by Tom Marcus
The fact it’s clearly an off-the-shelf type of camera you can buy anywhere, powered by a battery, instantly tells me it’s not an official part of the CCTV network installed by the council. It’s pointing directly at one house in this row, which means it was highly likely put there by whoever is operating out of this house. A small wireless aerial at the top suggests it’s probably transmitting wirelessly.
A massive amount of effort has gone into making it look like a regular derelict building, but with added features designed to keep squatters out, meaning there were only two plausible explanations: either this was a drug-money house, or some sort of weapons stash. Given the brothers’ history of drug dealing, it could be either, but I’m betting on the latter. All the more reason not to let these guys fall off the grid. Rounding the corner, resisting the urge to speed my shuffle into a fast walk, I’m keen to get back to the van and send a message to Base about the CCTV. Most people in my situation would think I’d gotten lucky here, but the truth is our teams always live our cover no matter what the circumstances. You’ll always be caught on camera, but if you are living your cover properly then it doesn’t matter. Anyone watching this camera feed would see another druggy. Not an MI5 operator.
‘All stations Zero Eight, hold back hold back, that’s both IN IN to a takeaway chicken shop on the corner of Church Street, any vehicle call sign get this?’
Dexter’s right, asking for vehicle support. When any target goes into a building it becomes easier for them to sit and watch people outside, and identify people like us.
‘Charlie Four Seven has the front door.’
‘Stations from Team Leader, I don’t want anyone to go inside. Let them breathe for a while.’
We know this chicken shop well. It’s a nightmare to cover properly, not in the worst part of the neighbourhood but right on a busy junction with floor-to-ceiling glass windows. In his car, Charlie Four Seven – Imran – has sight of the front door and a clear view inside because of the lighting, but I know he’ll be struggling for cover. No one in their right mind sits in a stationary car for long around here.
I have some time to change my profile and get with the follow. I unzip my jacket as I approach the last corner, glancing behind me as I cross the road, as if I’m checking for traffic. I’m still clean, no one following, but anyone watching my van would question a homeless guy getting into it. So, turning the corner, I slip my parka off quickly, straighten the way I walk, take my keys out and walk confidently towards the driver’s side, get straight in and pull away. The brothers might not be watching, but surveillance teams always try and leave as little sign as possible when entering and leaving an area. You never know, we could be working here for the next few years. The last thing you want to do is ruin that by wheel-spinning away or sitting there with the engine running right outside someone’s house. No one knows better than us: you never know who’s watching.
‘Direct, Charlie Nine permission quick message?’
By switching from my foot call sign to my vehicle call sign, the team will know I’m not pretending to be a drug addict anymore and am in the safety of my van.
‘Charlie Four Seven, go ahead no change, still inside facing the counter. Looks like they’re ordering.’
‘Roger, thanks, Base, the house the brothers left, number 158 Lozells Street, has the appearance of a derelict building with security sheeting on the windows and the door, but there is a CCTV camera tucked under the roofline of the church directly opposite. It’s pointing at the front door of the target address. On leaving it looked like Iron Sword was handed a small dark object, couldn’t confirm but it looked similar to a pistol grip. Charlie Nine out.’
‘Base, roger, all stations acknowledge that the targets could potentially be armed. Thank you.’
As the team all respond to the Ops officer’s call from Thames House, confirming they understand the targets could have a weapon on them, the team leader will have got straight on the phone to Base to ask for armed police support.
‘From Charlie Four Seven, that’s both Iron Sword and Stone Fist now sitting down inside the takeaway with food. Iron Sword has a view straight out of the window for information.’
Driving round in a big circle, I move into a position where I can potentially help my team without being too close in. There’s no point in saturating the area, especially when one of the brothers can see directly onto the street, and I know the rest of the team will be holding key routes out of the area too. So far, so good.
‘Stations, while we have a lull, security checks please, down the list.’
