The Adversary Read Online Free PDF Page A

doubt it. He eased himself further down into the backseat of the Daihatsu 4x4, and tried to relax. This was something of a challenge when being driven by an over-enthusiastic young officer with a habit both of driving too quickly and—perhaps a greater immediate concern—of slowing insufficiently on the tighter bends.
    â€œSee that,” Luvsan said, twisting the wheel. “Holds the road beautifully.”
    â€œSo far,” Doripalam agreed, feeling the dirt road slide beneath them. “Though I am not sure how long the fates will be on your side.” That would be all he needed at the moment, he thought. A brand new vehicle written off by an idiotic young officer. Particularly if he succeeded in writing off his commanding officer at the same time. Though some might see that as a bonus.
    Once again, Doripalam wondered quite why it was he had decided to take on this trip. The case had received some coverage in the press, for reasons he knew all too well, but he could hardly pretend that it was a major priority. The truth was that there was almost certainly nothing to it. Nothing that the police could deal with, at any rate.
    Partly, it was about the public profile of the department, he supposed—a necessary but tiresome part of his job. Given the coverage that this story had received in the media, he needed to be seen to be taking some action, however much he might think it to be a waste of time. If questions were asked in the Great Hural, asthey conceivably might, he could at least demonstrate his personal commitment to the case.
    But, if he was honest, there was only one reason he was out here today, speeding north into the shadow of the mountains when he should have been firmly seated behind his battered desk. He was avoiding Nergui. He was avoiding his former boss, his mentor, who was making yet another return visit to what inevitably still felt like his home turf. Not that he could avoid Nergui forever, or even for very long. But by the time Doripalam returned to headquarters, later that day, Nergui should at least have completed the round of ritualized greetings and glad-handing. Doripalam knew Nergui well enough to recognize that he would neither welcome nor be fooled by such ceremony. After all, most of those who were acclaiming Nergui’s return had previously been only too glad to see the back of him—and for much the same reasons that they now resented Doripalam. But he knew they wouldn’t hesitate to use Nergui’s arrival as yet another stick to beat their current boss.
    So, all in all, this was a pretty cowardly excursion, and would probably end up producing precisely the opposite effect from that Doripalam had intended. On the other hand, it would give Nergui the chance to get himself installed without further interference. And it would perhaps give Doripalam the chance to prepare himself for—well, for whatever it was that Nergui was up to. He was still unclear about precisely what that might be. And, knowing Nergui’s ways, that continued to disturb him.
    They had left the city well behind them now, andwere heading north toward the mountains. It was another beautiful spring day, the sky a deep clear blue, the grassland lush and fertile at the start of the new year. Luvsan religiously consulted the truck’s state-of-the-art GPS navigation system as they sped away from the city, but it was hardly necessary. The single hard-packed road stretched endlessly in front of them, and the landscape around them appeared deserted, mile after mile of rolling steppe.
    â€œThat’s the place,” Luvsan said, unexpectedly. He gestured ahead of them, momentarily taking both hands off the wheel. The truck jerked and swerved slightly, until Luvsan calmly tweaked back the wheel with his left hand. “See that,” he said. “Handles like a dream.”
    Doripalam sat back in the seat, breathing hard, wondering quite what kind of dreams Luvsan was used to. But he