"Meltdown" - читать интересную книгу автора (McNab Andy)

6

The listening device had been fitted into a back tooth, replacing an earlier filling in Fergus's mouth. It looked exactly like a normal filling but was actually a tiny microphone powered by the electricity in Fergus's body.

The device had originally been developed for use by the American Drug Enforcement Agency, whose undercover operatives needed to be able to record their encounters with drug dealers for evidence in court. A receiving station had to be positioned within a hundred metres, but the suitcase-sized piece of kit could easily be set up in a car or a nearby building.

Fergus was behind the wheel of a new Land Rover Discovery. It was the right sort of vehicle for the job, but then nothing had been left to chance; everything had to be right.

As soon as he pulled away from the yard, the team was with him.

'Stand by, stand by! That's Bravo One mobile, left from the yard. Danny has.'

Danny's life with his grandfather had turned full circle. When he had set out to find Fergus more than a year earlier, he had been the target of a surveillance operation by MI6. Now he was part of a special surveillance team himself.

He squeezed the pressel on the gear stick of the silver Mazda he was driving to activate the concealed microphone.

'Danny still has Bravo One held at lights, indicating right. Phil, can you?'

The answer came back immediately in Danny's radio earpiece.

'Phil can.'

'Roger that, Phil. Lights to green, Bravo One mobile. That's right at the lights.'

The Land Rover made the right turn but Danny continued straight on. A few moments later the Land Rover passed a junction on the left and Phil turned his green Vauxhall Vectra onto the road, behind Fergus's vehicle.

'Phil has Bravo One.'

Danny was pleased that he'd got the first part of the job right, knowing that it would be his turn to take up the follow again before long. It was a relatively simple job: they had a pretty good idea where Fergus was heading because of previous surveillance work. But it was important to keep eyes on him – for his safety and to see if anyone else was following him. It was also vital, after all the training and practice, for the newly formed team to gain experience of working smoothly together on a real operation.

'That's Bravo One indicating left at the roundabout. Lee, can you?'

Lee was behind the wheel of his blue Ford Mondeo, two cars behind Phil.

'Lee can.'

Danny was already driving back towards a junction where he could comfortably slip in as the following vehicle once again. He knew the road network well. Since moving into an MI5 safe house on the edge of Manchester, one of the team's main jobs had been to familiarize themselves with both the city roads and the Greater Manchester area.

All that had been happening while phase two of the operation was completed. And phase two had gone exactly to plan: Fergus had expertly carried out the very acts of sabotage and vandalism that the twins were now asking him to investigate.

The tooth microphone was working perfectly. Each car had a receiving station concealed under the rear seat, and as Danny took a right turn and came into range, he heard Fergus's voice clearly in his earpiece.

'So, what do the police reckon about these three incidents?'

Will's sarcastic laugh and cynical reply was more distant, but still quite audible. 'The police have been their usual inefficient selves, Mr Watts. They come, they make notes and then they tell us they'll be in touch if there are any developments, which there never are.'

'So you've no idea who might be doing this?'

There was a pause before Will spoke, as though he were racking his brain to work out who might have the nerve to target their company. 'One of the Moss Side gangs, perhaps – there are a lot of them. Trying to muscle in on a legitimate business so they can launder illegally gained money, perhaps.'

'This business of yours… If you don't mind me saying, it must have taken quite a lot of cash to set up.'

'Oh, it did, but Mummy helped with the finance, and we're doing tremendously well. It was Teddy's idea, while we were still at uni. We read chemistry, but neither of us liked the thought of being stuck in some laboratory working for someone else. The business makes a lot of money and gives us time for the sort of lifestyle we enjoy.'

'And what's that?'

Will laughed. 'We like a good time. Clubs… interesting people. We have quite a number of celebrity friends.'

In the Mazda, Danny shook his head as he listened. Mummy! He hadn't met the twins yet, but just listening to Will was enough to turn his stomach. All that money and privilege, and all they were interested in doing was messing up people's lives with drugs. If the int was right. And Danny was already thinking that it was.

He dropped a gear and told himself to focus on the job, just like his grandfather always told him, then he heard Fergus's voice again.

'So you've had no contact from anyone? No demands? No threats?'

'No, nothing at all. To be absolutely honest, Mr Watts, we're completely in the dark.'

Danny smiled as he heard the words: phase two had been a total success.

'Lee's held at the lights. Bravo One through and still mobile. Lee does not have.'

Danny reached a junction, saw the Land Rover pass by and then eased the Mazda into the traffic flow. He squeezed the pressel on the gear stick.

'Danny has Bravo One.'