Read Online Flight Path: A Wright & Tran Novel by Ian Andrew - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Ian Andrew
Ads: Link
shoulder. “All set?” She asked, receiving whispered agreement from her two followers.
They crossed the road to the terrace side of the street. Jacob walked out and around her, going to the far side of the single ground-floor window. Tien stopped short, once more hidden in shadows. Kara stepped up and raised the dulled brass knocker that was mounted on the faded black door. She rapped twice and waited.
The venetian blinds on the window to Kara’s right twitched and Amberley’s face looked out into the night. His hand against the glass to see better, he looked at her and frowned. She faced him, illuminated by the window’s light-spill, and raised the mobile phone. Giving her best fake-smile she waggled the phone as if to say, ‘look what I found’. The blinds dropped back into place.
“Jacob,” Kara said softly and he came to stand to her left-hand side. The sound of a deadbolt being withdrawn at the top of the door and a chain being released from the latch were the precursors to the final Yale lock being turned. As Amberley opened the door fully, Kara took a step to her right. The stockily built Jacob exploded into the tiny hallway, his left arm went around Amberley’s waist while his right hand clamped over the shocked man’s mouth. Jacob’s momentum and the six inch height advantage he enjoyed allowed him to lift the smaller man easily. Kara followed close behind. Tien stepped into the hall, casually shutting the door to the outside world.
ɸ
The house was a traditional Victorian terrace but with additions. The original living room to the front, facing the street, was connected to the kitchen by the narrow hallway which also accommodated the stairs. At some point in its history the house had had a two-storey extension added to the rear, hence the back garden being reduced to what Tien had called a postage stamp. The rear extension housed a small dining room on the ground floor, accessed through an arched opening from the kitchen. Upstairs, the extension accommodated a bedroom, which had allowed one of the original two bedrooms to be converted into a mid-landing bathroom with toilet.
A further flight of stairs led up to a third storey with a single long, narrow attic room running from front to back of the house. As Kara glanced into it she saw it was fitted with dormer windows to both the front and rear elevations and crammed with cardboard boxes. By the time she returned from her quick look around and entered the dining room, Amberley had been secured by Jacob and Tien.
“Hello Francis,” Kara said as she pulled a dining room chair out from the small round table and sat down facing him. “So nice of you to have proper wooden dining chairs. Makes securing your hands behind you so much easier. It even lets my friends here tie each ankle to its own proper chair leg. How thoughtful of you!”
Amberley’s mouth was covered in grey duct tape but his eyes were clearly visible and they were darting around much as they had in the Old Seafarer. He looked at Tien who stood in the archway leading to the kitchen then he strained to see Jacob, who stood behind him. Not able to twist around, he focussed again on Tien, then Kara, the ceiling, the floor and back to Kara. His breath was ragged through his nose and his body, even though restrained, was still bent slightly forward from the waist.
Kara waited for his eyes to settle back on her. “Now Francis. You have some explaining to do, but I have some facts for you to contemplate first. We are not the police. We do not give a damn about the Police and Criminal Evidence Act. We do not consider that you have any rights and even if we did, we wouldn’t uphold them. We do ,” she stressed the word as dramatically as she could, “care about a few things that you should know about.” Amberley’s eyes darted off her again to Tien. Kara leant forward and slapped the flat of her right hand against the wooden dining room table. The force of the blow sounded
They crossed the road to the terrace side of the street. Jacob walked out and around her, going to the far side of the single ground-floor window. Tien stopped short, once more hidden in shadows. Kara stepped up and raised the dulled brass knocker that was mounted on the faded black door. She rapped twice and waited.
The venetian blinds on the window to Kara’s right twitched and Amberley’s face looked out into the night. His hand against the glass to see better, he looked at her and frowned. She faced him, illuminated by the window’s light-spill, and raised the mobile phone. Giving her best fake-smile she waggled the phone as if to say, ‘look what I found’. The blinds dropped back into place.
“Jacob,” Kara said softly and he came to stand to her left-hand side. The sound of a deadbolt being withdrawn at the top of the door and a chain being released from the latch were the precursors to the final Yale lock being turned. As Amberley opened the door fully, Kara took a step to her right. The stockily built Jacob exploded into the tiny hallway, his left arm went around Amberley’s waist while his right hand clamped over the shocked man’s mouth. Jacob’s momentum and the six inch height advantage he enjoyed allowed him to lift the smaller man easily. Kara followed close behind. Tien stepped into the hall, casually shutting the door to the outside world.
ɸ
The house was a traditional Victorian terrace but with additions. The original living room to the front, facing the street, was connected to the kitchen by the narrow hallway which also accommodated the stairs. At some point in its history the house had had a two-storey extension added to the rear, hence the back garden being reduced to what Tien had called a postage stamp. The rear extension housed a small dining room on the ground floor, accessed through an arched opening from the kitchen. Upstairs, the extension accommodated a bedroom, which had allowed one of the original two bedrooms to be converted into a mid-landing bathroom with toilet.
A further flight of stairs led up to a third storey with a single long, narrow attic room running from front to back of the house. As Kara glanced into it she saw it was fitted with dormer windows to both the front and rear elevations and crammed with cardboard boxes. By the time she returned from her quick look around and entered the dining room, Amberley had been secured by Jacob and Tien.
“Hello Francis,” Kara said as she pulled a dining room chair out from the small round table and sat down facing him. “So nice of you to have proper wooden dining chairs. Makes securing your hands behind you so much easier. It even lets my friends here tie each ankle to its own proper chair leg. How thoughtful of you!”
Amberley’s mouth was covered in grey duct tape but his eyes were clearly visible and they were darting around much as they had in the Old Seafarer. He looked at Tien who stood in the archway leading to the kitchen then he strained to see Jacob, who stood behind him. Not able to twist around, he focussed again on Tien, then Kara, the ceiling, the floor and back to Kara. His breath was ragged through his nose and his body, even though restrained, was still bent slightly forward from the waist.
Kara waited for his eyes to settle back on her. “Now Francis. You have some explaining to do, but I have some facts for you to contemplate first. We are not the police. We do not give a damn about the Police and Criminal Evidence Act. We do not consider that you have any rights and even if we did, we wouldn’t uphold them. We do ,” she stressed the word as dramatically as she could, “care about a few things that you should know about.” Amberley’s eyes darted off her again to Tien. Kara leant forward and slapped the flat of her right hand against the wooden dining room table. The force of the blow sounded
Similar Books
