Tested by Fire by David Costa (the little red hen read aloud TXT) 📗

without idiots like the Real IRA and Sean Costello sticking their oar in. He said there was talk that Costello was planning a big job on the British mainland and he would be working with the Islamic Jihad under the control of Sharon Lyndsey. All he knew was that it was going to happen soon and would involve them killing someone of high importance.’

‘How does O’Hagan know this?’

‘He’s been speaking to some guy who used to be PIRA but has now moved over to the Real IRA. This guy doesn’t mind attacking Brits but not if it means getting into bed with Islamic nut cases. His words, not mine. The guy went with Costello to an old PIRA weapons hide near the border in South Armagh. There they removed a sniper rifle, ammo and some Semtex. Then he went with Costello to the hills near Forkhill and he did lookout while Costello zeroed-in the rifle with a few rounds. All Costello would say was that he would be away the first week of October and that he was working with some old friends from the Middle East. The guy also claimed Costello said something about the White Widow and a high-grade Brit target but nothing clearer than that. He didn’t even think it was sanctioned by the Real IRA headquarters but rather Costello operating as a rogue warrior.’

‘Do you think you’ll be able to find out any more information?’

‘Maybe, if I meet with O’Hagan again. But I don’t think he knows much more.’

‘Well, see what you can do but don’t take any unnecessary risks.’

‘I’ll try but no promises.’

Reece poured them both some more wine. ‘It’s the twenty-fourth September so we don’t have much time before whatever Costello is up to happens. I’ll give you a secure access mobile phone number, so you can get me at any time. Where are you staying?’

‘I got a good deal at the IBIS beside Wembley Stadium. I’m going to be here two more nights then back to Belfast.’

‘Wembley, that’s a bit far out?’

‘Best I could do at short notice. Anyway, there’s a straight run into the city centre from the station just opposite the hotel.’

‘If you ever need to get over in the future, I can pick up the expenses and get you a hotel nearer the city centre. Talking about expenses.’ Reece took an envelope out of his jacket pocket and handed it to her.

‘There’s five thousand in there.’

She started to protest as she always did when Reece gave her money. She wanted to think that what she was doing was saving innocent lives and not being a traitor to the cause, her country, or her people. Reece held up his hands and explained as he always did.

‘Look, it’s for expenses. Plane tickets and hotels don’t come cheap. When you’re on my time, I pay, not you.’

The fact that he always made it seem that the money came from him personally and not a shadowy organisation seemed to satisfy her sense of morals. She smiled and put the envelope in her handbag.

‘If you need more for emergencies, let me know.’

Reece thought back to a male agent he used to run in Newry PIRA who had the complete opposite view when it came to be being paid for his information. He would always tell Reece the same sentence in Gaelic which he would then translate. ‘Talk’s cheap but drink costs money.’

Agents became agents for many reasons. Some were caught doing bad things and the offer to become an agent, source, informer, whatever you wanted to call it, outweighed many years in jail; their own get out of jail free card.

Reece preferred agent or source. When he’d attended the Agents Handling Course with MI5 in London, he remembered the instructors teaching the reasons someone became an agent. They did it for two main reasons, the first being money. The money to pay the agent could increase depending on the quality and the frequency of the information they provided. If the agent’s motivation was money at the start, they would work hard to bring in the kind of information that brought the biggest financial reward. The problem with the agent motivated by money was they could end up taking too many risks and expose themselves to questions from within their own organisation. Being too nosey and asking too many questions could lead to being set up by their own people who would then give them disinformation. They would then sit back to see what the reaction of the security forces would be thus exposing the agent’s double cross. The agent would then, after torture end up in a ditch with a bullet in the head. The second problem with the agent motivated by money was that they would start to invent the information just to get more money. A good handler would soon spot this as the agent never seemed to realise there were many other sources reporting in at the same time and when all the information was pulled together like a giant jigsaw, the false information provided by the greedy agent would stand out like a sore thumb.

If an agent was good or bad, if they could produce good or bad intelligence depended, to a large extent, on how good the handler was. The term to babysit was used because, that’s what a good agent handler became: a good babysitter. When an agent is first recruited, how long the agent produces good intelligence and how long they stayed alive depends on the understanding built up between the handler and the agent. The handler looked after the agent as a babysitter would a child. Teaching them to walk before they can run, what to say, dangers to look for, even down to how to spend money. Many agents were lost because they couldn’t handle the fact that all of a sudden, they had a large