Fair Game by Stephen Leather Read Free Book Online Page A

hear what the job is?’
    ‘I’m all ears,’ said Shepherd. ‘I’m assuming that you want me to go undercover, is that it? With a peg leg and a parrot on my shoulder?’
    ‘Leaving aside the fact that you’re the wrong colour, the pirates don’t trust outsiders,’ said Button. ‘But Crazy Boy doesn’t operate like the other pirate groups. Most of them tend to prowl around and seize whatever ship they come across, but we believe that Crazy Boy has started targeting specific ships, based on who owns them and what they’re carrying. We’re pretty sure that he’s getting inside information from at least one London-based company. That’s where we want to use you.’
    ‘Why me, Charlie? Sitting at a computer all day isn’t what I do best.’
    ‘It’s undercover, Spider, and no one does undercover better than you. And no one’s better than you at spotting who’s wrong.’
    ‘You flatterer, you.’
    ‘I know it’s not the same as infiltrating a gang of armed robbers or drug dealers, but in the grand scheme of things it’s just as important. Maybe more so. Crazy Boy’s pirates have taken six ships that we know about in the past two years. And the last four were all carrying containers for the same freight forwarders based in London. It could be a coincidence, but we think there’s something going on. The freighters were all similar vessels on similar routes, all coming from China via the Suez Canal and so passing through the Gulf of Aden close to Somalia. It’s possible that Crazy Boy is getting information from someone at the company. Most of the pirates used to operate by just prowling around and attacking any ship they found, but in the past few years they’ve started taking a more intelligence-led approach. We know they’ve been placing people in ports who then radio ahead when they spot a likely ship leaving, and we know of at least one hijacking where they had their own man on board as a seaman.’
    ‘So you want me to do a Father Christmas and find out who’s been naughty and who’s been nice?’
    ‘Exactly,’ said Button. ‘Their head office is in Hammersmith so they’re not too far from Ealing. Thirty-seven employees, of whom only twenty have access to ship and cargo movements. We’ve looked at assets and checked bank accounts of everyone at the company and we can’t find anyone who’s suddenly come into money or who has any obvious connection with Crazy Boy, but four ships in a row is just too many to be a coincidence.’
    ‘Not if they have cargo on hundreds of ships.’
    Button shook her head. ‘They use most of the world’s shipping companies, depending on where they’re shipping to and from, so they are spread pretty wide. But the only pirates who’ve taken a ship carrying their cargo have been working for Crazy Boy. Our intelligence guys have run the probabilities and they’re sure that there’s some connection between Crazy Boy and the freight company.’
    ‘I’m not sure that it’s going to work, sending me undercover in a company. I’ve never worked at a desk, you know that. I was with the Paras then the SAS then the cops and then SOCA and I never so much as opened a drawer or used a photocopier.’
    Button laughed. ‘We’ll put together a legend that doesn’t make your lack of typing skills an issue,’ she said. She took out a pale green thumb drive and gave it to him. ‘There’s a rundown on the company and the likely suspects,’ she said. ‘I understand your reservations, but you’re a chameleon, that’s your skill. You can blend into any situation, you get people to like you and to accept you. That’ll work as well with a group of office workers as it does with a gang of bank robbers or a terrorist cell. It’s the only way, Spider. If we send in the cops to start questioning people up front then they’ll know that we’re on to them and shut down.’
    Shepherd put the thumb drive in his pocket. ‘When?’
    ‘We’ve got to put together a legend and