probably closer to police undercover drug ops in the States than anything the US military did.
‘What’s he like?’
‘Who, Stratton?’ Clemens asked. He shrugged. ‘I don’t know him all that well. I’ve never been in one of his teams before. He’s one of those who flits around a lot.’
Clemens dumped the other half of his sausage roll. ‘Who can fuck up a sausage roll?’
‘Pusser?’ Hank asked.
‘You got it, pal. It’s the hardest course in the Royal Navy, a cook’s course. You know why?’ he asked rhetorically. ‘Because no bastard has ever passed it.’ Clemens gave one of his idiotic chuckles as he dug an apple out of his bag. ‘I bet they’ve even fucked up this apple,’ he said, polishing it on his sleeve. Clemens took a huge bite and continued talking as he munched. ‘He’s probably one of the most experienced seniors we have. He’s done ops in just about every theatre. Got an OBE, MBE, BEM . . . one of them. Don’t know one from the other myself.’
‘That a medal?’
‘Yeah. He got it for some job against the Ruskies, I think. A few years ago now. Cold War stuff. Went into Russia off a sub and brought some MI6 character back. He was also at the jail break in Afghanistan, lucky bastard.’
‘He was there?’ Hank asked.
‘Yeah. From what I heard they shot over four hundred Taliban.’
‘I got there the day they left,’ Hank said.
‘That right?’ Clemens asked.
‘Sure were a lotta stiffs.’
‘He’s a bit of a cold bastard.’
‘How’s that?’
‘Can’t you tell?’
‘The guys seem to like him.’
‘That’s because he’s got kills, hasn’t he? Everyone likes a man who’s had a kill.You’re a member of the club if you’ve got blood on your ’ands in this business.’
Hank could detect a bit of envy in Clemens’s voice.
‘And Stratton isn’t just a member; he’s the bloody president. Isn’t it the same with your lot?’
‘Sure,’ Hank said. ‘Everyone likes a kill on their record books.’
Clemens looked at him as if trying to read into his eyes. ‘You in the club then, Hanky boy?’ he said in the Texan accent.
Hank wondered what the accent change meant.
‘We gonna start swapping war stories now, me old janner pig?’ Hank asked, trying out the Devon accent for the first time and sounding more like a Pakistani.
Clemens gave him a blank look that Hank was unsure of.
‘I ain’t got any,’ Clemens said, taking another bite of the apple.
Hank was about to admit he did not have any kills either but decided to keep it to himself. He was aware that his comment made it seem like he had and preferred not to talk about it. If Clemens asked, Hank would tell him, and if he did not, he would let Clemens think otherwise.
They finished their lunch in silence, both men beginning to feel a little apprehensive about the upcoming mystery drive.
When the car arrived they stood up as it came to a halt in front of them. The staff driver kept to his dumb routine and trudged his familiar route towards the wood.
‘I’ll drive,’ Clemens said, climbing in. Hank got into the passenger side.‘You map read,’ Clemens ordered as he started the engine. Hank reached for the safety-belt behind him but it was all tangled up. ‘No safety belts,’ Clemens said. ‘You didn’t wear any yesterday, did you?’
Hank remembered. Clemens put the engine into gear with a crunch. ‘Piece a shit car,’ he grumbled. ‘You set?’
Hank checked the map, which was nothing more than a photocopy of a hand-drawn sketch. ‘Straight for half a mile then right at a T-junction,’ he said. ‘I guess this means a wooded area,’ he asked, showing it to Clemens.
‘Looks like it.’ Clemens revved the engine then eased his foot off the clutch and the car set off.
Clemens kept the speed at thirty miles per hour and they bumped over a cattle grid through a gap in a hedgerow and came to the T-junction.
‘Right,’ Hank said and they followed the road into a wide firebreak.
‘Keep your eyes skinned for anything and everything,’ Clemens said looking in all directions. He adjusted the rear-view mirror to check behind.
Hank’s apprehension had increased, helped on by the tension in Clemens. ‘If we get ambushed, do we return with live fire?’ he asked.
‘You do whatever you want, buddy-boy. Whatever you want. But I have a feeling that whatever happens it won’t be so realistic that you’ll have to blow someone away.’
Hank eyeballed the door handle, memorising its location and action. He moved his seat back as far as it would go to give himself maximum room to manoeuvre and jump out if need be. The road took a gentle bend to the right and the wood opened out a little more on both sides. Hank searched the darkness behind the front line of trees as Clemens maintained a steady speed.
‘We must’ve done a mile by now,’ Clemens said.
‘Something has to happen soon.’ Then seconds later he called out. ‘Up ahead, up ahead!’
Hank’s eyes snapped to the front. Clemens pushed on the brake and stopped the car.
They stared ahead in silence as the engine ticked over.
A hundred yards to their front a car was lying on its roof just off the road, with a thin wisp of smoke curling skyward from the buckled engine compartment.They turned in their seats, checking in all directions for an ambush. Hank noticed his heart rate had quickened. Clemens looked unsure what to do.
‘Something’s gonna happen,’ he said. ‘Something’s gonna happen real soon.’
They continued looking and waiting but nothing else materialised.
‘How ’bout reversing outta here?’
‘Where to?’ Clemens said, checking his rear-view mirror for the umpteenth time. ‘Stratton said follow the road and complete the circuit. That’s what we have to do.’
It soon became clear nothing was going to happen while they remained in their current position. Clemens depressed the clutch and eased the engine into gear. ‘Bollocks,’ he said. ‘Let’s go ’ave a look.’
They moved off and slowly approached the wreck. ‘Something’ll happen here, you know that, don’t you?’ Clemens said, more to himself, licking lips that had suddenly gone dry.
As they drew closer they could make out two bodies lying in the grass beside the car. It looked like a man and a woman. They were face down and motionless.
Clemens stopped the car as they drew alongside the upturned wreck, keeping the engine in gear and a foot on the clutch, ready to speed off if a threat showed itself. They maintained their vigilance in all directions, but the two bodies were of the greatest interest. Clemens could make out bloodstains on the woman. Then the man suddenly moved, slowly, and groaned as if in great pain.
‘He’s moving,’ Clemens said.
Hank craned to get a look past Clemens. ‘Shouldn’t we see if they’re okay?’ he asked.
Clemens was in a quandary, checking in every direction and then returning to the bodies. ‘I don’t know.’
The injured man made an effort to crawl but did not have the strength. ‘We either check ’em out or we move on,’ Hank said.‘Seems kinda strange to just drive on though.’
‘Okay,’ Clemens said, coming to a decision. ‘I’m gonna get out and take a look,’ He padded his gun in its holster through his jacket as he opened the door to make sure it was there, placed his feet on to the dirt track and stood up, every move preceded by a quick check around.
Hank felt vulnerable in the car alone and climbed out his side leaving the door wide open in case he needed to dive back into it. Clemens took a cautious step towards the bodies that were in a slight dip. Hank walked around the back of the car where he could get a better look at the bodies, still checking in all directions as he moved. He touched the butt of his gun inside his jacket to remind his hands where to go quickly if need be.
Just as Clemens leaned over the injured man to get a look at him, three men with balaclavas over their heads
