Fragments (The Harrogate Crime Series Book 10) by Malcolm Hollingdrake

Author:Malcolm Hollingdrake [Hollingdrake, Malcolm]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-02-10T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Martin sat in the back of the Honda. The headphones blotted out any sound. He was agitated and he clenched his hands together going over the instructions he had received the previous evening. He had been assured it would be straightforward and he had no reason to doubt Star’s word, after all he trusted her. As she had said, it was just a pick up, drop off and collect – a swop. He had been to Wetherby before but only with his mother shopping. He was nervous.

The pick-up moved into the inside lane of the north bound A1M. The passenger was engrossed in a paperback. The pages had been curled at the top corner. His feet were positioned on the dashboard. The rhythmic flicks of the wipers were in some ways therapeutic. The rain was an unnecessary distraction but it could work in their favour.

“If we stop quickly your beautiful size nine trainers will be pushed where your teeth are, you know that don’t you? Something to do with an exploding airbag. Your feet shouldn’t be there.” The driver turned to look at his passenger but he was too engrossed in the book. “About five minutes and we’ll be having our usual mechanical problem.” He nudged the passenger. “Are you listening? Four minutes. Get your arse in gear. The spray from the passing cars and poor visibility will help but you might get a tad wet – shame!”

The passenger said nothing just took hold of the corner of the page and roughly folded it over before tossing the book onto the dashboard. He retracted his feet and collected the shoebox-sized package from the footwell. It was heavily wrapped against the weather.

The Honda moved slowly along Freemans Way, a road within a housing estate that looped as it approached the A168 that ran parallel with the A1M. At the loop in the road was a public garden. A wooden pergola was situated within the fencing and the footpath ran from the road and garden to the right, taking pedestrians and cyclists below the two roads in a concrete, tube-like underpass. It then became part of the Wetherby Railway Path before appearing at the far side of the motorway next to Wetherby Racecourse and the open countryside.

A drop off had been attempted on a previous occasion. It involved stopping at the spot whilst travelling south. The package had been dropped from the motorway bridge onto the pathway below, but it was believed that it could never be predicted who might be beneath or approaching the tunnel exit. It was too insecure. The way it was now planned proved to be better. This was the third successful drop at this location and it was decided it would be the last for some time. Regularity in the drug game was for the foolhardy. Considering all of the possible drop places in the area, there was no need for carelessness.

The pick-up began to slow. “Don’t forget. Just after the sign is the gate in the perimeter fencing.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.