Death Count: A Kat Munro Thriller (The Kat Munro Thrillers Book 1)

by SL Beaumont

  “Hello?” a singsong voice called.

  Don closed his eyes for a moment, as though controlling his emotions. “This day just keeps getting better,” he said.

  “Oh, there you are, darling,” a shrill voice sounded, and Mary McFarlane slipped into the room, dressed as though she were attending a cocktail function and teetering on high heels. She leaned over to kiss William Huntly-Tait’s cheek, before glancing around at those in the room. Her eyes came to rest on Kat. “What is she doing here?” She looked Kat up and down as though she were something nasty she’d trodden in.

  “She was just leaving,” Gabe said, taking Kat’s arm and walking her across the room towards the door.

  Don moved into the doorway, blocking their exit as Kat shook her arm free of Gabe’s hand.

  “Don’t make me hurt you,” she said, glaring at Don.

  Don laughed and pulled a Glock from a side holster beneath his jacket. “Your little kickboxing moves don’t work against one of these, kitten. Come on, this way. You too, Gabe.”

  “Now wait just a moment,” Huntly-Tait spluttered.

  “What did you think would happen?” Don gave him a withering look.

  “It’s okay, darling,” Mary soothed. “Perhaps Don has a little sample going spare.”

  “For God’s sake, Mary, you sound like a common junkie,” Huntly-Tait said.

  Kat smirked, and Mary stepped forward and slapped her. Kat stumbled against Gabe, who held her back as she lunged at Mary.

  “Mary, you do not want to start anything with her,” Don cautioned, laughing. He motioned toward the hallway with his gun. “Now, come on.”

  A single burst of gunfire from a semi-automatic sounded from outside.

  “Sounds like they’ve ratted out the fugitive,” Don said, laughing.

  Kat and Gabe marched ahead of Don down the stairs and through the archway beneath the grand staircase. They continued past the kitchen and walked out through the back of the house into the yard.

  “What’s happening?” Gabe whispered to Kat.

  “Do you really not know?”

  He shook his head. “I haven’t been back here since that night…” He glanced down at Kat’s prosthesis.

  She looked at him with pity. “Oh, Gabe. They’re running a drug operation in the outbuildings. Don brings the drugs in from Afghanistan; we think using Mary McFarlane’s plane, and your father provides the facilities to store, package and distribute them.”

  “What?”

  “Do you know that woman with your father?” Kat tilted her head. “I’ve been investigating her firm for compliance anomalies.”

  Gabe nodded, looking a little shell-shocked. “He’s been dating her for the past year, on and off.”

  “Really?”

  They were met at the back door by one of the guards.

  “Sir, we have a problem,” he said, looking past Kat and Gabe to Don.

  Don swore. “What now?”

  The smell of smoke hit them as they stepped outside. All four roller doors on the garage were up, and men were pulling boxes and equipment from inside, depositing them on the ground, and returning for more. Like that of an angry cobra, tongues of flame could be seen licking at the roof of the building.

  “Move that truck,” Don shouted, pointing to the vehicle parked at the building’s entrance.

  “Someone slashed the tires, and it won’t start,” someone yelled back.

  “For God’s sake, push it then.”

  Don turned back to them with a wild look in his eye. He grabbed Kat by the arm and pulled her into the middle of the yard.

  “Jackson, I have your girl. You need to show yourself in 10, 9, 8...”

  Chapter 35

  From his perch in a leafy tree on the fence line of the property, Adam cursed. He looked down at the little group standing halfway between the house and the outbuildings. Security lights shining from both the back of the house and the shed spilled across the yard, casting shadows and illuminating the gathering. Don Webster stood in the centre of the driveway with one hand clasped around Kat’s upper arm. She struggled and tried to pull away from him, but to no avail. A Glock dangled from Webster’s other hand, and his face was contorted into a nasty scowl. Behind them, several paces closer to the house, stood William Huntly-Tait with Mary McFarlane hanging off his arm. A younger man, skinny and smartly dressed, stood next to them, looking terrified.

