Malik laughed. ‘No, they didn’t. It was more about showing you the tricks that the interrogators would use.’
‘Anyway, brothers, we’re in England,’ said Khalid. ‘If ever you are arrested by the police you say nothing other than that you want a lawyer. That’s all you say. The British police are not allowed to hurt you or trick you or use any pressure at all. And once you ask for a lawyer they can’t ask you any more questions until the lawyer arrives.’ He sniggered. ‘The British are their own worst enemy.’
‘And bombs, did you learn about bombs?’ asked Lateef.
Malik nodded. ‘We spent a week being taught about explosives and IEDs,’ he said. ‘They showed us how to make explosives from raw materials, how to make detonators and timers — everything. From small bombs you can put in a can of Coke right up to car bombs that can take out a whole building.’
‘Awesome,’ said Faisal.
‘When are you guys going?’ asked Chaudhry.
‘Next week,’ said Faisal. ‘Wednesday.’
‘Both of you?’
The two men nodded. ‘We’re going to a wedding,’ said Lateef, making quote-mark gestures around ‘wedding’.
‘How long?’ asked Chaudhry.
‘Three months, maybe longer.’
‘Excellent,’ said Chaudhry. ‘You won’t regret it.’ He looked over at Khalid. ‘Are they going to the same camp we went to?’
Khalid shook his head. ‘A new one,’ he said. ‘Closer to the border.’ He waved at the food. ‘Let us eat while we talk, brothers. One thing I can tell you is that the food over there will not be as good as this, so enjoy it while you can.’
Sharpe was standing at the bar, halfway through a pint of lager, when Shepherd walked in. He raised his glass in salute and ordered a Jameson’s and soda from the blonde Polish barmaid. As soon as his drink arrived Shepherd took Sharpe over to a corner table, where they wouldn’t be overheard.
‘Charlie just stitched me up,’ said Shepherd as they sat down.
‘In what way?’
‘She told Hargrove that Five is going to be running Operation Excalibur.’
Sharpe’s eyebrows shot up. ‘I bet he was well pleased to hear that.’
‘Well, not running it, exactly. But I’m supposed to be filling her in on everything that happens. And she made a few suggestions as to how he should be handling things.’ He held up his hand. ‘And this is strictly between you and me. She made it clear that she doesn’t want you to know.’
‘What?’
‘She said that only Hargrove and I were to know what’s going on. Hargrove briefs me and I pass the intel on to her.’
‘So why are you telling me if she specifically told you not to?’
Shepherd grinned. ‘Because she was playing silly buggers. She said that she’d rather you didn’t know, which as far as I’m concerned isn’t a direct order. If she ever finds out we had this conversation I’ll just say that I misunderstood. Besides, what’s she going to do, sack me?’
‘Doubtful,’ said Sharpe. ‘Who else is going to get her tea whenever she wants it?’
‘Screw you,’ said Shepherd. ‘I wanted to fill you in because you need to know that anything you come up with from now on is going to be fed straight to Five.’
‘I appreciate the heads-up,’ said Sharpe. He sipped his lager. ‘So you’re now her man on the inside?’
Shepherd nodded. ‘I can’t believe she did that to me, Razor. How’s Hargrove going to trust me now? Why should he trust me? He knows that I’m going to be telling Button about every move he makes. And if he makes a mistake I’ll be the one dropping him in it.’
‘He won’t be making any mistakes,’ said Sharpe. ‘He knows what he’s doing.’
‘That’s not the point,’ said Shepherd. ‘The point is that at one fell swoop she’s pretty much trashed my relationship with Hargrove. He says it’s okay, but he would say that.’
Sharpe chuckled. ‘Maybe that’s what she wanted.’
‘What?’
‘Maybe she got the hump because Hargrove wanted you on his team. He goes above her head to get you seconded to COG; she thinks that he’s trying to steal you back so she plays her own little game to make Hargrove think that you’re now her puppy dog.’
‘Piss off, Razor.’
‘Hey, don’t shoot the messenger,’ said Sharpe. ‘Button’s as smart as they come, you know that. She’s going to protect her turf.’
‘I’m not her turf,’ said Shepherd.
