Chapter Eighteen;
Stevie

Will glanced at the phone and saw Stevie's name come up. He grinned at Kowalski. "I better take this." Kowalski nodded and continued his talk to the tourists as Will moved to the back of the bus and answered the call. "Stevie?"

"Will, get down to the docks, the obbo has the go-ahead. The tour is headed for the docks, just like you said."

"Oh, I know." Will frowned.

"What?" Stevie paused for a minute then it seemed something dawned on her. "Oh god, you're on the bus aren't you?"

"Yes and no."

"What do you mean 'yes and no'?" Stevie exclaimed.

"Well, technically I'M not on it; Eric O'Malley is."

"Only you could get into this situation Will." Stevie sighed. "Okay, um, Brecht hasn't recognized you?"

"I'm pretty sure he hasn't."

"I'll give DS Turner a call and see what he thinks. Just keep your head down."

"Oh Stevie, before you go, do you know any Japanese?"

"What?"

Will glanced up at the tourists. "Well, see, it turns out Eric O'Malley is the translator for a Japanese tour group." Stevie snorted. "Don't laugh. The only Japanese I know is what I picked up from a sushi bar."

"Okay, avoid speaking Japanese, unless you're asked about miso soup. I'll get back to you." Stevie hung up and Will stood, shoving his phone in his pocket, thankful that soon they would be at the obbo and he could get away from this very uncomfortable situation.

*

Stuart put down the phone and re-entered the room where the DI was laying out the last of the details to the small group. "So, Will's on the bus."

"What?" Both PC Ben Gayle and Millie said at the same time.

"How did he manage that? I thought you said he was chasing up paperwork." Neil gave Stuart a look.

"I thought he was too but apparently he decided a bit of undercover work was needed." Stuart took a seat and glanced at the whiteboard. "So, where do you want me Guv?"

"You're with me on the docks." He tapped the whiteboard. "PCs Gayle and Brown will watch the entrance to the docks on Riverview Lane and radio through when the bus enters the docks. They'll then block that exit when the obbo starts, cover the lane and the entrance to the shipping yard." Ben nodded. "Stuart, you're with me on the docks themselves. We're watching the entrance to make sure that Brecht is picked up as soon as he gets off the bus. Get on to Stevie and tell her we'll need Will to take control of the tour bus as soon as Brecht gets off. The last thing we need is Brecht taking the bus passengers into a hostage situation." He turned to Max. "DS Carter, you'll be on the docks themselves, watching the water. We're assuming the boat from our intel is still coming in at quarter-past three and we need you there to catch it as soon as it gets in sight. Water Police will get onto it if the driver makes a run." Max nodded.

"And Stevie?"

"Tell her to meet us on the docks." Neil turned to the small group. "Okay, are we ready?" The team nodded almost as one. "Great. Well, then, good luck and I'll see you all out there." The group broke apart, the PCs heading off together and Max following them with his hands shoved in his pockets.

Stuart came to the DI. "You think Brecht recognized Fletcher?"

The DI frowned. "I hope not, but I think we've covered our bases enough to ensure that if he has then he won't get away." Neil put down the whiteboard marker. "If anything goes wrong with Brecht, get back to uniform and help them cover the shipping yard. The last thing we need is to lose him in that yard and find out later he was just hiding in a discarded crate." Neil put his hands in his pockets and glanced back at the plans. Stuart glanced at them too then looked back to his DI. "Okay, let's go."