Andy McNab - Payback

Fergus and Kev were too experienced to even pause with shock at the sight of the desperate struggle on the grass. Instinctively, they moved together, almost as one. Kev was still carrying the seven iron he had been using to swipe at the grass when he was searching for his ball. It was all he had to use as a weapon. He dropped his golf bag and ran, with Fergus at his side.

Before they had taken more than five strides, a dull thud came from the scrum on the grass and Fergus went down: Benny had pulled the trigger as he fought with Danny. Kev heard his friend gasp and saw him fall but he knew that his only option was to keep going, to try to stop the gunman from firing again.

‘Get away from him, Danny. Get away!’

But Danny could do nothing to get away. His opponent was much stronger and had him pinned to the ground. The machine gun was between their chests and as Benny raised himself up slightly to rip the weapon free, Big Kev saw his opportunity.

Without breaking his stride, he pulled back the golf club and closed on his target.

Head down, eyes on the ball, eyes on the ball.

The swing was perfect, the elusive swing Big Kev had always yearned for. Just like the Tiger. With awesome power the club came through and hit Benny beneath the jaw. Bone shattered, blood spurted and Benny’s head was almost ripped from his shoulders. His neck snapped like a straw and his body was lifted and thrown onto the grass next to Danny.

There was no doubt: he was dead.

Danny’s eyes bulged as he stared up at the huge man towering over him.

‘Your granddad’s down, get him to the car!’

Almost too terrified to look, Danny turned round and saw the dead eyes of his attacker staring blankly at him. ‘It’s… it’s Benny.’

Kev bent down and hauled Danny to his feet. ‘I don’t give a shit who he was. Check your granddad – get him to the car. I’ll clear up this mess.’

He dug into a pocket and thrust his car keys into Danny’s hands. ‘Come on, get a grip of yourself. And tell him PJHQ mainframe.’

‘What?’

‘Just tell him that: PJHQ mainframe.’

Music was pumping from the clubhouse. Danny wiped one arm across his blood-spattered face, then turned and ran to his grandfather. Fergus’s breathing was fast and shallow and his hands were covered in his own blood as he pushed down on his jeans in an attempt to stop the bleeding. ‘It’s the same leg; he hit the same leg.’

He forced himself to sit up, grimacing with pain. ‘Help me up, Danny – we’ve got to get to the car.’

Kev had Benny’s body slung over his shoulders and his SD in one hand and was heading towards the car park. He had to be quick: back-up could arrive at any moment. The plan was to get Benny’s keys and keep hitting the fob until the right vehicle’s lights flashed and the car opened up. He would dump the body in the boot and get Fergus and Danny away in his Discovery.

Then he would worry about treating Fergus’s wound, if he lasted that long. As Kev moved, with the dead weight hardly slowing him, he saw the vehicle headlights approaching.

‘That’s Fran at the golf course car park.’

She turned her car off the road and onto the gravel.

‘Where are you, Paul?’

‘That’s Paul two minutes away.’

Fran hit the pressel again as her lights swept the car park and she looked for a parking space.

‘Roger that. Benny, sit rep. Where are you, Benny?’

As the Audi’s lights swept over the clubhouse and picked out the figure of Kev carrying Benny, Fran hit the brakes.

‘CONTACT! CONTACT! BENNY’S DOWN!’

She had already retrieved her own SD from her ready bag and hidden it beneath the armrest between the rear seats. She reached back, grabbed the weapon and flung open her door.

Kev saw the door open and a figure run to the side of the vehicle. Almost immediately he felt two vibrations rattle through his body as Fran’s 9mm double tap entered the corpse slung over his shoulders. He dropped the body and brought up the SD, moving towards the headlights and looking for the attacker.

Disco lights flashed in tempo with the pumping music, casting light and shadow across the car park as Danny rounded the corner, supporting his grandfather as best as he could. In the gloom, Kev was moving towards the Audi.

‘Kev!’

‘In the car, move! I’ll cover!’

Kev fired two rapid double taps at Fran, who was crouching beside her vehicle, but in the glare of headlights it was virtually impossible to get a decent aim. He turned the SD on the lights and they exploded in a hail of glass.

Danny was doing his best to get his grandfather to the Discovery, with Fergus struggling to help, gritting his teeth to take the pain. As they neared the vehicle, Fergus heard the scream of an engine and saw another set of headlights turn into the car park.

‘Shit! Get in the driver’s seat!’

‘But I can’t dri-’

‘You moved the truck in Spain, now move this!’

There wasn’t time to argue. As Danny clambered into the driver’s seat, Fergus shouted into the darkness for his friend. ‘Kev! Let’s go!’

Kev was firing on the second vehicle as it skidded sideways to a halt and the door burst open. ‘Moving!’

Danny turned over the engine and heard dull pings as the Discovery took rounds. Fergus hauled himself into the back seat and thumped his grandson on the shoulders. ‘Get moving, towards Kev! Go! Go!’

Somehow, in halting, shunting movements, Danny edged the Discovery forward. Fergus had left the rear door open and was sprawled across the back seat. ‘Kev! Leave them, run for it! Come on!’

As the vehicle bucked towards the car park exit, Paul took slow and deliberate aim at the driver’s side of the windscreen. The glass cracked and frosted as it took three rounds and Danny was showered with tiny shards of glass. Fear made him scream in terror, but he kept the vehicle moving.

Kev was just two metres from the Discovery. As he moved back, he was suddenly lit up by the headlights of the stationary VW. Fran held her breath. Both her eyes focused on the body mass going towards the vehicle. She shifted her point of aim to just in front of the moving body and squeezed the trigger.

The round hit Kev in the shoulder and he went down on his knees. The Discovery reached him and he made eye contact with Fergus, who was lying with one arm outstretched, ready to pull his old friend to safety, just like he had years before. But this time they both knew it wasn’t going to happen.

As the vehicle passed Kev, he staggered back to his feet and began firing rounds at Fran, who was moving towards him. She had no option but to dive for cover.

From behind the VW, Paul stepped out to fire, then saw the Discovery bearing down on him. He tried to dodge away but it was too late. Danny heard a thud as the vehicle made contact.

He pulled at the wheel and turned towards the exit. Through the open door Fergus saw Kev take another round, drop his weapon and fall to the ground. The disco lights flashed off in their sequence. When they lit up the scene once more, just seconds later, he could see Fran standing over his old friend. She fired again.

Fergus reached for the door and pulled it shut. He closed his eyes and clenched them tightly together, only vaguely aware of the vehicle gathering speed. And then, through the pain, he realized his grandson was screaming at him.

‘Where now! What do I do! What do I do!’

Fergus had lost a lot of blood – too much blood. Danny drove the Discovery away from the golf club and into the countryside, mainly in third gear. It was only when the streetlights ended that he realized he’d been driving without headlights. He fumbled with the steering column as the vehicle swerved from side to side. The windscreen wipers clicked into action and then suddenly the headlights pierced the darkness.