Blindside - By Gj Moffat Page 0,39

fact that they were supposed to be the ones protecting the security of the country.

What used to be his country.

Raines decided on a direct strategy. They had nothing on him anyway. He reached under his seat, grabbed his Smith & Wesson nine-millimetre off the floor, stuck it into the rear waistband of his jeans and got out of his truck. He walked across the street towards the Ford, saw the men inside turn their heads to talk to one another. Their movements were fast and jerky.

Raines got to the car, leaned down to the driver’s window and motioned with his hand for the man to lower the window. The man did what he was told, the window buzzing down, and stared at Raines through the narrow opening he had made.

‘Let me in back,’ Raines told him.

The driver turned to his companion who was entirely non-committal.

‘We should talk.’

The driver turned back to Raines, stared at him for a while longer and nodded his head towards the back of the car. Raines heard the soft click of the car door being unlocked. He went to the rear door, pulled it open and sat inside.

‘How old are you guys?’

The driver turned in his seat to look at Raines.

‘What are you doing?’

‘I asked first.’

The driver sighed and looked at the man beside him in the front passenger seat. They were both Hispanic men and looked to Raines like they were too young for the job.

‘I mean, you don’t look any older than, what, thirty?’ Raines asked. ‘Am I right?’

The driver looked at Raines again but said nothing.

‘What did you do before you signed up for the badge and the gun? Or did you get into this straight out of college?’

‘I was a cop,’ the driver said.

His partner looked at him and shook his head.

‘Why are we even talking to this guy?’

‘What about you, chief?’ Raines asked the partner.

The man faced forward again and ignored Raines.

‘You’ve never fought for your country, have you? Never put yourself in harm’s way for others. Because that’s what it’s about, you know. Self-sacrifice.’

‘What is it that you want?’ the driver asked him.

Raines snorted a laugh.

‘What?’

‘You’re the first person to ask me that,’ Raines told him. ‘That’s how we got to this.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘If someone like you, some government salary slave, had actually asked me what I wanted and been genuine about it, we might not be sitting in this car together today.’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

Raines looked down.

‘We can end it all if you want,’ the driver said to him. ‘Say the word and we’ll take you in right now.’

‘And charge me with what?’ Raines asked, without looking up.

‘We’ll think of something,’ the partner said, looking out of the windscreen.

‘That’s what I’m talking about,’ Raines said, jabbing a finger at the man in the passenger seat. ‘You guys are all the same, aren’t you? So confident in your ability to always be right.’

‘This is going nowhere,’ the passenger told the driver. ‘Cut him loose.’

‘See,’ Raines said, ‘you can’t even answer my question and so, instead of admitting that I’ve done nothing wrong, you treat me like a piece of shit on your shoe. Cut him loose, he says.’

The passenger turned to face Raines before he spoke this time.

‘Don’t get righteous with us now. We all know that it’s only a matter of time.’

‘Before what?’

‘Whatever it is that you’re planning on doing.’

Raines knew that they didn’t have a clue. He’d kept Stark at arm’s length the whole time, suspicious of his background story. Stark didn’t know enough before he got on that plane.

‘What is it that you think you’re trying to stop me from doing? Has anyone even told you that, or do you get kept in the dark?’

‘This isn’t a game.’

‘I know that. But I don’t think you do. It’s all just a game for you. There’s no sense of responsibility for what you do in the name of this country.’

The passenger looked away. ‘This is a waste of time.’

The driver sighed at his partner and looked at Raines.

‘If there’s nothing we can do for you right now …’

‘There’s nothing you can do for anyone at any time. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.’

‘This isn’t anyone’s fault except your own, sir. Don’t try to convince yourself otherwise. You make your own decisions.’

‘Are you even listening to what you’re saying? I mean, some asshole with an inflated sense of his own importance told you to stake out my place and you accept blindly that he’s right