Chapter 2

I woke up first and had a shower before heading into the kitchen and putting the kettle on. I made a coffee and started making the team bacon and egg butties. Captain Jones did not show his face at breakfast. He was not a team player by the look of it.

When he did turn up, he made a brew without asking anyone else if they wanted one, what a wanker ... After we had eaten breakfast, we all piled into one of the Ranger Rovers, and Chalky drove us around the island to where the handover was supposed to happen, we slowed down and then parked in a small car park, and we all got out.

We were all dressed in old walking gear and looked the part. Well, that was apart from Jones, he had brand new gear on, just out of the wrapper by the look of it. Hopefully, anyone that saw us would just think we were scoping out the best walks in the area.

MC and Baz had a piss up a hedge. The rest of us walked down the beach and threw skimming stones into the sea. It would look like a bunch of lads having a wander around, but we were all eyes. We were taking in the areas of cover the enemy might use and the tracks that led off the beach.

We met up in the centre of the beach and shared info and discussed firing zones and the best way to take out any men that would be on the beach.

Half an hour later we got back in the Range Rover and headed off. We drove around the island until we got to its main town, Portree. We parked up in a pay-and-display car park. We had a mooch around the shops and then went down to the harbour and Chalky treated us to fish and chips.

Then we head back up the main town, Big Baz and I headed into a little bookshop, and the others waited outside. When we came out of the shop Chalky gave me a look and glanced at the Co-op store.

The man we knew as Omar al-Furkan was standing outside talking on a mobile phone, and then two other men, the ones we did not have IDs for, came out of the store with shopping bags.

“MC go and get the Range Rover fired up; Captain, please go with him,” Chalky said.

I was amazed that the captain did not argue, he followed MC without a word being said.

“Rosie, you go left to the top of the street, Baz you stop here, “Chalky said, and he walked over to the Co-op store.

I walked to the top of the road and looked into a gift shop window. I thought about what was happening. We had no weapons as such, I mean yes, we were capable of killing a man with our bare hands. But if they pulled out handguns we were fucked if it came to a bit of rough and tumble.

As I kept an eye on the gift shop and an eye on the street, a car pulled up outside the Co-op and the three tangos, as we call our enemies, got into it, and drove toward me.

I watched it turn a corner and I saw Baz on his phone, I ran to the top of the street and saw the car turn right. I ran across to the corner of that street.

The car pulled into a petrol station. I grabbed my mobile and called Baz.

“Have you got eyes on mate?” he asked.

“Yes, mate they are filling the tank on Bridge Street.”

“Okay keep eyes on them, we are waiting for transport!” he replied.

I ended the call, I could see one of the unknown men filling the car with fuel, and then he walked over to the shop to pay for the fuel.

I heard an engine and saw MC pull up out of sight of the men in the car. The guy came out and jumped in the car and they pulled off the garage forecourt.

I jumped into the Range Rover and MC put it in gear and turned the corner. The car was fifty yards in front of us. MC did a good job of tracking it without getting seen.

We saw them pull off the road outside a hotel, they parked up and went inside.

There was a sign hanging up outside the front door that advertised beer and food.

“Right, Rosie you and Baz go in and see what you can see” Chalky said.

“Yes, mate no worries” I said and got out, followed by Big Baz.

As we walked past their car, I used my phone to snap a picture of their car’s registration plate and sent it over to Chalky.

We went into the bar, I ordered us beers and asked for a menu. Three of the men were at a table, the barman passed us the menu and poured our beers. As we sipped on them one of the tangoes came to the bar and ordered some food and four glasses of orange juice.

He asked the lad behind the bar to put it on his rooms tab, room 101.

Baz winked at me, and I winked back. So, we knew they were stopping at the hotel, which would make life easier.

I sent a text to Chalky and updated him. He texted me back telling me to get out of there.

We drank our beer and left the bar.

MC pulled up across the street and we jogged over and jumped on the Range Rover,

“Good work Rosie” Chalky said and Captain Jones grunted his agreement.

MC pulled away from the curb and headed back toward the lodge. We filled the lads in on what we had seen and heard in the bar.

When we got back MC put the oven on and I made coffee for the lads.

Chalky and Captain Jones were outside on the phone as the reception in the lodge was shit.

They came in as MC was emptying a bag of oven chips onto a tray and slotting them into the oven.

“Okay listen up lads, so we now have names for the other tangoes, Abu Mohammad al-Adarni is the taller guy, he is known to have fought for ISIS and in other war zones, the yanks want him if we can take him alive, the fat lad is Abu Omar al-Shahrani. British-born ISIS bomb maker and also known to have fought in Afghanistan.”

“So, we have four very valid targets then boss? Big Baz said.

“Yes mate, very much so but we also know they can fight” Chalky said, “so we can only hope they don’t have weapons other than the one they will just have bought off the paddies.”

“They are booked into the hotel under other names, and they are the only four IC 4 or IC6s in the hotel as far as we can tell”. Captain Jones said.

The police and green army use IC codes to describe the apparent ethnicity of a suspect.

IC4 was Asian and IC6 Arab or North African.

In the SAS we were still not that PC, to use the were rag heads or towel heads. Sometimes camel jockeys.

“We also know the car is a ringer on false plates” Jones chipped in.

“So, the plan is still the same?” I asked,

“Yes. Around midnight on Sunday, we drive over and park up, we will leave the trucks around two miles away and tab in, take our time and make sure we are not seen, bed down and wait for the trawler to appear, once the gear is unloaded and the trawler has fucked off, we hit them and hit them hard!!

The guys had told me they had found a nice place to park up where the trucks would not be seen. It was down a disused forest lane.

We had pie and chips for dinner, washed down with mugs of tea. Mc had cooked so I washed up. Baz made another brew. and we watched crap TV. I was in bed before ten o’clock.