The Double Tap (Stephen Leather Thrillers) by Stephen Leather Read Free Book Online Page A

got Gerry Fitzpatrick and Fergus McVeigh. We couldn’t identify the youngster.’
            ‘Lynch’s good.’
            ‘Oh yes, he’s good. And he’s got a personal interest in you, of course. We’d love to get hold of O’Riordan, too. But the rest are strictly second division.’
            The Colonel looked at his watch, then turned back to face the sea again.
            ‘What do you want, Colonel?’
            ‘A chat. You’ve got time for a chat, haven’t you?’
            Cramer shrugged listlessly. ‘I’d rather be on my own, if that’s all right with you.’
            ‘But you’re not on your own, are you, Sergeant Cramer? There’s an IRA active service unit armed to the teeth heading your way.’
            ‘You’d best be going then, huh?’
            The Colonel shook his head sadly. ‘This isn’t the way to do it, Joker.’
            The nickname made Cramer smile. It had been a long time since anyone had used it. ‘Do what?’
            ‘You know what.’
            Cramer sighed and hunched his shoulders. ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he said flatly.
            ‘I know you’re dying.’
            For the first time, Cramer looked across at the Colonel. ‘We’re all dying,’ he said venomously.
            ‘How long?’ asked the Colonel. ‘How long did the doctor give you?’
            ‘If you’re here, you already know.’
            ‘Two months. Three months at the most. The last few weeks will be in intolerable pain. You’ll need to be on a drip, and even that won’t be enough.’
            ‘So you know why I’m here.’
            ‘Because you’re frightened of dying in a hospital bed, screaming in agony. Friendless. Alone.’
            Cramer wrinkled his nose at the image. ‘Thanks for sugar-coating it for me, Colonel.’
            ‘Bowel cancer isn’t a pleasant way to die.’
            ‘You’re telling me.’
            ‘So you’ve decided to go down fighting. To die like a soldier, in battle.’
            Cramer smiled and drew back his jacket so that the Colonel could see the Browning in the holster. He looked over his shoulder. The men on the beach were still heading in their direction. Lynch and O’Riordan were standing in the car park, talking. ‘You should go, Colonel. This is going to get messy.’
            ‘Hear me out, Joker. This isn’t the way to do it.’
            Cramer’s eyes hardened. ‘With all due respect, Colonel, you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.’
            The Colonel thrust his square jaw forward. His jaw, and the wide nose which had been broken several times, gave the man a deceptively simple appearance, but Cramer knew that he had an IQ in the high 150s and was one of the top twelve chess-players in the United Kingdom. ‘I can offer you a better way.’
            ‘Yeah, right. What do you want me to do? Swallow my gun? I’ve tried, Colonel. I can’t.’
            The Colonel shook his head. ‘That’s not what I’m offering. I’m offering you a chance to do something worthwhile with your last few weeks.’
            Cramer frowned, then looked away. ‘I’m listening.’
            ‘Over the last two years there’ve been a series of assassinations around the world. Businessmen, politicians, criminals, all killed by one man. A professional killer who’ll hit anyone if the price is right. He’s never been caught, and we have no idea who he is.’
            ‘We? We as in the SAS?’
            ‘The FBI, Interpol, MI6, the SVR, Mossad.’
            ‘All the good guys, huh?’
            The Colonel ignored the interruption. ‘He likes to get in close, this killer. He always uses a handgun. We’ve dozens of witnesses, but we don’t know what he looks like.’
            Cramer frowned. ‘That doesn’t make sense.’
            ‘Oh, we’ve dozens of