“Yes it gets warm up there and you don’t expect anyone to do that.”
“We do now. I’ll have to put out a window lock kit for every DIC operative. Your computer wasn’t pass word locked then?”
“Well in the roof space, in my house. It’s not what I expected, I can’t be the only one.”
“No I agree and we’ll put out a procedure now. He copied a file, the names and addresses of all our UK operatives and the names of our leadership team and our location.”
“I know, but he went for that first by the looks of it, which means he knew about us and knew where to find us. It was pure chance that he wound up in Dover and saw me.”
“It does seem like chance, but it seriously compromises the DIC and I’ve ordered a shoot to kill and stop at all costs on Stanton. We must also retrieve that disk.”
“Any tags on where he is now?”
“He disappeared. He may be holed up in Dover or he could have hitched a lift and killed the driver. He didn’t steal a car, but he might steal one tonight. The theft would get lost in the usual night time thefts by joy riders. The main thing is that we know where he’s headed, though if he’s smart he’ll know his contact point is compromised, especially as Mason was so close to Vauxhall when he died.”
“That just leaves it to us to watch and wait.”
“If we can get the address from the taxi driver we can be there waiting for him anyway.”
“Did Mason have a phone on him or anything? Anything we could use to find out his contacts?”
“He had a disposable phone, one number in it, but there’s no reply at the other end. The dialled number turns out to be a cell phone registered in a false name, as was the one Mason had. There’s no way to put a trace on it. Records for Mason’s phone have him using the directory service to get a taxi number and the satellite location put him near the Priory Arms when he did that. So far we’re drawing a blank.”
“I’ll go to my office and check in with the duty teams. How’s Shadz?” David asked realising that if Jack was stumped then he couldn’t add anything.
“He’s going to be fine, but a fair bit of reconstruction on his face. He took quite a beating. He could have shot Mason there and then, but he didn’t; didn’t have the killer instinct.”
“Stanton said that about me.”
“He’s wrong. If anyone has it’s you and that’s why you’re back here so soon. However I’ve booked you in to see Else our counsellor.”
“Good. I’ll go down and create a brain pool with other duty team members.”
When David had left Jack pulled CCTV files out of the computer that he’d been scanning. He carried on looking and captured faces digitally and sent them. He had thirty faces in separate files and he called the decryption team.
“Are you in yet?”
“Ten minutes Jack. Do keep it short, the spooks are getting jumpy.”
“Okay.”
Jack called another extension in the building. He’d put together a scanning team and he told them to get ready to match the files he was sending them to faces in MI6 and other security services files. Then he waited for decryption to call back.
David found the duty room offices empty. He went to the canteen to find Terry, Tony, Jaz and Ellie eating lunch.
“Hey McKie come on over and join the club.” Tony was eating a French bread sandwich and waved David over, dropping salad and mayonnaise on the carpet as he did so.
David drew up a chair and sat with the group.
“Hi Jaz. You back from the hospital.”
“Yeah, Shadz is okay. He looked terrible though. His nose was smashed, black eyes, broken jaw, was wired. He wasn’t conscious as they’d drugged him to stop the pain. Mason made a right mess of him. Still it could have been worse, he could have killed him.”
“And you Jaz, you alright?” David asked tenderly. The team had been through a lot in the last few days.
“I’m fine. I hear Beaumont’s okay.” She added thinking not just of her own horror, but of David’s too.
David nodded there was a small silence and then Tony spoke.
“Well that small group of people who’ve killed in the line of duty is getting bigger. That’s David, Ellie and me have had to kill.”
“You too Ellie?” David asked.
“Yeah. We both shot Cobb.” She said and put her hand on Tony’s shoulder and none of them missed the warm contact between the two.
“Have you got to see the counsellor Else?” David said ignoring the urge to make a teenage comment about Ellie and Tony.
