John Milton: The Jungle Part 34

MILTON LEFT THE SPENT round on the floor of the bedroom. He was armed with a Beretta 92FS 9x19mm pistol, the sidearm favoured by the COMSUBIN-the Comando Subacquei ed Incursori-the special forces unit of the Italian navy. The weapons were reasonably exotic, and Hicks had secured them from a dealer who asked no questions in exchange for a significant mark-up on the purchase price. He had purchased their ammunition from Fiocchi Munizioni, the manufacturer from Lecco that had long been favoured by the Italian military. Milton had no idea how vigorous the investigation into the murders at Ali Tessema's property would be, but, in the event that it was thorough, it would be a simple enough thing to track the rounds that had killed the men back to Italy, and then to connect the murders with the COMSUBIN's previous a.s.sa.s.sinations of smugglers in Tripoli and Zuwara. The dots would be easy to join. The investigation would be shelved.

He went back through the house. It was a large place on the outskirts of Tripoli that Ali had been given by the militia that had confiscated it after the fall of Gaddafi. It had belonged to one of the colonel's playboy sons and still bore the signs of the opulence that was once a family trademark. The main reception room was a mess, with smashed bottles of Moet and Dom Perignon on the floor and a large pile of cocaine on a white Pearl River baby grand. Milton's boots crunched fragments of a shattered vodka bottle into the thick carpet. There were six men and two women in the room. All of them were still asleep. Milton had pa.s.sed through the room without disturbing them, and none of them had stirred while he had attended to his business. His Beretta had been fitted with a silencer, and the cylinder had flattened the noise of the gunshot. The revellers would wake up in the morning none the wiser to the execution that had happened just a few feet from where they had been sleeping off the excesses of the night before. Then they would find Ali's body, and they would realise how lucky they had been.

Death had pa.s.sed among them, and they had been spared.

There was a sliding door into the garden. Hicks was waiting for him outside. He was wearing the same gear as Milton, but he was armed with a Beretta ARX 160, the modular a.s.sault rifle that the Italians preferred. He was standing by in the event that the drunken partygoers awoke. There had been no need to use it.

Milton exchanged a nod of affirmation with Hicks and descended the steps into the garden. The house was built in a style that would have been more at home in Malibu, minimalist in design, painted white and erected on stilts. They pa.s.sed bamboo garden furniture and a hot tub installed on a veranda that overlooked the sea. Milton retraced their steps to the guardhouse and glanced in to see the bodies of the two guards that he had shot before they had even had the chance to take out their weapons. He kept on, pa.s.sing the infinity pool and the body of the first guard; Milton had killed him with a silenced headshot from ten metres that had seen the man's lifeless body topple into the water.

The guards had been slow and lazy, as if the very thought of an attack on their patron was preposterous.

Milton led the way through the exit and onto the path that overlooked the ocean.

"All done?" Hicks asked in a tight, quiet voice as they calmly walked away.

"All done."

Milton looked down at the jetty at the foot of the cliff. The jet skis they had used to approach the property were tied up, bobbing up and down on the moonlight-flecked swells. He gazed out beyond them, into the infinite darkness of the sea and the sky, and wondered how many more Ali Tessemas there were, and how many of them had sent out overloaded boats on dangerous voyages that night.

"Let's go."

A WORD FROM MARK.

Thank you for reading THE JUNGLE. I hope you enjoyed it.

Milton's story begins in a series of fast paced thrillers that take him (and you) all around the world.

The first story, THE CLEANER, tells how Milton left Group Fifteen.

The next story, SAINT DEATH, sees Milton resurface on the Mexican side of the US border, in a thrilling confrontation with an international drug cartel.

THE DRIVER finds Milton in San Francisco, investigating a series of murders for which he is the prime suspect.

And 1000 YARDS is a dip into his case files. Milton is sent into the most dangerous failed state in the world North Korea with orders to a.s.sa.s.sinate a key military target.

The books are available individually. But you can save 25% by downloading the Box Set (containing all four thrillers).

GET THE FIRST JOHN MILTON BOX SET (UK US).

GET EXCLUSIVE JOHN MILTON MATERIAL.

Building a relations.h.i.+p with my readers is the very best thing about writing. I occasionally send newsletters with details on new releases, special offers and other bits of news relating to the John Milton, Beatrix and Isabella Rose and Soho Noir series.

And if you sign up to the mailing list I'll send you this free Milton content: 1. A free copy of the John Milton novella, Tarantula.

2. A copy of the highly cla.s.sified background check on John Milton before he was admitted to Group 15. Exclusive to my mailing list you can't get this anywhere else.

You can get the novella and the background check for free, by signing up at http://eepurl.com/b1T_NT Enjoy this book? You can make a big difference Reviews are the most powerful tools in my a.r.s.enal when it comes getting attention for my books. Much as I'd like to, I don't have the financial muscle of a New York publisher. I can't take out full page ads in the newspaper or put posters on the subway.

(Not yet, anyway).

But I do have something much more powerful and effective than that, and it's something that those publishers would kill to get their hands on.

A committed and loyal bunch of readers.

Honest reviews of my books help bring them to the attention of other readers.

If you've enjoyed this book I would be very grateful if you could spend just five minutes leaving a review (it can be as short as you like) on the book's page.

Thank you very much.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.

Thanks to the members of Team Milton for technical advice and support. Thanks to Pauline Nolet and Jennifer McIntyre for editorial a.s.sistance. And thanks to you for investing your time in reading this story. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

John Milton will be back.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR.

