Endgame (Agent 21) (29 page)

An icy wind blew against them. Zak found himself vocalizing a thought that had been his constant companion for the past few days. ‘I’m not sure I’m cut out for this,’ he said quietly. ‘People seem to die around me. I don’t want that to happen any more.’

Gabs walked up to him. She looked steely. ‘You think that if you weren’t around, people wouldn’t die? Think again.’

‘But Malcolm . . . Felix . . . Michael . . .’

‘If Michael were here, he’d tell you that everybody dies, Zak. Every single person. Some sooner, some later. The question is, what do we do with the time we have? Do we let it slip by? Or do we do something worthwhile with it? Do we make our life mean something, until the time comes for
us
to . . .?’ She nodded towards the dead bodies, and Zak knew what she meant. ‘That’s the choice you have to make, sweetie. It’s the choice we all have to make.’ She looked back at the chopper. ‘If you’ll excuse me,’ she said, ‘my brother and I have quite a lot to catch up on.’

She turned and walked back to the chopper, bowing her head against the downdraught. Raf followed her.

‘I guess she’s right,’ Ricky said.

‘Yeah,’ Zak replied. ‘I guess.’ He paused. ‘You did well, Ricky,’ he said. ‘Really well. I can see why Felix picked you out.’

‘I’d say we make a good team,’ Ricky replied. He held up a clenched fist, and Zak met it with his own.

Then Zak took a deep breath. ‘We’d better . . . you know . . .’ He nodded at the yellow helicopter.

Agents 21 and 22 moved towards the aircraft. Their shoulders were hunched, and their footfall was heavy as they carried their fallen companion home.

The One That Got Away

Agent 21

Agent 21: Reloaded

Agent 21: Codebreaker

Deadfall

Under Cover

Flash Flood

Wildfire

Outbreak

Vortex

Twister

Battleground

Survival

Rat-Catcher

Desert Pursuit

Hostage

Red Centre

Hunted

Blood Money

Fault Line

Black Gold

Untouchable

‘Gripping from the off’

Sun

‘SAS hero Chris Ryan sets a cracking pace’

Lovereading

‘Fast-paced action thriller that hits all the right spots’

The Bookseller

You can find Chris on Twitter
@exSASChrisRyan

RHCP DIGITAL

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First published 2016
This ebook published 2016

Text copyright © Chris Ryan, 2016
Cover artwork copyright © Collaborations JS, 2016

The moral right of the author has been asserted

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978–1–849–41012–0
e-ISBN: 978–1–409–02680–8

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RHCP Digital
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