Bearings: The Compass Trilogy Part One
Page 34
As he drove slowly past the truck he could see the steam rising from the radiator filler…
*****
Inspector Jim Collins had been listening closely to both transmissions in the Mobile Command Vehicle now in place on the access track off Green Lane, above the Severn rail tunnel. the police had decided not to seal off the A403 Severn Road as it was the main road link to the docks in Avonmouth, the road was also vital for the construction traffic involved in building the M49 link from the M5 to the new second river crossing which would be opened within the next twelve months. The downside to this however was that all of the media had a bird’s eye view.
Paul Houghton had now been able to reverse the long express train to Pilning Station where coaches had been made available for passengers to continue their journeys.
Vernon Hunter -Raven, had now arrived and after introductions, was at that moment being briefed on the operation…
“Jim the two traffic officers will be sitting ducks if it turns nasty…”
“I know… West Mercia is very thin on the ground due to the ASU search and this little adventure… I have Doyle, Williams and Adani en route… It’ll take a while though, even with blues on…”
Hunter decided to go out on a limb… He had been bumped to TACCOM after all…
“I may have a solution…” He dialled Cormorant…
“Kevin…? Present status and location…?” “Airborne, just…”
“Right… Hold there… We have a more pressing matter…”
He dialled another number… “Section Chief…”
“We have a positive… Mercedes 208D panel truck northbound on the M5… Chief, it’s stopped between junctions 4 & 3… Cormorant is airborne in X-Ray Zulu; I want to task him to the location…”
“Reasons…?”
“West Mercia has no one close from an armed response viewpoint… Jim has three officers en route but it’ll be a while… Those two officers could be driving into a shit storm…”
“Do it…! Vern…?” “Chief…?”
“Delta Protocol… No chances… I believe the Flight Lieutenant is briefed in but make sure…”
“Yes sir…”
Moments later the Royal Navy Lynx helicopter headed away from the airport in a north easterly direction. Kevin Hodge plugged his head gear into the overhead console enabling him to listen in on the cockpit chatter, this also gave him the ability to communicate with the flight officers and the three Royal Marine Commandos…
“Police 41 this is X-Ray Zulu 731…” “Police 41…”
“Currently south west, eight mikes your location, over…” “Roger 731…Orbiting 002 west of target…over…” “Roger 41… We have you…”
“41”
Officer Thompson eased the unmarked police car silently onto the motorway hard shoulder, stopping five yards ahead of the man leaning under the bonnet of the panel truck. Headley adjusted the straps on his vest and climbed from the vehicle. Thompson immediately put the gear lever into reverse and held the powerful car on its clutch; he then adjusted his position, optimising his rear vision, ready to reverse at speed.
When Headley was within ten feet he stopped;
“Afternoon sir, if you require vehicle recovery we’ll have it sent for you…?”
Crown turned his head slightly, just enough to give him the officers image in his peripheral vision;
“It’s fine officer, another couple of minutes should have it… I’ve refilled the coolant, really I’m just waiting for it all to settle then I’ll be on my way…”
Headley took another couple of steps closer; his right hand was subconsciously moving toward his sidearm…
“I er couldn’t help but notice that you have a fair load on…?” “Yeah, machine parts for Stoke…”
“I’ll check the paperwork; maybe your company overloaded you a bit…”
It was a statement not a request Crown had noticed. He reached down into the engine bay and wrapped his right hand around the 9mm Beretta he had placed there, he kept his arm within the bay as he turned to face the police officer…
“Hold on while I finish here…?”
As Headley nodded, Crown fired two shots through the front grille of the van. The first caught the officer in the left thigh, the second, his left knee. As he collapsed to the ground, Crown removed his arm and fired two more shots into face of the helpless officer…
Thompson was momentarily stunned by what he had witnessed; instinctively he released the vehicle’s clutch causing the front wheel driven powered car to squeal in protest as the power to weight ratio found their balance, he then just as quickly slammed on the brakes, to reverse into the gunman would mean driving over his partner; he climbed over to the passenger side and then threw himself into the long grass just as two more bullets ricochet off the tarmac.
He then fired two shots himself, the trucks front grille received further damage and the off side headlight shattered. At that moment the traffic noise was replaced by the thunderous jet turbine and rotor slap of the Lynx helicopter…
*****
“Police 41, X-Ray Zulu 731…” “731…”
“Shots fired, repeat shots fired… Officer down…”
The co-pilot immediately gave a hand signal to the three Marines, who in turn readied their weapons, one slid the side door back and swung the 50 calibre machine gun into place, locking and loading as he did so, another took up a prone position and began to calibrate his supressed sniper rifle, finally the third made ready his MP5 Heckler and Koch…
“Roger 41… Understood, ETA imminent…”
Cormorant pressed the button on the cable attaching his headset to the console…
“Weapons free, we may come under fire…” “Roger that…!”
