Soft Target (Major Crimes Unit Book 2)

by Wright, Iain Rob

  “I don’t need protecting.”

  “Good for you. The rest of us aren’t perfect, so it’s nice to have a little help when we can get it.”

  They sat in silence for the next twelve miles. The roads were unusually quiet for a Monday afternoon. The latest terrorist tape had sent the country into hiding. People wouldn’t leave their houses for fear of getting blown to pieces by some maniac. Sarah wondered how many people had left their jobs today after the latest video. The economy would already be suffering just hours after the attacks. No doubt the Stock Market had plummeted as it was wont to do in times of crisis, just to add to the misery.

  Howard spoke over the radio, breaking the silence. Sarah hadn’t realised the Range Rovers were comm-linked. “I just got an update from Palu,” he said. “Cartwright’s receptionist said the doctor is with patients today. He’s at his office. Mission to extract is green, but we need to go in soft. Our target is in place but we can’t afford to endanger civilians.”

  “Civilians are in danger every time they cross the street,” Sarah said. “So what’s the plan?”

  “I’ll go in alone and speak with the doctor. If I feel he has information on the attacks, I’ll bring him in.”

  “Alone?” Bradley asked.

  “I can take a civilian on my own easily enough, Bradley. If I need your help I’ll give the signal. Keep your line open.”

  “Roger that,” Bradley said.

  Sarah folded her arms. “So, our orders are to sit in the car and do nothing? Not very James Bondy.”

  “Don’t worry,” Bradley said. “I play a mean eye-spy.”

  Sarah didn’t know if the kid was joking.

  The entire day had been like something out of a bad novel. It was as if all the ghosts of Sarah’s past had teamed up to haunt her all at once: Hesbani, Al-Sharir…her father. And somehow she had the feeling that things were only going to get worse.

  Sarah lowered her speed. Suddenly she wasn’t in such a hurry.

  WHO DARES WINS

  They entered the city of Oxford forty minutes later, driving through the high street and cutting between the Norman, Gothic, and Victorian architecture that mingled with the grand buildings of the world’s oldest English-speaking university. It was a city that cried ‘England,’ but at the same time was undeniably cosmopolitan.

  As Sarah moved through loose traffic, she spotted students of various nationalities talking, hugging, and crying as they no doubt discussed the day’s terrible events. It was a microcosmic example of how the world could be when petty differences and culture were set aside. It almost restored Sarah’s faith in humanity, until she remembered that Wazir Hesbani had also attended Oxford University. How many of these kids will grow up to be monsters?

  Howard came over the radio. “The clinic is a half-mile from here,” he said. “Stay close, but keep a little distance. When I park up, find a place nearby and wait for my signal. Mandy will be on standby in case I need to make an extraction. Bradley, you and Sarah are to remain in a support role.”

  “Roger that.”

  The radio went silent.

  “The only thing with a support role in this car is my bra,” said Sarah, making Bradley blush. “Any sign of trouble and I’ll go get the doctor myself.”

  “We don’t know the doctor had anything to do with the bombings.”

  “For his sake, I hope not.”

  Howard took a series of side streets that led into an office district. The buildings were modern and red-bricked, in contrast to the darker stone buildings of the city centre. Sarah followed behind until he pulled into a small car park in front of a three-story building. Sarah overshot the car park and came to a halt around the corner in front of a newsagent.

  “I’m entering the building now,” Howard said over the radio. “Stand by.”

  Sarah leaned forward and replied, “Roger that, ten-four, Captain Badger.”

  Howard didn’t reply, but she heard him sigh before the radio cut off.

  “Why do you like winding people up so much?” Bradley asked.

  “I can’t get laid. What else am I supposed to do for kicks?”

  Bradley blushed, but he kept on at her. “Do you mean because of your scars? That puts men off?”

  “What d’you think?”

  Bradley shrugged. “I don’t know. I imagine people would stop noticing after a while. I don’t think it’s as much of a problem as you think. My little sister has spina bifeda but she never lets it hold her back. She’s happy. It’s all about how you look at yourself, not how other people look at you.”

