Spider Shepherd 11 - White Lies Read Online Free PDF Page B

now.’
    Coatsworth’s gun was by Bell’s foot. Bell bent down and picked it up.
    ‘Andy, come on! We’ve got to go, now!’
    Bell climbed out of the rib and walked along the beach, carrying the bag in his left hand and the semi-automatic in his right.
    ‘Get a move on!’ shouted Rainey. The child began to scream and Rainey shook him. ‘Shut the fuck up!’ he shouted.
    ‘He’s scared,’ said Bell.
    ‘Throw the bag in the boat,’ said Rainey. He shook the boy again, then changed his grip so that his hand was over his mouth, muffling his cries.
    Bell did as he was told.
    ‘Where did you get the gun from?’ Rainey asked.
    ‘It’s Ally’s.’
    ‘Well, point it at them,’ said Rainey, gesturing at the Border Force people.
    ‘I’m not pointing a loaded gun at anybody,’ said Bell.
    There was a roaring sound from the dunes and then a blindingly bright light shone in their eyes. Bell heard the whoop-whoop-whoop of a helicopter’s rotor blades. He shielded his eyes with the flat of his hand but the light was still too bright for him to see the helicopter.
    ‘Andy, give me the bloody gun, come on!’ shouted Rainey, his voice barely audible over the roar of the helicopter’s turbine.
    Bell walked over the sand towards Rainey. ‘You’ve got a knife and the kid, how are you gonna hold a gun?’
    ‘Just give it to me.’
    Bell tossed the gun at Rainey and it fell at his feet. ‘What are you playing at?’ shouted Rainey.
    ‘If you want the bloody gun you can have it, but I’m having nothing to do with it.’
    The boy was still struggling in Rainey’s grasp. ‘Be still, will you,’ hissed Rainey, pressing the knife even harder against the boy’s throat. He took a step towards the gun. ‘I’ll cut him if you even think of moving!’ he shouted at the line of fluorescent jackets.
    The helicopter banked to the side and the huge beam lost Rainey for a few seconds and then swung back to capture him once more. Rainey bent down, dropped the knife and picked up the gun. He pointed it at the Border Force woman and grinned. ‘This changes things, doesn’t it,’ he shouted. ‘Now back up the beach, all of you!’
    The woman held up her hands. ‘There’s no need for any of this,’ she said, then flinched as Rainey jerked the gun as if he was about to pull the trigger. ‘OK, OK!’ she shouted. ‘Everybody back!’
    The fluorescent jackets started backing away.
    ‘That’s more like it!’ shouted Rainey.
    ‘Let the boy go, Frankie,’ shouted Bell. ‘You’ve got the only gun on the beach.’
    ‘There could be armed cops in the helicopter!’
    ‘It’s a Border Force chopper, they’re not armed,’ said Bell. ‘They’re too stupid to be trusted with guns.’ He nodded at the Border Force woman, who seemed to be running the show. ‘No offence.’
    ‘Just push the boat out,’ shouted Rainey, his words almost lost in the roar of the helicopter’s turbine. He took a quick look over his shoulder. ‘Ally, get the propeller in the water as soon as you can.’ He looked back at Bell. ‘Come on, come on, we’ve got to get out of here.’
    One of the Border Force men took a step forward and Rainey screamed, ‘Stay where you are!’ and pointed the gun at him.
    ‘Frankie, mate, it’s over,’ shouted Bell.
    ‘Over? It’s not over until we’re back in France!’
    ‘The gun’s not loaded.’
    Rainey looked at the gun in his hand. ‘Bollocks.’
    ‘It’s loaded,’ shouted Coatsworth from the stern of the rib. ‘I loaded it myself.’
    Bell shook his head. ‘Give it up, Frankie. Let the boy go.’
    Rainey pointed the gun at Bell, his finger tightening on the trigger. One of the Border Force men moved forward and Rainey swung the bag towards the rank of fluorescent jackets. ‘Get the hell back or I’ll shoot!’ he yelled.
    ‘Andy, push the boat out and get in!’ shouted Coatsworth. ‘Let’s get the hell out of here!’
    The helicopter was directly overhead now, the rotor wash buffeting