by David Costa
‘David,’ called Jonesy from across the room.
Reece went over to look at the screen to see what Jonesy wanted.
‘He’s on the move again, heading towards the front door.’
‘Keep on him. Can you access into the CCTV outside the Conference in the general area around it?’
‘Yes, no problem.’
‘Good. Keep on him wherever he goes and record it if you can. If you see him make contact with anyone, record it or get a picture of them. If you need me call me.’
‘Will do.’
Turning, Reece spoke loud making sure everyone heard him.
‘As ACC Lockwood knows we are involved in a very important operation here which is protected under the articles of the Official Secrets Act, which means, as I’m sure you know, that what we’ve been doing here is of the utmost secrecy and is to be kept within these four walls.’
Reece could see Lockwood smile at the praise of his name, even though Reece had now specifically dropped him into the same well they were all swimming in.
‘OK, let’s go.’
Grey and Mary followed Reece down the stairs and towards the exit to find Tourist One. He wasn’t hard to find; he was slow and deliberate…the pace of a man taking everything in as he walked. He’d turned left out of the main entrance and left the secure zone through the revolving gate onto the outside street.
Speaking into his body mike, Reece brought the hanger and the rest of the team up to date with what was happening.
‘Tourist One on the move, now in the streets outside the conference zone, we’ll stay with him.’
‘Roger, Alpha One,’ Broad replied.
‘Let’s break up,’ said Reece as they walked. ‘I’ll cover him from the rear. April, you try to get ahead of him and cover from the front. Mary, you stay with me; a couple walking together is less conspicuous. April, where did you park the car?’
‘On the other side of the Town Hall.’
‘It doesn’t look like he has a car, but we need to be ready just in case he gets one or is picked up. He’s heading in the direction you’ve parked so we should be OK for the minute and Jonesy is keeping a watch on him too.’
April crossed the street and increased her step to get ahead of Tourist One. Reece and Mary stayed on the same side and about fifty yards behind.
‘If he turns to look our way, Mary, I might have to grab you for a quick kiss.’
‘I hope he does, then.’
Thanks be to God it wasn’t raining, thought Reece.
There was nothing worse than having to follow someone on a cold wet day, it dulled spirit and moral. Tourist One continued to walk towards the Town Hall Square. Passing through the square, he turned left through the main crossroads stopping at the traffic lights to cross. April was still ahead of him on the other side. Reece and Mary stopped to pretend to do a bit of window shopping and when the lights changed, Tourist One crossed and for a moment, Reece lost sight of him, but April still had him.
‘Tourist One now static, looking around slowly, don’t turn into the street yet, Alpha One, he’s looking for us. I can nip into a shop here and watch him through their window,’ April said.
‘Roger, Alpha Three. We’ll wait for your signal.’
So now he was really at his game, thought Reece, what’s he up to?
‘He’s entered a café halfway down the street,’ said Grey.
‘Roger, Alpha Three, we’ll walk past and meet up with you.’
‘Roger that.’
Reece and Mary walked past the café where they saw Tourist One standing with his back to the door at the counter. Further down the street, they stopped with Grey.
‘He likes his tea and coffee this one,’ said Grey.
‘I’d like to get in there to see if he’s making contact with someone from inside the café, but I’ve been close to him twice already.’
‘I can do it,’ said Grey.
‘No, I want to keep you fresh for the surveillance later.’
‘What if I go in?’ offered Mary.
‘I can’t ask you to do that, it’s too dangerous.’
‘I won’t get too close. I’ll just get a quick coffee; God knows I need one. He’s less likely to know me, and his sort don’t have much respect for women, so already I don’t like him.’
Reece looked into her eyes; every time he’d been with this woman her strength had impressed him even more.
‘OK, but don’t take any risks. Just a coffee, sit down, and observe without being too obvious. If he lingers, don’t hang about. Leave when you’ve finished your drink. If he leaves, wait thirty seconds before you follow. If that happens and we’re gone when you come out, make your way back to the Town Hall and go into the café there where I’ll catch-up with you. We’ll be out here so if you need help scream and we’ll come running.’
