A Price Too High, Chapter Six

SAC Tim Laurence/MOD, OGL 3 https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Dave was up before Sally, he made coffee, and ate breakfast before bringing up a cup. Following a kiss to wake her, he headed to the spare bedroom. His first email was to the head of MI5, asking the phone number to be traced as a matter of urgency, he asked for the last thirty days calls and texts to be sent as well. He marked the email as urgent. The Brigadier was next, his email to him said he knew where the weapons were and needed to know if the funding had been approved.

He called Taff, “I think the job is on, I am waiting for the nod on the funding, what I need just now is surveillance on a farm, two men, twenty four hours a day, for three days, starting tomorrow. Can it be done?” The voice on the end of the phone said it would cost more, possibly another £10k. “That’s not a problem, I am waiting to hear this morning about the money, as soon as I do, I will call you back, we can arrange a meeting place.” He was asked where the job was, Dave replied saying it was near Ormskirk.

The Brigadier was the first to call, “well done David, where are they and what are your plans.” “On a farm in the North West, and what I do next, depends on you, did you have any luck with securing the funding?” “No one wants to sign it off, it’s typical buck passing, they think whoever puts up the money, will be held responsible if it goes belly up.” “Somebody needs to grow a pair of balls and make a decision, sir.” “Now you know where they are, I will try again.” “Sir, I have a recce team ready to go, but I can’t give them the go ahead until I am sure they will get paid.” “I will call you back in thirty minutes.” He called the direct number he had for the head of MI5, she was terse when the phone was answered, Dave was polite and softly spoken, he knew that would wind her up even more. “The information will be with you in fifteen minutes, it’s just being checked.” Dave said he had traced the weapons and had their location, she immediately wanted to know where they were, he gave the same location as he had done to the Brigadier. “What are you going to do now.” He repeated what he had said earlier. “No money, no progress, I have people to pay. Would you please speak to the Brigadier and sort out the money.” An email arrived with the information he had asked for, the number belonged to William Townsend, he wrote down the name and the address, attached were the logs for the last thirty days, there were hundreds of calls and texts, Dave thought the phone must be glued to his ear permanently. This would be a job for Sally, correlating the numbers and checking who they belonged to. His phone was ringing, he saw it was the Brigadier, “good news, it is to be a fifty-fifty venture with the Home Office, I had to say your team are experts at what they do, there will be no traceability back if it goes wrong, I want to see you before you do anything, when you have your information, arrange a meeting.” “Can you have the money to me by tomorrow morning?” “It will be with you this afternoon, two Military Police will deliver it, the seal number will be sent to you by email.” “Would you mind if I had them stay while I check the amount, and can they be in plain clothes?” “Leave it with me.”

Dave now moved on to the name he had been given, William Townsend lived in the same area as the other two names from last night, a pattern was beginning to form. Sally was home just after 15.30, Dave had made her a coffee, he was sitting at the kitchen table asking how her day had been when there was a knock at the door. She rose to answer it, “Dave, there’s two people here to see you.” When he saw them they were invited in. He offered them coffee which was accepted. As Sally was in the kitchen, they passed over a kitbag with a seal on the lock. He checked the number was the same as the one he had been sent earlier. He opened the bag and took out the bundles of money. Sally returned with the coffee and biscuits. “Fucking Hell, what’s all the money for?” “I need to pay some people.” There were fifteen bundles of which Dave assumed had £10k in each. Each bundle was in a sealed bag, he wondered how much there must be sitting in the MOD. As soon as they had drunk the coffee and Dave had signed for the bag, they were gone. “They were big men, who are they?” “Military Police. The money is to pay other people working on the job. I will be meeting two of them tomorrow, they will be sleeping rough for two or three nights.” “I’m glad it’s not you,” “I thought about it, but there are other leads we need to be chasing.” He phoned Taff to say the job was on, “can you be at Ormskirk train station tomorrow morning, or early afternoon.” “I’ll ring you back if there is an issue, as soon as we are going I will give you an ETA.” Dave took the money upstairs, putting it in the wardrobe of the spare bedroom. He waited for Sally to change and shower, “will you print out the sales details for the farm, then look at Google Maps, zoom into the farm and print out the area round about it, we can Sellotape the drawings together to make a bigger map. I need to take as much information with me as possible.” They had finished by 19:00, before Dave cooked a meal, he showed Sally the list of phone numbers he wanted her to make sense out of and trace if she could. As soon as they had finished, Sally led him upstairs to bed.

