Hunting Ground

by L J Morris

  They were still laughing when the people carrier pulled up in front of the house. Luke Durand switched off the engine and they all got out. Porter hobbled around in a circle as he tried to get some feeling back into his damaged leg, and McGill stood beside the car stretching his back. ‘That feels better. I was beginning to seize up in there.’

  Sinclair watched as a man in his seventies with a walking stick slowly made his way down the stone steps to meet them. When he reached the bottom, Nash walked over and took his hand, helping him down the last step. The old man pulled his hand away. ‘I’ve told you before, Harriette, I can manage by myself.’

  Nash gave him a hug. ‘Course you can, Dad. I just wanted to hold your hand.’

  The old man smiled. ‘How’s my princess?’

  ‘I’m good, Dad. Come with me, I want you to meet some new friends.’ She guided Nash senior to where the others were standing. ‘Dad, this is Ali.’

  Sinclair held out her hand. ‘Nice to meet you, Mr Nash.’

  The old man took Sinclair’s hand and held it up to his lips, planting a kiss on the back of it. ‘Always a pleasure to meet a beautiful woman. My friends call me H.’

  Harriette gently grabbed her father’s arm. ‘You can let go of her now, Dad. Sorry, Ali, he always thought himself a bit of a charmer, back in the day.’

  ‘I’m sure he was, and still is.’

  H smiled at Ali and patted her arm. ‘I like this one.’

  Harriette moved him along to the others. ‘Dad, this is Frank, and this is Callum.’

  He shook their hands in turn. ‘Good to meet you both, make yourselves at home.’

  ‘I’ll show them around, Dad, make sure they settle in.’

  The old man gave her a peck on the cheek. ‘Thank you, princess, I’m going for a lie down now.’ He shuffled back to the steps and, refusing any help, climbed them to the front door.

  Once H had gone, Harriette turned to the others. ‘My dad doesn’t come out of his room much these days, but he still likes to welcome everyone to the house. Follow me and I’ll get you settled in.’

  They walked up the steps and through the double front doors into a huge, marble-floored, grand entrance hall. Two ornate staircases ran up either side and met at the top where they joined an equally ornate landing. There was a glass chandelier in the centre of the hall and oak doors led off to other rooms.

  Nash led them up the stairs and to the left. ‘We use the east wing for guests. I’ve had rooms made up for the three of you. You’ll find everything you need in there – toiletries, clothes, once you’ve had a bit of a freshen up, I’ll see you downstairs for something to eat.’

  Sinclair nodded. This was more luxury than she had seen in a long time, but she could definitely get used to it. ‘Thanks, Harry. Thanks for everything.’

  ‘My pleasure. Anything for a friend of Gabriel’s, and now you’re all my friends, too.’ She smiled at McGill then made her way back down the stairs.

  Sinclair looked at McGill. ‘I think you’ve got a new fan there, Frank.’

  McGill looked a little sheepish. ‘Don’t be daft, she’s just being friendly.’

  Sinclair and Porter burst out laughing. McGill shook his head and went into his room.

  * * *

  McGill knocked on Porter’s bedroom door. ‘Ready when you are, Callum.’

  Sinclair stood next to the door, leaning against the wall. ‘If we have to go anywhere, we should leave Callum here. Harry will look after him.’

  ‘He won’t be happy about that, he’s become quite attached to you.’

  ‘I think you’re the one he’s attached to, Frank.’

  McGill raised his eyebrows. ‘Really?’

  Sinclair nodded. ‘Yeah, I’ve seen you with him, talking him through all the shit that’s happened to him. Maybe you’re not such a rough ’n’ tough bootneck after all.’

  McGill shrugged. ‘I feel sorry for the kid. Anyway, keeping him calm helped us. If he had freaked out on the road here, it would’ve made things a whole lot more difficult.’

  Sinclair smiled. ‘Yeah, yeah, that’s what you say. I think you’re just a big softy.’

  McGill playfully shoved her along the hallway, just as Porter’s door opened; he looked gaunt and tired. He closed his door and limped into the hallway.

  McGill put his arm around the younger man’s shoulders. ‘You okay, mate?’

  Porter nodded and smiled. He had the evidence folder clutched to his chest. ‘Yeah, I’m okay. I’m just really tired and my leg hurts a bit.’