Mary smiled the broad smile that always made him feel reassured by her. She kissed him on the cheek and walked away and into the café.
‘You’re going to have to marry that girl,’ said Grey with a grin.
‘You might be right. Let’s split up to each side of the street and take an end each so we have him no matter which way he walks.’
Chapter Fifty
Broad had told Fraser that for the moment they had some sort of control but later the situation might force their hand and they might need to move. If they had to move, they could take Tourist One out of the picture alive or dead. His disappearance from the scene would make the rest panic and most likely call off the operation. But, in the end he couldn’t take that chance, these people were fanatics and fanatics are unpredictable.
‘Control, this is Alpha Two, over.’ It was Joe Cousins who was still covering the Irlam address.
‘Come in, Alpha Two.’
‘We have another Asian male leaving the target street on foot. Heading up in our direction.’
Broad took over the mike.
‘Roger, Alpha Two, stay with him.’
‘Roger that. Alpha Four, with him on foot.’
‘Control, this is Alpha Four, target went into the local supermarket, will go in and observe.’
‘Roger that, let’s put him down as Tourist Two,’ said Broad.
Imtaz quickly browsed the shop for what he needed: milk, bread, butter, and a bar of chocolate for himself, he paid at the till and was back outside in just a few minutes.
‘Following after buying a newspaper,’ Harrison said.
‘He bought some bread and butter, no chatter, now heading back the way we came. He’s youngish with a shortcut beard. Wearing dark blue jeans and a padded black ski jacket, no hat. I can’t take a chance following him down Kings Road, returning to the car.’
‘Roger that. Did you get a photo of him?’
‘No, he was too quick, in and out of the shop, he knew what he wanted, and he may have been there before.’
Cousins, still watching from the car, broke into the transmission.
‘I managed to get a few snaps with my mobile and when I zoom in, they aren’t bad, not quite David Bailey standard but will do at a pinch. I got a good shot of him when he was crossing the road and had to look right and left. I’ll text them over now.’
‘Good job, guys. Hold your position but it looks like he’s settling in for the night and he may not be alone.’
The Kings Road and Henley Avenue will be getting a closer inspection tonight, thought Broad. Time to bring the troops back for a briefing.
‘Tango One, can you return to base, over?’
‘Roger, will do,’ Geoff Middleton said.
Chapter Fifty-one
Mary had entered the café thirty minutes before Tourist One walked out and turned left heading back towards the Town Hall Square. Mary did as she’d been told she finished her coffee then left the café. When she left, there was no sign of anyone, so she took her time walking back towards the Town Hall and phoned Reece.
‘Mary, are you OK?’
‘Yes, no problem. Thought you shoul
d know when I went in, he was on the phone. He mentioned something about keys and be there before five thirty.’
‘Interesting…anything more?’
‘Yes, he made two more calls. The first I’m sure he was taking in Arabic, so no help there, I’m afraid, but his last call was in English. All I could pick up was see you there at five. His accent was local I think.’
‘You done great, we’ll make an agent of you yet.’
‘I thought I already was.’
‘You are, Mary, you definitely are. By the look of things, he is heading back into the Conference so you just head for the Town Hall Café and I’ll meet you there shortly.’
‘OK, Joseph, see you soon.’
Tourist One returned to the Conference Centre the way he’d left and entered back through the security tent.
Reece and Grey followed, and he sent April to watch with Jonesy in the security suite. It was now 2.35 p.m. and from what Mary had heard, something would be happening around five.
Not long to wait, another few hours, and the picture should start to clear once more, he thought. Imtaz had returned to the safe house with the food and made himself and Waheed a lunch of beans on toast with a mug of coffee.
‘While you were out, Mohammad phoned. He said all is on schedule. The security is strong in and around the Conference itself but less so the further he walked away from it.’
‘If we go to Piccadilly, we’ll be far enough away but there might be more security at the station.’
‘I’m not worried about security. We can kill them too. We have the guns, the knives, and the bombs. Many infidels will die, and Allah will be happy with us.’