  “Your sister is unhappy, trust me. The brave face she puts on is just for you. She knows that if she feels sorry for herself you’ll all grow tired of her. Every time she smiles she dies a little more inside, trying to make herself less of a burden to the rest of you. Your sister might be brave, but she’s not happy.”

  “Screw you,” Bradley said, suddenly flushed in the face.

  Sarah grinned. “There you go. Sooner you realise the world is less Disney and more News at 10, the better.”

  Bradley stared out of his window in silence.

  Sarah glanced around, checking out the area where they’d parked. It was a nice part of town. New buildings nestled between patches of grass and shade-giving trees. It looked just like the type of place you would expect to find a psychiatrist working, but certainly not a terrorist.

  Sarah noticed a girl working inside the newsagent was staring at them. She talked on a phone while eyeing the Range Rover suspiciously. Sarah and Bradley hadn’t broken any laws, they were just parked in the street. So why was this girl taking such interest in them?

  Something was off.

  From the way the girl’s vision was fixed on the Range Rover, there was no way she was looking at anything else. There was some sort of problem.

  Sarah had suffered enough scrutiny for one day. She got out of the Range, and climbed the single step into the newsagent’s front door. Howard wouldn’t like it, but she was damned if she was going to sit and be stared at the whole time she was waiting.

  When the girl saw he coming inside, she muttered something into the phone and hung up hastily. She gave Sarah a wide, welcoming smile. “Hi, there. How are you today?”

  “I’m fine. You okay with me parking out there

  The girl seemed confused and a little unsettled. It might have been because of Sarah’s scars. “No. No problem. You’re welcome to park there.”

  Sarah strolled around the shop, glancing at stacks of newspapers as if they were the most interesting things in the world and taking her time. Eventually she turned back to the girl. “You here all by yourself, sweetheart?”

  “I…yes, for the time being. Why do you ask?”

  “I used to work in a shop like this,” Sarah lied. “I remember how my boss used to leave me holding the fort all the time too. Sucks being all alone.” She walked up to the counter and placed both hands on it.

  The girl swallowed audibly.

  Sarah grinned, knowing that doing so would only distort her messed-up features even further. “Try to mind your own business, sweetheart,” she said. “I would hate if we were forced to become better acquainted.”

  Sarah left the newsagent and re-joined Bradley in the car.

  “Everything okay?” he asked her.

  “Something’s off about the girl in that newsagents. Don’t ask me why.”

  “You think she knows something?”

  “Either that or she’s just nosey beggar. Most shop workers don’t even give the time of day to customers standing in front of them, let alone a car parked outside on the road doing nothing. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt for now, but she’s got my spidey senses tickling. Heard anything from Howard?”

  “Nope, all’s quiet. Sorry.” By Bradley’s tone, it was clear he was still upset with her. When Sarah thought about what she’d said about his sister, she could maybe understand why.

  “Look, Bradley, I’m sorry—”

>   The radio squawked and Howard’s voice rang out. “Target has flown the nest. Repeat: target is gone. Be on the lookout, he got wind we were coming. Suspect is a middle-aged man, spectacles, receding brown hair, shirt, tie, trousers.”

  “Somebody must have warned him,” Bradley said.

  “That bitch.” Sarah leapt out of the Range and raced back into the newsagent. The girl was gone. A door in the back hung open. “I’m going to kick your skinny little ass,” Sarah shouted. She bounded through the open door and found herself in a bricked yard, but there was no sign of the girl.

  The sound of an engine.

  Sarah saw the sky-blue Citroen speeding towards her and shouted “Stop,” but without a gun, the demand was impotent. Yet, surprisingly, the driver stepped on the brake.

  Sarah rushed to the driver’s side door, snarling and shouting, but it was only an old lady at the wheel. Sarah immediately felt ashamed. “Oh! S-sorry, ma’am, I thought you were a friend of mine.”

  The old lady spluttered, “That’s how you treat your friends?” She sped off, no doubt wanting to get as far away from Sarah as she could. Sarah didn’t blame her.

