Read Live Fire for Free Online

each other since they were at school. And between them they’ve not spent a day behind bars.’
    ‘That’s unusual for armed robbers,’ said Shepherd.
    ‘They’re an unusual bunch,’ said Button. ‘The Flying Squad breathed a collective sigh of relief when they left our shores and set up shop in Thailand. But their relief turned out to be a bit premature. They’re funding their life in the sun with regular visits back to the UK. Like I said, six robberies in five years with a total take of almost fifteen million. And that’s just the ones we’re sure they’re behind. There’s bound to be others.’
    ‘And never caught?’
    ‘They haven’t even come close,’ said Button. ‘Everything’s always planned to the last detail.’
    ‘And how do they manage that if they’re based in Thailand?’
    ‘Good question,’ said Button. She handed him a head-and-shoulders shot of a man in his sixties, totally bald, squinting at the camera through thick-lensed spectacles. ‘This is the brains behind the outfit. Stuart Townsend. They call him the Professor, though he left school at fifteen to work with his father who, back then, was one of London’s top safe-blowers.’
    ‘Safe-blower rather than-cracker?’
    Button nodded. ‘Townsend senior’s skill was in explosives and he taught his son everything he knew. He must have forgotten something, though, because in the late eighties Townsend Junior miscalculated the amount of explosive he was using on a safe in a Hatton Garden jeweller’s and ended up with two blown eardrums. He’s been deaf ever since. He did seven years for the botched jewellery job and his disability put paid to his safe-blowing career. That was when he moved into planning jobs for other criminals, and the Moore brothers are his best customers. They leave the planning to him, and when the ducks are in a row they fly over and do the job.’
    ‘Presumably you’ve got Townsend under surveillance?’
    ‘On and off,’ said Button. ‘The problem is his deafness. Eavesdropping and bugging don’t work because he never uses the phone. All communication is face to face or via email. And he’s a difficult guy to follow because he tends to be more aware of what’s going on around him than a hearing person.’
    Shepherd sipped his coffee. He knew what was coming next.
    ‘Have you ever been to Thailand?’ asked Button.
    ‘I had a spell in the Malaysian jungle with the SAS but I never made it to Thailand,’ said Shepherd. ‘That’s the plan, is it, to send me to Thailand to infiltrate the gang?’
    ‘Ricky Knight has a track record, and he’s on the run. Pattaya is the new Costa del Crime – it’s full of old familiar faces. There’s every reason he’d go there.’
    ‘But they’re a tight group, you said.’
    ‘We’ll let them make the approach,’ said Button. ‘They’ve got a police general on their payroll and a couple of police colonels, so we’ll send out a Europol warning on you. The cops will tip off the brothers so they’ll be looking out for you.’
    ‘But why would they be interested in me, seeing as how they’re doing so well?’ asked Shepherd.
    Button tapped one of the pictures. A black man in his twenties was standing on a diving-board. ‘They’re shorthanded,’ she said. ‘This is Terry Norris, the youngster of the crew. Ex-army, weapons expert, he was their technical man.’
    ‘Was?’
    ‘Well, still is, but he’s broken his back so he won’t be travelling. He smashed up his motorcycle and severed his spinal cord. He’s in hospital now, but when he gets out he’ll be in a wheelchair. So that leaves the Moore brothers a man short. It’s been five months since their last job so they’re due.’
    ‘If you know they did these jobs, why haven’t you pulled them in?’
    ‘Knowing and proving, as you’re aware, are two different things. They’re pros, Spider. No forensics, no useful witnesses, and they’re experts at laundering and hiding their money.