Free Shadow Creatures by Andrew Lane

ready as I’ll ever be,’ Calum replied.
    By the time Rhino had read and considered the text message from Gecko, the solicitor representing the Somali kidnappers – Tzuke – had left the cafe.
    Moments later, the elderly woman who had been sitting in the corner of the cafe got up and walked out without catching Rhino’s eye. She turned the same way that Tzuke did as she left.
    The blonde waitress watched her go with a frown. She seemed to be just about to run after her when Rhino caught her eye.
    ‘It’s all right,’ he said, ‘I’ll pay for her coffee. I . . . know her.’
    The blonde smiled uncertainly. ‘OK – thanks!’
    Rhino sat there for a few moments, imagining the elderly woman following Tzuke discretely from a distance. Her age made her almost invisible. Anyone looking for a follower would be expecting
someone younger, stronger, more military-looking.
    One of the surfers at the other table got up and went to the counter to pay for his coffee. As he handed the money across, he half turned and, without looking at Rhino, said: ‘What’s
our next move?’
    ‘When Liz reports back on where his office and home are located, I want both of them bugged. Surreptitiously, of course. Landlines and mobiles bugged as well,’ replied Rhino.
    ‘Of course. “Surreptitious” is my middle name.”
    “Your middle name is Franklin. I’ve seen your personnel file.’
    ‘You want him followed after that?’
    Rhino shook his head. ‘He’ll pay the banker’s draft into a bank as quickly as he can. Unless we’ve got someone actually looking over his shoulder we won’t know what
account it gets paid into. He’ll let his clients know that he’s paid it in though, and that the handover went smoothly. If we can trace the call, we might have a shot at identifying
them and where their base is.’
    The surfer nodded. ‘Probably won’t help these particular hostages,’ he said grimly.
    ‘They’ll be free, if the pirates fulfil their side of the bargain. Knowing who and where they are might help us when the next hostages are taken for ransom.’
    ‘Or,’ the surfer said quietly, ‘we could just go in mob-handed and take them all out in whatever rat-infested corner of Somalia they have their base. Stop any more
piracy.’
    ‘But who would pay us to recover hostages if there are no more pirates?’ Rhino asked.
    The surfer frowned. ‘Doesn’t that make us—’
    ‘Don’t go there,’ Rhino interrupted harshly. ‘Just be content that we’re on the side of the angels.’
    The surfer smiled. ‘As long as someone has told the angels that, I’ll be happy.’ He gestured to his friend, who got up and collected their possessions from the table.
‘Good working with you again, Rhino.’
    ‘Likewise. I’ll have your fee paid across via bank transfer.’
    ‘Appreciated.’ He slid some money across the counter towards the waitress and left, along with his companion.
    The girl looked curiously at Rhino. ‘Do you know
everyone
in here?’
    ‘I’ve got a lot of friends in the area. It’s nice to see them from time to time.’
    She smiled sunnily. ‘Fair enough. It’s good to have friends.’ She paused. ‘Did you want that other coffee now?’
    ‘Yes, please.’
    He sat there until he had finished his second coffee and until Tzuke was a good distance away, and presumably unaware that he was being followed by a little old lady who had been one of the
first women in Special Forces. Everyone called her ‘Grandma’, but Rhino knew some of the missions she had been involved in over the years, some of the things she had done, and she was
about as far away from the popular conception of a cuddly grandmother as a lion was from a Siamese cat.
    He thought for a moment about Gecko’s text message. Hong Kong. He hadn’t been there for a good few years, but he remembered its bustle, its life and its vibrant energy with great
affection. He’d still been in the British army then, and was on a highly sensitive