Chapter 6 Dr Hartley scowled as he flicked through the folder and saw the address. Yet another homeless drunk, no doubt having been in a fight, aggressive, ready to cause trouble and taking up precious time. His precious time. He had been here too many times before to care about yet another waste of space. If the ambulance hadn’t brought this one in then Hartley would have pushed him to…
This story continues the events in ‘Moonlight: Breathless 1’. and Vodka: Breathless 11 Readers may also wish to read One Red Square by AnDelenDir as a prelude to this story. ‘So, we are in agreement then? You will have to move to England for a few months to familiarise yourself with our…. organisation.’ Straker looked across the table at Dimitri. ‘but then you will reassigned back here, all being well.’…
‘Skydiver. Come in, Skydiver.’ Keith Ford gave a despairing glance at the monitor before he spoke once more. ‘Captain Waterman; please respond.’ A hiss of static answered him. He didn’t look up, didn’t want to see the faces watching and listening as he struggled to get some answer. Anything but that mocking whisper of white noise. ‘Keep trying.’ The quiet order came from the man standing at his right…
TAGS: torture, violence WARNINGS: contains realistically described torture scenes and considerable violence Vodka Nineteenth century word from Russian, diminutive of voda … water Chapter 1 His hip was sore. It was a jagged pain that gnawed him, made him grit his teeth against the ache, the unaccustomed bite of razor-sharpness. He lay still, very very still, trying to focus, to recall. And as his head cleared, as the memories sorted…
Chapter 3 Straker lay still once Shroeder had finished his tests, too weary to do anything other than observe through half-closed eyes as the doctor moved around the small room, talking in a quiet voice to the nurse. He was aware of the weight of blankets on his body, a somewhat familiar sensation and he roused himself to look for Rebecca, wondering where she was, why she had not spoken…
Prologue ‘Alec?’ The voice was hesitant, and held a dark note of fear but it was enough to make Alec Freeman turn with joy to the man sitting beside him. Just that one word, that one name was sufficient to crack the shield that had safeguarded Straker from the events that had precipitated his nightmare. He leaned forward, head in his hands as he remembered the underground garage space, and…
Chapter 22 ‘TW3 1QL’ Rebecca called to the driver of the big saloon car as she slid into the rear seat beside Sara. Alec Freeman was strapping himself into the front seat even as the car set off, wheels skidding on the loose gravel of the executives’ parking area. The driver punched the postcode into the satnav even as he was pushing the car through its gears, forcing it into…
Chapter 19 – Friday am A Studio tour was just setting off from the main reception area as Alec Freeman headed out to meet Sara and Miss Steel, having asked Max to come and show the men some of the work that was done in the construction areas. The group stood aside, watching with some amusement as the coach load of pensioners on a day trip followed their guide like…
Prologue November 2010 Moonlight in Moscow. So typical. The band, slightly out of tune, more than slightly drunk, and not caring in the slightest one way or another, thrashed out the ubiquitous melody, more for the sake of attracting any stray foreign tourist than any real love of the melody. The hotel he was staying in was too busy, too prominent for a meeting such as this. Any suspicious activity,…
The book was dog-eared and somewhat tatty round the edges, its fine leather cover battered and creased from having been stuffed into small cases. The dark material gave no clues to the secrets that might be contained within its pages. Unlined sheets of creamy paper, the odd one turned over at the corner. Just a book; unremarkable, unexceptional. And unnoticed. Until now. In silence the pages were turned. In silence…