Standing saw Shepherd walk into the house. The MI5 man stood smoking his cigar, then put his hand to his Bluetooth headset and began speaking. He turned so that his back was to Standing so he took the opportunity to crawl out from his hiding place. As he moved across the dew-spotted grass he pulled the Glock from his pocket. He walked quickly, his training shoes making almost no sound on the grass. He was breathing slowly and evenly, and felt totally calm, despite the enormity of what he was about to do.

  The man flicked the last of his cigar away and it sparked through the air before landing on the lawn. He touched the Bluetooth headset to end his call, then turned to walk to the back door. He froze when he saw Standing coming towards him and instinctively put his hands in the air. Standing pointed the gun at his face and reached out with his left hand. The man flinched, expecting a blow, but Standing ripped the Bluetooth from his ear and threw it away.

  The man regained his composure somewhat when he realised Standing wasn’t going to hit him. ‘You’re Matt Standing?’ He glared at him. ‘Of course you are. Who else would you be?’

  ‘And who the fuck are you?’ asked Standing. ‘I’m sure you’re not really called George.’

  ‘Jeremy Willoughby-Brown.’

  ‘That’s your real name?’

  ‘Does it matter?’

  Standing ignored the question. ‘You’re with G-Branch?’

  Willoughby-Brown nodded. G-Branch was the MI5 department responsible for international terrorism and counter-espionage.

  ‘And you thought Ali Hussain was an asset, did you?’

  ‘He was. But now he’s dead. Thanks to you.’

  ‘News travels fast.’

  Willoughby-Brown shrugged. ‘We checked his flat, obviously.’ He nodded at the gun. ‘And now you’re here to kill me?’

  ‘My sister died,’ said Standing. ‘And you were protecting the men who killed her.’

  ‘You pull that trigger and you’ll bring a world of hurt down on yourself,’ said Willoughby-Brown. ‘You know that. Your life will be over.’

  Standing kept the gun pointed at Willoughby-Brown’s face. His finger tightened on the trigger as he considered his options. He wanted the man dead, more than anything. And the man deserved to die, no question. Because of him, Lexi had died. And other girls had died, too. All those deaths could be laid at the feet of Jeremy Willoughby-Brown, yet there was no way he would ever be punished by the system. So far as MI5 was concerned – and the government along with it – the end justified the means. Lexi and the other girls were collateral damage in the fight against terrorism.

  ‘You kill me and you’ll be hunted down. There’ll be no hiding place for you,’ said Willoughby-Brown, quietly.

  ‘No one knows I’m here,’ said Standing. ‘I’ll have an alibi. And there are no witnesses.’ He shook the Glock. ‘Hussain’s prints and DNA are all over this gun. Your killing will go down as a jihadist hit.’

  Willoughby-Brown’s face tightened and he glared at Standing. ‘Just get on with it, then.’

  ‘I’ve got to count to ten first,’ he said.

  ‘You what?’

  ‘I’ve got a therapist. She’s helping me with my anger-management issues. She says if I’m angry I should count to ten.’

  ‘Are you serious?’

  ‘She knows what she’s doing.’ He lowered the gun slightly so that it was pointing at Willoughby-Brown’s chest. He was a crack shot, but the bigger the target the better. ‘One. Two. Three. Four.’

  ‘You’re taking the piss,’ said Willoughby-Brown.

  ‘Five. Six. Seven.’

  ‘You’re not going to shoot me. If you were you’d have done it already.’

  ‘Eight. Nine. Ten.’ Standing pulled the trigger twice in quick succession, a perfect double tap. Both rounds hit Willoughby-Brown in the heart and he slumped to the ground without a sound. Standing stood looking down at the dead man for several seconds. There was no doubt he felt better. He had no regrets. None at all. He dropped the gun on the grass next to the body and walked away. That was when he saw Spider Shepherd running towards him.

  Shepherd’s phone was telling him that his Uber driver was still five minutes away when he heard the two shots from the back garden. He knew immediately what had happened. He dropped his bag and ran at full pelt down the driveway and around the side of the house, just in time to see Standing toss a gun onto the grass. Willoughby-Brown was lying on his back, arms splayed.

  Shepherd waited for Standing to walk up to him. Standing stopped about six feet away, his arms at his sides. ‘You’re leaving the gun?’ asked Shepherd.

  ‘It’s got Hussain’s prints on it.’

  ‘That’s your plan? The cops aren’t going to buy that, not with Hussain already dead.’

  ‘You’d be surprised,’ said Standing. ‘MI5 terrorist-fighter gets shot by jihadist. Jihadist commits suicide. This way the public gets a hero and a villain. It’s a win-win situation. No one has to know that Willoughby-Brown was a facilitator of child abuse and murder. Hussain is shown to be an ISIS supporter who got what was coming to him. No one’s going to ask why he put a plastic bag over his head. They’ll just be glad there’s one less terrorist around.’

