Deep Black (44 page)

I slipped and stumbled as I scrambled to make the distance. Torchlight now flickered between the trunks.

Fuck the follow-up. I got up and kept running. Aminute or two later, I broke out from under the canopy and made my way behind the rear wall. Kneeling in the grass, gulping down oxygen, I checked the Thuraya. Five bars.

One more deep breath to slow myself down.

‘Hello, this is Nick, this is Nick. Are you up there yet? Are you up there yet?’

Monotone came back. ‘Affirmative, Nick. We see your contact. We see your contact.’

‘In the forest, towards the metalled road – you have a vehicle. One headlight. You see it?’

It seemed to take for ever for the operator to manoeuvre the UAVs thousands of feet above me, their surveillance packages scouring the ground for heat and light.

The phone was glued to my ear. My chest heaved, thirsty for oxygen. I worked my jaw, trying to conjure some saliva into my dry mouth, my head spinning with dehydration.

‘I have it, Nick, I have it.’

‘Roger that. That’s your target. That’s your target. Acknowledge.’

He still spoke as if he was ordering pizza or talking to his granny. ‘Roger. We have a northbound vehicle towards the metalled road.’

‘Roger that. The activity at the front of the house, anything inside. Hit it, for fuck’s sake, hit it now!’

‘Roger that. You might wanna get your people back.’

‘Too late. Look towards the back of the house. You will see me, I’m waving my left arm. Do you see me? Do you see me?’

‘Roger that, we have you, we have you.’

‘I’m the only one. Follow the right-hand treeline. You see a body lying about twenty-five metres from the front of the house?’

‘Yep. Roger that. We have a body. We have a body getting dragged out. That’s three guys, three guys dragging out a body.’ He paused. ‘Target now free of the treeline, on the metalled road. Stand by, Nick. Here they come.’

I ran into the forest, then threw myself to the ground as two explosions rocked the front of the building. The shockwaves were soaked up by the buildings and the woods, but the ground trembled beneath me.

Then another, this time closer. Inside the compound.

The pressure wave pushed through the forest, bringing gallons of water down on me. My ears started ringing as I waited to hear a more distant hit on the vehicle.

Seconds later, it came, and another two seconds after that.

I hoped Nuhanovic was able to see a blur of red in the distant sky as the first Hellfire kicked off. He wouldn’t understand the significance, but it would mean a fuck of a lot to me.

I got back on my feet and turned to head deeper into the forest. I switched off the Thuraya. Best conserve power till I got to the wagon and called George to confirm the slaver was dead.

Not that he would give a shit about that, now. But I would.