The Half Truth(63)

‘Are you telling me the truth?’ More tears followed the first.

‘Yes. I promise,’ said John. ‘About everything.’

‘I can’t deal with the “us” bit at the moment,’ said Tina, she palmed away dampness on her face. ‘I’m totally drained, I literally can’t think straight.’

‘What’s his next move, Tina? What’s Sasha going to do now?’ asked John.

Tina looked at John and then past his shoulder. She sucked in a deep breath. Her eyes widened.

‘Sasha.’ Her voice was filled with fear.

John swung round, his hand automatically pulling the Glock 26 from inside his jacket. A gun barrel greeted him, shaking ever so slightly in Sasha’s hand. Fuck.

‘Hello, John,’ said Sasha. He smiled at the detective, but a band of sweat across his forehead, belied his casual tone. ‘Now, let’s not all get jumpy and start pointing guns at each other, they have a tendency to go off unexpectedly.’

‘I agree,’ said John, not wavering. ‘We seem to have got ourselves in a bit of a stalemate position.’

‘Put the gun down,’ said Sasha. He swallowed hard and used his left hand to steady the gun in his right.

‘I can’t do that,’ said John. ‘Goes against company policy.’

‘Do not fuck with me,’ said Sasha.

‘Listen to me.’ John held his arm still, applying gentle pressure with his finger over the trigger. ‘You’re no killer. I know you. However, I, on the other hand, am. I’ve been trained to kill.’

‘Stop, both of you.’ It was Tina. She placed herself between the two guns, looking from one man to the other.

‘Tina, move away,’ said John, his eyes never leaving Sasha.

‘You will not shoot now,’ said Sasha, his tongue moistened his dry lips. ‘You might hit Tina.’

‘Remember, Sasha, I’m a trained marksman. I can take you out with one shot to the head any time I like. Tina is not in my way.’ This wasn’t strictly true and it certainly wasn’t in his training manual. ‘Your call.’

The sweat patch had now become a river, flowing freely down Sasha’s face. He rubbed his mouth and nose over the shoulder of his shirt.

‘Tina, take the gun from John.’

‘Wait. Let’s talk about this,’ said John. ‘I know you’re not a killer. I’m not interested in framing you up or anything like that. I just want to know where Pavel is. Where the money is. We can deal.’

‘I cannot deal,’ said Sasha, shifting his weight from one foot to another. ‘I have to go back.’

‘Tell me where the money is. Where your brother is. I can help you and your family. Your son needs treatment. It can be sorted.’ John willed Sasha to take the bait. He couldn’t promise him everything, but he was throwing as much at him as he possibly could. ‘Work with us and we can help you. We can offer you protection.’

‘No. It is not that simple.’

‘Sasha needs immunity. He needs a new passport. He needs to be able to go back to Russia,’ said Tina. She turned to Sasha. ‘Trust me, I can help you. Give John what he wants. I’ll find the money you need.’

‘Tina,’ said Sasha, the quake in his voice audible. ‘Take the gun from him.’

Tina looked at Sasha for a moment, he nodded encouragement and slowly she turned to face John. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. Then she stepped towards the Glock, its muzzle pointing directly at her head.

‘Move out the way, Tina,’ said John, his voice calm but firm. She shook her head, the tears trickled down each side of her face.

He had no choice.





Chapter 33


John let the pistol swing round on his finger like a pendulum, coming to rest upside down pointing towards him. Tina stretched out her hand, which was shaking with nerves and adrenalin.

‘Nice and easy, does it,’ said John. ‘Just take the gun by the grip. Don’t touch the trigger, it doesn’t have a safety lock. That’s it. Keep it pointing to the ground. Don’t be frightened. If you don’t touch the trigger, you can’t fire it.’

John watched her shaking hand take the Glock from him. She backed away and, with an outstretched arm, held it in Sasha’s direction.

John didn’t take his eyes from Sasha for a second. If he was going to disarm the Russian, he had to get the timing absolutely right. Even the slightest of unexpected movements could induce a flinch response from Sasha and in the hyped, adrenalin state he was clearly in, this could easily cause a trigger-finger reaction.

John needed to wait for what was known as a break state; a break in Sasha’s state of mind. He needed Sasha’s focus to be taken away from the trigger, to wait for an interruption in the flow of thought from brain to finger. He had been trained for this and on more than one occasion had put this into practice.