A Covenant with Death: The Peacock Trilogy - Book 3 by Bill Wetterman Read Free Book Online Page B

flew for what seemed like an eternity. She couldn’t judge time. She couldn’t clear her head. Continuous pain shot through her body. A kick to the head reminded her how hated she was. Spit covered her face. Her restraints failed to hold her secure. Every dip or air pocket threw her from side to side. A backpack fell out of its compartment and hit her knee. When she could finally move, she’d refuse to show any sign of pain.
    A bumpy landing jarred her, and they unlatched her restraints. Their leader shouted. “Smack her until she can move on her own.”
    Hard open hands to the face brought movement to her muscles. She got up and took a step, then they dragged her—half-running half being-pulled along. Down a tunnel into a mine they went. Close to the entrance they came to a track with a mine trolley on it. The men took turns providing the power pushing the mechanical seesaw up and down.
    They traveled underground until most of them looked exhausted. Then the trolley burst into the open and headed down a long sloping hillside until it came to rest in a valley several miles from the entrance. There, an old military truck waited for them.
    “You’ve started a long journey, Devil-woman.” The leader spoke to her in English. “Pray you survive it.”
    She smiled. For the man would never believe her if she told him. Behind him and to his left, her angel stood towering over him.
    #
    Ammad al-Sistani flicked a piece of lint off his royal robes. Reclining at Ammad’s right hand, his spiritual advisor and closest friend, Atash Akbari. They listened as the other five at table brought Ammad the news from the Muslim Complexes.
    “The genesis of our plan went well.” A tall man, his beard full and his eyes dark, read from a scroll attached around his belt. “The redheaded devil is with the Black Force 2 interrogation team as we speak.”
    “The team understands I do not want her killed.” Ammad sucked on a fig. “I want her brought to the edge of death, like an animal broken on the rocks. Squirming in pain. Gasping to breathe. Wishing death would come. But alive until I end her suffering.”
    “Pendleton knows of your treachery.” The man dipped his hands into a water dish and wiped them on a towel. “He will attack you.”
    “Pendleton knows only a fraction of our plans.” Akbari clasped the man’s hands. “Our Living Hope has ordered another attack.”
    “Allah Akbar,” Ammad’s inner circle responded.
    Seven veiled beauties entered the dining hall from the kitchen area as “Alf Layla” played over the sound system. “What was forbidden is forbidden no more.”
    Ammad’s hands spread wide. “ Jannah comes to Earth with God’s blessing, a thousand young flowers to grace your harems.”
    Nude to the waist, the lower part of their bodies covered with thin beaded strands of cord hooked to a waist belt, the ladies danced for their masters with abandon.
    “Pick any you wish,” Ammad said. “But do not behead them in the morning.”
    Laughter broke out. Akbari raised his hand. “Amuse yourselves. But remember, God loves these creatures as He does you. In Jannah , which you may now experience here, continual pleasures abound for all. Notice the zest with which these morsels perform. May they live forever.”
    His spiritual minister followed his path well. The honesty fed Ammad’s plans. Ammad rose, whisked a dark-eyed Persian girl into his arms, and called out as he left the room, “Order the attacks to commence per plan.”
    #
    “George, I need my big brother,” Connor pleaded, as George Pendleton answered his cell.
    “I’m in final debrief, Sis. And, yes I know about Mum.”
    “I suspect Ammad al-Sistani.” Connor raced up the steps of the London Complex Global Security Center, a brisk wind swirling around her. “Tzu Chui agrees. Dad’s mulling over his next steps behind closed doors.”
    “I agree with Chui. I don’t trust the Asian leader. But in this case, he’s correct.” His voice turned