Undercover Read Online Free PDF Page A

footpath.
    "Who was it?" he asked. "Trabucco? I heard a rumour that AC Milan was courting the glory-hunting bastard."
    "I can't tell you."
    "Ach, come on. This is me you're talking to. Do you think I'd leak it to the tabloids or something?"
    Lydia pushed her bum off the side of the car and edged a little closer to Rory. She wanted to fall into him. Feel the comfort of his strong arms around her. Let him whisper in her ear that everything would be all right. Instead she tilted her head and did her best to feign coyness.
    "This is football, Rory. You know the score."
    ###
    C ormac cracked one eyelid. The light in the room, dull as it was, stabbed at his eyes like a demon's pitchfork. A slow throb warmed the back of his skull. He probed the area with tentative fingertips. They came back coated in sticky flakes of blood. He held his breath and examined the area more thoroughly. Pain ripped outwards from the wound. His whole scalp tightened and a muscle in his neck twanged. But he persevered until he could assess the damage. He guessed the cut in his scalp was about an inch long and not as deep as he'd first feared. It had probably bled like a bastard at the time, but it had been stemmed by a coagulated mess in the time he'd been unconscious. He guessed it'd been a few hours since O'Neill's attack.
    With a deep bracing breath he popped open his other eyelid. Didn't get half the pain he expected.
    The room wobbled a little as he righted himself into a sitting position and it took him half a minute to place himself. He registered the kid first, sat cross-legged on the mattress. A pair of big cartoonish eyes locked in on Cormac's. He looked more curious than afraid.
    "He's awake."
    Mattie had directed this update at his father. John was a blurred image, slightly behind Mattie. The kid's arms were crossed, hands cradling his floating ribs. It looked like an attempt to hug himself.
    Cormac focussed on the father. He stood at the right of the mattress with his back to the rest of the room. His forehead rested against the wall. Shoulders slumped in defeat.
    Big Frank's legs cut across Cormac's field of vision. The steroid-popping ogre stood as tall and broad as a mighty redwood. One swift stomp from his size fourteen Timberlands would end Cormac. Big Frank offered his hand. On acceptance, Cormac was hauled to his feet like a toddler. He held on until a severe spell of dizziness passed. The big palm was coarsened by a neat line of calluses, most likely from a fully loaded weight bar. Cormac broke out of the iron grip when he was confident he would remain upright. His fingers pulsed as the circulation kicked in again.
    "You all right?" Big Frank asked.
    Cormac nodded and instantly regretted it. "I've been better, like. Could use a couple of paracetamol."
    Big Frank's expression was hidden behind his ski mask but his stare was as serious as a heart attack. Eyes set like granite. He clapped a meaty hand on Cormac's shoulder and leaned in a little to mumble in his ear.
    Cormac just about made out the words through a fresh wave of disorientation.
    "For what it's worth, I think you were right when you knocked Paddy out to fuck. The fat cunt has no self-control. God knows what could have happened. But O'Neill's pissed and he's my boss, so if he decides you're to be punished for beating down his cousin, I'll go with it. I'll try to make it as easy on you as I can, though. Just try not to resist when the time comes. It'll be easier."
    "You going for Mother Teresa's old title?"
    Big Frank's lips twitched in an almost-smile. Then he went to the door.
    "He's back in the land of the living." Frank's words rumbled like a bowling ball on its way down the stairs.
    Chairs scraped against tiles in the room below. Cormac guessed the whole crew was going to hold some sort of court to decide what to do with him. It was probably a bad sign that they hadn't replaced his ski mask. They were no longer worried if the family could identify him.
    O'Neill led the pack