He directed his comment at Morgan.
“I suggest that we leave this now and sleep on what has been said here tonight. I will await instructions from the Home Secretary in the morning. Obviously I will comply fully with whatever he says and that seems to be the fairest way to proceed. I cannot see any problem with this course of action unless you fear that the drugs may be stolen.”
Morgan had been beaten and was finding difficulty in accepting it. The power of the security service usually made most people very wary of crossing swords with them. Morgan knew that he had to tread carefully with Havelock, but Dillon was another story and it was to him that he now turned.
“I’m sorry I was abusive, but you seem to have a knack of winding me up. Whatever else I have said to offend, the fact remains that I meant what I said about respecting you. I can see I will have to take this to a higher level.”
He stood up. “Thank you for the drink and your hospitality, Mr. Havelock.”
He turned to Dillon. “I’ll be in touch. By the way, where are you staying at present?”
“The Old Colonial.”
“I thought you would have left there by now.”
“No. I’ve been using the staff entrance when your boys have been looking the other way.”
But Morgan having asked, merely made Dillon even more curious as to why he wanted to know. This also made up his mind that the drugs would remain safely hidden under Havelock’s stairs for the time being. Because once Morgan had possession of them there would be no proof that they had ever existed. It would be natural to let the drug squad have it, and have them fully accounted for. And that was the problem — men like Morgan were rarely accountable in the public eye.
Rachel came downstairs just as Havelock was showing Morgan out through the front door. Morgan said his goodbyes with good grace, but he looked tired when he left and didn’t look back as he stepped into the waiting car parked at the kerbside.
Once the door was closed Rachel said, “That is one very unhappy man. you must have given him a hard time.”
When neither replied, she said she would get some coffee and biscuits, sensing that they were far from finished.
“What’s he up to?” asked Dillon as they went back into the living room.
“I’m not sure. But I do know that I lied for you.”
He finished his drink. “And I don’t know why I did such a thing.”
“Because he’s up to something. Why is it so important to him that I’m sidelined after doing all of the donkey work? I have a feeling it has something to do with Charlie Hart. He’s the one he wants to keep me well away from.”
Havelock sat in an armchair, quietly reflecting, not too happy with what he had done.
“I think he knows that the drugs are in this house,” he said, after a while.
“I’m positive he knows. After all, his men are positioned outside. They would have seen me get the holdall out of the boot and bring it inside.”
Havelock sat bolt upright. “You mean they’ve got the house under surveillance?”
“I think it’s more likely that they were waiting for me to turn up. But I do think they’ve got your office line wired up again. They’ll still be positioned out there. I saw one of them when Morgan left a moment ago. I know they don’t trust me and I think I know why, but what I don’t know is the real reason behind it. Everything is pointing back to Hart. I must see him again, because he’s definitely the key to all of Morgan’s waffling. I think these drugs being left behind and then being found by yours truly is about to become a bloody great big embarrassment to Morgan. Anyway, all that said and done, I’ve got to make sure that when I leave here they see me carrying the holdall.”
“Well, you could just stay here tonight,” said Rachel as she came through the doorway with a tray of coffee and biscuits. She put down the tray and waited for Dillon to reply.
“Thanks, Rachel. But I suspect they have a full team out there, which means that they’ll still be there in the morning. And it’s far easier to play cat and mouse with them in the dark.”
Havelock didn’t like the sound of what Dillon was saying. He wanted to believe that apart from Morgan’s strange behaviour, it really was over and that only the loose ends had to be tied up. If Morgan had stationed a full team of watchers outside waiting to follow Dillon, it was far from being concluded and had suddenly taken on a more sinister aspect.
“It’s really kind of you to offer to put me up, but I’d better leave. There’s a strong possibility that they will have placed a tracker on the Porsche whilst I’ve been here. I’ll be able to check if they have, thanks to Vince’s little addition to my mobile phone.”
Dillon saw the look of puzzlement cross both their faces and explained, “He’s added a multi-frequency scanner to the phone, which can pick up any tracking or listening device within five metres. Now there’s something else that I need to do before I leave.”
Dillon went to the kitchen with Rachel and part-filled three plastic sandwich boxes with every ounce of flour that he could find, and then swapped them for the others in the holdall. As he walked down to the Porsche he made it appear heavier than it actually was. Havelock kept watch on the doorstep as he put it in the boot. Rachel came outside a moment later, after she’d put on another sweater against the cold night air.
Dillon got into the driver’s side of the car and before turning on the engine, took his mobile phone and entered the code for the scanning mode. Ten seconds later the screen lighted up like a Christmas tree and the tracking device was located just behind the front air dam. Dillon entered a series of numbers and then waited for the device to be spiked and immobilised. He got out of the car and went back to where the Havelocks were standing, gave Rachel an affectionate kiss on the cheek and shook Havelock’s hand warmly.
As he was about to walk back to the car, Havelock asked, “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
The discovery of the tracker filled his voice with concern.
“I’ll be fine. After all, it’s almost an occupational hazard for me. Admitted, I don’t know what they have in mind next, because I’m not sure how useful I still am to Morgan now. So I’ll be expecting the worse and be ready for whatever they throw my way. But he must be up to something to pull a stunt like this, and only time will show us his true colours. See you both soon.”
“Take care, Jake.”
Rachel was holding Havelock’s hand tight, unable to hide her deep concern.
Dillon climbed into the Porsche and drove off.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Dillon was making it easy for them — playing it safe as he could see no point in driving around all night long, but wanted to see what they were up to. He headed south back into town, at Piccadilly Circus he drove around for a while before scooting off up Shaftsbury Avenue and heading for Charing Cross. At the first opportunity he turned left and headed back towards Whitehall, past The Ministry of Defence buildings and on towards Westminster Bridge.
There were two cars following — a black Mitsubishi Evo and the other a silver BMW M3 coupe. Both cars were keeping a discreet distance back but were within easy reach of him. He turned right at Parliament Square, took a left and was then driving along Birdcage Walk. All the time they stayed on his tail. As he passed Buckingham Palace and started down The Mall, they made their move. The Evo raced past him and the BMW remained on his tail, but came in dangerously close so that if he suddenly braked hard it would definitely pile into the rear of the Porsche Cayman.
As the front car slewed across he was forced to brake and the following car mirrored his actions and came to a halt just behind the Porsche. He now found himself sandwiched and he knew they would not waste time chatting about the weather. To prevent any passing police interest they had stuck blue flashers on the roofs of both cars to make it look like a plain clothes official job.