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Back Angels of Vengeance Save as PDF
Chapters (68)
  1. Blurb
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Dedication
  4. CHARACTER LIST
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. TWO MONTHS LATER
  60. ONE YEAR LATER
  61. TWO YEARS LATER
  62. FOUR YEARS LATER
  63. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  64. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  65. Also by John Birmingham
  66. ALSO BY JOHN BIRMINGHAM
  67. Copyright
  68. Cover

A few people were beginning to drift into the repurposed bar for their breakfast, but nobody she recognised from last night.

‘That’s good,’ replied Musso. ‘Because you’ll need your wits about you today, even if McCutcheon doesn’t have his. We have a meeting with Governor Blackstone at 0900 hours.’

‘We?’

‘Indeed. We, including my new buddy Tyrone.’

‘Somebody had better go wake him up then. Bags not me.’

‘You have been over the pond a while, haven’t you? Don’t worry about McCutcheon. I’ve already put Sergeant Milosz onto that hazardous duty.’

She cocked her head a little. ‘You know, General, Milosz didn’t look like he was going to be much better off this morning, last time I saw him.’

Musso shrugged. ‘I think they gave Sergeant Milosz potato vodka instead of baby formula at whatever collectivised communist childcare facility he was raised in. He was probably up before you with the rest of the Rangers, giving them a metric ton of shit for their unmanly inability to hold their liquor. Probably worked Melville into his cadence, too. His guys love him, but they hate it when he tries to improve them.’

Caitlin washed down the last of the toast with black coffee, ready to face the day.

‘I ran into him yesterday,’ she said. ‘Seemed a good guy. He was partly why I went in so hard at the start of last night. I wanted to knock McCutcheon off balance, get a concession from him before we even got things under way. I hope you’re okay with that. You looked a little taken aback.’

The former Marine shook his head, dismissing her concerns. ‘You did take me by surprise, but McCutcheon was a lot more surprised. And it worked. Or it seemed to, anyway. I guess we’ll see about that today. I’m going to send a few people over to pick up some basic supplies at the PX. We’ll see whether or not the chickenshit is persistent.’

He finished his breakfast, placed his knife and fork next to each other on the plate, and leaned back, giving Caitlin a calculating once-over.

‘Is it your intention to go in against Blackstone the same way, Colonel?’ he asked. ‘Because I don’t know if the same tactics would be as successful with him. He is a prickly character.’