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

Nothing stops it or gets in the way. If you have any problems let me know. You have my number. If we can find out where the car has been, then we have a chance of catching up with these guys.’

Connor smiled his understanding. ‘You have my word. I’ll be in touch later.’

Connor went back to the tape line and spoke to one of the SOCOs dressed in a white full body forensic suit. Reece returned to the Range Rover and started the engine. Using the radio, he spoke with Jim Broad.

‘Just had a good chat with DCI Connor at the scene. I believe he knows where I’m coming from and that he’s now working for me… we should get the information from the car soon. He doesn’t like some of the top brass in Manchester that’s for sure and he’s going to work with us cutting out the red tape that slows things up. I would think that by the time I get back to the hanger, information will start to come through.’

Reece spoke as he drove.  ‘Have the SAS ready for a briefing when I get back.’

When he got back to the hanger, despite the time of night, everything was movement. Reece found the team and the SAS in the comms section of the hanger, checking their equipment.

‘Great, you’re all here,’ said Reece who noted Jim Broad sitting quietly in the corner, the sign of a good commander. When all the training had been done, the recces complete, and the target known, a good commander would brief his troops with everything he knew then sit back and let them do their job.

‘I met the DCI from Warrington who is in charge of the burnt-out car and he’ll be in touch soon giving us all he can. The good news is his forensic technicians just might be able to give us a location for these people from the inbuilt satnav which survived the fire almost intact. Our people could do it but considering they already had people there who could pull the information why delay further. It’s going to be a long night people so make sure you have everything you need.’

Mary was watching from a chair at the entrance. Seeing Reece in full flow like this impressed her. This was the side of him that had been hidden, the professional side he’d talked about, and now, when she saw it in action and up close, she felt a little scared, and for the first time, she was aware of the real danger ahead.

‘Where do you want us?’ It was the SAS troop boss Kevin who asked the first question.

‘Realistically, until we know a location to start from, we all stay here, conserve our energy until we have something to get our teeth into. But let’s get everything ready for when we get the information. Everybody go through your equipment: your comms, your vehicles…everything needs to be right.’

Reece knew he didn’t need to teach these people how to suck eggs but years of doing these things right had kept him alive and if people were going to die today, he wanted it to be the bad guys.

‘Any questions?’

No one spoke.

‘Good, I’ll be back in a minute.’

Reece nodded for Mary and Broad to follow him. He walked them to the canteen and ordered three coffees. When he sat down with the hot drinks in front of them, he looked at Mary.

‘Mary, you may have a very important part to play in this and there might be some danger. Are you still happy to continue and help us? I would rather keep you out of things, but we need to stop this fucker and to do that we need to spin all our cards.’

Mary took a few seconds before she answered.

‘After the phone call, there’s one thing I know, if we don’t get him, he won’t stop until he gets me so don’t worry, Joseph, I mean, David. I still can’t get used to David I still like Joseph and I might just call you that now and again.’

‘I have no problem whatever you call me. Boss, can you provide a couple of cars for us to use? Range Rovers are comfortable but not practical when it comes to mobile surveillance as they stand out. By the look of things, we’ll be involved in more vehicle surveillance than foot for now and we might have to move quickly in a built-up area.’

‘No problem. We have access to the police vehicle pound in Manchester, I’ll get you what you need, might take an hour or so.’

‘By the time they arrive we should have something from DCI Connor for us to get our teeth into.’

‘OK, let me make the call.’

When Broad left, Reece looked at Mary. She seemed to be calm; no sign of stress or pressure. This lady always impressed him but now, more than ever, he felt the deep feelings that were emerging every time he was alone with her.

‘When we move, Mary, I want you to stick with me. I need you to be in a position to identify Costello if we see him. I know he may have changed his appearance and maybe wearing a disguise, you know the little things that make Costello, Costello. But I don’t want you to take any risks…nothing that would put you in danger.’

‘As I told you just now, Costello will kill me if he finds me. I have no choice; I need to find him first and you’re my best hope of doing that. I’m in it to the end, Joseph. Yes, I prefer Joseph. I’ve known you longer as Joseph, so until this is over, and we have more time to ourselves, Joseph it is.’

‘Well, there’s not much more time, Costello and his gang have to come out of their hole soon and we need