The Eagle's Covenant by Michael Parker Read Free Book Online

news reports on television for most of the afternoon. None of them had felt much like playing cards or talking. All they wanted was their money and then they could leave. As far as the media were concerned it was the new “Baader Meinhoff” gang. Some had even resurrected the Red Army Faction. They were all at it. For all Conor Lenihan cared it could have been Osama Bin Laden who had organised the whole thing. He was simply a mercenary doing a job of work. Now he just wanted to get back to his flat in Cologne and look around for more work. Maybe the Middle East, he thought.
    The sound of the van outside told them that Schneider was back. Breggie had been upstairs with the baby while he had been away. She came down within a few minutes of hearing the car. Conor thought she looked agitated and that familiar gut feeling returned.
    As Schneider walked in, Breggie glanced at him quickly. Conor saw the questioning lift of her eyebrows and the alarm bells started ringing. He wondered if he was becoming paranoid about the woman. He had met psychopaths before, served with them in the SAS, and this woman certainly fitted the frame. Signals flashed from her like semaphores when she spoke. She concealed her power behind a mask of overt sensuality, but the latent, psychopathic tendencies were never completely hidden from men of Conor’s intuitive reasoning, and he could read the signals clearly. He was not afraid of her but he knew, instinctively, that to tangle with her unprepared would be like tackling a Black Widow spider.
    Schneider placed a small, leather holdall on the table. “Your money’s in there. Better count it.”
    Trucco took the bag and drew the zip back. He turned the bag over and several bundles of cash spilled out on to the table top. They all reached forward and drew their due towards them. Conor flicked through the bundles that were marked with his name. As he had requested, one bundle contained Euros, the rest American dollars. He had no need to count it; the code, ironically, was honour among thieves. He picked up his jacket from the back of chair where it had been most of the afternoon and stuffed the bundles into his pockets. Despite the code of honour, he slipped the jacket on.
    “You will not see us again,” Breggie said suddenly. “But I have been instructed to thank you for your part in securing Germany’s future.” It was all very wooden, as though she was reading from a script. “When Joseph and I have left, you may go whenever you like. Please do not leave any trace of your presence here.” She glanced over her shoulder towards the window. “It is almost dark now, so it will be reasonable for you to wait about thirty minutes. There is a car at the bottom of the hill. The keys are in the glove box. There is a road map in the car. Good luck. Don’t get caught.”
    “We might say the same to you, Breggie,” Trucco told her. It was Schneider who responded though.
    “We won’t get caught,” he said, a confident smirk on his face. “I can guarantee it.” He picked up a small case that Breggie had placed on the floor and winked at them. “ Auf wiedersehen .”
    Breggie was already at the door, the baby tightly wrapped and clutched to her bosom. Conor thought she and Joseph looked just like any young married couple. Nobody would take any notice of them, unlike five men walking through the night to a car that had been parked nearby.
    As the door closed on Breggie and Joseph, Conor became troubled by the thought of getting into a parked car and turning on the ignition.
    He stood up, restless, thoughts of car bombs trickling through his mind and walked to the window. The vertical blinds had been closed all afternoon. He eased one aside and watched the van disappear from view beyond the end of the driveway. Rain spotted the pane of glass and he let the blind fall back into place.
    His colleagues had counted their money and were looking quite happy with themselves. No thoughts of car bombs on their