“What do you mean, you couldn’t?”
He sat in the chair next to the bed. “After years of searching for them in the end I couldn’t bring myself down to their level. You taught me that, Sam, thank you.”
She winced in pain, as she tried to smile.
“Look on the bright side,” he said encouragingly. “Next time the guys are showing off their scars you can beat them hands down.”
McCall tried not to laugh. “What about you?” she asked.
He stood up. “I’m still with the unit but I have some leave so I’m off back home. I’ve got some loose ends to tie up.”
A worried look suddenly came over McCall’s tired looking face.
He walked up to her and stared into her sparkling blue eyes. She returned his gaze, wishing he would take off those damned glasses so she could look at him properly.
He edged closer and she could feel the warmth of his breath on her skin. She closed her eyes and tilted her head forwards. Her lips open slightly to catch the kiss, but his mouth landed softly on her forehead. Sam’s eyes opened as a solitary tear rolled down her cheek. Raising his hand to catch the tear she brushed her cheek against his hand. He smiled and stood up.
Walking to the window, he turned back to her.
“The ones who shot you are just pawns, you know that. They have been chasing me for years.” She managed to sit up.
“You don’t have to run anymore,” she told him as he smiled at her reassuringly.
“I was never running just waiting. But it’s time to bring the fight to them.” He walked forward and placed a blue rose on her pillow. Picking up the flower, she inhaled the perfume. She felt a sudden waft of cold air that made the curtains of the bed space opposite billow. She watched him put his right hand over his heart and then take a small dignified bow. As he did so he moved back into the shadows of the dark room.
With a scream of pain, she reached for the light switch, only to find the room empty. McCall winced in pain as she got up and moved to the window. Looking out upon the night, the breeze was refreshing against her skin and the moon was as full and bright as a winter’s morning. Holding up the rose, she once more inhaled its sweet scent. He was gone for now but she knew deep down that one day he would be back.
In the darkness of Steel’s apartment, the priest watched Steel pack a suitcase. Their mood was sombre and conversation short.
“Where are you off to?” the clerical man’s words disappointed and intrigued him. Steel took a handful of black suits that still hung on their hangers and carefully placed them into the sturdy suitcase.
“I have to go to London to follow up a lead.”
Gabriel stood up and walked towards the window. The orange glow of the city’s lights seemed soothing, and he could see why Steel preferred to have the lights off.
“A lead? From who?” he asked. He saw Steel smile coldly and knew then he did not really want to know.
Steel turned towards his friend. “SANTINI, It’s not a ‘He’, it’s a ‘They’.”
Gabriel nodded; it made sense that the organization had a name.
“And what about your partner, did you tell her you were going?” He saw in the reflection of the large glass window Steel stop folding a shirt and nod slowly. The Englishman had a sorrowful look on his face.
“She will be fine, they all will.”
Gabriel turned and made his way towards his friend. “And you John? Will you be okay?” The priest’s voice was soft but held a stern tone to it.
The other man looked up and smiled. “You know me, I am always fine. Look, I am just going to find someone an old friend asked me to look for. There won’t be any trouble. It’s a simple quick there, quick back, No problem.”
Gabriel reached down and picked up the black-and-white photograph. The picture was of a woman in her late thirties with long hair. He turned it over and read the name Tarrasa Benning.
“Who is she?” Gabriel asked, putting the photograph back in its place. Steel picked up his glass of whisky and moved towards the dresser.
“I don’t know who she is, but I know she has answers, and I have a lot of questions.”
He reached into the draw and pulled out a large .45 automatic. After pressing a small button next to the pistol grip the weapons magazine slipped out effortlessly.
Pulling back the weapons long top slide he checked that the chamber was empty, and then quickly let it go forward using the weapon’s inner spring. The almost fiery orange light from the city’s illumination cast a strange reflection on the weapon’s dark steel, making it seem as though it was glowing with heat.
The top slide had sideward angled recesses cut into it, which revealed the polished bear steel of the barrel. Steel pressed down on the top round of the single stack magazine, then reinserted it into the weapon then placed it back into the draw. Carefully Steel took out some folded shirts from the same draw then placed them into the case before closing the draw and then the case. A cold shiver ran down the priest’s back. He could see that the old soldier had returned.
The Phoenix had risen.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
THIRTY
THIRTY-ONE
THIRTY-TWO
THIRTY-THREE
THIRTY-FOUR
THIRTY-FIVE
THIRTY-SIX
THIRTY-SEVEN
THIRTY-EIGHT
THIRTY-NINE
FORTY
FORTY-ONE
FORTY-TWO
FORTY-THREE
FORTY-FOUR
FORTY-FIVE
FORTY-SIX
FORTY-SEVEN
FORTY-EIGHT
FORTY-NINE
FIFTY
FIFTY-ONE
FIFTY-TWO
FIFTY-THREE
FIFTY-FOUR
FIFTY-FIVE
FIFTY-SIX
FIFTY-SEVEN
FIFTY-EIGHT
FIFTY-NINE
SIXTY
SIXTY-ONE
SIXTY-TWO
SIXTY-THREE
SIXTY-FOUR
SIXTY-FIVE
SIXTY-SIX
SIXTY-SEVEN
SIXTY-EIGHT
SIXTY-NINE
SEVENTY
Rise of a Phoenix: Rise of a Phoenix Page 29