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

way to Strasburg so that unelected judges can make us the laughingstock of the world.

‘Did you know that a Mossad analyst once calculated, one terrorist cost as much as a hundred expensively trained men to capture him or her? This is a cost this country can’t afford. The decision was made some time ago that SG9 would be our main arm of defence against the people who want to hurt us. We have tried diplomacy, we’ve tried talking, and financial blackmail and, too many times, we’ve given in to their demands, yet they still plot to kill us. Have you ever heard of the word Kidon?’

Reece looked at Broad who nodded his head to answer.

‘Yes, it’s the Israeli unit of Mossad specifically set up to kill its enemies.’

‘Correct, Mr Reece. Ehud Barak, a past Prime Minister of Israel, and also a past member of Kidon, once quoted the reason for the existence of such a unit in words I believe could be attributed to our SG9, he said, the intention was to strike terror, to break the will of those who remained alive until there were none of them left.’

‘Simply put, these people don’t want to negotiate with us they just want to kill us, they want to destroy us in whatever way they can. So, we must find them and kill them first. Do you have any problem with that?’

Reece took time to reply. Did this make him a killer, a murderer, an assassin?

‘No, I’ve seen enough of what they do up close. I have no problem with that.’

Reece knew that Sir Martin not only had the ear of the PM but when he spoke and gave directions, it was the Prime Minister who spoke.

‘Good, now let’s get ahead of this. I’ll inform the PM that your team has full control of this operation. Whatever you need, it’s yours.’

Standing, Bryant looked both men in the eyes. ‘Good luck and good hunting.’

After Bryant left, it was Jim Broad who spoke first.

‘Right, well, there you have it, David, a direct order from the top. This is why SG9 was formed. What do you need?’

‘A four-man team, sorry, one of which should be a woman. With me as lead, that’s three more. Everyone should be good with firearms and surveillance. One should also be a locksmith in case we need quiet access. Where can we run secure comms from?’

‘Here, and I’ll move a camp bed into my office until this is over. We will need a simple code name for the operation, have you anything in mind?’

‘As it seems this is developing into an assassination attempt on the Prime Minister, let’s call it Long Shot, it’s the same for Costello and us, a real long shot if we’re to be successful.’

‘All right, I’ll let the Gold Commander on the ground for the Conference know you’re coming. Five, Six, and GCHQ will all be told to keep their eyes and ears to the ground, especially with the Islamic Jihad input. I’ll funnel all incoming information through here and keep you updated. Anything else?’

Reece knew there would be a lot of pressure on SG9 and especially him, so he was going to make damn sure he had everything he needed.

‘An SAS CQ assault team on standby in Manchester. I’ll brief them personally on what might be needed.’

‘You’ve got it.’

‘Can you also have our Special Branch and boarder people go through all passenger and vehicle arrivals into the country from Ireland in the past week? Pass on Costello’s latest description and photos, bearing in mind he won’t be giving us any full-frontal face displays. You could do the same for Lyndsey through Manchester and Liverpool airports. It’s a shot in the dark, but maybe something will turn up. We can assume that Costello won’t be on his own, so CCTV around the area of the Conference might look for a six-foot white and fit looking male who may be accompanied by an Asian friend. It’s rarer than you might think.’

Broad pulled up the calendar on his laptop.

‘OK, let’s see, the Conference starts on Sunday twenty-ninth of September, with the main appearance by the PM on Wednesday the second of October, so we don’t have much time. The PM will be attending the Conference no matter what. You must remember the legacy set by Margaret Thatcher the morning after the Brighton bomb. She went on stage at the Conference to say the terrorists would never win. Today’s Prime Minister will say and do the same. I also remember the words of the Provisional IRA after the bombing, we only need to be lucky once.’

Reece stood and reached out his hand. Broad took it and shook it firmly. No more words were necessary, the deal had been made and both men knew what was at stake.

 

 

Chapter Fourteen

When Sharon Lyndsey’s flight landed at Manchester Airport from Zurich, she’d already travelled from Iran to Turkey to Switzerland under the name Karen Webb. She’d discarded her Islamic dress instead dressing in the dark trouser suit of a Swiss banker with Gucci luggage and handbag to match. She’d dyed her hair blonde and covered her blue eyes with brown contact lenses.

Her documents matched her appearance with a genuine passport provided by an official in the Swiss Civil Service after he’d been blackmailed through a honey trap extra-marital affair with a lady working for the Islamic Jihad.

Once through the airport she took a taxi to the Hilton Hotel in Deansgate and booked in for three days under her assumed name.

 

 

WEDNESDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2019

 

 

Chapter Fifteen

It was typical Manchester weather, showers with a little sunshine peering through the clouds now and then. Mohammad had driven them both to Irlam railway station where they took a train to Deansgate Station Manchester. Costello was now in operational mode as he