Gray Redemption (Tom Gray #3) by Alan McDermott Page B

thought you took language
lessons in the Regiment.  I know I signed off at least three of your
requests.”
    “That was because the teacher
was so pretty.  During the lessons I only picked up the most important
phrases.”
    “Which were?”  Len asked.
    “‘Give me a beer’,
obviously.”  This brought appreciative nods from the other two former
soldiers.  “There was also ‘fancy a shag’, and of course, ‘kill him’.”
    “Why do you need to say that in
other languages?” Vick asked.
    Sonny grinned:  “I don’t.
 I just need to know when someone is saying it in my presence.”
    Their idle chit-chat was
beginning to incense the Chinese passenger and he stepped in among the group
and reached down into the bag.  Baines grabbed the man’s wrist and pulled
it towards him while at the same time getting to his feet, twisting the arm as
he did so.  The hungry stranger lost his battle with gravity and landed on
his back, and Baines was on him in an instant. He put one knee on the man’s
chest and grabbed him around the throat.
    “That’s not very polite,” Baines
said, as he squeezed with just enough force to bring some colour to the
face. 
    A howl erupted behind Baines and
Gray touched him on the arm, indicating towards a woman who was quite clearly
pregnant. “Let him go, Sonny.”
    Baines hesitated for a moment
but then climbed off.  Gray handed the man a tin of Spam and gestured for
him to disappear.
    “Wonderful,” Baines said. 
“That takes us about ten hours closer to starvation.”
    “Don’t be daft,” Smart said , his eyes still focused on his book.  “They’ll be
serving breakfast in a few hours.”
    “Don’t get me wrong, but while
highly original, curry for breakfast does lose its appeal after a while. 
I’d rather eat a Pot Noodle.”
    To change the subject, Smart put
down his Kindle and asked Gray if he’d decided on a plan of action.
    “I’m still torn between two
options, but I’m swinging towards public exposure.”
    “We dismissed that idea a couple
of weeks ago,” Baines pointed out.  “They’ll have DA notices out and no
paper would dare run the story.”
    “I agree that if we just called
the BBC or a newspaper they wouldn’t run the story, but there are other ways.”
    He explained what he had in mind
but the others were not totally convinced that his plan would work. 
However, they’d had the same reservations a year and a half earlier but had
come so close to pulling off a masterful plan. 
    “I know it’s risky, but the
alternative doesn’t guarantee results, either.”
    Plan B was to gain control of a
television news studio and tell the world what James Farrar had been up to on
behalf of the government.  However, they would eventually have to hand
themselves in, and they couldn’t be sure they would be allowed to see the light
of day again.
    The others agreed with him, and
so they spent the next few hours developing Gray’s favoured option, suggesting
and dismissing ideas until they had what they thought was a workable solution
to their problems.
    “It all hinges on you convincing
your man to help us,” Smart pointed out.  “Fail to do that and we fall at
the first hurdle.”
    Gray was well aware that the
initial plea for help was crucial to their success.  If he couldn’t pull
it off, there would be no option but to revert to the back-up plan.  “Then
I’d best be at my most persuasive,” he said, determination in his eyes.
     
    Chapter
6
     
    Thursday
May 3rd 2012
     
    Ben Palmer crept through the
darkness towards the chain link fence surrounding the Wenban Freight Management
compound, even though he knew there was no camera coverage to record his
approach. 
    His initial recce the previous
day — a drive-by followed by a walk-past — had revealed just three CCTV cameras
covering the vehicle park, all static.  Negotiating them wouldn’t be a
challenge, but he had no idea what kind of security they had in place to
protect the main