Chapter Fifty-two
They had booked out of the room and left their bags in a locked storeroom behind reception. Lyndsey had gone out for a walk and some fresh air and now he could see her through the glass windows at the front of the hotel speaking on the phone, the call only lasting a few minutes before she came back into the building and sat down opposite Costello.
‘I just had a call from Mohammad. He says he has booked the handover of the keys at 5 p.m. He has also been inside the Conference this morning and there does not appear to be any increase in the security other than what you would normally expect. I’ll collect the keys then leave on my own and go to the apartments, he’ll follow ten minutes later. I’ll phone you when we’re both inside the apartment then we can buzz you in when you arrive.’
‘Is there any change for the boys in Irlam?’
‘No. As of now they’re working on their own. They have their own part to play in this, so we leave them to get on with it.’
Mary had been waiting for Reece, sitting in a table near the high windows, she’d been reading a leaflet with information about the building when he sat opposite her.
‘You know it’s called The Sculpture Hall Café and they do fantastic afternoon tea,’ said Mary.
‘Then let’s do afternoon tea I could do with another bite the last couple of sandwiches were rushed and not very tasty to tell the truth.’
‘What happened to our friend?’ asked Mary.
‘He’s back inside the Conference Centre. Can you remember anything else he said during his phone conversations?’
‘No, not really. He spoke quietly and quickly, and he was facing away from me the whole time looking out onto the street. I tried to be as natural as possible and even though I’m stunningly beautiful, he paid no attention to me.’
‘I can’t believe that, Mary, you’re stunning,’ he said with a smile.
She returned the smile and reaching, across the table, took his hand in hers.
‘What next, what happens now?’
‘I don’t know, but he’s more than just a tourist or a delegate and it would appear he is the link to the rest of the team we were looking for. We stay close to him and the rest will lift their heads I’m sure of it, we already have at least one more in Irlam and the boys are keeping an eye on him. Either way we should know more tonight, and we can start to make our moves to wrap this up.’
‘Do you think Costello is in Irlam?’
‘I don’t know. But the fact that Tourist One made at least three phone calls would indicate their team is split at the moment, which is something I would do in the same situation if it was me, this gives more options and less chance of the whole team being captured at the same time.’
Mary poured the tea and between bites of food continued the conversation.
‘So, the plan is to capture them alive?’
‘If we can. But that is really up to them, to what they do. Our job is to stop them no matter what and if that means we kill them, then we kill them.’
‘Or they kill us.’
‘We always used to have a saying when I worked in Northern Ireland, our gang’s bigger than your gang. We have to get these people, we have to stop them, and well, they just don’t know it yet. For now, let’s not think about it too much; let’s enjoy this wonderful afternoon tea and the company.’
‘I agree, Joseph, but I’ll have to do some serious exercise to get rid of all these goodies and cream. You aren’t looking as tired now, maybe it’s the fresh cream perk up?’ She smiled.
‘I think the walk about helped but just being in your company helps.’
This time he reached across for her hand and as he did so his mobile buzzed in his pocket. Reece could see from the screen that it was Jim Broad who was calling.
‘Yes, boss.’
‘Ah, David, I believe Tourist One is still at the Conference Centre, but we now believe he’ll be on the move to meet up with someone around five. Do you need any other backup in case you have two or more targets to follow?’
‘Good idea, can we get our troop friends to keep an eye in Irlam and send Joe and Steve to me as backup, ask them to park up somewhere in the Deansgate area. The troop should use one of our Range Rovers.’
‘I was thinking along those lines myself as long as you’re happy with what you’ll have there.’
‘Yes, that’ll be more than enough for now.’
‘OK, leave it with me. I’ll speak with the troop commander right away. We will also need to move in closer to the house in Irlam tonight to try to find out exactly what we have there. We can wait until well after dark just in case Tourist One goes back there. I’ll get back to you later.’
Reece put the phone back in his Barbour jacket and poured some more tea.
‘Things are starting to move up, we’re getting some reinforcements which will help us keep a closer eye on our friend.’
