Gun Dealing (The Ryder Quartet Book 2) Read Free

locked the car, and headed across one
of the last remaining underdeveloped plots for the beach, and then into the
bush. Luxury homes behind them, and the sea before them. This is where they
would stay until the dark enveloped them and the anticipated police sirens
finally faded away into the night.
    Thirty paces into the thick bush, as
they pushed through the foliage they did not notice the man sitting alone,
quietly. He sat with his back against a tree, facing a gap in the thick
vegetation that allowed him to look at the crashing surf little more than a
hundred metres away. The man remained still. Only his
eyes moved as he watched them thrust noisily through the bush, passing directly
in front of him.  
    Skhura Thabethe sat, frozen, the nyaope joint clasped lightly between
thumb and two fingers as he watched the three men pass by without seeing him.
The purple knots of the blood vessels in each of his eyes seemed more inflamed
than usual, with the fumes of the joint drifting up across his face.
    His pupils were unnaturally large. If
any of the three men had turned to look at him they might have deduced that
they were in the presence of evil.
    They did not see him. They crashed on
into the bush.

2   MONDAY

 
    04.59.
    Ryder normally woke up first, but
today Fiona had beaten him to it. She hadn’t woken him. That was left to the
clock in his head. She had showered, and from the aroma permeating the house he
knew that she had the coffee on. When his eyes flickered open, as usual, one
minute before the time set for the alarm, his first reaction was to notice that
the bed was empty next to him and that the bathroom light was on and the
extractor was doing its work on the steam. He saw at a glance that the button
on the alarm had already been suppressed.
    He remembered she had a big day
today. She was presenting designs and concepts and preliminary drawings to an
impressive audience. The prize was a contract worth millions. Her partners had
said it was now all in her hands. She was the best, they proclaimed, and they
were confident she would deliver.
    He did his normal routine, the volume
of his atonal singing in the shower doubtless annoying the neighbours ,
let alone his wife. By the time he got downstairs she had muesli and toast
waiting for him. Along with the best coffee. They hugged and kissed,
affectionately.
    ‘Big day, snoeks ?’
    ‘Very big. I think I’ll take a
beta-blocker.’
    ‘Don’t. You don’t need it. You’ll be
great.’
    ‘We’ll see. What about you? Ready for
your speech? Yours is more difficult than mine, I think.’
    ‘As ready as I’ll ever be. Thanks for
your thoughts yesterday. They helped a lot.’
    ‘You don’t need any advice. Just
speak from the heart. It’ll be good. I’ll get there just before 2.30 pm. OK?’
    ‘That’ll be fine. I think they’ll
want me sitting with the Captain and the Brigadier, so we can’t be together.’
    ‘I thought so. No problem. Don’t
worry. It’ll be OK. I’ll have my own tissues.’
    They smiled, grimly, before she
continued.
    ‘I’m off in a couple of minutes. Will
you check that the kids get off OK?’
    ‘No problem. I’m starting later than
usual. Got stuff to do down at Comms.’
    They ate breakfast together,
comparing diaries and checking arrangements for the coming week while doing so.
They noted specifically that the mid-term would see the kids and the dog off on
Wednesday afternoon and away for the rest of the week until Sunday mid-day.
They checked   diaries, confirmed
chores, talked about her presentation and about arrangements for Wednesday’s
dinner. Then she kissed him and was gone.
    Ryder drained his coffee, refilled,
and went over the various things he had to check arising out of last week’s
actions. Lots of loose strings to tie up, and doubtless more new stuff pouring
into the office even now.
    He could hear the boys stirring and
the dog whining.
    The week started.

 
    07.15.
    Detectives Koekemoer, Dippenaar,