‘I submit myself to jihad. Command me and I will follow in the name of Islam.’
‘Ayub, your sacrifice will not be in vain. Your name will not be forgotten.’
‘Durrani,’ Faisal Aslam later said to his bomb maker.
‘Yes, Master.’
‘Ayub appears to have had some education. Would he be suitable for the next attack?’
‘With some attention to his manner and clothing, he should be able to enter without comment.’
‘What will the security be like?’
‘There’ll probably be very little,’ Durrani replied.
‘The planting of the explosives, how has this gone?’ Faisal Aslam asked.
‘It is progressing well. The work on the structure over the past six months has required many people. Our ability to bring in over one thousand kilos of explosive has not been discovered.’
‘Will they find the explosives?’
‘It is unlikely,’ Durrani replied. ‘They rarely go where our people have been working.’
‘And why is that?’
‘It is too dirty, too dangerous and the infidels will not work for the money offered.’
‘Yet again, exploitation of the Muslim,’ the Master said. ‘This time, their exploitation will come at a cost.’
***
The cells used by the Counter Terrorism Command in the bowels of New Scotland Yard were depressing and damp. They were a secret known to very few, even in the offices upstairs. Prison Officer Seb DeLeon, secured in one of the cells, was not in a good mood.
‘I was involved in smuggling. I broke the law.’
‘DeLeon, this is more than smuggling,’ Ed Pickles said.
‘What do you mean? I only smuggled a few phones, a few letters.’
‘What about the heroin?’ Ed Pickles asked.
‘I never knew. I swear I am telling the truth.’
‘Why didn’t you know?’
‘It was smuggled in some of the phones.’
‘How did you find out?’ Ed had taken responsibility for the interrogation.
‘Shafi told me when I was after some more money. I don’t hold with drugs.’
‘Why would he tell you?’
‘I said I wanted more money. I was planning to take over my parents’ restaurant. I just needed a bit more cash.’
‘And he mentioned drugs?’
‘Yes, and I said I didn’t want to smuggle drugs. My youngest sister, Isabel, was hooked on heroin for a number of years. I’ve seen what it can do to a person.’
‘But you had been taking drugs in, is that correct?’
‘Yes, but I didn’t know.’
‘Let’s come to your contact on the outside. Who was he?’ Ed changed the subject.
‘I only knew him as Haji.’
‘A lot of people are called Haji. That doesn’t help us much.’
‘That’s the only name I had.’
‘We need more than that if we’re going to help you.’ Ed offered the prison officer a hope of redemption.
‘What help can you give me? You’re the police, and I’m guilty as charged. I’d reckon that’s at least two to three years.’
‘Let me correct your statement. Technically, we’re the police, but we can, if needed operate outside the law.’
‘I don’t get it.’
‘Do you want to be released from here today? Still be able to take over your father’s restaurant?’
‘But how? I was caught fair and square.’
‘You do know where we are?’ Ed asked.
‘Somewhere in London.’
‘That’s correct. To be precise, you’re in the custody of the Counter Terrorism Command. You’ve heard of us?’
‘Yes, but I don’t know much of what you do.’
‘That’s good. We work behind the scenes.’
‘Are you the guys that got Shafi out?’
‘Yes, that was us, and he knows full well that he’ll be back inside the moment he double-crosses us.’
‘He’s working for you?’
‘Will you work for us?’
‘If it gets me out of here and gives me a chance at the restaurant. I wasn’t into smuggling. I just wanted some extra money. You can’t imagine what it’s like to look after a bunch of raving lunatics who’d quite happily kill you and then smile because their religion condoned it.’
‘We understand,’ Ed said.
‘What do you want me to do?’
‘We want you to go back to work and keep smuggling.’
‘Are you kidding? I was caught red-handed. Bob Smithers, the prison guard that caught me, knows what’s going on.’
‘He’s been transferred.’
‘When did that happen?’