  “7, 6…” Don continued.

  Kat continued to struggle against his firm grip on her arm. She launched a kick at his shin, which he deftly side-stepped.

  “Steady there, princess,” he mocked. “Maybe he doesn’t care after all.”

  “Or maybe he’s already gone,” Kat said in a loud, clear voice.

  Don raised the gun towards Kat.

  Adam knew she was sending him a message, telling him to stay put, but he couldn’t do that, not when Don had a gun pointed at her head.

  Adam dropped to the ground holding the semi-automatic out in front of him. “I’m here,” he said, walking towards them.

  All around, the weapons pointed in his direction.

  “Hold your fire,” Don called, letting Kat’s arm go and taking a step towards his old comrade. “Take his weapon.”

  A man approached Adam from the left and took the rifle from his hands. He patted Adam down and relieved him of the stolen Glock, the lighter, and pocket knife before pushing him forward towards Don.

  “What the hell, Donny?” Adam said, positioning himself between Don and Kat.

  “What can I say, mate? Do you like my operation?”

  Adam shook his head. “What’s wrong with you? You’ve seen the damage heroin does.”

  “If not me, then it would just be some other squaddie landing on a big payday. Come on, Adam, you can’t tell me you weren’t tempted. How many opium farms did we raid and burn? What a waste.”

  “Speaking of burning,” Adam began before Don landed a hefty punch in Adam’s stomach, doubling him over. He fought for breath before gasping out, “Haven’t you got a fire to put out?”

  “Nah, we’re leaving anyway, and if we let that burn, it should destroy any evidence.” Don laughed. “And by the time your lot arrives, it’ll be a burned-out shed with a couple of bodies inside.”

  Kat felt the cold fingers of fear grip her and gasped.

  “Donny, this isn’t you,” she said.

  He looked at her with regret. “Sorry, kitten. This time, I have to make sure that Adam stops interfering.” He tilted his head as he turned his attention back to Adam. “The little explosion outside that pub in Rotherhithe was supposed to deter you.”

  “It was you,” Adam said, looking at Don in disgust. “You could have killed someone.”

  “I know your aversion to all things that go boom after what happened in Afghanistan, so I thought a little gas leak would give you cause to redirect your investigation.”

  “Then you don’t know me that well, after all, do you.”

  Several men pushed the truck with the slashed tires to one side, and the van drove out of the garage. It turned down the long driveway beside the building and disappeared from view. A second truck reversed into the garage, and the remaining equipment was tossed onto its flatbed.

  The crackling of burning timbers was getting louder, and the smell of scorched wood drifted toward them.

  “Come on.” Donny grabbed Adam’s arm and propelled Kat in front of him, pushing them both towards the burning building.

  Movement in the darkness from the tree line caught Kat’s attention seconds before two bright flashes of light lit up the yard, and a small explosion sounded.

  “Go,” Adam shouted as he broke free from a disoriented Don.

  Kat ducked under Don’s arm and reached for Gabe. Together they ran back to the edge of the house, dropping down behind a small hedgerow bordering a garden below the kitchen window.

  “Stay down,” she whispered to him.

  “What the hell was that?” Gabe asked.


  “Dunno, a stun grenade, maybe?”

  “But who threw it?”

  Grunts and the smack of fists on flesh sounded, but they couldn’t see who was fighting as the yard was engulfed in a mist of thick grey smoke. Gunfire sounded from the direction of the outbuildings, and they clutched one another, squatting as low to the ground as they could.

  Kat peered over the hedge and noticed a man on his back on the gravel several metres away, not moving. She rose, eased herself over the border, dropped to a crouch, and crept towards him.

  “Kat,” Gabe hissed.

  When she reached the man, he was still breathing despite the blood pooling around a head wound, and the unhealthy angle of his leg. His right arm was thrown out to the side and clutched his rifle. Kat eased it from his hand and stepped back to their hiding place.

  Gabe helped her over the small hedge, and she handed him the gun.

