arrived with two fresh pints of Guinness and McDevitt automatically fell silent. Wilson passed over a £10 note and told the barman to keep the change.
‘To say that what came out was interesting would be an understatement,’ said McDevitt sipping his Guinness.
‘Are you going to tell me or do I have to beg?’
‘Your two friends are not just special branch. They belong to a unit that’s even special in Special Branch, if you know what I mean. They’ve done a lot of close protection of politicians. They have connections with the people who govern this province. Right now, their speciality is rooting out subversives. They’re into all sort of black operations, what the Americans call ‘psych ops’.’ He looked at Wilson and saw that he understood the term. ‘They are very heavy-duty operators. Which begs the question, what the hell are they doing working with you?’
‘It’s funny, I’m asking myself that question too.’
‘I tried to push for more information and I was told that digging deeper could be very bad for my health. And that was from people I’ve known for years. The bottom line was to keep away from these two individuals. And I was asked not to contact my sources for a very long time.’
Wilson picked up his drink and took a long draught. For once in his life he felt boxed in. He had nowhere to turn. His only resource was sitting directly in front of him and had just been warned off. But warned off what? Jackson had declared himself from the beginning as former Special Branch. Sinclair had avoided the question of his past affiliations. Luckily, Wilson hadn’t made enquiries via his PSNI contacts. It was better that Sinclair and Jackson should be unaware that he didn’t trust them.
‘I can almost see the wheels in your mind spinning,’ McDevitt smiled. ‘I think you may have pissed off somebody with a hell of a lot of influence.’
‘DCC Jennings?’
‘Are you kidding? That little prick has as much influence as someone like me. He’s a gnat on the arsehole of the world. Whoever set these guys on you has real juice.’
‘So what do you think they’re up to?’
‘I wouldn’t dare speculate.’ McDevitt took a gulp of his Guinness. ‘If I did, you might not sleep too well tonight.’
Wilson thought about telling McDevitt about the box that Mallon passed him. He didn’t like to feel like a pawn in someone else’s game. But first, he needed to find out exactly what the game might be. He took out his mobile phone and checked his messages again. Nothing from Kate. He closed the phone down.
‘She’s doing OK,’ McDevitt said. ‘There’s a few weeks to go, but my gut tells me she’s going to succeed in getting a reduced sentence for Cummerford. Probably more than she deserves. As your new best friend, don’t you think you could tell me what’s going on? I was on the lookout for you this morning on the embankment but you were a no show.’
‘I haven’t heard a word from Kate since the trial started. I’ve never been on a “break” before so I don’t have a script to follow.’
McDevitt could see that Wilson was in pain. ‘It’ll work out. You guys were the perfect match. I often speculated on what the children you two produced would look like.’
Genetically imperfect, Wilson thought, if the one they had already produced was anything to go by.
‘You’ll find a way back,’ McDevitt said. That really wasn’t his experience. He was two wives down and neither one had ended up a friend.
‘I’d be with her in a heartbeat,’ Wilson contemplated a third drink. Ah shit , he thought, and raised his hand to the barman.
McDevitt smiled. ‘One of the great fallacies in life is that drink is useful for drowning sorrows. Dealing with loss is a process that can’t be speeded up by copious amounts of Guinness. Believe me, I’ve been there.’
The barman arrived and put two pint glasses of Guinness on the table. McDevitt reached for his pocket but Wilson beat him, and
‘To say that what came out was interesting would be an understatement,’ said McDevitt sipping his Guinness.
‘Are you going to tell me or do I have to beg?’
‘Your two friends are not just special branch. They belong to a unit that’s even special in Special Branch, if you know what I mean. They’ve done a lot of close protection of politicians. They have connections with the people who govern this province. Right now, their speciality is rooting out subversives. They’re into all sort of black operations, what the Americans call ‘psych ops’.’ He looked at Wilson and saw that he understood the term. ‘They are very heavy-duty operators. Which begs the question, what the hell are they doing working with you?’
‘It’s funny, I’m asking myself that question too.’
‘I tried to push for more information and I was told that digging deeper could be very bad for my health. And that was from people I’ve known for years. The bottom line was to keep away from these two individuals. And I was asked not to contact my sources for a very long time.’
Wilson picked up his drink and took a long draught. For once in his life he felt boxed in. He had nowhere to turn. His only resource was sitting directly in front of him and had just been warned off. But warned off what? Jackson had declared himself from the beginning as former Special Branch. Sinclair had avoided the question of his past affiliations. Luckily, Wilson hadn’t made enquiries via his PSNI contacts. It was better that Sinclair and Jackson should be unaware that he didn’t trust them.
‘I can almost see the wheels in your mind spinning,’ McDevitt smiled. ‘I think you may have pissed off somebody with a hell of a lot of influence.’
‘DCC Jennings?’
‘Are you kidding? That little prick has as much influence as someone like me. He’s a gnat on the arsehole of the world. Whoever set these guys on you has real juice.’
‘So what do you think they’re up to?’
‘I wouldn’t dare speculate.’ McDevitt took a gulp of his Guinness. ‘If I did, you might not sleep too well tonight.’
Wilson thought about telling McDevitt about the box that Mallon passed him. He didn’t like to feel like a pawn in someone else’s game. But first, he needed to find out exactly what the game might be. He took out his mobile phone and checked his messages again. Nothing from Kate. He closed the phone down.
‘She’s doing OK,’ McDevitt said. ‘There’s a few weeks to go, but my gut tells me she’s going to succeed in getting a reduced sentence for Cummerford. Probably more than she deserves. As your new best friend, don’t you think you could tell me what’s going on? I was on the lookout for you this morning on the embankment but you were a no show.’
‘I haven’t heard a word from Kate since the trial started. I’ve never been on a “break” before so I don’t have a script to follow.’
McDevitt could see that Wilson was in pain. ‘It’ll work out. You guys were the perfect match. I often speculated on what the children you two produced would look like.’
Genetically imperfect, Wilson thought, if the one they had already produced was anything to go by.
‘You’ll find a way back,’ McDevitt said. That really wasn’t his experience. He was two wives down and neither one had ended up a friend.
‘I’d be with her in a heartbeat,’ Wilson contemplated a third drink. Ah shit , he thought, and raised his hand to the barman.
McDevitt smiled. ‘One of the great fallacies in life is that drink is useful for drowning sorrows. Dealing with loss is a process that can’t be speeded up by copious amounts of Guinness. Believe me, I’ve been there.’
The barman arrived and put two pint glasses of Guinness on the table. McDevitt reached for his pocket but Wilson beat him, and
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