“And the hospital?”
“Again, it’s a normal hospital with no controversial research commitments. There are no cases of impropriety or negligence. The only real thing is that the birth unit is under investigation due to the high number of deaths over a twelve-month period three years ago. But it wouldn’t make any sense to direct anything at Dr Dean if this were to be the link. I’m just reporting this as it is the only issue that the hospital has outstanding. Oh, and there don’t appear to be any disgruntled ex-employees. I’ll get back to The Ranch by morning.”
“Thanks, Fi. I’ll pass on the sit-reps to Bernie. See you in the morning.”
Abi called across the office, “Bernie, I have Fi’s sit-rep coming your way.”
“Cheers, Abi. I’ll enter them into the mix.”
Chapter 18 – Barber Business
Marti pored over the documents that he’d printed, placing them in order and then pinning them on a corkboard.
A photograph of a well-dressed woman in her mid-forties featured in the centre of the arrangement. Pictures of a house, an official-looking building and various other locations surrounded the centrepiece.
“Jed, we’ve got what we need.”
“That’s great, Marti. Were they discreet?”
“Yes, they were discreet. They thought they were investigating a divorce case and the lady in question was the husband’s bit on the side. It’s bread and butter stuff for them. And they were from out of town.”
“How many knew of the case?”
“It’s a two-man outfit. So, if we need to remove them, it won’t be difficult.”
“Okay, okay. Do you have the flights booked?”
“Yes, of course I do, and everything is ready — your passport and driving licence. I’ve booked your hire car, a non-descript Chrysler. I thought that you’d like that?”
“You cheeky bastard, you know I hate cheap tack! What’s wrong with a Chevvy?”
“They stand out too much. And while you’re on the line, have you had that haircut yet?”
“I’ve booked it for the morning. Why? Is there a problem?”
“No, the hairdresser is fine. He’ll have what you need. You just need to give him one thousand.”
“Bloody hell, that’s steep.”
“Do you want it or not?”
“Yes, I want him,” Jed said. “I knew that bastard had snuck back in the country. He’s responsible for killing many of our lads, and he’s going to pay.”
“You’ll have to be super careful, they’re bound to be watching him.”
“Yeah, I know, but they won’t dare get too close, and they’ll have blind spots. I’ll be okay. Is there any other news?”
“Things seem to be hotting up in Valencia,” Marti said. “They appeared to be onto our supplier out there and failed to terminate the delivery.”
“Oh, that’s not good.”
“Don’t worry Jed, I have it under control. The supplier has had surgery, and we intend to cut off the supply, if you get my drift?”
“Okay, I’ll leave it with you. But don’t screw this up. It could ruin our other plans.”
“I won’t screw it up as you say. What time’s your haircut?”
“Ten thirty, sharp.”
“Okay, I’ll speak to you sometime tomorrow then.”
***
Jed was wearing blue denim jeans, a checked shirt and a green fleece jacket. He looked at Bobby’s Barbershop from over the road with its swirling barber’s pole above the glass-paned doorway. He passed by and then walked back on himself, all the while maintaining a watch on the single-fronted window, and occasionally looking about for any signs of surveillance. He spotted one blue van with two male occupants and mentally noted their descriptions. He looked at his watch. Ten twenty-seven. He crossed the busy road and paused to pretend to look into the newsagent’s window at the public notices. He was, in fact, adjusting his view in the reflection to see if he was being followed. He wasn’t. He glanced at the van again where its occupants remained. They appeared to be talking to each other. He turned down the street and calmly stepped into the barbershop. Inside there was one young man having his hair cut and one elderly gent reading a newspaper as he waited. The portly barber stopped cutting and said, “Can I help you, Sir? Do you have an appointment?”
“Yes, at ten thirty. I have an appointment with Bobby. Are you Bobby?”
“No Sir, I’m Joe. Bobby will be down in a minute. You’ll be his next customer.” He pointed over to the old man and continued. “Our friend here is waiting for me. Take a seat, he won’t be a minute.”