“I saw her today, Tony did too. She’s nice, but don’t be fooled she really can read people. It was nice to talk and I did get upset, but she said it was healthy. At least I’ll sleep better.” Ellie said with a small smile following.
David recalled his dream.
Terry suddenly spoke
“It was sad at Wally’s funeral. I got a bit choked there and Jack, well Jack, his eyes were streaming.” He shook his head. “I’ve spoken to Else too. She says I’ll need a little grief therapy. Sadness touches people in al sorts of ways she says.”
“I didn’t expect this when I took the job on. Stanton was in my house, nearly murdered me.” David said gauging their faces for shock.
“My God that’s terrible. You poor man. Were your family there?” Ellie said thinking of her own children at home being baby sat by her mother.
The two weeks of duty team rota was the only draw back to a job that was perfect for a single mother. Ellie had got pregnant young and done her degree through the Open University. She was only a year on the police force as a forensic scientist before DIC head hunted her.
“No they were out and I nearly had him. I wanted him alive, shooting would have been easy. I had the laser dot between his eyes. He was willing to die. They don’t want to be captured these assassins, love their freedom too much. They don’t value anything. I feel lucky to be alive, but angry I didn’t end it there, but killing an unarmed man, even one like Stanton isn’t a good thing to do, that’s a fact. I’ll be glad to talk to Else find out what the right reactions are to doing this kind of work. It’s not what you expect is it?”
“Well I spoke to Else and she said that this isn’t the first time there’s been this level of death and destruction. There have been five or six times in the past when DIC has had agents in such danger and when agents have had to kill under diplomatic. She says it’s rare, but not unknown. We’re just unlucky to be the team on duty when it happened.” Ellie smiled at David when she said it.
She admired him, they all did. She felt camaraderie too. She, Tony and he had killed. She had been keen to get Cobb in revenge for Wally, a man she had admired too, but when she had she was swept over by nausea. She liked the way the killing had made David poignant in outlook. She also worried about Tony, who seemed breezy in spite of the ‘heavy burden of taking a life’. That had been Else phrase and she liked it. ‘The heavy burden’ which she was concerned Tony was carrying with too little effort.
“Listen has anyone got any ideas about where Stanton will pop up next?” David changed the subject in keenness to get the job done.
“We’ve talked it through. He can’t go to Priory Arms. We’ve got an armed team member there.”
“Who’s that?” David asked.
“Liam.” Tony answered.
“Sure I know the guy. So what will Stanton do?” David replied not to be sidetracked.
“Well if I was him I’d have got on a ferry at Dover and left.”
“That doesn’t suit the man I know.”
“You know him, you think?” Jaz exclaimed.
“I saw him on the Inverness CCTV footage, he didn’t stand out and was unclear on the film, he can blend himself in; he’s like a snake, deadly and invisible against the right patterned background. I saw him at Perth on the platform, looked into the eyes. He was bold and not at all panicked. He’s got this far because he’s slick. He’s experienced and a very cool customer. He clim
bed my roof, was unafraid of me when I had a gun on him and his eyes showed a determination you don’t often see in anyone but terrorist extremists. He’ll carry on. Not because he needs the money, or the help of the employer on this job to help him escape, but because he really believes he can do it. He’s something of a terminator Stanton.” David said clearly focussing his eyes on the face of Stanton in his mind’s eye as he spoke.
They all nodded.
“So assuming he’s coming to London what would he do?” Tony asked.
“Maybe he’s got a contact number or something, a back up place maybe.” Jaz shrugged as she spoke.
“Unlikely. We know his target is high profile so for a million the employer wouldn’t want to be linked so easily if any of them were caught. Add to that the fact that the landlord of the Priory Arms identified Cobb as having been there. There was only one meet point. Now it’s gone. What can he do?” Ellie said and picked up her coffee mug and took a reflective sip.
“You think you know him David, what would you do if you were him?” Tony asked and popped the last part of his sandwich into his mouth.
