Contents (83)
- 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
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- Acknowledgements
- OUT NOW IN PAPERBACK
For Hirst, everything was going to plan.
Right up until the plan fell apart.
SEVENTY-FOUR
The journey from Joelle Levy’s desk to the MI6 building in Vauxhall had taken seven minutes. Dempsey had called ahead and pulled rank just as he had promised he would. He had arranged for Levy to bypass security, which allowed her to reach the helipad and board the waiting International Security Bureau chopper with no delay.
Twelve minutes in total, between Dempsey’s call and Levy’s take-off.
The chopper was unlike anything Levy had ever seen. Which was unsurprising as the RAH-66 Comanche had officially never gone beyond the prototype stage. Designed at a cost of seven billion dollars to be the world’s foremost stealth helicopter, the cost per unit had proved too much for even the US military and so the project had been scrapped. The six prototypes, however, had not. Three were on display in specialist flight museums around the world. The other three were now the property of the ISB.
The journey to Brookwood would take just twenty-three minutes more. Far quicker than Michael had managed by car. But long enough for Levy to prepare.
The Comanche came well stocked. All the weaponry Levy could ask for. Certainly more than she would be issued by Scotland Yard.
Levy considered the armoury and selected the L129A1 7.62mm semiautomatic assault rifle. The standard-issue sharpshooter rifle for the British Army’s front-line operational units, and the closest to those Levy had used in both the Israel Defense Forces and, later, Shin Bet.
Next Levy selected the weapon’s sight. The Trijicon ACOG 6×48 telescope. Again standard-issue. Again, closest to the equipment Levy had used before. She clamped the sight in place before turning to the final piece of essential equipment: the MilSight S135 Magnum Universal Night Sight. Essential if the weapon was to be of any use in the dark of the night.
Levy assembled the weaponry in under a minute. An impressive achievement with an unfamiliar gun. Doubly so in the darkness of a moving chopper. The next five minutes of the journey were spent inspecting the mechanics. Ensuring that nothing would go wrong when the shooting started.
Satisfied, Levy clicked the twenty-round magazine into place and settled back into her seat.
‘Two kilometres to the target, ma’am.’
Levy opened her eyes and looked at her watch. Fifteen minutes had passed since she had finished preparing the rifle. She had used that time to make herself as ready as her weapon. Levy had learned the breathing exercises that lowered the heart rate while in Israel. A skill that was essential for a sharpshooter, it was not one she had expected to need again.
‘Will they hear us yet?’
‘No, ma’am,’ the pilot replied. ‘We’re as close to silent running as these things get. This time of night they’ll hear a little something at maybe a kilometre out. But we’ll be as close as six hundred metres before we’re unmistakable.’
‘OK,’ Levy replied. ‘In that case cover the kilometre, then get us steady.’