Knight & Culverhouse Box Set - Books 7-9

Chapter 31

31

Milan wasn’t looking forward to sleeping rough tonight. He and Zoran had walked for a good two hours, heading out of town and towards the hills in the distance, and now the sun was going down. They’d agreed to check in at the police station every twenty-four hours, but right now Zoran just wanted to put some distance behind them. He needed to feel safe, if only for one night. By tomorrow, he hoped, the police would have gone in and arrested the guys. Then they’d be safe.

‘Zoran, stop,’ Milan said, having finally had enough of walking. They were in the middle of nowhere, and he’d been pleading with his friend to stop and bed down for the night ever since they’d left the police station, but Zoran wasn’t having any of it.

The police had given them details of two shelters where they could stay and get some food. Milan had been keen, but Zoran wanted to have a night to clear his head first. The last thing he wanted was to be holed up in another building where he was meant to feel safe, but wasn’t.

‘Fine. We’ll sleep in there,’ Zoran said, pointing to a dilapidated old shed at the end of a gravel path. There was a farm a little way further up the lane, and he presumed the shed belonged to them. However, it was clear it wasn’t being used for anything and was on the verge of falling down. It was warm enough outside, though, and the roof would probably keep most of any rain off, if they were lucky.

As Zoran tried to force the door open, they heard the sound of a vehicle approaching.

‘Quick. Get in here,’ Zoran said to his friend.

Milan, however, had other ideas. He knew that people were inherently good. What if this was someone who could help them with a place for the night? Perhaps they’d be able to give them some money, or perhaps a sandwich. He was absolutely starving, and would give his right leg for a sandwich right now.

‘No. This is stupid, Zoran. We can’t live like hermits. We need some help.’

‘No we don’t. We don’t need anybody’s help. Not tonight, anyway. Get in here.’

Milan stood his ground. ‘No,’ he said, as the headlights of the oncoming vehicle danced on his face, the vehicle coming to a halt a few yards away from them.

It was a blue van — not one they recognised or had seen before, which was a good start.

‘Are you coming with me or not?’ Milan called, trying to make it clear in his voice that he was deadly serious. ‘Last chance, Zoran.’

Zoran let out a sigh, and went to join his friend.

They could see two people in the front of the van, and could just about make out the figure of someone getting out of the passenger side. The headlights were too bright to make out any features of the people. A second or two later, the driver also got out, and Milan and Zoran walked towards the van.

Milan’s eyes registered the glimmers of light that reflected off the cold steel in each of the men’s right hands as they rose. The next — and last — thing he saw was the blinding flash of light from the end of the barrel as his world went dark.