The Long Shot (Stephen Leather Thrillers)

by Stephen Leather

  “Do you have a girlfriend? What does she think about the mark I left on you?” She drew one red-painted nail along the thick scar. “Or are you too embarrassed to show it to anyone?”

  She forced down the zipper of his jeans and pulled them down around his knees. She left them there, killing any idea he had of trying to kick her. In one swift movement she yanked down his boxer shorts, leaving him totally exposed. Joker felt his manhood shrink and his scrotum contract, sensing danger and trying to beat a retreat. Hennessy smiled at his reaction. “Can’t talk? Is that it?” She bent down and refilled the tumbler. “Perhaps a drink might help.” She threw the water into his face, hard. This time Joker managed to open his mouth and drink some of the water. He swallowed gratefully.

  “So, why were you following Bailey?” she asked.

  Joker dragged up what saliva he could and spat at her. He missed, and Hennessy smiled and shook her head sorrowfully. She refilled the tumbler with fresh water and put it on the workbench. “I thought you’d say that,” she said as she ripped open the box of salt. She poured a handful into the tumbler and stirred it with the blades of the scissors. “You know the routine, Mr Cramer. Any time you want me to stop, just start talking.” She picked up one of the kitchen knives and held it up to the light as she scrutinised the stainless-steel blade. She seemed unhappy with her selection and chose another. She walked over to Joker and held the tip of the blade under his nose, close to his left nostril. It was a short-handled knife with a sharp point, the type used to cut vegetables. She flicked the nostril with the blade, but not hard enough to draw blood. Joker stared at the knife. Hennessy rested the point against his left nipple and gently circled it with the blade, the way a lover might tease with her finger. She walked around Joker slowly, her eyes on his, drawing the knife along his skin but not cutting the flesh.

  “I’m not alone,” said Joker.

  Hennessy licked her lips. “If the cavalry was waiting outside, I rather think they’d be in here by now, don’t you? Face it, Mr Cramer. It’s just you and me. Oh, I forgot to tell you – our nearest neighbours are a mile away and we’re in the basement. The previous owner used it as a playroom for his three young children, so it’s well soundproofed. Feel free to scream your heart out.” She paused to allow her words to sink in. When she spoke again her voice sounded almost friendly. “Why were you following Matthew Bailey?” she asked.

  “You,” hissed Joker.

  “You were after me?” she said, testing the point of the knife with her thumb. “And when you found me? What then?”

  Joker remained silent.

  “There was a gun in your car,” she said.

  “Not mine,” he croaked.

  He bit down on his lip in anticipation of the pain to come. He heard her take a breath, then she pushed the point of her knife against his shoulder and twisted it so that it screwed into his flesh like a drill, gouging into the muscle so deeply that he was sure she’d go through to the bone. Joker screamed and twisted away, trying to escape the blade but his momentum swung him back, driving it even deeper. His scream became a roar, the pain so intense that it swamped the agony of his wrists.

  Hennessy took the tumbler of salt water and, with a smile that was almost canine, threw it onto the new wound. Joker screamed and passed out.

  Cole Howard was reading through the file on Carlos the Jackal when his phone rang. It was Kelly Armstrong.

  “Hiya, Kelly, how’s LA?” he asked.

  “Actually, Cole, I’m calling from Dulles Airport. The credit card was a dead end, so Jake Sheldon said I should give you a hand in Washington. That seems to be the focus of the investigation, right?” Howard closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He’d hoped that he’d seen the last of Kelly Armstrong for a while. At least until he’d wrapped up the investigation. “Hasn’t he spoken to you yet?” she asked.

  “No, he hasn’t,” said Howard, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

  “Well, never mind,” said Kelly. “He filled me in on the investigation so far and agrees that I’d be of more use working with you. Could you arrange clearance for me at the White House? I should be there within the hour.”

  “Okay,” said Howard. “You know that we’ve identified the people in the desert?”