  Sinclair took the folder from him. ‘I’ll carry that for you. You make sure you hold on going down the stairs, okay?’

  ‘Thanks, Ali. I didn’t want to let it out of my sight, after everything we’ve been through to get it.’

  McGill patted Porter’s back. ‘Right then, enough of the chit chat, let’s get some scran. I could eat a scabby horse.’

  Sinclair was always light on her feet and she skipped down the stairs, reaching the bottom while McGill and Porter were still only halfway down. She looked up at them. ‘Take your time, fellas.’

  A double door between the two staircases opened and Harriette Nash walked into the entrance hall. ‘We’ve rustled up a few snacks in here, and there are some people I think you’ll want to see.’

  Sinclair waited for McGill and Porter to reach the bottom of the stairs then followed Nash through the double doors.

  The room was set out as an informal dining room. The long oak table, which would comfortably seat ten people, was now covered, end to end, in plates of sandwiches, sausage rolls, crisps, pork pies, and cakes. A buffet that would not have looked out of place at a wedding. As they walked in, Simeon Carter got up from his position beside the window. ‘Ali, Frank, good to see you both in one piece.’

  Sinclair gave him a hug. ‘It’s good to see you, too, Simeon.’

  Carter was a little surprised, he’d never seen Sinclair show emotion to anyone other than McGill. He was glad she seemed to be more open and trusting around other people. It would be good for her, and vital for her mental health.

  Sinclair hooked her arm around Carter’s and led him to where Porter stood. ‘Simeon, I’d like you to meet Callum Porter. A valuable member of our team.’

  Porter looked embarrassed. ‘I’m not sure about that, Ali.’ He held out his hand. ‘It’s an honour to meet you, Simeon.’

  Carter shook his hand then gestured towards Kinsella. ‘Ali, Callum, I’d like to introduce you to Danny Kinsella.’

  ‘Nice to put a face to the name, at last.’

  ‘Enough of the introductions, let’s eat.’ McGill grabbed a handful of crisps and crammed them into his mouth.

  For the next hour they all forgot the shit they had been through and the problems they still had. They laughed, chatted and ate sandwiches like they were at the local village fete. It was Nash who brought them back to reality. ‘I’ll leave you lot alone, now. I’m sure you’ve got things to discuss that I don’t need to know about.’ She left the room and closed the doors.

  Porter patted the folder, which he’d placed on the table. ‘Justin died for this. I don’t want Vadim to get hold of it. I trust all of you to make sure that doesn’t happen.’

  Sinclair held his hand. ‘We’ll make sure of it, Callum.’

  Kinsella stood and picked up the folder. ‘The first thing we need to do is copy everything that’s in it. If anything happens to this, we’ll still have the evidence that’s inside it.’

  McGill held out the hard drive he’d taken from Kinsella’s apartment. ‘You might want to take this, too.’

  ‘Thanks, Frank. My Christmas card list’s on here. Don’t know how I would’ve coped if I’d lost that.’

  McGill laughed. ‘You’re an arse, Danny.’

  Kinsella turned to leave. ‘Harry has a scanner in the other room. I’ll get started.’

  Carter shouted after him. ‘Quick as you can, Danny.’ He turned to Porter. ‘Callum, could you leave us for a few minu
tes, please?’

  Porter looked at Sinclair and McGill. ‘You’re not leaving me, are you?’

  Sinclair took both of his hands in hers. ‘You knew we’d have to leave you, sooner or later. This is where it could really hit the fan. Frank and I need to be able to work without worrying about you. You’ll be safe here.’

  McGill gave him a reassuring look. ‘Go and get some sleep, mate. We’ll finish this off and then we can all relax and you can go home.’

  Porter’s shoulders dropped. He knew they were right. He wasn’t cut out for this and wasn’t in a fit state to even run away. He gave both McGill and Sinclair a hug. ‘Please, look after yourselves. I don’t want to lose you, too.’

  Sinclair held him and rubbed his back. ‘Don’t worry about us, we’ve got this. When we get back, I want to meet your dad.’

  Porter nodded, a tear starting to form. ‘Harry told me she can arrange for a message to be sent to him. He’ll know I’m okay.’

