Signalling to Albatross, she began to walk toward the house on the right side to keep the rear gate in view and the front porch on her left hoping the shrubbery on her right would afford her enough cover if the gunfire started.
Inspector James Collins had two of his officers, DC Kevin Doyle and DC Brian Williams open the police Transit side doors, both were using SA80 assault rifles with night scopes; both were training them on the house. The other two officers, Bryn Evans and Samiya Adani were preparing their Explosive Detection dogs ready for the search. Sabre and Oscar were already signalling to their respective handlers that there was something of interest here.
Stacy had reached the house and was in the process of slowly raising her head above a ground floor window ledge to peer in through the window. Albatross and all of the SO13 officers looked on intently as she immediately stood up and holstered her Walther; she turned toward the vehicles and signalled them to move forward.
“The house is empty, no vehicles and all the internal lights are off…Inspector…?
“Right lads, around the back… The dogs are creating merry hell already. We’ll leave the front door for you two, shout on the RT’s if you find something…”
“Stace’ I’ll go first, the door looks pretty hefty…” “Christ Ben and there’s me thinking chivalry is dead…”
As the two approached the door Ben Lewis signalled to go on “three”
“One…Two…”
Stacy touched his arm to delay him… “What…?”
He frowned, slightly annoyed that his manly approach had been stalled…
Stacy walked passed him and tried the doors handle, the front door opened easily…
“What did they teach you…? Try the obvious first…?”
She stood back allowing Ben to enter first, he acknowledged with a slight bow and…
“Thank you…”
At first Stacy Maynard’s brain registered the bright light only, secondly heat and thirdly the excruciating pain in her back and shoulders as she impacted on the gravelled driveway in front of the house…She was alive…Having kept the porch entrance door between herself and Albatross had saved her.
Confused, Stacy realised her hearing had been replaced with loud high pitched whine. She tried and failed to lift herself; the intense shooting pain travelling up her spine to her brain made her light headed and created shooting stars in her vision., this almost immediately was filled with two faces she vaguely recognised; it was Inspector Collins and DC Doyle…
*****
On the fourth floor of the Birdcage all the desk phones lit up at once… Charlie was first to a receiver; he turned giving us a grave and pale expression…
“You need to hear this laddie, all of you…”
Charlie placed the telephone on speaker…
“Inspector Collins you are now on speaker, could you repeat what you said…?”
“Your man Albatross is dead…Kestrel is en route to hospital now, she’s alive although we don’t know the extent of her injuries… The paramedics were on her for a bit…”
“Inspector its TACCOM… Proceed…”
“Sir… We carried on to the next property on the list; it was all quiet on approach… My lads were searching the outbuildings leaving the house to the Compass officers…The front door mat was booby trapped with about 2lbs of Semtex.
This is the place alright; the two E.D. dogs have indicated explosive material has been on site recently although we have retreated and are waiting on the arrival of EOD to give the place a thorough going over…”
Collins took a breath before continuing…
“I’m very sorry Chief. We should have gone in first…”
“No Jim it would have made no difference, we still would have lost one…”
“Very well…There is one more thing… Stacy was babbling on about a truck and small van which passed her while waiting on us, heading west. We believe it to be both target vehicles from here, they have a head start, forty five minutes or so but we are chasing it up now…”
“Received Inspector… Wait for EOD then carry on…” “Will do sir…”
Robin moved to my side and said quietly…
“We’ll wait until we have all the information then I’ll make the call…He had family didn’t he…?
“Yes sir… Wife and a son…”
Robin nodded solemnly then walked to his office… Chris caught my eye and gave me a deathly look…
“Remember what I said to you the morning we drove to the farmhouse to chat to Catlin…? Well forget it…! I say we drop every last one of these fuckin’ murdering bastards…!”
“I don’t think they intend to go down without a fight Chris… I think that particular wish may well be granted…”
Chapter Twenty Seven
Morris, Marward and Riddell had unceremoniously stuffed the bodies of both police constables into the rear of the Ford Fiesta patrol car. Using the JCB, a pit capable of holding both Fiesta and Renault Clio had been dug rapidly with both vehicles rolled into it then re-covered with the loose earth. Riddell had then applied himself to the front doormat booby-trap.
All three had then fled the property a little before 2100. Marward and Riddell headed west toward the M5 driving the Ford box van and Escort van respectively, Morris, driving a Jaguar XJ6, headed in the opposite direction. As he joined the A38, he pulled into the first layby to make contact with EENY. While he waited, he noticed the armoured police Ford Transit pass him on the opposite carriageway. He knew where they were heading; letting out a loud sigh of relief he wiped the sweat from his forehead with the palms of his hands and wiped them on his jeans. He dialled the number…
“Colin…? It’s Martin…”
“Yes Martin, is there a problem with our delivery…?”