It was another early start, with £10k in his backpack and the maps on the backseat, he set off. He was in the station carpark in Ormskirk by 10:00, it would be two hours before Taff and his accomplice arrived. Each had a large backpack, they were both wearing army camouflage gear, to anyone seeing them, they looked like squaddies going on leave. Only one backpack would fit in the boot, the other was put on the back seat. Both men were smaller than Dave, however he knew size meant nothing. Taff introduced Colin, sitting in the carpark, Dave gave them a brief rundown of what had already taken place and what the second phase would be after the recce. He gave them each a copy of the farm details, they both studied the floor plan and the location of the outbuildings. “Somewhere the weapons are being processed, their serial numbers stripped off and a check to make sure they work. Then they are being stored. I have to work out the logistics based on the information you give me. He then opened up the map he and Sally had stuck together, there is no other farm for about two miles, there is only one way in and out. “That looks like an old barn, drive past it so we can have a look.” Dave set off, he drove past the farm entrance, there was a car with someone inside blocking the entrance. Three quarters of a mile further on, was the ruins of an old barn, “that will do us nicely, keep going, make sure there is nothing else nearby.” Dave carried on for another mile, he stopped at a field entrance and turned round. He gave Taff a mobile number to message him, “I won’t call or text you, send me info you think is relevant, registration numbers, movements, anything you think might be helpful, I am about three hours away, I will pick you up from where I drop you off when you are ready.” He showed Taff the money, “do you want it now or when I pick you up?” “Later, we won’t have anything to spend it on.” They were dropped off by the old barn, they were behind the walls within a minute of Dave stopping the car. As Dave drove home, Taff and Colin hid their backpacks under sheets of corrugated iron that had once been on the roof. It was still light, they waited until it was nearly dark before setting off in the direction of the farm, each had a Glock, a hunting knife and a trench spade. They had no problem getting near to the farm, it was surrounded on two sides by a small incline, the top was just above roof level. It gave the farm some shelter from the wind. They found a place far enough away to remain unseen but close enough to see what was happening. In front of them were bushes which would give them cover. A shallow trench was dug for one of them to lie in. It was an easier walk back to the barn, they now knew there was no one on the perimeter, Taff said he would take the first shift, Colin to replace him at 05:00. in the barn they made coffee, Taff filled a flask, and put chocolate bars in one of his pockets. Other pockets had note books and pencils. Leaving the spade, he took night vision binoculars, a groundsheet and a camouflage cover. By 18:00 he was in position, he used the binoculars to look round and see where everything was, he counted eight cars, three articulated lorries and an old army truck. Two men were outside sitting on chairs, they looked frozen, each had what Taff thought was a machine gun, across their laps. At 22:00 a black Range Rover arrived, he noted down the number plate, a smartly dressed man got out from the rear. He was joined by a huge bodyguard who was in the passenger side. The third one out was the driver. The smartly dressed one was carrying a briefcase. The two on guard duty had stood up as they saw the car approach. The driver opened up the back of the car, two more people came out from the farmhouse and carried in packs of beer. Taff was making notes as he watched. He could see in through a window, he guessed people were being paid, bags were being put in the briefcase, it was all over in fifteen minutes, the Range Rover was started up, the briefcase looked heavier than when it had been taken in. The three got back in and were gone. The two on guard duty were back sitting down, now each was holding a can. It sounded like a party was in full swing, by 03:00 the place was silent. The guards were gone, Taff judged the time right to have a look round. He crept down to the farmyard, the knife in his hand, ready. There was enough moonlight to see by, through a window, he saw people sleeping on sofas and easy chairs, weapons were everywhere. Round the back, he looked to see if there was a back door, he tried to look through another window, but the curtains were shut, the articulated lorries looked more interesting, but it was too dark down the side of them to see much, he would leave that for another time. Back at the trench, he waited for Colin to relieve him.