  “Sheldon’s already briefed me,” she said, with maddening cheerfulness. “Ilich Ramirez Sanchez and the IRA. It’s a strange combination. How’s the computer simulation going?”

  “Slowly,” admitted Howard. “And now we know of the IRA involvement, we’re going to have to widen our search. I’ll explain when you get here.”

  “I’m on my way,” she said brightly and hung up, leaving Howard with a dead phone pressed against his ear. Helen came up to his desk and handed him a handwritten note. While he was on the line, Jake Sheldon had phoned and he wanted Howard to return his call. Howard went over to the office coffee machine and poured himself a black coffee. What he wanted more than anything was a real drink.

  Joker knew it was a dream, he knew that Mick Newmarch was dead and buried in the graveyard in Hereford, but that didn’t stop the horror of what he saw. He was handcuffed to a radiator, his wrists sore from pulling against them, his arms aching from the wrenching. He was throwing himself from side to side, trying to slip out his bleeding wrists, trying to pull the hot pipe away from the wall, trying anything so that he could help Newmarch and stop the gut-wrenching screams. He kept trying to avert his eyes from what was happening in the centre of the room but the cries and the screams kept pulling him back.

  His head slowly turned as if it was being forced around against his will. The lights were on in the farmhouse kitchen, the drapes drawn and shutters closed. Mick Newmarch was sprawled naked on a heavy oak table, his wrists shackled to the table legs at one end, his feet bound with hemp ropes at the other. His white skin was flecked with blood. Newmarch’s head was thrashing from side to side and he kept trying to raise his shoulders off the table like a wrestler resisting being held down for the count. Standing over him, wearing a bloodstained apron like some demented butcher, was Mary Hennessy, her blonde hair tied back with a piece of black ribbon. That was wrong, Joker knew, her hair back then wasn’t blonde, she was a brunette.

  Hennessy had a pitcher in her hands and she poured water over Newmarch’s face as he struggled. The water slopped off the table, carrying with it the blood from his wounds, and they pooled together on the tiled floor in pink rivers. The procedure had been the same for more than four hours. The verbal threats, the torture, the wounding, and then, once her victim had slid into unconsciousness, the water. “Come on Sass-man, look at your friend,” she said to Joker. “Look at him. You’re next.”

  She carried the empty jug back to the sink and refilled it from the cold tap. On the table, Newmarch sobbed like a baby, the cries wracking his whole body like spasms. Joker wanted to help with all his heart, but there was nothing he could do. After the first three hours she hadn’t been interrogating Newmarch: there had been no need for that because he’d told her everything. The two SAS men had been undercover, working as labourers on a farm close to the border during the day and hanging around the local pubs at night, trying to pick up any intelligence which would help the Army in its fight against the IRA. Newmarch had slipped up, his room had been searched and he’d been caught with a Smith & Wesson automatic under his mattress. They’d come for them at night, put black hoods over their heads and thrown them in the back of a Land-Rover. When the hoods had been removed they’d found themselves handcuffed in the farmhouse with Mary Hennessy.

  She’d started on Newmarch first, for no other reason than that he’d sworn at her when she asked them for their names and rank. She’d told him in minute detail what she planned to do, and her words had chilled Joker. Not what she’d said, but the way she’d said it, as if she was relishing the experience. She’d used the bolt-cutters first, removing Newmarch’s fingers one at a time, waiting between amputations for him to regain consciousness and using a poker h
eated on the farmhouse range to cauterise the wounds so that he wouldn’t die from loss of blood. Newmarch had told her everything as he begged her to stop. He told her what he and Joker were doing, where they were based, previous operations they’d worked on, and the names of six other SAS men who were working undercover in the border country.