  “Do you know how to use this?” she whispered.

  “No idea,” he said, handing it back to her as though it was a poisonous snake.

  “Hopefully, we won’t have to find out.”

  Together they peered through the gloom as the smoke began to lift. There were shouts and the sounds of running footsteps and vehicle engines starting up.

  “Police. Drop your weapons and get down on the ground,” a tinny, reverberating voice called. “We have you surrounded.”

  Kat watched as a second van and truck drove away at speed and vanished into the wood’s dark fringe. Several seconds later, from within the trees, a barrage of gunfire sounded. Shouts, doors opening and closing, and the crack of returned shots echoed through the crisp night air for a full minute, before silence fell.

  Gabe put his arm around Kat and pulled her close. He was shaking.

  “It’s okay, Gabe, I think the police have arrived.”

  “I hope so,” he said.

  As the smoke cleared in the yard, they could make out the figure of Adam standing over Don, who lay on the ground panting. Adam had Don’s Glock in his hand, pointing it at him. Camouflaged officers appeared out of the darkness on all sides.

  “Kat Munro?” a voice beside them spoke.

  Kat spun around with the gun in her hands, positioning herself in front of Gabe.

  The person stepped into the light pooling from the kitchen window. The woman was heavily armed but wore a helmet and a bulletproof vest with the word ‘Police’ written across it. Kat laid the gun she was holding on the ground, and they rose to their feet.

  The officer spoke into her shoulder-mounted radio. “I have her. South side of the house. She’s safe.” To Kat, she said, “I’ll wait here with you until we get the all-clear.”

  Kat smiled at her, relieved. “Thanks.”

  Gabe bent forward and rested his hands on his thighs, letting out a long breath.

  Kat watched as Don was hauled to his feet and handcuffed. Near the back entrance to the house, William Huntly-Tait stood still as another officer patted him down. Beside him, Mary McFarlane looked on with bemused detachment at

  the scene unfolding around her.

  Sirens sounded close by, and a minute later, two fire engines drove into the yard, expelling firefighters who raced towards the burning building. A police officer spoke to a driver, and one of the engines moved around behind the garage. A minute later, a jet of water sprayed across the burning roof.

  Adam shoved the Glock into the back of his trousers and turned around, looking for Kat. Spying her standing with Gabe and the police officer, his face broke into a grin as he strode towards her.

  Kat stepped forward into his arms.

  “Thank God,” he said, hugging her.

  “You’re okay,” came her muffled reply.

  He released her, but keeping his arm around her shoulders, turned to the man beside her.

  “Are you going to introduce us?”

  “Gabe Huntly-Tait,” Kat said. “Meet DS Adam Jackson.”

  Gabe hesitated for a moment before extending his hand. The two men shook hands.

  “I am pretty sure that Gabe isn’t involved in this, Adam,” Kat said.

  Adam nodded. “We’ll let the officer in charge decide how he wants to proceed, but I expect you’ll be questioned tonight. We’ll need a statement at the very least.”

  Gabe nodded. “I had no idea. Can I talk to my father?”

  “Not at this stage,” Adam said. “Later.”

  Two officers approached, and Adam stepped away to talk with them.

  “Gabe, you’re to go with these two officers now,” he said, returning a moment later.

  Gabe nodded.

  “Thanks, Gabe,” Kat said, reaching out and squeezing his hand.

  He shook his head. “Too little, too late. I thought he was going to shoot you, and there was nothing I could do.” He gave her a sad smile, and they watched as the officers led him to a waiting patrol car.

  “I was never letting that happen, you know,” Adam said, turning to her.

  “I don’t think you had much control over what Donny was doing.”

  “True. Let’s sit down; you look like you’re about to collapse,” Adam said.

  Kat leaned into him. “I’m exhausted.”

  “Come on,” he said, leading her to where his car was still parked at the back of the house.

