BooksBarbecue
Back Manhunter
Chapters (37)
  1. Cover
  2. One
  3. Two
  4. Three
  5. Four
  6. Five
  7. Six
  8. Seven
  9. Eight
  10. Nine
  11. Ten
  12. Eleven
  13. Twelve
  14. Thirteen
  15. Fourteen
  16. Fifteen
  17. Sixteen
  18. Seventeen
  19. Eighteen
  20. Nineteen
  21. Twenty
  22. Twenty-One
  23. Twenty-Two
  24. Twenty-Three
  25. Twenty-Four
  26. Twenty-Five
  27. Twenty-Six
  28. Twenty-Seven
  29. Twenty-Eight
  30. Twenty-Nine
  31. Thirty
  32. Thirty-One
  33. Thirty-Two
  34. Thirty-Three
  35. Chris Ryan Readers’ Club?
  36. Letter from Author
  37. About the Author

‘Aye,’ said Mallet. ‘It’s the Russians. The guys behind the coup.’

‘Roger that. We’ll put a message across to SFSG. They’ll set up a cordon to intercept down the road.’

‘Leave them,’ Mallet said. His voice was papery, hoarse. ‘Let them get away.’

A short pause. ‘Are you sure?’

‘If you capture those guys, it’ll cause a diplomatic shitstorm. Let them escape. They’re not going to cause any trouble now. They’ll be on the next plane back to Moscow.’

‘Very well. It’s your call, I suppose.’

The gunfire finally ceased, and the OC came back on the radio to report that the estate was secure. Webb threw his head back and laughed deliriously. All the pent-up stress and adrenaline and fear of the battle suddenly rushed out of him in a burst of cathartic laughter.

At his side, Bowman stepped back from the parapet, overcome with relief and exhaustion.

‘It’s over,’ he croaked. ‘Thank God, it’s really over.’

Thirty-Three

Thirty-Three

They left the rooftop a short time later. As they reached the ground floor a team from D Squadron swept inside the stronghold from the rear terrace and quickly took charge. A handful of the guys searched the rooms for lurking rebels while the others brought up the family from the basement. Once the building had been cleared the guys escorted the women and children to a suite of guest rooms on the first floor, away from the chaos elsewhere. Guards were posted to watch over them around the clock.

With the family secure, Mallet and the others cleared the barricade and made their way outside.

They stepped out to a scene of total carnage. The ground was thick with the dead and the dying and the detritus of battle. Some men lay writhing in agony, clawing at their wounds or trying to shove their guts back into their stomachs. Others screamed at the soldiers, begging for help. The foul stink of death choked the air.

A platoon of Karatandan soldiers had accompanied D Squadron from the garrison at the airfield. Some of them threw up a cordon around the estate while the others assisted the Regiment as they cleared the battlefield. The lightly wounded were checked for ID, plasticuffed and then taken over to the ornamental garden to join the rest of the rebel prisoners. At least a dozen men had been taken captive. They cut a pathetic sight, with their ragged uniforms and blood-encrusted faces. Those with serious injuries were handed over to the local platoon, placed in the back of a waiting truck and driven away to the airfield to be treated by the local garrison. Or at least, that was the idea. Bowman doubted the Karatandan soldiers would show their sworn enemies any mercy. Most likely, they would be locked up somewhere and left to die.