Stephen Leather - The Hunting

He went slowly downstairs and into the kitchen. The pilot had regained consciousness and he glared at Raj. ‘Why the fuck did you hit me?’

Raj ignored the question. ‘I need to get out of here,’ he said. ‘Will you fly me? Or do I just leave you tied up here?’

‘Where do you want to go?’

‘Where’s the nearest police station?’ asked Raj.

‘About seventy kilometres away,’ said the pilot. ‘Next to the hospital.’

‘Can we land there? At night?’

‘Sure.’

‘And you’ll fly me?’

‘Yes, if you untie me.’

Raj knelt down and untied the leads from around his wrists and ankles, then helped him to his feet. ‘What do you need?’ asked Raj.

‘Nothing. The chopper’s fuelled and ready to go.’

They went out of the kitchen door and across the lawn to the helicopter landing pad. ‘You knew what was going on, didn’t you?’ said Raj.

The pilot shook his head. ‘I’m just a hired hand. They tell me where to fly and I fly.’

‘Come on, you saw what they were doing. The way they kicked us out in the middle of nowhere. And the guns they were carrying, they weren’t for fun, were they?’

‘I was told that Mr Van der Sandt wanted revenge for what happened to his family.’

‘And you were okay with that?’

The pilot shrugged. ‘An eye for an eye?’ he said. ‘I don’t see anything wrong with that. If more people had to bear the consequences of their actions, maybe they’d behave better.’

They climbed into the helicopter. The pilot took the left-hand seat and Raj sat next to him. The pilot looked at him, eyes narrowed. ‘Did you kill his family?’ he asked.

‘No, I didn’t.’

‘So why are you here?’

‘Wrong place, wrong time.’

The pilot picked up his helmet and put it on. ‘I’m in trouble, aren’t I?’

‘Not necessarily,’ said Raj. ‘You weren’t shooting at me and like you said, you just fly where you’re told to fly.’

‘What will you tell them? About me?’

‘Mate, I don’t intend to even mention you. In fact you can just drop me at the police station and fly off to wherever you want. What happens then is up to you.’

‘Thanks.’

‘Don’t thank me. Just get me the hell out of here.’

The pilot smiled gratefully, went through the pre-flight checks, and then started the engines. As they rose into the air and banked over the garden, Raj looked down at the house. He folded his arms and took a deep breath. He was going to have to do a lot of explaining.

Get HARD LANDING, the first book in Stephen Leather’s electrifying Spider Shepherd series here

Table of Contents

Contents

Also by Stephen Leather

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

Chapter 57

Chapter 58

Chapter 59

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Chapter 62

Chapter 63

Chapter 64

Chapter 65

Chapter 66

Chapter 67

Chapter 68