  ‘You’ll be back home before you know it.’

  Porter paused and took one last look at Sinclair and McGill; then, with a deep sigh and a bowed head, he left the room.

  Carter waited until the door was closed before continuing. ‘You’re not going to like this next bit.’

  Sinclair faced him. ‘Not liking the way things are going is normal, now, Simeon. What is it this time?’

  Carter sat back down beside the window. ‘Edward Lancaster’s boss, the head of MI6, wants you to hand him the folder and turn yourself in.’

  Sinclair stared at Carter. ‘Well, Edward Lancaster can tell his boss to fuck right off.’

  Carter held up his hand. ‘I know, I know. I appreciate your concern, Ali, but we’ll have to give it to them sooner or later. It’s the powers that be that’ll bring Vadim down, not us.’

  ‘It’s not just bringing him down that I’m bothered about, Simeon. I want to be there when the bastard gets what’s coming to him, I want to see his face.’

  McGill sat on the edge of the table. ‘He’s right, Ali. They need the folder.’

  Sinclair rubbed her eyes. ‘We don’t even know if this guy can be trusted, what if he’s in on it?’

  ‘Not everyone can be involved in the conspiracy, Ali. You have to trust someone, sooner or later.’

  Sinclair was wondering if the constant fear and being permanently on the run was getting to her. Was all this making her paranoid? She needed to have a serious talk with someone when all of this was over – if she made it that far. ‘Okay, I can see you’re right, but I still don’t trust him.’

  McGill helped himself to the last sandwich. ‘We’ll have to be careful, and we meet out in the open so we can see anyone trying to ambush us. That, or no deal.’

  Carter nodded. ‘I’ve already told them that you’ll only meet somewhere neutral.’

  Sinclair shrugged. ‘Okay. I don’t like it, but okay. Set it up.’

  The door opened and Kinsella came back into the room. He handed the folder to Sinclair. ‘I’ve copied everything that’s in there. A lot of it is newspaper cuttings and photos, but about a quarter of it uses more code names for things. It mentions Vadim but doesn’t use his real name. I’ll have to do some digging, and cross reference it with the other data I’ve got so we can put all the proof together. Then we’ll be able to bring down Enfield.’

  Sinclair looked at the file. ‘We’ve all risked our lives to get this far. Let’s not fuck it up now.’

  Carter got to his feet. ‘I’ll contact Edward, tell him to set things up; you two, get ready.’

  Chapter 40

  Sinclair and McGill were on the road before dawn, heading for a disused airfield to the north-west of London. They had agreed to the meeting, eventually, as long as it was outside London, and only the head of MI6 was there. Being outside London meant they avoided any police checkpoints between Brantleigh House and the meeting. They didn’t need any more drama.

  They arrived at the airfield as the sun was appearing above the horizon, and stopped the car half a mile from the runway. McGill climbed out and lifted the Barrett .50-cal sniper rifle, which Carter had somehow managed to get for him, out of the boot. He set off across the overgrown field and Sinclair drove towards the runway.

  McGill found a spot in the long grass that had a good view of the whole area, and settled down for a long wait. He set up his rifle then pulled a cammo net over himself, so he couldn’t be spotted from above. Drones were far too easy to get hold of these days and he didn’t want to take any risks.

  Sinclair drove to the middle of the runway and waited for Hadley to arrive.

  After two hours, McGill picked up an approaching car through his scope. He put in his earpiece and pressed the call button on his phone. ‘This is it, Ali. Vehicle inbound, one up, looks like him.’

  Sinclair could see the car at the far end of the runway. ‘Roger that. I’ll leave comms open.’ She slipped the phone into her top pocket and put in an earpiece. She got out of the car, leaving the door open, and walked around to the rear so the bulk of the vehicle was between her and the approaching vehicle.

  Hadley was nervous, he didn’t like being exposed like this. He had always been a man who preferred operating from the shadows. He wasn’t used to this kind of operation; but, if he wanted the folder, he had no choice. Sinclair had made that perfectly clear. All he had to do was get Sinclair to hand him the evidence, so he could make sure it was kept safe, and then turn herself in. It wasn’t a complicated plan, but he knew it was going to be difficult, there was plenty of opportunity to mess things up. He stopped his car and got out, ten metres from where Sinclair had parked.

