‘It’s the south coast,’ said Salik.
‘Which means I won’t need to carry extra fuel,’ said Shepherd. ‘See? That’s why it’s nice to know these things in advance, Salik. We’d look pretty bloody silly sitting out there with Hussain telling me he wants me to take him a hundred and fifty miles and me having to explain that we don’t have enough fuel.’
‘It’s the south coast,’ repeated Salik, ‘and I’m sorry if we appear to be keeping you in the dark but there’s a lot of money at stake.’
‘That’s okay. It’s not the first time I’ve been treated like a mushroom,’ said Shepherd, ‘and it probably won’t be the last. Will you be there?’
‘Matiur and I will both be there to take delivery,’ said Salik. ‘Don’t worry.’
Shepherd wasn’t worried. But at least now Hargrove knew that all he had to do was keep tabs on the Uddin brothers to find out where the consignment was arriving. ‘What time did you tell Kreshnik we’d be there?’ he asked.
‘Eleven o’clock.’
Shepherd glanced at his watch. ‘We’ve plenty of time. Have you arranged any signals?’
‘Hussain has a flashlight.’
Shepherd grinned. ‘A mobile phone would be better,’ he said. His face hardened. ‘Is that all he’s got?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Does he have a gun?’
Salik and Matiur exchanged a look so transparent that he almost laughed. ‘It is for security,’ said Matiur.
‘His or mine?’
‘It’s a lot of money, Tony,’ said Salik.
‘And if I try to run off with it, he’ll shoot me?’
‘Tony, please.’
‘If I’d known you were going to send someone to ride shotgun, I’d have worn my vest.’
‘If Kreshnik decides to double-cross you, the gun could be useful,’ said Matiur.
‘If the Albanians decide to double-cross us, we’ll both be dead.’ Shepherd waved to Hussain and pointed for him to get into the boat. ‘We’ll head off now,’ he said.
Salik stepped forward and hugged Shepherd, surprising him, then kissed his cheek. ‘We shall see you later tonight, my friend,’ he said. ‘ Inshallah.’
‘You can bank on it,’ said Shepherd. ‘ Inshallah.’
Shepherd looked at the GPS monitor. He had turned the brightness right down so that it wouldn’t interfere with the night-vision goggles. He slowed the boat to twenty knots and steered to port. ‘About a mile to go,’ he told Hussain.
Hussain hadn’t said much during the crossing: fifteen minutes into the trip he’d leaned over the side and thrown up.
Shepherd followed the course he’d programmed into the GPS navigation unit. There had been a fair amount of traffic, much of it heading to or from Boulogne, but it had all been commercial – ferries or trawlers – no fair-weather sailors or rich men playing with the motor-boats that cluttered the seaway during the day.
Shepherd hadn’t bothered giving Hussain night-vision goggles. Out at sea, there was enough of a moon to see by, and all the vessels were equipped with navigation lights. The goggles were a help, but not essential, and he’d told Hussain to warn him if he spotted anything in the water.
The crossing was as uneventful as it had been when Shepherd had gone out with McConnell, and navigating with the GPS was as simple as driving a train.
He slowed the boat to fifteen knots, still fast enough for it to plane, pushed the night-vision goggles up his forehead and blinked rapidly.
‘Are you okay?’ asked Hussain.
‘I will be in a few minutes, as soon as I get used to the dark.’
‘I can’t see the land.’
‘It’s there,’ said Shepherd. ‘Flash your light.’
Hussain took his torch from his pocket, switched it on and began to wave it.
‘Flash it,’ said Shepherd. ‘On and off. Didn’t you prearrange a signal?’
‘Salik just said to use a light.’
‘Flash it three or four times, then wait,’ said Shepherd.
Hussain did as he was told. They stared in the direction of the shore. Nothing.
‘They’re not there,’ said Hussain.
Shepherd turned up the brightness of the GPS screen. They were right on course. He pulled out the piece of paper Salik had given him and cross-checked the reference, which matched. ‘We’re where we should be.’ He pulled back on the throttle and the boat settled into the water, rising and falling with the swell of the waves. ‘Flash the torch again.’
Hussain switched it on and off. On and off. On and off. He groaned.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘I feel sick.’
‘You’ll be fine.’
‘I feel really sick.’
‘It’s because we’re not moving forward. You’ll be on land in a few minutes. Flash the torch again.’
Hussain did as he was told. ‘Where are they?’ he whispered.
‘Relax,’ said Shepherd. ‘You’re making me nervous.’ He frowned as he peered into the darkness. He hoped nothing had happened to spook Kreshnik. Shepherd didn’t have as much faith in Europol as Hargrove had. All it would have taken was for one of the French surveillance team members to have shown out and the Albanian would have called off the whole thing. ‘Again,’ said Shepherd.
Hussain flashed his torch. Almost immediately a powerful single light flashed on and off to Shepherd’s right. He applied power gently and moved the boat towards the beam. It flashed again.
‘See? You were worrying about nothing,’ he said. He increased power and moved closer to the beach where he made out a figure, holding a large flashlight. Some distance behind him, Shepherd could distinguish a squat silhouette, which he assumed was a vehicle. He edged the boat forward until he felt the hull scrape across sand. The man on the beach was wearing dark clothes and a ski mask. Shepherd could see the van clearly now. The rear doors were open and two men, also wearing black clothes, were unloading cans on to the sand. They, too, wore ski masks but from their body shape and the way they moved Shepherd could tell they were Ervin and Artur.