I know why the team leader is checking on the other operators in the team. In this area, the brothers aren’t the only threats we have to worry about. The only people in their cars at this time of night will be dealers or police, and because we’ve taken great pains not to look like police, we are obvious targets for gangs defending their patch. I can tell by the team’s responses as they confirm their positions that the control around the brothers is as tight as can be, and no one is in any bother from the locals.
I keep running my memory back to when the brothers came out of the door. Could the object have just been a big phone, or something else more innocuous than a pistol? It was too hard to tell at that distance, in the rain, at night, but it had still been worth putting it out to the team.
‘Charlie Nine, holding the park to the west on Villa Street.’
‘Thanks stations, Direct, back to you.’
There is barely a second between transmissions; Imran is clearly desperate to get a message out on the radio.
‘STANDBY STANDBY, SPLIT SPLIT! From Charlie Four Seven, that’s Iron Sword OUT OUT and walking westbound towards St George’s Park and Villa Street, Stone Fist is northbound, north on Church Street. Team Leader, just before they split, Stone Fist pointed in my direction, looking aggressive. I’m going to have to front this out and hope it wasn’t me he was pointing at. If I move away now I’ll be bang to rights for sure.’
‘Charlie Nine, roger.’
The lull is well and truly over. The brothers are definitely not behaving normally. It could just be drugs paranoia, or it could be they are getting close to their endgame. The trouble is, neither us on the ground nor the intelligence officers back at Thames House have the faintest idea what that endgame is. They had both been serving long prison sentences for firearms offences when they got involved in a fight, which seemed like a deliberate ploy to get them moved to the wing where all the extremists were. Once we knew they had been converted, the agent handlers from G Branch showed massive interest, but in the six months since they’d got out we hadn’t been able to figure out what they were doing. All we could be sure of was that they could have done a hell of a lot of planning and preparation in that time.
‘From Charlie Nine, I have control of Iron Sword walking westbound on Wills Street, now at the junction of Villa Street. Stations be aware he’s just stood at the junction looking slowly at everything in front of him.’
Sat in the van, I can see Iron Sword now. He’s calmed down, isn’t looking as paranoid, but even at this distance I can see him studying everything; vehicles, houses, the odd pedestrian. The rain isn’t bothering him either. He looks as if he knows what he’s doing. This is new. The suspicion has gone, replaced by calm certainty, almost as if the brothers have been told they’re being watched and it’s just a case of finding us. If that’s true, things have progressed much further than we thought. And, more to the point, we’ll need to be at the top of our game to avoid being compromised.
‘Aargh, shit, Charlie Four Seven! Stone Fist has just thrown a brick through my back window. Driving out of the area now.’
2
I can hear the engine bouncing off the rev limiter as Imran desperately tries to get to safety.
‘Team Leader, roger that. Are you OK to drive? Do you need medical?’
‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, fine. He shouted “pigs” and made a gun with his hand. Then he ran away northbound.’
‘Roger that, Charlie Four Seven, get back to the garages and change the car.’
The high pitch of Imran’s normally deep voice shows he’s been taken totally by surprise. Stone Fist must have spotted him watching the takeaway. Targets don’t pull stunts like this unless someone’s done something fucking stupid to compromise the team, and I can’t see what we’ve done wrong. Which makes me even more certain they’ve had a tip-off. But how?
‘Roger, stations be aware please, we want everyone to get home tonight. Base, anything to suggest we’ve been blown here?’
‘Team Leader from Base, when the targets were arrested nine years ago, it was on Barker Street, which is just to the north.’
OK, so Stone Fist might have good reason to be paranoid. He might still not realize it’s MI5 that have him under surveillance.
I feel a bit more confident. But I fucking hate it when someone in charge reminds us of getting home. I don’t need that clouding my head out here, I don’t need to be thinking about my wife and little boy. I tell myself my family are safe at home because I’m out here protecting them, but the truth is I feel like shit spending so much time away from them, never sure when I’m going to be back, never sure when the call is going to come to hit the streets again.
‘Base, Team Leader, with Stone Fist acting like this I’m going to drop him and stay on Iron Sword, as he may be the one that is potentially armed too. Any update on the armed support we requested?’
