Gray Redemption (Tom Gray #3) Read Online Free PDF

they?”
    “Go fuck yourself.”
    Palmer brought the pistol up and
shot the prostrate man in the kneecap.  When Hughes screamed and reached
for the wound, Palmer kicked him in the temple, knocking him out cold. 
    Hughes regained consciousness a
few minutes later and immediately reached for the wound, but his arms wouldn’t
obey the command.  He lay there helpless, staring up at the night sky, the
stars magnificent in the cloudless night.
    For the first time in his life,
Timmy Hughes felt truly frightened.
    Palmer could see it in his face,
and welcomed the sight.
    “I’m not gonna bullshit you,
Timmy.  You’re gonna die.  It’s just a matter of how long it takes,
and that’s up to you.  Now, where are Baines and Smart?”
    He removed the tape covering
Hughes’s mouth and got a face full of spittle in response.
    Palmer wiped it away. 
“Okay, have it your way.”  He pulled a small bottle from his jacket pocket
and unscrewed the lid carefully before pouring a couple of drops on his
victim’s hand.  The sodium
hydroxide solution immediately began to burn through the skin and Hughes
screwed up his face as he fought to battle the pain.
    Palmer gave him a few moments to consider just how much suffering was still
to come.
    “It’s going to hurt a whole lot more when I put it on your knee,” Palmer
said, holding the bottle over the open wound.  “After that I’ll do your
eyes, one at a time.”
    Hughes knew there was nothing he could do except hope for a swift
end.  He wasn’t afraid of death, and he knew that there was little point
in delaying the inevitable, but he wasn’t about to give up his old friends so
easily.
    “They’ve gone,” he said.
    “Where?”
    “Home.   Back to the UK.”
    Palmer considered this for a moment.  If the British security services
were after these people, it was unlikely that they’d be on a commercial
flight.  “How are they getting there?”
    “I don’t know.”
    Palmer poured a quarter of the solution into the hole made by the bullet
and Hughes screamed with every ounce of breath in his lungs, but the hand
placed over his mouth stopped the noise travelling.  Palmer waited until
there was nothing left but whimpering and tears.
    “Let’s try again.  How are they getting back to England?”
    “I don’t know,” Hughes whispered, and Palmer shook his head, positioning
the bottle above his left eye.
    “No, wait!  Wait! Sammy Li!”
    Palmer moved the bottle and looked into Hughes’s eyes.  “Tell me
more.”
    “I handed them over to Sammy Li in Malaysia.  He said he would get
them home.”
    “Who’s Sammy Li?  Where do I find him?”
    “I don’t know where he lives, but he is a regular at the Atlanta Club in
Kuala Lumpur.”
    Hughes prayed that this stranger would fall for his ruse and end up
searching for a fictitious target.  Unfortunately for him, Palmer wasn’t
about to take his word for it.  He took out his phone and hit a
pre-programmed number.
    “It’s me.  I need information about a Sammy Li from Malaysia.  He
might be involved in people smuggling.”
    He turned to Hughes.  “I have access to several security services
throughout the world.  If you are lying to me...”
    He returned his attention to the call, listening intently before thanking
the other party and hanging up.
    “Sammy Li comes up blank, but I was given another name.  Care to guess
what it is?”
    Hughes knew the game was up, and any more procrastinating would only lead
to more pain.  He felt bad for letting his friends down, but this man
would get the information out of him eventually.  Besides, their boat had
already set sail, and the chances of this man getting through Tang’s security
screen and having enough time to question him seemed remote at best.
    “Arnold Tang,” he said, and closed his eyes, waiting for the bullet. 
He felt the tape being placed over his mouth, but the shot didn’t come. 
Instead, Palmer emptied the bottle onto his exposed throat