The comm’s room telephone rang,
“Chief, I’ve Seamus O’Brien on hold for you…?” “Thanks Stuart, put him through please…?
I pushed the speaker icon, indicating to the others to listen, “Seamus, its Iain… You’re also on with Chris and Charlie…” “Bad news I’m afraid… Morris Senior is dead, recently too…” “How recent…?”
“Six hours…? Twelve at most…”
“Come on Seamus, it’s not like you not to elaborate…?”
“We arrived at 0030. We wanted to catch him in his bed, we found the front door was closed but not secure… Two uniformed officers found him sitting in the living room with a bullet hole in his forehead…”
“A surprise attack you think…?”
“Not a bit of it… There is evidence of a visitor and, judging by the hospitality offered, a known one at that…”
It was Charlie who continued…
“Come on man, there’s more… Give Seamus…”
“Charlie, it’s only hearsay but you know better than most. I wouldn’t be saying this without confirmation, but as you’re there… An eye witness is fairly certain that the last visitor he had was his son, Robert…”
“Yes, I agree it appears strange but, we have sensitive information which in some way may answer that question…”
“Are you saying Morris Junior gave you something…?”
Seamus had said this with a fair degree of incredulity in his voice. It wasn’t out of the question but very rare at this level…
“No comment… Yet…”
He digested this information before he continued,
“Right, understood… We’ll tread carefully…”
He was on a secure line, this we knew; he needed to be sure… “Seamus, walk away from anyone who may overhear…”
“Hold on Chief… Right, I’m listening…”
“He gave us Harraghy and the final device…”
Good old Seamus, no double takes, just a calm matter of fact response,
“Well that makes things a little clearer then… Thanks for your confidence Chief…”
“Not at all… Thank you Seamus, a good job as always…”
The call ended.
“Well now, has the worm really turned…?”
“I doubt it Chris…It shows just how far down the slippery slope he’s gone. I think his real motivation for giving us Harraghy was to cover his own arse. He’s tying up loose ends, removing those who can point to him. As far as I’m concerned if he decides to jump on a plane and do the same to McQueen I’ll be happy. Just think of how much he’d save the German taxpayers. He’s still killing people for ideals; he’s just doing it for his own now…”
“Which makes him unpredictable…?” “It makes him very unpredictable…”
My ringing cellphone ended the conversation, “Steve, what gives at this ungodly hour…?”
“We’ve got the car… The locals found it in a hotel carpark just the other side of the M69… It’s clean of course but we’re having it removed for forensics…”
“So now he has another…?”
“I would say that’s a fair estimation. All the vehicles at the hotel have been accounted for so we are concentrating on the residential areas within a two mile radius…”
“The owners probably won’t be aware until they wish to leave for work later this morning…”
“I know… The locals have had a couple of reports of prowlers, that sort of thing, so they are following up on these a little more earnestly than usual together with more manpower…”
“Yeah, I see your point, you never know…?”
“Indeed… We have good surveillance on the truck. Harraghy has been positively identified, and we are now waiting for Home Office approval for the plan…”
“You think allowing him to leave is the best option…?”
“We do… Get him out in the open along the M69… If your intelligence is correct, he’ll want to be mobile by 0545 at the latest. We can set up a rolling roadblock behind him without too much bother at that time. We’ll shadow both east and west with air support units X-Ray 55 and Oscar Hotel 88…”
“Steve the route along the M69 is an assumption not a fact… He may decide to head north to Leicester before heading south back down the M1… He may have decided to drive the bloody thing into the centre of Leicester and detonate there…?”
The silence on the telephone told me this equation had not been factored into their thinking…,
“I’ll call you back…”
“No wait… Look the M69 plan works whether he turns left or right. There’s just less tarmac for you to play with before he reaches areas of dense population. You need to factor in lethal intervention… This fucker isn’t about to stop if he clocks two police choppers and a rolling road block. This bastard has decided: he wants to go in a blaze of glory. You need to have X-Ray Zulu 731 on him too, their high powered scopes have the capability to clock him from distance and they can stop him clinically…”
“After the incident on the M5, there’s more than a few who don’t have the stomach for that…”
He paused,
“Iain, I agree, there’s no way we’ll ever get the cuffs on this bastard plus the alternative is unthinkable but I’m caught between Chief Constables here… Until they change the rules this is it…”
“And what…? Pray he blows himself up on the motorway as a best case scenario…?
