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

8

Danny saw the figure approaching long before he knew exactly who it was, but he soon recognized his grandfather’s distinctive limp. Then, when Fergus was still more than a hundred metres away, he held out both arms on either side of his body. He kept walking, arms outstretched in a crucifix position to make it absolutely clear to Danny that it was him.

When Fergus walked into the copse his eyes quickly took in the day sacks lying ready and the fact that the site had been restored to its original state. He nodded, satisfied that Danny had carried out his orders. ‘Any problems?’

‘No. What about you?’

Fergus reached into a deep inside pocket of the canvas jacket he was wearing and brought out the plastic Tupperware box. ‘No problems – and I brought along the little present they left us.’ He opened the box so that Danny could peer inside. ‘Semtex. And don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe now.’

Danny had been waiting four hours to ask his next question. ‘How did you know it was there? I’ve been trying to work it out – I just don’t see it.’

‘The slats in the garage door,’ said Fergus, carefully looking out from the hide in every direction. ‘When I pull down the door at night I slam it really hard so that the slats close tightly on each other. That’s my tell-tale.’

‘But the door was down to the ground, just like it always is.’

‘No, not like it always is, Danny,’ said Fergus. ‘Our visitors couldn’t make any noise when they were leaving. They couldn’t slam the door down, so there was no way the slats could be tightly closed. I spotted that as soon as I looked at the door, that’s how I knew there was something wrong.’

Danny shook his head. ‘If you hadn’t seen it-’

‘I did, Danny, that’s all that matters. But it means we’re finished here. I stuck around to see if anyone came back when the device didn’t go off.’

‘Did they?’ asked Danny.

His grandfather nodded. ‘Three of them. Did a walk past a couple of hours ago. They didn’t see me but I got a perfect view of them. Our friends the builders.’

‘Paul and Benny?’

Fergus went to one of the day sacks and pushed the box of Semtex inside. ‘I must be losing it – I should have spotted them. They were with the woman who killed Eddie. It means that bastard Fincham’s found us.’

Danny’s heart sank as the prospect of one day returning to Britain seemed further away than ever. And then an even more terrifying thought struck him. ‘What about Elena?’ he almost shouted, expecting his grandfather to come back at him with an earful about concentrating on their own problems. He didn’t.

‘Just because Fincham’s found us, it doesn’t mean that Elena’s in danger. As far as we know, he’s not aware of her involvement. But we should let her know what’s happened, just in case we can’t make contact for a while. You can go online to her as soon as it’s safe.’

Fergus delved into a day sack and took out some tins. ‘First we eat and get some rest. We’ve got a long walk ahead of us.’