“No not at all however there is an issue with ours. We have had to bring it forward…”
“Really… And why is that…?”
“We had a visit from senior management, they were a little alarmed by our current dispatch methods but after we had shown them we were dead on, things were quieter…”
“Right Martin… That’s ok; we’ll maintain our original delivery day of Thursday. Maybe your smaller package could be a little more diverse…?
“Yes I was thinking the same thing. I think Wednesday around dinnertime would be more appropriate…
“That’s a very good idea. Let me know if there are any more issues with delivery…”
“Will do…”
As the procedure dictated, Morris not only ended the call, he also turned the cellphone off…
*****
“Steve…? Robin wants to see us both…”
Steve acknowledged with a nod then followed me into his office…
“Gentlemen things have changed… I take it you still have Garret and Rafferty, Steve?”
“We do sir, well until the morning at any rate…” “I see…”
Robin looked at us both squarely before continuing…
“They aren’t going anywhere…I’ve been instructed that now is the time to take the gloves off with the pair of them. They are to be transported to the farmhouse and encouraged to cooperate, particularly Garret… Any means necessary, gentlemen… Allow the specialists to express themselves fully. Garret knows the locations of the ASU’s, he is probably aware of who is running the campaign too. He is to give up this information no matter what the outcome… Is this understood…?”
It was Steve who responded…
“And what of the legal consequences of this…?”
“Steve there are no legal consequences. All their paperwork will illustrate that both were released due to lack of evidence however, unfortunately both were involved in a fatal road accident during the early hours of Wednesday morning as they were heading to god knows where…”
“When…?”
“It’s happening now… Iain, the farmhouse will contact you only. If you are unavailable, I will take the call…”
Rob
in raised his hand as I began to respond.
“We are now under Response Package Delta, all officers and field personnel are being issued arms accordingly. Inform the floor please and call everyone in…”
“What of the field personnel…?”
“The Duty Officer is informing them now…”
“Right sir… On my way…” Riddell left the M5 motorway at junction 18 then headed along the A403 Severn Road through Avonmouth toward Severn Beach. His ultimate destination was a Severn rail tunnel access road off the B4055. Marward had left the motorway earlier, parking the Ford box van among the HGV’s at Gordano Services. He decided to recheck the rear doors of the vehicle then bed down for the night, he didn’t want to draw attention to himself with the off chance of being spotted on one of the motorway services CCTV, especially knowing how close the police got to them at the farm. His would be a short seven mile drive to the Almondsbury Interchange where he would leave the vehicle under the M4 motorway. At the same moment Morris was travelling through the city of Bristol to collect Riddell; from there it would be a drive to the B&B in Thornbury to await Marward’s message.
Using a revised escape plan, the Ferry ports of South Wales would be used to travel to the Republic of Ireland then onward to Belfast; Morris was uncomfortable with this. He wanted to return to Holland…
Riddell used bolt cutters to remove the padlock from the gate across the Railtrack access road. Once through he closed the gate and repositioned the chain. He then drove the white Escort van along the gravelled road beside the railway line stopping at the tunnel entrance; gingerly he attached the detonator to the explosive, the initiator and the door solenoids. Finally securing the driver’s door gently, he didn’t bother to lock the vehicle, he just gave it a quick backward glance as he walked back toward the main road.
Morris was already there, waiting in the maroon Jaguar. “All ok…?”
“Clockwork…”
Morris nodded, shifting the big powerful car into drive and pulling on to the road.
“I’ve had a chat with Gerry…” “Oh Yeah…?”
“He agrees we should move forward and detonate the van tomorrow dinnertime. It should distract them enough to allow EENY to position their two delivery systems and for Pat to move his into position…”
Riddell smiled as he held up his cellphone…
“That should be fine Rob. All we need do now is dial the number…”
*****
It was no good, Marward thought; he needed food and cigarettes. After a brief look around he left the truck and headed toward the services building, now a little after midnight, he knew there wouldn’t be much on offer but surely a coffee, sandwich and a packet of fags would be available…?
The two contract security officers based at the motorway services were conducting their hourly rounds, this always included the HGV parking area as there had been numerous thefts over the previous months, slashed curtainsides and drivers accosted that kind of thing. There were also the increasing incidences of prostitution.
