Private Dublin

Chapter 45

“What now?” Andi asked as I drove us back to Dublin.

I’d been considering the question as I steered the twisting country lanes that took us away from Finch’s estate.

“They will realize the warehouse I escaped from has been compromised because I know its location,” I replied. “But I doubt they will assume the other two warehouses have been identified because they won’t expect me to have access to someone with Mo-bot’s skills. I’m not sure there’s anyone else quite like her.”

“So, you want to find out what they’re being used for?”

I nodded. “We take one each and stake it out. See if we can learn what they’re up to.”

Andi shook her head. “It’s too risky. I don’t want to find myself alone in a jam after what just happened to you, and I don’t want you to take any undue risks either. We should work together. Pick one of the warehouses, set up a stakeout and keep watch in shifts, but with both of us on-site in case anything goes wrong.”

I thought about disagreeing for a moment. Her approach had its own risks: we could both be captured, or we might choose the wrong warehouse to watch, but then I remembered how powerless I’d felt against those men last night, and I knew she was right. I didn’t want to be in that situation again. Or at least I wanted to reduce the chances of it, and having a skilled operator like her at my side should do just that.

“Okay,” I said. “Which one?”

She considered the question for a moment. “I don’t know why, but my gut tells me the one on Manor Street to the north of the city.”

I nodded. “Your guess is as good as mine. Let’s do it.”

I drove us back to the house in Fitzwilliam Square, taking a long, haphazard route to ensure we weren’t followed from Ballagh House. Once there we changed into casual clothes, both opting for dark jeans and tops, and put together a surveillance pack of a mini-drone, camera and a night-vision scope. Losing the gear bag in Sam Farrell’s house had given us limited options and these were all we had left of the supplies Andi had brought with her.

While I was packing food and drink, she checked Google Maps for overhead images of the warehouse, which was situated halfway along Manor Street in Dublin’s Stoneybatter district, north of the River Liffey. The place was surrounded by businesses and other warehouses, which would hopefully ensure a steady stream of traffic and reduce the chances of us being noticed.

We planned to keep watch from the car, but Andi identified a couple of the surrounding rooftops as alternative locations if we felt the car was too exposed.

Satisfied we were ready, our gear and supplies prepared, we waited until sundown before beginning our journey. The drive took twenty minutes, and in that time we went from the upscale, immaculately restored historic buildings of Fitzwilliam Square through the historic heart of Dublin, past St Patrick’s Cathedral and its high dressed-stone spire, along and over the river then through residential streets lined with rows of small Victorian terrace houses, before finally arriving at Manor Street, which turned out to be in a gritty commercial neighborhood.

We circled our target, a large redbrick warehouse set back from the road, and didn’t see anything unusual. Andi spotted a space in the driveway of a vacant warehouse fifty meters along the street. It was the perfect spot because we were obscured to one side by the loading dock, which jutted out beside the driveway.

I parked nose-forward, facing the loading bay, meaning we also couldn’t be seen from the front. The headrests made us difficult to spot from the street, so we were only really visible from the right, but we needed a clear view in that direction to keep watch on the building that was now the target of our investigation.