‘The moment we decided to bring you on board.’
‘The Governor knows I’m guilty.’
‘He’s been told that you were smuggling on our instructions. Your smuggling was patriotic, not criminal.’
‘What do you want from me?’
‘We need to know when you meet up with Haji next. We’ll put a tail on him, find out who he is.’
‘Is he a terrorist?’ the now relieved prison officer asked.
‘He’s probably not active, more likely a sympathiser.’
‘So where’s his importance?’
‘He’s not important, but who he works for is.’
‘He’s been in contact with Shafi.’
‘We know,’ Isaac said as he walked into the cell. ‘You also told him about his appeal lawyers.’
‘It didn’t seem important. Haji’s a nice old man and it was just polite conversation.’
‘A nice old man? But he associates with people who kill without hesitation,’ Isaac added.
‘Send me back to the prison on my next shift and no one will miss me.’
‘Consider it a done deal,’ Ed said. ‘You work with us on this, and your criminal activities will be rewarded with a medal, not a prison cell.’
***
Haji was a proud man when he stood in the presence of the Master to update on Shafi.
‘I have some information of great interest.’
‘Haji, my old friend, what is it?’ the Master replied.
‘Shafi’s appeal lawyers were not as we believed.’
‘Tell me what you know.’
‘Their names are Frederick Vane and Andrew Martin. They work for the Office of National Statistics.’
‘What is that?’ the Master asked.
‘I’ve no idea exactly. It’s a government department, that’s all I know.’
‘It doesn’t matter, as long as they are not police.’
‘We don’t know that?’ Haji replied. ‘Why would two men from an obscure government department visit with a convicted murderer?’
‘Haji, you are correct. We don’t know. We should find out.’
‘I can conduct enquiries. A little old man can go where others can’t. And, being one of the oppressed minorities, any government department will go out of their way to help.’
‘We will talk on this matter in three days,’
‘Master, I will have some updates by then.’
‘How did you find this out?’
‘The prison officer, DeLeon, told me.’
‘Why would he do that?’
‘As I said, I’m a little old man, harmless and inoffensive. Everyone opens up if I approach them in the right manner.’
‘DeLeon is proving to be an asset,’ said the Master. ‘Does he suspect anything?’
‘No, he just sees that he is making some extra money to take over his father’s restaurant. He’s tired of looking after dangerous criminals and terrorists.’
‘And yet, he doesn’t know that he is working directly for the leader of those he no longer wants to guard.’
‘That is correct, Master.’
‘What about Shafi? Can we use him?’
‘He may have his uses,’ said Haji.
‘Can we trust him?’ asked the Maste
r.
‘Never,’ replied Haji. ‘He is not one of us, but we can keep an eye on him. I have not seen any suspicious behaviour since his release, apart from his visits to the local whores.’
‘He is as depraved outside of prison as he was in, but he’s a good smuggler,’ said the Master. ‘We could do with some help moving packages around the country. He may be able to help.’
‘We can’t let him see the contents of those packages.’
‘Not at all, but he can deal with the logistics. Ask him to come onboard,’ the Master said.
‘Do you want to meet him?’ Haji asked.
‘Not yet. He will need to prove his worth before that time. His easy release from Belmarsh is still of great concern.’
***
The meeting at the Office of National Statistics was tense. DCI Isaac Cook and DI Ed Pickles had the unpleasant task of telling Frederick Vane and Andrew Martin that they were possibly on a terrorist hit list.
‘We’ve got no proof. It’s pure supposition on our parts,’ Ed said.
‘What do you mean supposition? It either is, or it isn’t,’ Frederick nervously answered.
‘We know your cover at the prison when you met Shafi has been blown,’ Isaac admitted.
‘We only showed our identification to a prison officer. No one else knew,’ Frederick responded angrily. ‘We agreed to help, not be killed.’
‘Yes, it was a mistake going to the prison, but that’s hindsight.’