‘Yeah, you’re more her bitch than her turf.’
‘Now you’re really starting to piss me off.’
‘You work for her. You moved with her from SOCA to Five; you’re part of her team. She sees Hargrove as a threat and Charlotte Button isn’t a woman you can threaten.’
‘Hell’s bells, Razor. Hargrove wanted me because he knows I can do the arms-dealer thing. He knows I’ve no interest in moving back to the Met.’
‘Yeah, well, maybe he’s sort of hoping that you might.’
Shepherd’s eyes narrowed. ‘Did he say something?’
Sharpe shook his head. ‘Not in so many words.’
‘What words, then? Come on, Razor, spit it out.’
Sharpe sipped his lager slowly, then put his glass down before answering. ‘Okay, he said it would be good to get the old team back together. He reckons that the pendulum is going to start swinging the other way and that we’re going to be given the go-ahead to start taking down the big guys.’
‘So what are you saying? He asked for me so that he could persuade me to leave Five?’
‘There you go, putting words into my mouth. No, of course he didn’t come straight out and say that. But he definitely wanted you on this operation.’
Shepherd sighed. ‘Why are people so bloody devious?’ he muttered. ‘Aren’t we supposed to be on the same side?’
‘If Hargrove does want you in COG he can’t come out and ask you, can he?’
‘Why not?’
‘Because then Button will accuse him of poaching her staff. He’s got to wait for you to ask him and this could be a way of him testing the water.’ He sipped his lager. ‘Have you thought about it? Coming back to the cops?’
Shepherd snorted dismissively. ‘And know that every move I made was being second-guessed by box-tickers and accountants? And everything I did could be splashed across the newspapers at any point? I don’t know why anyone would be a cop these days. Wouldn’t want to be in SOCA again either.’
‘Like I said, Hargrove says it’s going to change.’
‘Yeah, well, it’s not up to him, is it? But it’s not just the job, it’s the attitude. If a cop makes a mistake he gets hung out to dry. If you’re in CO19 and you fire your weapon you’re on automatic suspension until the shooting is investigated. And effectively you’re guilty until proven innocent. You make a decision in the heat of the moment because you think it’s the right thing to do, but you’re then judged by pricks who never leave their offices unless it’s to get into the back of a chauffeur-driven car. Five is totally different, Razor. Everything I do is covered by the Official Secrets Act. No newspaper is going to splash my picture across the front page; no MP is going to call for my head because he wants to appease his constituents. Five looks after its own.’
‘Hargrove always had our backs,’ said Sharpe.
Shepherd nodded. ‘Yeah, he’s old school. But he’s just one brick in the wall. Say this operation goes tits up. Say we end up putting a round in one of those guys. Do you think Hargrove will be able to protect us?’
‘You’re not planning on shooting anybody, are you?’ asked Sharpe. He grinned slyly.
‘Just you, you soft bastard.’
‘You think you could take me?’
‘One-handed,’ said Shepherd.
Shepherd was making himself a coffee when his John Whitehill phone rang. He had spent three hours drinking with Sharpe and while he was far from drunk he was still a little light-headed. It was Chaudhry.
‘Hey, Raj, how’re things?’ he said, speaking slightly slower than usual to make sure that he didn’t slur his words.
‘I’ve something to tell you,’ said Chaudhry.
‘Go ahead, I’m all ears,’ said Shepherd, pouring milk into his coffee.
‘Can we meet?’
‘Tonight?’
‘I don’t want to forget anything and I don’t want to write it down,’ said Chaudhry. ‘My memory’s not as good as yours.’
‘You’re a medical student. You have to memorise millions of facts,’ said Shepherd.
‘Which is why there’s no room for anything else,’ said Chaudhry. ‘Look, I just met with Khalid. There’s some stuff you need to know.’
‘I can see you, but I can’t drive,’ said Shepherd.
‘I’ll come to you. I can see you on the Heath.’
‘Two guys on Hampstead Heath at night? Not sure that’s a good idea.’
Chaudhry laughed. ‘Don’t worry, John, you’re not my type. Look, I can cycle over and I’ll be careful. No one’s going to follow me on the bike.’
Shepherd took a sip of his coffee. ‘Okay, come to the east side of the Heath. There’s a petanque pitch there.’
