The instructions were clear. Capture and collect. All they had to do was hold onto him and wait for his men. He’d send professionals, this time.
Si was in his sights, and pretty soon he’d have him hanging from a hook.
???
Jac’s been holed up in the living room all evening while I’m snug in bed, reading on my Kindle.
It’s a filthy night. The weather should be improving now it’s spring. But rough winds are shaking the April buds, and the rain is battering relentlessly against the bedroom window.
The telephone ringing out in the hall makes me start, and it’s an effort to pull myself out of my book to go answer it.
It’s Claire. We’ve been calling each other regularly and she’s come up to see me a couple of times since we had our spa day.
She’s usually quite chilled out, but tonight she’s frantic. I promise to call her tomorrow and find out what’s going on.
“What are you up to?”
Jac’s sketching in front of the fire in the living room.
“You’ll see.”
He gives me a teasing grin, making me all the more curious to see what he’s drawing.
“Who was on the phone?”
“Claire. She’s worried. She’s not heard from Sion.”
Jac pulls a face.
“Something definitely going on there, then?”
“They’ve been talking to each other every day. She says that they’d got real close, and then he suddenly stopped calling. He was meant to be back last Sunday. She’s not heard from him for a week and he’s not answered her messages.”
“He's not contacted me either, but Sion’s not flaky. He’s probably working all hours to get the job finished. I’ll try him tomorrow.”
“Jac; d’you think he’s okay?”
“Yeah. It’ll be work or his phone’s broke; there’ll be a good reason. Look, if I can’t get hold of him, I’ll try Jase.”
“Claire asked him to go travelling with her. She’s worried she’s scared him off.”
“No way. Not Sion. He’s spent months chasing her. He’s drunk a lot of beer for that woman.”
“I’ll tell her that.”
Sidling up towards him, I sit by the fire and try to sneak a peek at what he’s sketching. But he’s too quick; he clutches the pad tightly to his chest, then holds it away from me in the air.
“Ahh, come on, Jac. That’s not fair. Lemme see. Please.”
I wrestle and tickle him to free up his arm so I can see the paper, making him laugh.
“Okay, nosey. You really wanna see?”
He liberates himself from my clutches and shows me the sketch pad.
“You wanted me to design you a tattoo. Thought we could both have this done.”
On the paper is the most delicately sketched bird.
“A swallow?”
“Yeah. I started playing around with ideas, and the bird I kept seeing was a swallow. Seeing as we’ve both come home.”
“You’d better not be buggering off abroad every winter, then.”
“Not unless we go together.”
He smiles and my heart melts. Dammit.
I study the delicately pencil-etched swallow with its feathered wings, into which he’s added a faint hint of blue and a slightly reddened throat. Its wings are set back and the bird is plummeting downwards, except for the head which arcs, as if it’s about to soar up again.
He unbuttons my pyjama top and pulls it down, exposing my shoulder blade.
“It’ll be discreet, ‘cos it’ll fit low on your shoulder and then go up to here,” he says, tracing over my back with his fingers.
“And it’ll cover the marks?”
His eyes burn into mine.
“Yes.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“It’s a part of me on you forever, Annie. You sure you want to go ahead?”
I nod and he kisses me tenderly.
“What happens next?”
“I’ll make a stencil. Then, after lambing, we’ll go see Matt.”
“Matt?”
“The guy who did my other two.”
It suddenly feels like it’s happening.
“Annie, if you change your mind, you need to say. ‘Cos once it’s on, it’s not coming off.”
“I want to get it done.”
“You sure?”
“Yes. Give him a call.”
???
“You’re going into witness protection.”
The way the NCA officer said it, there was no argument to be had. But still, the words reverberated in Sion’s ears. It was what he’d been dreading.
It meant that it was all over. He was being decommissioned.
He watched a pigeon with its beak in the dust in front of their park bench. He’d be like that from now on, spending the rest of his life pecking around, trying to survive in an unfamiliar world. His career, his life, was over.
The officer fired the ring pull on his can of Coca-Cola and the bird flew away.
“Irish has put the word out on the street. There’s a hefty price on your head. You’re a walking target, and there’s plenty who’d jump at taking a shot.”
“London’s safe enough.”
The officer opened his phone and clicked on an app.
A grainy picture of Sion’s face popped up on screen together with details of the finder’s fee.
He then clicked open a map and four friends pins suddenly popped up on it. They were all within a one-mile range.
Rattled, Sion pulled his baseball cap down low over his forehead and lifted his hoodie over the top of it
.
“I need forty-eight hours.”
“No dice. You’re leaving right now.”
“I can’t. I’ve got to see my mam before I go.”
His handler shook his head at Sion’s weak attempt at emotional blackmail. Did he take him for an idiot?
“C’mon man, this is it for me. You know the score, once I get a new identity I’m dead to everyone. Forty-eight hours, what’s that?”
“The difference between you living and dying, for real?”
“What’s the worst that’s gonna happen to me? That I get jumped? Think I can't handle myself against a couple of Scallies trying to make a few quid?”
“Sion; don’t underestimate them. You had a lucky escape. In their eyes, you’re a police informer and you’ve made them look like fools. If they catch you, it won’t be pretty.”
“I’m a skilled operative.”
“Thirty of them are banged up because of you.”
“See? I’ll be fine.”
“And they’re royally pissed off. Mainly with you.”
“So, do I get my two days?”
“And what if I say no?”
Sion looked away.
The officer sighed.
“Monday morning, National Crime Agency HQ with your suitcase packed. And think hard about where you wanna go.”
“Oh… and Sion?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t bullshit me again. I read your bio. If you want a plus one, you best give me a call.”
“Appreciate it.”
Sion moved off the park bench and pulled his hoodie even lower before walking away.
How many people were after him? How many already had visuals on him? Did they know his car?
The photo was from the Wrexham pub. He’d been careless, arrogant even. And now he was paying the price.
And, was he being arrogant to have begged for time? He could have been on a plane in a couple of hours escaping to safety.
But not without seeing Claire first.
It was a fair old drive back to Wales, but one he had to make.
???
“He’s been with you? No... Nothing’s up. Hadn’t heard from him, that’s all.”
Jac wraps up the call.
“Definitely… yes, you’ll get to meet her, don’t you worry. We’re planning a trip down after lambing. Gonna see Matt… Yeah, having another one done… Yeah, both of us... Thanks bro... See ya soon.”