Tested by Fire by David Costa (brene brown rising strong .txt) 📕

‘That is why we’re here,’ said Mohammad. ‘We know what needs to be done. We’ve already taken the risk that’s needed, and we’ll complete the task ahead with Allah’s help.’

Mohammad then pulled his Glock from his coat pocket and laid it on the table. Imtaz and Waheed followed suit and placed their guns on the table too. The gesture was felt by all three. This was a battle they were determined to win, a fight to the death.

‘Let us pray to Allah, let him give us strength, courage, and the wisdom we’ll need,’ said Imtaz.

All three knelt on the living room carpet and side by side, they fell forward, touching their heads and hands to the floor in a silent prayer to Allah.

Chapter Forty-four

When the call came in from DCI Connor it was Broad who took it. Reece and everyone else in the comms room watched for any reaction but Broad gave nothing away. After he put down the phone, he turned to face the room and the expectant faces.

‘It’s good news. DCI Connor has just informed me that his boffins have been able to decipher the BMW satnav. The car has been all over Manchester but has been paying particular attention to a small area in Irlam near here. It parked up on at least three different occasions in the last few days. The DCI is sending us the location as we speak. I’ve asked him to keep his own people back and he informed me that as Irlam is the Greater Manchester Police jurisdiction, it won’t be a problem. For now, this is a surveillance only operation to identify what and who we’re up against.’

Broad then turned to Geoff Middleton the SAS commander.

‘Geoff, I want you and your men mobile not too far in the background in case we need you quickly.’

The SAS officer nodded his understanding. ‘Don’t worry we’ll be ready.’

‘David, the extra cars you wanted have just arrived… two BMWs outside. They are fully fitted with armoured windows which I hope you won’t need, and the up-to-date comms you will need.’

‘The information from the Cheshire police is just coming through, sir,’ said one of the two men monitoring the communications.

‘Can you bring it up on the big screen and print off a few copies?’

‘No problem, on the screen now.’

He pressed a few of the computer keys in front of him and a split picture appeared on the large screen at the end of the room.

Half of the picture was typescript detailing the movements of the burnt-out car the other half was a street map of Irlam with a red X showing where the car had been parked.

‘Fuck they’re only a few miles from us,’ said Reece.

He then spoke to the SG9 team who were already pulling together what they would need, again checking their comms and weapons.

‘I want us to work in two-man teams using the BMWs. April, you go with Steve and I’ll go with Joe, that way we have good coverage. Mary, you’ll come with us, if we spot someone who fits Costello’s description then your eyes on the matter will be a great help. I know you have Glocks, but I want each car to have some heavy fire power, should we need it, so each car carries a H&K MP5. We’re all trained with them and I’m sure our SAS friends can lend us two with two, thirty-round mags for each.’

‘Do you think that’ll be enough?’ asked Cousins with a smile.

‘Well, as my old firearms trainer used to say, if you can’t hit the target with everything you have in the magazine then you may as well throw the damn gun at them,’ replied Reece.

‘Let’s go over the ground we need to cover,’ said Reece as he walked closer to the screen on the wall to inspect the streets in Irlam.

‘Comms. Can you blow up this picture of the map please and can you link it into the satnavs of our BMWs?’

‘Yes, no problem to both,’ came the reply.

‘The car seemed to be parked here in Kings Road there’s four other streets off it three avenues and one small close. By the look of things there’s around one hundred houses so we take it slowly we don’t want to spook them if they’re there.’

‘It will be tough to spot anything in the dark,’ April said.

‘I know,’ answered Reece. ‘We will do a foot and drive round of the area to get to know it. If they’re in there, they’ll most likely be in bed at this time of the morning. We also need to do a trawl of the CCTV of the Irlam train station which isn’t far from this area so it’s a good bet they’ve been using the train in and out of Manchester. Boss, can you chase that up for us?’

‘Will do. Do you need anything else?’

‘Not for now. I think we should get out there and see what we have. As Irlam’s not far away if there is anything you need us to come back and see we can do so quickly, and while you’re at it get them to check the CCTV between Glazebrook Station and Irlam for shortly after the time the car was discovered.’

Turning to the comms and the SG9 team Reece spoke slowly and quietly making sure they heard every word.

‘We will need everyone to be on their toes tonight, guys. I’ll be Alpha One. Joe, you’re Alpha Two. April, Alpha Three. And, Steve, Alpha Four. Boss, you and the comms team here will be Alpha Control. We will all have the built-in radios in the cars plus our own body radios. I’ll also borrow body armour from the troops. Make sure you all have your arm bands that were provided by