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

‘Roger, will take a look,’ replied Grey.

‘Just being careful. It might be nothing but felt a little strange.’

They walked the rest of the way back to the car in silence. Reece drove out of the city centre to the Lowry Centre in Salford. He used the time driving to check for followers. He was sure there were none. At the Lowry, they found a quiet corner in a café. Mary could see his eyes checking the faces of the shoppers outside.

‘Are you OK?’ she asked.

‘Yes, I’m just being careful.’

‘Who do you think that was?’

‘I don’t know. I’m not even one hundred per cent sure he was following us, but I’m not taking any chances. It’s slim, very slim but I’m going to get the team to continue to concentrate in the Deansgate area. We can find ourselves on the CCTV too. It will show if anyone was following us. Hopefully then we will have a clearer picture. And, if it was Costello, then he had to have picked us up somewhere near there as we walked through. And he still just might be in the area. But don’t worry, I checked on the way here, no one is following us, we can relax…for now.’

Chapter Thirty-two

Costello went straight back to the Hilton having phoned Lyndsey on the way and asking her to come meet him.

‘You sure it was this Mary McAuley?’

‘Definitely.’

‘And this man. You know him too?’

‘I’ve seen him before. I’m not sure where but I’m sure I know him. It will come to me.’

‘Could he be one of us?’

‘Maybe. But I don’t think so. The feeling I got when I saw him was danger, something from my past.’

‘Do you think they saw you?’

‘No, that’s why I didn’t follow them into the station or get too close. I came straight back here. But I checked, no one followed me.’

‘We need to find out what McAuley is doing here. Can your people at home find out? Who knows, she might be here with a boyfriend for a dirty weekend or just shopping, but it’s the kind of coincidence I don’t like.’

Costello didn’t like it either. The unknown man still bugged him.

‘Yes, it will take a few hours, but I should be able to find out.’

‘In the meantime, stay in your room until I call you or you get a reply from Ireland.’

‘I need to switch off for a while, anyway. I find when I do that and relax my memory chip it reboots the computer in my head it will check in and bring up who this guy is.’

He left her and returned to his room. Using his mobile phone, he dialled the number of a trusted contact in South Armagh. The familiar voice on the other end asked the caller to leave a message.

‘Hi, mate, it’s me call me back as soon as you can.’

Costello lay on the bed and closed his eyes.

Chapter Thirty-three

Reece dropped Mary back at her hotel.

‘I’ll catch-up with you later. Do you fancy going out for a meal tonight?’

‘That would be lovely. Do I need to dress up or are we slumming it?’

‘Somewhere in between would be nice. Pick you up around eight.’

‘See you then.’ She kissed him on the cheek as they parted.

Once again, he felt the butterflies in his stomach take flight.

‘Alpha One to Alpha Team, where are you now?’

It was Cousins who answered.

‘We’re still around Deansgate, over.’

‘Roger that. Can we all meet in the café in the Town Hall in twenty, over?’

‘Roger,’ the team replied one by one.

Reece found another parking space near the Town Hall. Keeping the change for these parking meters was costing him a small fortune. He made a point to include the cost in his expenses sheet. Unlike James Bond, real secret agents had to account for every penny they spent, that meant receipts and forms in triplicate.

The inside of the Manchester Town Hall brought an old-world atmosphere with the building, housing an excellent café and the council offices together. Reece had visited the café in the past and always enjoyed its relaxing atmosphere; the open space inside made it cool and welcoming.

The team were already there at a corner table. He briefed them again on the man he’d seen.

‘What I didn’t say in front of Mike was that I’m sure it was Costello. Mike didn’t see him and I can’t put my finger on it but it’s my gut telling me it was him. The comms people have got back to me with the CCTV coverage which they uploaded to my mobile. Mike has seen it but the quality’s not great so she couldn’t be sure.’

Reece showed the grainy coverage of Deansgate and they could see Reece and Mary walking towards the station and a tall man wearing a baseball cap who appeared to be keeping pace with them from the footpath on the opposite side of the street. Although they could estimate the man’s height there was no clear shot of his face even when he turned and walked back towards the camera before disappearing out of shot.

‘Many times, during surveillance, you get that gut feeling as you call it, that sixth sense. It paid not to ignore it and nine times out of ten I was right to listen to it. So, what now?’ said Harrison.

‘Well, I think we can assume that it was Costello and he spotted me and Mike. We hadn’t been walking long so he must have been somewhere in this area.’

Reece placed his map on the table.

‘This is the route we walked after we left you in Weatherspoon’s. I don’t think he was following us too long or I would have spotted him earlier. So, if he wasn’t