The Silent Blade (Harry Bauer Book 6), page 19
She nodded and picked up her knife and fork. “You don’t need to lecture me on that, Harry. I drafted our constitution and our code of conduct. We know because we have people who work with him at the highest level, and the orders and the decisions come from him.”
She paused to put a forkful of lobster in her mouth.
“You remember the Al-Habaja massacre, where five thousand people, many of them women and children, were gassed to death in north Iraq, just west of Zummar near the Turkish border?”
“Of course.”
“That gas was supplied by one of Cavendish’s companies. Another one that will be of interest to you: You will remember Mohammed Ben-Amini’s attack on Belandhawa, in Helmand province, because you were there.”
“I’m not allowed to talk about that.”
She gave something like a smile. “Don’t worry about it. The same people who told you not to talk about it are the ones who briefed me.”
I snorted something like an ironic laugh. “The brigadier? OK, they used a chemical agent, phosVX, that killed the entire population of the village, eight hundred people. Their deaths were agonizing, with convulsions and internal hemorrhaging. It took about twenty minutes for them to die. There were grandparents, parents, children, everybody. They were just farmers. The excuse for the attack was that one of the men in the village had taken a Christian wife. But the real reason was that they were trying out a variant of phosgene which was harder to detect and more lethal. It not only attacked lung tissue, but also blocked the enzyme acetyl cholinesterase, causing violent spasms and accelerating the damage to the lungs. That was what we were told, anyhow. It was never proved because the village was torched, some said by Ben-Amini, others said by the CIA. But they were probably just conspiracy nuts, right?”
“I can tell you that it was Ben-Amini who torched the village, and I can also tell you that it was Charles Cavendish who provided the Taliban with the phosVX that wiped out that village. If you decide to take the job, I will provide you with a full list of the crimes that he has been associated with, and which he provided the hardware for. Believe me, Harry, we have not put him on the list lightly. We would rather see him subjected to due process of law, but he is immune.”
I picked up my knife and fork and cut into the steak, and watched the blood ooze into the oil.
“You know I’ll take the job,” I said, “Just tell me what to do.”
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Also by Blake Banner
Up to date books can be found on my website: www.blakebanner.com
COBRA THRILLER SERIES
Dead of Night (Book 1)
Dying Breath (Book 2)
The Einstaat Brief (Book 3)
Quantum Kill (Book 4)
Immortal Hate (Book 5)
The Silent Blade (Book 6)
DEAD COLD MYSTERY SERIES
An Ace and a Pair (Book 1)
Two Bare Arms (Book 2)
Garden of the Damned (Book 3)
Let Us Prey (Book 4)
The Sins of the Father (Book 5)
Strange and Sinister Path (Book 6)
The Heart to Kill (Book 7)
Unnatural Murder (Book 8)
Fire from Heaven (Book 9)
To Kill Upon A Kiss (Book 10)
Murder Most Scottish (Book 11)
The Butcher of Whitechapel (Book 12)
Little Dead Riding Hood (Book 13)
Trick or Treat (Book 14)
Blood Into Win (Book 15)
Jack In The Box (Book 16)
The Fall Moon (Book 17)
Blood In Babylon (Book 18)
Death In Dexter (Book 19)
Mustang Sally (Book 20)
A Christmas Killing (Book 21)
Mommy's Little Killer (Book 22)
Bleed Out (Book 23)
Dead and Buried (Book 24)
In Hot Blood (Book 25)
Fallen Angels (Book 26)
Knife Edge (Book 27)
Dead Cold Box Set #1: Books 1-4 (SAVE 33%)
Dead Cold Box Set #2: Books 5-8 (SAVE 25%)
Dead Cold Box Set #3: Books 9-12 (SAVE 25%)
Dead Cold Box Set #4: Books 13-16 (SAVE 25%)
Dead Cold Box Set #5: Books 17-20 (SAVE 25%)
Dead Cold Box Set #6: Books 21-24 (SAVE 25%)
THE OMEGA SERIES
Dawn of the Hunter (Book 1)
Double Edged Blade (Book 2)
The Storm (Book 3)
The Hand of War (Book 4)
A Harvest of Blood (Book 5)
To Rule in Hell (Book 6)
Kill: One (Book 7)
Powder Burn (Book 8)
Kill: Two (Book 9)
Unleashed (Book 10)
The Omicron Kill (Book 11)
9mm Justice (Book 12)
Kill: Four (Book 13)
Death In Freedom (Book 14)
Endgame (Book 15)
Omega Box Set #1: Books 1-4 (SAVE 33%)
Omega Box Set #2: Books 5-8 (SAVE 25%)
Omega Box Set #3: Books 9-12 (SAVE 25%)
Omega Box Set #4: Books 13-15 (SAVE 33%)
* * *
[1]
See Cobra 5, Immortal Hate
[2] See Cobra 3, The Einstaat Brief
[3] See Cobra 1, Dead of Night
Blake Banner, The Silent Blade (Harry Bauer Book 6)