The pilot brought the helicopter across the motorway in a dynamic manoeuvre. The pitch yaw and roll together produced gimbal lock assisting the naval submarine-killer to a dead stop, hovering fifty feet from the road surface between the target vehicle and road bridge…
“Target acquired…” Cormorant answered… “Take the shot…”
He watched as the snipers body jerked softly… “Target neutralized…”
“Roger… Confirming target neutralized…” “X-Ray Zulu 731, Police 41…”
“41”
“We are RTB, over…”
“Roger 731…”
“731 out…”
The huge turbine whined as the nose of the naval helicopter dipped allowing the late afternoon sunshine to reflect off the green cockpit Perspex as she returned west to refuel at Cardiff…
*****
Patrol Officer Thompson had watched as the head of John Crown exploded, covering the trucks windscreen in a spider web of blood red and brain grey, the aircraft’s powerful downdraft pinning him to the ground… Just as suddenly as she appeared, she was gone… He climbed to his feet and checked the condition of his colleague… Steven Headley was dead…
Returning to his police car he leaned in and lifted the RT handset… “Mike Papa 14, control…”
“Control…” “Officer down…”
“Roger… Motorway is being closed between junction 3 & 4, units are en route… Alpha Oscar 1 will be on scene once given the all clear…”
“Roger control… I believe we need Explosive Ordnance to attend…”
“Affirmative… En route…”
Andy Thompson opened the driver’s door and tossed the RT handset. He sat on the seat in the doorway, placing his head in his hands…
*****
I sat in my office reading an initial report on the Wrington Hill explosion which had killed Albatross and seriously injured Kestrel as Chris came bounding in.
“Iain, we have another one… The M5… It’s the largest one so far…”
“The Mercedes…?” “Yes…”
“But…?”
“We’ve lost another officer… A motorway patrolman, he wasn’t able to draw his weapon. The Lynx arrived on scene just afterward and d
ropped the target…”
“Do we know who…?”
“It’s still sketchy but they think it’s John Crown…” “They don’t know…?”
“Well, they’re having to squeegee what’s left of his head off the windscreen …”
There’s an image to conjure in one’s own imagination… “Messy…”
“Indeed…”
“Ok thanks Chris… Bill Mortimer will be in contact at 1530. I’d like everyone in here for the call…”
“Aye man… We’ve had a few sniffs too; I’ll go through them then as well…?”
“Yeah, ideal…”
*****
Francis O’Brien brought the Ford Sierra slowly to a stop in an isolated parking bay at Frankley Services, leaning back in the driver’s seat he lit a cigarette inhaled deeply then exhaled loudly. It was fair to say he had never witnessed such an act first-hand before, however, what was more pressing for the young terrorist was the reaction of Harraghy. Another VBIED had been apprehended, another seasoned PIRA operative killed due to incompetence or poor workmanship. He dialled the number.
“Hello young Frankie boy, you’re at the services, I take it…?” “I am Mr Harraghy…”
“Jesus, use the codenames for fucks sake son…!”
“Sorry Mr Bell… Mr Lee won’t be joining me. Th’ there was a problem with the delivery on the motorway…”
The prolonged silence on the line was only making O’Brien’s heartbeat sound even louder as it thumped rapidly.
“Are you still there Mr Bell…?”
“I am son… Tell me; tell me all of it…”
“We had to pull over on to the hard shoulder as the truck was overheating. We’d only been there a few minutes when I heard a chopper and moved on a little. Mr Lee shot a copper then a bloody big helicopter appeared and hovered over the motorway. Someone in it must of shot him dead, then it buggered off just as fast…”
“Are yer sure he’s dead…?”
“Dead… It took his friggin’ head off…!
“A police helicopter with a shooter…?”
“Not police… It was grey and had Royal Navy on the side…”
Harraghy’s attitude changed suddenly… “You sure it was Navy…?”
“I am…”
“Clear out… Clear out now. Get yourself to the Norfolk safehouse we talked about…”
Harraghy hung up then dialled McCauley;
“Mr Brazil, it’s down to us now: That moron Yank got himself into a shooting match with a copper and it all went to shit. There’s another thing too…”
“What’s that…?”
“They’ve called the Royal Marines in and they’re not taking prisoners…”
“Are we still a go…?”
