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

the border checkpoint had been quickly matched using facial recognition confirming her to be Lyndsey.

Reece and Harrison had been met outside the airport terminal by the resident Cairo spook and given a large buff envelope in a handoff that took a split second.

When they had booked into the hotel, Reece opened the envelope in their room. Inside was a folder containing the up-to-date photos taken by the Egyptian surveillance team of Lyndsey sunning herself by the pool and swimming in the Red Sea of the resort. A short note confirmed she just seemed to be filling the role of a tourist relaxing and using the resort facilities with no sign of bodyguards.

The envelope contained two Berretta Semi-Automatic .22 pistols with fully loaded magazines. The pistol of choice for the assassin teams of the Israeli Mossad Kidon units. Each bullet would contain half the powder, this made the weapon just as deadly up close but with the noise given out of a silenced gun making it easier to conceal and use. The note had also said that in the short time they’d been watching Lyndsey each evening she’d taken a walk to a coffee shop and supermarket in the street behind the hotel. There was a small map with an X showing the café and a photo showing Lyndsey sitting at an outside table.

The spooks could also confirm through a contact that she was staying in the hotel for a week in one of the penthouse rooms and seemed to have plenty of cash. Reece took the note and map into the bathroom and burnt them in the sink; washing the charred pages down the drain. He used his encrypted mobile phone to let Broad know that it was Lyndsey and they would confirm her movements tonight and move at 2000hrs Egypt time the next evening.

Reece and Harrison left the hotel at 7.30 p.m. and walked to the café taking seats at the back facing the street. From there they watched Lyndsey walk out the rear hotel door and cross the street to take up a table at the front, facing back the way she’d travelled.

She ordered from the waiter and lit a cigarette. Even though it was now dark, it was still warm. She wore large wraparound sunglasses, a silk scarf around her neck and pulled up to her mouth, and a white linen dress. She was carrying the same type of shoulder bag she’d carried in Manchester. No doubt containing a gun, thought Reece. There was no obvious sign of bodyguards, but they noticed two men of Middle Eastern appearance walk into the café and take up a table to the right of Lyndsey seconds after she’d sat down. To Reece they didn’t fit. They were watching the street to the front of the café. Reece recognised the signs they were there because she was there. The Cairo spook had missed them because they didn’t walk close to her. That could be a problem, but one they were prepared for. If they got in the way they were going down with her, thought Reece.

Reece and Harrison stayed in the café until Lyndsey left and the two men followed her a short distance behind. When Reece returned to the room, he contacted Broad once more and updated him on the two men. They weren’t sure if they were bodyguards or Egyptian security, but either way the operation would go down at the café the following night.

As far as the two men were concerned they would work to the rules used by Mossad: if they moved to become combatants then they would be treated as such and dealt with.

Reece and Broad had agreed the escape plan for afterwards. Nothing that would show who they were would be left behind. Lyndsey left the café around 8 p.m. each night so the operation would be aimed for that time.

The following night Reece and Harrison took up the same seats at the café and ordered coffee. As far as both could see there was no CCTV which was to be expected…Lyndsey wouldn’t want to be caught on camera either. She arrived and sat at the same table as yesterday, closely followed by the two men. Their table was already taken by a young couple holding hands over a pot of tea, so they chose a different spot.

Reece watched Lyndsey closely. She looked every inch the tourist wearing the same wraparound sunglasses and light clothing similar to that from the night before. She sat facing the street watching the world go by as she took sips from her cup. The two men sat deep in conversation looking around them as they talked.

Reece and Harrison did the same and to anyone watching the scene, it was a normal café filled with everyday customers enjoying their coffee on a warm evening.

Lyndsey searched in her shoulder bag and producing her purse she left a note of money under the saucer on her table and started to rise. This was the moment Reece and Harrison had agreed to move. The two men were also preparing to leave, and one produced his wallet, starting to extract the money to pay their bill. Reece moved behind Lyndsey as she stood while Harrison stood in front of the two men blocking their view.

The two lovers told the police afterwards everything happened in seconds although it seemed to be in slow motion.

Reece got close enough to whisper in Lyndsey’s ear, ‘This is for April.’ He pointed the Beretta at her right temple and as he pulled the trigger he was close enough to see through her sunglasses and the look of surprise as the two bullets, fired in quick succession, blew a hole through her brain. The blood spray was short as it poured over the white linin cloth on the table in front of her. Reece held her as she fell, and he was able to set