• • •
The fire crackled and popped from the green twigs Andrei had collected near to the old petrol station. The abandoned building had been selected as a camp for the night. NAG soldiers set up a perimeter in case of attack, and some were already on guard duty. He lit a cigarette and coughed after the first draw.
‘Ahem.’
Andrei turned to see Elijah standing over him.
‘Bounty Hunter. Pull up a tyre and watch the fire with me. It’s the best way to end the day.’
The big man sat down on a dusty truck tyre and lit a cigar. ‘I see the captain’s calls are getting more animated now. Any idea who he is talking to?’
‘Tell me, Elijah. Why are you suddenly interested in my opinion? I thought you had it all under control.’
The big man smiled as he took a draw on his cigar. ‘Just weighing up my options. You have a wealth of military knowledge, plus you know my target. Why wouldn’t I check in with you especially since you don’t order me about as the captain does? You’re an older warrior who has shown me respect. It’s something that’s missing in today’s armies.’
‘Kind flattery, but much appreciated at my stage of life,’ Andrei said, looking back at the fire. ‘Alonso is talking to someone more senior now. I have noted a big change in his demeanour on the calls. I think it is Byrdich or someone of that level.’
‘But that’s who I deal with. I’ll have a chat with him and ask him why he’s talking to Alonso.’
‘Why don’t we let it play out?’ Andrei said. ‘They don’t know we suspect them, so let’s leave it like that.’
Elijah smiled and stared at the fire.
‘I’ve been making a few calls of my own to a person who’s been helping Gibbs for years. They are getting me information as we speak. You will benefit too as we get closer. I made that promise to you,’ Andrei said.
‘That’s great, but my informants are starting to come through now, especially one particular person. We’re closer than anyone has ever got. We have time, and I have patience.’
‘This is true, but I will have Gibbs’s satphone number in a few hours. Your attack on the radio station has forced him to use a secondary support person.’
‘Sharon the DJ?’
Andrei smiled.
‘I thought she was key to this all. Alonso questioned her but got nothing.’
‘He didn’t know how to ask.’
‘I guessed that,’ Elijah said. ‘She was key to Gibbs’s success for many years?’
‘I can’t say too much just in case you’re sent after her next, but yes, she was key.’
‘You know I had a brief interaction with the Hooded Man before.’
‘Really? When?’
‘I guess, like you, I’m one of the few men to know and recognise the face behind the mask. It’s why I got given the job over the other hunters. It was all because of a safe haven in California. He saved a lot of people, including a couple of my friends.’
‘Yet still you hunt him.’
‘Who wouldn’t want to have capturing the Hooded Man on his resumé? I mean he’s the people’s champion, the thorn in the side of the NAG, and all gang lords up and down the country. This would lift me higher than all of my peers, solidify my reputation with my employer.’
‘So, it’s not just the money then. You are ambitious. That I find interesting.’
‘Why?’
‘That you are prepared to topple the people’s champion to look good in the eyes of the oppressive NAG.’
Elijah spun his head towards Andrei, his eyes dark in the firelight. A nerve had been pricked, a string in the man’s conscience had been plucked. There was turmoil within him that could be exploited. Andrei took a draw of his cigarette and exhaled with a smile.
Chapter 31
I75 to Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA – 2043
‘That bloody wheel is going to explode on us,’ Smithy said, adjusting the steering to miss potholes. ‘The bearing cannot take much more of this road, or the speed we’re hitting.’
‘We don’t have far to go. It’ll just have to hold.’
‘And if it blows, then what?’
‘We fix it, mate. We have the tools in the cupboards back there. It’ll just delay us for a couple of hours.’
‘Look, I know that you are keen to get in touch with Stuart. But we need this truck to be fully battleworthy.’
Gibbs’s eyes narrowed, and he looked at Smithy. ‘Arrgh. We are such frikkin numpties.’
‘What are you on about now?’
‘Our memories are worse than a couple of pensioners.’
‘Speak for yourself, old-timer.’