  Hennessy took a large, shiny knife and held it up so that Joker could see it. “Watch, Sass-man,” she said. She held his gaze almost hypnotically, and try as he might he couldn’t look away. She reached down to Newmarch’s groin and with her left hand she cupped the man’s scrotum like a greengrocer weighing plums. She edged the blade under the testicles, keeping it horizontal. Newmarch screamed, a blood-chilling yell that echoed around the white-walled kitchen, and then slowly, almost sensually, Hennessy sliced the knife upwards, severing the scrotum. Newmarch passed out, but the silence was worse than the screaming. Joker had never seen so much blood, it poured like a waterfall over the table and splashed onto the tiles. Hennessy walked over to Joker, the ruptured tissue in her hand, and slapped him across his face, left then right. That was wrong, thought Joker, she hadn’t slapped him until later, until he was shackled to the table. He knew that he was dreaming, but the slaps kept coming, burning his cheeks. It was only a nightmare, one he’d had many times before, but the pain in his wrists was excruciating.

  Slap, slap, slap. Joker opened his eyes. It was no dream, he was still hanging from the pipe and Mary Hennessy, blonde and three years older than when she’d tortured and killed Mick Newmarch, stood before him. “Wake up, Cramer,” she said. She drew back her hand and slapped him again. He blinked and felt tears sting his eyes. “Are you crying, Sass-man?” she asked.

  Joker shook his head. “No,” he said. The inside of his mouth felt red raw as if the lining had been stripped away.

  “How did you know Bailey was here?” she asked.

  “Followed him,” said Joker. He had to keep her talking, he knew, because when he stopped talking she’d hurt him again. It was almost a game. If he kept silent, she’d hurt him. If he told her everything, she’d kill him. His only chance of survival was to extend the middle period as long as possible.

  Hennessy smiled and ran her finger down the scar on his stomach. “From where?” she asked.

  Joker coughed and tasted blood. Her nails scratched the thatch of hair around his stomach and slowly travelled down to his groin. “From where?” she repeated.

  “The airfield,” he said.

  Her hand burrowed between his legs and he felt her nails tighten around his scrotum. The movement would have been almost sexual if Joker hadn’t been so terrified and if Hennessy hadn’t had such a murderous gleam in her eyes. “How did you know he’d be there?” she said. The fingers tightened.

  Joker’s mind whirled. He had to work out what she knew and what she didn’t, give her only the information she already had and spin the rest out until he could find some way of escaping. She knew he was in the SAS, she knew his real name, there was a reasonable chance that the men in New York had told her that he’d been asking questions about Bailey in Filbin’s. All of this she probably knew, so what secrets was she after? What did she want to know? The fingers squeezed, suddenly and viciously, and he screamed. His testicles felt like eggs being clamped in a vice and he was sure that one more turn and the shells would crack and splinter. Hennessy’s hands relaxed but the pain didn’t decrease, it seemed to spread up his spine and into his stomach. He drew one of his legs up as far as he could and that seemed to ease it somewhat, but it was still excruciating. Hennessy’s hand slid back to his groin and hovered inches from his aching reproductive organs. “Don’t play dumb with me, Cramer. I haven’t even started with you yet. Remember Newmarch? That’s nothing compared with what I have in store for you if you don’t talk.”

  “New York,” said Joker slowly. “I heard Bailey was in New York.”

  “Heard?” she repeated. “How did you hear that?”

  “Pete Manyon,” replied Joker.

  “Ah, yes,” said Hennessy, removing her hand. She picked up something from the workbench and held it in front of his face. It was his wallet. “Damien O’Brien,” she said. “Good Irish name, that, Cramer.” She took out the UK driving licence. “Looks genuine,” she said, and dropped it on the floor. She held out the Visa card. “This is definitely the real thing,” she said, throwing it down. “In fact, all your paperwork seems first class, Cramer. I suppose that makes it an official operation, right?”

  “Yeah,” he said. He closed his eyes. Hennessy threw the wallet at his face.

  “So how come you look like shit, Cramer? How come the SAS sends a wreck like you after Bailey?”

