Read Online Deception by Adrian Magson - Free Book Online
Authors: Adrian Magson
Tags: Suspense
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 . . . or experience. And out in the open, it takes nerve.â
âYou saying it was a professional hit?â
âHad to be. One to drive, another to shoot. It shows the Protectory has got the reach and the talent. But Pike wasnât the first. Ballatyne says at least two others are known to have walked away and died.â He sipped his coffee and wondered if they had seen him at Pikeâs bolthole. He didnât think so, but he decided to keep his eyes open from now on. âMakes you wonder what Pike could have known that made taking the risk to kill him worthwhile.â
âThe names and faces of the people who approached him, presumably.â
Harry couldnât argue with that. It was the single biggest danger for anyone in the intelligence gathering business, on whichever side of the fence they stood: the moment they came out of the shadows of their cover and stood face to face with their target. If they had overplayed their hand and their contact was actually playing them in turn, they were exposed. He took the data stick from his pocket and slid it across the table. âThis has all the info Ballatyne can give me on the deserters they think are at risk of being poached  . . . if they havenât been already. And there are sections from Paultonâs personnel file. Can you run the details and see if you can pick up a trace?â
Rik dragged a laptop across the table with his good arm and plugged in the stick. When a pop-up box asked for a secure code, Harry read out the number from his watch. The file opened to reveal six screen icons, with a name against each one.
Sgt Barrow G.
SSgt McCreath G
Cpl Pike N.
SSgt Pollock M .
Lt TAN V.
Paulton H. G.
âIâll check them out,â said Rik. âYou want me to print the summaries?â
âYes. Iâll need to read up on them.â
Two minutes later, he was absorbing the basic details of each of the missing personnel and paring them down to even barer essentials.
Sergeant Graham Barrow of the Intelligence Corps was thirty-five years old, divorced and in debt. He was listed as a specialist in counterintelligence and electronic warfare, industry and army trained in electronic countermeasures and penetration systems. Heâd spent time in GCHQ in Cheltenham, working with their experts on building protective security and the use and counter-use of satellite technology, and had extensive knowledge of the security measures surrounding some of the countryâs most sensitive installations, including nuclear sites and strategic arms depots. His FTR â Failed to Report â notification was dated two months ago.
Staff Sergeant Gerry McCreath, 38, widowed with no family, was from 251 Signals Squadron like Pike, but attached to 16 Air Assault Brigade. Extensively trained in operational networks, he had been testing a new and critically important forward battlefield communications system when he had been wounded by an IED and returned to the UK for treatment and recuperation. Two weeks into his stay, he had walked out of Selly Oak Hospital and disappeared. His FTR was dated six months ago.
Staff Sergeant Martin Pollock, 39, of the Royal Armoured Corps. Divorced, no children. After working in every branch of the corps, from battle tanks to reconnaissance units, and with extensive service in Iraq and Afghanistan, he had transferred to the Joint Chemical, Biological and Nuclear Regiment, where he had been undergoing specialist instruction. The summary did not specify what that instruction was, but the name was enough to make Harryâs blood run cold. Like most orthodox military men, he disliked the very idea of chemical or biological weapons. Pollockâs FTR was dated two months ago while training in Germany.
Lieutenant Vanessa Tan, 30, single, no family. Of all the missing personnel, she probably had the widest exposure to strategic information, including current battlefield plans and thinking. If
âYou saying it was a professional hit?â
âHad to be. One to drive, another to shoot. It shows the Protectory has got the reach and the talent. But Pike wasnât the first. Ballatyne says at least two others are known to have walked away and died.â He sipped his coffee and wondered if they had seen him at Pikeâs bolthole. He didnât think so, but he decided to keep his eyes open from now on. âMakes you wonder what Pike could have known that made taking the risk to kill him worthwhile.â
âThe names and faces of the people who approached him, presumably.â
Harry couldnât argue with that. It was the single biggest danger for anyone in the intelligence gathering business, on whichever side of the fence they stood: the moment they came out of the shadows of their cover and stood face to face with their target. If they had overplayed their hand and their contact was actually playing them in turn, they were exposed. He took the data stick from his pocket and slid it across the table. âThis has all the info Ballatyne can give me on the deserters they think are at risk of being poached  . . . if they havenât been already. And there are sections from Paultonâs personnel file. Can you run the details and see if you can pick up a trace?â
Rik dragged a laptop across the table with his good arm and plugged in the stick. When a pop-up box asked for a secure code, Harry read out the number from his watch. The file opened to reveal six screen icons, with a name against each one.
Sgt Barrow G.
SSgt McCreath G
Cpl Pike N.
SSgt Pollock M .
Lt TAN V.
Paulton H. G.
âIâll check them out,â said Rik. âYou want me to print the summaries?â
âYes. Iâll need to read up on them.â
Two minutes later, he was absorbing the basic details of each of the missing personnel and paring them down to even barer essentials.
Sergeant Graham Barrow of the Intelligence Corps was thirty-five years old, divorced and in debt. He was listed as a specialist in counterintelligence and electronic warfare, industry and army trained in electronic countermeasures and penetration systems. Heâd spent time in GCHQ in Cheltenham, working with their experts on building protective security and the use and counter-use of satellite technology, and had extensive knowledge of the security measures surrounding some of the countryâs most sensitive installations, including nuclear sites and strategic arms depots. His FTR â Failed to Report â notification was dated two months ago.
Staff Sergeant Gerry McCreath, 38, widowed with no family, was from 251 Signals Squadron like Pike, but attached to 16 Air Assault Brigade. Extensively trained in operational networks, he had been testing a new and critically important forward battlefield communications system when he had been wounded by an IED and returned to the UK for treatment and recuperation. Two weeks into his stay, he had walked out of Selly Oak Hospital and disappeared. His FTR was dated six months ago.
Staff Sergeant Martin Pollock, 39, of the Royal Armoured Corps. Divorced, no children. After working in every branch of the corps, from battle tanks to reconnaissance units, and with extensive service in Iraq and Afghanistan, he had transferred to the Joint Chemical, Biological and Nuclear Regiment, where he had been undergoing specialist instruction. The summary did not specify what that instruction was, but the name was enough to make Harryâs blood run cold. Like most orthodox military men, he disliked the very idea of chemical or biological weapons. Pollockâs FTR was dated two months ago while training in Germany.
Lieutenant Vanessa Tan, 30, single, no family. Of all the missing personnel, she probably had the widest exposure to strategic information, including current battlefield plans and thinking. If
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