‘How many times did I make Stuart memorise the bloody satphone number?’
‘Yes, I remember. Why?’
‘There were messages waiting on the phone.’
‘Shit. How the hell could you forget to check then? Do you think he’ll have called it?’
‘Only one way to find out. It’s in the compartment in your door.’
Smithy passed him the black phone and watched as he turned it on. The satphone logo flickered at him for thirty long seconds. Gibbs stared at the top left-hand corner. More seconds passed.
‘Is it on? Smithy said.
Gibbs waved him away. More seconds. Everything looked normal as the phone made the connection. The battery was full.
‘Anything?’ Smithy said, checking his steering as he drifted to the centre barrier.
Gibbs smiled as the little envelope icon appeared. ‘Bingo. I knew he’d find a way to call us.’
Gibbs dialled the mailbox number and then listened to the first message. It wasn’t Stuart’s voice but someone else he recognised. Looking across to Smithy, he shook his head. Smithy looked back at the road. The voice on the other end was a voice he’d not heard in nine years. A man who he’d considered a brother. Pressing the disconnect button, he looked out the window.
‘Who was it? The professor?’
‘Can you believe that was our old Russian friend?’
‘Kirilenko? Really? What did the old spook have to say?’
‘Nothing much. Just wants me to contact him urgently.’
‘So dial the bleeding number, will you,’ Smithy said. ‘You’ve got nothing better to do right now.’
The long intermittent dial tone added to Gibbs’s concern. Then the gruff voice of an old friend. ‘Hello?’
‘How are those young Russian mistresses treating you, old friend?’
A deep chuckle came as a reply. ‘If only I had a young Russian to warm my bed. I am rushing around this desert place called Nashville. The group of soldiers I am with are not very warm and inviting either.’
‘You’re in the US?’
‘I am,’ Andrei replied. Gibbs could hear the metal clink of a Zippo lighter and the gentle exhale of the man ten years his senior. ‘What are you up to nowadays?’
‘You know how it is with me. Either chasing lunatics or being chased by people in authority,’ Gibbs said.
‘And which might that be at the moment, Hooded Man?’
Gibbs laughed.
‘So much for keeping a low profile,’ Andrei said. ‘How is the boy?’
‘A young man now. In a bit of a bind too. We’re chasing a gang that has taken him and other friends prisoner.’
‘A mutual friend told me a little bit about what you’ve been up to. They passed the number of the second protocol over to me.’
‘Ah. I wondered what had changed.’
‘I didn’t want anyone at the NAG to jeopardise the work that you, or they, were doing. So, how can I help?’
‘Not sure just yet. We’re getting closer to tackling a nasty piece of work here. That has to happen first.’
‘This may not be what you needed to hear, but you’re very much a wanted man in Europe. And now you’re being chased by a determined man, who commands a dedicated group of NAG soldiers.’
‘I’ve heard the rumours,’ Gibbs said. ‘Who is bankroll
ing it all? NAG and NEG?’
‘Yes.’
‘What brings you onto my trail again?’
‘That idiot Rolin has convinced Byrdich that you need to be brought in for Butler’s murder. They are more determined than ever before. If you’ve heard the rumours, then you’ll know that they want you back. In chains or a body bag. The man I’m with is right on your tail.’
‘Can you text me this man’s number, Andrei? Where I am going, you never know what trouble I could get into. You might both have to come and rescue me,’ Gibbs said, sensing Smithy staring at him.
‘I will do that after this call,’ Andrei said.
‘Has Rolin tasked you with bringing me in then?’
‘The man’s an idiot and petrified of us meeting. I’ve come here off my own back, so it would be great to see you. I have news that I want to share with you.’
‘What news? You got someone pregnant?’
Andrei chuckled then coughed a little. ‘No, nothing like that but it needs to be face to face. I’ve also got something to pass on to you.’
‘Have you got some dodgy disease from your Russian mistress?’
‘There are cures for those things in Russia now,’ Andrei said, chuckling as he exhaled again. Gibbs could picture the filterless cigarette between the man’s teeth.
