Burning Angels

19

Jaeger felt a surge of vomit rising from within his guts. By sheer strength of will he forced it back down again. If these were the people who were holding Ruth and Luke, they were going to have to kill him. Otherwise he would get free and rip every last one of their throats out.

There was a click from behind him as the door opened. Jaeger heard someone enter the room and walk past. His eyes bulged disbelievingly. He’d feared as much, but still, surely to God this had to be a dream. He felt like smashing his head against the cold grey wall in an effort to wake himself from the nightmare.

Irina Narov came to a halt with her back to him. She handed something across the desk to the grey man. Wordlessly she turned. She went to hurry past, but as she did so, Jaeger managed to catch a glimpse of the consternation – and the guilt – burning in her eyes.

‘Thank you, Irina,’ the grey man said quietly. He turned his empty, bored eyes on Jaeger. ‘The lovely Irina Narov. You know her, of course.’

Jaeger didn’t respond. There was no point. He sensed there was worse – much worse – to come.

Narov had left a bundle lying on the table. Something about it struck Jaeger as familiar. The grey man pushed it across to him.

‘Take a look. You need to see this. You need to see this to understand why you have no choice but to help us.’

Jaeger reached out, but even as he did so, he sensed with chilling certainty what lay before him. It was Luke’s SAVE THE RHINO T-shirt, the one he had got during their family safari to East Africa a few years back. The three of them had trekked across the moonlit savannah amongst herds of giraffe, wildebeest and, best of all, rhinos – their favourite animal. It had been utterly magical. The perfect family holiday. The T-shirts some of their most precious mementoes.

And now this.

Jaeger’s aching, bloodied fingers grasped at the thin cotton. He lifted it up and held it close to his face, his pulse pounding in his ears. He felt as if his heart was going to burst. Tears pricked his eyes.

They had his family – the murderous, merciless, sick bastards.

‘You must understand – there is no need for any of this.’ The grey man’s words cut through Jaeger’s tortured thoughts. ‘All we need is some answers. You give me the answers we seek, and we reunite you with your loved ones. That is all I ask. What could be easier?’

Jaeger felt his teeth grinding against each other. His jaw locked solid. His muscles were taut with tension as he fought against the blind urge to lash out; to strike back. He knew where it would get him. His hands had been bound with duct tape again, and he could feel the thugs’ eyes upon him, willing him to make the first move.

He had to await his chance. Sooner or later they would make a mistake and then he would strike.

The grey man spread his hands invitingly. ‘So, Mr Jaeger, in an effort to help your family, please tell me: when will your friends be arriving? Who exactly are we to expect? And how are we to recognise them?’

Jaeger felt a war explode within his head. He was being torn in opposite directions. Was he to sell out his closest friends? Betray his fellow warriors? Or lose the only chance he had of seeing Ruth and Luke again?

Screw it, he told himself. Narov had betrayed him. She was supposedly on the side of the angels, but it had all been an act. She had sold him out as no one ever had before.

Who was there left that he could trust?

Jaeger’s mouth opened. At the last moment, he choked back the words. If he let them break him, he was betraying his loved ones.

He would never betray his wife and child.

He had to hold firm.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

The grey man raised both eyebrows. It was the nearest that Jaeger had seen him come to any kind of spontaneous reaction. Clearly he was surprised.

‘I am a reasonable, patient man,’ he breathed. ‘I will give you another chance. I will offer your family another chance.’ A pause. ‘Tell me, when will your friends be arriving? Who exactly are we to expect? And how are we to recognise them?’

‘I cannot answer—’

‘Look, if you will not cooperate, things will become very difficult for you. For your family. So it is very simple. Give me the answers. When will your friends arrive? Who exactly are they? How will we know them?’

‘I cannot—’

The grey man cut Jaeger off with a snap of the fingers. He glanced in the direction of his thugs. ‘Enough. It is over. Take him away.’

The black bag was whipped over Jaeger’s head; he felt his chin slammed on to his chest and his arms jammed together.

An instant later he was on his feet, being dragged from the room like a broken rag doll.