Page 158 - Brokenclaw - John Gardner

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seemed to throw them sideways. He watched as a rotor blade chopped at one

of the trees then buckled.
There was a furious grinding. The world spun. Then the sound of metal
disintegrating, the smell of oil and gasoline, followed by what seemed to be an
James Bond OO7 - printing disabledp into a cavern which swallowed them up in darkness. The last James Bond OO7 - printing disabled
endless dro
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thing he noticed was the hands on his Rolex showing almost ten thirty.
From far away came the sweet noise of the dawn chorus, the morning songs
from thousands of birds. Then the noise diminished. Now only one bird sang,
its notes tripping up and down in loud waves. After that the song stopped and

he realised it was someone speaking to him, a sweet sad, sing-song voice
saying, ‘James? Oh, James! Please wake up! Please forgive me!’
Gingerly he opened his eyes. His head hurt and his vision took a few
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minutes to focus.
Chi-Chi was leaning over him, and the first thing he noticed was that she

was stripped to the waist, her gentle, small breasts only inches from his face.
‘Thank God,’ she said. ‘You’re awake. Please, James, forgive me.’
His throat was dry and he asked for a drink. She moved and returned a

second later with a small plastic cup of water. She was sobbing and he saw
that her hair was tousled.
He swallowed the water and hauled himself on to one elbow, looking up at
her.
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‘Just say you’ll forgive me,’ she continued.

‘Forgive you for what?’
Her mouth opened then closed as though she were having problems
speaking. ‘I told them. I told them everything. You. Me. What the operational

team know. I couldn’t hold out. I couldn’t.’ As she turned away, he saw the
blood and the deep red welts across her back.
‘Who did that?’ In spite of the dizziness and general disorientation, a spark
fired fury in his belly. ‘Who did it?’
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‘Lee. Who else? Soon after you left he tried . . . He tried to . . .’
‘Yes, I thought he might, but . . .’
‘I managed to resist. I think I hurt him a little. My knee had an argument with
his groin. So he went away.’

‘And?’
‘And then he returned and said he now knew I was not Jenny Mo, and he

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