‘What do you want from me?’
Sims smiled. It was a question he loved hearing, especially when he’d backed them into a corner with no other option but to ask it.
‘I need you to drive for me.’
‘Excuse me?’ Alex tried to raise her hands in confusion, but the chain caught tight and the metal dug painfully into her wrists.
‘Look, I know your mom is back on the pills. Which is why you’re back behind the wheel.’ Sims caught the flash of panic in Alex’s eye and latched on like a cobra pouncing on its kill. ‘Trust me, they know out there. They have enough evidence here to put you away. Not only that, but that means Nattie and Joel will be put away too.’
Suddenly, a wave of emotion crashed into Alex and she felt the tears rush forward. Sims smirked, enjoying the moment of someone breaking to him.
Time to go for the kill.
‘Alex, I know you’ve been working shifts at that diner to make it look like you have a job, but I know it’s just a front. You’re racing illegally again and this time, there is no slap on the wrist and get back to your buddies. No, this time, you’ll probably be sent to Rikers, where a girl as lovely as yourself will get passed around like a bong at Woodstock.’
Alex felt herself shaking, the fury of having her beloved younger siblings threatened angered her more than the idea of being sent to prison. After a few moments, she regained her composure and exhaled.
‘You need a driver?’ she asked, returning to the fact of the matter. Sims took a victorious puff on his cigar.
‘Yup. I need someone who can drive to join my team. And when I say drive, I don’t mean the way they teach you here in the academy. I need someone who drives like there’s no other way out. Do I make myself clear?’
Shaking her head, Alex thought of her younger brother and sister. Nattie was halfway through high school. A straight ‘A’ student with a love for science, Alex knew her sister could go on to do great things. Joel was a freshman but was already one of the top football players in the school and was destined for a sports scholarship.
Both of them had bright futures, ready to be shrouded in her own dark past.
If she went down, they would be taken into care. Their mother was a non-factor and her drug addiction would mean they would be taken by the state.
Maybe even split up.
Knowing the statistics of kids going into care, Alex had been doing whatever she could to give them the best life possible.
She would do whatever it took.
‘If I drive for you, I want guarantees that my brother and sister will be taken care of. The state stays away.’
‘I’ll do enough to keep the wolves from the door. They can stay where they are and in their school.’ Sims leant forward, his face twisting into a smarmy, evil scowl. ‘But if you fuck me over or step out of line, I’ll make damn sure you never see them again. Are we clear?’
Alex nodded, furious with the situation and at being blackmailed. Whoever this Sims was, whoever he worked for, they were high up. To wield that much power was terrifying, especially when it allowed them to manipulate a petty street racer into a potentially dangerous job.
But Alex had promised she would do whatever it took, and it was a promise she intended to keep.
‘That was just over a year ago,’ Alex said, taking a sip of the unbranded beer in the label less bottle they’d procured from the bar. Sam shook his head, amazed that his opinion of Sims could fall even lower.
‘Jesus. I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t be. I just feel kinda bad that I saw him do the same thing to you and didn’t try to stop it.’
Sam took a swig of his beer and shook his head.
‘Don’t be silly. I’m big enough and ugly enough to fight my own battles. Besides, Sims and I sort of go back. He knows how to push people’s buttons to get them to do his bidding. It’s why he runs his own task force and it’s why he’s so high up on the list of the biggest arseholes.’
Alex chuckled.
‘Arse?’ She laughed again. Sam smiled, finding himself enjoying a friendly conversation for a change. The last few weeks had been intense, whether he was ripping through the underbelly of London looking for abducted girls or engaging in warfare with Ukrainian mobsters. Even Singh, who he found himself thinking about, was after him.
It was nice to just have a pleasant conversation, regardless of the manipulative circumstances it was under.
‘You know, I know that feeling,’ Sam began, pausing to have a quick swig of his beer before continuing. ‘That feeling that no matter what you do, you can’t save those closest to you. It eats at you. Up here. It chews away at your mind until you need to do something to let it all out.’