“I’m not sure, but think bold and clever that’d be the way.”
They were all silent for a moment and Jack Fulton approached them and pulled up a chair.
“I’ve got interesting news. We’ve identified one member of MI6 at the scene of Mason’s killing. I sent the photo to Liam at the Priory Arms on the off chance and the landlord recognised him as a regular.”
There were low whistles and expelled breaths.
“Yes. MI6 are linked to this which probably means Sternway. We’re not getting anything from the listeners, but we’ve got teams ready at four of his favourite cafes and restaurants. We may get something, in the meantime any ideas about Stanton?” Jack looked around at the group.
“We’ve just been discussing that.” David said.
“And?” Jacked looked at each of the faces of a group of what he knew to be very clever people.
“No ideas yet.” Tony replied.
Jack got up. “Well keep working on it. We’ve got one assassin left, we know MI6 are behind this, or at least involved in some way. I’d like us to be there waiting when Stanton gets to his target.”
Chapter 93
London
MI6 Offices
1-45 p.m.
April 19th
“Well any ideas?” Sternway sat back and spread his hands. Joe, Brook and a third operative, Telford, sat across from him looking sheepish.
Lionel Telford was a short neat man, going bald and had subsequently shaved the remaining hair to stubble. He dressed casually in spite of his boss’ liking for neatness. He wasn’t muscular in any way and when he’d had to do ‘dirty work’ always used a weapon. He was a first class sniper, could blend in almost anywhere and a great undercover agent. He had an intelligent and active mind even if he was a little too imaginative for Sternway’s liking, but he was always the man with the clear view of the situation. Sternway considered him a vital member of his little ‘department’.
“He’s the last one. If he can’t make it then it can’t be done.” Telford spoke first.
Joe smiled.
“It’s been a good run though and Stanton’s been really good. DIC have really shown weaknesses here. I can’t believe the mistakes they make.”
“We’ve made mistakes too though. Mason and Cobb were utterly out of control and we lost a very good man.” Sternway’s voice cut the smile from Joe’s face with razor accuracy.
“Stanton won’t go to the Priory Arms. Blimey I won’t go there myself. DIC will be all over that by now. Mason must have talked to that bint he picked up, very bad work all round there.” Brook was shaken in spite of his professional coldness.
He knew it was very nearly himself laying dead in the black Honda. They’d had the car taken away very quickly to cover their tracks. Bentall’s body was in the MI6 morgue.
“What will Stanton do?”
“If I was Stanton, assuming he’s seen the news, I’d know Mason had come from Vauxhall. I’d know I couldn’t go to Priory Arms. I’d know we’d be having a meeting, even if I didn’t know who we were. I’d know that the question was being asked as to where I would go.” Telford spoke and Sternway focussed his ‘cold telescopic eyes’ on the man’s face. Telford felt pressured but spoke his thoughts. “I’d go to the nearest hotel in distance to the Priory Arms and wait there. I might even book in.”
Sternway swung his chair around and looked out the window. They waited as Sternway sifted and weighed his thoughts. They knew him to be a careful and detailed thinker.
He swung back.
“A good thought Lionel, a very good thought.” Joe had already picked up the phone and dialled his secretary.
“Christine get me a list of the closest hotels to Priory Arms Vauxhall, nearest one first on list.” He hung up.
“Of course that assumes he’s still in the UK. The police found a boat in Dover marina with his PSS pistol in, so he isn’t coming in by boat. He must avoid the CCTV unless he disguised himself there and the ‘intel’ we’ve had is that he was spotted and searched for in Dover, but hasn’t been found. By all accounts he’s probably very close to London if not in London now.” Sternway listened to Telford’s reasoning after which there was a silence of consideration.
Finally Sternway spoke.
“Telford and Brook can go to the hotels. Joe get them the list and both of you get cracking. He may be waiting there and if we can reason this DIC can too. I’m sending two of you, though Stanton won’t be looking to bite the hand that can haul him out of the sewage tank. Still go armed and watch out for each other.” Sternway gave them a ‘why are you still here’ look and they rose and got moving.
