held him. Spinks pushed them straight. ‘I’m okay,’ he said. ‘I’m okay.’
Stratton helped Spinks out of the box beside the broken man lying on the floor of the van, watching them.
‘What about ’im?’ Spinks asked.
‘What’s your name?’ Stratton asked the man.
‘O . . . O’Kelly,’ the man said, catching his breath. Spinks wondered if Stratton was going to kill him. He wouldn’t be in the least surprised if he did.That didn’t mean he knew Stratton well enough to know he’d do it. Quite the contrary. He didn’t know Stratton well at all, but the rumours about him left one in doubt as to his true character.
‘Looks like he’s paid a price for today,’ Spinks said, hoping that if Stratton was into executing the bloke he might change his mind. It wasn’t something Spinks was into, even after what he’d been through. He wasn’t a murderer.
The man’s eyes started to glaze and his breathing suddenly grew shallower, and then it stopped altogether.
Spinks stared at him with no sign of remorse or celebration. It was simply an event.
‘Come on,’ Stratton said and helped Spinks out of the van.They shuffled to the gap in the hedge and Spinks glanced back at the front of the van.
‘Fuckin’ ’ell!’ he said. ‘Good thing I was in that box.’ As Stratton helped him through the hedge he grabbed up his SLR and they made their way across the field towards the waiting Gazelle. The short walk helped Spinks’s circulation and he could almost support himself by the time they reached it.
‘I knew it was you. I fuckin’ knew it,’ Spinks said. ‘Soon as I ’eard the shootin’ I said to myself, that’s Stratton that is. Then we ’it a fuckin’ wall.’ Spinks chuckled until the pain made it difficult to laugh any more.
Stratton helped him into the back and laid him down on the bench seat. As he climbed into the exposed front passenger seat the Gazelle lifted skyward and turned North.
Stratton put on his headset, positioned the mic in front of his lips, and pushed the send button. ‘Zero alpha, whisky one. I have four two Charlie. He has a gunshot wound but he’s gonna be okay. I’m towards your location.’
A cheer went up in the ops room. Mike picked up the handset. ‘Roger that, whisky one,’ he replied. ‘Any other casualties?’
‘Two, possibly three dead, unconfirmed. At least one escaped.’
‘Understood,’ Mike said. ‘See you when you land.’ Mike put down the handset and sat back in his chair, looking a little spent. ‘Send a tow to pick up one three kilo,’ he said to Graham.
‘Already on its way,’ Graham said. ‘Nice one, boss,’ he added, grinning. ‘Not a bad ending, all things considered.’
Mike wasn’t feeling particularly celebratory. His thoughts were elsewhere. There was something he had queried the moment Spinks had been kidnapped but had pushed to the back of his mind. ‘This one is far from over . . . We’ve at least one major problem to figure out now.’
The second in command and the intelligence officer glanced at each other, unsure what Mike could be referring to.
‘If you mean the border excursion, I’d take that any day over a kidnapped operative,’ the int officer said.
‘That’s not what I’m talking about,’ Mike said. ‘This problem is even more serious than Spinks being kidnapped.’
The others looked at each other, unaware what that could possibly be. Mike saw the vacant look in their eyes and lowered his voice so that only they could hear.
‘Spinks’s kidnapping was a set-up from the start. It was elaborate, well planned and executed, and they almost got away with it.You don’t put something like that together in a few hours or overnight even. They knew he was going to be outside the church in the trunk of that car long before he arrived there. We planned that operation less than two weeks ago and it was known only to a handful of members in the detachment and military intelligence. No one in the RUC or regular
Stratton helped Spinks out of the box beside the broken man lying on the floor of the van, watching them.
‘What about ’im?’ Spinks asked.
‘What’s your name?’ Stratton asked the man.
‘O . . . O’Kelly,’ the man said, catching his breath. Spinks wondered if Stratton was going to kill him. He wouldn’t be in the least surprised if he did.That didn’t mean he knew Stratton well enough to know he’d do it. Quite the contrary. He didn’t know Stratton well at all, but the rumours about him left one in doubt as to his true character.
‘Looks like he’s paid a price for today,’ Spinks said, hoping that if Stratton was into executing the bloke he might change his mind. It wasn’t something Spinks was into, even after what he’d been through. He wasn’t a murderer.
The man’s eyes started to glaze and his breathing suddenly grew shallower, and then it stopped altogether.
Spinks stared at him with no sign of remorse or celebration. It was simply an event.
‘Come on,’ Stratton said and helped Spinks out of the van.They shuffled to the gap in the hedge and Spinks glanced back at the front of the van.
‘Fuckin’ ’ell!’ he said. ‘Good thing I was in that box.’ As Stratton helped him through the hedge he grabbed up his SLR and they made their way across the field towards the waiting Gazelle. The short walk helped Spinks’s circulation and he could almost support himself by the time they reached it.
‘I knew it was you. I fuckin’ knew it,’ Spinks said. ‘Soon as I ’eard the shootin’ I said to myself, that’s Stratton that is. Then we ’it a fuckin’ wall.’ Spinks chuckled until the pain made it difficult to laugh any more.
Stratton helped him into the back and laid him down on the bench seat. As he climbed into the exposed front passenger seat the Gazelle lifted skyward and turned North.
Stratton put on his headset, positioned the mic in front of his lips, and pushed the send button. ‘Zero alpha, whisky one. I have four two Charlie. He has a gunshot wound but he’s gonna be okay. I’m towards your location.’
A cheer went up in the ops room. Mike picked up the handset. ‘Roger that, whisky one,’ he replied. ‘Any other casualties?’
‘Two, possibly three dead, unconfirmed. At least one escaped.’
‘Understood,’ Mike said. ‘See you when you land.’ Mike put down the handset and sat back in his chair, looking a little spent. ‘Send a tow to pick up one three kilo,’ he said to Graham.
‘Already on its way,’ Graham said. ‘Nice one, boss,’ he added, grinning. ‘Not a bad ending, all things considered.’
Mike wasn’t feeling particularly celebratory. His thoughts were elsewhere. There was something he had queried the moment Spinks had been kidnapped but had pushed to the back of his mind. ‘This one is far from over . . . We’ve at least one major problem to figure out now.’
The second in command and the intelligence officer glanced at each other, unsure what Mike could be referring to.
‘If you mean the border excursion, I’d take that any day over a kidnapped operative,’ the int officer said.
‘That’s not what I’m talking about,’ Mike said. ‘This problem is even more serious than Spinks being kidnapped.’
The others looked at each other, unaware what that could possibly be. Mike saw the vacant look in their eyes and lowered his voice so that only they could hear.
‘Spinks’s kidnapping was a set-up from the start. It was elaborate, well planned and executed, and they almost got away with it.You don’t put something like that together in a few hours or overnight even. They knew he was going to be outside the church in the trunk of that car long before he arrived there. We planned that operation less than two weeks ago and it was known only to a handful of members in the detachment and military intelligence. No one in the RUC or regular
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