fault for thinking you could take my photograph without me minding. Now, get inside and sit down on the floor.’ He gestured at Ali and Fazal. ‘That goes for you too.’
The three men went to sit by the metal tables.
‘What do you think?’ whispered Sharpe.
‘I think they thought they were being clever, that’s all,’ said Shepherd. ‘It’s not a problem.’
They stood by the door, but kept a close eye on the three men. Just under twenty minutes later, a Volvo estate car drove up.
‘They don’t go in for posh motors, do they?’ said Sharpe.
It parked next to the Mondeo. Asim was driving and Salman was in the passenger seat.
‘Tom, get over here,’ said Shepherd. Ali got to his feet. The circulation had gone in his legs and he walked unsteadily over to the door. ‘Go and get the money,’ said Shepherd. ‘Five grand. Don’t make any sudden movements, don’t do anything that will make Lomas here get the least bit jittery because that gun he’s holding so casually has a hair trigger.’
‘Okay, okay,’ said Ali, and hurried over to the Volvo. Asim wound down the window. They were too far away for Shepherd and Sharpe to hear what was said, but Salman had a briefcase on his knee. He opened it, took out half a dozen bundles of notes, then closed the case and handed it through the window to Ali. Ali hurried back with the briefcase in both hands.
Shepherd followed him to the metal tables while Sharpe stood at the door, holding his gun in plain view.
Ali opened the briefcase. Inside there were bundles of used banknotes, a mixture of tens and twenties. Shepherd flicked through one, then tossed it back into the case.
‘Aren’t you going to count it?’ asked Ali.
‘If you’re short, I’ll shoot you in the legs,’ said Shepherd. ‘Now, do you want to count it or are you happy?’
‘It’s all there,’ said Ali.
‘Well, then, there’s no need to count it, is there?’ said Shepherd, cheerfully. He nodded at Hassan and Fazal. ‘You guys can get up now.’ They got to their feet. ‘I’ll call you once we have the rest of the guns and ammunition,’ said Shepherd. ‘Now that we know each other, we can bring them to you. Where are you guys from?’
‘Birmingham,’ said Fazal.
‘Two hours up the motorway,’ said Sharpe. ‘We can do that.’
‘Okay,’ said Ali, picking up the case of guns. He carried it towards the door. Fazal picked up the cases with the magazines and ammunition and followed him. Hassan took one from him.
‘Drive carefully,’ said Shepherd. Hassan gave him a final glare and Shepherd grinned back.
Ali and Fazal put their suitcases into the Mondeo’s boot, then climbed into the car. Hassan put his in with theirs, slammed the boot and joined them. They drove away, the Mondeo leading, as Shepherd and Sharpe watched them.
‘Those guys really are amateurs,’ said Shepherd. ‘Did you see the way they handled the Ingrams? I don’t think either of them had ever held a gun before. And they didn’t ask any of the questions they should have asked.’
‘Amateurs can do a lot of damage with guns like that,’ said Sharpe.
‘They won’t do anything until they’ve got the rest,’ said Shepherd.
‘Nice twist offering to take the guns to them,’ said Sharpe. ‘Weren’t you going off menu, though?’
‘Yeah, I didn’t think they’d go for it but they took the bait. We’ll see what Charlie says, but I think SO13 will want a chance to get a video of them with weapons on their own turf.’
Sharpe opened the briefcase of money. ‘Doesn’t look much, does it?’ he said.
‘It isn’t much,’ said Shepherd. ‘It’s less than my estate agent’s charging me and not much more than I’ll pay my solicitor.’
They heard footsteps behind them and turned to see Button and Singh at the door. ‘Well done, gentlemen,’ said Button. She was wearing a dark blue blazer over a white shirt with pale blue Levis, and carrying a small transceiver in her right hand.
‘You got it all?’ asked Shepherd.
‘Sound and vision,’ said Singh.
Shepherd and Sharpe took off their jackets and shirts so that Singh could remove the transmitters and microphones. ‘What do you think?’ Shepherd asked Button.
‘Not the most professional bunch in the world,’ she said, ‘but you don’t have to be al-Qaeda trained to start blasting away in a shopping mall.’
Shepherd nodded at the knives and machete on the floor. ‘You’ll be able to get prints off those and I’m pretty sure they’re using their own vehicles.’
‘SO13 have them identified already,’ said Button.
‘I meant so we could get full IDs on them,’ said Shepherd.
‘It’s an SO13 case,’ said Button. ‘We don’t need to duplicate their work. And I’m not sure we need you hotfooting it up to Birmingham.’
‘I thought it might help,’ said Shepherd.
‘Seems a bit over-keen,’ said Button. ‘Better we let them come down here.’
‘Yeah, let Muhammad come to the mountain,’ said Sharpe.
Button gave him a withering look. ‘Razor, you’re going to have to be careful with the racial epithets.’
‘It was a joke,’ said Sharpe.
‘I meant in general,’ she said. ‘Your language isn’t acceptable.’
‘I was in character,’ said Sharpe.
‘You can’t go hurling words like “Paki” around any more.’
‘With respect, ma’am,’ said Sharpe, ‘I’m using the slang appropriate to the legend I’ve been given. I can’t start talking like an Oxbridge graduate just because the Commission for Racial Equality might get on my back.’
‘I appreciate that, but the tape was running and if one day it gets to court the defence will have a field day. We don’t want another OJ, do we?’ Sharpe opened his mouth to reply but Button silenced him with a wave of her hand. ‘So, next time you feel like mouthing off, call him a prick or a moron, but don’t pick on racial characteristics.’
‘Heard and understood, ma’am,’ said Sharpe.
‘You’re grinning, Razor.’
‘It’s my sunny personality, ma’am.’
‘And stop calling me “ma’am”. I know you only do it to wind me up. Okay, today went well, all things considered. We’ve got them on tape with weapons, but I want to take it a step further.’
‘How?’ asked Shepherd.
‘According to SO13, the group is considering a suicide mission. I want you to offer them explosives and detonators.’
Shepherd stared at her, stunned. ‘You what?’
‘We need to ratchet it up a notch. When you call them about delivering the rest of the guns, let them know you can get explosives.’
‘They didn’t ask us for explosives, though, did they?’ said Shepherd.
‘Because you were put forward as an arms dealer,’ said Button. ‘They’ve accepted you, now it’s time to raise the stakes.’
Shepherd’s eyes narrowed. ‘Is this SO13’s idea, or yours?’ he asked.
‘Does it matter?’
‘It smacks to me of entrapment,’ said Shepherd.
‘They contacted you,’ said Button.
‘For guns. Now we’re suggesting that they set themselves up as suicide-bombers.’
‘We give them the option,’ said Button. ‘It’s up to them whether or not they take it. Spider, what’s the problem?’
‘No problem, I guess,’ said Shepherd.
She looked at Sharpe. ‘Razor?’
Sharpe grinned. ‘No problems here,’ he said.