Mark Dawson is the author of the breakout John Milton, Beatrix Rose and Soho Noir series. He makes his online home at www.markjdawson.com. You can connect with Mark on Twitter at @pbackwriter, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/markdawsonauthor and you should send him an email at if the mood strikes you.

ALSO BY MARK DAWSON.

Have you read them all?.

In the Soho Noir Series.

Gaslight.

When Harry and his brother Frank are blackmailed into paying off a local hood they decide to take care of the problem themselves. But when all of London's underworld is in thrall to the man's boss, was their plan audacious or the most foolish thing that they could possibly have done?

Free to download: US UK.

The Black Mile.

London, 1940: the Luftwaffe blitzes London every night for fifty-seven nights. Houses, shops and entire streets are wiped from the map. The underworld is in flux: the Italian criminals who dominated the West End have been interned and now their rivals are fighting to replace them. Meanwhile, hidden in the shadows, the Black-Out Ripper sharpens his knife and sets to his grisly work.

Buy it: US UK.

The Imposter.

War hero Edward Fabian finds himself drawn into a criminal family's web of vice and soon he is an accomplice to their scheming. But he's not the man they think he is - he's far more dangerous than they could possibly imagine.

Buy it: US UK.

In the John Milton Series.

One Thousand Yards.

In this dip into his case files, John Milton is sent into North Korea. With nothing but a sniper rifle, bad intentions and a very particular target, will Milton be able to take on the secret police of the most dangerous failed state on the planet?

Free to download: US UK The Cleaner Sharon Warriner is a single mother in the East End of London, fearful that she's lost her young son to a life in the gangs. After John Milton saves her life, he promises to help. But the gang, and the charismatic rapper who leads it, is not about to cooperate with him.

Buy it: US UK Saint Death John Milton has been off the grid for six months. He surfaces in Ciudad Jurez, Mexico, and immediately finds himself drawn into a vicious battle with the narco-gangs that control the borderlands.

Buy it: US UK The Driver When a girl he drives to a party goes missing, John Milton is worried. Especially when two dead bodies are discovered and the police start treating him as their prime suspect.

Buy it: US UK.

Ghosts.

John Milton is blackmailed into finding his predecessor as Number One. But she's a ghost, too, and just as dangerous as him. He finds himself in deep trouble, playing the Russians against the British in a desperate attempt to save the life of his oldest friend.

Buy it: US UK.

The Sword of G.o.d.

On the run from his own demons, John Milton treks through the Michigan wilderness into the town of Truth. He's not looking for trouble, but trouble's looking for him. He finds himself up against a small-town cop who has no idea with whom he is dealing, and no idea how dangerous he is.

Buy it: US UK Salvation Row Milton finds himself in New Orleans, returning a favour that saved his life during Katrina. When a lethal adversary from his past takes an interest in his business, there's going to be h.e.l.l to pay.

Buy it: US UK Headhunters Milton barely escaped from Avi Bachman with his life. But when the Mossad's most dangerous renegade agent breaks out of a maximum security prison, their second fight will be to the finish.

Buy it: US UK The Ninth Step Milton's attempted good deed becomes a quest to unveil corruption at the highest levels of government and murder at the dark heart of the criminal underworld. Milton is pulled back into the game, and that's going to have serious consequences for everyone who crosses his path.

Buy it: US UK.

In the Beatrix Rose Series.

In Cold Blood.

Beatrix Rose was the most dangerous a.s.sa.s.sin in an off-the-books government kill squad until her former boss betrayed her. A decade later, she emerges from the Hong Kong underworld with payback on her mind. They gunned down her husband and kidnapped her daughter, and now the debt needs to be repaid. It's a blood feud she didn't start but she is going to finish.

Buy it: US UK.

Blood Moon Rising.

There were six names on Beatrix's Death List and now there are four. She's going to account for the others, one by one, even if it kills her. She has returned from Somalia with another target in her sights. Bryan Duffy is in Iraq, surrounded by mercenaries, with no easy way to get to him and no easy way to get out. And Beatrix has other issues that need to be addressed. Will Duffy prove to be one kill too far?

Buy it: US UK.

Blood and Roses.

Beatrix Rose has worked her way through her Kill List. Four are dead, just two are left. But now her foes know she has them in her sights and the hunter has become the hunted.

Buy it: US UK Hong Kong Stories, Vol. 1 Beatrix Rose flees to Hong Kong after the murder of her husband and the kidnapping of her child. She needs money. The local triads have it. What could possibly go wrong?

Buy it: US UK.

In the Isabella Rose Series.

The Angel.

Isabella Rose is recruited by British intelligence after a terrorist attack on Westminster.

Buy it: US UK.

Standalone Novels.

The Art of Falling Apart.

A story of greed, duplicity and death in the flamboyant, super-ego world of rock and roll. Dystopia have rocketed up the charts in Europe, so now it's time to crack America. The opening concert in Las Vegas is a sell-out success, but secret envy and open animosity have begun to tear the group apart.

Buy it: US UK.

Subpoena Colada.

Daniel Tate looks like he has it all. A lucrative job as a lawyer and a host of famous names who want him to work for them. But his girlfriend has deserted him for an American film star and his main client has just been implicated in a sensational murder. Can he hold it all together?

Buy it: US UK.

DEDICATION.

To Mrs D, FD and SD.

COPYRIGHT.

end.