Soft Target (Major Crimes Unit Book 2) Read Free Page B

and
left her lying there in a daze.
    “ Captain Stone, ” said the stranger.  “ I
prefer to shake hands upon meeting, but I ’ m
open to other customs too.  Would you like to get up and try something easier? ”
    Sarah gazed up at the man and
saw that he was clean-cut and handsome.  His chin jutted out like a superhero ’ s and his dark sideburns looked like they ’ d
been shaped with a laser.  Not a single crease found its way onto the
finely-tailored shirt beneath his grey coat.  This guy isn ’ t a plod, Sarah thought .
    Sarah shoved herself backwards and sprang to
her feet, then leapt at the man again, this time opting for fists.  Her first
blow missed, glancing sideways off a blocking forearm, and her follow-up blows struck
thin air.  Her humiliation was compounded by her legs being swept out from
under her again.
    As soon as she hit the ground, Sarah sprung up
and launched into yet another attack, but this time the man pulled a gun from
inside his coat and pointed it at her forehead.  “ You ’ re testing my
patience, Captain Stone, ” he said.   “ Please,
calm down. ”
    Sarah let her fists drop to her sides, but kept
them clenched.  “ Who
the hell are you? ” she demanded.
    The man let his own fists drop and took a step
closer.   “You
can call me Howard.”
    Sarah frowned.  The man didn ’ t look like a ‘ Howard. ’ 
“ What do you want with me? ”
    “ An afternoon of your time. ”
    Sarah went to turn away. “ Sorry, I ’ m busy. ”
    “ Busy with what?  Cashing the pittance the US Government begrudgingly
pays you in widow ’ s benefits, or the marginally more generous giro the British
Government gives you for taking half your face? ”
    Sarah snarled.  The mention of her scars made
them tingle, and her left eye blinked sorely where the pink creases met her
eyelid.  “You know nothing.”
    “I know that you made a fine Captain until you
hit that IED, the same day that a British missile mistakenly took your husband,
US Army Ranger, Lieutenant Thomas Geller.  I know that you’ve been slinking
around for the last five years like a feral fox, snapping at anybody who comes
too close.  I know that you’re angry, Sarah, and I don’t blame you.”
    Sarah snorted.  “So what,”she said.  “Half
the world is angry.  The other half are pushovers.  What do you care?”
    Howard looked at her.  It had been a long time
since any man had kept his eyes on her for more than a few seconds.  “I can
give you the chance to do some good again, Sarah, ” he said.  “ I
want to give you the opportunity to pull yourself out of the quagmire of
despair you ’ re
in.”
    “Who are you?”   Sarah was getting tired of the vague talk and wanted some straight
answers.  “Who do you work for?”
    “An agency you’ve never heard of.  An agency
whose job it is to keep this country safe.  I work for the government.”  
    Sarah smiled.  “You work for the government ?  Well, why didn’t
you say so?  In that case, you can go to Hell.”  
    She tried to walk away again.
    “The bomb that went off yesterday….”
    Sarah stopped walking and turned back.  “Yeah,
good job protecting the country there.  How many died?”
    “Forty-two.  The people responsible have owned
up to it.”
    “ People?
 I heard it was a geriatric with a grudge. ”  
    “It was,”said Howard.  “The bomber was Jeffrey Blanchfield.  Sixty-eight years of
age and a retired postman, just like the news reported; but there’s more.  The
grudge may have been his, but the bomb came from Shab Bekheir .”
    Sarah froze.  For a moment, she couldn’t move
at all or speak.  She spluttered before she could finally get her words out.  “ Y- you’re telling me
that a terrorist cell in Afghanistan is responsible for a pensioner blowing up
a village in Lancashire?”   She couldn’t help but laugh; it was ridiculous.
    Howard was completely serious.  “We received a
videotape this morning taking