suspected Kerry’s feelings towards him were starting to mellow. They’d hurled abuse, popcorn and cushions at each other, but still hadn’t managed a normal conversation, except when they’d had to talk during mission preparations.
James looked up when he noticed Kerry smiling to herself. He tested the water with a single word. ‘What?’
Kerry’s look stiffened when James spoke, but after a second she grinned and looked up at him.
‘You look funny with all that popcorn stuck in your hair,’ she muttered, as if she didn’t really want to say it.
James couldn’t read Kerry’s body language. Her expression seemed a lot like the way she used to look at him before they kissed. Or was it anger?
With Kerry’s temper, James knew he’d wind up on the floor in an excruciating arm-lock if he got this wrong, but he fancied her so much it was making him loopy. He’d never wanted to kiss someone so badly in his life and she was standing less than a metre away with nobody else around.
James took half a step forward, so that Kerry was right in his face. Her dark brown eyes kept staring up, but refused to give any obvious signal. He kissed her on the cheek, then backed away, as if he’d jabbed a snake with a sharp stick.
Kerry’s smile grew and James felt a massive rush as he realised his bravery had paid off. She grabbed James around his waist, pushed him back against the wall and they started snogging. It lasted for about twenty seconds, when the latch clicked inside the bathroom door. Kerry stepped backwards and acted innocent as Lauren emerged, wearing an adult-length robe that dragged along the floor.
‘Finished,’ she announced, as she cut across the carpet towards the bedroom.
Once Lauren was out of sight, James moved in to start snogging again, but Kerry’s expression had changed completely. She shoved him away.
‘I’m still not talking to you,’ she said firmly, as she slid into the bathroom and shut the door in his face.
30. CONFUSION
23:07
A grey VW van pulled up directly opposite the Patels’ house. Dave switched off the lights and engine, climbed out of the cab and walked around the outside to join James and Kerry in the back.
‘All OK?’ Dave asked.
James had never felt so confused in his life, but Dave was asking about the mission, not his relationship with Kerry.
‘Yeah,’ James said. ‘Except it’s boiling in here.’
Surveillance vans aren’t air-conditioned, because the noise it would make is a give-away. The rear compartment contained three office chairs, which were bolted to the floor in front of a bank of monitors and VCRs. These were linked to hidden cameras and microphones built into the exterior and roof. The lack of ventilation, combined with the heat coming off the electronic gear pushed the temperature into the forties on this warm August evening.
‘Kerry, have you got the laser microphone lined up yet?’ Dave asked.
‘It’s a bit cranky,’ Kerry said, as she leaned over a console adjusting a row of knobs beneath a small TV screen.
As she fiddled, the picture changed from white to black, before settling into a steady bluish hue.
‘OK,’ Dave said, as he fed digital audio tapes into two recorders. ‘Now line it up on the house. You want to get a window dead in the centre so that it picks up the vibrations when people speak.’
Kerry tutted. ‘I know what I’m doing, Dave.’ She used a joystick to line up the image on a window. ‘Ready when you are, James.’
James hit a switch to activate the laser. The invisible beam detected vibrations in the glass and relayed a crude impression of any noises or speech going on inside the house. The output was set to max volume and James lunged at the control to turn it down before it fried their eardrums.
‘The Israeli government says that it’s trying to calm tension in the region following …’
‘TV news,’ James said.
Dave nodded. ‘Kerry, line that microphone up on some of the other windows. Then save the positions in memory and keep flicking between them.’
Dave pulled a two-way radio out of his pocket. Its signal was digitally encrypted, so nobody could listen in. ‘Base, this is Dave inside unit one. We’re in position and we have good sound, but Michael’s still up watching TV.’
‘Roger that,’ Chloe answered. ‘John is in position at the railway arch. Tell us when you’re ready to move in.’
Wednesday, 00:57
They’d been sweltering in the van for two hours. James had managed to nod off on the floor, while