Andy McNab: Payback

‘Going though his papers, destroying stuff.’

‘That won’t save him. Let me know when it looks as though he’s ready to leave.’

Deveraux ended the call and opened her e-mail, and as the club concierge opened the wide glass doors and she swept into the building, she re-read Elena’s old message.

All alive and safe.

Deveraux smiled. The end of the operation was close now; so close she couldn’t stop herself from laughing. She had figured all along that Fergus Watts was the key to flushing out Fincham and recovering the money. And he was. In his panic to avoid exposure, Fincham had made a fatal error.

The money would easily be recovered now. Deveraux would phone Dudley and tell him that a team should be sent to Moscow to read the broker his horoscope and terrify him into handing over the cash. With full interest. Then, of course, he would meet with an unfortunate accident.

Fincham could be taken at any time before making his bolt for the airport, and Watts, Danny and Elena could be brought in. Deveraux would e-mail Elena that Watts was in the clear now that Fincham had implicated himself. All they had to do was turn themselves in, and after a debriefing they would be free to get on with their lives. Just as she had promised.

Deveraux had until 8.30 a.m. to catch up with Fincham. She would allow him to go into Northwood. She knew exactly what he was planning, but it would all be in vain. He wouldn’t get to SECRET: ULTRA, where the real information on him was stored. Only the heads of the two intelligence services and the Prime Minister knew the access codes. Each had his own code; no one had all three.

Deveraux walked into the club’s softly lit restaurant and dialled Dudley’s number. She was looking forward to her meal.

It was almost closing time, and Danny and Elena were still waiting for Joey to emerge from the pub.

Danny was desperate to get on with the mission, but to do that Joey had to drive him up to the camp and Elena back to the industrial unit. After watching the camcorder footage again, Fergus had picked what appeared to be the two best places to climb over the fence. Danny had an old blanket resting on his knees, which he would sling over the razor wire.

Once over – if he got over – there were CCTV cameras, the guards and the dogs to worry about, before he even got near a computer and the information he would be searching for. In his pocket was a CD containing the script Elena had downloaded from Black Star, which had to be fed into a Northwood computer while Elena linked up with the mysterious Deep Web surfer so that they could make their combined assault on the mainframe.

But none of this could even begin until Joey came out of the pub.

‘I told you he’d let us down in the end,’ said Elena, sensing Danny’s growing anger. ‘He always does. I warned you.’

‘Maybe he got caught trying to put the swipe card back in the bloke’s pocket.’

‘No way. If that had happened we’d have heard a police car by now, or he’d have been thrown out. He’s in there getting drunk, or chatting up some woman.’

The light drizzle had petered out, and Danny and Elena’s conversation did likewise. They were both anxious to get on, but afraid of what the long night could bring. And sitting, waiting and wondering just made it worse.

The sound of shouted farewells and laughter drifted through the still night from the front of the pub and then Joey came strolling casually round the side of the building towards them.

Danny and Elena got out of the car to meet him and saw that he was smiling broadly.

‘What the hell have you been doing?’ said Elena angrily.

‘Networking, darling,’ answered the beaming Joey. ‘That’s what I do best.’

‘You stink of drink!’

‘Well, of course I do. I made a lot of friends in there.’

‘I knew we could never depend on you!’

Joey took a single silver key from his pocket and held it out towards his daughter. ‘Depend on me? Sure you can depend on me, darling. You see that truck over there?’

Elena and Danny followed Joey’s gaze to a silver Warrior truck, which had an aluminium top fitted to the cargo area at the back.

‘What about it?’

‘Well, that vehicle belongs to my new friend Richie. And he’ll be heading back to the camp very soon, as he’s tonight’s driver.’ He turned to Danny. ‘You want a ride, Danny? I reckon it’s a lot better than climbing that wire fence. You might cut yourself.’

They rushed over to the Warrior and Joey quickly unlocked the top.

‘How did you get the key?’ asked Danny.

Joey shrugged. ‘Just took it off his key ring. Don’t worry, he’s got plenty more on there, and I don’t imagine he’ll be thinking of opening this up tonight, anyway. He’s got three friends with him, and they’ll all be riding up front in the cab. You got this all to yourself, Danny.’

Elena was looking shamefaced. ‘Dad, I’m sorry.’

‘Forget it, honey. I never did like the idea of Danny climbing that fence, and when Richie started boasting about his wonderful Warrior, this seemed to be the answer.’ He held up the cover and looked at Danny. ‘Your carriage awaits, sir.’ He pointed to a small metal ring on the lock. ‘That’s there so that anyone locked inside can get out. You just pull it and the top pops up. Now, you’d better hurry – they were finishing their drinks when I came out.’

Danny was about to clamber into the truck when Elena grabbed his arm. As he turned back to her, she quickly kissed him on the cheek. ‘Take care. Please.’

A few minutes later the Warrior, complete with four loud and laughing RAF men up front and one silent teenager hidden in the cargo area, pulled away from the pub car park. Joey and Elena were sitting low in the front seats of the hire car, watching the truck as it moved quickly up the road.

Joey turned to Elena. ‘I thought you told me you two were just friends…’

It was cold in the back of the Warrior. And damp. And uncomfortable. But Danny found some small comfort in knowing that it would be just a short ride.

As the vehicle bumped over tarmac, he pulled his mobile phone from his pocket. Fergus still had Elena’s phone and it was up to Danny to let his grandfather know about the change of plan. As always, Fergus insisted on being brought up to speed with every move.

Danny thought about sending a text, but the ride in the cargo hold was so bumpy there was no way he could hit the right buttons. So he found the number and Fergus answered instantly. ‘Yes.’

‘Change of plan. Found a new way into the Obvious. It’s better. Others will explain when they get back.’

He hung up. Danny had given his grandfather all the information he needed at that stage. He had carried out his orders, including his reference to ‘the Obvious’, which was the name they had given to Northwood. To Northwood and more.

Just before Danny, Elena and Joey had left the unit, Fergus asked them, ‘So, where’s Danny going tonight?’

All three stared at him, puzzled, before Elena said, ‘It’s obvious, isn’t it? He’s going to Northwood.’

‘Exactly,’ replied Fergus. ‘But we don’t want to advertise that to anyone, in any way. So if we talk about it, it’s not Northwood, it’s the Obvious. And that’s a transferable phrase.’

‘A what?’ said Joey.

‘It can apply to anything we want it to. So if Danny gets the information we want, what has he got?’

Joey was looking more perplexed than ever, but Elena smiled. ‘Yeah, I see. It’s the Obvious.’

Fergus nodded. ‘Good.’

Joey sighed and walked towards the stairs.

‘You got it too, Joey?’ called Fergus.

‘Well, obviously,’ answered Joey without looking back.