‘I’m glad, I was getting a bit tired there doing everything myself.’
Reece laughed out loud making the people at the nearby tables look round at the two people sitting holding hands across the table once more.
‘Mary, you’re the calmest untrained person I know in this kind of situation. How do you do it?’
‘I’ve learnt to only worry about this moment, this time, and place. And being with you right here and now, I feel safe and secure and I have to say, happy.’
‘Then I’m happy too. But I still worry about you and I like the fact that I can worry as long as you’re here with me.’
‘You’re going to kill Costello aren’t you, you’re going to kill them all?’
He was slightly taken back by the question. She’d asked as a matter of fact, really knowing the answer herself without hearing his confirmation, but he tried.
‘If we have to, yes… we’ll kill them. It’s really down to them. They are trying to kill innocent people. Our job is to stop them. If they come quietly, we’ll arrest them, but if they don’t, and it’s the only option left to us then yes, we’ll kill them. So, no matter what happens you stick close to me, Mary.’
‘Oh, don’t worry I will.’
April Grey had been watching the screens over Constable Jones’s shoulder. Tourist One seemed to be repeating his movements of the morning. First sitting in the café almost at the same chair and table, drinking coffee, and p
retending to read a newspaper. Then he’d walked into the main Conference theatre took a seat and watched and clapped in all the right places then back to the same route before returning to the café again.
Not far from where Mohammad now sat, in a suite of rooms in the Midland Hotel, the Prime Minister was sitting with a few senior ministers and advisors, putting together his main Conference speech that he would give to the Party faithful the next day.
Chapter Fifty-three
Costello had been able to find the van in the giant carpark easily, and that was only because he’d written down the details of the section it was parked in. After picking up Lyndsey and the luggage from the Radisson he took his time driving through the traffic and many road works that lead into the centre of Manchester. The journey had been uneventful, he drove past the Hilton Hotel to park in the nearby Great Northern NCP Multi Story Carpark.
‘Mohammad should be starting to make his way to the estate agents. If I move now, I’ll be there just before him,’ said Lyndsey.
‘You stay here. I’ll text you and buzz you up when I’m inside the apartment. Will it take you long to get the gear out of the compartment?’
‘No, it’s easy to remove.’
He checked his mobile phone screen for coverage, which was good.
‘Right, I’ll wait for your text, see you soon.’
Lyndsey pulled her scarf around her head and face and left the van heading for the lift. The rain was playing its part. People would be expected to have some sort of head cover in the wet weather, she’d blend in nicely, she thought.
Costello opened the door at the back of the van and easily gained access to the hidden compartment containing the sports bag with the sniper rifle and ammunition inside. Sitting down again in the driver’s seat he placed the bag on the passenger seat next to him. At the same time, he took the Browning pistol out from the belt at his back and keeping it in his left hand rested the weapon on top of the bag beside him, now he sat back and watched what he could see of the carpark.
The rain had stopped when Lyndsey crossed the Great Northern Square and turned onto Deansgate pulling the scarf tight across her face as the wind blew cold against her skin. She was glad she was wearing jeans with her short leather boots with a heavy woolen jumper covered by the dark blue ski jacket, all combining to keep her warm despite the wind. Her over the shoulder leather handbag weighing a little heavier with the pistol safely stowed inside. She could see the estate agents one hundred yards ahead on the other side of the street. She continued walking to the next major junction with Lloyds Street two hundred yards further down before crossing at the junction then turning to walk back down towards the estate agents now on the same side of the street, all the time searching Deansgate for the watchers but none were there. She studied the faces of people walking towards her, but they were lost in their own little worlds some of them on their mobile phones or speaking into the hands-free cables hanging from their ears. When she reached the door of the estate agents’, she studied the street behind her while looking at the reflections in the large glass window in front of her, pretending to study the laminated copies of properties on display inside the window. She could also see young Jake sitting at a desk just inside the front door reading the documents in front of him. When she entered Jake looked up with what appeared to be a genuine smile on his face when he saw her, a good commission that would come with the signing of this contract would bring a smile to anyone’s face, she thought.