Chapters (45)
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Prologue
- 2046
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- About the Author
A tradesperson entering a property has reason to carry bags and equipment. He has reason to park his van outside and potter about, taking in large pots of paint and boxes of supplies. He has tool cases, wiring looms, ladders, power tools and a stylus for his tablet tucked behind his ear. He huffs and puffs, slightly harassed, overworked, underpaid. He looks about for the parking attendants and curses softly under his breath. He does it five times.
The five gain access and take up position within. The windows are done first with exceptional attention to detail. A special film is secured above each window and stretched out at an angle into the room. Anyone looking in will see a partial reflection of the room and the outside. Anyone on the inside can stand and stare out without fear of being seen.
High-powered lenses are made ready. High-powered directional microphones are positioned towards the warehouse opposite, aimed in particular at the alarmed front door and the windows to the front. The right-side windows on the warehouse offer glimpses of large and seemingly unused rooms. The windows on the upper levels on the left are blacked out. The three windows on the ground floor to the left are grimy. Two give light to the hallway inside the main door. The third gives light to a room in use. Shelves fitted to walls. Some chairs and a table, but the whole of the room cannot be seen. It is that window that is their focus.
As the last film is fitted to the last window, they observe a RIB being delivered on the back of a trailer towed by a van driven by the German-speaking Englishman seen in the café.
It’s a good RIB too. Very high specification. The outboard motor is immense. The German-speaking Englishman opens the alarmed door and is joined by the proper Englishman. Together they carry in wetsuits, diving equipment and a huge reel of rope attached to a motor. Then they huff and puff to get the RIB inside the wide main door.
A weird blue light then comes on. Distinctive and reflecting in the glass of the windows. It goes off within a few seconds then comes again, but this time in the inside room of the far-left grimy ground floor window. Blue light on and off.
When the German-speaking man comes out to move the van, the RIB can no longer be seen in the hallway inside the main door. The RIB is big. It couldn’t fit through the door to the room on the left. The van is driven away and a few minutes later the German-speaking Englishman rushes back to get through the alarmed door and inside the room. The blue light stayed on while he was gone, and a few seconds after he goes back in it goes off.
‘Mother will be pleased,’ Alpha says quietly to the other four. ‘I think we’ve found it.’
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Four