The Armada Legacy
THE MASTER BESTSELLER RETURNS WITH THIS GRIPPING THRILLER.A SUNKEN SECRET. A MISSING WOMAN.A RACE AGAINST TIME.Former SAS major Ben Hope is relaxing at his home in Normandy when he hears the worst news of his life. His ex-girlfriend Dr Brooke Marcel has been kidnapped.Racing against the clock, Ben’s frantic search for Brooke leads him from Ireland to the Spanish mountains and the rainforests of Peru.What is the mysterious link between the kidnapping, the salvage of a sunken 16th-century Spanish warship and the secret activities of its wealthy discoverer?As the trail of wreckage and mayhem intensifies, Ben soon uncovers a web of intrigue, corruption and brutal murder.But will he be too late to find Brooke alive?BEN HOPE is one of the most celebrated action adventure heroes in British fiction and Scott Mariani is the author of numerous bestsellers. Join the ever-growing legion of readers who get breathless with anticipation when the countdown to the new Ben Hope thriller begins…
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Published by Avon an imprint of
HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2013
This ebook edition published by HarperCollins Publishers in 2016
Copyright © Scott Mariani 2016
Cover photographs © Arcangel Images
Cover design © Henry Steadman 2016
Scott Mariani asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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 hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780007398430
Ebook Edition © September 2016 ISBN: 9780007398447
Version: 2018-06-22
Thatâs my last Duccd hess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolfâs hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Willât please you sit and look at her?
Robert Browning, My Last Duchess
Contents
Just after ten, on a clear, cold night in late February, and the moon-glow over the Donegal Atlantic coast cast a speckled diamond glimmer across the dark sea. High above the shoreline, a solitary car was weaving its way along the twisty coastal road, leaving behind the distant lights of the Castlebane Country Club and heading inland towards Rinclevan on the far side of New Lake.
The chauffeur of the black Jaguar XF was a square-shouldered former Grenadier Guard called Wally Lander. He kept his eyes on the winding road and drove in silence, studiously detached from the conversation of his passengers: his employer Sir Roger Forsyte, Forsyteâs personal assistant Samantha, Sam for short, and an auburn-haired woman Wally had never seen before. Attractive, he could tell from the couple of discreet rearward glances heâd snatched at her â very attractive in fact, wearing a tight-fitting black dress that he frustratingly couldnât see enough of in the driverâs mirror. He presumed she must have attended that eveningâs Neptune Marine Exploration media event and was now coming along as a guest to this private party, which would probably last well into the wee small hours. Maybe something to do with Sir Rogerâs latest caper, Wally mused. If she was alone, that meant she was almost certainly single. Definitely worth a crack at it. There was a chance heâd get to chat to her at the party, find out more about her.
Wally couldnât know it yet â none of them could know it â but that would never happen. Because Wally didnât have very long to live.
Nor would Wally ever know the mystery womanâs name. It was Brooke Marcel, or Dr Brooke Marcel, when she was in her professional capacity as an expert consultant in hostage psychology and former visiting lecturer at the Le Val Tactical Training Centre in Normandy, France. Tonight, though, she was just here as a guest of her friend Sam, who was sitting between Brooke and Sir Roger, all clipped efficiency with a tiny netbook resting across her knees and its screen reflected in her glasses as they ran through some NME business details together. Sir Roger had loosened the tie heâd put on for the presentation and was leaning comfortably back against the Jaguarâs cream-coloured leather.
