THE FOLLOWER: SAS hero turns Manchester hitman (A Rick Fuller Thriller Book 4)(14)

“We would hope,” replied Carver. “That everything is brought to a successful conclusion within a week. But this is a murder enquiry, so that ball, is essentially in your court.”

“A murder?” said Rick. “So, call the cops.”

“They are investigating, Sir,” answered Mitch. “But the British Police have constraints, rules, regulations, things that slow down the… process.”

“Who is the victim?” asked Rick.

The FBI man remained tight lipped. “An American student studying in Manchester.”

Rick smiled at that one. “Okay. Mitch, what about the perpetrator?”

Carver interjected again. “We believe perpetrators. At least two at the scene. GMP have intimated that the murder scene was very unusual and have not ruled out a religious or sexually motivated attack. However, DC strenuously believe, that should this be the case, then mistaken identity could be the only possible explanation. The victim has no priors, no connections with any criminal gang and has nothing to hide on a personal level. That is their official stance on the matter and will remain so.”

Rick’s gaze drifted between the two men.

“And what about you guys? What is your… stance?”

Mitch and Carver remained silent.

Okay,” said Rick. “I take it this is a dead or alive kind of mission.”

Carver shrugged. “Let’s just say, the folks in DC would prefer the former.”

Rick interlocked his fingers and placed both hands behind his head, a broad smile on his face.

“Call me old fashioned, but I just want to be clear here. You guys, let’s just call you the CIA for the hell of it, on the orders of ‘people in high places’ in Washington, let’s just call them politicians, have permission to offer one million US dollars to us three tired old mercenaries, to slot a few religious, sexually motivated fanatics from Manchester, rather than let justice take its usual course?”

“I think you have grasped that particular nettle, Mr Fuller,” said Carver.

Rick looked across at Des who gave the merest nod. I followed his lead. I mean, we all knew that Mitch and his pal were lying through their very white teeth.

But come on, things always come out in the wash, and a million dollars is a lot of money in anyone’s book.

Rick nodded back. “Looks like you have a deal, Carver.”





Des Cogan’s Story:

Beware the man bearing gifts, I say. Even fucking blueberry pancakes.

Look, it was obvious that the Yanks were telling half a tale. But when did The Firm last come up with all the good stuff?

And to be fair, the reason for Mitch and Mason’s very tight lips, would soon become apparent. Mitch seemed a decent enough bloke, but Carver? Well, let’s just say, I’d met a few of his kind in my time. Deskbound weekend warriors, who did the politicians bidding and to hell with the consequences.

We were marched from the plush surroundings of Carver’s office, back to our ‘accommodation.’ Once there, we were handed our clothes and shoes back, nicely laundered and pressed. Then we were given the opportunity to ‘scrub up’ again and offered some ‘brunch.’ All very fucking civilised.

I passed on the food and opted for a large pot of tea.

Within the hour, we ended up sitting around a low table in what was obviously a classroom, minus Carver, who had some ‘pressing business,’ to attend to.

Despite being built like a brick wall, Mitch Collins had a nice easy way with him, and I took to the guy immediately. He dropped a pile of papers onto the table and stacked them neatly to his left. They all sported big red stamps across them announcing they were ‘Top Secret.’ The Yank checked his watch.

“Okay guys. It’s now just over twenty-four hours since the body of Todd Blackman was discovered in the ground floor apartment of a dwelling, in Ancoats, Greater Manchester.

Todd was twenty years old, born 11th July 1977 in Louisville, Kentucky. He was a keen musician and studied composition in college, before persuading his parents to allow him to come to here to England to continue his education.

He’d set his heart on completing the Music Production Degree course at Salford University. He was in his first year.

As for the details of the crime itself, we are having difficulty obtaining much information from GMP’s SOCU, (Serious and Organised Crime Unit.) We have found the city’s head of that department to be a very obstinate man, but I’ll come to that momentarily.

The Chief Inspector seems reluctant to share too much about Todd’s injuries or the scene, therefore, we are somewhat in the dark. However, we regard this as a double-edged sword, as there remains little press coverage about the killing.

One of DC’s prime objectives.

The folks in the White House are very keen for this to remain so, due to the possible political fallout back home should the press start to sensationalise the killing.”

I was getting tired of the smoke and mirrors already. “Well, what do you know, pal? And why would the press sensationalise anything?”

Mitch shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. “You know what the news guys are like Mr Cogan. They love blood and gore. And as one of the few facts we have been able to obtain, is that Todd was tortured before he died, and he bled to death, we would like to keep those facts under wraps for as long as possible. In fact, until you guys deal with the perps.”