The Choice. Kerry Barnes

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      As she peered in the rear-view mirror, she could see two cars behind her. Fortunately, she recognized them as Willie Ritz’s and Neil Lanigan’s vehicles. Lou Baker was riding shotgun with Willie.

      Willie and Lou stepped out of the car and made their way to Zara’s Range Rover, where they climbed in.

      Willie looked like Stig of the Dump, with his hair sticking up in all directions and his eyes heavy with brown rings.

      Mike shook his head. ‘State of you! Ya need to leave off that gear, mate. You look like death warmed up.’

      ‘Thanks for the compliment. Anyway, what’s the hold-up?’ He winked and gave a cheeky grin.

      Mike looked at Lou, who was the polar opposite of Willie. In his Hackett three-piece dark-blue suit and with his hair neatly cut and freshly shaven, he appeared groomed to perfection.

      ‘We’re not sure if Torvic or his men are already at the house.’

      Unexpectedly, Willie sighed, climbed back out of the car, and marched on ahead.

      ‘Oi, Willie, what the fuck are you doing, mate?’ called out Mike, from the open passenger window.

      Willie, in his long jacket and with his sleeves a tad too short, spun around. ‘It’s been pissing down all night. Wet mud will show any footprints.’

      Zara stepped out of the car on hearing Willie’s thoughts. She was followed by Mike and Lou.

      ‘He has a point. I haven’t had a chance to have the gardens around the house landscaped yet, so it’s all just soil. If anyone’s been up there, he’ll know.’

      They held back and watched as Willie wandered around, searching for clues to any intruders.

      Lou laughed. ‘Cor, blimey, he even looks like a Red Indian tracker. All he needs are a few feathers in his hair.’

      As they watched, Neil Lanigan and his cousin Shamus approached the house. They got out of their car and joined them. ‘What’s happening?’ asked Neil, in a less than confident tone.

      Zara turned and gave Neil a soft smile. For the first time, she saw the look of a worried man on his face. ‘Willie’s just checking for footprints. We want to make sure no one’s been up there.’

      Neil shivered and pushed his hands deeper into his pockets.

      His discomfort had Zara a little on edge. She didn’t like to have men around her who were nervous unless of course they were on the other side of her wrath. Yet the Lanigans were her trusted business partners, and even when she was held prisoner for five years by her brother Ismail and the Segals, Guy and Benjamin, they still kept her going concern in order, splitting every penny earned completely down the middle. She flicked her eyes to Shamus, who was now puffing furiously on a cigarette. As much as they were big, muscly Irishmen, both had soft faces with large, round, boyish eyes.

      Shamus was patting his cousin’s back. ‘I didn’t have a good feeling about this. Remember, I said to you last night, what if we are being fecking watched?’

      Neil nodded. ‘Aye, yer did that.’

      Still blaming herself for the cock-up, Zara felt sick. She looked from Mike and Lou, then back to Neil and Shamus. There was a marked difference in the men. Mike, Lou, and Willie were ready for battle; she could see in their eyes that they weren’t so afraid. On the other hand, Neil and Shamus looked like two rabbits caught in car headlights. She would have to make a plan that wouldn’t include the Lanigans – not this time – for she couldn’t afford any more mistakes, and their terrified expressions told her they would be more of a hindrance than a help.

      Willie, with his crooked smile, held up his thumbs. ‘No fuckers ’ave been ’ere.’

      Lou laughed. ‘Well done, Sitting Bull.’

      As Zara entered the house, she paused and listened. Her nerves were on end. She just couldn’t help but feel freaked out. It was all well and good having Torvic and his evil family tied up and tortured for information, but it was another thing knowing he was out there somewhere with multifarious plans for her firm and Mike’s. The revenge on her would be horrific, and the others who were involved last night wouldn’t be able to sleep comfortably either – that was a given.

      Mike gripped her shoulders and whispered in her ear, ‘You’re safe with me. Go on, babe.’

      She continued on and into her father’s study where the monitor for the CCTV cameras sat on the desk.

      She quickly tapped the buttons to rewind the footage and watched to see if anyone had been on the property in the last twelve hours. All she could see were leaves floating in the air and the bows of the trees bending in the wind. No one, it seemed, had been near or by. She felt her tense shoulders relax. Glancing out of the window, she saw another car heading up the drive. Her eyes widened for a moment before she realized it was Mike’s brother Eric driving, and he had Lance with him. He was the man her father called ‘The Machine’, who she only recently discovered was called Lance Ryder and not Torvic. It took a while before her heart began to stop beating so fast. She left the monitor and went over to the bar. ‘Brandy anyone?’ she asked, as she turned to look at the five seated men.

      They all nodded. It was still early, yet, under the circumstances, no one objected, and they gratefully accepted the drink offered.

      The loud knock at the door had Mike on his feet. ‘I’ll let ’em in.’

      Eric’s appearance was in direct contrast to Lance’s. Much like Lou, he was clean-shaven and smartly dressed in a neatly pressed shirt and suit trousers. Lance, on the other hand, looked dishevelled, although his expression never gave anything away. He always wore a severe poker face. His long, thick, dark hair lay on his shoulders in messy waves, and his brooding eyes were almost unblinking.

      Once everyone was seated, Zara took her position behind her father’s desk. Neil and Shamus sat to her right, while Mike, Willie, and Lou sat to her left. Lance and Eric took seats across the desk.

      ‘So, tell us exactly what you found, Neil.’

      Her sudden change in tone brought everyone to focus on this slim, tall woman with the copper-coloured eyes. Her slender neck and tight jawline gave her an almost regal aspect.

      Lance was intrigued more by the intensity of her personality, which seemed to radiate charisma. It reminded him of one of his female commanding officers over in Afghanistan on his last tour of duty, years ago now. She was similarly built and a real firebrand when the mood took her – which was often.

      He hadn’t known Zara for very long. Yet last night, he’d watched her command her army with a cold, stern heart. He was dumbfounded by how the man they called the Governor – the head honcho behind the new drug Flakka – had been right under the noses of him and the special operations team.

      It was Zara who had managed to capture the monster. Her shrewdness and detailed planning would have put the Army to shame. Yet there was something more than that which had fascinated him. It was her ability to act so coolly and almost mind-read Torvic. How she’d sussed him out and then pieced everything together was sheer genius.

      ‘We got to the airfield and I said to Shamus that the back wall of the hangar looked ajar. So, as we drove nearer, СКАЧАТЬ