Read Online Spider's Web: A Collection of All-Action Short Stories by Stephen Leather - Free Book Online Page A
Book: Spider's Web: A Collection of All-Action Short Stories by Stephen Leather
Read Free Book Online
Authors: Stephen Leather
Ads: Link
going to shoot me in the head.’ Ilyushin was sitting in the back of his armoured Rolls-Royce, ashen faced and trembling. Shepherd nodded over at the car. ‘Ilyushin isn’t happy.’
‘He’s lucky that we found out about the contract,’ said Button. ‘If we hadn’t put you on his security team, he’d be dead.’
‘He very nearly was,’ said Shepherd. ‘And so was I.’
‘Once he knew the operation was blown, there’d be no point in him pulling the trigger,’ said Button. ̵ gyutton. 6;He’s a professional.’
Shepherd shook his head. ‘I could see it in his eyes. He was thinking about it. His finger tightened on the trigger and he was close. Then he had a change of heart.’
‘He probably assumed that as he hadn’t actually pulled the trigger and no one was hurt in the explosion the most he’d get was five or ten years with half off for good behaviour.’
Shepherd smiled. ‘Well, he got that wrong, didn’t he? He doesn’t know that we already have enough for conspiracy to commit murder in this case and enough evidence for the Americans to put him away for life times three for contracts carried out in the States.’
Button wagged her finger at him. ‘Just be grateful he didn’t know,’ she said. ‘Because then he might just have pulled the trigger.’
Coming soon from
STEPHEN LEATHER
The tenth SPIDER SHEPHERD all-action thriller
TRUE COLOURS
The Russian oligarchs are the world’s new elite. They treat the world as their plaything, travelling without borders and living lives of unimaginable luxury without fear or restraint.
But when an assassin starts killing off some of the world’s richest men, an oligarch with friends in high places seeks the protection of MI5. And Spider Shepherd is placed in the firing line.
But while Shepherd has to save the life of a man he neither likes nor respects, he has to deal with a face from his past. The Taliban sniper who put a bullet in his shoulder turns up alive and well and living in London.
And Shepherd is in no mood to forgive or forget.
Out 18 July 2013
Read on for a gripping extract.
www.hodder.co.uk
AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN BORDER, 2002
The Chinook cleared a low ridge, dropped to the floor of a plateau and then rose again, following the steep slopes of a round-topped hill. The helicopter came to a hover and landed as the groundwash of the twin rotors stirred up a storm of dust and debris.
Jock McIntyre, Geordie Mitchell, Jimbo Shortt and Lex Harper jumped down and went into positions of all-round defence while Dan ‘Spider’ Shepherd and Captain Harry Todd unloaded six mopeds that had been lashed to the tailgate of the Chinook. They remained crouched and watchful as the Chinook took off, then took a few more minutes to watch and listen, allowing their hearing to become attuned to the quietness of the night after the din of the helicopter. They scanned the surrounding countryside for any movement or sign that might suggest they had been spotted. All was dark and quiet, and eventually McIntyre signalled to them to move out. He led the column of mopeds down the hill before looping around to make their way to the target.
McIntyre and Shepherd rode at the head of the column, with Harper, Todd and Shortt behind them and Mitchell as ‘Tail-end Charlie’ at the rear of the line. They rode without lights, their Passive Night Goggles allowing them enough vision to avoid pothoheiles and obstacles in the path.
The night was icy, the wind stinging their faces as they cleared the top of a ridge. McIntyre checked his GPS, signalled to the rest of the team, silenced his engine and freewheeled down the slope, towards the dark, indistinct shape of a tall building set into a fold of the hills.
They hid the mopeds in a clump of trees a hundred yards from the target and moved forward on foot, carrying the sections of ladder and the prepared charges, and leaving a faint trail of their boot-prints on the
‘He’s lucky that we found out about the contract,’ said Button. ‘If we hadn’t put you on his security team, he’d be dead.’
‘He very nearly was,’ said Shepherd. ‘And so was I.’
‘Once he knew the operation was blown, there’d be no point in him pulling the trigger,’ said Button. ̵ gyutton. 6;He’s a professional.’
Shepherd shook his head. ‘I could see it in his eyes. He was thinking about it. His finger tightened on the trigger and he was close. Then he had a change of heart.’
‘He probably assumed that as he hadn’t actually pulled the trigger and no one was hurt in the explosion the most he’d get was five or ten years with half off for good behaviour.’
Shepherd smiled. ‘Well, he got that wrong, didn’t he? He doesn’t know that we already have enough for conspiracy to commit murder in this case and enough evidence for the Americans to put him away for life times three for contracts carried out in the States.’
Button wagged her finger at him. ‘Just be grateful he didn’t know,’ she said. ‘Because then he might just have pulled the trigger.’
Coming soon from
STEPHEN LEATHER
The tenth SPIDER SHEPHERD all-action thriller
TRUE COLOURS
The Russian oligarchs are the world’s new elite. They treat the world as their plaything, travelling without borders and living lives of unimaginable luxury without fear or restraint.
But when an assassin starts killing off some of the world’s richest men, an oligarch with friends in high places seeks the protection of MI5. And Spider Shepherd is placed in the firing line.
But while Shepherd has to save the life of a man he neither likes nor respects, he has to deal with a face from his past. The Taliban sniper who put a bullet in his shoulder turns up alive and well and living in London.
And Shepherd is in no mood to forgive or forget.
Out 18 July 2013
Read on for a gripping extract.
www.hodder.co.uk
AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN BORDER, 2002
The Chinook cleared a low ridge, dropped to the floor of a plateau and then rose again, following the steep slopes of a round-topped hill. The helicopter came to a hover and landed as the groundwash of the twin rotors stirred up a storm of dust and debris.
Jock McIntyre, Geordie Mitchell, Jimbo Shortt and Lex Harper jumped down and went into positions of all-round defence while Dan ‘Spider’ Shepherd and Captain Harry Todd unloaded six mopeds that had been lashed to the tailgate of the Chinook. They remained crouched and watchful as the Chinook took off, then took a few more minutes to watch and listen, allowing their hearing to become attuned to the quietness of the night after the din of the helicopter. They scanned the surrounding countryside for any movement or sign that might suggest they had been spotted. All was dark and quiet, and eventually McIntyre signalled to them to move out. He led the column of mopeds down the hill before looping around to make their way to the target.
McIntyre and Shepherd rode at the head of the column, with Harper, Todd and Shortt behind them and Mitchell as ‘Tail-end Charlie’ at the rear of the line. They rode without lights, their Passive Night Goggles allowing them enough vision to avoid pothoheiles and obstacles in the path.
The night was icy, the wind stinging their faces as they cleared the top of a ridge. McIntyre checked his GPS, signalled to the rest of the team, silenced his engine and freewheeled down the slope, towards the dark, indistinct shape of a tall building set into a fold of the hills.
They hid the mopeds in a clump of trees a hundred yards from the target and moved forward on foot, carrying the sections of ladder and the prepared charges, and leaving a faint trail of their boot-prints on the
Similar Books