‘So who told the Islamic State? Shafi?’
‘No, the prison officer did,’ Isaac said.
‘Where is he now?’ Andrew asked.
‘He’s working for us, as is Shafi.’
‘You certainly pick your colleagues well,’ Andrew said bitterly.
‘We work with who is necessary,’ said Isaac. ‘The Islamic State is not an offshoot of the Boy Scouts. If we need to use villains to bring them down, then we will. It’s as simple as that.’
‘That’s understood,’ said Frederick, bringing the subject back to him and his colleague. ‘What about us? Andrew has a wife as well. Are we all going to be protected?’
‘You will all be given the best protection,’ said Isaac. ‘Andrew, does your wife have any relatives overseas?’
‘She has a sister in New Zealand. She was planning to go and see her in a few weeks. In fact, we both were.’
‘Can she go now?’ Isaac asked.
‘I suppose she could, but a ticket at short notice will cost more and the planes are full.’
‘Will it be plausible if you tell her that you have a hectic few weeks in the north of England, and you won’t be coming for a few weeks?’ Isaac asked.
‘She’ll probably agree to go, but the tickets and a seat?’ Andrew replied.
‘Tell her the department has pulled a few strings and it’s all sorted out,’ said Isaac. ‘Tell her you’re involved with some confidential reports for the government, the Prime Minister even.’
‘She’ll be impressed. I’m sure she’ll go,’ Andrew answered.
‘Get her out at the airport by seven o’clock tomorrow morning. There’ll be a scheduled flight waiting.’
‘Will she be secure tonight?’ Andrew asked.
‘No one will get within five kilometres of her current location. Besides, it’s unlikely that she’s even a target. As I said, it’s supposition at the moment,’ Isaac reiterated.
‘How does she get to the airport?’ Andrew asked.
‘You’ll organise a taxi, only it will be our people, fully-armed. Your wife will never know, and she’ll be upgraded to business class. She’ll be fully protected all the way to New Zealand.’
‘What are we to do now?’ Frederick asked.
‘Continue as before.’
‘Knowing full well that a bunch of individuals, bent on our deaths, may be looking for us?’ Frederick Vane was not a brave man, not afraid to admit it either. Andrew Martin was more resilient, although shipping his wife out of the country at such short notice disturbed him.
‘I agree with Isaac and Ed,’ Andrew said. ‘If anyone is watching us, they’re bound to become more suspicious if we’re acting out of the ordinary.’
‘We’ll have the best people conducting surveillance, watching your every move,’ said Isaac. ‘And Andrew, I suggest you move into town.’
‘What about the cottage?’ Andrew asked.
‘We’ll have a twenty-four-hour watch on it. We’ll even get someone to look after the garden.’
‘They better be good, or they’ll have to answer to my wife later, and she’s got a sharp tongue.’
‘They’ll be good,’ Isaac said.
‘We’ve not spoken about your analysis. What do you have?’ Ed asked.
‘It’s hard to be specific. There are just so many variables,’ Frederick replied.
‘Give us some ideas as to where you’re heading.’
‘These are smart people, or at least their leadership is. What we can see is an orchestrated attempt to alter the people of this country’s normal behaviour, a desire to undermine the organisations that we hold important.’
‘Explain what you mean,’ Isaac asked.
‘They started with the normal: shopping centres, places people congregate. They escalated to take out the pride of the Royal Navy. Did they ever find it, by the way?’
‘Yes, it’s lying on the sea floor at a depth of close to one thousand metres,’ Isaac confirmed.
‘It’s not been reported as found,’ Andrew said.
‘The government is still not sure when to release the news. It smacks of incompetence on the Royal Navy’s part, and they still don’t know the full story of what happened.’
‘If the military is seen as ineffective, then they’ll focus on the other institutions that maintain the stability of the country,’ Andrew added.
‘Such as? What do you mean?’ Isaac asked.