‘A what?’
‘That game where you toss balls. Boules, the French call it. It’s near the bandstand, fairly close to the road. I’ll get there first. If everything’s okay I’ll be wearing a baseball cap. If I’m not wearing a cap don’t come near me. Just go back home and wait for me to contact you.’
‘You think someone might be following you?’
‘No, but it’s always a good idea to have a fallback position.’
Shepherd ended the call. He finished his coffee, picked up his coat and a baseball cap off a hook by the door, and headed out.
He spent fifteen minutes strolling around the Heath making sure that he wasn’t being followed. He did get two very nice smiles, one from a sixty-year-old man in a cashmere coat and a trilby, another from a teenager in a black leather motorcycle jacket.
He did a quick walk round the petanque pitch, then sat down on a bench and put on his cap. Chaudhry was on time, pushing his bicycle. He was wearing his duffel coat with the hood up. He leaned the bike against the bench and sat down.
‘Are you okay, Raj?’ asked Shepherd.
‘I’m fine,’ said Chaudhry. He grinned at the baseball cap. ‘You really don’t suit that,’ he said. He pulled his hood down. ‘You’re about ten years too old for it.’
Shepherd took it off. ‘Yeah, I was going to suggest holding a newspaper but as it’s dark I thought that would just look plain silly. So what’s up?’
Chaudhry folded his arms. ‘Khalid wanted me and Harvey to talk to a couple of young guys who are on their way to Pakistan. We had dinner.’
‘Nice,’ said Shepherd.
‘They’re off to a training camp next week. Not the one that we went to, a new one.’
‘Do you know where it is?’
‘Closer to the border, he said. These guys are from the mosque. Khalid has recruited them the way he recruited me and Harvey. He did the same with us, introduced us to a couple of veterans before we went out to Pakistan. Now we’re the veterans.’
‘That’s how it works,’ said Shepherd. ‘Making you all feel part of the process, you against the world. It binds you together.’
‘They’re both students at South Bank University. Sociology, would you believe? One is Lateef Panhwar. The other is his pal, Faisal. Didn’t get his surname. They’re both from Derby, up north. And they’re flying out next Wednesday on PIA.’
‘That’s terrific, Raj. Thanks.’
‘What will you do?’
‘We’ll see if anything’s known about them. Then we’ll arrange to have them followed in Pakistan, and hopefully nail down the location of the training camp.’
‘They’re nutters, John. Serious nutters. They were talking about shooting down planes at Heathrow.’
‘Now that they’re on our radar we’ll be on their case twenty-four seven,’ said Shepherd.
‘So I did good?’
‘You did great, Raj. Really.’
‘What they’re doing is so wrong,’ said Chaudhry. ‘People like Khalid, they’re evil. They’re twisting the Koran to make it sound like we should be killing non-believers and that our religion has to go into battle against all others. You know what jihad means, right?’
‘Struggle,’ said Shepherd.
‘Exactly. Struggle. Yet most of the younger brothers seem to think that it means a crusade. That we have to somehow destroy all other religions. But that’s not what the Koran says.’
‘I think the majority of Muslims understand, don’t they?’
‘The older generation, maybe. But the young ones?’ Chaudhry shook his head. ‘I’m not so sure. The Americans did themselves no favours when they invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. And whoever thought that Guantanamo Bay was a good idea should be taken out and shot. It produced a whole generation of Muslims who really do believe that America is evil.’
‘No argument here,’ said Shepherd. ‘But you’ve got to remember that Afghanistan and Iraq were a reaction to Nine-Eleven.’
‘And Nine-Eleven was a reaction to American support for Israel, everyone forgets that,’ said Chaudhry. He grimaced as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. ‘Bloody hell, now I sound like I’m defending al-Qaeda,’ he said. ‘That’s not what I meant at all.’
‘Understanding someone’s motivation doesn’t mean that you agree with them,’ said Shepherd. ‘But your train of logic is spot on. Al-Qaeda resented what Israel was doing in the Middle East and blamed America for supporting them; al-Qaeda carried out the Nine-Eleven attacks; America retaliated by invading Afghanistan and Iraq. Muslims around the world saw that as an attack on their religion and that initiated all the terrorist attacks we’ve seen since — in Madrid, in London, in Algiers, in Yemen.’
