This week, I’m proud to present you a sample from the latest book I have edited to hit the shelves. It’s called The Sokolov Agenda, the latest thriller
By Alan McDermott
Mann pushed through the wooden doors to the street, straight into two men who were clearly waiting for him.
‘He’s here,’ one of them said into his cuff in Russian.
They both walked towards Mann, who turned and started walking in the opposite direction. He heard their pace quicken.
‘Mister Davenport,’ one of them said.
Mann continued walking, listening to the sound of their footsteps, and when he sensed they were within range, he planted his left foot and lashed out with the right. He caught one of them in the chest, sending him sprawling into the snow, then rounded on the other and delivered a spinning hook kick to the head. He joined his companion on the floor, and Mann took off.
He was blown, there was no doubt about it. How, he didn’t know, but there was time for that later. For now, he had to get away from the immediate area, then find a way out of the country.
Mann ran past a neighbouring theatre and onto a one-way street, not easy in a tuxedo and dress shoes on the slick streets. He took a right, following the traffic, then a left into a pedestrianised area. He sprinted as best he could past bars and cafés, coffee chops and burger houses, and when he reached an eight-lane highway he ducked into the underpass.
Mann shucked off his coat as he spotted a beggar. The man was sitting with his head down, but he looked up when Mann approached him.
‘Swap?’ Mann asked in Russian.
The beggar touched his light raincoat and then looked at the heavy replacement on offer. His face lit up as he took off his stinking coat and handed it to Mann.
Mann’s nose wrinkled at the smell of the garment, but if it saved his life he would have gladly eaten it, never mind worn it. He gestured to a grubby hat the beggar had on.
‘How much?’ the beggar asked, smiling to show several brown and broken teeth.
Mann took out his wallet and removed a thousand-rouble note. The beggar shook his head and held up five fingers. Mann sighed and handed over five grand, about a hundred pounds sterling. The hat and cash were exchanged in a flash.
Capitalism had truly come to Russia.
Mann carried the foetid garments through the underpass, then put them on before emerging into the night. He walked with a slight limp to alter his gait, his head down as he thought about his exit strategy.
The British Embassy was about three or four kilometres away, a forty-five-minute walk. The trouble was, if the FSB knew his name, they no doubt knew his nationality. The first thing on their to-do list would be to cut off that avenue of escape. They would have a ring of men circling the building on the bank of the Moskva River.
Mann had no option but to call it in. He took out his phone, opened Twitter and typed in a brief tweet.
It’s snowing again.
London would see the message and plan a way out. All Mann had to do was get to one of three pre-arranged meeting points and wait for the cavalry to arrive. The nearest was the Ascension Church on Bol’shaya Nikitskaya Ulitsa, a fifteen-minute walk away.
Mann began to shiver. His disguise might keep the FSB at bay, but not the cold. He upped his pace to get his circulation moving, and he prayed that the church was heated at this time of night.
As Mann approached the meeting point, he sensed danger. The street was relatively clear and no one appeared to notice him, but the feeling wouldn’t go away. He started to jog. The building was in sight, just a couple of hundred yards ahead on the right.
The squealing tires told him he wasn’t going to make it.
The Sokolov Agenda
Alex Mann is MI6’s top operative in Moscow, but when his cover is blown, it’s a race against time to get him home. Not only is Mann facing certain death in a notorious penal colony, but only he knows the identity of a Russian terrorist who has London in his sights.
The Sokolov Agenda is the latest blockbuster thriller from million-copy bestseller Alan McDermott.
Find it at:
- The author, Alan McDermott’s, website
- Amazon.