What? We’re dropping Stone Fist? I stop short of banging my fist against the steering wheel and just glare at the radio speaker in the van as if it could give me an explanation. I’m about to transmit to question the decision, but base beats me to it, just as Iron Sword starts to cross the road towards my position.
‘Base, roger that. Understood. There are no police CTU teams available tonight, I’ve tried the Special Forces strike teams too, but we don’t meet their response criteria and they are currently on standby for another live operation in East London. But we still need as much actionable intelligence as possible. G Branch are confident that the brothers are going to try and go completely dark within the next few hours.’
The operations officer, Jeremy Leyton-Hughes back at Thames House, is passing the buck. Slimy bastard. Yes, the situation is risky; there are no armed Counterterrorism Units on the ground to help us out if things go tits-up; he wants to keep the public and the team safe. But these guys are clearly about to try and evade our surveillance. That means they must be planning something big, and if we lose control of them now, we might never pick them up again.
Until it was too late.
By backing off Stone Fist because he’s acting aggressively, we’re playing into the brothers’ hands. Fuck, these are our streets. If they push back, we should be stepping up our game, not running for cover. I knew I wasn’t being a good team player, but I had to try and push the team leader into making the right decision.
‘From Charlie Nine, can we have a separate channel for Iron Sword please, he’s static at the entrance to St George’s Park on Wills Street.’
‘Negative, stay on channel seven, we’re dropping Stone Fist, just be aware of him providing counter-surveillance for his brother – and I want everyone inside their vehicles until we can confirm if he’s armed or not.’
Bollocks. It sounds like the team leader is scared. I know he’s thinking of everyone’s safety, but for fuck’s sake. We’re MI5 Surveillance Officers. We’re meant to be able to do things the police and Special Forces can’t.
‘Roger that, sorry, must have missed that. Thought we were keeping hold of them so they don’t manage to drop off the grid. Iron Sword has taken a phone out of his pocket, checked the screen and placed it back in his left jacket pocket.’
No response from the team leader. I’ve pissed him off.
‘From Charlie Nine, is there anyone who can get imagery of Iron Sword at the north-west corner of St George’s Park on the south side of Wills Street? Base, I’ve GPS’d the site for you if you don’t have his phone already.’
‘Roger that, thanks. No, we don’t have this phone. Still nothing on the technical assets.’
‘Charlie Six Six could come round and try to get imagery.’
‘From Team Leader, negative, we’ll spook the target. Keep control of Iron Sword but don’t get too close, we have NO armed support in the area.’
Fucking hell, it’s like the team leader is determined to not get any intelligence at all. Have I fucked up by pushing him? So far, the only bit of intelligence we have is that the brothers are trying to slip the net. We’ve lost one car due to Stone Fist putting a brick through it and we’ve GPS’d a phone location, which is pointless if Iron Sword ditches the phone. Damn it, we need more than this if we’re going to stop their attack.
‘Stations from Charlie Nine, that’s Iron Sword checking the screen of his phone again and now walking fast west on Wills Street.’
I bet he’s had a message. Not knowing what Stone Fist is doing is worrying me. It’s obvious the brothers are working on a plan together. Iron Sword has become totally focused. He isn’t looking around him at all as he continues to walk in my direction. My van radio sparks up with a transmission from one of the team, Alex.
‘From Bravo Two, Stone Fist is walking east towards Iron Sword’s location now on Wills Street.’
Good work. On her motorbike, Alex can hide her profile behind cars, and thankfully she’s spotted the other brother walking behind my van. I catch him now in my mirrors, on the other side of the street. Stone Fist also looks more focused now, less edgy. My gut tells me they have a plan and are about to execute it. We have them back under control, but I’ve got a feeling it’s not going to last for long.
‘Thanks, Bravo Two, and from Charlie Nine, that’s Stone Fist now back with Iron Sword and both walking west on Wills Street . . . Stations, that’s a STOP STOP STOP at an address on the north side. I’ve been blocked. Bravo Two, can you?’