‘It’s clear – the church, the police, the monarchy and not necessarily in that order.’
‘Would they attack the monarchy?’ Ed asked.
‘Why not? The IRA assassinated the Queen’s uncle,’ Frederick replied. ‘Somehow, we don’t think they’re ready for that. That may well be their final act before they complete the takeover of the country.’
‘The takeover of the country? How could they do that?’ Isaac asked.
‘I don’t mean that they take over the government, put the Chief Mullah in Buckingham Palace,’ Frederick said. ‘When the country ceases to function as an inclusive democracy, then they have won.’
‘Can they achieve that?’ Ed asked.
‘Why not?’ Andrew answered. ‘Haven’t they done that throughout the Middle East?’
‘But this in England, it couldn’t happen here.’
‘Then you are wrong,’ said Andrew. ‘Everyone is wrong. England is not somehow miraculously saved from this result. Admittedly, it will take longer, but it can still happen – will happen unless we stop the increase in terrorist activities. We need to remove the Islamic State and remove, one way or the other, those who support them financially and militarily.’
‘Are you saying that Anne Argento is correct? This is war?’ Isaac asked.
‘What else can it be?’ Frederick said.
Let’s get back to the moment,’ Isaac said. ‘What’s the next target?’
‘They’ll continue with the shopping centres, the schools, but there’ll be another strategic target. We’re ruling out the monarchy for the moment. It’ll either be the police or a church.’
‘New Scotland Yard is the only likely police target,’ Isaac said.
‘I’d agree with Isaac on New Scotland Yard,’ Andrew said. ‘We believe it’s the Church.’
‘It could be any church then?’ Isaac asked.
‘No, they’ll pick a cathedral, something significant.’
‘When do you reckon this will happen?’ Ed asked.
‘It could be anytime,’ Frederick said.
‘With your analysis, is
n’t it possible to be more precise? Isn’t there a formulated plan that you can see?’
‘Not that we’ve seen so far,’ Andrew said.
‘If it’s a cathedral, what are we looking at?’ asked Ed. ‘Will it be a suicide bomber in the congregation on a Sunday?’
‘Too small,’ Andrew said. ‘The cathedrals in this country are very old and fragile. They would come down with a significant amount of explosives placed in the right place.’
‘Then we should focus on cathedrals where there’s major structural activity?’ Isaac asked.
‘It seems a likely scenario.’
‘Potentially it could kill thousands, and the Islamists would proudly announce that Allah is all powerful and that Islam is the one true religion,’ said Andrew.
‘These people are mad,’ Ed said.
‘Mad they may be,’ Andrew replied, ‘but not so mad that they can’t bring down a place of worship.’
Chapter 16
The relationship between Clifford Bell and his deputy, Anne Argento, was tenuous at the best of times, impossible at its worst. She had seized every opportunity in the party room, the cabinet room and the National Security Council to portray herself as strong and resilient. In parliament and in the media, she was full of support for the Prime Minister, but nobody believed her. The Opposition was consistently using question time in the House of Commons to put Clifford Bell on the spot as to when he was to stand down and to hand over to his supposedly loyal deputy. Anne Argento would rise to the defence of her Prime Minister, to clearly state that the Leader of the Opposition was agitating and that his constant attacks were counterproductive and not in the best interests of the House and the country.
‘Where’s the Counter Terrorism Command?’ Prime Minister Clifford Bell asked as he sat in his office at Number 10. ‘I thought you were going to get them in.’
‘They’re still coming, but with your deputy being so intrusive, it’s been difficult to set it up,’ Rohan Jones, the Prime Minister’s senior adviser, and friend, said.
‘She’s gone up north for a couple of days. Now would be a good time, but you know that already. Are you trying to keep them away from me? Are you hedging your bets?’
The DCI Isaac Cook Thriller Series: Books 4 - 6: Murder (The DCI Isaac Cook Thrillers Series Boxset) Page 58