As he drove home, Dave wondered if Sally had made any progress with the numbers. While he was eating, she was checking on the wounds to his head, the bruise from the Kevlar vest was a horrible colour, but it was improving, his head would take a few more weeks. He was eager to see what progress she had made. Sally had several spreadsheets to show him, one had been set out listing the calls by date, time and duration, the second was calls to mobile phones, the final one was to land lines. The most frequent numbers were highlighted. “Have you been able to check the land line numbers.” “Yes, it is on a separate PDF, we’ll look at that next. A lot of the mobile numbers are ‘pay as you go’, there is no way of tracing them. The few I have been able to trace are some of the landline numbers, on a PDF, I think you might be surprised.” He said she had done well. “I’ve printed out the PDF’s, it’s easier than looking on the screen.” She put two sheets of papers side by side, “by far the most landline calls he made are to this number,” Sally pointed to the top number on the sheet. “Many calls a day, sometimes minutes apart. The number doesn’t come up on any lists online, it is an extension. The main switchboard number is for ‘PF Pubs and Clubs Ltd.’ Look at the other list for mobile calls, at the top is Peter Farrell, Companies House lists him as a director of ‘PF Pubs and Clubs Ltd.’ there are a few calls in the evening to his home number.” Dave pulled her down to his level and kissed her. “You’ve done a great job with this, is there anything else you found out?” “No, but I had a thought, “who pays the utility bills on the farm, the water rates, electricity and the council tax?” Although tired, he wanted to check immediately, he knew he could gain access to the local council website with software he had, it would take some time, but he wanted to know. Thirty minutes later, he had the information. William Townsend was named on the council tax bill. Dave wanted more, looking at the clock, he thought he would have time to look up his records if any were held by MI5. The job had moved too quickly for him to be given access to the Home Office files, it had never stopped him from looking before, another piece of software was left running while he made a coffee, Sally said she was going to bed as there was a tennis court booked for the morning. The coffee was drunk before the software let him in, he found the record and downloaded it. Closing the bedroom door so as not to disturb Sally, he pressed print and waited. Eight sheets later, he stapled them together and went to bed, he knew if he started looking, one thing would lead to another and he would still be sitting there in the morning. Sally stirred as he tried to climb into bed silently, she turned towards him, her leg across his.

Colin wasn’t in a warm bed, he was cold, despite the layers of clothes and having done this many times before, nothing stopped the cold getting through. Just before 08.00 two men emerged from the house, started up one of the cars, driving it down to the gate. At 09.00 the articulated lorries were all started up, their engines were left ticking over for fifteen minutes before being switched off. More people left in the cars, always two, with one carrying bags, Colin had no way of telling what was in them. The guards were back outside the farmhouse, this time, they walked round the farmyard before sitting down. A car was reversed up to near the lorries, three boxes were brought round and put in the boot, two people were in the car, four more came out, he could see they were armed, from what Dave had told him, this was an arms sale. Colin was making notes all the time, other cars would arrive, more weapons were loaded in and then they disappeared, always accompanied by another car. Colin guessed the small bags taken from the house were drugs being distributed from the farm. There was a steady stream of callers during the day, by the time Taff came to take over it was quiet. He was told all that had taken place and the suspicion that drugs were inside the building. Taff said he would have a look tonight. There was no late night visit or alcohol dropped off, it was quiet. The moon was out again, there would be enough light for Taff to creep round. At 03:00 he set off, he wanted to see what was in the lorries, fortunately the doors were well greased, the first one opened easily, it was racked out inside with heavy duty shelving. His torch showed it to be full of weapons, the second one was the same, he thought to himself, there was enough stuff here to start a small war. He waited having shut the door on the second lorry, he wanted to make sure no one had been disturbed. The third lorry had work benches on one side, with boxes of weapons open, other boxes were by the door, this was where the weapons were checked and serial numbers removed. With the door closed, he made his way back to his cover, it was now 04:30. An hour later Colin was back. Taff said unless something out the ordinary happened then another twenty four hours would be enough. He sent a message to Dave saying to pick them up at 16:00 on Monday, and take them to Cardiff.

Sally had brought Dave a coffee then left to play tennis, he lay in bed propped up reading the report on William Townsend, Billy was in brackets between the two names. His address was underneath, Dave would look later, but he already knew it would be close to the other addresses. He read through his convictions, theft of motor vehicles, robbery, armed robbery, violent affray, a total of ten years in prison, a quarter of his life, for the last five years there had been no convictions. Dave knew that didn’t mean no crimes had been committed, it was just that he hadn’t been caught. Now working for ‘PF Pubs and Clubs Ltd.’, at last Dave had a connection to who was probably behind the weapons. He showered and dressed, had breakfast and returned upstairs with coffee and a packet of biscuits. He wanted to see if Peter Farrell had a criminal record, the police national computer had a file on him, threatening behaviour was his last conviction over ten years ago. With the amount of crimes he had against him, he should never have been able to hold a drinks licence or one for a bookmakers, however they were there on his file. He was joint landlord with another person at all his pubs and clubs, the bookmakers licence had been transferred to the owner of another betting firm he took over. Dave would like someone to check his accounts, but that would mean he would have to disclose the information he already had. He heard the door open downstairs, putting away the paperwork, he went to see Sally and he presumed Olivia. The two of them were making coffee, Sally added another cup when she saw Dave. They were still in their tennis gear, he thought Olivia’s legs were almost as good as Sally’s. Olivia, had Dave said something would take that as a ‘come on’, although she was Sally’s best friend, a man was a man and if he was good looking, worth a try. Dave was immune to her charms, initially when they first met, he thought she was being friendly, Sally soon told him, she wouldn’t think twice about having sex with him. Since then, he was never over friendly. Sally he kissed on the lips, Olivia had to make do with a quick kiss on the cheek, “you never kiss me like that,” “you’re not my partner.” He sat with them while they had their drinks, as soon as Olivia had gone, she sat on his legs facing him, he ran his hands up her legs and onto her bum, “wait a minute,” she disappeared off into the dining room then returned, she sat as she had done, this time her bum was bare, “is that better?” She kissed him on the lips again. Dave stood up, Sally’s legs went round his back, he carried her up the stairs and laid her on the bed. It was dark when Dave went to make coffee, staying in bed, Sally asked him about the report he had printed off, “I saw it this morning when I brought you a coffee.” “No work talk in bed, I will tell you about it after.” Following a shower, she said there was no point in getting dressed, with a thin dressing gown on, she went to make them a meal, Dave showered and joined her in the kitchen with only a towel round his waist. She looked at him, “you look like a thug, with short hair, I hope it grows back quickly, and the bruise looks terrible.” “Thanks for the compliments.” “I hope there won’t be any more trouble on this job,” “no, I have employed people to do that for me. I will have to be there, but only to make decisions.” Over dinner he gave her all the information he had, how he thought it was connected, she asked what his next move would be. “I have to wait for the report from the farm, once I have that, I will make a plan. I want this over quickly, every day more guns are being sold.”