  That ten-second delay could be all it took for the shop girl to get away, so Sarah got moving again. She heard racing footsteps ahead of her and went after them. She picked up speed, wishing she’d kept herself in better shape. The old wound in her thigh throbbed.

  She rounded a corner and caught sight of her target. They were heading back around to the front of the newsagent. Ahead was the doctor’s clinic, and Mandy, sitting in the other Range Rover. She’s making a play for the doctor, thought Sarah. I knew she was involved in something.

  Sarah tried to shout a warning to Mandy, but was too late. Her teammate was forced to duck down in his seat as the shop girl opened fire at him. Despite being unarmed, Sarah kept up her pursuit.

  Mandy managed to slip out of the driver’s side door and popped up over the hood to return fire from his own pistol, but the girl had him pinned down and his shots were all blind.

  Bradley appeared, coming up the left and adding another gun into the fray. Mandy held his cover on the right, while Sarah rushed up the back.

  The clinic’s main entrance opened and Howard appeared from within it. The girl had no place to go now, surrounded on all sides.

  But when Howard exited the building, he was not alone. A man fitting Dr Cartwright’s description was there also, and he had a syringe full of something pressed up against Howard’s jugular. “L-let me out of h-here,” he demanded, all three chins wobbling. “Let me out of here or I’ll fill him full of enough diazepam to kill a herd of buffalo.”

  “Take the shot, Mandy!” Howard snarled. “He’s got no place to go.”

  The shop girl fired at Mandy again and kept him pinned down behind the Range. Sarah tried to come up behind the girl, but only narrowly avoided getting a bullet in the temple. She skidded on her heels and put her hands up, really wishing that she’d asked for a gun before leaving the Earthworm.

  Bradley stood in a firing position to the left, but was struggling to keep his aim straight. His face was pale and sweating.

  “Everybody chill the fuck out,” said the shop girl. “Dr Cartwright, are you okay?”

  The fat doctor nodded. “I-I managed to take him by surprise. If you hadn’t warned me, Ashley…”

  The girl winced at the sound of her name being given away so cheaply. “You can thank me later. We have to get you out of here. Your skills are needed.”

  “Nobody’s going anywhere,” Howard said, defiant of the arm around his throat and the needle against his jugular.

  “Excuse me, handsome,” Ashley said, “but you’re not in a position to negotiate. I’m the one with the testicles here.”

  Mandy tried to creep up and let off another shot, but Ashley aimed at him and shook her head to warn him. Sarah eyed Bradley and tried to signal at him to shoot. He had a bead on the girl’s flank and could end this right now, but he was frozen on the spot.

  “What do you want?” Sarah decided to ask the girl, stalling for time while Bradley searched for his balls. “Why are you working with terrorists?”

  Ashley turned slightly so that she could see Sarah, who was now standing only twelve feet behind her. “Honey, we are terrorists.”

  “We are no such thing,” argued Dr Cartwright.

  Ashley rolled her eyes. “Keep telling yourself that, Doc, but you knew there was going to be blood on your hands eventually. You can’t change the world with hypotheses. We’ve all taken a hand in what’s happening. But don’t worry so much, Doc. Today’s terrorists are tomorrow’s freedom fighters. Just look at Mandela. Future generations will thank us, even if this one doesn’t.”

  “I want to get out of here,” Dr Cartwright said.

  Ashley switched her aim between Mandy, Bradley, and Sarah, then back again. “Doc, if anybody moves, inject that son-of-a-bitch with whatever it is you have there, understand me?”

  “Yes.”

  Ashley slid between a pair of parked cars and fumbled in her jeans pocket with her free hand, keeping the gun raised with her other.

  Sarah crept forward. Bradley followed her lead and got a little closer too, not that the kid would be of any use if he couldn’t pull the trigger.

  Ashley thumbed a button on a key fob and a blue Ford Focus flashed its lights. “Get in,” she told the doctor.

  “What about him?” The doctor was talking about Howard, still held hostage by his needle.

  “He comes with us.”

  “No,” said Sarah. “Hand him over and we’ll let you leave.”

  “I’m leaving anyway,” said Ashley. “So keep your compromises to yourself, freak.”

