Capital Falling | Book 4 | Sever Winkless, Lance (most popular ebook readers TXT) 📖

and I wasn’t sure if he’d want me to. I can certainly try to phone him again, Ma’am. Would you like me to try now?” Winter volunteers.

“No, thank you, Lieutenant, that won’t be necessary,” the General says, looking away from Winters. “Major, have you anything to add?”

“No, Ma’am,” Rees replies.

“Thank you for your help, Lieutenant. Take a seat in the waiting room. Dismissed,” General Cox orders.

Winters stands to attention and salutes the General before turning sharply to leave and retake his seat in the waiting room.

“Thoughts?” General Cox asks Rees once Winters shuts the door behind himself.

“Lieutenant Winters is a highly intelligent soldier, Ma’am, probably too clever for his own good. He has an affiliation to Richards, and I think that he’s holding something back.”

“You are probably right in that respect, Major. We must remember that he learnt from one of the best in Colonel Reed, the lecherous old manipulator. Even the thought of Reed still makes me shiver in disgust,” General Cox says, feigning a shiver in her chair. “I think it’s best if we keep him in play, at least for now. He may be useful when we acquire Richards.”

“Ma’am,” Rees responds wondering what history General Cox had with Colonel Reed. No doubt it was sordid if Reed was involvedand judging by Cox’s reaction, he thinks.

“Winters will come with us to the Zero station tomorrow, agreed?” Cox asks.

“Yes, Ma’am. But we need to keep a close eye on him, Ma’am,” Rees replies.

“Indeed, Major. Give Winters your orders on the way out, and I’ll see you at 0500.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Rees replies, getting up from his chair.

Winters stands to attention as Rees emerges from General Cox’s office and heads straight for him.

“Sir,” Winters says.

“You are dismissed for the evening, Lieutenant. Tomorrow, you will be at the shuttle pickup point at 0500 and bring your kit with you, Lieutenant,” Rees orders.

“Sir, can I ask where we are going, and for how long?”

“I cannot disclose our destination at this time, Lieutenant, but bring everything you will need for an undetermined time, understood?”

“Yes, Sir. 0500, Sir.”

“Dismissed,” Major Rees orders before turning to speak to his assistant.

Winters turns on the spot and walks away from Rees, heading to exit the building. His confusion about Major’s orders overriding his hunger, at least for the moment.

Chapter 10

My feet sink little by little further down into the cold sand. Every tiny wave of the tide sweeping over the top of my feet washes more grains of sand out from under them. Soon the sand will cover the tops completely and begin to edge up towards my ankles. My feet sinking doesn’t bother me at all. No, the sound of the surf is too relaxing, its resonance soothes my mind and the warm, low sun on my face heals my troubled soul.

Yellow and pink printed flowers entwined into my shorts flap in the breeze that rolls off the endless expanse of the sea spread out before me. Any second now, I will take the plunge and dive forward to let the saltwater wash over me entirely. The water’s salt and minerals will soak into my skin, bringing their goodness to bear on the scars cut into the side of my face. Any malignancy still festering under the scars’ red skin will be healed by the minerals, dissolved by the salt, and washed away completely. I long to emerge from the sea’s healing powers and let the scars dry out in the sun, where they will dissipate and become almost invisible.

I build the courage to jump, to take my dive, preparing myself for the shock of the cold water. Better to get the shock over quickly, I tell myself, rather than torturing yourself by wading in slowly, one wave at a time. My legs tense up and I am ready to sacrifice myself to the healing waters of the cold sea.

A voice in the distance, carried on the sea breeze stops me before I can jump. It calls my name. Emily… why is she calling me by my name, why isn’t she calling me Dad?

Daddy, the voice calls again, good Emily, I think, I’m Daddy, not Andy to you. I turn to look for her, to watch her running down the beach to jump into my arms, but the beach is empty. I look back, farther up the beach, towards the sand dunes to find my little girl, but again I don’t see her.

Has she fallen over, I panic, is she hurt or lost in the dunes?

My right leg pulls to release my sunken foot from the flooded sand. My muscles strain but my foot is stuck, sucked into the heavy sand that now reaches over my ankles. I pull my leg again as Emily cries out and as my left foot sinks deeper into the quicksand, my right foot suddenly pops free. I lose my balance from the unexpected jolt and fall backwards onto the damp sand behind me, my left food still trapped.

Twisting onto my front as far as I can without breaking my leg, my fingers dig into the hard, damp sand and I pull with all my strength. I feel the sand move around my foot as my fingers and arms pull, and as I strain, my foot slides slowly free of the unforgiving sand.

Free from the trap, I scramble across the sand until I am upright and on my feet. Daddy! cries out across the beach and I run towards the cry, towards the dunes that loom like demons over the back of the beach. Darkness is falling impossibly fast, and Emily is scared and possibly hurt, she needs me. I aim for the path that disappears into the foreboding dunes that are completely in shadow, putting my trepidation to enter them aside.

Long stems of beach grass wave at me, inviting me to enter the mounds of sand, and I do enter, ploughing straight into them. Darkness encompasses me, the dying rays of the sun completely