The Mortal Knife Read Online Free Page B

the day had been and the holiday atmosphere in the crowd, everyone enjoying the weekend. Dan by a quirk of fate had been standing in exactly the right place to capture the whole scene. There was the column, at the far end of the square. There was the band bounding onto the stage, the spiky-haired lead singer waving his guitar in the air in greeting to the crowd.
    And there, in the centre, between the fountains were two dark figures, alone and separate from the rest of the crowd. At the very top edge of the photo a tour guide could be seen leading a group towards the column. The group would never reach their destination. A few seconds later the bomber would detonate himself, in spite of Adam’s pleas – and then all hell would break loose.
    Adam closed his eyes and fought back a wave of nausea. He could still see it in slow motion – that moment when the bomber raised his hand and Adam
knew
what was going to happen. He had barely had time to step into the Hinterland and even there the force of the blast had scoured his face like hot sand. And when he had opened his eyes and seen a woman’s leg lying in the physical world  …  He gulped and reached for his water bottle.
    â€˜Are you all right?’ Dan was looking at him oddly.
    â€˜Yeah, I’m OK. It’s just weird, you know?’ Adam managed a weak smile. ‘Blowing yourself up like that. Some people are mental.’
    â€˜That’s not the maddest bit.’ Spike’s voice was low and intent as he zoomed in on the photo, focusing on the two figures. ‘People keep talking about the bomber and saying they found bits of him – but no one is even mentioning this other guy. I’ve been digging around a bit and the police know there were two people there – but they only found the remains of one man. So who the hell is the other guy? And where’s
his
body?’
    Archie squinted at the screen. ‘Maybe he was the bomber’s friend? Or maybe he was just some tourist and that’s why no one knows who he was.’
    â€˜But what happened to his body?’ Spike persisted. ‘Even that close to a bomb, you don’t just disappear. There would be some of you left. I mean it would look more like mince than body but it would still be there.’
    â€˜Maybe it vaporised.’ Adam cleared his throat and struggled on. ‘You know, with the force of the bomb. Like people in nuclear bombs. They just kind of vanish.’
    Spike shook his head. ‘Not hot enough mate. They should have found some of him left, even if it was a good distance away. You know, a bit of foot in one of the fountains or something.’
    â€˜Shut up!’ Adam said. He was on his feet without quite knowing how he’d managed to get there. His hands, resting on the table, were clenched into fists. He had seen it all – the body parts, the shredded clothing, the woman lying bleeding with her mouth moving silently. And the screams. He could still hear them in his head, the way they started slow, like whimpers and built into something loud and shrill and full of terror. ‘Stop talking like that! Like it was  …  in a computer game or something!’
    Spike stared at him unperturbed. ‘What’s your problem? They didn’t find the other guy, so he must have escaped – which basically makes him a
real
ninja. Nothing wrong with tracking him down. And no one else died. If some loony wants to blow himself up, just be happy he only took himself out of action. Everyone else was OK.’
    â€˜They weren’t OK,’ Adam hissed. His anger was a bright, hot pulse, squashing the air out of his lungs, even though he knew it wasn’t Spike’s fault. ‘Just because they didn’t die it doesn’t mean they were OK! How could you see something like that and be OK?’
    Dan nodded. ‘Tell me about it.’ He narrowed his eyes and appraised Adam. ‘Maybe you should get