‘I know, Sam. We’ve just found out ourselves, that’s why I’m phoning.
‘Jay, I’m not trained for this. I’m struggling a bit here.’
‘I understand Sam, and when this is all over you can have some time off. We’ll arrange counselling for you to help you through it, but at this point in time I need you focused.’
Mickey walked in carrying two mugs of coffee. His phone was clamped between shoulder and ear. ‘Dave.’ He mouthed at Sam, who nodded an acknowledgment. Mickey took his seat next to Sam and continued his conversation with Dave. Sam continued his conversation with Virani as he carried on browsing through the images of the previous SCU members.
Sam started to update Virani with what he and Mickey had found.
‘Jay, this Bush bloke, he was part of SCU7. The squad that immediately preceded Raynor’s. They might know each other. It could be Raynor who called on Bush’s services, not the paymaster.’
A pause at the other end told Sam that she was thinking about this. Sam interrupted her train of thought.
‘Which means,’ he said, ‘the paymaster might still send somebody else to have a go.’
Once again, the line went quiet. Eventually, Virani spoke.
‘Okay, we need to get you out of Andover, but we can also use this to our advantage.’
‘I’m not sure I like where this is going, Jay.’ Replied Sam. ‘Are you suggesting using me as bait? Because I’ve got a real problem with that.’
‘Oh you’ll be quite safe, but maybe we can draw out the Big Boss. Just a thought.’
‘Well, I’d like to explore other avenues first, if it’s all the same to you.’
Mickey tried to interrupt. He covered his phone microphone with the palm of his hand and whispered to Sam.
‘Sam, Dave says it’s really important he talks to you. Says it’s vital to national security.’
‘Hang on a second, Jay, will you?’ Said Sam.
He put Virani on hold and said to Mickey. ‘Yeah, probably another bloody alien mother ship, like in the pub the other night. Take a message, please mate, and tell him I’ll call him back.’
Sam returned to his call with Virani.
‘Sorry Jay, had another call coming in, thought it might be important.’
‘That’s okay Sam, was it?’
‘Was it what?’
‘Important.’
‘No, just a mate.’
‘Fine, so, where were we? You need to get to Thames House, for your own safety. Once here I can give you all the details. Then we can plan what to do next. Should I send Alasdair for you?’
‘No don’t worry I’ll make my own way there. Just got to finish a few things here first.’
‘Okay, see you later, Sam.’
‘Yeah, bye Jay.’
Sam ended the call and turned to Mickey who had also finished his conversation with Dave. Mickey was looking slightly confused.
‘What did numpty-boy want then, Mick?’
‘I’m not entirely sure mate. He was babbling, like he was really nervous. Said something about tracking Raynor.’
‘Yeah but you know he’s full of shit. Probably just winding us up, I’ll call him back in a bit.’
They both turned back to the monitors, looking through the images in a silence that Mickey eventually broke.
‘Did I hear you say you killed somebody last night?’ He asked.
It was obvious from his tone that Mickey didn’t like asking the question.
Sam avoided eye contact and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
‘I told you I’d had a crap night.’
He looked at Mickey, who had paled significantly.
‘He was an assassin Mick. A fucking hitman. Sent by one of these bastards.’
He swept his hand towards the screen in an exaggerated display of anger.
‘Sent to kill me, and god knows what would have happened if Jules and Jack were still there.’
Sam started welling up, the stress was getting to him. Mickey swallowed hard before saying.
‘But you killed him? Sam, that’s fucked mate.’
‘Tell me about it.’ Said Sam as he wiped his eyes and opened the SCU4 images folder.
The file Thomas_W.jpg caught his eye.
‘WT.’ he said.
‘Eh?’ Asked Mickey.
Sam hovered the mouse pointer over the file. He wiggled the mouse, the pointer danced over the icon.
‘WT. The initials from the document. The name that rang a bell in the SCU4 read me file. William Thomas.’
‘No, Sorry mate, you’ve lost me.’
‘Forget it.’ Said Sam. ‘I’m just thinking out loud.’
He held his breath and double-clicked the icon.
‘Bloody hell.’ He exclaimed. ‘Mick, can you do me a favour?’
‘Course, what?’
‘First, email me this photo, and then I need you to find out everything you can about the military life of a William Thomas. I doubt you’ll find anything prior to whenever SCU4 was set up, 1978 was it? Though if he’s high enough to advise on SAS squad selection, who knows?’ He took a sip of his coffee. ‘I need to go home have a bite to eat, pack a few things, and then get to Thames House.’
Chapter Thirty-One
Early afternoon, the sun high in the sky, sparkling off the myriad glass buildings that make up the London skyline
Sam found a parking space in the MI5 carpark and entered the building. He made his way upstairs to the operations room where Virani was sat, staring at a screen.
She looked tired. Sam felt sorry for her. This entire operation had landed on her shoulders. Of course, Bray would take the credit when Raynor was caught, Virani was well aware of that. She was well acquainted with the inner workings of bureaucracy.
She turned to face Sam when she heard his footsteps. She smiled. A warm, friendly, exhausted smile.
‘Well, well, if it isn’t our very own Jackie Chan. Good to see you Samuel.’
Sam grinned.
‘Thanks Jay, you too. Though you really look like you could do with some rest.’
‘I appreciate your concern, Mr Edwards, but in case you weren’t aware, there’s a bloody lunatic blowing up London. Anyway, time to get you up to date.’
Sam sat in a chair at the next workstation. He picked a notepad and pen up from the desk, the nib of the pen poised above the paper.
Virani started to brief Sam on the MI5 findings. When she mentioned the pollen, he interrupted.
‘Sorry Jay, did you say pollen?’
‘Yes, some sort of lily pollen. Quite rare according to Barford. Not important, I’m sure.’
‘Could be more important than you think, Jay. Brigadier Saunders, at Tidworth, he has a collection of flowers sat on his window ledge. I’m sure he said one was a rare lily.’
Raynor was getting frustrated. Why hadn’t his device been detonated? It had been over an hour since he’d left it. Had he activated it? He sat in a cafe watching the building from a safe distance and was sure Lucas Fostervold was still inside, even though his staff had all left for the day. The camera from the fifty-seventh floor elevator corridor was streaming to a corner of his tablet screen.
He tapped an icon on the tablet and his BombJack app fired up. Communication Lost flashed across the top of the application window. He didn’t understand. He tapped an icon and a Google Maps window was displayed with a pin stabbing The Shard from a bird's eye view.
Too early for the cleaners, so I know they haven’t taken it. He thought. Best remove that outcome from the equation.
He tapped a couple of icons on the tablet.
If you want a job doing.
He looked back at The Shard, grinning.
Boom!
A split second later, the sky lit up and a loud explosion rumbled across the city as the fifty-seventh floor of The Shard, and Lucas Fostervold with it, were incinerated in a gigantic fireball.