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

turned off Deansgate and continued with his recon of Manchester where in just over a week, he hoped to carry out the attack that would put the all-Ireland question back on the world political stage and the cause of Irish freedom at the forefront once again.

 

 

Chapter Sixteen

Mohammad left Costello outside the Hilton and crossed the road to the office where he worked. Costello crossed the Great Northern Square into Windmill Street where he walked to the rear entrance of the Midland Hotel. The hotel was one of Manchester’s iconic landmarks. Stopping at the rear door he turned to face the square in front of him. Directly facing was the entrance to the Manchester Central Convention Centre Complex. He walked at a normal pace towards the Convention Complex main doors counting the number of paces and seconds it took from the hotel doorway to the steps at the front of the Convention Centre. He noted the line of small trees that dissected his path as he crossed the otherwise open space. He turned and retraced his steps back to the hotel door turning once more to face the open square. This time under the peak of his baseball cap his eyes took in a slow right to left arc. He noted the many CCTV cameras and the tall buildings. Turning once more he walked along the outside of the hotel towards Peter Street emerging with the hotel’s main front entrance to his right. He crossed Peter Street into Mount Street towards Manchester Town Hall and Albert Square.

Halfway along Mount Street, he found the café Mohammad had told him about. The Browners Café was quiet, apart from three workmen having a full English breakfast each. Costello took a seat by the window. Outside, the rain had started to fall more heavily. The few people on the street moved to cover from the sudden shower. Costello could see why Mohammad liked the café. Apart from being quiet, the menu was simple and cheap. The people who worked in the café were all Asian and from the familiar way they spoke to each other probably family.

Costello ordered a pot of tea and a full English breakfast with extra toast. Looking outside he could see the rain had started to die down, people started to come out onto the street again but still, few of them. He took out his pocket notebook and made cryptic notes. In between bites of breakfast and hot black tea, his plan started to develop. His mobile phone vibrated in his pocket. The text read:

I’m here, Hilton Hotel, coffee at two.

The White Widow had arrived.

 

 

Chapter Seventeen

The morning after his meeting with Sir Martin Bryant, Reece had thrown his things in his bag, checked out of his hotel, and returned to the Department HQ at London City Airport. When he entered the main briefing room, Jim Broad had already started to brief the three other people present. Reece knew everyone and had worked with them at one time or another. All were in their early to late thirties and each had a long background in the intelligence game.

April Grey, slim with blond hair and blue eyes, smiled as Reece waved a hand of acknowledgement around the table. Grey was ex-military police and someone who knew her way around a surveillance grid. The fair-haired, blue-eyed man sitting next to her was six-foot ex-14 Int and Detachment operator Joe Cousins. Reece had worked with him in Northern Ireland during the Troubles in South Armagh and Belfast, on some of the most dangerous and tricky operations ever carried out against the terrorist elements at that time.

Reece was glad to see him as he knew Cousins was one of the best locksmiths around. If they needed to gain quiet entry to any premises, Joe was the man to do it.

The final agent at the table was the kind of person nobody looked at twice. Steve Harrison could walk into a room and no one would know he was there. He’d come to SG9 via the famous MI5 surveillance team known as the Watchers. Steve had also worked in Northern Ireland backing up the police and military surveillance units when MI5 were assisting Special Branch, usually when installing bugging devices deep into the terrorist heartlands. Although Reece had never worked with Harrison, he’d done his surveillance training under Harrison’s watchful eye when he attended the MI5 courses in London. That training had saved Reece’s life on more than one occasion.

Broad spoke first. ‘David, I know you all know each other, so we can dispense with the introductions. I’ve given everyone the background as far as we know it. There is a credible threat. We have information that there may be an assassination attempt on the Prime Minister when he attends the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester. Now, David, I’ll let you fill in the details as it’s your agent who has provided the intelligence.’

‘At the moment, we think the Prime Minister is the primary target. His personal security detail and local protection services will still be in place to protect him. Our job isn’t to babysit the PM but to identify, find, and eliminate this enemy. We can’t remove the Prime Minister from the target zone as it’s the Conference in Manchester, where he’ll go no matter what. The intelligence we have to go on, although sketchy, gives us enough to take this threat seriously.’

‘Do you think we’ll be able to get any more information?’ asked Harrison.

‘My source is heading back to Northern Ireland with that in mind. Our immediate task is to get to Manchester, embed ourselves in the standard security setup, then familiarise ourselves with the possible target area. The operation will be overseen by Mr Broad and run from the control room here. We’ve been authorised to carry and use firearms. The people we’re looking for will be armed and dangerous so, Big Boys’