‘Is that why you do what you do?’ Alex asked.
‘What I do?’
The train shook slightly, the carriage taking a bend through a field at breakneck speed and reminded both of them where they were.
‘Sims said you used to be the most lethal sniper he’d ever seen. That you were a killing machine.’ Alex noticed Sam look uncomfortable. ‘He then said something sent you loopy and you became a criminal.’
‘The man has a way with words.’
Sam finished off his beer and with a firm shake of his head, slammed the bottle down on the table.
‘For what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re loopy.’
Sam offered Alex a forced smile. Her light brown skin shimmered in the dull lighting of the carriage. She was very attractive; Sam couldn’t deny it. But what was drawing him to her was their similarity. They were both beaten and broken by their previous lives, which they were now paying for.
They were both doing what they thought was right.
Doing the only thing they knew how to.
‘No offence, Alex. You don’t know me.’ Sam hated feeling ashamed of the things he’d once been so proud of. He ran a hand through his short hair. ‘I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life. Whether they were orders or not, these hands have a lot of blood on them. I might not be a soldier anymore and what I do is against the law, but I’m not a criminal.’
Alex reached out and rested her hand on Sam’s arm. He flinched slightly; it had been an awfully long time since he felt any sort of intimacy from a woman.
He thought of Lucy. How happy they’d been before everything disintegrated into painful fragments of a previous life.
He thought of Singh, how their paths had crossed in two very different directions.
Now his mind was on Alex.
Slowly, he turned, his green eyes catching hers and he took a deep breath. The nerves were not about the possibility of them sleeping together. They were for what he was about to confess.
‘Nearly four years ago, my son, Jamie, was killed by a drunk driver.’ Sam saw the horror on Alex’s face, but he continued, refusing to let the pain overpower him. ‘Due to some technicality, the driver got off after a year. A year. Anyway, I fell off when Jamie died. I closed up and eventually my wife walked away. I had a voicemail on my phone, my son telling me he wanted me to come home. That he loved me.’ Sam could feel a tear forming in the corner of his eye. He continued, ‘I kept it on my phone this whole time I was grieving, refusing to let go. Until I’d found something to replace that pain. A purpose.’
‘So, what did you do?’
‘I was so angry, so consumed with revenge that I found the guy who took him from me.’
Alex stared at Sam, tears streaming down her face. Her voice broke as she spoke.
‘Did you kill him?’
‘I tried to.’ Sam’s voice shook and he wiped a tear away with the sleeve of his shirt. ‘But I couldn’t. I had him right there, but I walked away. Because I knew the only way to stop my pain was to make sure other people didn’t go through it too. That I would find justice when the system couldn’t. It’s been a long road since that night, and I have no idea where it’s heading or for how long. But Marsden, he is one of the few people I have left who I care about and if he’s in troub
le, then I need to help him.’
Alex leant in closer, her face a few inches from Sam’s ear. Her breath tickled his neck and he felt his body tighten.
She smelt terrific.
‘Is that why you agreed to come? To save him?’
Sam turned to her, their faces a few inches apart. Her perfect skin was glistening from the tears. He reached out and wiped it dry.
‘I’m going to find out what the hell is going on.’ Sam lowered his hand and his fingers found hers. They intertwined and then locked in, his murderous hands engulfing her skilled ones. ‘When all of this is done, I will help you, Alex. I’ll help you get out of this and get your family back.’
She chortled slightly, shaking her head as she leaned in closer to him, her forehead resting against his.
‘Why? You don’t even know me.’
Sam felt her move in a little closer, their lips almost touching.
‘It’s the right thing to do.’
Sam pressed his lips against hers, the electricity between them shaking him like a bolt of lightning. She wrapped her hands around his neck, pulling him closer to her with a furious passion. After a few moments, they released and with a few other patrons watching on with a wry smile, Alex Stone stood up from her chair, took Sam by the hand and purposefully led him back towards the overnight carriages.