  Joker said nothing, because it wasn’t a question he could answer. Hennessy went back to the workbench and picked up the pruning shears. Joker’s hands clenched as he recalled what she’d done to Newmarch’s fingers. His wrists rubbed against the chain and he felt blood run down his arms.

  “It doesn’t make sense, Cramer. There are plenty of Sass-men they could have sent, guys like Pete Manyon. Young, fit, smart. Why would they send you?”

  Joker swallowed and felt the metallic taste of blood at the back of his throat. He tried to talk but no words came. He swallowed again. “Water,” he managed to croak.

  Hennessy smiled. “You want water?” she said. She picked up the beaker and held it to his lips. He felt the liquid against his cracked and bleeding lips and he swallowed greedily, realising too late that it was salty. He coughed and choked and spat it out, his throat on fire.

  Hennessy laughed and dropped the tumbler back into the bucket. “Let me give you the questions first,” she said. “I want to know what you were told Bailey was doing here. And I want to know why they sent you.” She held up the pruning shears. Joker moaned and raised his head, the movement sending stabs of pain through his neck and shoulders, and focused on his wrists. The chains had rubbed deep into the flesh and there was fresh wet blood on the shiny metal.

  Hennessy grabbed his hair and wrenched his head back. “So, are you ready to tell me why you were following Bailey?” she hissed.

  Joker swallowed. What could he tell her? That he was tracking Bailey to find her. And why was he looking for her? To kill her. Joker didn’t want to think what she’d do to him if he told her that. “Orders,” he said.

  Hennessy let go of his hair and tapped the blades of the shears against her cheek. “When did you leave the SAS, Cramer?” she asked.

  “Three years ago,” he said.

  Hennessy nodded. “Why?”

  Joker closed his eyes. “Medical discharge,” he said.

  Hennessy waited until he opened his eyes again. “Because of that?” She nodded at the scar on his stomach and groin.

  “Yes,” said Joker.

  “So now whose orders are you acting on?” she asked.

  “They brought me back,” he said, each word grating on his tongue.

  “Why you?” she said.

  Joker closed his eyes again. It didn’t hurt quite as much in the dark, as if the fluorescent lights were keeping the nerves to his brain on constant overload. In the darkness he could concentrate on the pain in his wrists and chest and try to will it away.

  “Don’t pass out on me again,” said Hennessy softly. Joker felt the tip of the shears press against his left breast, circling. He opened his eyes. She held a paper cup of water to his lips. He tested it with the tip of his tongue and to his surprise it wasn’t salty. He drank, deeply, but after the third swallow she took it away. Joker licked his lips, not wanting to waste a drop.

  “Why did they bring you back?” she asked.

  Joker shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said.

  Hennessy narrowed her eyes as realisation dawned. “It was me, wasn’t it? You were after me?” She threw the paper cup away, her eyes blazing. She placed her left hand against his breast and stroked the nipple with her thumb. It stiffened involuntarily as she circled it, rubbing it slowly. Joker tried to back away,
his feet shuffling along the floor, tangled in his jeans and boxer shorts, but she gripped his nipple between her thumb and first finger, a look of contempt in her eyes. “Don’t,” he said, hating himself for begging and knowing that it wouldn’t do any good. She slipped the blades of the shears either side of the nipple and grunted as she forced the handles together. Joker felt the blades bite through his flesh and click together somewhere deep inside the muscle behind the breast and then the pain lanced through his chest as if he’d been impaled on a metal spike. Joker screamed and he felt himself start to black out. He grabbed for the oblivion, welcoming it because it would put an end to the pain, but it was elusive, and the more he tried to pass out the clearer his thoughts became. Hennessy knew exactly what she was doing and she stood by his side, waiting for his breathing to steady so that she could continue.

  Mary walked into the kitchen and closed the door to the basement behind her. Carlos and Bailey were sitting at the table, drinking tea and talking in low voices. They both looked up as she walked over to the fridge and took out a can of Diet Coke.