Urban Assassin by Jim Eldridge Read Free Book Online Page A

knew what he was doing. What was it, a knife to the heart?’
    Gerald hesitated, then nodded. ‘Yes,’ he admitted, before quickly changing tack. ‘You were supposed to keep Pavel alive. Why did you kill him?’
    ‘It was an accident,’ said Mitch. ‘I tried to disarm him while he was trying to kill me. I flipped himover to get him off me, and he landed on that spike. That was it.’
    Gerald said nothing at first. He was obviously weighing up the situation. Mitch gestured at the room.
    ‘Am I a suspect?’ he demanded.
    ‘In what?’ asked Gerald.
    ‘You tell me,’ said Mitch. ‘You certainly seem to be treating me like one.’
    ‘This is standard procedure,’ said Gerald. ‘A debriefing. You have them after a mission, too, I understand – especially when things go wrong.’
    ‘What went wrong here is that Pavel spotted Sparks,’ said Mitch firmly. ‘How, I don’t know. Maybe Sparks did something . . .’
    ‘Sparks was an experienced field officer,’ interrupted the spy angrily. ‘He wouldn’t have made a mistake.’
    ‘Meaning you think Two Moons or I did?’ Mitch snapped back. ‘Let me tell you, this wasn’t our mistake. Either Sparks did something that gave thegame away, or someone gave Pavel the wink.’
    ‘You’re suggesting that someone in MI6 tipped Pavel off?’ asked Gerald, his eyes narrowing.
    ‘I’m not suggesting anything,’ said Mitch. ‘I’m just telling you what happened today. Finding out
why
it happened, that’s up to you.’
    Suddenly the door crashed open and Nelson stood framed in the entrance. Immediately, the man nearest the door pulled out his gun, but Gerald snapped a command and the man put the gun away.
    ‘You’re interrupting a debriefing, Colonel,’ said Gerald coldly.
    Nelson looked angry. ‘You’ve pulled me and my men off the case,’ he demanded. ‘Why?’
    Gerald looked at Nelson, then shrugged. ‘Because of what happened,’ he said. ‘Sparks and Pavel dead, Sergeant Two Moons in hospital.’
    ‘That wasn’t down to us!’ barked Nelson.
    ‘I don’t know that,’ said Gerald. ‘An operation went wrong. The only people outside of MI6 involvedin the operation were your men. Until we’ve established the facts, Delta Unit are off this case.’
    Nelson glared at Gerald. ‘You people don’t know Deacon like we do,’ he said.
    ‘That’s one of the things that worries me,’ responded Gerald.
    Nelson locked eyes with him. Finally, he said: ‘I’m taking my man with me.’
    ‘He’s free to go.’ Gerald shrugged.
    Mitch got up and joined Nelson at the door, then followed the colonel out of the room.
    As Mitch and Nelson walked away from MI6 HQ, Mitch asked, ‘How’s Two Moons?’
    ‘He’s in surgery,’ said Nelson. ‘Luckily for him there are no bones broken, and the bullet didn’t hit the artery. The damage is mainly to the thigh muscles.’
    Mitch nodded. Two Moons would be out of action for a while, but that was all. It sounded like it was nothing serious.
    ‘When can we see him?’ he asked.
    ‘Tomorrow,’ said Nelson. ‘Providing the doctors agree.’
    ‘So, we’re off the case?’ Mitch asked.
    ‘Like hell we are!’ snapped Nelson. ‘I’m gonna speak to some people in Washington. No one kicks me off a mission!’
    Mitch climbed the stairs to his second-floor flat, still going over in his head what had gone wrong. He pulled out his key and was just about to unlock his door, when he felt something sting his neck. An insect – a wasp?
    Suddenly everything switched off: his brain, his body; and he crashed to the floor.

11
    When Mitch came round he was slouched on one of the wooden chairs in his living room. Plastic cables tied his ankles to the legs of the chair. His wrists were bound together behind the chair, fixed to the wooden strut at the back. Thick tape had been stuck across his mouth.
    He looked up, and found himself staring into the smiling face of Jimmy Deacon.
    ‘Welcome back,’ grinned Deacon. He held up a