Kingdom: The Complete Series by Steven William Hannah Read Free Book Online Page A

King grins. “You should watch the news sometime,
Jamie, you really are missing some incredible stuff.”
    “ He's
not lying,” whispers Chloe. “It is all over the news.”
    “ I
don't know what it is that you're doing, Jamie, but if you push that power too
far, it goes badly. Some poor soul got cornered on a bridge over the Clyde earlier.
Soldiers on every side, no hope of escape. Seconds later, that bridge collapsed
without warning. I think,” the King looks at Chloe as though she's an old
friend, “it was about twenty dead at the last count, right? Drowned under the
debris? And if I remember right, his nose was bleeding just before it
happened.”
    The King looks straight
through Jamie, seeing past the bravado and the posturing. He sees the truth
settling into Jamie's thoughts.
    Jamie's mind races. He
remembers waking up after the fire had hit him – the soldier had radioed it in:
something about his nose bleeding.
    He knows that the King
is a master manipulator, but he can't help but feel that there is some truth in
what he's saying.
    “ What
if I don't believe you?”
    “ Then
by all means, go ahead and shoot me and my men and try to escape. Then this
beautiful woman – who you value so much that you used her for insurance -” the
King mockingly gestures to Chloe, “can watch as your brain tears itself apart
and you die.”
    Jamie looks down at
Chloe, and she meets his eyes and shakes her head, her blonde curls bobbing
from side to side.
    “ You
aren't leaving me with a lot of choices here,” he says, turning back to the
King. “What's the alternative?”
    “ We
revise your contract?” the King suggests. “For a man with your talents, I'm
sure we can find a job.”
    “ I'm
only in this mess because I tried to hand in my resignation,” he says.
“I want out. I want to walk away from this, and I want my pension. You owe me a
hell of a lot of money. Give me that, and let me walk out of here.”
    “ Jamie,
you can't walk out,” the King shakes his head. “Those men in black are scouring
the city for you. Everywhere you go, they'll be waiting. Believe me, I've had
dealings with these types before and they are not ones to give up on their
mission.”
    “ So
what's your offer?”
    “ Put
the gun down, and we can talk.”
    “ I'm
making the demands here, King,” says Jamie, “and I don't think I need your
help.”
    “ Maybe
you don't,” the King admits, “but she does.”
    He points to Chloe, who
tenses up.
    “ Leave
her out of this -”
    “ Oh
she's a part of it now, whether she wants to be or not. They'll be coming for
her too.”
    “ Chloe?”
he whispers.
    “ Mhm?”
her voice is small and frightened.
    “ Close
your eyes, I'm going to get us out of here.”
    “ But
your nose -”
    “ It's
our only chance,” he hisses.
    “ Decision
time, Jamie.” The King's agonised expression squirms into something resembling
a smile. “What's it going to be?”
    Jamie levels the pistol
at the King's chest and grits his teeth.
     
     
    Mark's mind is awake
before his eyes have caught up. Roaring fills his ears as though he is caught
in a tidal wave; he recognises the rhythmic chopping of helicopter blades. He
keeps his eyes closed, savouring the breaths that fill his lungs. Over the
engine's roar he makes out a female voice like that of a stern teacher:
knowledgeable and with little patience for the opinions of others.
    “ His
vitals are increasing – consider giving him a tranquilliser.”
    “ That
could kill him -” another voice protests, and in his mind Mark assigns this man
the appearance of a meek, bald man with large glasses.
    A third voice cuts in,
and this one is familiar: Mark remembers this voice talking as he lost
consciousness on the rooftop, plastic foam expanding to fill his throat.
    “ I
watched this man take a twenty millimetre cannon round to the sternum and get
up again. It's not going to kill him.”
    “ His
heartbeat is increasing, watch the charts,” says the stern