Almost an hour later, as Jake studied the dossier he suddenly realised he knew the van in the picture. Shit! He had seen it before. Christ, he had walked passed it behind the crofter’s cottage weeks before. Fuck, he had even seen his targets through the window, and he was now trying desperately to remember what they were doing, or even what they looked like. Closing the book, he rushed back into Major Grant’s office, pushing the door open without knocking. Peter and Major Grant still sat in their chairs and turned as Jake burst through the door.
‘Sir! I know these people, I’ve seen them before. They were in a cottage on the edge of Elfin Moor and I’ve seen them restocking supplies at a garden centre. I thought it looked out of place, it just didn’t look right but the cottage is not mentioned in this information.’ Jake tapped on the open pages in his hand.
‘Does that mean they have moved on or have our guys not found it yet?’ Grant picked up his phone and punched in a number.
‘George! In here now!’ He banged the receiver down and immediately got to his feet. He stopped at the map board and pulled on the handle, map 1, map 2, map 3, map 4, map 5, and map 6.
‘Okay, show me where it is,’ he said, slapping his open palm on the centre of the board. No one bothered to acknowledge George as he entered the room.
‘What’s up?’ he asked.
‘These targets,’ Jake said, as the buzz lifted the tension in the room to a higher than usual level.
‘I’ve come across them before, but not in any of the locations you’ve given me.’ Jake was running the tip of the ballpoint pen along the map on the Major’s wall.
‘Where?’ asked George.
‘Take it easy George, take it easy I’m not very good at this map reading shit.’
‘There,’ said Jake, as he tapped the pen on the board; all three men leaned forward to take in exactly where he was indicating.
‘There’s a single track that runs from there straight back through the gully. It’s not a very good road, a little broken up in places, but you’ll have to find out for me if they are still there or if they’ve vacated the premises.’ The tone in his voice told the room he was worried by the new development, as they all were. George studied the map closely as Jake went on.
‘Christ, I hope they aren’t still there, because if they are that means there are more of them that we first thought. That location is going to be too far away to deliver them all on the one night, which is going to give us all a few sleepless nights.’
‘Get that place watched, as of now, and let Jake know what’s happening,’ Grant said to George, before adding,
‘If we have to, we’ll either have to get someone else to deliver them or come up with something else. Whatever it is, it will have to be pretty quick because I don’t want these guys getting bored with country life and start thinking about going into town for a little bit of sport of a different kind. Okay?’
George answered Major Grant as he made his way towards the door.
‘Got it,’ he said, and as he opened the door he almost walked straight into someone Jake didn’t recognise.
‘Jake, this is David Hagen.’ said Grant.
‘He’s our new armourer. He’s doing a bit of research and development on weaponry from the Eastern Block, which as you know is a lot better than ours. He’s got a new piece of kit for you to try. David…’ Jake looked directly at the young man in front of him and could see tell-tale signs of nerves on his face. The look wasn’t returned. David placed the small wooden case on top of the desk and quickly opened the top. He spoke in a soft unassuming voice.
‘This is the updated laser night sight. I’ve fitted it with a universal sliding clamp. It fits all NATO and non-NATO weapons, its lightweight and, when fitted to the weapon, switches on automatically when the safety catch is released. It could come in very useful in low ambient light situations.’ He placed the sight on top of its box, turned, looked at Jake and said in a more positive manner,
‘Try it, Sergeant, see what you think and let me know.’ He didn’t wait for an answer but simply handed the box and sight to Jake and left the room.
‘Okay you two get your shit together and get back home. Get plenty of rest and we’ll let you know what we find out about the new location. It will probably be nearer the end of the week before there’s any more information, so let’s not panic,’ said Grant. Nothing more was said. Jake and Peter said their goodbyes to everybody, not knowing when or if they would ever return. That was the way it was; it was always quite wrong to make any real friends in this place, although sometimes it couldn’t be helped. When people left the underground sanctuary, which was the only true and safe place most of them would ever know, there was always the possibility that they would not return. Everyone knew that they would be putting their lives in danger. It was rarely spoken about; they all had a job to do and there was always a massive sense of loss when a comrade didn’t return.