to get you out of here. The Old Bill are coming.
”
To prove his point, a fleet of
police cars skidded to a stop in the middle of the road.
“
What
will you tell them?
”
Sarah
asked Mattock.
“
It
’
ll be messy, but I can get this squared
away, but with Mandy and Howard incapacitated, we can
’
t afford to have you retained for questioning. We need to get you
out of here and back to the Earthworm, sharpish.
”
“
I
’
m not leaving Howard and Mandy.
”
“
I
’
m not giving you a choice, Captain. You
look like shit and you
’
re the
only witness to this entire fuckfest. If the Old Bill get
‘
old of yer, they
’
ll be questioning you till the Queen farts. All the while there are
bad guys out there plotting their next move.
”
Sarah nodded. She couldn
’
t afford to be retained into custody. Even
if she wanted to stay, Mattock looked like he could crush her until she changed
her mind.
“
Okay,
”
she said.
“
What should I do?
”
“
Take
this.
”
Mattock handed her a slim, electronic device.
“
It
’
s an MCU mob-sat. Take off now, find someplace safe, and then call
Director Palu. He
’
ll arrange
to have you extracted. Don
’
t
let the plods catch you until I have this all squared away.
”
The police were getting out of
their cars and heading cautiously toward the scene. Sarah wanted to run, but
she couldn
’
t take her eyes off
the upturned Jaguar. Howard and Mandy were still inside and it felt wrong to
leave them. She
’
d made a habit
of leaving people behind and she cursed herself for it. But what could she
do?
I can catch the sons of
bitches responsible, that
’
s what.
“
Move
your arse,
”
Mattock shouted.
Sarah bolted, disappearing into
an alleyway. It was the same direction that Ashley Foster had gone. Maybe if
she was lucky, they would run into one another.
I
t was 7:30AM when Sarah
stopped running. She reached a bus stop and keeled over, collapsing on the
bench and dangling her head between her legs. She could lay low there for a
while, pretending she was waiting for a bus. Hiding in plain sight.
She pulled the mob-sat from Dr
Bennett
’
s blazer and switched it on. She hit the icon marked, CONTACTS, and
a long list of names appeared, including Prime Minister Breslow herself.
A bus stopped at the side of the
road. Sarah remained seated until it closed its doors and drove away. When it
did, she searched the contacts list and found DIRECTOR PALU.
Palu picked up, but said
nothing, so Sarah stated her name.
“
Sarah,
are you alright? Mattock just reported in, he said you had to clear the area.
”
“
I
’
m fine. I
’
m a mess, but that was true when you hired me. I need picking up.
”
“
Where
are you?
”
Sarah looked around. She
spotted a bus timetable and read out the address.
“
I
’
m sitting in a bus
shelter in Botley. Bus stop 12, Raleigh Park Road.
”
“
Lay
low. Bradley
’
s on his way.
”
“
Roger
that.
”
“
Are
you injured?
”
“
Only
emotionally.
”
Sarah cleared
her throat. It
’
d been a joke, but it was kind of true.
“
I
…
killed Leanne
Foster. Mattock killed Paul Foster and Ashley got away. The whole family are
involved in this somehow.
”
Palu exhaled deeply.
“
Dr Bennett and I are looking into every
lead we have. We
’
ll figure
this out. Just sit tight, okay?
”
“
Will
do. I
’
ll report in if I have
to move.
”
“
Roger
that.
”
Sarah slunk forwards on the
bench and watched the morning traffic. She wandered if anybody else would die
today. If Hesbani struck again, there would be anarchy. The people of Great
Britain were a tough bunch, but they weren
’
t used to being victims. They were fighters, not defenders.
Forty minutes later, Bradley
skidded up in front of the bus stop, driving the remaining Jaguar from MCU. As
soon as Sarah closed the car door behind her, she felt safe again. She was
glad to see Bradley, and he looked glad to see her.
“
Are
you okay, Captain?
”
Sarah sighed.
“
I
’
m not a captain, so stop calling me that. Just get me back to the
Earthworm.
”
Bradley said nothing, but he
looked anxiously at her from the corner of his eye. Eventually he said,
“
Howard
’
s okay.
”
Sarah stared at him.
“
Really?
”
Bradley nodded.
“
He has a broken arm, but otherwise he
’
s okay.
”
“
What
about Mandy?
”
Bradley went quiet.
“
Bradley!
”
“
We
don
’
t know yet. He took a slug
in his lung. Mattock took him to John Radcliffe Hospital. He
’
ll tell us as soon as he knows anything.
”
Sarah let her head drop. She
was glad about Howard, but Mandy had taken a bullet meant for her.
“
What do we have on Ashley Foster?
”
she asked.
“
You can
’
t let her
get away with this.
”
“
We
can
’
t,
”
said Bradley.
“
Bennett and Palu are finding everything they can. There has to be a
reason the Fosters are involved in whatever
’
s going on. We
’
ll
find a way to link them to Hesbani, and then it
’
s only a matter of time.
