Personal Protection (A Spider Shepherd Short Story) by Stephen Leather Read Free Book Online Page B

difficulties with that, sir,’ Parker said. ‘I will personally deal with any problems relating to Rusty’s immediate discharge from the British Army.’ He hesitated for a moment. ‘Forgive me, but there still remains one other pressing problem to address: the fate of your cousin.’  
    ‘He cannot be executed,’ the sheikh said. ‘He deserves it, of course, and I know that he would have killed me without a second thought if it had suited his purpose. But to take my revenge by executing him would cause discontent among some sections of my people. In any case, I’m not sure it would be wise to encourage the belief in my subjects that members of the ruling house can be executed just like other men.’ He gave a brief smile. ‘Who knows where the axe might fall next? However, he cannot be allowed to remain in my country as a focus for discontent and sedition.’
     After a further discussion, Parker finally agreed that he would arrange for the sheikh’s cousin, like his father before him, to go into an involuntary exile, albeit a gilded one, in a Park Lane hotel in London.  ‘Then it is all agreed,’ the sheikh said. ‘And perhaps this time I can rely on the British authorities to take rather better care of him.’ 
    Parker inclined his head in acknowledgement of the implied rebuke.
    ‘You know what, Jonathan?’ Shepherd said as they walked back down the marble stairs. ‘I’ve only just realised that the root cause of the problem all along was the inability of the UK security services to keep tabs on a known serious potential threat. Not very reassuring is it? And you know what else? We’ve just saved your arse for the second time in six months. You owe us, big time. Make sure you don’t forget it.’
    ‘I won’t,’ said Parker. He took out a pack of small cigars and lit one. He offered the pack to Shepherd but Shepherd shook his head. ‘Mind you, you have to understand that “alla sharifnee” is an Arab thing.’
    ‘You mean there’s no honour in MI6?’
    ‘We do our best,’ said Parker. ‘But needs must, right? Still, you and the guys did a great job. When you get this soldiering thing out of your system, you should think about working for the security services.’
    ‘That’ll never happen,’ said Shepherd.
    ‘Never say never,’ said Parker. He waved a languid hand and walked away.
    Geordie, Jock and Jimbo came up behind Shepherd. ‘Penny for them?’ asked Geordie.
    ‘Dark thoughts,’ laughed Shepherd. ‘Let’s go get a beer.’
     
     
    THE END
     
     

 
    Dan ‘Spider’ Shepherd left the SAS at the end of 2002 and joined an elite police undercover unit. You can read the first of his undercover adventures in Hard Landing, where he goes undercover in a high security prison to unmask a drugs dealer who is killing off witnesses to his crimes.
     
    Hard Landing is available in the UK for 49p at –  http://amzn.to/xxX2YU
     
    And in the US for less than a dollar at –  http://amzn.to/xWg1E7
     
    The Spider Shepherd series continues with Soft Target, Cold Kill, Hot Blood, Dead Men, Live Fire, Rough Justice, Fair Game, False Friends and True Colours.
    There are also a number of Spider Shepherd: SAS short stories, including Natural Selection, Narrow Escape, Warning Order, Hostile Territory, Rough Diamonds, Friendly Fire, Dead Drop and Kill Zone.
     
     
    Stephen Leather is one of the UK’s most successful thriller writers, an eBook and Sunday Times bestseller and author of the critically acclaimed Dan “Spider’ Shepherd series and the Jack Nightingale supernatural detective novels. Before becoming a novelist he was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mirror, the Glasgow Herald, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. He is one of the country’s most successful eBook authors and his eBooks have topped the Amazon Kindle charts in the UK and the US. In 2011 alone he sold more than 500,000 eBooks and was voted by The