  Chapter 36

  Adam and Kat were seated in front of the large wooden desk in Colonel Wilson’s office a couple of hours later, drinking coffee and eating sandwiches provided for them by his staff, while they waited for him to arrive. The cosy corner office had the blinds drawn over the bay windows, and side lamps provided soft lighting. The building and those around it were silent. The only activity in the small hours of a Sunday morning was from a street sweeper outside, making its way along the deserted streets of Westminster.

  “It seems like a long time since we had breakfast at your flat,” Adam said.

  “I know, I’m starving,” Kat said. “I’m sorry that I slept the whole way back to London. I was pretty crap company.”

  Adam laughed. “I’ve had better.”

  Kat gave him a tired smile.

  They ate in silence for a moment.

  “Where were you? What happened after we split up?” she asked Adam.

  “You first,” he said.

  Kat swallowed another mouthful of coffee and put her cup down on the edge of the desk. “I made it to the front room, where I figured there’d be a telephone. I’d just called that number you gave me when Gabe interrupted and disconnected the call. He’d followed us from London but had lost us after we’d been to the aerodrome and had decided to stop by the house. Fortunately, I was able to persuade him to hide me when we heard his father and Donny approaching,” she said. “I crept through the dining room and up the back stairs that we’d come down earlier and hid in Gabe’s bedroom. I used his mobile to call again, but then Donny caught us and took us outside to the yard, and well, you know the rest.” She reached for her cup again. “Where did you go?”

  “After I left you, I made my way across the yard, disarmed one of their guys, and broke into the outbuilding from the mezzanine level. I saw them dismantling their factory into vans ready to depart,” Adam said. “It was a much bigger operation than I had expected. I set a fire in an office as a delay. Then I got outside, disabled one of the trucks to slow their departure, and climbed a tree where I had a good view over the yard, waiting to see what would happen next, and then Don led you out of the house.”

  The door opened, and Colonel Wilson wheeled himself into the room.

  Adam jumped to his feet, but Wilson waved him away.

  “Sit, Jackson,” he said, coming to a stop by Kat’s chair.

  “Ms. Munro,” he said, holding out his hand to Kat. “I’m delighted to meet you at last.”

  “It was you I spoke to on the phone?” Kat said, recognising his voice.

  “Yes,” he said. “You were very brave.”

  “More coffee?” an officer asked from the doorwa
y.

  “Yes, please,” Adam said.

  “I didn’t feel all that brave,” Kat said.

  “Kat was just explaining to me what happened after we split up,” Adam said.

  “Well, you’re going to have to go back to the start and take me through it all again.”

  ***

  Wilson sat back and sighed. “It’s worse than we thought.”

  Adam nodded. “It appears to be a long-standing, very well run operation.”

  “I would never have suspected a man such as Huntly-Tait of working with the likes of Webster,” Wilson added.

  “So you think Gabe had nothing to do with any of this?” Adam asked, looking at Kat.

  “Gabe is one of those people who can’t hide his emotions, and he was genuinely shocked. Coupled with the fact that Donny didn’t know who he was, I’m almost certain that he wasn’t involved,” Kat said.

  “Interesting. You would have thought he’d notice a heroin distribution centre operating out of the outbuildings at his family home,” Adam said.

  “I don’t think Gabe’s been down there since the night of our car accident.”

  The officer returned with a tray of freshly brewed coffee and more sandwiches and set it down on the desk.

  “Thank you,” Kat said, smiling at the young officer. She reached out for a cup and handed it to Wilson before helping herself to a fresh one. She glanced at Adam.

  “Speaking of that night, has Donny said anything about Jake?”

  Wilson raised an eyebrow at Adam. Kat registered the look.

  “He didn’t tell me, I guessed,” Kat said. “I think perhaps I saw Jake at the house the night he disappeared.”

  “But you don’t remember?” Wilson said.

  “Not for certain. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry; you’ve nothing to be sorry for.”

  “So has he said anything?” she prompted Adam.

  Adam looked angry as he shook his head. “He just laughed when I asked him.”

  “Colonel, when I spoke to you on the phone a second time, it seemed that you already knew where we were,” Kat said.