Death in the Desert Read Free Page A

to bring in their own weapons. Mitch, Gaz and Tug had the British army’s standard assault rifle, the SA80. Nelson, Benny and Two Moons preferred the more compact Heckler & Koch G36C.
    In addition to their assault rifles, each man carried his preferred close-combat weapons, well hidden. Beneath his uniform, Mitch had a knife strapped to the lower part of each leg, and a H&K Mark 23 pistol inside his combat jacket, within easy reach.
    A short time after landing they found themselves inside the airport building.
    ‘You got any contacts here you want to get in touch with?’ Nelson asked Omari.
    ‘No,’ said Omari. ‘Just my uncle in Kajaki.’
    ‘OK, then,’ said Nelson. ‘Let’s go get our vehicles. Time to get this show on the road.’
    ‘One moment, Colonel,’ murmured Mitch. ‘I think we might have company.’
    Benny nodded. ‘The guy in the purple suit andhis pals. They started eyeing us when we walked through the gate.’
    As casually as they could, the others turned to look.
    Nelson grinned.
    ‘Looks like our cover story has worked,’ he said. ‘Anyone make a guess who they are?’
    ‘I’m guessing they ain’t plain-clothes police,’ muttered Two Moons.
    ‘And they’re not Taliban,’ murmured Omari. ‘Not in those suits.’
    ‘So, it’s the opposition,’ Nelson said, nodding. ‘OK, I think this is where we send a message to them and anyone else who might be watching us. Who fancies being the bait?’
    ‘Me,’ volunteered Mitch. In a louder tone, he said, ‘I need to take a leak.’ He handed his rifle to Nelson. ‘I don’t want this getting in the way.’
    With that, Mitch headed for the toilet. The men in suits followed. The door to the toilet crashed open behind Mitch and two of the men grabbedhim roughly by the arms, while the third jammed the door shut. It was then that Mitch noticed with a shock that there was another door to the toilet, from the outside.
    The man in the purple suit produced a pistol, which he pressed to Mitch’s head.
    ‘Try and call for help and I’ll kill you now,’ he threatened.
    He ran his hands expertly over Mitch’s uniform and found the H&K Mark 23. Finding no other guns strapped to Mitch’s thighs, he didn’t look further.
    The man in the purple suit nodded and the two men holding Mitch pushed him towards the other door. He was forced outside into the bright sun.
    ‘You will walk along with us, without causing a scene,’ ordered the man in the purple suit.
    ‘How?’ demanded Mitch. ‘I’ve got two guys holding my arms like I’m under arrest.’
    The man didn’t answer. Instead, he said, ‘If you attempt to escape, I will shoot you.’
    ‘Where are we going?’ asked Mitch.
    The man smiled. ‘My boss wishes to talk to you,’ he said. ‘He’s waiting for us in the car park.’
    Like hell he is, thought Mitch. They were taking him somewhere quiet to kill him. Then they’d dump his body as a warning to the other ‘drug dealers’ to stay off their patch. He wondered where Nelson and the other guys were. Surely they would have tried the door to the toilet and found it jammed? They should have busted their way in by now. But it looked like he was going to have to do this on his own. He weighed up the situation and came up with a plan. The question was: when to act?
    Mitch looked towards the car park. He’d better make his move here, before they got too far away from the main building. Here, he still had a chance. Once they were in the car park he was as good as dead.
    Mitch suddenly stopped and jerked backwards, bringing the two men on each side swinging round in front of him. He headbutted the one on the right and then brought his knee up hard towards thegroin of the one on the left. But the man obviously saw it coming, because he blocked Mitch’s knee with his thigh and then lashed out, aiming a punch at Mitch’s jaw. Mitch jerked back and the man’s fist just missed him. Mitch was aware of the man in the purple suit waving the pistol