“Something like that… Yes…”
“Steve, the rules changed the minute they decided to put civilian men, women and children in harm’s way…”
I lowered my voice…TACCOM or not, it wasn’t Steve’s decision, he could offer all the scenarios there were. Leicestershire Constabulary wanted rid, Staffordshire didn’t want him crossing their borders… Steve knew what was required; he just needed those higher up the food chain to agree…
“Steve what happens when he reaches the M6, then the M1…?”
“You speak to them… Maybe they’ll listen to you, because stopping him using lethal force, so far, is not on the table for discussion at this end…”
“Ok… I’ll get Robin out of bed…”
*****
A rather dishevelled looking Robin ushered the three of us into his office,
“You never know, one day this month I may even enjoy a night in my own bed… What do you need…?”
“First off, Morris Senior is dead, shot through the head at home sharing a drink with the trigger man…”
“I see… Thoughts…?” “Robert Morris…”
“Well, not unheard of I suppose… We’ll chase that at a more respectable hour… Now, you didn’t get me out of bed for that…”
“No… So far all that can be accomplished in Hinckley is a shadow opp’. There are no plans in regard to intervention, lethal or otherwise…”
“What is the plan…?”
“To shadow with two air support units and a rolling roadblock…”
“That’s it…? Have they read the intelligence estimate on this individual…?”
“All the senior officials have, yes…”
“What do they think he’s going to do when he sees that overbearing show of force, park up on the services and wait for a local panda car…?”
I shrugged,
“I don’t really know… Neither does Steve… He’s asked if we could help...”
“Oh, I’ll help alright… Ok, ten minutes to sort myself, then I’ll have the Home Sec’ out of bed… Be back here at 0200…”
“Yes sir…”
“Come on, let’s head to the mess and get some food up here…”
“Aye and coffee… Chris, give Matt and Andy a shout. They’re probably in need of something too…?”
“Waye eye…”
Entering Robin’s office we could see that he had already been making notes…
“So… To attempt pre-emptive intervention now may just excite one or even both of them to detonate, corre
ct…?”
“Quite possibly, yes…”
“Allowing Harraghy to go on his merry way for the moment is seen as the prudent option allowing us time to engineer an opp’ which separates both of them from the device…?”
“That’s about the gist of it sir, yes…”
“Ho hum, it is all very nice and neat, isn’t it…? What happens when Harraghy, or McCauley for that matter, decide they want to think for themselves…?”
“That’s our point… At what time does the parade finish and someone actually makes the messy decision to blow their bloody heads off, if all else fails…? There is no fail safe in place, either to the south toward the M6 or more importantly to the north where casualties will be more than significant…”
Charlie stood and spread a map across Robin’s desk; Chris placed his cup at one end to keep it from curling back, picking up a highlighter marker pen as he did so. He drew two lines across an area of the M69,
“Robin what’s needed is defined demarcation lines, say here and here…”
Chris indicated the two lines he’d drawn… “Boundaries that if crossed, signal “Danger Close” requiring a definitive response…”
Robin thought carefully,
“This Lynx we have the use of… It can stop the truck…?” “By that you mean without causing a detonation…?” “Well yes, that’s exactly what I mean…”
“Yes it can… It’s Anti-Piracy configured, with a crew trained appropriately.The men on board are trained to disable fast moving craft at sea, rendering them inoperable rather than destroying them. Their ability to strike using sniper capability is formidable also…”
“Well yes Iain, that particular skill was exploited perfectly yesterday…”
Robin raised his hand,
“Don’t get on your high horse. I felt it was necessary too and more importantly, privately the PM was happy with the outward show of strength…”
He looked again at the map before continuing,
“Right then… This is the argument for the Home Sec’… This is what we want Ministerial approval for…?”
“Yes sir… Within two hours if possible…”
“I suggest gentlemen you all find a quiet corner for a couple of hours… I’ll call you when I know…”
Without saying another word we three headed to our offices; I for one pulled the sofa bed open and collapsed…
I was woken by Chris shaking my shoulder;
“Christ, have you been taking lessons from Charlie…?” “What…?”
“I’ve been trying to wake you for nearly ten minutes… Come on, the decision is in…”
*****
“The Home Secretary has explained what is required from Colonel March’s Royal Marines.They are finalising the details now up at Lindley…The PM has also been informed and is now receiving a more in-depth walk through…”
Robin stood over the map which had previously been unfolded on his desk,
“Gents, if we take a look we’ll see that having the target vehicle head south gives us less time than we thought. Once it passes under the B4112, there is very little time due to the close proximity of industrial units and, of course, the mainline railway…”
He used his letter opener to indicate specific areas of concern on the map,
“These industrial units, here and here pose a particular threat if Harraghy or McCauley detonate prematurely. Both use chemicals and glues in manufacturing processes which if ignited, would cause a considerable amount of toxic fumes to be released…”
“These factories work 24 hours, I take it…?”
