The Increment [antikvár]

PROLOGUE Gorazde, Bosnia, 1999. The image of the bullet flying through the air was still rattling through Matt's mind. Already, he knew it would stick with him, filed away in some dark corner. Along with all the images of all the other men he had killed. My own personal graveyard. The basement had been dark and squalid. Water was dripping down from the ceiling, and there was a sufFocating, lingering smell of human excrement rising up from the floor. Matt moved down the stairs, cautiously at first, adjusting his eyes to the darkness. A few pale cracks of light were bouncing through the coal-hole that looked up to the surface of the street. But there was not a single window, nor any electric light. The man was chained to the wall. His eyes were drooping. It looked as if he had been beaten unconscious. His black hair was thick with sweat, and there were scars running down the side of his face. The blood was stiU fresh on his skin. Matt levelled the Smith & Wesson Magnum Hunter pistol, held it Steady in his right hand, lining it up next to his eye. To his left, he could feel Jack Matram 1