“What, you don’t like it here? I thought it was an improvement on the safe house in Kiev,” Bishop joked.
Saneh smiled as she thought back to that night in Kiev when they had escaped the nightclub together. It seemed so long ago now. “It’s beautiful here. I just get the feeling it’s not where we are going to stay.”
“You’re right, but I wanted you to come here.” Bishop gazed out over the rolling vineyards, settling on a distant cemetery atop a bare hill. “This is where it all started for me.” He turned back to Saneh. “Not so long ago my life changed here. I lost something dear to me but found something else. Something I’ve now committed my life to.”
Saneh sensed the tension in Bishop’s voice and slid her chair around next to him, laying her hand on his.
He continued. “It’s a little sentimental, I guess, but I wanted your journey to start here as well.”
“I think I meet the criteria. I mean I’ve lost everything. I don’t have a home; I don’t have a job. I can never talk to my friends again.” She paused as Bishop grasped her hand. “I guess I’m as ready as I ever will be. So where to from here, Mr Aden Bishop?”
“Do you trust me?”
Saneh arched one of her eyebrows. “After what we’ve been through, are you kidding? I would follow you to the ends of the earth.”
He laughed. “You’re not far off. How about a tropical island in the Pacific?”
“Sounds terribly romantic.”
“Well, I’m not sure that’s how Vance would describe it, but hey, we can roll with that!” Bishop leaned forward and kissed Saneh on the lips.
“Pack your bags, girl, you’re going on a holiday!”
“Just me?”
“I’ll be joining you. There’s just something I need to take care of first.”
Chapter 77
‘The Facility’
“You’ll have your weapon by the end of the month.” Dostiger’s voice was edgy as he hunched over the phone at his desk. He hadn’t left the office in four days, his scarred face was covered in stubble and he was still wearing the same combat-stained fatigues.
“You still have the resources for this?” the Iranian General asked coldly. He knew the Ukrainian arms dealer had invested heavily in the failed recovery of the chemical weapon.
“You will get your weapon. This time there will be no mistakes.“
“I should hope not.” The Iranian paused. “Be very careful, Dostiger. Nuclear weapons come with a greater level of risk. There will be many more eyes watching.”
“Leave that to me. You will have your weapon. Use it. I want the Jews to burn for what they did to me.” Dostiger spat his words with pure hatred.
“That I can promise you, my friend. Deliver the weapon and I will turn one of their cities to ash. Fail me and my men will come.”
“I will not fail. Fischer must pay.”
“Excellent. Contact me when you are ready to deliver.” The Iranian terminated the call.
Dostiger placed the phone down and reached for the glass on his desk with a shaking hand. It was empty. He snatched up a bottle and pulled the stopper from it, splashing the liquid into his glass. As he lifted it toward his lips, his eyes fixed in a distant stare and he smiled. It had all become so clear. He leaned forward and pressed the intercom.
“Get me Yuri.” Despite the Security Chief’s failures, Dostiger had kept him. Loyal men were a scarce commodity these days.
Five minutes later there was a soft knock on the office door. The arms dealer put down his second whiskey. “Yuri! About fucking time.”
The door opened and a man entered the room. It wasn’t Yuri; it was another man. A broad-shouldered brute of a man with a shaved head.
“Hello, comrade,” Aleks said in a thick Russian accent.
The Ukrainian’s eyes were fixed on the shotgun in the man’s hands. He looked up as another voice spoke from behind the Russian.
“We meet again, Dostiger.”
As the second man entered the room, Dostiger’s ugly features contorted in rage. “You! Fischer!”
“Actually, the name’s Bishop.”
“I don’t care what name you use, you piece of shit. Where is it? Where is my chemical!”
Bishop smiled. “Long gone, and you’re not getting it back.”
Dostiger glared back at him and spoke slowly. “Listen to me. I will give you millions. I will make you richer that you could imagine.”
“Your money won’t save you now, Dostiger. Your fate was sealed when your men shot down an Israeli passenger jet in 2004.”
“So you are Mossad then.”
Bishop laughed. “No, I’m just a concerned citizen of the world.” He nodded at Aleks who raised his shotgun.
