Shattered (Dividing Line #5) (19 page)

“It’s hard to say,” he replied thoughtfully. “It would be much easier if there was only one way in and out but that place is a maze.”

“It’s going to be difficult I agree but if we don’t get to him before he has the chance to go underground then this is going to drag on.”

“I’ll certainly do my best.”

“I know you will,” said Ryan. “What do you need?”

“L nine six sniper rifle. Make sure you get the long range cartridges in case I can’t get too close. But know this, if there are too many civilians around at the time I won’t take the shot. I won’t risk killing an innocent person.”

“I completely agree,” replied Ryan. “We’ll get you the weapon today.”

Riley nodded. “I’ll get down there and do a recce. Call me when you have the weapon.”

“I will,” replied Ryan as Riley left the flat.

“I don’t like this, there’s too many people running about in the shadows with bloody sniper rifles,” said Frankie, getting edgy. “I hate that fucking tactic. Killing should be up front, so you can see the life die in the other person’s eyes. What a rush,” he breathed.

“I’d like nothing better than to kill Alex Maguire up close and personal but this is war and we need to snatch every opportunity to take the enemy out,” replied Ryan. “A long range bullet in the head is too good for him though.” Ryan was pissed off. He hadn’t wanted Alex’s death to be so easy, he wouldn’t even know what had hit him. Part of him hoped Riley missed and Alex did go underground. Granted, it would drag the whole situation out but then he could hunt him down and make him die slowly and painfully, just like he deserved. But he knew Riley wouldn’t miss, he wasn’t the type.

CHAPTER 19

Alex’s strength was returning. He was able to sit up unassisted and, although he was still experiencing some pain, it didn’t make him want to die like it had before. In fact when he did experience a twinge it only fuelled the hatred growing inside him. It was becoming all-consuming and he would unleash it on the Laws the moment he was out of here, which shouldn’t be long now, Col was seeing to that. He wondered just how far he could trust Col. Granted he’d been nothing but loyal up to now but sometimes he thought he saw a hunger in his eyes that he didn’t like. One day he would try to take the throne, just like Mikey. He’d have to put him down before that happened but for now he needed him and he’d keep him sweet until he was back on his feet and all his enemies had been eradicated. In fact he was seriously considering bringing Katia in as his number two. Thanks to Rachel and now Beth he’d realised just how powerful women could be in his world. The only difference was he knew Katia adored him and would never cheat on him like Rachel had duped Danny. She would work with him rather than against him. Katia had brains, cunning and cruelty in just the right amounts and together they would be unstoppable. He knew she’d give him a boy and they could raise their child to take over the Maguire empire, he’d be a smaller version of himself who would love learning from his dad. Alfie had well and truly done it, he was out, he couldn’t have a mummy’s boy as head of the family and Archie was far too bloody soft ever to be a leader, that much was clear. He thought it a shame though because Alfie had courage in bucket-loads. Although his defiance had infuriated him Alex had also respected him a little bit for it too. He admired people with the guts to stand up for themselves.

His thoughts turned to Beth and he experienced a pang of regret, only a small one though. Once he’d loved her so much it had hurt. When they’d first got together, even after they’d married, his strength of feeling for her had taken his breath away. He still wasn’t quite sure how it had happened but all that love had slowly faded away. She’d turned into another person who nagged and moaned and went around in her dressing gown all the time. Even after she’d started making herself look nice again his contempt for her had continued to grow until it had smothered every last bit of love. However he rather admired the new Beth, the one who had sat by him so calmly and pulled out his stitches then tried to inject him with bleach. The weakness he’d so despised in her was gone. He’d done that to her and he was quite proud of himself. Maybe if she’d found that strength sooner he wouldn’t feel so much disdain for her now.

Col burst into the room, out of breath and red faced.

“What the bloody hell’s the matter with you?” frowned Alex.

“You won’t believe it,” panted Col.

“Believe what?”

“The Laws. They must have heard about that hit you put out on them. They’ve put a two mil bounty on your head.”

Alex turned as red as his colleague. “Fuck,” he roared. “Which bastard told them?”

Col shrugged. “Could have been anyone. Mark Cameron let me know.” He couldn’t believe the tables had been turned like this. If it had happened to anyone else he would have found it quite funny. Now Alex was the one in grave danger.

“I bet Cameron was the one who told Ryan in the first place, the sneaky bastard. He’s hedging his bets.”

