What? ’
‘Spud and Tony. This is off the record, but I’ve just found out Spud’s been nailing Tony’s missus.’
Hammond swore. ‘ What is it with Spud? Can’t he keep his fucking salami to himself? ’
‘That’s not all, boss. I think Tony just tried to whack Spud and pass it off as an accident.’
Silence. Danny found himself holding his breath. He knew that if he’d made that accusation of anyone else, nobody would believe him. But everyone knew about Tony Wiseman. ‘I saw it happen,’ he pressed when Hammond failed to reply. ‘They’re at each other’s throats. And Caitlin looks like she wants to murder him too. The unit’s not functioning.’
‘ Alright, Black, ’ Hammond retorted suddenly. ‘ I’ve got the message. ’ There was another brief pause. ‘ You, Spud and Caitlin are to accompany Santa and Rudolph to the interrogation centre in Malta. We’re sending instructions through to the Wildcat flight crew to get you there now. When you arrive, you’re to stay in on the interrogation. I want you to hear what these fuckers have to say first-hand. And Black. ’
‘What?’
‘ Keep a close eye on Spud. He’s been at the receiving end of more than his fair share of field interrogations. The military shrink flagged it up before I put him back on ops. You’re heading to a black camp in Malta. He won’t like it. ’
‘Spud will be fine. What about Tony?’
‘I’m going to reassign him. ’
‘Where?’ Danny asked, a feeling of cold satisfaction creeping up on him. And even though he was soaking wet and more than a little pissed off, he couldn’t help but allow himself a small smile when Hammond explained what was in store for Tony over the next few days.
Tony blinked at him. ‘ What? ’ he demanded.
They were standing in the SF room. The two prisoners, still hooded and cable-tied, were lying face down on the floor, unable to see or hear anything that was going on. And Danny was relaying, practically verbatim, what Hammond had told him. ‘Yellow Seven,’ he said.
Tony stared at him.
‘Hammond said the royals have been on at the MoD for days, trying to get a Regiment man out to Dubai to escort him back home for Christmas.’ He turned to Caitlin. ‘The royals are a bit like that about the SAS,’ he said. ‘Seem to think we’re their personal bodyguards. Anyway, turns out Hereford kept stonewalling them, saying they didn’t have a man spare.’ He gave Tony a cool look. ‘Looks like they’ve changed their minds. Unit command passes to me. You’re to wait on board for a chopper to airlift you back to Sigonella. They’ll fly you out to Dubai from there.’
Tony’s neck had flushed red. He fronted up to Danny. ‘You’ll pay for this, Black.’ For the briefest moment, he looked genuinely insane.
‘Not my call,’ Danny breathed. ‘Blame the headshed, not me.’
Tony’s eyes narrowed. He looked like he was about to say something, then thought better of it. He pushed past Danny and over towards Spud. ‘Touch my missus again,’ he breathed, ‘you’ll find yourself wishing I’d released that fucking round two seconds earlier.’
‘Easy Tony,’ Spud said. ‘You’re a royal flunky now.’
Tony turned to Danny, and pointed to Caitlin. ‘I suppose you’ll want to get stuck in with her, now I’m off the scene,’ he said.
‘Go to hell, Tony,’ Caitlin spat.
Silence. Then Tony turned his back on them and headed to the exit of the SF room.
‘Wait,’ Danny instructed.
Tony stopped and turned slowly, his face filled with utter hate.
‘Whitehall are spinning the Enterprise crew your little story that our two targets must have left bomb-making equipment on the boat. Trouble is, they’re not stupid. Take my advice, Tony: don’t wind them up. A few of the crew were looking like they wanted to send us the same way as the migrants. We’d all hate for anything bad to happen to you.’
‘The hell you would,’ Tony muttered. He strode up to Danny.
‘Spud and Tony. This is off the record, but I’ve just found out Spud’s been nailing Tony’s missus.’
Hammond swore. ‘ What is it with Spud? Can’t he keep his fucking salami to himself? ’
‘That’s not all, boss. I think Tony just tried to whack Spud and pass it off as an accident.’
Silence. Danny found himself holding his breath. He knew that if he’d made that accusation of anyone else, nobody would believe him. But everyone knew about Tony Wiseman. ‘I saw it happen,’ he pressed when Hammond failed to reply. ‘They’re at each other’s throats. And Caitlin looks like she wants to murder him too. The unit’s not functioning.’
‘ Alright, Black, ’ Hammond retorted suddenly. ‘ I’ve got the message. ’ There was another brief pause. ‘ You, Spud and Caitlin are to accompany Santa and Rudolph to the interrogation centre in Malta. We’re sending instructions through to the Wildcat flight crew to get you there now. When you arrive, you’re to stay in on the interrogation. I want you to hear what these fuckers have to say first-hand. And Black. ’
‘What?’
‘ Keep a close eye on Spud. He’s been at the receiving end of more than his fair share of field interrogations. The military shrink flagged it up before I put him back on ops. You’re heading to a black camp in Malta. He won’t like it. ’
‘Spud will be fine. What about Tony?’
‘I’m going to reassign him. ’
‘Where?’ Danny asked, a feeling of cold satisfaction creeping up on him. And even though he was soaking wet and more than a little pissed off, he couldn’t help but allow himself a small smile when Hammond explained what was in store for Tony over the next few days.
Tony blinked at him. ‘ What? ’ he demanded.
They were standing in the SF room. The two prisoners, still hooded and cable-tied, were lying face down on the floor, unable to see or hear anything that was going on. And Danny was relaying, practically verbatim, what Hammond had told him. ‘Yellow Seven,’ he said.
Tony stared at him.
‘Hammond said the royals have been on at the MoD for days, trying to get a Regiment man out to Dubai to escort him back home for Christmas.’ He turned to Caitlin. ‘The royals are a bit like that about the SAS,’ he said. ‘Seem to think we’re their personal bodyguards. Anyway, turns out Hereford kept stonewalling them, saying they didn’t have a man spare.’ He gave Tony a cool look. ‘Looks like they’ve changed their minds. Unit command passes to me. You’re to wait on board for a chopper to airlift you back to Sigonella. They’ll fly you out to Dubai from there.’
Tony’s neck had flushed red. He fronted up to Danny. ‘You’ll pay for this, Black.’ For the briefest moment, he looked genuinely insane.
‘Not my call,’ Danny breathed. ‘Blame the headshed, not me.’
Tony’s eyes narrowed. He looked like he was about to say something, then thought better of it. He pushed past Danny and over towards Spud. ‘Touch my missus again,’ he breathed, ‘you’ll find yourself wishing I’d released that fucking round two seconds earlier.’
‘Easy Tony,’ Spud said. ‘You’re a royal flunky now.’
Tony turned to Danny, and pointed to Caitlin. ‘I suppose you’ll want to get stuck in with her, now I’m off the scene,’ he said.
‘Go to hell, Tony,’ Caitlin spat.
Silence. Then Tony turned his back on them and headed to the exit of the SF room.
‘Wait,’ Danny instructed.
Tony stopped and turned slowly, his face filled with utter hate.
‘Whitehall are spinning the Enterprise crew your little story that our two targets must have left bomb-making equipment on the boat. Trouble is, they’re not stupid. Take my advice, Tony: don’t wind them up. A few of the crew were looking like they wanted to send us the same way as the migrants. We’d all hate for anything bad to happen to you.’
‘The hell you would,’ Tony muttered. He strode up to Danny.
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