“We are - the plan hasn’t changed for us. We do the job then head to Norfolk for a few days ‘til it calms down then we stick to the original exit strategy…”
“They got on to them sharpish, they must have a description of both trucks…”
“I know… We need somewhere to lie low for a few hours…”
Chapter Thirty
Jackie Harper sat at her workstation diligently reviewing the M5 incident on the traffic cameras. She had been instructed to collate the time lapse VHS tape footage for West Murcia Police; she found herself returning to the same five frames.
“Max… I think I might have something else here…”
Max Bishop stood over her shoulder to view her monitor… “What’s that Jackie…?”
“When we rotated 33 it picked up a green car parked on the hard shoulder behind the truck.There, see…?”
“Yes and minutes later he pulls onto the carriageway and continues his journey… What of it…?”
“I’ve got the same vehicle on 31 less than a mile further up, again on the hard shoulder. If we look at the time frames, he buggers off in a hurry after the Lynx appeared…”
“How do you mean in a hurry…?” “Like shit off a wet shovel, Max…”
Bishop watched the footage, noting how the car sped along the emergency lane pulling onto the carriageway suddenly causing an HGV to brake.
“Ok keep looking, try and identify the index number and see if we have him further along… I’m calling that new outfit in London…”
*****
“So where’s Cormorant now…?”
“Still with the Marines. The Lynx has returned to Cardiff to refuel, they shot to the M5 under military power which drained their tanks a bit. From there they’ll jump to Swansea for the camera footage, if it’s negative for the POI, it’s on to Pembroke Dock…”
“Ok, what’s next Charlie…?”
“I’m about to speak to West Midlands, they may have something positive on the searches…”
“Right, I’ll…”
My deskphone rang, interrupting us… Charlie indicated that he would return, I acknowledged him with a nod.
“Section Chief…”
“Iain, I have a Max Bishop from Camera Control for you… He says it’s urgent…”
“Who is he…?”
“He’s the floor supervisor…”
“Ok put him through…Thanks Abby…”
“This is the Compass Section Chief, how can I help you Mr Bishop…?”
“I have further information about the M5 incident; can I speak to someone in charge please…?”
“You are Max…”
“Oh right, ok… One of our controllers has found something of interest on the footage, maybe another vehicle…”
“Why only maybe…?”
“Well his movements are fishy but not conclusive…”
“Hang on; I’m putting you on speaker…”
I performed the usual glass banging. Chris and Charlie came running…”
“We may have another vehicle… Carry on Max…”
“We noticed a green family sized car on the hard shoulder about twenty five yards behind the truck. When we reviewed the timeline he drives off when the police helicopter approaches and pulls up again further up… He then takes off like a bat out of hell when the Navy chopper does the business… We are following up now to see where he appears further north…”
The three of us looked at each other, knowing that PIRA on more than one occasion utilise a shadow vehicle to allow the VBIED driver to escape…
“Max it will be far easier for you and your staff to continue investigating rather than handover the footage… This is time sensitive, we need the index number, plus it’s imperative we know where he went…”
“I have an experienced staff member on it. Her usual duties have been handed over…”
“Good… I’ll put you back on to my secretary who’ll give you a more direct number… We need this Max, good work…”
*****
Robert Morris had been watching the news whilst simultaneously listening to the radio.The incident now being reported caught his attention, an alleged shooting on the northbound carriageway of the M5. He stood, walked to the radio lowering the volume; he then lowered the TV using the remote control. Returning to the sofa he speed dialled the eleven digit number in his cellphone…
“Colin, it appears Mr Lee has met his Waterloo…”
“We know. I’ve instructed the boy to head for Norfolk…”
Morris took a deep breath before continuing, breaking protocol…
“Gerry, get out, get out now. It’s over. Leave the vehicle somewhere, anywhere…”
“What are you talking about man…? It’s far from over…!”
“What…! Garret and Rafferty are missing, Garvie is captured and Marward and Crown are dead…! How many more must we lose Gerry? It’s not even our fight man…!”
“Listen to yourself… The great Robert Morris is scared…!”
“Too friggin’ right I am… What do you think they’ll do when the truck flags on a camera…? You and Jimmy need to get away now…!”
“Never, not for these British bastards…!”
“You’
re going to die Gerry, you and James both, you stubborn bastard…”
Harraghy ended the call, tossing the cellphone out of the truck’s side window.
Morris stared at the silent telephone, shaking his head. Standing again he walked into the bathroom looking at his reflection in the mirror…
“Well you tried Robert, you tried son…”
He zipped up his holdall then closed the hotel room door silently behind him. His mind was set, there had been enough death, countless lives lost for some faceless Middle Easterners bidding…