Costa Crew: One More Shot

Chapter 8 - Privileges

A last minute decision had been taken to include DI Drake in those who knew about the mission. He would communicate with Paul and use any new evidence in his investigation into Frank Coulson's employer.

"Hello sir," he said when Paul phoned. "How's the safehouse?"

"Fantastic," said Paul. "I didn't think I'd get on with the MI5 agents, to be honest, but the Cyber Security Agent is a riot. We get on like old friends."

"That's good," said Drake, though he couldn't care less. "I've been dropping in on Charlotte's kids, before you ask. Linda's doing fine, but Matthew misses his mother. Any chance of her being able to visit?"

Paul sighed. "I honestly don't know. The other agent's been trying to talk their boss round. I think he's softening up a bit. Hopefully her and Ted will be able to go home for a visit soon."

Drake breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God. They really don't like me. I've never been good with kids, one of my weaknesses. It is one of my only weaknesses, of course, but it's not great. Ted coming back to see his husband?"

Paul nodded, then realised Drake couldn't see him. "Yep. You'd better not have adjusted my seat."

"I told you Paul, I wouldn't dream of it."

Paul laughed. "How did the Granger angle pan out?"

"As expected, nothing. Anna Granger's a typical 12 year old girl. Only really interested in boys and makeup. Not a crime boss."

"Figures. What about the sketch artist?"

"We'll give it a go, but Coulson only met his employer once. After that she used messengers or phoned."

Paul sighed. "Damn. Well, can't hurt to try it. Just keep reminding Coulson that we know he's guilty of murder anyway, and he only gets witness protection if his help actually pans out. I'm also sending over the phone records of Joanne Goldstein, the woman that set Coulson up. MI5's got an undercover agent in the Mafia now. We're getting closer to the Godfather."

"Will do. I'll let you know if we make any progress."

"Thanks Raymond," said Paul, hanging up. He went into the living room and was surprised to see Ted and Charlotte putting their jackets on. "Going somewhere?" he asked.

"I've authorised a trip to London for PS Monroe and DC Green to see their families," said John. "Of course, you both have Rebecca to thank for this. She even persuaded me to let you ride in the helicopter. That's an MI5 privilege."

Ted grinned. "Thanks for the chopper, Becky."

Charlotte laughed. "Like I said in high school, Becky's great."

Paul smiled. "So you've all had a ride in a helicopter except me. What do I have to do, join MI5?"

John nodded. "Actually that's exactly right. And I know you're joking, but we could always use someone of your ability."

Paul grimaced. "Thanks, but I think I'll stick to London five-o."

John laughed. "Worth a try. All set?"

Ted and Charlotte nodded. They bade goodbye to the others and stepped outside. They saw the helicopter and beamed. "Hell yeah," whispered Ted.

"Since they're gone, why don't you two take the afternoon off?" suggested John. "I can keep tabs on our undercover agent."

Paul hesitated. "If it's okay with you, Becky, I would like to keep working," he said.

Becky nodded. "Of course. That's more important than ever now. Never thought I'd be saying that to John Goodman."

"Maybe you could help me," said Paul. "I've been looking at the pictures your agent sent in. I can't seem to figure out the pattern. I thought maybe you could try."

"Sure," said Becky. "What've you got?"

They went into the evidence room and looked at the pinboard. "The Godfather uses code names for all their crimes," Paul explained. "I'm trying to figure out the meaning behind them."

Becky studied the pictures. The Godfather had people set up in coffee shops all over the country. Hannah's boss would tell Hannah exactly what they wanted Hannah to deliver. Hannah would write this down and hand it to the owner of a local coffee shop, who would pass it on to someone else who carried out the crime. But the messages didn't talk about murder and drug dealing. They talked about "pizza delivery", "eggs", "flour" and things of a similar nature.

"These could be anything," said Becky. "There's no logic behind it. You'd be better off focusing on the targets. See what crimes are committed against them. They could be your link to the Godfather."

"Why didn't I think of that?" said Paul, facepalming.

"Hey, take it easy," said Becky. "You just need some air."

Paul nodded. "Maybe Goodman was right. How about a game of swingball in the garden? I'll phone Drake and tell him to look into the targets, but we should take a break after that."

Once Paul had made his call, they went into the garden and played swingball, acting like complete children and laughing about the fact that MI5 had a swingball set in their safehouse.

"Man, that was fun," said Becky a couple of hours later. "I haven't played swingball since I was in primary school."

Paul laughed as he caught his breath. "You sound exhausted," said Becky. "It's cold outside as well. Fancy a hot chocolate?"

Paul grinned. "I won't say no."

Suddenly his phone rang. "It's Drake," he said, puzzled. "I'd better take this."

Becky nodded and continued making hot chocolate while Paul was on the phone.

"Hi Raymond," he said. "Already? Okay… really? That's great work, Raymond, who is it?"

There was a pause, then all colour drained from Paul's face. "I'll call you back, Raymond… thanks for letting me know."

"Becky, you need to follow me," he said, running into the surveillance room. "Mr Goodman, this is urgent."

John turned around. "Are you okay, DCI Houston? You're as white as a sheet."

Paul's voice was trembling as he spoke. "Drake looked into the targets. Turns out DS Foster arrested someone called Michael Arnott last week for stealing files from Harry Corbett, one of the targets in your agent's messages. Drake talked to Arnott, who now hates the Godfather because he blames them for his arrest, and he's pretty high up. He says the Godfather always has a lot of operations going on at the same time, but there's one big operation they've been working on for months. A murder, and it's personal."

"The next target," said Becky. "We find them, we find the Godfather. This is great!"

Paul shook his head. "No it's not."

"Why?" asked Becky. "Who's the target?"

Becky didn't like to see Paul this upset. His whole body was shaking badly as he turned his head to look at her.

"Becky… it's you."