  Sinclair held up her hand to stop him. ‘That’s far enough. Take your jacket off and turn around.’

  Hadley did as he was told. He took off his jacket and lay it on the bonnet of his car. He held his hands in the air and turned slowly through three hundred and sixty degrees. ‘I’m not armed and I’m not wearing a wire.’

  Sinclair held up the folder and placed it on the roof of her car. ‘This is what you want; this is what all the fuss is about.’

  ‘It’s not just the folder, Miss Sinclair, it’s you, too. You can identify people.’ He looked around, scanning the area. ‘Where’s McGill?’

  ‘Don’t worry about him, he’s nearby, watching. He’ll only come in once I tell him it’s safe.’

  Hadley didn’t like the way that sounded. The last thing he needed was a loose cannon like McGill messing up the operation. He lowered his hands. ‘All I want is the folder in a secure place. As long as you hold on to it, none of us are safe. We need it to stop the conspiracy.’

  Sinclair lowered her head and held her hand to her mouth. ‘What do you think, Frank?’

  ‘He’s part of the establishment, they haven’t exactly been good to us so far, but I suppose we’ll have to trust one of the arseholes eventually. Just be careful.’

  Sinclair considered her choices. She didn’t know this guy and had absolutely no reason to trust him, but, on the other hand, Simeon Carter was right; all they could do with this info was release it to the media. No one would believe her; Vadim would shout it down and scream fake news; they would be back where they’d started. She looked around, reassuring herself there was no one else there. ‘Okay, Kelvin, I’ll give you the folder, but I’m not coming in.’

  Hadley had suspected this might happen. Sinclair didn’t seem to trust anyone, and MI6 hadn’t exactly stood behind her when she’d needed them to. ‘I need you, with the folder. You can help us validate it. Without you, it means nothing.’

  Sinclair put the folder on the ground. ‘I’ll leave it here, you make sure it gets to the right people. I’ll be watching, Kelvin. Mess this up and I’ll be paying you a visit.’

  Things weren’t going to plan: Hadley needed Sinclair. He couldn’t have her on the run, able to leak info. He needed to be in control.

  McGill watched through his scope. He could hear what was going on and was ready to back up Sinclair as she left. In
the distance, a cloud of dust attracted his attention. He focussed on a point, a mile past Sinclair; a blue van was hurtling towards the runway. ‘Ali, vehicle inbound, assume multiple occupants, get out.’

  Sinclair looked behind her and watched as the van came into view. She snatched up the folder and shouted to Hadley. ‘We’ve been made, get out while you can.’

  Hadley could see the van but didn’t look worried. ‘Ali, leave the folder.’

  A shower of thoughts bombarded Sinclair’s head. Was this a van load of MI6’s men? Had they sent backup after all? Maybe she should just let them take her, at least she would be safe from Vadim. Her decision was made for her when the passenger in the van opened fire.

  McGill squeezed the trigger. It was a moving target, almost a mile away, but McGill was good – very good. The front tyre exploded as the fifty-calibre round punctured it. The second round slammed into the engine bay, steam and smoke pouring out from under the bonnet. As the occupants of the van scattered out of the back, McGill picked off two of them before they could find cover.

  Sinclair jumped into the car and started the engine as small arms fire started to ping off the runway. Her front wheels smoked as she floored the accelerator and sped past Hadley. She threw the car into a handbrake turn and spun around. With the car rocking on its springs, she hit the gas again and headed straight back to where Hadley was still standing, not moving.

  The occupants of the van were getting closer with their shots. Hadley was hit in the shoulder by a ricochet and dropped to his knees as Sinclair screeched to a halt beside him. ‘Get in the fucking car.’

  Hadley looked across the airfield, the assailants were using the long grass as cover from McGill as they crawled to the runway. He clutched his shoulder, it was a minor wound and the bleeding wasn’t bad.

  McGill fired shots towards the occupants of the van but was unable to see them. He hit one purely by chance. He was screaming in Sinclair’s ear. ‘Go, go, go.’

  Sinclair couldn’t just leave Hadley. She leaned over and opened the passenger door. ‘Move your arse.’