‘Yes, yes, now both IN IN to a derelict-looking building, unsure what it is.’
Trying not to give away my position, I slowly turn my head and catch sight of the brothers slipping into the building just as the door swings shut behind them.
My phone vibrates in my pocket. Alex. There must be a problem.
‘You OK?’
‘Logan, did you see the guy who opened the metal door? Looked like he was holding a pistol, trying to hide it. I’m not putting it out on the net – we’ll get pulled off this straight away without armed support.’
Fuck. This was fast becoming a health and safety minefield. I had to think fast or the team leader would have us backing off once again.
‘Mate, I didn’t see that, are you sure you did?’
‘Second thoughts, I have to move out of the area, so can’t see anything either.’
Just in time.
‘From Team Leader, what type of property is this, any house number?’
‘Bravo Two has had to change position, couldn’t see it from my position.’
Me and Alex are doing a good job of muddying the waters.
‘Charlie Nine, can’t see from this position, it’s roughly two-five metres east of the junction with Hunter’s Road. On the north side; derelict building with a steel door.’
‘Stations from Base, we have a text message from the phone GPS’d by Charlie Nine belonging to Iron Sword. Message sent to unknown number reads: I’m outside, let us in. Need a Henry. Message ends.’
Henry as in Henry the Eighth, as in an eighth of cannabis most likely. They’re buying drugs, using burner phones and are potentially armed? Criminal activity often funds terrorist activity, so our surveillance is justified, but this is already falling under police remit, not MI5 counterterrorism. I know that’s how Base will see it anyway.
The radios go quiet. It’s probably only for a few seconds, but it feels like an eternity as I wait for the inevitable. The team leader breaks the silence.
‘All stations, I’m going to drive past the a
ddress now. If the brothers are dealing drugs tonight, and given they could be armed, we’ll have to rethink. We’ve got no armed support, as you know. Give me one minute.’
I feel the seconds tick by before my mirrors fill with headlights turning into the street. Without slowing down, Lee, Team Leader, drives past the address and keeps going. It doesn’t take long before he’s on the net.
‘Base, do you read Team Leader?’
‘Go ahead.’
‘We can’t be sure exactly which door the targets went into, due to the compact nature of the addresses. However, there is a large steel door on a derelict-looking house similar in style to the one they left on Lozells Street.’
‘Roger, from the searches we’ve done there is a known drugs den in that exact area.’
‘Roger that, base. It’s your call.’
Lee had passed the decision back to Thames House. He knows dropping these two is a massive mistake, but what comes next is still no surprise.
‘Stations, we have G Branch assets in play. We’re confident we can pick the brothers up again quickly. I don’t want to risk your team without armed support if all these two are doing is drugs. All stations CEASE and WITHDRAW. Back to you, Team Leader.’
I start the engine, listening to the other operators confirming they’re pulling out. I can feel my anger building, but I make sure it doesn’t show in the way I drive the van as I head out of the area and back towards the garages. As I drive slowly past the park, I glance towards the tree where I’d been sitting in the rain. No one there. I hope my fellow addicts have found somewhere better, but experience tells me that any comfort they find will only be temporary. In the long run, things will only get worse, and all too often there’s only one way out of their situation: an early grave. I wonder how they’d feel if they knew they’d been sharing a bit of shelter from the elements with an MI5 surveillance officer.
Once I’m clear of the area, I put my foot down. Focusing on driving safely at speed usually calms my mind, but tonight I can’t get the vision of the brothers disappearing into that drugs den out of my head. What are they doing right now? Will we really be able to pick them up again? The truth is, whatever happens to the brothers, my frustration is about more than just this operation. Even if we arrest them, successfully prosecute them and send them to jail, it’s really just like sending them to terrorism school. All the extremists together in one place, with all the time in the world to compare notes on how they were caught and what got said in each of their secret court cases. Pretty soon, they’ve got a detailed guide on how we operate, making catching the next lot twice as hard.