CHAPTER TEN
Just after two o’clock the following afternoon, the train slowly pulled into Berlin Central Station. The capital of Germany welcomed them with the bitter cold that was spreading through Europe, with every country doing its level best to remind everyone it was only a few weeks until Christmas.
The station, a magnificent, glass structure in the centre of the city, was a cavalcade of traffic, with commuters from all walks of life rushing through the giant station in varying stages of panic. It was a gigantic creation spread across two wide, long floors, each one packed with eateries and shops. Large escalators connected the two floors, allowing passengers to manoeuvre to one of the seven large platforms. Sixteen separate tracks wormed through the station like veins, each one running punctually in different directions.
An underground section housed two further platforms, allowing people to ride the underground train as well as using the connecting subways to manoeuvre through the station without hitting the heavy foot traffic on the main concourse. Above the second floor was a third tier, with entrances towards the car park, but also to allow the security guards to patrol, casting their eyes down from their vantage point to ensure the safety of their commuters.
As the train came to a stop, Sam stood in the corridor of the train, surrounded by the black polo shirts and shifty glances of the Blackridge crew. To his right, Alex Stone leant against a wall, her headphones in and her thoughts with her family. After they’d made their way back to their cabin, they’d undressed in a matter of moments, two trapped and lonely people finding solace in another.
They’d made love twice through the night, before Sam left, telling her he would keep his promise to help her. She made a crude comment about how he already had, but then told him to be careful.
There was no future for them, they both knew it. Their lives were too strained, too wrapped up in their own mess to clear up another.
Sims meandered out from his cabin, his thinning hair still wet from the shower and Sam noticed he’d cut himself shaving. It was the little details Sam had been trained to remember, knowing anything could be turned into his advantage. He knew that of the three Blackridge members who joined them, two were left-handed. Buck and the other crew member, called Ray, were both left-handed, their holsters strapped to their left hip. He noticed that Alex had a metal chain running from her belt to her back pocket.
That Sims kept his cigar cutter in his back-right pocket.
It was something Sam had been conditioned to do, to memorise and assess. He subconsciously counted his steps when moving from one point to another, allowing himself to calculate how quickly he could retreat or move to similar distances before he arrived.
It made him highly efficient, only adding to his terrifying prowess with a sniper rifle.
‘I trust everyone slept well,’ Sims said dryly, flashing a look towards Sam and Buck, a reference to their confrontation the night before. Sam shot a quick look to Alex, who returned a wry smile.
‘Yes, sir,’ Buck said enthusiastically. ‘Ready to catch this cockroach.’
Sam ignored the clear attempt to wind him up and cracked his knuckles. He was wearing the same clothes as the day before, refusing to wear a Blackridge polo shirt. Sims had told him his bag had been intercepted at Kiev airport, but Sam was sure he wouldn’t see it again.
It was a shame. He’d grown attached to his assault rifle.
The train came to a complete stop and the seated passengers in the carriage rose to their feet, wrestling with the overhead storage bins and vying for their spot in the queue to debark.
The door dinged and Sims pressed a gloved finger to the button, releasing the lock on the door and careful not to leave a trace. The doors slowly slid open and Sims stepped out into the bitter chill, pulling his scarf tight and zipping up his coat. Sam went to step off the train next, cutting in front of Buck, who instantly rose to the provocation. Angrily reaching out and grabbing Sam by the lapel of his leather jacket, he pulled him from the door and slammed him against the wall. Ray took a step, assuring Buck of his back up and Sam held both his hands up in surrender. The other passengers on the train watched with concern.
‘Jesus,’ Sam said. ‘Sorry.’
‘Don’t fucking push me,’ Buck spat, his bruised eyes narrowing with fury. He shoved Sam one final time before storming off the train, pleased to have asserted his dominance. Ray sneered at Sam and then followed like a shadow. Alex didn’t say anything, but raised her eyebrow at Sam.