”
Sarah rubbed lightly at her
scars and thought. Paul Foster had been concerned about his daughter getting
to safety, the same way any father would be. Something must have happened to
make a middle-class family man so militant. Finding out Paul Foster
’
s trigger could be the key to figuring
everything out.
Sarah was going to say her
goodbyes and get out of this situation before she got any deeper.
“
Is Howard back at the Earthworm?
”
she asked.
“
One
of Mattock
’
s men took him back,
”
Bradley confirmed.
“
I hear he reached you in the nick of time.
”
Sarah thought about Paul
Foster kneeling over her, about to pull the trigger.
“
Saved my life. Just like you did back at the clinic.
”
Bradley blushed.
“
Least I got a shot off. I
’
m improving.
”
Sarah didn
’
t allow him to make light of the matter.
“
You need to do better. You could have ended
the situation sooner. We would have Dr Cartwright in our custody if you
’
d taken Ashley down. Everything that
’
s happened this morning is because you didn
’
t pull the trigger the second you were
supposed to.
”
Sarah thought about
how quickly she had pulled the trigger on Leanne. She hadn
’
t hesitated.
“
Soon as you
’
re sure,
you need to act. People die if you don
’
t.
”
Bradley looked like he was
about to erupt into tears.
Sarah softened.
“
Look, I
’
m not one to give you a lecture. Since Howard brought me in, I
’
ve been nothing but a liability. But
unlike me, you
’
re sticking
around. You need to get better at this.
”
Bradley nodded. He seemed
suddenly determined.
“
I will.
”
“
So
you
’
re not going to quit
anymore?
”
“
Not
while there are people like Hesbani in the world. I want to do this. I
’
ll get better, I promise.
”
“
Don
’
t promise me. Promise yourself, because if
you don
’
t get better, you
’
ll be dead, and you
’
re too young and sweet for that to be okay.
”
Bradley chuckled.
“
Thank you, Captain.
”
“
It
’
s Sarah.
”
“
Sorry.
Thank you, Sarah.
”
Sarah cleared her throat.
“
Now, get me back to Dr Bennet so she can
give me more of the good stuff. My head has cleared, but the fuzziness left a
shitload of hurt in its place.
”
Bradley pulled onto the
highway and picked up speed.
“
So,
what are you doing all the way over in Botley?
”
Sarah shrugged.
“
I had to run. I just headed in the same
direction Ashley did. I kept on going but never found her. Eventually my legs
gave up and when I stopped I was in Botley.
”
“
It
’
s a nice little village,
”
Bradley said,
glancing out his window.
“
The kind of place where they still keep budgies as pets.
”
Sarah frowned as something
occurred to her.
“
Knutsford
was a nice little village, too.
”
Bradley
’
s expression slowly turned sour.
“
So were Studley, Arborfield, and Dartmouth.
”
Sarah didn
’
t like the feeling in her gut, like toxic
spores erupting.
“
You don
’
t think Botley could be a target, do you?
”
“
I don
’
t know. It
’
s a bit of a long shot. Ashley could have gone anywhere. All you
know is the direction she started in. Even if she
was
in Botley, it
doesn
’
t mean the village is a
target.
”
“
Get
Palu on the radio.
”
Bradley obliged and thumbed a
button on the steering wheel. The audible sound of dialling took over the car,
and then silence as Palu answered.
“
Palu,
it
’
s Sarah.
”
“
Sarah.
Are you with Bradley?
”
“
Yes,
we
’
re together. We think we
might have a lead on
Shab Bekhier
’
s next target. The village of Botley on the outskirts of Oxford.
”
Silence.
Bradley glanced at Sarah, then
tapped the dashboard with his finger.
“
Sir?
”
Palu came back.
“
Dr Bennett has found something, a reason
the Fosters might have a grudge.
”
“
Go
on,
”
Sarah said.
“
The
HS2 link.
”
Sarah and Bradley exchanged
confused looks. Sarah said,
“
The
train line the Government is building? What the hell does that have to do with
anything?
”
“
Paul
Foster and his family were forced to sell their home to make way for the
proposed route. Paul built the home himself twenty-five years ago and raised
his family there for two decades. He had a son who died of Leukaemia last
year, who was buried on the property.
”
“
That
’
s weird,
”
said Bradley.
“
But
not illegal. When the Government forced the sale of the land, they also
relocated the boy
’
s body.
”
“
Kicked
them out of their own home,
”
said
Bradley, tutting.
“
They
were compensated, of course,
”
Palu
added,
“
but that might be why
the family has a grudge against the country.
There was a short pause before
Palu said,
“
There
’
s also another link. Paul Foster runs a
construction company, and part of his services include demolition. We believe
he may have been the one supplying the explosives for the attacks; maybe even
designed the suicide vests. He has a license to obtain high explosives.
”
Sarah punched the dashboard.
“
All
this
because he was forced to
sell his mansion? There has to be more to it than that.
”
“
Perhaps,
”
said Palu,
“
but we
’
re still
working on it.
”