Plockton Marina
7-45 a.m.
April 17th
Charley Cobb, the ‘smoker’ whose match flare had alerted Dewey to the illegal entrants to the united Kingdom, took the boat keys from the Harbour master at Plockton harbour, an unhappy man for being dragged from his house all too early, but knowing that Cobb, or ‘Mr Jake Howard’ as Cobb had been ‘labelled’ for the mission, had money behind him and you didn’t turn that down these days.
They exchanged sea and boat related comments in a casual, small talk manner as they looked over the boat. It was a small ocean going cruiser, a little on the scruffy side, but suitable for the task. Cobb held his cover as an American tourist easily though in reality he was an ex Navy SEAL with a global criminal underworld reputation as an outstanding ‘hit man’. He had a stocky build and short cropped, blonde hair, dressed in the kind of all weather gear American tourists typically bought for such tourism.
Charley had done his homework and his paperwork for the boat and his ability to sail it into the ocean were impeccably faked. Everything had been brilliantly arranged and Charley thought that the influence behind this job was second to none. Even the fact that there were five of them, so that at least one would get through was pretty stunning. Even more stunning was the use of a British submarine and the fact that the Royal Navy captain had thought they were on a Navy exercise.
Charley checked over the boat, turned the engine and ran over the charts. He drank some strong coffee and delved into his ‘Luckies’ soft pack twice for comfort, while the engine warmed. An hour after he’d got into the country he headed out into the western coastal waters planning to use the boat as far as Liverpool at least.