Overthrow (A James Winchester Thriller Book 2) (James Winchester Series) by James Samuel (psychology books to read txt) 📗

to get away after all. We can walk back to the guesthouse. Maybe the exercise will cheer you up.”

Nhek picked up Kosal and balanced him on his lap. The child showed no concern for his precarious position. James gave them a little wave as they sped off. He didn’t know what would become of the child, but his heart swelled. He’d done the right thing.

Sinclair could only scowl and tut at the scene before him. The two agents fled before the horrified cry of Mr. Chea’s employees alerted the city to the fact their boss’s neck now had an emergency exit in the front.

Chapter Twelve

Poipet, Banteay Meanchey, Cambodia

 

Sir Richard Davenport ruled over Xiphos Security from his office in London. Although no mercenary himself, he had served in the Royal Navy for the first twenty years of adulthood. Through the connections he’d built up during his years of service, he’d created Xiphos, a private military organisation much in the same vein as Blackwind. It had brought both operations into direct competition multiple times over the years.

Dylan wiped a strand of sandy hair from his forehead. With trembling fingers, he dialled the number for Sir Richard. He’d never taken on a project this significant before and being forced to execute General Somnang still shook him up. There was something different about murder up close.

“Yes?” Sir Richard’s tart voice answered.

“Sir Richard, it’s Dylan. Sorry to call you on your private number.”

“I hope you are calling from a secure line. I told you to call me today as I have just confirmed some unfortunate news. Mr. Chea of Phnom Penh is dead.”

“Oh…”

“Are you not aware of Mr. Chea?”

“Mr. Fen never said anything. He doesn’t say much of anything actually. I get the impression he’s hiding a lot from me.”

“Of course, he is. The Chinese have never trusted Western organisations, even those as reputable as Xiphos. However, Mr. Chea was a key businessman in General Narith’s operations. He controlled and operated almost the entire prostitution trade in Phnom Penh. This will be a blow to General Narith, and therefore, Shao Fen himself.”

Dylan felt his fingers growing sweaty as he clutched his phone to the side of his sticky sideburns. “Thank you for informing me, Sir Richard.”

“Dylan, the big problem is not Mr. Chea’s death. A blow, but no more than a graze to General Narith. It will still allow him to launch the coup against Sen when the time comes. What’s striking is the way in which Mr. Chea was murdered. It was no accident. It was an assassination. A professional assassination.”

“Do you think it could be Sen? His bodyguards are almost as professional as the military.”

“No, I said a professional assassination. The army in Cambodia is not particularly professional. They are a gang of thugs and vandals in uniform, nothing more. I have reason to believe that Blackwind has deployed field agents to Cambodia. Our sources tell us they are working for Sen, and therefore, against us.”

Dylan gulped. If Xiphos had a contract on someone they were usually connected to Blackwind. It had led to some nasty incidents in the past, where field agents of both sides had reluctantly entered a deadly chess game. His colleagues had told the stories, but he’d yet to even meet a Blackwind mercenary in the flesh.

Joseph Cecil Gallagher was Sir Richard’s opposite number. Everyone in the business knew Gallagher employed some of the most ruthless mercenaries in the business. Gordon Maugham was chief among them, an Englishman who had even murdered two Xiphos agents in a complicated incident in the Philippines. Xiphos men had feared him ever since and approached every other Blackwind man with extreme wariness.

“Our sources are unclear as to which field agents are in Cambodia. We do know they intend to erode Narith’s powerbase. If they succeed in that, the general will be vulnerable, and then they would have an opening to potentially liquidate him. We cannot under any circumstances allow that to happen.”

“What would you like me to do?”

“Continue following Shao Fen’s orders directly for now. During that time, I want you to find out as much as you can about Blackwind’s agents. I am deploying another of our agents to help you. Adam Kendall. I believe you two have met. You are in Poipet, correct?”

Dylan swivelled around in an electric blue plastic chair in the patio of the bar where he’d taken refuge. He became aware that someone had eyes on him.

“Yes, Sir Richard.”

“Good. Then our sources were correct. Adam is already in Cambodia and has been shadowing you for several days. I will make the call and have him meet up with you. Is there anything else?”

“No, Sir Richard.”

“Very well.”

The line went dead.

Dylan dropped the phone on the table next to his sweating beer. The moisture had already soaked through the little napkin the smiling Cambodian had placed under the bottle. He felt rotten knowing that Sir Richard hadn’t trusted him enough to complete the mission on his own. A few minutes later, his shadow arrived.

Adam Kendall came up the steps and walked under the relative safety of the plastic shelter covering the patio. The Englishman wore his usual half-smile, but he bore no malice behind it. He ran a hand through his military buzzcut. The sweat patches had already left stains on his dark shirt. Dylan had worked with Adam before. He liked him, but he felt a little resentful that he’d tailed him throughout Cambodia.

“Dylan, nice to see you again.” Adam gave him a firm handshake. “Sambath is in that guesthouse, yeah?”

“He is.”

“Good.” Adam sat opposite him and motioned to the waiter for a beer. “I wonder if he’s going to make the crossing to Thailand or what?”

“They charge five bucks for a beer here. Ridiculous.”

Adam laughed. “I don’t give a