Ultimate Weapon by Chris Ryan Read Free Book Online Page A

stirred in two sugars and drank half of it in one gulp. From the shower, he could hear a blast of noise as Jed washed. ‘He’s not so bad, you know,’ said Lana, looking up at Nick. ‘He really cares about Sarah. I keep trying to tell her how much that should mean to her, but I think she’s so used to it, she just treats it like the weather, something that is always there.’
    ‘He’s a soldier,’ said Nick firmly. ‘Army life isn’t right for Sarah.’
    Jed walked into the room. He took the coffee Lana offered him, cradling it between his two thick, strong palms. ‘So what exactly are you doing here?’ said Nick sourly.
    ‘Same as you, apparently: looking for Sarah.’
    ‘Why aren’t you with your unit? Or has it all got a bit hot for you now that there might be an actual war.’
    He knows I fought in Bosnia, and I’ve been under-cover in Kurdistan, and Indonesia, thought Jed. Why does he needle me all the time? ‘Let’s just try to talk about what might have happened to Sarah.’
    Nick took a step forward. There was an unmistakableair of menace to his stance, like a brawler coming out of the pub on a Saturday night. ‘It’s got nothing to do with you.’
    ‘Bugger it, Nick. I’m her boyfriend.’
    Nick shook his head. ‘You mean nothing to her. Got that? Bloody nothing.’
    ‘Then why the hell has she been going out with me for the last ten years.’
    ‘She hasn’t,’ snapped Nick. ‘Last time I saw her, she said there was nothing going on between you any more. She was talking about one of the guys in the labs. She was talking about her work. Talking about anything except
you
.’
    ‘And when was the last time you saw her exactly?’ said Jed.
    Nick paused. ‘Almost two months ago.’ His tone was quieter.
    ‘Great bloody dad you turned out to be then. Too busy fighting and drinking and working to take care of your own daughter.’
    Nick took another step forward. He might be fifty, reckoned Jed, but there was an air of calculated menace to his stance: the position taken by a man who knows his own strength, and the fear that it can generate in an opponent. Not to me, he thought.
You don’t scare me at all
.
    ‘Back off,’ growled Jed.
    Nick took another pace. He grabbed the collar of Jed’s polo shirt, and twisted it between his fingers. ‘A bastard like you knows nothing about being a father,’he said. ‘Your old man spent half his life in the fucking nick, and that’s probably where you’ll end up as well. So don’t give me any lectures on bloody fatherhood.’
    Jed wiped the spit from his cheek. He could smell the sweet, sugary coffee on the man’s breath, and feel the heat and anger in his eyes. He was aware of the damage a fight between two strong men would do to the kitchen: the unit and half the furniture would be smashed to pieces. ‘Let’s finish this outside, grandad,’ he snarled.
    Nick slammed his cup down on the table. It cracked, sending slithers of china crashing to the floor. The remains of the coffee splashed on to the table. ‘I’m sorry,’ said Nick towards Lana.
    ‘Just go and fight outside if you have to,’ shouted Lana. ‘And maybe when you’ve stopped acting like a pair of bloody toddlers, you can start worrying about what’s happened to Sarah.’
    All three of them fell silent. Jed reached for a brush, and started to sweep up the remains of the cup. Nick knelt down to push a piece of broken china into a rubbish bag. He looked up at Jed, immediately feeling sorry for the way he’d reacted. These days his temper was usually under control. But seeing Jed was like sparking up the blue touchpaper on a firework: it always made him explode. ‘We can finish this later,’ he said. ‘In the meantime, I have to try and find out where Sarah is.’
    ‘I’m coming with you,’ said Jed firmly.
    ‘Don’t push your luck.’
    ‘And don’t push yours, grandad.’
    Both men were kneeling on the floor, the broken china between them, facing each other off like