“He told me he won’t take on the contract.”

“He probably told Ryan the same thing, the fucking snake. He’s trying to keep both sides sweet so he’ll still get lots of nice lucrative work off whoever wins. I’ll see the treacherous backstabbing wanker for this, the amount of work I’ve put his way. If he’d any loyalty he would have taken out Ryan and Rachel for me.”

“He wouldn’t have shot Rachel, he won’t hurt women.”

“Fucking poof. When this is over I’ll sort him out and all.”

“Mark Cameron?” said Col incredulously.

“He doesn’t scare me.”

Col decided not to argue the point. If Alex wanted to commit suicide then so be it. Mark would blow his brains out before he got anywhere near him.

“I can’t compete with that sort of cash,” continued Alex. “If I had access to the compound and the business accounts then I could but I’d have to stump up four million just to match Ryan’s offer.” Two million on his head, he couldn’t believe it. That had to be the biggest contract he’d ever heard of. It made his half a million, which he’d thought impressive, look pathetic and in turn that made him look pathetic. But he was far from out. “I need to get out of here now before all the scumbags come crawling out of the woodwork. There’ll be a fucking race on to get to me first for that sort of cash.”

“It’s already in hand Boss. We move you this evening.”

“Where to?”

“A nice big house in the country. You’ll have your own private nurse and doctor. Katia will meet you there once you’re settled in.”

Alex smiled. Christ he missed her.

“She came up with a way to get you out of here. I think you’ll like it,” smiled Col. “But until then we keep the blinds closed and the door shut,” he said, lowering the white blinds, blocking out the sight of the porter mopping the corridor.

When the blinds had completely closed the porter put down his mop and wandered off to make a phone call.

Riley had been stuck on the roof of the nightclub seven hundred metres opposite the hospital for two hours and it was now seven in the evening. He’d chosen his location carefully. The nightclub didn’t open on a Monday night and there were no cameras. There was also a fire escape leading down to the alley below with numerous other alleys leading off it, so he had plenty of escape routes. The buildings all around him were businesses, no houses in the immediate vicinity and all of them had shut up shop for the day. There was no one to see him. From here he could see the main entrance - which he doubted very much Alex would use - A&E, maternity and outpatients. If necessary he could get down the fire escape quickly, run down the alley and up onto another building so he was facing the south side of the hospital, which had the quieter exits. Jez’s man on the inside was going to follow Alex and let him know which exit he was aiming for so he would have plenty of warning should he need to change position.

Fortunately the evening was dry and calm but he’d still brought an anemometer along with him, a small hand-held object used on boats to test wind speed. As he was over six hundred meters away a sudden strong wind could blow a round entirely off target and unpredictable wind vortexes were more likely in built-up areas. He was taking no chances. Ideally he would have liked to have been closer to his target. At this distance he had only a fifty percent probability of a successful strike but the surrounding area had forced his hand. However he was consoled by the fact that he’d never once missed, even when the odds were greater than this. He exhaled once slowly then breathed in as he looked down the sight and saw a pregnant woman waddling into maternity, the man by her side looking both excited and terrified, an overnight bag clutched in his hand. Riley swallowed hard, inhaled again and studied the front of A&E instead. If Alex came through the maternity exit he’d live because there was no way he was firing into there.

He did another check of the weapon to keep himself occupied. Ryan had done well, it was in perfect working order. Riley had dismantled it, cleaned it and put it back together himself just to get the feel of it and to make sure nothing went wrong. It was semi-automatic so if he did miss with the first shot he could get off a second quick enough. It also had a silencer so the shot wouldn’t be heard.

Riley shifted his legs slightly to get into a more comfortable position. He was used to doing this as part of a two-man team so it was even more important he kept fresh and alert without a second pair of eyes. He had an earpiece in so Jez’s man could let him know when Alex was on the move. That was the only help he was going to get, he wouldn’t be told until the last minute which exit he’d be leaving by.

Once again he scanned the surrounding rooftops. It was common knowledge that Alex was in this hospital and no doubt word of the contract Ryan had put out on him had got round by now so there might be others wanting to try the same thing and if they spotted him trying to take their prize they might just try and take him out too. But he was well-hidden; even from the next rooftop it would be difficult to see him.

