Chapter 18

The sound of the gulls began to seep into David's consciousness. He sat up, and immediately a sharp pain behind his eyes shattered his vision into shards of coloured light. Squeezing his eyes shut he breathed deeply. The smell of rotting garbage made him gag.

Gently he opened his eyes. In the dim dusky light everything had the look of a blurry black and white movie. That was until he noticed the blood. The afternoon's violence hit home. The adrenaline that had kept his body going was receding leaving him feeling weak and shaking like an old man.

He'd been caught off guard — but the men who had captured him didn't understand how strongly David would object to threats of imprisonment and torture. They had taken his gun, but Josh's knife had remained a comforting promise of revenge nestled into the small of his back. Driven out to this god-forsaken spot, they had hauled him from the car.

He had been dragged through the slush and refuse across to another vehicle. In it he could see Julia and a man he recognised from the plane. As the driver's door opened, he heard the man say to Julia, "Now be a sweet child and wait for me, won't you?" Julia couldn't answer because of the gag in her mouth. Getting out of the car he turned to look at David, the smile of the victor spread large across his face. "David, thankyou for coming. We have so much to discuss. As we are both busy men, let us get straight down to business — We want to know what you found in London. Your friend here seems ignorant of your discoveries, so I thought it best to ask you directly."

Finally he realised who it was who was speaking. "Captain Harper? Yes Captain Harper, Ben Harper. I thought I recognised you. You were on General MacArthur's staff in the Philippines. As I remember it you were his procurer — although pimp has such a nicer ring to it." His arms gripped by the men beside him, left him defenceless against the flurry of blows to his body and face.

"For you information I am a Major now and it is my duty to seek out and neutralise traitors such as yourself. If only you had had the sense to drown in the Irish Sea I would not be stuck in this bland excuse for a country. Now I need whatever it is you have found."

Slumped as he was, held upright really only his bookend goons, he could see Julia, behind Major Harper twisting in her seat. She was trying to get her hands from behind her back to her front.

"OK, so what if I cooperate with you Major Harper, what's in it for me?"

Harper looked disappointed. "Well, if I have your full cooperation, and if you are willing to testify against Generals Eisenhower and Bradley, I guess my superiors would be willing to let you live out your retirement on the family farm."

Julia had got her hands in front of her and was sliding across to the driver's side. David prepared to take advantage of whatever diversion she provided. The car roared to life and started to slew its way through the slush.

"Get her" yelled Harper, and the goons dropped David into the muck and pulled their guns. Rolling onto his side David pulled the knife out of his belt and slashed the tendons of the shooter to his left. He fell screaming, flopping about like a fish out of water. Rising to his knees, David launched himself like a spear, knife first into the body of the other goon. Hot blood splashed over his face. He must have hit something vital, as the man collapsed without a whimper. Staggering to his feet, he could see that Harper was running after his car, firing his pistol.

Suddenly the car swerved and crashed into a pile of old timbers. Looking around David found a gun clutched in the hands of his dead assailant. Pulling it free, he aimed carefully and shot Harper in the back of the head. Aware that the other shooter had stopped screaming, David turned to see him lifting his gun and pulling the trigger. David got of one more shot before his world had shattered and he collapsed in a heap.