Spider Shepherd 11 - White Lies Read Online Free PDF

trafficking, maybe not even that.’ He tossed the gun into the rib behind him and raised his hands.
    The woman screamed again off to their right. Bell used his hands to shield his eyes. Rainey had picked up the Iraqi woman’s child and was holding his knife to the boy’s throat. Three big men in fluorescent jackets were advancing towards him but they stopped when he pressed the knife harder under the boy’s chin. ‘One more step and I’ll kill him!’ Rainey shouted.
    ‘Shit,’ hissed Bell. He looked around. While there were more than two dozen Border Force staff on the beach, he couldn’t see any police and more importantly he couldn’t see any police with guns.
    Mercier turned and ran, heading for the dunes, but he was quickly brought down by two big men. One of them straddled him and used plastic ties to bind his wrists as Mercier cursed them in French.
    Bell hurried over the sand towards Rainey. The three Border Force men were standing about ten feet away from him, clearly unsure what to do. Bell looked around but there was no one obviously in charge.
    ‘Frankie, don’t be stupid, mate!’ Bell shouted.
    Rainey kept his eyes on the men in front of him. The boy’s mother charged towards him, her hands splayed like claws, screaming like a banshee. He kicked her in the stomach and she fell back on to the sand. One of the Border Force men knelt down next to her. A blond woman in a fluorescent jacket ran over and put up her hands in an attempt to placate Rainey. ‘Come on, there’s no need for this,’ she said. ‘Just put the boy down before you hurt him.’
    ‘Hurt him? You stupid cow, if you come one step closer to me I’ll slit his throat. Now keep your distance, all of you!’ He backed slowly towards Coatsworth’s rib. ‘Ally, come on, get in the rib, we’re getting the hell out of here.’
    ‘Don’t do it, Ally,’ said Bell. ‘It’s an immigration bust, it’s no big deal.’
    ‘Ally!’ shouted Rainey. ‘Get a move on.’
    Bell reached out for Coatsworth’s arm but Coatsworth shook him off and hurried across the sand towards his rib.
    There were more than a dozen Border Force staff gathered on the beach around Rainey but they were unwilling to move in. The boy had gone still, his eyes wide and staring, his face wet with tears. Three searchlight beams illuminated Rainey and the boy and threw elongated shadows across the sand and into the waves.
    ‘Get me my bag, Andy!’ shouted Rainey.
    ‘What?’ Bell shouted back.
    ‘Get my bag, it’s in the hold.’
    Coatsworth pushed his rib back into the water.
    ‘What do you need your bag for?’ asked Bell.
    Coatsworth climbed into the rib and made his way to the stern so that he could drop the propeller back into the water.
    ‘Just get it,’ shouted Rainey. He pressed the knife tighter against the boy’s throat. ‘I’ll cut him!’ he shouted at the Border Force team. ‘Stay back!’
    ‘This isn’t helping anyone,’ said the Border Force woman. She had the clipped tones of a headmistress addressing an unruly child and Bell could see that she was only inflaming the situation.
    ‘You, shut the fuck up!’ shouted Rainey.
    The Iraqi woman struggled to sit up and began to scream at Rainey. One of the Border Force men knelt down and tried to quieten her but she turned her venom on him, spat in his face and continued to scream.
    Bell climbed on to the rib and retrieved Rainey’s backpack from the storage hold in the bow. He straightened up and unzipped it. Inside were six plastic-wrapped packages, each the size of a house brick.
    ‘What are you doing?’ shouted Rainey. ‘I said bring it here, I didn’t say open it.’
    ‘What is it, Frankie? Cocaine or heroin?’
    ‘Get over here, Andy. Don’t fuck about.’
    ‘You brought drugs with you?’ shouted Coatsworth. ‘What the hell were you thinking?’
    ‘Fuck off, Ally,’ shouted Rainey. ‘The pittance you’ve been paying me, you can’t blame me. Andy, get over here,