Interdiction (A James Winchester Thriller Book 3) (James Winchester Series) by James Samuel (best novels to read for beginners TXT) 📕

to find something to watch. Boredom overtook him, the thick fumes of disinfectant burned at his nostrils.

Sinclair sighed. Cut off from direct involvement in the mission, and not even his computers to keep him busy, he felt himself reaching the edge of despair. Tossing the remote on his bedsheets, he checked his phone for messages. Nothing.

He decided to call Gallagher. He'd never felt more of a desire to sit behind a desk in some cushy office somewhere. Sinclair hadn't experienced a wound in years, and it hurt more than ever. The painkillers dulled most of the pain, but his leg continued to twinge as the flesh slowly knitted itself together.

"How are you, Wood?" asked Gallagher.

"As awful as you can imagine. Luckily, they missed the bone. I should be discharged in a day or two."

"Good. Status report?"

"James has gone to Jajce with the girl, Nazifa. They are going to assassinate Pejakovski. I wouldn't have too much hope that they will wait long enough to extract any useful information out of him," he added with a tinge of bitterness.

"I gave Winchester a free hand to kill Jakov Mlakar."

Sinclair's eyes widened. "The contract has been extended?"

"No, but I had no real choice in the matter. Winchester is bent on revenge."

He gritted his teeth. James had gone over his head without even consulting him again. His impulsiveness put them all at risk. Knowing James how he did, he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't put Kadrić on ice to satiate his lust for vengeance. A war with the Croatian mafia could cost him everything; it could cost Sinclair everything.

"Then you can expect me to leave Bosnia the moment Kadrić is dead. We have just under thirty days before the summit with the European Union. I'm not going to stay here on a revenge mission."

"And I will not require you to do that. This is Winchester's request."

"Good."

"Do you have an answer about the girl?"

Sinclair chewed on his tongue. He'd barely had time to go to the bathroom let alone consider Gallagher's offer to remove Nazifa from the picture. After what had happened, they didn't need another knot in the mission.

"I don't want her dead. The girl hasn't done anything to deserve that," he said at last. "I just want James focused on the mission without her as a distraction."

"I can do that. Maugham and his protégé Minamo are currently stationed in Austria. They will do just fine."

Sinclair nodded in recognition. Gordon Maugham was the leading assassin of Blackwind. He was Gallagher’s own personal assassin. Maugham rarely failed when given a mission. First Finch and now Maugham, Gallagher really had spoiled him.

"Make it happen quietly. This mustn't come back to us. The less I know the better."

"Of course, Maugham and Minamo will carry it out with the utmost discretion, I assure you."

Sinclair ended the call and grabbed his bottle of orange juice from the side table to assuage the bitterness in his mouth. No matter how much of the concentrated drink he swallowed, he could never hope to sweeten the guilt in his heart.

Chapter Thirty

 

Jajce, Bosanska Krajina, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Jajce loomed over the Audi at the crest of a hill. The lights of the town already shone like torchlights in the twinkling sky. James slowed down as he caught sight of a waterfall through the trees. It appeared to rush out of the heart of the city itself.”

"That's an odd thing," said James.

"Welcome to Jajce! One of the greatest towns in Bosnia. Did you know no other town in the world has a waterfall like ours?"

"You've been here before?"

"Of course. I came here often to the mountains with my friends when I was young."

"Right."

"No, no." She grabbed the steering wheel as he attempted to turn onto the only road leading into Jajce. "Stop here."

James pulled over at the edge of the line of trees shielding the view of the waterfall. Nazifa opened her door at once. The sound of a distant car in the background barely registered over the tremendous sound of Jajce's cascade.

"What are you doing?"

"The town is old. Very old. Too difficult to drive in. It's better if we walk the rest of the way. It's only small." She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial tone. "And they know a tourist when they see one. Everyone in the old town of Jajce knows everyone. A rental car will only give us attention, eh? Better if we walk."

James saw the logic in her explanation, but he didn't see the need to be so careful at this hour. Nevertheless, he left the car where it was. The silvery moonlight cast its glow over a ragged cloud, leaving its edges glowing like broken glass.

The walled town of Jajce had seen war, destruction, and death for centuries. From the days of the Kingdom of Bosnia to life under the Ottoman Empire, Jajce had endured. The aged ramparts still protected the old town today. James and Nazifa stepped underneath the archway and into the city itself. Low wooden houses jostled together with their more modern counterparts.

Restaurants and bars remained open, leaving welcoming orange glows across the scattered snowdrifts. Tattered snowflakes continued to drift on the air, searching for a new home. James stepped with care across the slick, uneven cobblestones.

"Here." He fished out a scrap of paper from inside his coat. "The address. I can't read it."

Nazifa took it in her gloved hands and squinted by the red lantern of a restaurant. "It should be in the centre. Not far from here. Will we stay or go?"

"I don't want to stay. The sooner we finish this, the better."

Nazifa shrugged. "You must take time to enjoy my country."

James had already walked on, determined to concentrate on the matter at hand. His own carnal desires kept threatening to pull