Dostiger’s eyes narrowed, and for a second, fearlessness flashed over his tired features. “Fuck yourself.“
The shotgun boomed in the confines of the office, the round slamming into Dostiger’s chest. The taser projectile buried its probes into his skin and delivered a high voltage shock, causing the arms dealer to spasm in his chair.
“How do you like it, Dostiger?” asked Aleks. “Does it burn? Do you like having no control?”
Bishop moved around the convulsing body and pulled a syringe from his pocket. He twisted off the protective cover and jammed the long needle against Dostiger’s neck. It punched deep into his flesh, delivering its toxic load.
The PRIMAL operative whispered into the dying man’s ear, “Thats for my parents, my friends, and anyone else who’s died at your hands, you evil son of a bitch! I’ve just given you a dose of something not unlike your Novichok. I hope you enjoy it.”
Bishop left the needle sticking out of Dostiger’s neck and followed Aleks out the door. They didn’t wait to watch the last few minutes of the arms dealer’s life. Nothing could save him now.
Yuri was waiting in the corridor and Bishop handed him a small envelope as he passed. The Ukrainian began to open it when a guttural moan emitted from Dostiger’s office. With trepidation, he pushed open the door and stepped inside. Dostiger was still sitting in the chair, head tipped back in an endless, silent scream. He looked to be frozen in excruciating pain, as if every muscle in his body had convulsed until his heart exploded. Blood and mucus had run from his mouth and nose, mixing into a putrid mess on the front of his shirt.
Yuri turned away in disgust, and with shaking hands, carefully opened the envelope Bishop had given him. The card inside read:
Kurtz was waiting in a sleek black saloon parked in front of the facility. Bishop slid into the front seat and the German gave him an enquiring look.
“It’s done.” Bishop answered the silent question.
The Mercedes roared as Kurtz sent the rear wheels spinning in the gravel. They sped off down the tree-lined driveway.
As they turned onto the highway that would take them to Romania, Bishop’s phone rang.
It was Vance.
“The target’s deceased,” Bishop reported.
“Good job, buddy. How ya feeling?”
“Relieved. I’m glad that bastard’s dead. Now I’m looking forward to getting back to the island for a bit of R and R.”
“That might not be possible just yet,” Vance responded.
“What? Something else has popped up already?”
“Don’t you know it. We’ve got a situation unfolding in Abu Dhabi.”
“Oh, come on, Vance. You know how I feel about politics. Surely the local authorities can sort this one out on their own?”
“Buddy, this ain’t political, it’s survival. Our generous benefactor needs our help and we need his funding.”
Shit, thought Bishop, if Tariq needs our help, then the situation must be cactus. “I’m guessing that Qods force is behind this.”
“Tariq will brief you when you get into Abu Dhabi.”
“OK, but I’m bringing Aleks and Kurtz.”
“Sounds good. I’ll make the arrangements at this end.”
“You know, if we’re going
up against Qods force, there’s someone else who might be handy to have on the team.”
Vance laughed. “All over it, buddy. Saneh is already on her way.”
“I better hurry then, or our charming Sheik will have smooth-talked her into being his fifth wife.”
Vance chuckled. “You just get some rest on the flight. We’ll talk again when you hit the ground.”
Bishop dropped his phone back into his pocket. He turned to Kurtz and Aleks. “Hear that, boys, we’re heading to Abu Dhabi. Welcome to PRIMAL, where there’s no sleep for the wicked!”
***
I hope you enjoyed reading PRIMAL Unleashed! Three years ago I would never have thought that a couple of untidy chapters bashed out on a battered laptop in Afghanistan would evolve into the novel you’ve just finished. Thanks for being a part of that journey.
If you want to know more about my background and how PRIMAL came to life, check out the first post of my blog. You might also find my thoughts on intelligence and special operations interesting. We’re living in pretty exciting times.
As a self-published author I really appreciate the support of readers like you, those willing to take a chance on a new author. If you liked the book and can find the time to write a few words in a review at the store you purchased it from, that would be fantastic.
If you want to follow PRIMAL and find out about future missions you can receive the latest intel feeds from PRIMAL on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or Email. For those fans that join PRIMAL through email, I'll give you opportunities to purchase upcoming PRIMAL stories first at special pricing.
The next book in the series is PRIMAL Vengeance. You can check it out here.
Cheers,
Jack
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