Other
Read books online Ā» Other Ā» Blood in the Water Oliver Davies (ereader that reads to you TXT) šŸ“–

Book online Ā«Blood in the Water Oliver Davies (ereader that reads to you TXT) šŸ“–Ā». Author Oliver Davies



1 ... 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 ... 79
Go to page:
sign it out. ā€œCould you do me a favour and have a quick look into Sean Osborne for me while Iā€™m doing that?ā€ My cousin had access to a lot of personnel records that were closed to me, and there was no harm in seeing if Osborne had said anything useful about Phelps when he was debriefed. I could look through that while Shay was busy with the phone.

ā€œThe covert agent on the smuggling op? Sure.ā€

When I got back with the bagged up phone, Shay beckoned me over to look at his screen. ā€œWhat do you think of that, Cuz?ā€ Heā€™d put a good, clear headshot up for me to see.

ā€œThat looks just like a younger Damien Price, maybe ten years ago?ā€

ā€œThatā€™s what I thought too. The resemblance is uncanny, isnā€™t it? But no, thatā€™s a twelve-year-old photo of Sean Osborne from his MI5 file. Nice catch, Cuz! Thatā€™s the closest to a genuine doppelganger Iā€™ve ever seen.ā€

I stared at the photo, studying it more closely. The cheekbones and jaw werenā€™t quite right, and if you compared the two men carefully, youā€™d find that the eyes and mouth were also fractionally off. Still, after such a long time, I wouldnā€™t blame anyone for failing to notice tiny little details like that.

Phelps had probably thought about what heā€™d do if he ever got his hands on Sean Osborne during every day of his time in prison. Heā€™d been a pal, a workmate, a trusted ally. From Cory Phelpsā€™ point of view, operatives like Osborne were the lowest kind of lying, backstabbing bastards on the planet. And then Osborne, or so Phelps must have thought, had turned up here out of the blue, snapping pictures like a tourist and pretending to be some Scottish drinks merchant. Up to his filthy old tricks again. Maybe Damien Price had even looked right through him, not remembering or recognising Phelps at all because heā€™d never met him. That, surely, would have really pushed the manā€™s buttons. There was no way in hell heā€™d let Sean Osborne be responsible for ruining his life a second time. Iā€™d say weā€™d definitely found our motive.

Sixteen

Shay

However Conallā€™s seemingly random mental processes worked, Iā€™d seen them produce remarkable results a surprising number of times. I think his ā€˜investigative modeā€™ brain functioned a bit like Flexā€™s nose, sniffing around for anything that smelt out of the ordinary. It wasnā€™t an efficient system, if you could even call it a system. Con had his mental equivalents for every time-wasting bag containing unusual but harmless teabags or spices that Flex decided her partner should look into, but the important thing was that he also mirrored her successes. I wasnā€™t sure precisely why Conall had wanted to look into Sean Osborne, but it didnā€™t matter. Opening that bag up for a little nosy had certainly paid off.

His idea about seeing what I could do with the spyware on Whitakerā€™s phone was a worthwhile one. I should have thought of it myself, really, because Iā€™d naturally assumed that Lockeā€™s organisation would be using spyware on all their recruits. And if they did have a hub set up, then infiltrating their system would give me access to the locations of every active phone on their network. Even if Phelps had turned his off, at least weā€™d be able to see if any of Lockeā€™s other people were in the area. That might at least give us a possible location for Jordan and Phelps, because they may well be hiding out with them.

I got my laptop packed up and pulled my jacket on before picking up the bag with Whitakerā€™s phone in it. ā€œWhere do you want to go to turn this thing on?ā€ I asked Conall, ā€œBecause Iā€™d prefer to work on it somewhere quiet, maybe in the car, if thatā€™s alright.ā€ Without having to worry about anyone seeing what I was doing. Our hotel didnā€™t seem like a good idea. Iā€™d rather be overcautious than not careful enough. Too many people knew we were staying there for my liking. I wasnā€™t paranoid or anything. It was just a good habit.

ā€œIā€™d suggest driving out to Whitakerā€™s place, but Trish sent a pair of her DCs out there to keep watch in case Phelps or Jordan decide to pay him a visit. We could just nip down to South Beach car park and find a good spot, if that would do?ā€

That sounded alright. Anyone checking on Aaron could easily discover heā€™d taken a sick day by calling the distillery. He could have come into town for a number of reasons. Conall was leaving his own laptop here, but I was pleased to see him shoving his new coffee maker and the thermos into his bag. I was rather chuffed by how much he liked his unexpected little present.

ā€œSouth beach sounds fine.ā€ It was where the Port Authority had its offices down on the waterfront, only a few minutes from here. I put the bagged phone in my jacket pocket, and we headed out.

Once we were parked up, I pushed my seat back a bit and gloved up. Whitaker was an android guy, so I picked out a USB-C cable from a side pocket on my pack before pulling my laptop out and opening it up on my knees. Conall was frowning over his own phone, reading through the file Iā€™d sent him. Sean Osborneā€™s handlers had left him out in the field for far longer than they should have, and Osborne had eventually cracked, like most people doing his job did, sooner or later; medical discharge, head totally messed up. Some of the bosses on ā€˜our sideā€™ were as bad as their criminal counterparts when it came to treating their human assets like disposable, replaceable tools.

I could have found a way into Whitakerā€™s phone easily enough, if Iā€™d needed to, but heā€™d willingly offered up his password during the interview, and Iā€™d been listening along while Conall went through the recording. Aaron had been very

1 ... 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 ... 79
Go to page:

Free ebook Ā«Blood in the Water Oliver Davies (ereader that reads to you TXT) šŸ“–Ā» - read online now

Comments (0)

There are no comments yet. You can be the first!
Add a comment