Sternway sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. The plan was working and if he could just get to the end of it he’d get what he wanted and a few other things besides. It all depended on Trevor Stanton.
Chapter 94
Euston Tower
2 p.m.
April 19th
McKie sat in his office, which he now shared with Liam, for the duty rota duration. Liam was at the Priory Arms. David roved over the CCTV footage for the area. His roving through cameras took him along the Wandsworth Road. His eye was caught by a single building, white with a Greek portico. He squinted at the screen and saw the name ‘Chelsea Guest House.’ The light bulb went on in his head and he called Jack’s office.
“Jack here.”
“It’s David. His next move if he couldn’t make the pub would be to find a nearby hotel. That might even be a backup plan. They’d know that’s what he’d do. We should stake out the hotels nearest the pub.”
“It’s a good thought, but it’s a long shot. Alright I’ll send you in two’s to the nearest hotels. Do the run around and check. Give them a number and wait nearby.”
“I’ll generate a list of hotels in a two or three mile radius.” David offered.
“Okay David, good brain work.”
Magda called up the pool cars. David met the other two teams in the lobby with the list and maps he’d very efficiently found at high speed.
“We’ll take the Chelsea Guest House.” Tony stood with Ellie.
“We’ll get the Comfort Inn there’s two buildings either side of the road.” Terry offered.
“That leaves me the Belgrave Hotel on the Clapham Road.” Said David thinking he’d got the short straw in the draw.
“You can’t go alone David.” Ellie looked at the map print out he had given her with the list. “Look it’s right near Landsdowne Road, call in at the pub and collect Liam. The landlord can call your Satellite phone if Stanton turns up there.”
David looked dubious.
“Do it Davey. It’s safer, you can’t go alone.” Jaz expressed her concern earnestly and David was moved by the words of support in favour of his safety.
All having agreed on what to do they made their way to the waiting cars. David was disappointed t
o see the driver get out and hand him the keys at the front of the building.
“Aren’t you going to drive me?” David asked and the pool car park attendant laughed.
“I’m no driver I’m just the attendant. We’ve got staff all over London at ‘Priory’ named locations. The drivers are all out collecting them and bringing them back. You’ll have to drive yourself Mr McKie.”
David got in and sighed. He hated driving and he’d never driven in London before. He steeled himself, switched on the Satnav and pulled out into traffic, knowing he was just going to have to try really hard not to take a wrong turn. The Satnav took him straight towards the Vauxhall Bridge.
Chapter 95
London
2 -15 p.m.
April 19th
A short while later Terry and Jaz sat in the lobby of the Chelsea guest house waiting patiently. They had covered the distance quickly, avoiding the Vauxhall Bridge. After showing badges, the photograph of Stanton and explaining the situation they were given a cup of tea and a place to sit. They waited patiently.
At the Comfort Inn Tony and Ellie had had to make a difficult choice. The Comfort had buildings on both sides of the road. They had thought of splitting up, one each side, but for safety’s sake they had left a number with reception on one side and decided to sit in reception on the other. They too had done the badge, photograph and explanation routine. Tony sat bored reading the hotel literature.
“Double rooms are cheap for a night here.”
“Really.” Ellie’s voice was humorously sarcastic. “What of it?”
“I’m just saying, they’re cheap here.”
“You thinking of getting a room?”
“No.” He paused. “Well not unless I had a need of a bed.” He stared intently at the literature, purposefully.
“Not on company time Deany.” Tony smiled.
“When do you finish?” He asked.
“Whatever happened to romance? You’re a dirty dog Deany!” Ellie smiled when she said it. “You want me you’ll have to woo me.”
They both looked up as a man came into reception and looked at each other when it was clearly not Stanton.
To Kill Or Be Killed Page 29