Too Slow to Die , livre ebook

Too Slow to Die
Tony Jenkins
Austin Macauley Publishers
2020-01-31
Too Slow to Die About The Author Dedication Copyright Information © Acknowledgment Chapter 1 Extradition Chapter 2 Investigation Chapter 3 Construction Chapter 4 Competition Chapter 5 Retribution Chapter 6 Intrusion Chapter 7 Consolidation Chapter 8 Vengeance Chapter 9 Assassination Chapter 10 Sabotage Chapter 11 Destruction Chapter 12 Preparation Chapter 13 Compromise Chapter 14 Executions Chapter 15 Intrusion Chapter 16 Investigation Chapter 17 Extinction Chapter 18 Consummation Chapter 19 Confrontation Chapter 20 Attrition Chapter 21 Confrontation Chapter 22 Confirmation Chapter 23 Transformation Chapter 24 Revelation Chapter 25 Payback Chapter 26 Destination Chapter 27 Confrontation Chapter 28 Determination Chapter 29 Exploration Chapter 30 Delusion Chapter 31 Treachery Chapter 32 Revelation
About The Author
The author was born in South Wales and originally worked as a mining surveyor before joining the RAF to begin training as a navigator. After completing his service, he began working for an international company in sales and marketing and was appointed managing director of a subsidiary company. He decided to become self-employed as a management consultant and then retired to play tennis and write.
Dedication
To my wife, Margaret, who persuaded me to give up building walls and write novels instead. Her advice and help in proofreading were invaluable.
Copyright Information ©
Tony Jenkins (2020)
The right of Tony Jenkins to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528932349 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781528932356 (Hardback)
ISBN 9781528967013 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2020)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Acknowledgment
The publishing team at Austin Macauley could not have been more helpful and their support made my work much easier.
Chapter 1

Extradition
Commissar Dalca read the request from the Hungarians for the extradition of one of their subjects. Their man was named Renko Veres and he was accused of multiple murders, corruption and theft, and was believed to have fled to Romania. Dalca was wondering why the man would want to come to his country, until he read that Veres was a Tigani, or Roma. Dalca spent much of his time reading reports of crimes committed by these people and he knew that the man could well be hiding in any one of the hundreds of Tigani communities throughout his country. The Hungarians would have to provide him with information of the likely location, before he would consider allocating any of his limited resources to chasing after one of their renegades, even if he was a mass murderer.
Five weeks after tossing the Hungarian request into his heavily loaded ‘pending’ file, he was surprised to receive another communication from the Hungarians. They now wanted to cancel their extradition request because they had learned from a reliable source that the man, Veres, had been crucified and killed. His body had then been burned at the village of Budestin in Călărași County. The small village was near the Transylvanian mountains with steep valleys and extensive forest areas. The roads leading to it were very poor and it was the last place he would have chosen to investigate a crime. Its only advantage was the variety of wild animals living in the surrounding forest, which would be a good source of food and appealed to his hunter’s instincts.
Although pleased that he would not have to allocate men to find the fugitive, Dalca was furious that the Hungarians seemed to know far more about what was happening in his country than he did himself. Both countries had not long broken away from the communist yolk and were jealous of their newfound independence. He was not surprised that the Tigani had killed the man, but he was not going to let them get away with murdering a foreign national and he intended to teach them a lesson. He called in his assistant, Bojin, and ordered him to bring him details of Tigani men serving in their militia ranks. He hoped he would be able to find a suitable candidate to send to the northeast corner of the country to investigate whether the claim by the Hungarians was true. He knew that only another Tigani was likely to be accepted by the people at Budestin. If his man could gain their confidence, it should be possible for him to find evidence or witnesses to the crime.
The man he chose for the investigation was named Gunari. He had served ten years in the militia and been born in the western area of the country and would not be known in Budestin. At his briefing, he was told that he should claim to have been discharged from the army for insubordination and that he was now trying to settle back in civilian life. Gunari was thirty years old, unmarried and was a tall man with curly black hair and deep-set brown eyes. He had been trained to obey all orders, but looked forward to working independently instead, and spending time amongst the carefree Tigani people he had grown up with. Although he had served and volunteered for special training in various sections of the militia and excelled at most, he was still a private. Recently, he had decided that his failure to gain promotion could only be because he had been born a Tigani.
Private Gunari was given a month’s pay in advance and told that any expenses he incurred during the operation would be refunded on his return to the barracks. It was also intimated that if he did a good job on his mission, it could lead to a promotion. To save time, he was driven to an isolated spot, roughly thirty miles from Budestin and told to make his way on foot for the remainder of the journey. By passing through other Tigani communities first, he would then be able to support his story about wandering north and arriving in Budestin on his travels.
Gunari was told that at the end of a month, or sooner if he found the information required by the commissar, he should leave Budestin and make his way south to the nearby town of Bacău. From there he should telephone his base orderly room and transport would be sent to collect him. He would then make his report in person to Commissar Dalca. After spending the nights in two different villages on his journey north through Călărași County, it was the middle of the afternoon on the fourth day when he reached the Tigani settlement at Budestin. The village was near a large pine forest, which was usually a good source of food for the Tiganis. He could see wispy trails of grey smoke drifting slowly into the blue sky from the homes and cooking fires.
After seeing a group of people gathered around a large central fire, he made his way towards them and saw the mix of expressions on the faces turned towards him. None of them showed any hostility as he approached, but he knew they were suspicious of strangers. Once he had introduced himself, he could see their tension ease as they recognised from his dress and speech that he was one of them. A place was quickly made for him near the fire and he was offered food from the large cooking pot suspended over the flames and an old woman assured him that a bed would be found for him. As he was eating his food, a large man came and sat beside him, before telling him that he was named Tigo and he was the leader of the people at Budestin. Taller than Gunari and with long, black hair tied into ringlets and a spikey beard, he was broad shouldered and very sure of himself. As well as the long knife at his waist, he carried a new rifle, which he carefully placed on the ground beside him.
Chapter 2

Investigation
Six weeks had passed since Private Gunari set off on his journey to Budestin and so far, he had made no contact with his superiors. Commissar Dalca and his assistant wondered whether Gunari had deserted, been harmed, or was being held captive by the locals. He would certainly not have disobeyed his orders to contact them from Bacău. Impatient and determined to get answers, Dalca ordered a twelve-man squad of armed soldiers to travel to Budestin and search for Gunari and any evidence that the man, Veres, had been crucified and killed. The soldier in charge was Sergeant Dinescu, a hardliner and long-service veteran. After taking a full day to make the drive north from their base outside Bucharest, the men arrived at Budestin as the early morning meal was being prepared by the women. The group around the cooking pots looked up in alarm as they watched armed soldiers approach and then surround them. They stopped their preparations and stared defiantly at the unwelcome visitors.
The sergeant cradled his rifle across his chest and looking down at the seated women, asked who was their leader. After receiving no response from the sullen group, he repeated his question and eventually an elderly woman got slowly to her feet and stepped forward to stand before him. She held two hands, palm up in front of her chest and gave her answer to his question.
“Our leader is Tigo, sir, but he has gone away.”
“And when did this Tigo go away, old woman?”
“Perhaps, five days, or even six days, sir.”
As they were speaking, twelve-year-old Fonso climbed a nearby tree to get a better view of the big soldier standing close to his grandmother. He could tell from her voice that she was frightened of the man carrying the big gun.
“Tell me, old woman, did t