HOSTILE TAKEOVER

TWO

People were who didn’t actually see the gunshot now looked at the still and lifeless body of Lord Carrington which had not much left of the head, except a few stray pieces of skin and the odd tooth.

Someone screamed but Bond didn’t move from his position behind the Cab. He ducked low and moving to the opposite side, he dared himself to stick his head out and see where the shooter was but then he saw the distorted reflection of a figure in red.

The agents from DGSE had grabbed hold of Pierre and Jean~Yves and where dragging them into the building. The body of Lord Carrington was left on the French pavement, but then Bond noticed that Walker and Millar where dragging M to the other side of a Mercedes for protection.

Keeping low, Bond glanced around the Car and before he heard the shot, a wing mirror exploded from just above him and he ducked back. He now had two choices, should he stay in the same position and take another look, or should he move to the opposite side and try from there. It was a gamble, but this time, it wouldn’t be a million Euros at Baccarat that he would lose, it would be his head.

He ducked forward to where Walker and Millar and M where and he could see that M had also been hit. The bullet must have gone completely through Carrington’s head and hit M, but from his low angle, he couldn’t tell how bad it was, although he could see blood. Maybe it was blood splatter and she hadn’t been hit Bond thought.

He knew that the PPK was fully loaded but he gave himself a brief second to double check it. Standing up, he moved to the opposite side and looked once again. This time, a shot hit the other side of the Mercedes where his head had been seconds before and he was glad that he had made this choice. He saw a figure in leathers crouched down at the side of a motorbike. They had been using the fuel tank as a rest for the rifle which Bond spotted; even from this distance was a McMillan TAC-338 Sniper rifle. It was an incredibly accurate piece of hardware in the right hands and Bond considered that the first shot which took out Lord Carrington was mostly down to the Rifle and not the expertise of the gunman as surely anybody worth their salt would have finished Bond off with their second bullet.

Bond knew that the rifle held five rounds in its magazine but didn’t know if the Assassin had any more in reserve. 

No point returning fire from this distance. The target was too far away.

The figure fired once again but aimed wildly off target as Bond ran forward closing the distance and again he took cover behind an Audi R8i but which was thankfully unoccupied. Bond heard the roaring growl of the Suzuki Hayabusa GSXR bike engine roar into life and the screech of tires. He ran forward quickly with his gun outstretched and tried to cover the distance as quickly as possible.

The figure had slung the rifle over their shoulder and was burning rubber from the bike tires which gave off a gray plume of smoke which shielded them for a fraction of a second so that Bond couldn’t get a clear shot.

Cars on either side of the road had screeched to a halt and people walking where now looking for shelter after the first shot had been fired.

Bond heard screams and panic from people who were within distance of the shooting but he knew that he had to catch this man.

Bond spotted the owner of an Audi R8 who had ducked down when he heard the shots and had pulled it to a stop.

Bond pulled the door open and grabbed hold of the owner and dragged him out pointing his weapon at him, the man considered for a second and then decided that he didn’t want to get shot and was more than willing to give Bond his car.

Bond threw the PPK onto the passenger seat which landed on top of the July edition of PLAYBOY and Bond dove inside, the powerful engine roared into life like a cornered wild animal. Almost before he had closed the door he snaked through the other cars.