Colin watched from his vantage point, Sunday was as busy as Saturday, Taff took the opportunity to take a look at the gate to the farm, there was a car blocking the drive, it was unseen from the road, the driveway had a turn hidden by trees, there was enough room for two cars, side by side. However the car blocked the drive, it was moved whenever anyone was coming or going. Where the driveway met the road, a sliding gate had been installed, there was a chain and padlock for use at night. Taff checked for cameras, nothing looking at the gate. He made drawings and notes. Back in the ruined barn, he sent a message to Dave saying they would be ready as planned. He took time to write up his notes into a form Dave would be able to understand. He left to take over for the last evening, the rain started as he made his way along field walls and paths. Colin was pleased when he saw Taff. “It’s fucking freezing here, good luck tonight, do you want me to take over in the morning?” “No, I will stay until 08:00, if you don’t see me by 09:00, something must be happening, come and join me.” He unpacked a plastic sheet to give him some protection from the rain, he hadn’t planned on exploring tonight, he would be lying there getting wetter as the night progressed. There was no movement from the house that night, a car drove down to the gate at 07:30, weapons were loaded into two cars, each one was escorted by another car laden with men. The morning looked like the other two, the men in the farmyard all looked like they knew what they were doing. Before he left the hiding place, he filled in the hole where they had been lying, no one would know. On his way back, he met Colin coming the other way, “thought I would come and check on you.” Taff said they were finished. When they were at the barn, they took it in turns to change into civilian clothes, the dirty fatigues were put into plastic bags replacing the clothes they were now wearing. They built a makeshift structure to keep the rain off, using some of the corrugated iron, they looked like two hikers sheltering from the rain. Taff finished off his report from the notes Colin had made. They made coffee on a stove, then heated up tins of stew for a meal. The time dragged until Dave arrived, at 15:50, they put everything back as they thought it was when they arrived, bagged up their rubbish and waited. At 16:00 they were at the gate by the barn, a couple of minutes later, Dave pulled up. Taff’s first words were to ask for the heater to be put on and to find a MacDonalds. At a ‘drive thru’ in Ormskirk Dave ordered and paid for the food, he didn’t ask any questions, he would be told when the time was right. As soon as they were on the motorway and he had finished his food Taff started, Colin was sleeping on the back seat. He went over everything from the start, right up until when they left, he tapped a folder saying everything was in here, “I spent a couple of hours writing it all up before you arrived, they are dealing drugs as well, not sure if that affects what you will do now.” Dave asked when he thought the best time to take the place would be and how many men it would require. “If you want the boss, then Friday night at 22:00, he is only there for around fifteen minutes, he takes in the pay and collects the money, he has a driver and a minder, they have cases of beer as well so they are in a happy mood, I think there may be up to twenty people on site. Six people plus a driver, I assume you will be taking part.” “Yes, I will be with you, I need to think about the aftermath.” Taff closed his eyes as Dave drove, on the outskirts of Cardiff, he woke Taff, “where do you want dropping off?” He was given directions to the edge of a housing estate, from under his seat, Dave took out the money and passed it over, “I’ll phone you tomorrow, would your team be ready to move on Friday?” “Yes, I have reserves in mind for any who can’t, £10k per man, £20k for me, I will supply the driver and transport.”
 

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