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

dropped off by a car, we need to start paying attention to the main Deansgate area. The cafés, restaurants, bars, and hotels. If he has been travelling in and out of the city, if not by car then public transport the trains and buses, then we need to get Lockwood’s people to step up their CCTV coverage in the area. They might even have him following me today although they should already be doing that, anyway. I’ll give him my timeline for walking down Deansgate earlier see what they come up with. We might get lucky and see where he went after bugging out from following me.’

‘The Hilton Hotel is smack bang in the middle of where you were walking, we should certainly check it out,’ said Cousins.

Reece had been studying the map.

‘Good idea, we need to take a look, but we should always work in the belief they’re here. We need to be careful at all times, keep your eyes open, and everyone keep in touch.’

‘David, if you’re right, and I think you are, why did he stop following you when you went into the station?’ asked April Grey.

‘You’ve got to remember that essentially, Costello is a coward. All his kills are with the built-in caveat that he can catch his target by surprise, and he can get away afterwards. For him to follow me into the station would be to follow me into an area he was unsure of with a confrontation scenario he didn’t know. He would have assumed I was armed, maybe Mike too. He would also have been worried that we might be meeting other armed colleagues in the station. Too many unnecessary risks. He will now be more aware of our presence, so he’ll be taking more precautions, even more alert, we must be the same.’

‘Do you think he knows who you are?’ asked April.

‘He just might remember me from our days of bumping into each other between shoot-outs and question sessions. He would know Mike, she worked with the top tier of the Provisional movement and lived in Newry during the Troubles, so he would know her for sure. I’ll be meeting up with her later. Let’s do a little more digging in the Deansgate area and see what we come up with.’

‘As he has spotted you, he must be spooked. I think you should operate in the area using the Range Rover, the tinted windows will give you the advantage should you need it. I can check the Hilton,’ April said.

‘Good idea let’s do that, but everyone keep in touch. Anything at all let me know. I’ll bring London up to date and get the boss to speak to Lockwood and I’ll have a look at the CCTV myself. Let’s not forget people if you do spot this guy, we have to put him down no second chances no calling on him to surrender because he won’t.’

 

 

Chapter Thirty-four

When the phone blinked into life, Costello’s first thought was that it was Ireland calling back, but instead it was a text from Lyndsey.

I will pay the bill. Booking out now. M picking us up in twenty.

Costello packed, making sure to wipe down as many surfaces as possible, so no fingerprints were left. Then he went down to meet her in the lobby, Mohammad was waiting in the car outside.

The drive to Irlam took another thirty minutes but in total silence as they all looked for the suspected security presence, but there was none. Inside the Irlam house, and after Mohammad had done another sweep, they sat around the table. Imtaz and Waheed were still in Manchester.

‘Why did you follow them, Sean, why did you expose yourself?’ asked Lyndsey.

‘I’m sure they didn’t see me. I recognised Mary McAuley and I’m sure the man she was with worked for the security forces in Northern Ireland, I can’t remember in what capacity, but it will come to me. I’m still waiting on my contact in Ireland getting back to me then hopefully, I’ll know more.’

‘Well, we always knew there were risks, but by your actions you could have put us all at risk. I just hope you’re right and they didn’t see you, but we can’t take chances. The fact that they were in Deansgate could be expected. McAuley can be taken care of later. If we’re successful, you can have the pleasure of that, Sean. Still, it’s good that you did spot them before they spotted us. If they’re that close, then it could only be a matter of time before they check the hotel and even with our cover, we’re at risk. I’ll book us into a hotel further out from the city for the next few days. Mohammad, where are we with the apartment?’

‘I have good news. I called with the estate agents like you said. The forms were fairly straight forward and after I showed young Jake the three-grand cash for the deposit, I can pick the keys up on Tuesday afternoon.’

‘Were my passport and credit ID OK?’

‘Yes, everything went smoothly. I have all your documents in the car.’

‘That’s great. We know the area. We have the apartment to work from. We keep to our schedule. A final meeting here tomorrow night then you pick up the keys on Tuesday, and we make our final moves into position on Tuesday night. Mohammad, I have one more job for you. Can you have a look around for a van similar to Sean’s?’

‘Yes, do you want me to steal it if I find one?’

‘No. Make a note of the plates then get copies made. Bring them here and change them onto Sean’s van in the garage. We’ll be using the van to move to the apartment, so we need to be as secure there as possible.’

‘Sure, no problem, I’ll do that right away.’

‘Good, let’s have a coffee then