“They do…All the staff are being sent home at 0500…” “To the north…?”
“Take a look, there’s far more open space. The kill box has been set up from when the target passes under Croft Lane to the Pringle Lane bridge…”
Again the three of us digested the information,
“It would be tidier but there’s no way of manipulating him without giving the game away, which is the point to all this in the first place… Chris…?”
“Operationally, if it was me, I’d be heading south… I’d know that if my primary target was sussed, I’d have a secondary… Mine would be the M6 junction… I think it’s Harraghy’s too… Charlie…?”
“We know he’s a thorough wee bugger…The INTEL also suggests he’s fanatical too… I think that once he knows he’s compromised he’ll blow it anyway… Aye… Both kill boxes are sound strategically…”
“So… Iain, speak to Steve, offer our support… He must be feeling a little isolated up there, let him know we’ve seen his plan and are happy…”
I nodded, dialling his number as I walked into the outer office.He answered on the first ring,
“What do you think…?”
“It’s considerate and proportional. You’ve taken on board everything and planned accordingly. It’s a sound plan, Steve…”
“I’ve never done this kind of thing before in practice…” “Yeah, there’s been a lot of that lately…”
“We’ll have EOD ready to move. They are here and recapping their findings from the M5 device, we can have them in place rapidly… All their support is here too…”
“How do you plan to initiate the roadblock at the rear…?”
“Both ourselves and SO13 are doing it… We have three unmarked pursuit vehicles. Frank’s men in the two flanking mine. We felt it would be safer…”
“You have the up-to-date codenames…?” “Yes, they’ve just come through…”
Ok… We’ll be in comm’s listening in… Good Luck…” “Cheers Chief…”
Chapter Thirty-seven
“Sierra 1, Harvester leaving rest stop, turning east onto the A5, over…”
“Roger Sierra 1…”
We had been joined by Norman in the fifth floor comm’s room, there were now six of us in the confined space: Charlie and Robin had the remaining two chairs, we three sat on the desks. I looked at the wall clock, it was 0550…
“Sierra 1, any sign of Farmer, over…?” “Negative…”
“Sierra 2… Harvester is joining the M69…Heading south, over…” “Roger Sierra 2, confirming south…”
At the disused airfield both air support units began to power up. Steve Case watched as both pilots twisted their throttles on the collective stick, simultaneously pushing the left pedal. When he saw the pilots lift the collective and slightly nudge the front cyclic stick, he turned and headed for the black Lotus Carlton pursuit vehicle. As he opened the door, both helicopters roared over, heading south east…
We all sat silently, listening to the RT chatter…
By 0600, Harraghy, closely followed by the three pursuit vehicles was heading south. Both helicopters flanked the motorway, using their infra-red capability to fix the target vehicles position. X-Ray Zulu 731 was now airborne and would approach from the east…
*****
John McCauley had driven the stolen Range Rover south along the B4109, turning right onto Bazzard Road. His plan was to position himself in the trees just left of the bridge over the M69. He was to assist his friend if he was followed. McCauley felt that it would be inevitable now due to the activity of the previous evening…
He parked the car just inside the entrance to Bramcote Water Golf Course, against the trees on the left. Lifting the large vehicles tailgate, he grabbed a long black holdall then began to walk back over the bridge…
He was completely unaware that he was less than two miles from the British Army’s 30th Signal Regiment. He was doubly unaware that the “Siggies” were on standby as they were assisting with comm’s support using the Combat Net radio system…
He carefully climbed through the undergrowth until he reached the treeline and selected his spot. Unzipping the holdall; he removed one of the two Armalite AR 18 rifles he had wrapped in a travel rug and all of the 40-round box magazines. He had twenty five of these… After checking the weapon, he laid it carefully on the rug, positioning the spare clips strat
egically to make reloading easier. Handling the rifle again, he checked the scope. He was pleased, visibility was excellent…
McCauley glanced at his watch, 0605, wakey, wakey Gerry, he thought… Your Uncle John is here to help save your arse…
The morning was crisp and clear. Small white clouds formed as he breathed in the fresh morning air. He chanced a cigarette…
The motorway was, at this time, essentially empty. In the ten minutes he’d been there, he had seen the odd HGV and only one or two cars. As he adjusted his rifles scope again, he saw and recognised the large Mercedes in the distance, he was drawn to the three vehicles behind…
Bearings: The Compass Trilogy Part One Page 40