The Hit List by Chris Ryan Read Free Book Online Page A

chopping had to
    done - as it had had to be done in Gibraltar and on
    frveral less-publicised occasions - then Lark was the
    San who smoothed out the rough edges afterwards.
    !e was a Treasury Solicitor, one of a highly secretive
    lite working out of the Metropole building on
    Jorthumberland Avenue, where a small band of high
    pers concerned themselves with the legal interests of
    he Ministry of Defence. In the last two decades he had
    presented the difference between jail and freedom to
    '. least a dozen SAS soldiers and other security services
    Jeratives. If Lee Clegg and his mates from 3 Para had
    ad access to Lark after gunning down a joyrider at a
    elfast check-point, Slater mused, they wouldn't have
    ided up being banged up.
    Lark presented himself in the HenleyonThames
    astody suite at precisely 9am, carrying a Thermos of
    sh coffee and a folded copy of the Daily Telegraph --
    47
    The Hit List
    details which Slater appreciated. As usual Lark was impeccably dressed. His tie was that of one of the older civil service rowing clubs.
    'Mr Slater,' he began, extended a well-manicured hand, 'I hadn't expected to see you again . . . quite so soon.'
    'We do have to stop meeting like this,' Slater agreed wryly, running his hand over his chin. The lawyer's immaculate grooming made him feel like a roughneck. His mouth tasted sour and he needed a shave.
    Lark smiled - or at least the corner of his mouth momentarily flickered - as he loosened the lid of the flask. 'Usual drill, Mr Slater,' he said. 'Tell me everything. And I mean everything.'
    Savouring the coffee, Slater started at the beginning; Lark made notes.
    When Slater had finished, the Treasury Solicitor steepled his fingers. Til tell you the bits I don't like,' he said thoughtfully, wrinkling his nose as if tasting a mediocre sherry. 'For a start I don't like the chair-leg
    -- it argues premeditation of assault, I think ... I think that what you actually took from that room was a torch
    - a big fifteen-inch Maglite, perhaps. A torch would have been an entirely prudent thing to take outside with you. If you were later taken by surprise and forced to defend yourself with it, well, that's something else - do you take my point?'
    Slater indicated that he did.
    'I think it's possible that a friend might drop in with just such a torch later today and that you might have a
    48
    Chris Ryan
    i look at it - handling and fingerprinting it fairly r�xtensively in the process.'
    Slater nodded. Relief flooded through him. They twere going to give him the full five-star service - lexactly as if he'd still been 'in'.
    'It won't be found at first, of course. We'll give it a light or two. And I rather think that someone's going have to have a quiet word with Matron about that lair. Any feelings about what line we should take srith her?'
    'The truth?' hazarded Slater. Lark looked appalled. 'I'm not sure that we--' 'Listen, she's seen one of her patients abducted and jne of them stabbed, she's had a fourteen-year-old boy id a nurse beaten senseless just because they happened be on her wing. She doesn't need to be threatened jr bribed, she just needs to be put in the picture. She'll ay what needs to be said.'
    Lark pursed his lips doubtfully and then nodded. The second thing I'm not very keen on,' he Continued, 'is the impression - a false impression, I'm Sure -- that your reason for pursuing these men down le school drive was to provoke a confrontation. I put It to you that your original intention in leaving the School grounds was to ascertain the registration lumber of the kidnappers' vehicle from a distance in arder to convey this information to the police. Would lis interpretation of your actions be an accurate one?' Slater assured him that it would. 'And that having come upon their vehicle
    49
    The Hit List
    apparently untended, you attempted to disable it by slashing the front tyres. Unfortunately, while doing so, you were discovered - knife in hand - by the kidnappers
    Slater