Read Online Code Shield by Eric Alagan - Free Book Online

fluffs of snow floated down.
    Tara pulled up her collars, buried her hands deep into her pockets and followed him. A small breeze caught her black sable fur hat. She stopped, turned and addressed the pale faced man in the car,
    â€œYou coming?”
    Lowe ignored her and folded his arms. Tara wondered whether he was cold or was simply putting on a tantrum. Either way she was not bothered.
    â€œOkay, suit yourself,” Tara was nonchalant, “If there’s a hit man lurking around, he’ll probably get the guy in the car first. It’s the worst place for you to be, especially since the Volvo is not bullet proof. You should’ve taken the Skoda instead, fully armoured. But I suppose that would be beneath your status.”
    That caught the assistant director’s attention and he fumbled with the car door, hurried out and caught up with his two companions,
    â€œShouldn’t we get police backup from your Russian friends? What if the Mafiya are waiting for us inside?” His voice had turned meek, lost all the arrogance displayed in the embassy.
    â€œStop bleating and arm yourself,” snapped Tara as she continued to stride towards the workshop.
    â€œWhat –” Lowe stopped, fumbled under his heavy overcoat. He pulled out the Smith & Wesson, his other hand reaching under his coat for the rounds. Unaccustomed to handling the weapon while wearing thick gloves and with his hands shaking uncontrollably, the rounds slipped through his fingers and were lost in the soft snow. “Wait, I –”
    Benjamin and Tara reached the shed. A corrugated access door swung lazily in the breeze, banging shut, squeaking open.
    Benjamin noticed that Tara slipped her hand over the holster under her armpit but did not pull out her weapon. He straddled the door with his .38 revolver clasped in both hands and pointed up next to his ear.
    When she nodded, Benjamin pushed the door open and stepped aside.
    In one lightning move, Tara darted in and to the side, away from the outside light.
    Benjamin marvelled at her agility. He waited a second before rolling into the workshop and getting up in a crouch, the gun held steady in his outstretched hands.
    The workshop was gloomy and had a dusky stale smell. The place was dead silent except for the slow drip of water. Peering into the dark, it took his eyes a few moments to dilate.
    Tara had retrieved a small torch from her pocket.
    â€œI’ll get some bigger lights,” offered Benjamin and stepped into the day.
    He found the CNB man on all fours, scratching away the snow and searching for the spilled rounds.
    Ignoring the white horse’s fatuous efforts, Benjamin retrieved a couple of powerful flashlights and re-joined Tara. He found her at a worktable, inspecting several empty luggage bags – the linings in the bags ripped open, the locating beacons flashing intermittent red lights.
    A few minutes later, Lowe stepped meekly into the workshop.
    â€œAre these yours?” Tara asked and the assistant director assented.
    â€œThese guys are smarter than you think, Lowe,” said Tara. “They probably dumped the bags here right after they lost us yesterday. So, this was your great idea to track down these guys?”
    â€œI’m missing one,” whispered Lowe.
    â€œWhat?” asked Tara, her head shaking with incredulity.
    â€œThe bullets dropped in the snow. One is missing. What do you people do? How do you account for –?” Lowe’s voice trailed away.
    Benjamin burst out laughing, Toilet training all right!

Chapter 10
    Michael took shelter under a tembusu tree, at the far end of the public car park beside Jurong Police Station. The heat and the humidity were stifling. He realised too late that he should not have had that last cup of coffee.
    Now his bladder was full and he dared not leave the place as it would mean a ten-minute hop across the road to the hawker-centre and back, and he did not want to miss Sergeant