Read Spider Shepherd 11 - White Lies for Free Online

them and sending sea spray over the boat.
    ‘It’s over, Frankie!’ shouted Bell.
    ‘Like hell it is,’ shouted Rainey. ‘I’m not going to prison again!’ He aimed the gun over the heads of the Border Force team and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Rainey’s jaw dropped. He pulled the trigger and again nothing happened.
    Rainey looked over at Bell, his mouth wide open. The young boy slipped from his grip and ran towards his mother.
    Bell reached into his pocket with his right hand. He held up the ammunition clip from the gun.
    Rainey cursed and almost immediately disappeared under a scrum of fluorescent jackets.
    Bell looked over at Coatsworth, who was holding on to the outboard motor to keep his balance as the downdraught from the helicopter rocked the rib from side to side. Coatsworth frowned as he tried to work out what had just happened. He looked up at the helicopter and was immediately blinded by its searchlight. He put his hands up to shield his eyes, lost his balance and fell over the side into the water. It was only waist deep so he was soon on his feet and staggering through the waves to the shore.
    Three large figures ran over to Bell. One of them was the woman who had tried to talk to Rainey. She was as tall and heavyset as the men on either side of her. They were both holding big Magnalite torches. The man on her left was ginger-haired and had a crop of freckles across his nose and cheeks. ‘Hands behind your back,’ he growled in a West Country accent.
    ‘I’m on your side, pal,’ said Bell. ‘I’m with MI5.’
    ‘Yeah? And I’m James bloody Bond,’ said the man. He brought his flashlight crashing down on Bell’s head and he dropped like a stone.
    ‘Spider? Can you hear me?’ The voice sounded muffled, and far away. Dan ‘Spider’ Shepherd groaned and opened his eyes. The voice was that of a woman but the face looking down at him had a greying goatee. It was a paramedic in a fluorescent jacket. ‘Thank goodness for that, you had me worried for a moment.’ The voice was definitely female and the paramedic’s lips hadn’t moved.
    Shepherd realised that Charlotte Button was standing behind the paramedic. She was wearing a wool beanie hat and a North Face fleece-lined jacket. ‘Charlie?’
    The paramedic shone a small torch into Shepherd’s eyes and he flinched. ‘You’re not going to hit me with that as well, are you?’ he said.
    ‘You’ll be all right,’ he said. ‘It’s superficial.’
    ‘Superficial enough to knock me out cold,’ said Shepherd.
    ‘I can take you in for an MRI if you want,’ said the paramedic.
    ‘It’s OK,’ said Shepherd. ‘It’s not the first time I’ve been hit and I’m sure it won’t be the last.’ He put his hand up to his head and felt a dressing just above his right ear.
    ‘There was some bleeding and some swelling,’ said the paramedic. ‘Are you allergic to aspirin?’
    ‘No, I’ve got no allergies, but I’m not partial to Magnalites at the moment.’
    ‘He’ll be fine,’ said Button, patting the paramedic on the shoulder. ‘He’s got a thick skull. Can you do me a favour and give me a minute or two?’
    The paramedic nodded and climbed out of the back of the ambulance. Shepherd struggled to sit up. ‘How long was I out?’
    ‘Fifteen minutes or so,’ she said.
    ‘He could have killed me.’
    ‘I think that’s a slight exaggeration,’ she said.
    ‘Why the hell did he hit me?’ asked Shepherd, touching the dressing again. ‘Didn’t he know who I was?’
    ‘He was a late addition, a replacement for a guy who called in sick,’ said Button. ‘Seems there was a breakdown in communication and he wasn’t told that you’d be on one of the boats.’
    ‘And why was no one there armed?’
    ‘They didn’t tell the police. I gather they were worried that they’d take the credit.’
    ‘You’re joking.’
    ‘I wish I was. I understand it was discussed but there’d been no indication from you that anyone in