‘And what the Americans did to Bin Laden is going to make it worse, right? It makes him the ultimate martyr.’
‘I would think so,’ said Shepherd. ‘Killing him was never going to stop al-Qaeda. It’s not like a snake that you can kill by chopping off the head. It’s more like a cancer where the more you attack the tumour, the more cancerous cells you release.’
‘So why don’t the people at the top realise that?’ asked Chaudhry. ‘If it’s that obvious to you and me, why did Bush invade Iraq? Iraq, which wasn’t even an al-Qaeda stronghold. In fact Saddam hated al-Qaeda more than the West did.’
Shepherd shook his head. ‘I’m nothing to do with policy,’ he said. ‘I’m an Indian surrounded by chiefs.’ He smiled. ‘No offence.’
Chaudhry wagged a finger at him. ‘You don’t want to be confusing a Pakistani with an Indian,’ he said. ‘Even in jest.’
‘Not good?’
Chaudhry grinned. ‘Let’s just say it could end in tears. Me, I’m a Brit first and a Pakistani second, so it’s water off a duck’s back. But even my dad gets upset if he’s mistaken for an Indian, and he’s as laid back as they come.’
‘I’ll remember that.’
Chaudhry sighed. ‘Anyway, the answer to my question — why did the US invade Iraq? — you know why, right? Bush Senior couldn’t take Saddam down so his son did, the first chance he got. It was nothing to do with al-Qaeda and nothing to do with terrorism. And now look at the state the world’s in.’ He sighed again. ‘We’re screwed, aren’t we? The West? No matter how this works out.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Shepherd.
‘We stop Khalid and we stop Lateef and Faisal. We arrest everyone and they all go to prison. But there’ll be others to take their place, won’t there? They’re already being recruited, right now. Kids and teenagers are being groomed to be the new shahid. Who’s going to stop them?’
‘Hopefully there’ll be someone like you who’ll do the right thing,’ said Shepherd.
Chaudhry sneered. ‘That’s not much of a plan, is it?’
‘Fair point,’
said Shepherd. ‘But that’s the way it is, unfortunately. Back in 1984, before you were born, the IRA almost killed Margaret Thatcher, the prime minister. They blew up the hotel she was staying in, along with half her cabinet. She was pulled from the wreckage and the IRA released a statement saying that she was lucky and that she would have to continue to be lucky. But the IRA had to be lucky only once. That’s the situation we’re in now. We need to be lucky all the time.’
‘And like I said, that’s not much of a plan.’
‘The security services are on full alert and they will be for the foreseeable future,’ said Shepherd. ‘There’s a lot of surveillance going on; internet chatter and emails are monitored; GCHQ eavesdrop on phone calls. We’ve got CCTV, we’ve got all sorts of technological advantages that the terrorists don’t have, and we’ve got right on our side.’
‘That gives you an advantage, does it? Having right on your side?’
‘It means that there will always be people like you who want to do the right thing, Raj. No one is totally alone. Everyone has friends, relatives, workmates, neighbours. Providing there are people who are prepared to do the right thing, the terrorists will always be identified, sooner or later.’
Two middle-aged women in matching raincoats, one with a spaniel, the other with a red setter, walked by. The woman with the spaniel glared at Shepherd with open hostility. He smiled at her and winked, and she wrinkled her nose in disgust and tugged hard at her dog’s lead.
‘I hope you’re right,’ said Chaudhry.
‘And what about you, Raj? After all this is over. What do you plan to do?’
Chaudhry frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘MI5 can use guys like you.’
‘Brown-skinned Muslims, you mean?’
‘I meant intelligent, self-motivated individuals who want the best for our country. You could go far, really. And not because of your ethnicity.’
‘My dad would. .’ Chaudhry laughed. ‘Actually, I don’t know what my dad would say. But my mum, she’d freak out. She always wanted my brother to be a doctor and she went apeshit when he announced that he wanted to be an architect. The only thing that calmed her down was me saying that I wanted to study medicine. If I were to change my mind now. .’
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