Riley watched with amused interest as a figure in black scrambled up the side of a building to his left holding a case that no doubt contained a gun. Once the figure reached the top it sped to the edge of the rooftop, knelt down and opened the case. Riley was astounded by such incompetence. The roof the rival sniper had selected was quite low, exposed to the surrounding rooftops. It was also above a café that had a projected awning which could act as a shelter to its customers if it rained. The sniper would have to lean right out in order to shoot over it. It was a mad choice of location and no doubt the fool would fall off if he attempted to shoot anyone coming out of the hospital.

Leaving the idiot to it Riley scanned the rest of the rooftops. No sign of anyone else yet but there was still time.

“Ryan,” he said softly into the microphone on the wire leading into his ear. Ringing started up in his ear, cut off abruptly by Ryan’s voice. “Riley?”

“It looks like I’ve got company. There’s another sniper stationed on the north side of the hospital. What do you want me to do?”

“Leave him to it. If he gets Alex then all well and good. Anyone else there?”

“Not yet.”

“Only take them out if they’re a danger to you or anyone else. We don’t want that hospital becoming a shooting range.”

“Will do. Any word yet?”

“Not yet. I’ll keep you informed.”

The connection went dead and Riley returned to his vigil. The other sniper was still in his awkward position. Studying the man’s gun through the scope Riley saw it was old and not very well maintained. If he fired no doubt it would explode in his hands. The only person that sniper was going to hurt was himself.

Riley was surprised to hear footsteps behind him. Someone was coming up the fire escape.

Slinging his backpack over his shoulder, he picked up the gun and retreated back against the wall, so he couldn’t be seen when whoever it was reached the rooftop. Gently as he could he put down the L6 and pulled out a SIG Sauer pistol with a silencer on the end. He watched as the man strode onto the roof, eyes constantly scanning the area. When he realised he wasn’t alone he reacted quickly. Instinctively he went low, reaching for the weapon concealed in his jacket pocket, but he was at a disadvantage.

“Stop,” ordered Riley.

When he saw the weapon in his hands the man did indeed stop, although he didn’t flinch. He just stared back at Riley steadily.

“Put your hands on your head and kneel down.”

The man obeyed, the essence of cool and calm. He was a strapping six footer who stood tall and proud with dark brown hair and ice blue eyes and appeared to be in his early-forties. Riley could tell he was a military man and was therefore reluctant to harm him.

“Which unit are you in?” said Riley.

“Paras. You?”

“I’m Regiment. You’re here for the contract?”

“I am,” he replied perfectly calmly.

“Listen, I’m not here for the money. Ryan Law’s my brother. We work together on this and you can have the cash. All I want is Alex dead.”

The man’s cool blue eyes studied him carefully, searching for any signs of design or artifice.

“If you don’t believe me I can call Ryan right now.” Riley slowly reached for the phone in his pocket and pulled it out. “Ryan,” he said, the phone leaping into life and he put it on speakerphone so the other man could hear.

“Riley?” crackled his brother’s voice.

“Ryan, I’ve got you on speakerphone here. There’s someone with me on the roof.”

“Who?” said Ryan, voice tight with tension.

Riley gestured at the other man for him to speak.

“Hayden Brody,” said the man.

“Hayden, long time no see,” replied Ryan’s voice.

“The last time we met must have been at Jumping Jacks five years ago.”

“I do believe it was Martina’s Bar three years ago,” replied Ryan.

It was the assurance Hayden wanted that he was indeed talking to Ryan Law and he relaxed a little. “I’m curious as to why your brother’s got a gun trained on me.”

“Has he? How rude. Listen Hayden, the money’s yours if you kill Alex Maguire. You’re good at what you do, I’ve no doubt you can kill him. Work with my brother and you’ll still get the full two mil, Riley isn’t in this for the cash. So you have three choices Hayden. Work with my brother and everyone is happy. Withdraw gracefully with no hard feelings or hurt my brother and pay with your life. What do you say?”

Hayden wasn’t stupid. “I’ll work with him. He’s Regiment, I can trust him.”

“Good man,” said Ryan, the affability returning to his voice. “Riley, get him up to speed. I’ll be back in touch when I’ve had word Alex is on the move.”

Riley hung up, put the phone back in his pocket then holstered the weapon. Both men got to their feet and shook hands.

“Sergeant Brody, Two Para,” said Hayden. “Or I used to be,” he mumbled.

“Corporal Cutter Sir.”