The Masterful Russian. Cordelia Gregory

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СКАЧАТЬ Janice was a master at weaving in and out of traffic and finding routes down side streets to knock off the time it would take them to reach their destination. He removed his Glock 17 from the holster inside his dark grey designer suit jacket and prepared as they headed down a side street breaking the speed restrictions. His mind focused on the job, distracting his thoughts from their need to drift onto the train and ruminate on Antonia’s helpless state. The lady had guts. She would survive. He had no doubts. She was strong, determined and fearless. She would make it out of that station alive and he would be there when she did, ready to take over her protection while she gave both him and the organization he worked for all the information she’d gathered to help them bring down a terrorist cell.

      Just minutes later, Janice brought the car to a halt outside the main entrance to Waterloo station. He quickly spied Antonia already out of the station running across the road. The two men were still following her and now one of them was aiming his gun at her clearly sick of chasing her to enable a clean execution. Gabriel held his breath as the bullet shot from the weapon whistled towards her just as she veered to the side. To his relief it missed its target but embedded itself into the leg of a pedestrian. Once more, people ran in all directions hampering his movement towards the men and Antonia. As the man prepared to shoot again, Gabriel lunged on top of him from behind knocking him to the ground. Holding him down the agent punched the side of his head until he was dazed enough to relinquish his hold on the gun he tried to aim at Gabriel’s head. Janice appeared at his side aiming her Glock at the man on the ground.

      “I’ve got him. Go after her. The second man is still pursuing.”

      Gabriel was quickly on his feet running at full tilt again through the middle of the road catching sight of Antonia up ahead. But he was to encounter another immediate obstacle. A car sped past him and swerved directly across his path bringing him to a dead stop. The Police armed response unit. Immediately three armed officers alighted from the vehicle aiming Heckler & Koch MP5SF submachines guns at him.

      “Get down on the ground,” one of the male officers barked at him.

      He raised his hands in the air keeping an eye on Antonia as she disappeared down the street. He opened his mouth to speak when the black Audi pulled up next to him. Janice got out of the car holding her badge for the officers to see.

      “Stand down. United Global Defence. He is one of ours,” she shouted at them.

      The officer’s nodded and lowered their firearms allowing Gabriel to take off on his pursuit once more. Overhead a black helicopter whirred noisily over him and towards the journalist. The pilot spoke to him through his earpiece.

      “She’s heading for the London Eye. She is still being followed and it looks like she is beginning to panic. You need to get to her quick.”

      Malinov glanced upwards as the helicopter started to descend to try to run interference between Antonia and the men running after her. He wove in and around the tourists making their way to the London Eye, noticing the helicopter was now hovering over the huge cantilevered wheel. Gabriel entered the ticket building at speed. One of the men turned and aimed his weapon at him discharging a bullet over the heads of the heaving mass of people piling inside.

      Everyone screamed and ran in all directions hampering Gabriel’s pursuit as he dodged the bullet. He watched the second man train his gun on Antonia as she fled towards the wheel and he heard her cry out as the bullet struck her side. With a hard shove, he pushed his way through the tourists just as Antonia barged her way into a capsule containing a young family to take refuge. The suit followed and entered before he could be stopped by the staff. Gabriel was too late. The door closed and the capsule rose into the air trapping Antonia inside with the assassin just as the agent made it up to the wheel.

      Frustrated he watched the capsule rise and studied it closely. He spoke into his mic to the pilot in the helicopter.

      “You have to get me up there now,” he ordered.

      Almost immediately the whirling blades of the helicopter could be heard more loudly as it descended onto the grass area near the wheel.

      “Clear the area and stop the wheel,” Gabriel shouted at the staff showing his Global Defence badge as they fought to stand still in the wind created by the helicopter’s blades as it landed. He ran towards it.

      It barely touched the ground as he jumped inside. Once more it rose into the air. The capsule containing Antonia was four from the very top but the damn wheel was still rising. As the helicopter rose above the capsule he could see her fighting for her life as she struggled with the man trying to stop him shooting her. Admiration seared through Gabriel as she punched at the man’s stocky frame with all the strength fuelled by adrenaline her small injured body could manage.

      She was getting no help from the man huddled in the corner with his family as he tried to protect his two small children and wife from the scene. Gabriel frowned and leaned out of the helicopter feeling the wind blow at his face to get a closer look at the wheel as Antonia knocked the gun from the man’s hand when his grip relaxed after she’d kneed him. He waved at the pilot to move as close as he dared. The capsule moved up into its next position making it third from the top. He leaned forward ready to risk his life and jump onto the top of the glass capsule.

      His heart beating fast and his breath ragged, Gabriel put his trust in his capability leaving no question in his mind that he would make the jump and then executed it without hesitation. He grimaced as the weight of his body fell flat across the top and started to slide down the glass covered side making him quickly reach out and hold on to the lever on top of the trap door to stop himself sliding over the edge.

      “Gabriel,” the pilot shouted in his mic with concern noticing he couldn’t move for a moment.

      “I’m fine. Just getting my breath back,” he said with a trace of humour in his voice. He grinned at the pilot and waved at him before heaving himself up to a standing position and trying to open the trap door on top of Antonia’s capsule. Once more his heart thudded like an express train careering down the track as his body swayed in the wind that threatened to push him off the side. He loved the power surge it created in his body allowing him to operate at optimum strength. It made him feel alive as the morning sun beat down on him and the London city landscape hovered below. He glanced down, hearing the sound of police sirens scream and echo down below.

      As he twisted the door lever and the safety mechanism he could hear the muffled sounds of fighting and angry shouts. He wondered how much longer Antonia could last and hurried to get the damn door open. Every thought in his mind was clear, every movement made with precision and expert calculation to maintain his balance yet lose none of his speed. This was how he functioned on a mission just as he had been trained previously by the Russian secret service, the GRU. And later by United Global Defence when they had asked him to work for them as an operative after he’d shown excellent leadership and skill on an army exercise that went terribly wrong. The trap door opened and he jumped inside to join the fight.

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