Dark Winter Read Online Free Page A

kilometre. I knew where he was going.
    I glanced in the rear-view mirror. The coastal plain was way below us now. The road ahead had been carved through rainforest and our headlight glistened on the solid green stuff that reared up on both sides of us, still wet with rain, as I dodged fallen palm leaves and water-filled potholes.
    Five hundred metres further on we passed our marker – a big stone Buddha on a log, looking down on to a junction with a mud track that went right into the forest. Maybe it was some sort of accident black spot and Buddha was there to bring good luck.
    Suzy tapped my arm with a hand in a red rubber glove, and pointed to make sure I’d seen it. Then I felt her left hand go completely round my waist and her right push into the bag wedged between us. A few seconds later the barrel of the revolver ran up my back.
    We were nearly at the ambush point, a narrow, staggered crossroads where the target would have to stop to negotiate a stream that cut across the junction. That was the point we were channelling him to: why force a target into the killing ground when you can pick a route he always uses? He would have to slow almost to a standstill as he forded the water.
    We were less than fifty metres from the Lite Ace now. Suzy pushed down under my arse with her left hand, the .45 in her right, ready to jump herself off.
    The red lights flared and flickered as the target braked for the junction. He’d have to turn right, cross the stream, then do an immediate left.
    I approached the Lite Ace on its right-hand side and could smell cigarettes. As we slowed, level with the rear of the vehicle, the bike wobbled. Suzy had leapfrogged off the back as I carried on.
    There was a shout from the cab.
    I twisted the throttle to get myself forward to block him, but this boy wasn’t for stopping. The Lite Ace crashed into my front wheel and I curled up, taking the fall. My right hip hit the tarmac, then skidded along the road with the bike following until we finally came to a halt in the stream.
    I dragged myself to my feet, yanking the helmet back in time to see the vehicle roll backwards down the hill, headlights blazing skyward. Suzy was running after it. I hobbled forwards, trying to get my leg to work. It felt like someone had taken a cheese-grater to my thigh.
    The vehicle kept rolling and the lights arced higher into the sky as Suzy dived in through the driver’s window. What the fuck was going on?
    It hit the trees fifteen metres further downhill, and came to a halt. Suzy’s legs disappeared inside the driver’s window at the same time as the side door slid open and the interior light came on. A figure leapt out and crashed through the foliage as two shots were fired.
    ‘Which one? Which one?’
    Suzy scrambled out. ‘He’s in the cover!’
    ‘Wait, wait.’ I drew level with her and grabbed her arm to stop her jumping into the forest. It was the pickup who was dead, his head twisted and pushed up against the blood-soaked seat.
    I ripped off my helmet, gulping down oxygen. ‘Sssh, listen.’
    It was secondary forest, small bushes and plants growing wherever the sun had penetrated the canopy. This stuff was difficult to move through, especially when it was dark. The target wouldn’t be able to see his own hands in front of his face.
    We heard nothing; we’d have to go in after him.
    Four paces in and I couldn’t see her any more. I reached out into the inky blackness and gripped her arm, pulling down until she dropped with me on to the wet leaf litter and mud of the rainforest floor. We crawled a few paces, hands and knees sinking into the mud, before stopping and listening. Still nothing.
    I’d just started to move again when there was a noise. I stopped. She bumped into me. I held my breath, opened my mouth to block out my own sounds and let the saliva dribble out of me. He was close, a little to my right. It was barely audible above the engine ticking over, but I could just make out whimpering.
    I