  ‘Except Hussain wasn’t with ISIS. He was working with Five. He helped stop terrorist acts.’

  ‘He raped my sister. And he killed her.’

  Shepherd nodded. ‘I know, Matt. And I’m sorry about that.’

  ‘You’ve got kids?’

  ‘A boy. He’s in the army.’

  ‘Chip off the old block?’ Standing tilted his head to one side as he looked at Shepherd. ‘And how would you feel if someone raped and killed your boy?’

  ‘You know how I’d feel,’ said Shepherd, flatly.

  ‘And what would you do?’

  ‘You know what I’d do. But that’s hypothetical.’

  ‘Really? Can you stand there and tell me you’ve never done something illegal because you knew it was the right thing to do?’

  ‘This isn’t about me, Matt.’

  ‘Well, it sort of is because you’re standing there as if you’ve got something in mind. What do you want, Spider? To take me in?’

  ‘How many people have you killed, Matt?’

  ‘In London? Or out in the Middle East? A lot, if that’s what you’re asking.’

  ‘But we aren’t at war with the men in London.’

  ‘You might not be but I am. Yes, I killed Hussain. The bastard had it coming. Faisal Khan fell off the building, though I don’t expect anyone will believe that. And, yes, I shot Willoughby-Brown and, given the same circumstances, I’d do it again. But no matter how many have died, it doesn’t come close to making up for the death of my sister. Nothing I do is ever going to bring Lexi back, I know that. But that’s not why I did it.’ He held up his hands, ready to fight. ‘Think you can take me, Spider?’

  Shepherd smiled. ‘Maybe.’

  ‘You’re a legend, I know, but you’re fifteen years older than I am and you’re not combat-ready. I am.’

  ‘So we fight, is that it? Man to man?’

  ‘If you try to stop me, yes. We’ll fight, I’ll win and I’ll leave.’

  ‘And then what? You spend the rest of your life on the run?’

  Standing shook his head. ‘I won’t run. I’ll go back to the Regiment, see if they’ll have me. You can go to the cops and make your allegations.’ He grinned. ‘But I wonder how keen MI5 will be to have their dirty linen washed in public? Look at how Willoughby-Brown bent over backwards to keep the cops away from Hussain, a child-rapist and murderer. What did I do? I killed the men responsible for murdering a kid. Four kids. And one of those men was a high-ranking MI5 officer.’ He shrugged. ‘I reckon Five will be keen to have this swept under the carpet. I reckon they’d prefer that Willoughby-Brown died a hero. What do you think?’

  Shepherd took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Standing was right on many levels. Shepherd had taken revenge several times. And he had broken the law, for what he had seen as the greater good. Willoughby-Brown had been in the wrong protecting Hussain, though Shepherd understood the man’s logic in doing so. And, yes, if anyone ever harmed Liam, Shepherd would lash out instinctively. That was what fathers did. They protected their kids.

  ‘Spider? I’m waiting.’

  ‘I’m sorry about your loss, Matt.’ said Shepherd, quietly. ‘More sorry than I can say.’ He turned and walked away.

  Two weeks later

  ‘I have to say, Standing, you’ve really pulled yourself together,’ said Colonel Davies, flicking through the report. ‘The therapist in London says you did a magnificent job in overcoming your anger-management issues. And the Regiment’s doctor says you’re fit for active duty, both mentally and physically.’ He tossed the file onto his desk and beamed up at him. ‘Well done.’

  ‘Thank you, sir.’ Standing was at attention, staring at a spot on the wall behind the colonel’s head.

  ‘I have to say that the last time you were here I did have my doubts. But you’ve proved me wrong and I hope you’ll continue to do so.’

  ‘I’ll do my best, sir.’

  ‘You’re an asset to the Regiment, Standing. A real asset. We need more men like you. I regard this as a new start. A brand new start. Keep your nose clean and we’ll have your stripes back in a year or so.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘And no more lapses. You keep that anger under control and you’ll go far.’ He looked at his watch. ‘Right, get your gear together. We’ve got a troop heading out to Syria and you’re going with them.’

  ‘I’m looking forward to being back in action, sir,’ said Standing,

  ‘I bet you are,’ said the colonel. ‘Civilian life is all well and good, but it can be boring at the best of times.’

  Standing tried not to smile as he turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

  Table of Contents

  Contents

  Also by Stephen Leather

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Matt Standing wasn’t …

 

 

  Stephen Leather, Light Touch: The 14th Spider Shepherd Thriller (The Spider Shepherd Thrillers)

 

 

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