‘Get me the Bounty Hunter’s number, and I’ll keep you informed of how we go with this gang lord.’
‘Take care, my friend.’
Gibbs pressed the disconnect button and tossed the phone onto the dashboard.
‘Have you lost your mind?’ Smithy said.
‘Take a deep breath. We need to plan for all eventualities here.’
‘What could warrant you needing the number of the man who’s hunting you? This is not the United Nations. There’s no negotiating with the NAG.’
‘I’ll do everything I can to protect Stuart. You know that. I want to give Stuart the best chance at a good life. I used to think it was somewhere in South America.’
‘So what’s changed then? This is a small hiccup. We’ll get him back.’
‘I know we will. Rebus is just another Butler to me. It’s not just Stuart anymore. It’s all the others and all the people who could still fall foul of this demented fuck or the next one waiting in the wings. If I can negotiate with this Bounty Hunter about helping to get everyone’s safe release, why wouldn’t I? You’d do the same.’
‘How are you going to get them on our side?’
‘Not sure, but for now, we need to focus on Rebus.’
‘You think it’ll help to have Andrei here?’
‘He’s with the Bounty Hunter right now. So, yes. It sure as hell changes the game.’
Chapter 32
Gatlinburg Inn, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA – 2043
Leather trousers in the desert heat were not the wisest choice he’d ever made, but image was everything.
The peeling façade of the Gatlinburg Inn was in front of Rebus as he pulled himself out of the van. What may have been green or blue paint had yellowed below five white gabled window dormers. The main door to the hotel was beneath a concrete lean-to, sheltering the open door from the midday sun. The rest of the building was stone bricked walls with three crumbling chimneys.
‘Tell the men to set up camp in that supermarket parking lot we just passed,’ Rebus said.
‘Do you want me to send men up the skylift?’ Skink said, having walked over from a second van.
‘If they get it to work, then fine,’ Rebus said looking at the property to their left. The cable lift looked intact. It disappeared from behind the inn, up the side of the steep hill to a lookout point. This sat on the top of the mountain range that ran parallel behind the hotel. His glance drifted along the top of the range. Who could be watching? ‘Let me know if it does work. Enyo and I might have dinner up there tonight. It would be nice to get above it all. The flat desert around us is so depressing.’
‘Yes, sir,’ Skink said and walked over to three of Rebus’s waiting generals.
Two men, who’d gone in through the inn reception to scout the place out, walked back glancing over their shoulders. The taller of the two men pulled down his cloth mask and bowed. ‘Rebus. There is an old man in there. A kind of shaman. Won’t leave.’
‘And you didn’t kill him?’
‘Was going to. Then he said that he knew we were coming and that we’d never leave here alive. Scared the shit out of me.’
Rebus tingled, as a shiver went along his spine. His aunt had taken him to a shaman before she died, and he was forced to go back and live with his father. ‘You know how I feel about these witchdoctors. Go back there and kill the old bastard, or I’ll make his prophecy happen to all of you.’
The two men looked at one another, then back at him.
Pulling his old Beretta pistol, from his belt, he pointed it at the taller of the two. ‘Get rid of the man.’
Enyo stepped between Rebus and the men. ‘Let me go with these idiots and talk to this shamen. I’m curious to hear what fantasy he’s come up with from his drug-filled haze. Indulge me, lover. I had to sit quietly in that bloody van of yours for five hours.’
A wave of relief came over him. She would do what was right. He nodded and lowered the gun.
‘Rebus?’ Skink said.
‘Jesus, Skink. Do you have to creep up on me like that all the time? I’m going to shoot you one day.’
‘Sorry. Just to let you know that I couldn’t get the lift to work.’
‘Have you got the engineer to look at it?’
‘Spanner has passed out. Partied too hard last night.’
‘Beat him awake if you have to, but get that lift working. It’s a good vantage point to see an attack coming.’