  Sarah really wanted to kick the girl’s ass now. We’ll see how pretty she is when I’m done with her.

  “Get in the car,” Ashley ordered the doctor again.

  Cartwright reached around Howard and pulled open the rear passenger door of the Ford. He then awkwardly began to shove and position Howard inside, but couldn’t keep the needle in place while doing it.

  Howard spun around on the back seat of the car, yanked the doctor down on top of him, and then headbutted him in the face.

  Cartwright slumped into the Ford’s rear foot well and wailed like a wounded lamb. Howard leapt out of the car and rolled across the tarmac, throwing himself behind a Toyota minivan for cover.

  Ashley immediately opened fire. She missed Howard with her first two shots, but quickly readjusted and fired the next two at Mandy just as he was about to pop up from cover.

  Sarah saw her chance and rushed toward the girl from behind. She made it halfway before something stung her shoulder and dropped her to her knees. Her vision tilted and she gritted her teeth as pain overwhelmed her.

  Ashley fired another round, this one at Mandy, and then several more at Bradley. Sarah remained on her knees, wondering who the hell this girl was and who had trained her.

  Sarah slumped forward onto her hands, feeling like she needed to be sick. Ashley approached her, an animalistic expression on her face. She pointed the gun at Sarah’s forehead. “You idiots have no idea what’s happening, do you? We’re going to bring this whole country to its knees. Too bad I’m going to put you out of your misery before you have chance to see it.”

  Sarah closed her eyes and waited for the sound of the gunshot that would end her life. She had expected death so many times before that she was actually a little glad it was finally here.

  Blam!

  Sarah flew backwards, but it was out of fright, not pain or impact. She opened her eyes and found Ashley clutching her right hand and cursing. Blood spewed from the girl’s fingertips. Her gun lay several feet away on the concrete.

  Bradley took another shot, but this one missed. Ashley leapt out of the way and sprinted for the Ford. Mandy let off several shots at her as she leapt in behind the steering wheel, but his clip ran dry and he was forced to reload.

  Ashley kicked close the rear door of
the car, trapping Dr Cartwright inside, and then slid behind the steering wheel. She was out of the car park and around the corner before the rest of them had chance to recover. Rather than chase their target, Howard, Bradley, and Mandy all rushed over to Sarah. Bradley knelt beside her and pressed his hand hard against her shoulder. It hurt like hell and made her eyes roll back in her head.

  “You’ve been shot,” Bradley said anxiously, “but you’re going to be okay. We’re going to get you help.”

  “It’s my fault,” Howard said. “I let the doctor get a jump on me.”

  “You’re letting her get away,” Sarah said, feeling herself fading.

  Howard stroked her hair. “She’s already gone. This whole thing has been a bust. Mandy, get her Sarah the Range Rover, we need to get her back to Dr Bennett.”

  Sarah felt herself being lifted into the air by a giant and then closed her eyes to dream.

  THE BLUE PILL

  AFGHANISTAN, 2008

  When Sarah opened her eyes, sweating stone surrounded her on all sides and the sun scorched through a narrow opening near the ceiling. It was like waking up inside a kiln.

  There was a wooden door at one end of the room and Sarah crawled over to it. Dirt and stone bit at her palms and her right leg dragged behind her, numb and heavy. When she reached the door she pulled herself halfway up it and shouted, “Let me out of here!”

  But no one came to help her. She knew nobody would, but something human inside of her wouldn’t allow her to just sit there and rot.

  Her face was on fire. A bandage covered her right leg, but her face was raw as she brushed it with her fingertips. Every touch felt like broken glass beneath her skin and brought tears to her eyes.

  She beat her fists against the wooden door, but it barely moved. It was ancient and thick, cut from a tree probably a hundred years dead. There was nothing of any use inside her pockets; they’d taken everything from her, even her dog tags.

  Sarah thought about her father and how ashamed he would be of her. Being captured was worse than death, in his eyes. Better to eat your own bullet than let the enemy take you. The SAS did not get captured…ever. If the enemy caught you it was because you’d stopped fighting, and when you stopped fighting you deserved everything you got.