Jed sat down and picked up a magazine. It was one of those men’s magazines that he didn’t much care for, but it was something to while away a few minutes. His reading was disturbed by a short, squat man, possibly of Greek or Turkish origin.
“Good morning, is it Mr White?”
“Yes, good morning. How are you today?”
“I am perfect. Shall we go over here?”
Bobby indicated towards the empty chair farther into the shop. Jed removed his jacket and hung it on the coat stand next to the cash register. As he sat down, Bobby wrapped a plastic cover over him to prevent hair falling on his clothes. Bobby had concealed an envelope in his right hand under the cover and left it in Jed’s lap. As he tied the cover at the rear of Jed’s neck, he asked, “And how do you want your cut today, Sir?”
“Can you just make it tidy for me? I have a business trip and want it to look smart.”
“Certainly, Sir.”
Bobby started cutting Jed’s hair and two men entered, sat and waited. The man in the chair left, and the old man was now receiving a trim, not that he had much to cut. He was done in five minutes and paid his fee to Joe. The younger of the two men hesitated, then sat in the barber’s chair. He didn’t much look like he needed a haircut, and Jed saw in the mirror in front of him that the man had glanced over at the other sat waiting. They had entered separately and had not spoken. But they were together sure enough. They were the men from the van. Jed was on his guard and spoke softly so as not to be heard above the blaring radio. “Bobby, are those two friends of yours?”
“No, they’re not with me, if you understand what I mean?” He raised his voice so that the others could hear. “Would you like to continue reading your magazine? I’m glad we have them donated by clients because they cost so much these days, you know.”
“Yes, that would be good. I was reading the one with the exercise plan on the front.”
Bobby passed Joe and the waiting man to get the magazine, handing it to Jed upon his return.
The men had watched Bobby, and that gave Jed enough time to take out the envelope from under his clothing and replace it with the one Bobby had given him. As soon as he received the magazine, he slipped the brown envelope into the pages of the magazine and continued reading, making comments about the exercise article.
Bobby cut Jed’s hair slowly, pausing to chat as if they were long lost friends. Bobby knew the game well. Joe had cut one man’s hair and was now offering to cut the other’s. It was clear that the two were in a dilemma. The one who had finished needed to leave to not arouse more suspicion, and that would leave the other vulnerable in the barber’s chair. They had no option but to take that course of action. This they did with one putting on his brown leather jacket and the other taking his rightful seat.
“Mr White, the other has gone,” whispered Bobby.
Jed handed Bobby the magazine. “Are we finished?”
“Yes, Mr White, I think that this concludes our business today. That will be twenty-two pounds for the haircut please.”
Jed paid Bobby and asked, “Do you have a bathroom that I can use?”
“Sure, it’s up the stairs, first door on the right.”
Jed climbed the stairs and headed for the front window. He looked out onto the cloud-covered street through grubby net curtains. It didn’t take him long to spot the brown leather jacket of the man sitting in the blue
van across the street, about thirty metres from the shop front. He ducked into the bathroom, flushed the toilet, ran the tap and descended the staircase. He entered the shop, grabbing two pairs of scissors from the disinfectant jars and a towel. He came up behind the man in the chair quickly and flung the towel over his head before thrusting the point of the scissors either side of his neck. Startled, Joe stepped back in shock and Bobby took him to one side. The man started to move his arms.
Jed spoke calmly. “Now then, keep your hands on the chair’s arms. Who are you and what do you want?”
There was no answer. Jed applied pressure with the scissors.
“Time is not on your side, and I need an answer now.”
The man gave a muffled response.
Jed released the towel so the man could speak more clearly.
“We were hired to watch Bobby and record his activities.”
“Why couldn’t you do that from outside?”
He pressed the scissors firmly again.