As Alex King shone his flashlight along a row of foreign trucks his beam caught a patch of tarmac that shimmered and was reflective, as he approached his nostrils were bombarded with the heady smell of diesel and, yes, there was definitely something else, something powerful enough to make him cough. He returned to his colleague and checked the other side, it was clear.
“Christ that stuff stinks…! Mike… Give him a knock will you…? Tell him he’s got a diesel tank leak. We can’t leave it… It’s a major fire risk…”
Mike Foster walked to the cab and tapped on the door with the end of his torch…Nothing, he tried again… Silence…
“Alex, he’s either overcome by fumes or he’s not here…” “Well we can’t leave it… I’m contacting the traffic lads…”
He re-tuned the channel on his RT and spoke to the traffic control room…
“They’re sending a car and the Fire Brigade. I’ll go and stand by the entrance and guide them over…”
What the two security officers couldn’t have known was that as the truck was now classed as suspicious a little more than a car would be attending and rapidly too…
Marward walked from the services entrance holding a carrier bag and enjoying a cigarette. As he turned to face the Ford Cargo he noticed the torch light and the security officer standing next to the vehicle. Calmly, his appetite now lost, he placed the carrier in a nearby bin and slowly removed the 9mm Beretta from the back of his jeans. Removing the safety he chose a circuitous route to the front of the truck…
*****
The ringing telephone brought me back from the kind of sleep you didn’t know you were having. I lifted my head off my desk with a jerk and grappled with the handset…
“Section Chief…”
“We may have something, just a sniff mind but it sounds promising…”
“Hang on Jim…”
I walked to my office door and beckoned the others… I was surprised at how quickly the office had filled during my brief nap.
“Ok carry on…”
“Right…Two security guards working on an M5 service area have come across a medium sized box van leaking diesel, a lot of diesel by the sounds of it…”
“Jim it’s Steve… What makes you think it could be one of our target vehicles…?”
“The guard said it didn’t smell like a normal leak, there was something else to it. Apparently he was quite overcome when he inhaled it…”
“Ok what do you need…? Bear in mind the vehicles occupant won’t be too far away…”
“Nothing Chief… We’ve everything in the van and the lads are suited, booted and focused. We’re ten minutes away now and the fire brigade from Weston are en route too. There’s also a motorway response vehicle imminent…”
“Right… We’ll give EOD the heads up. Jim, they’ve proved to be sneaky bastards-watch your backs…”
“We’re planning a low profile approach and maybe the odd recce first…”
“Carry on Inspector…”
“Roger that TACCOM…Out…”
“Can we be this lucky…? Why so close to the ASU HQ…?” “Because the target is close…”
Charlie had returned with a road atlas… He opened it to the now dog-eared pages illustrating the west coast of Somerset…
“So… The only service area is Gordano. If it’s a positive, he or they haven’t travelled that far…”
We all gathered around the A3 sized page.
“Let’s recheck what viable targets are in the area, remember there is a lot of construction going on around there at the minute, what with the new bridge and link roads…”
“The Inspector said medium sized. Where has the Escort van disappeared too…?”
“You’re right Chris… Norm is positive it has Railtrack markings and in that area there is only one target worth anything…”
“The tunnel…”
“The tunnel. I bet the maintenance access is quiet, dark and isolated and we need to find it… Danny…?”
“Yes boss…”
“Get on the phone to the transport police and have them track down someone, anyone who can give us up to date INTEL on that tunnel…”
“Yes boss…”
As Marward quietly approached the front of the Ford Cargo truck, his nostrils were instantly assailed by the very strong odour of diesel mixed heavily with ammonia. Clearly the rapid exit from Wrington Hill had dislodged something… Reflectively he thought how relieved he was that the device hadn’t been armed…
He had to get away, clearly now the VBIED was compromised, it would now only be a matter of minutes before all holy hell would break loose. He decided to return to the service building and contact Morris… All thoughts he had previously of keeping his image off the CCTV were now just distant memories.
Previously, at this late stage in the game the senior PIRA member had been separated from the operation. It was usually left to someone else to position the device and subs
equently arm it; he was in unknown territory.
“Martin…?”
“Yes Graham, you sound somewhat disturbed…?”
“I am, I fucking am…! The fucking thing is leaking all over the carpark…!
Morris sat upright, having been previously relaxing on the single bed in his room at the B&B.
“What…! How is this fucking possible…! Jesus Christ this whole campaign is turning into one cluster fuck after another…! We’ve lost MINY and MOE now MEENY is going to shit. How on God’s green earth did we ever manage to scare these bastards into a friggin’ ceasefire…!”
Bearings: The Compass Trilogy Part One Page 30
