Dead Man's Gift 01 - Yesterday Read Online Free PDF Page A

do about that now. He climbed over the back fence and jogged down the road in the direction of the pub, feeling a strange sense of liberation.

7
    Scope sat in darkness in the car, wondering what the hell he was getting himself involved in. He was concerned at the risk he was taking, but intrigued too. He missed the danger of his old, long-ago life in the army, and the possibility of some kind of action – in whatever form it took – was a welcome prospect after months of painting walls and brooding.
    He’d kept his eye out driving past the Horton house in case there’d been anyone else hanging about watching the place, but hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary, so had parked under a tree next to an imposing Edwardian property further down the road. Wedged behind the driver’s seat was his overnight bag. As well as clothes, it contained among other things a prosthetic make-up kit, lock picks, a knife and a number of miniature tracking devices – tools of a past trade that until tonight he didn’t think anyone else knew about. Now he wasn’t so sure.
    In his rear-view mirror, he could see a dark figure – medium height, slight to medium build – jogging purposefully in his direction.
    Tim Horton stopped by the window, saw Scope, and got inside the car, the fear etched hard into his otherwise boyish features. ‘Thanks for coming,’ he said breathlessly, putting out a hand. ‘I haven’t got much time.’
    ‘Tell me what’s going on,’ said Scope, shaking it quickly.
    ‘We got a call this afternoon. Max has been kidnapped. We have no idea by whom exactly, but I think there’s more than one. They killed the nanny and left her body behind.’ He paused. ‘I’ve seen it. They cut her throat.’
    Scope nodded slowly, taking in this development. ‘What do they want?’
    Tim exhaled with an audible moan, his whole body stiff with tension. ‘They want me to kill myself. My life for Max’s.’
    ‘Jesus. Who’s got a motive for wanting you dead that badly?’
    ‘I’ve been thinking non-stop for the last four hours and I think I might have an idea who’s behind it.’
    ‘Go on.’
    ‘Tomorrow I’m one of the MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport select committee hearing. The subject is match fixing in football games. This is a huge worldwide problem, Scope. There are a number of Asian betting syndicates who we believe are bribing officials and players to fix the results of various matches, both in this country and abroad. It’s a much bigger problem than most people realize and the amount of money involved is phenomenal. We’re talking billions of dollars. At the hearing tomorrow we’re interviewing a very well-connected football agent who’s currently under police protection at a secret location. Very few people know about this, but we’ve been told to expect some major revelations about the extent of match-fixing in this country – including premier league games. What I’m saying is that there are people with a huge amount of power and money who won’t want him to get the chance to talk.’
    ‘But what’s this got to do with you sacrificing your life for Max’s?’
    ‘The main kidnapper – the man I’m talking to – hasn’t given me any details of what I have to do exactly, but he let slip that I’m going to have to do it at the same time as the committee hearing. I think they want me to do something dramatic that brings the hearing to a very rapid end. And maybe something that also neutralizes the sports agent as a threat, but right now, I have no idea what it is.’
    Scope sighed. It was pretty obvious to him what they wanted Tim to do, but he didn’t say anything. ‘What’s the security like at these hearings? I seem to remember some guy getting into one and chucking a custard pie at Rupert Murdoch.’
    Tim grunted. ‘It’s not good. You have to pass through a metal detector but you’re rarely body searched, and people are in and out of the Commons all the time. If you’re well