Gray Salvation by Alan McDermott Read Free Book Online

as Farsi ran into the road and held his Glock in a two-handed grip, pointing at the windscreen of the lead SUV. Harvey could see him shouting something, but couldn’t hear what his friend was saying above the roar of the engine. One thing he did know was that getting his head down was the best thing he could do in the circumstances.
    He ducked behind the driver’s seat as soon as he saw the muzzle flash from Farsi’s weapon, but instead of the sound of shattering glass, he heard the slug thud against the window and bounce off. Three more thuds followed before the driver swerved and the whole car shook as it made contact with something.
    Harvey instinctively knew that something was Hamad Farsi, and he sat up and looked out of the rear window to see his close friend lying at the side of the road, his body in an unnatural position.
    The SUV turned a corner and powered out of the industrial park, joining the dual carriageway as it headed away from the centre of London.
    A sharp Russian command came from beside him, followed by a bag drawn over his head.
    Harvey knew what lay ahead wasn’t going to be pleasant, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. His mind had been branded with the lasting image of his dear friend, almost certainly dead at the roadside.

Chapter 7
    20 January 2016
    ‘Cup!’
    ‘Thank you, sweetheart,’ Gray said, taking the heavy coffee mug from Melissa’s tiny hands and putting it in the cupboard.
    His daughter immediately dived back into the box, this time pulling out her favourite dinner plate.
    ‘Thanks, darling, but I think it’s best if you leave this lot to me.’
    He picked her up and carried her through to the living room, once again marvelling at the sheer size of it. This room alone was almost as large as the entire ground floor of his home back in England, and his decision to relocate stateside looked to have been a good one so far. He’d been able to put down a hefty deposit on the property and, once the sale of his home in the London suburbs was completed, he planned to pay off the balance. Being debt-free was important to him, and it was a philosophy he wanted to instil in Melissa once she was old enough to understand. As she was just two and a half years old, he had plenty of time to prepare for those conversations.
    Gray set her down on the hardwood floor and pulled a box of soft toys over to her, slicing the tape with his penknife.
    ‘How about you help me unpack these, eh?’
    Melissa stood and pulled open the flaps.
    ‘Whiskers!’ she screamed as she sprang her black-and-white stuffed cat from its cardboard prison. Other toys soon followed, until the floor was littered with just about every toy animal conceivable.
    ‘I’ll leave you to it,’ Gray said, and his daughter didn’t seem in the mood to argue.
    He returned to the kitchen and started loading the rest of his possessions into the cupboards. He’d only packed the essentials, enough to keep them going for a couple of weeks. He reminded himself to visit the local shops – stores , he corrected himself – and stock up on everything they would need for their fresh start.
    Gray was thankful that his daughter was still young enough that she wouldn’t be affected by the upheaval. An older girl might complain about having to make do with sleeping bags and camp beds, part of the consignment he’d had shipped over from England prior to leaving to start their new life in northern Florida.
    He’d already been to Walmart to stock up on food, cleaning products and other daily necessities, and up next was a trip to furnish the house, to the mall , Gray thought wryly. He still needed to kit out the bedrooms, living room, dining room and kitchen, and as he wasn’t particularly fussy when it came to styling, it shouldn’t take him too long.
    A couple of years ago, Vick would have taken great delight at the prospect of furnishing an entire home. He could imagine her going from store to store looking for the perfect rug to match