A large battle truck pulled up on the street outside the parking lot of the inn. Two men jumped down from the cab and opened the side door. Rebus felt his mood lifting. A smile spread across his face as the Floodlanders stepped down from the truck. The first two were hardmen, ex-soldiers maybe, followed by a tall Amazon woman like his Enyo. All the rest were dressed in smart clothes, not in rags or patched up jackets and trousers. They were soft and would fetch him good money from the northern gangs.
‘Are these the prisoners from the enclave?’ Rebus asked, pulling Skink back.
‘Yes, from Constance.’
‘Oh, goody. Let’s have a look at them.’
‘Rebus, what about the skylift?’ Skink said.
‘Forget about that. Get them all to form a line in front of me.’
Skink jogged off and herded the people around the front fence and into the hotel lot. Placing all the adult men and women in the back, he positioned the teenagers and children in the front.
‘I saw residential properties down the road. Get the men to lock them all up there when we’re finished.’
‘Yes, sir,’ Skink said, walking along the front of the group. He pulled a teenage girl out, grabbing her by the hair as he kissed her on the open mouth.
‘Come on, Skink. Focus on the job,’ Rebus said, stopping mid-speech as a blur of movement flashed between the men at the back of the group.
A white-haired boy jumped over to Skink and punched him in the side of the head, sending him reeling back. A well-placed kick to the chest sent Rebus’s nephew hurling backwards, landing on his backside. A guard ran forward and swung an old police truncheon at the boy’s head. He ducked, swinging both fists to the man’s midriff, then grabbing the guard’s head, the boy jumped into the air. The crunch was audible as his knee smashed into the man’s face. Two 38 Roadsters ran forward and tackled the boy, who headbutted the side of one of the men’s heads as they went down on the tarred parking lot floor. Another two guards came forward to grab his feet.
‘Bring that young man to me,’ Rebus said, feeling his arousal from the violence spreading through him.
Skink screamed, getting to his feet while holding the side of his head. He staggered a little and tried to grab the teenager but miss
ed and fell over.
‘Someone help Skink, please.’
‘Leave that to me,’ Enyo said as she walked past Rebus. She grabbed Skink by his long hair and dragged him up to his feet. He squealed and tried to loosen the grip as he was dragged away. ‘That hurt, you bitch.’
‘Enyo, take it easy,’ Rebus said.
The guards brought the tall boy forward, a large hunting knife at his throat. One of the men had grabbed a handful of his white hair and yanked his head back as they walked. The boy was dressed in a brown shirt, and black trousers tucked into grubby old boots.
‘Now, young man. I need you to calm the fuck down. What is your name?’ The boy’s eyes darted across to Skink then back to Rebus. Veins bulged down the side of his head and neck. He spat at Rebus. ‘That’s all a bit feral, but I like a boy with an attitude. I look forward to making you regret this personally one night this week,’ Rebus said, taking a red cloth out of the inner pocket of the waistcoat he was wearing. A quick wipe of his face then he smiled at the boy. ‘Skink. I want you to have that girl tonight,’ Rebus said, watching the boy’s face.
‘Thank you, Rebus.’
‘Make sure this boy watches then leave her body for the coyotes,’ Rebus said, watching the boy strain at the guards, his face reddening. ‘I don’t think he’ll have the stomach to watch it all the way through, but it’ll teach him not to spit at me.’
The boy wrestled an arm free and elbowed the guard to his left. Lunging to his right, he tried to bite the other guard. His head jolted and then slumped forward, a rifle butt ending the scuffle.
Enyo stepped forward. ‘Rebus, let’s get this lot settled away somewhere. We need to formulate a plan to catch the Hooded Man.’
‘Shut up, you cow,’ Skink said. ‘We’re just having a little fun with these posh people.’
‘Call me that again, you snivelling little reptile, and I’ll cut off your little penis and make you wear it around your neck like a whistle.’
‘We have a plan to capture him already, my princess,’ Rebus said.
‘Exactly,’ Skink said, walking around to stand behind Rebus.
‘Your men were supposed to check in last night. They haven’t, have they? I’m guessing they’re all dead.’
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