“We have been, but he doesn’t usually take clients to the rear of the shop so we thought that we’d get a better look close up. That’s all, nothing more than that.”
“Who’s paying you?”
He pressed again.
“I don’t know. Honest, I don’t know. The boss gets the jobs in and shares them out.”
“Stay very still, I’m going to search your pockets with one hand, and the other will still be at your neck. One move and I’ll drive it in. You understand?”
“Yes, I understand.”
Jed tightened the towel again to give the man something to think about as he placed one pair of scissors in his back pocket. He reached inside the man’s jacket and took out a wallet. He deftly flicked it open and put it on the stool beside him.
“Gerry Granger, eh? Well, Gerry, you’re in over your head here, young man, well over your head.” He carried on sifting through the contents, checking a couple of bank cards, a couple of store and supermarket loyalty cards, and then he came across a Defence Discount card.”
“Who did you serve with, Gerry? Where did you serve? Maybe we’ve crossed paths before?”
“I was in the Guards, based in Victoria Barracks, and I’ve toured Iraq twice and Afghanistan once. I don’t know if we’ve crossed paths or not.”
“Were you a good soldier? Were you a better soldier than you are a snoop?”
“I guess so. I served for five years, and I’ve only been working in this job for five months.”
Jed continued to search and produced a mobile and slid it into his pocket. He felt for a microphone and anything else.
“What have you and your mate recorded?”
“I don’t record. He wears a body cam. We’ve recorded everyone coming in here for the last week.”
“And today, did you record me?”
“Yes, we saw you enter, and after that, we entered. Carl would have positioned his coat to record you at the back of the shop.”
“Well done, Gerry. Now we’re going to move out of the chair and to the back of the shop. Don’t try anything stupid now.”
Jed turned to Bobby. “Set a chair in the corner for your mate here.”
Bobby complied, and Jed guided Gerry over to the chair. He was slightly taller but slimmer than Jed.
“You got a wife and kids, Gerry?”
“Yes, I’m married, and I’ve got three kids.”
“That’s good. If you want to see them again, you’ll do as I tell you. You understand, don’t you?”
“Yes, I understand.”
“It’s only a job Gerry, it’s not Queen and country anymore, so it’s not worth being stupid. Now, sit down.”
Gerry complied, and Jed started to tie him to the chair with the hairdryer cables and a couple of capes. He gagged him with the towel.
“Where’s your back door, Bobby?”
“Down the passage, over there.”
Jed took off down the passage and left through the door. The rear of the property was old, probably pre-war. Red-brick walls divided the concrete-paved yards. Tall wooden gates provided access to a shared pathway, overgrown with weeds and littered with rubbish in this deeply uncared for no man’s land. He turned right and, within seconds, found himself on Turk Street. He crossed the street and immediately had the blue van in his line of sight. Its driver was busy watching Bobby’s shop ahead and to his right. Jed made his move, dodging the traffic by running at speed in a diagonal intercept. The van’s occupant, who was sitting in the driver’s seat with the window down, never saw him coming.
Jed struck the driver full on the side of the head, opened the door and forcefully encouraged him to move over through the agony of his pain. He resisted, and Jed sharply jabbed the man multiple times in the torso and again at the side of the head when the opportunity arose. The man quickly succumbed to Jed’s orders.
“Sit still and don’t move!”
Subdued and compliant, the man cradled his head while Jed searched him for the recording device. He found a camera, cable and a transmitter.
“Where are the recordings stored?”
Waiting for an answer, he rifled through the man’s pockets and found his wallet. He opened it and found a driving licence in the name of Carl McGregor. He also found a business card in the same name for an investigator’s company, Compass Investigation Services Limited. He pocketed the card.
“Carl, you’re not answering me. Where are the recordings stored?”
Carl spoke quietly. “They’re stored back at base. They’re transmitted live and stored there.”
“That’s better, Carl. Now I’ll just be on my way. But I’ve one piece of advice for you. You’re ex-service like your mate, Gerry, aren’t you?”
