Page 43 of Predator


  “Farewell, dear Mateus,” Cross saluted him. “An Angolan jail isn’t the kind of accommodation you’re accustomed to, I’m afraid. They say most prisoners would rather die than spend the rest of their lives rotting in that particular hell. So . . .” Cross paused to savor the moment: “I wish you a long, long life.”

  Da Cunha’s facial expression was a strange mixture of fury and despair, but before he could reply one of his captors thrust his baton into da Cunha’s kidneys and he fell to his knees, gasping with the pain.

  For a second, Cross almost felt sorry for him.

  It was another three days before the women were allowed to travel. “I’m going back to London with Nastiya,” Zhenia said, once the doctor had delivered his verdicts. “She needs help organising Paddy’s funeral.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Cross said. “I can help, too.”

  “No, we’ll be fine. Go back to Abu Zara. See Catherine Cayla. It will do you good to be around life, instead of death. And she needs her daddy to be with her.”

  “You’re right, I should have thought of that. But we’ll be in London, both of us, in plenty of time for the funeral.”

  “And I’ll be waiting for you . . .”

  Cross emerged from customs and entered the arrivals terminal at Abu Zara International Airport. Suddenly Cross heard a high pitched shriek of excitement as Catherine Cayla spotted them, broke free of Bonnie’s grip and raced to meet her father.

  Cross laughed as he tossed Catherine high in the air before catching her and kissing her. As he put her back down on the ground he looked in wonder at this gorgeous little girl whom he loved and who loved him in return. He thought of the woman waiting for him in London. He had spent the past week immersed in death, but now he knew that life had to go on and that this girl and this woman represented life and hope and joy to him. Together they had the chance to be a family, to build a home, to find a shelter from the storm that had surrounded him for so long.

  He was in the car on the way back to Seascape Mansions when his phone pinged. He had a text message. It came in three parts. The first said, “I feel much better. But . . .” The second was a selfie of Zhenia flashing him a wicked, ravishingly sexy smile. The third said, “I need my man . . . beside me, on top of me, in me . . . Now!! xxxx”

  A broad grin spread across Hector Cross’s face.

  “Happy daddy!” said Catherine Cayla.

  Cross looked down at his daughter and then, sounding slightly surprised, as if he’d just been told something that he had never realized before he said, “Yes, quite right. I am a happy daddy.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Hailed by Stephen King as “the best historical novelist,” WILBUR SMITH published his first novel, When the Lion Feeds, in 1964. His books have sold more than 125 million copies worldwide and been translated into twentysix languages. Born in Central Africa, he now divides his time between London and South Africa.

  www.wilbursmithbooks.com

  FollowTheWilburSmith

  Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.

  Also by Wilbur Smith

  The Egyptian Series

  River God

  The Seventh Scroll

  Warlock

  The Quest

  Desert God

  The Ballantyne Series

  A Falcon Flies

  Men of Men

  The Angels Weep

  The Leopard Hunts in Darkness

  The Courtney Series

  When the Lion Feeds

  The Sound of Thunder

  A Sparrow Falls

  The Burning Shore

  Power of the Sword

  Rage

  A Time to Die

  Golden Fox

  Birds of Prey

  Monsoon

  Blue Horizon

  The Triumph of the Sun

  Assegai

  Golden Lion

  Thrillers

  The Dark of the Sun

  Shout at the Devil

  Gold Mine

  The Diamond Hunters

  The Sunbird

  Eagle in the Sky

  The Eye of the Tiger

  Cry Wolf

  Hungry as the Sea

  Wild Justice (U.K.); The Delta Decision (U.S.)

  The Elephant Song

  Those in Peril

  Vicious Circle

  CREDITS

  Cover design by Richard L. Aquan

  Cover photographs: © Alamy

  COPYRIGHT

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  PREDATOR. Copyright © 2016 by Wilbur Smith. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  FIRST U.S. EDITION

  ISBN 978-0-06-227647-6 (hardcover)

  EPub Edition MARCH 2016 ISBN 9780062276537

  16 17 18 19 20 DIX/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

  Australia

  HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

  Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street

  Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia

  www.harpercollins.com.au

  Canada

  HarperCollins Canada

  2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor

  Toronto, ON M4W 1A8, Canada

  www.harpercollins.ca

  New Zealand

  HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand

  Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive

  Rosedale 0632

  Auckland, New Zealand

  www.harpercollins.co.nz

  United Kingdom

  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

  1 London Bridge Street

  London SE1 9GF, UK

  www.harpercollins.co.uk

  United States

  HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

  195 Broadway

  New York, NY 10007

  www.harpercollins.com

 


 

  Wilbur Smith, Predator

  (Series: # )

 

 


 

 
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net

Share this book with friends