Free Shadows of Deceit by Patrick Cotter Page A

bring my glass.”
    As he approached the drinks table Harry swiftly turned and grabbed Steve’s testicles and squeezed hard and retained a vice like grip,
    “If you ever pull a knife on me again I’ll rip your balls off before asking any further questions. Do you understand?”
    The ‘vice’ was tightened and lowered so that Steve’s anguished face was now at Harry’s chest height.
    “Yes, I understand, I understand now please …”
    Harry released him and turned to the table again.
    “Want any ice?”
Chapter 5
    When all the men re-assembled the subject turned to the next ‘adventure’ as Darlath called it.
    “Gentlemen, the next project. There is a large consignment of tobacco, liquor and perfume coming from New York to Cork in two weeks time. It’s being bought and paid for by a group of Dublin hotels together with ‘Erin Comestibles’. It’ll be transported to Dublin and stored in bonded warehousing before distribution. My contacts over there have confirmed that a quantity will be ‘lost’ during transit.”
    “How do you intend shipping it across to the U.K. this time Son?”
    “We’ve worked out a new route, from Donegal then straight to Scotland rather than use Liverpool again.”
    “What happened at Liverpool?” Harry asked.
    “The last goods were badly damaged and over half the consignment was stolen, we think, upon landing at Liverpool.” Dermot replied.
    Tommy then spoke.
    “We later discovered, through our Police channels that several Liverpudlians were arrested and charged with possessing stolen goods. So it makes sense to find somewhere else to make a more secure landfall.”
    Steve manoeuvred himself with some difficulty, attempting to find a more comfortable position to sit before speaking,
    “So where in Scotland and when?”
    Darlath finished his drink before replying,
    “It’s likely to be in Kintyre. I’m told that there are some deserted rocky coves that could be used. We will need to do a recce first before we finalise…”
    Steve interrupted,
    “What, I don’t follow this? Why are we proposing to export the merchandise from Donegal, that’s on the west of Ireland, can’t we bring it across from the east coast? There’s bound to be an easier route”
    Darlath continued,
    “No not really. If we try and get nearer to Scotland on the east coast then it means crossing the border into Northern Ireland, which we don’t want to do. It would mean potentially another unnecessary security inspection that could scupper the whole project. If we use a fishing boat from Donegal it can sail around the Antrim coast then across to Kintyre. It’s quite common for the north and south’s boats to get muddled up a bit so no suspicion should be raised.”
    “And it’s only about twelve miles from Antrim across the Irish Sea to Scotland.” Dermot confirmed.
    Harry then asked,
    “What about U boats or the Royal Navy, don’t they patrol these waters?”
    Darlath replied,
    “U boats are looking for larger vessels and mainly patrol out in the Atlantic waiting for the convoys from the States. As for the Royal Navy then yes, they do move around our north coast and into the Irish Sea, but as I said the small fishing boats from both sides of the border plus the Scottish ones all get muddled together. The Royal Navy can’t easily control all of them so they mainly tolerate the situation. Now, going back to your earlier question Steve, we reckon that we could land the cargo here in three weeks time.”
    Darlath unfolded the maps and spent the next hour describing the proposed route and researching old tourist books featuring the Kintyre area for places to land. Eventually Dermot stretched his arms and yawned loudly,
    “I think that’s enough for tonight. Let’s head back to town. I’ll speak with Andrew tomorrow and work out a plan for reconnoitring.”
    Darlath passed the maps to his father,
    “And I’ve got to head back to Dublin tomorrow, but I will be back to catch up in a weeks