Carl looked up with interest. “Yes, why?”
Jed was now on his way out of the car and paused to answer.
“Well, you suck at this job, you’re worth better than this. Go and find that something.”
Before Carl could say anything, Jed was gone. He’d melded into the hustle and bustle of the street.
***
Marti was scanning images when the phone rang.
“Go secure.”
“Wait … okay, secure. What’s happening, Jed?”
“I’m sending you an image of a business card, and I want you to erase all of their recorded data for the last two hours. There were some private dicks watching Bobby’s place, and they recorded me going in. I want it all scrubbed. Can you do that?”
“Yes, no problem. I’ll take a look. Did you get what you needed?”
“I’ve got something, but I haven’t had a chance to look at it yet, wait out.”
Jed stopped in a doorway and opened the manila envelope. He took out a single sheet of printed paper and three photographs. He stared intently at the second photo, the one that apparently showed a man of South American origin, Cristóbal Pérez Díaz, taking tea in a meeting with two others. One of the others Jed knew as his late friend, Bart, Bartholomew Grimes, and the other an arms dealer named Green. The printed sheets gave details of a name, two locations, complete with dates and times.
The name was the alias of Cristóbal Pérez Díaz; he was using Cristóbal Vásquez Fuentes.
The first location was the Savoy Hotel, Savoy Suite Welcome, The Strand, London, on the 22nd May at 1100 hours and the second was The Courtauld Gallery, Somerset House, Strand, London, at 1830 hours (Private Tour).
In a low voice, Jed continued. “Yes, Marti, I have what I came for. I’ll see you later.”
“Okay, Jed. See you later.”
Marti knew that tone of voice; he’d heard it many times before when they were kids, and it only meant one thing: that someone had better watch out because Jed was coming for them.
Chapter 19 – Back at The Ranch
It was midnight when Jago arrived back at The Ranch and found Bernie engrossed in his screens.
“Hi, Bernie, any progress?” asked Jago.
“I’m trying to discover the meaning of
the nickname Star Wars for our man in Colombia. I’m processing all of the characters and, of course, George Lucas and the names of the actors to see what comes up. Did we not get any other details?”
“I’m afraid not, Bernie. That’s all we have to go on, apart from the year. He was there two years ago. Search either side of that for military secondments, training teams, advisors, anything that would place him and any others there at the time.”
“Where’s Abi?”
“She’s getting her head down. She’s been flat out. Oh, and Fi will be back in the morning, Boss.”
“That’s good. Listen, I’m going to get something to eat and then get my head down for a couple of hours. Can you get a message to Dom and the others that we’ll meet to review intel at 1000 hours?”
“Will do, Boss.”
***
The team had assembled in what had become the briefing room. It was a large old classroom and still housed the blackboard and chunky metal radiators. The furniture, however, had been replaced with a more contemporary style. When Jago entered, the team had already started with their usual banter. Jago didn’t waste any time.
“Abi, can you get the ball rolling for us, please? Get us all up to speed, and Bernie, can you chip in when necessary?”
Abi stepped up to the front of the group. She had a laptop and projector set up. She first showed an image of the remains of the Willows Nursing Home.
“Right, folks, let’s start. This is the Willows Nursing Home. And by the way, I’m not going to go over any of the incident data as you should all know that by now, I will only refer to it should things change. We know that there were numerous sightings of a drone-type object flying in the vicinity in the weeks leading up to and including the date of the incident. Some of the old folk reported it as a UFO while the younger generation identified it as a drone. The police received some reports about this activity. However, other information was gleaned from innocuous remarks in people’s statements. On a couple of occasions, a person was seen on a rocky outcrop in the distance, possibly controlling a drone. It is possible that the drone was used for reconnaissance purposes, and it is also possible that the drone could have been used to deliver the payload. So, our targets are sophisticated and tech-savvy.”
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