Sam held up his hand, his fingers wrapped around Buck’s mobile phone.
She smiled and then stepped off the train, followed closely by Sam himself. As they made their way down the platform, Sam grimaced as the cold wind bit at him, his jacket and shirt nowhere near enough to fight off the freezing temperature of Germany. Sims had made no effort to make him more comfortable and the further Sam went down this rabbit hole, the harder he knew it would be to get out.
There was no way Sims would let him walk away.
The prestige he would receive for handing Sam over to the authorities would be too much for Sims to turn down. Sam knew that, but it didn’t matter. One day, he would undoubtedly have to face the law for the crimes he’d committed and people he’d put in the ground. But all he cared about was finding Marsden and discovering what the hell was going on.
As they passed through the ticket barrier, two more military types approached, both decked out in black parker jackets and woollen hats. The ‘BR’ logo of Blackridge adorning them all.
At least they were consistently on brand.
The duo was also American, a man and a woman, both looking jacked up and ready for action. Combining that first impression with the gung-ho Buck and his lackey, Sam was wondering if it was a pre-requisite for joining to be a gun happy, adrenaline junkie.
‘Welcome to Berlin, sir.’ The guy welcomed Sims, his thick beard greying round the edges. All of them but Sam were armed, their handguns concealed within their thick coats. ‘The German police want a word.’
Sims nodded and followed the man across to a group of German police officers. Sam had no doubt that Sims had jurisdiction. How, he would never know. But Sims was a slimy character, and would no doubt owe favours to some nefarious, yet powerful people.
The international world of espionage and terror was a mystery and one Sam didn’t want to be in for too long. The crew were all watching the conversation between Sims and the local authorities, no doubt in awe at their boss’s command for respect. As they did, Sam tried to unlock Buck’s phone, the screen flashing on but demanding a passcode.
Shit.
Sam pocketed the device and then rubbed hi
s hands together, blowing into them to fight the bitterness that patrolled the platform. Sims patted one of the men on the arm and then turned back to his crew. His face was twisted in a smug grin and Sam rolled his eyes.
‘All good,’ Sims said proudly. ‘They said they appreciate the severity of the situation and are willing to help anyway they can. I’ve told them we’ll need extra spotters on the top tier where myself, Sam, and Buck will be. Evans, bring everyone up to speed.’
Evans, the bearded man who greeted them stepped forward, clearly in charge of the second squadron.
‘We’ve located Marsden to be staying in Friedrichstraße, just south of Mitte. He arrived three days ago and from what we have surveilled, he has procured travel documents and is looking to move out soon.’ Evans clicked his fingers and one of his crew handed him a tablet. With a few flicks of his finger he activated the screen and turned it to the group.
‘Now, one of my men has spoken to the man who provided the documents to Marsden, who has said he’s leaving today by train.’
‘How did you get him to talk?’ Alex asked. The whole group raised their eyebrows. Evans and Sims both smiled before Sims answered.
‘My guys are very… how should we say… persuasive.’
Sam knew what they meant. Whoever the poor guy was who had helped Marsden had been tortured and most likely killed. Either that, or they would hide him away where no one would hear his complaints. Evans continued, shooting a disapproving glare at Alex who put her headphones back on.
‘Now Marsden is on the run and will be travelling light. From what we know, he is not armed, but due to his training, we should treat him as hostile and dangerous.’ Sam shook his head, attracting attention. ‘You got a problem with that?’
Sam looked up to see Evans staring at him. Buck, stood beside him with his arms folded, looked on eagerly.
‘No, you seem to have done all your homework.’
‘Fuck you,’ Evans spat. ‘Ignoring Hugh fucking Grant over there, does anyone have any questions?’
Long Road Home: A pulse racing action thriller you won't want to put down. (Sam Pope Series Book 3) Page 8
