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rogue who would surely find his way there with no problem at all. His
troublesome ways would . . .
Halloran blinked and the memory was gone; '.but the disquiet lingered. Why
think of boyhood iniquity at that moment? There were worse sins to remember.
'The gates are locked?' The trace of Irish in his voice once more, the
unexpected reverie tinting his speech.
'In a way,' replied Kline.
Halloran glanced over his shoulder and the psychic smiled.
'Wait,' Kline repeated.
Halloran turned back and looked through the bars of the gate. There was no
movement from the lodge, no one leaving there to come to the entrance. But
then his eyes narrowed when he saw when he thought he saw a shadow shift
within a shadow inside one of the lodge's upper windows. His sharpened focus
detected no further movement.
'Open up, Monk,' Kline ordered his bodyguard.
With a low grunt, the heavy-set American pushed open the passenger door and
hefted himself out. He ambled towards the gate and indolently raised a hand to
push one side open, taking it all the way back, its base grating over the
road's uneven surface, until foliage poked through the struts. He did the same
with the other half, then stood to one side like an unkempt guardsman while
Halloran drove on through.
He closed the gates once more when the Mercedes drew to a halt inside the
grounds.
Halloran had been irritated by a simple procedure which had been dramatised
into a ritual. He could only assume that an electronic device in the gate's
lock had been triggered by whoever was inside the lodge; yet when driving
through, he hadn't noticed any such mechanism.
'I take it there's someone inside . . .' he nodded towards the lodge-house '.
. . capable of stopping any uninvited visitors from coming through?' Kline
merely grinned.
Halloran was about to put the question again, more pointedly this time, when
he heard the sound of a vehicle braking sharply on the road outside the
grounds. He turned swiftly to see the other Shield car reverse back to the
opening then turn in.
'Tell Monk to open the gate again,' he said.
'I'm afraid not.' Kline was shaking his head. 'You know the rules, Halloran.'
There was a hint of glee in his voice, as though the psychic were enjoying the
game now that he was safely home.
'Have it your way.' Halloran left the Mercedes and walked back to the gate,
Monk grudgingly opening it a fraction to allow him out. The two Shield
operatives waited for him beside the Granada.
'Nearly missed this place,' one of them said as he drew near.
Halloran nodded. 'No bad thing. How about the Peugeot, Eddy?' Clean away. No
sign at all.
Halloran wasn't surprised. 'Response from Base?T 'As we figured. The car was
stolen from Heathrow's shortterm carpark some time last night. As usual the
owner had left his exit ticket inside.'
'Should we inform the Blues?' asked the other man, who had been keeping a wary
eye on the road.
'That's for Snaith to decide, but I don't think our client would want the
police involved at this stage. If things get serious, we might have to
insist.' Both operatives grinned, aware of how much it would take to render a
situation 'serious' as far as Halloran was concerned.
'D'you want us to check the grounds?' enquired Eddy, gesturing towards the
gate.
Halloran shook his head. 'Off-limits for you two. Patrol the roads around here
and keep an eye out for that Peugeot. You never know, they might chance their
luck again later. I'll keep my RT with me at all times so you can warn me if
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you spot anything suspicious. From what I've seen so far this place is
high-risk, so stay sharp. Be back here by the main gate in three hours so the
next team can take over.'
'Body cover's a bit thin, isn't it?' the second operative remarked, never once
allowing his observation of the main road to stray, 'particularly now we're
sure the contract's positive.'
'We've no choice. It's how our target wants it. Maybe Snaith and Mather will
convince him otherwise through the insurers, but 'til then, we do it as
briefed. I'll be back here for changeover, so we'll compare notes then.' He
turned away and the two operatives shrugged at each other. Halloran was never
forthcoming with finer details, but they trusted his judgement implicitly; if
he wanted the operation to proceed in this way, then they wouldn't argue. They
climbed back into the Granada and reversed from the drive.
Once inside, the gate closed behind Halloran with a solid Chunk, leaving him
with an absurd feeling that the estate had been sealed permanently. Monk
glowered resentfully at him as he passed and he realised there were going to
be problems between them. That was unfortunate; if outsiders had to be
involved in an operation, Halloran preferred them at least to be dependable.
Ignoring the big man, he went to the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]