Overthrow (A James Winchester Thriller Book 2) (James Winchester Series) by James Samuel (the gingerbread man read aloud .TXT) 📕

itself was little more than an enlarged lawn with a few simple paths running through it. A few market stalls on the periphery sold Khmer specialities by small fluorescent lights. Tonight, James had a plan that would resolve the whole business of Cambodia forever.

“Stay away from this,” James said to Nhek. “Thom must not see you; do you understand?”

“Why you do this to me, Mr. James? You know that Thom killed my brother. You make me watch while you speak to my brother’s killer.”

“Calm down, Nhek. Just trust me and you’ll see that it’s for the best. I haven’t steered you wrong in the past, have I?”

“No, Mr. James, you haven’t.”

“So, you’ll stay here?”

“Yes, Mr. James.”

James patted him on the shoulder and then slumped in the back of Nhek’s tuk-tuk next to Sinclair. He shook his head at him. Never a fan of complications, James and Sinclair had already exchanged heated words about the plan.

Sinclair rubbed his forehead and said, “I want you to know that I think this is a terrible idea. Why did you bring Blake here? You’re walking right into his trap. You know he’s going to try to kill both you and Thom when Shao’s dead.”

James shrugged. “I couldn’t think of a more poetic way of putting an end to this. Everyone gets what they want… well, not Blake, of course.”

“There are so many ways in which this can go wrong,” Sinclair shook his head. “You’re making this more dangerous than it needs to be.”

“I always do.”

James checked his phone. Just a few minutes until Shao was due to arrive. They’d agreed to meet in the centre of the park, underneath the streetlights. The lamps shone from their position above the black iron bars hammered into the ground, like otherworldly globes of light.

He stepped into the pools of light to find Thom, who had arrived right on time but alone tonight, forsaking the protection of his assistant. James smiled when he saw him. It would make his job infinitely easier when the time came. Dylan would already be watching them from the shadows.

“Mr. Winchester,” Thom reached out to shake his hand. “I couldn’t be more delighted with your work, and the prime minister sends his regards. The threat of a coup has passed, and the government finds its position strengthened. I will inform your boss that you have done good work. Very good work.”

James nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Thom. I hope the prime minister can cover up these incidents. We wouldn’t want the public to know what’s happened, would we?”

Thom bowed his head and smiled. “Not to worry, Mr. Winchester. This is our responsibility, not yours.”

A long black car arrived at its designated position, on the far corner of the park. James looked past Thom and laid eyes on Shao Fen in the flesh for the first time. The Chinese had done much to destabilize Cambodia, and James could see the pure, unmasked hatred on the man’s face as he approached alone, as requested.

“Mr. Fen,” said James. “Good of you to have joined us.”

Thom looked uneasy as he recognized Shao’s presence and shrunk back towards James.

“Are you armed?” Shao asked.

James held his arms out to his sides. The documents were tucked underneath his arm. “No. Are you?”

Shao’s eyes appeared to blaze at the insinuation that he would break the terms of their meeting. “Of course not. There is such a concept as honour.”

“Hold it right there.” Blake emerged from the darkness; his limp still visible, but which had done nothing to knock his arrogance. “I was told to be at this meeting. You can’t start without me.” He looked at James. “Gallagher’s orders.”

James sent him a cold gaze, a look that would make Blake wonder whether he already knew about the separate, secret contract Gallagher had assigned him. The secret price on James’ head.

“Mr. Fen, I have what you were looking for. They’re all here.”

“How do I know you haven’t made copies?”

James shook his head. “You don’t. This is a trust exercise. You’ll need to trust my word, or you’re not going to get what you want.”

“Very well.” Shao nodded. “Then I would be willing to make the exchange. The documents and I will depart Cambodia.”

James and Shao both stepped forward. This was the single, most crucial moment of the operation. He hadn’t lied. James was unarmed and had left his weapon in the tuk-tuk. His life and the completion of the mission now rested in Dylan’s steady hand from afar.

He felt Blake lingering at his shoulder, waiting for the right moment to lash out at Thom and himself. James lowered the folder to the ground and stepped away. Shao’s gaze leapt from the folder to James and back.

When Shao stepped forwards to claim the documents, a single gunshot rang out, destroying the peaceful evening. Shao fell to the ground, dead. The citizenry enjoying the park screamed. The cacophony of bikes hurriedly cranking away added to the chaos.

James turned and kicked with the point of his shoe straight into Blake’s ankle. The American cried out, stumbled, and collapsed. As expected, Blake’s gun, already aimed at him, skittered away.

“What are you doing?” Blake cried.

“I know everything,” James snarled. “You were going to kill the both of us when the contract ended. I heard everything you and Gallagher said.” James grabbed Blake by his shirt and wrenched his head up, forcing Blake to look him in the face. “Don’t even think about lying to me.”

“It was… just a contract. I was only following orders.”

“Just a contract?”

“Gallagher told me to do it. I had no choice. That’s the reason he sent me to Cambodia in the first place. He wanted me to clean up after you guys had finished.”

James’ lip curled upwards in disgust. “I should kill you for this.”

“No,