The Land Rover drove on for another minute or so until the light suddenly made Lowe wince. He reached up for the sun visor and then he saw that he had his own puncture marks, but his were on his left wrist. He stared at them for a moment trying to comprehend what had happened to Burke and him at the farmhouse. Sunlight now crept into the Defender and Lowe’s nose started to twitch, something was burning.
He rounded a bend and the fiery dawn sun rose unobstructed from behind the distant hills. He felt his hands shake and then he saw flames dancing on the steering wheel. Lowe shook his hands violently in panic as he caught a glimpse of himself again in the mirror, his eyes were blood red and his skin had started to brown. And then the flames spread all over his body as the full force of the sun’s rays touched his skin. Lowe screamed and involuntarily pulled the wheel to one side. Travelling at almost sixty miles an hour the Land Rover left the road and hit a tree. The impact was horrific and Lowe was pinned in his chair as he burned up. In under a minute the flames reached the petrol tank and the vehicle exploded. The fireball destroyed all evidence of the boyos existence and their encounter at the farmhouse with the American.
BIO:
Alex Shaw spent the second half on the 1990s in Kyiv, Ukraine, teaching Drama and running his own business consultancy before being head-hunted for a division of Siemens. The next few years saw him doing business for the company across the former USSR, the Middle East, and Africa.
He is the author of the #1 International Kindle Bestselling ‘Aidan Snow SAS thrillers’ HETMAN and COLD BLACK and the new DELTA FORCE VAMPIRE series of books. Alex, his wife and their two sons, divide their time between homes in Kyiv, Ukraine and West Sussex, England. You can follow Alex on twitter: @alexshawhetman, on facebook: alex.shaw.982292 or contact him via his website: www.alexwshaw.com
DANGEROUS, DEADLY, ELITE - The third Aidan Snow Thriller will be available later this year.
.50 CONTINGENCY PLAN by Jochem Vandersteen
ONE
The first cop got his head blown off two seconds after the door burst open.
There were attackers, wearing ski masks and carrying small submachine guns. MAC-10’s, Detective Carver figured before taking cover behind the couch.
He’d been in the apartment for three hours that day. Along with him were two other cops, assigned to safeguard Diane Rosenbaum. Diane had been playing a game of cards with the cop that got his head blown off when the killers entered the apartment. The safe house had been breached!
Carver fired his Glock at the killers while his surviving colleague, Phil Kratz pushed Diane to the floor.
One of the killers pointed his gun at Diane. Phil fired his gun at the killer. The killer was hit in the throat, blood spurting from it like a geyser. The killer’s MAC-10 sprayed bullets, the trigger being pulled in a death spasm. The bullets cut open Phil’s body. Diane survived, thanks to the human shield Phil made.
Carver jumped over the couch, firing his Glock at the second killer. He hit him in the shoulder. Several bullets flew past the detective and riddled the apartment wall with holes.
Hurt, the second killer decided to retreat, Carver still firing at him. When the killer was out the room, Carver decided to worry about Diane first, the killer second. Phil Kratz was dead; there was no doubt about that.
“Are you okay?” Carver asked Diane. He was sitting on his haunches. She was still lying on the floor.
“Yeah, I guess.” Carver helped her up. “My heart is beating so fast I think it will jump out of my body, though.”
“Yeah, being in the middle of a firefight can have that effect.” Carver knew of a man who was as cool as ice in a firefight. That was the man he needed.
TWO
Mike Dalmas was serving spaghetti to his wife and kids when his cell phone rang.
He wasn’t much of a cook but his wife Donna appreciated his effort. For a macho ex-Special Forces guy Dalmas could be pretty domestic these days.
He took a look at his phone. Carver’s number. He didn’t pick it up because he knew Carver would want him to call back on a secure line. Dalmas had been Carver’s go-to-guy for the kind of wet work the cops aren’t allowed to do. Ever since Dalmas killed the guy that molested his daughter and Carver found out he’d been blackmailed into doing the Bay City Police’s dirty work.
Not a nice job, but it beat going to jail and never seeing his wife and kids.
“Who is it?” Donna asked.
“Nothing important. I’ll call him back,” Dalmas said and poured Donna a glass of wine. He had Bud.
They ate, but Dalmas wasn’t feeling at ease. He was wondering what Carver had in store for him now.
THREE
After dinner Dalmas gave Carver a call and they agreed to meet in some fleabag motel in a bad part of Bay City.
Carver opened the door for Dalmas after having a look though the spyhole.
“Be careful with that. Someone can put a gun against the hole and blow your eye out first and your brains second.”
“Thanks for the advice,” Carver said.
They walked into the room. A woman with long blonde hair in a ponytail, wearing a purple skirt, high-heeled shoes and a black sweater sat on the bed. A few freckles were scattered around her longish nose. Her breasts were full and her legs long and strong. In fact, were it not for the nose which Dalmas thought might have been broken as well, she would have been beautiful. Maybe that flaw made her less perfect, but probably twice as attractive. Dalmas was 100% faithful to his wife, but he couldn’t deny this was quite a woman.
“Mike, this is Diane,” Carver said. “She’s the reason you’re here.”
“I had a feeling she was,” Dalmas said.
Diane jumped off the bed and walked over to Dalmas. She shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Yes,” Dalmas said.
“Diane is our prime witness in the case against Donny Monaghan. You heard of him?”
Dalmas shook his head.
“He’s one of the leading men with the Irish Mob. Diane used to be his girl. Now Monaghan’s guys are after her. I’ve been moving her from safe house to safe house but we keep getting compromised. Seems like there’s a fucking leak in the department or something. I figured that you could babysit her for a while. Nobody knows she’s here but you and me.”
“I hire babysitters for my kids. I’m not one myself,” Dalmas said.
“Very funny. Come on, man… If there’s one guy who can keep her safe, it’s you.”
“My wife and kids will miss me. I can’t just stay here.”
“Be creative. Lie.”
“I don’t like lying to my wife.”
Carver chuckled. “You probably do that every time she asks you if that dress makes her ass look fat.”
“Dresses don’t make my wife’s ass look fat.”
Carver sighed. “Yeah, you’re right about that. Your Donna is a hot piece of ass.”
Dalmas’ hand shot out and grabbed Carver’s ear. He twisted it.
Carver turned red. “Jesus Christ, Dalmas! Relax. I meant no disrespect, okay? It was a compliment.”
“Next time, rephrase,” Dalmas said.
“Sure. Sorry about that. Please, take the mission. If not because of our special agreement, do it to save this poor lady’s life.”
Silence. Dalmas didn’t move. The cogs of his brain turned. Finally, “Okay.”
Carver shook his hand. “Cool, thanks. I have to be going now. I need to put in a testimony on a murder case in half an hour and the DA wants me to comb my hair and clean up first. The two of you will be okay?”
“I guess,” Diane said.