Dark Forces Read Online Free PDF Page B

body?’
    ‘Buried deep in the New Forest,’ said Shepherd. ‘I’ve put a dozen in the woods and no one’s ever the wiser. You’ve got to bury them deep enough so dogs don’t get the scent, but other than that it’s easy-peasy.’ He raised his glass in salute and took a long drink.
    ‘You’re a pro all right,’ said Wedekind. ‘A breath of fresh air in this business.’
    ‘That’s why they call me the Hammer,’ said Shepherd. ‘I nail it every time.’
    Wedekind bent down, opened his briefcase and took out a brown envelope. He handed it to Shepherd. ‘Your fee.’
    Shepherd took it and put it into his inside pocket.
    ‘You don’t want to check it?’ asked Wedekind.
    ‘I know you can afford it, and I also know you know what would happen if you tried to short-change me,’ said Shepherd. He grinned as Wedekind’s eyes tightened. ‘I’m just messing with you,’ he said. ‘This is a long-term thing, Howard. I’d rather work for your firm than a succession of strangers. Strangers can be a liability. I know you, you know me, there’s a bond. Trust.’
    ‘I hear you,’ said Wedekind.
    ‘I mean it. This job I just did, it was by way of a test. It wasn’t about the money. It was about me proving to you that I do what I say I’ll do.’ He patted the pocket containing the money. ‘And proving to myself that you’ll pay for my services. The big question is, where do we go from here?’
    ‘I’ll be in touch, you can count on it,’ Wedekind said.
    ‘Good to know.’
    The pick-up truck left the road before they reached the Turkish border, about an hour after darkness had fallen, as quickly as if a black sheet had been thrown over the desert. They drove for five miles, then saw another pick-up, this one a mud-spattered red. Four men in long robes stood around it, holding Kalashnikovs.
    The truck slowed to a halt about fifty feet from the other vehicle. The driver twisted in his seat. ‘Stay here,’ he said. He climbed out, as did the fighter in the passenger seat. The man sitting next to Mohammed al-Hussain slipped his finger onto the trigger.
    ‘Is there a problem?’ al-Hussain asked him.
    The man smiled, showing the gaps between his teeth. ‘No,’ he said. ‘ Inshallah .’ God willing.
    The two fighters walked to the other four and the driver said something. One of the men replied, and shortly afterwards they all embraced. The man beside al-Hussain slid his finger off the trigger and visibly relaxed.
    Their driver indicated that they should get out of the car and beckoned them over. They did as they were told and he came to talk to them. The sky overhead was a carpet of stars, and a chilling breeze blew from the north. The terrain ahead was bleak desert, sand and rocks. The only indication that Syria would become Turkey was a concrete wall topped by razor wire. The Turkish border town of Akçakale lay a few miles away on the other side. Behind them, half an hour’s drive, was Tel Abyad. ‘Everything is good,’ said the driver. ‘They will take you over the wall into Turkey and another vehicle will pick you up there.’
    ‘Thank you for bringing me this far,’ said al-Hussain. ‘ Assalamu alaykum .’ Peace be upon you.
    The man hugged him. ‘ Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatu Allahi wa barakaatuhu ,’ he said. Peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings. He hugged him again, this time kissing him softly on both cheeks. ‘It’s time for you to go.’ He directed him to the second pick-up truck. Al-Hussain walked slowly towards the four men. For a wild moment he wondered if it was some sort of trap and they were about to kill him in the desert, but they greeted him warmly.
    Two of them pulled a tarpaulin loose in the back of the truck to reveal two aluminium folding ladders. They seized one each and carried them to the wall. Al-Hussain followed them, shivering in the cold night air.
    One of the men placed his ladder against the wall and hurried up it. He used clippers to cut away a