The Quiet Death of Thomas Quaid: Lennox 5 Read Online Free PDF

So much so, they want to know exactly when you’ll do the job and they’d like it if you could do your best to cover your traces so the break-in isn’t discovered for a while.’
    ‘Not a problem.’ Tommy paused, his expression thoughtful. ‘But this is an odd one, Lennox. The only security worth a damn will be at the other end of the complex, where the wages office is, and even that doesn’t keep cash overnight – they bring the wages in from the bank on payday.’
    ‘There’s a night watchman.’
    Tommy shook his head. ‘Some old codger doing his rounds at ground level isn’t worth shite. The only other worry, and it’s hardly that, is that the foundry’s such a huge place there’s bound to be a nightshift working somewhere. But, apart from that, it’s a piece of cake. I mean, it’s an ironworks for fuck’s sake – there’s nothing much worth stealing and anything that
is
worth stealing is too heavy to carry out unless you take it out on a flatbed. They won’t be looking for thieves and that means bugger all chance of getting caught. Like I say, it’s almost too good to be true.’ He frowned again; this time I saw something else in his expression, something deeper and darker than doubt. It troubled me because Tommy Quaid’s inner feelings never seemed to break through to the surface. ‘You do think it’s all kosher?’ he asked.
    I shrugged. ‘The money certainly is. And these plans, whatever they’re for, obviously have great value to my contact’s client. A value we can’t see – maybe only they can see.’
    ‘That’s the other thing. All the cloak-and-dagger stuff makes me jumpy. You say this guy looked like a tough nut?’
    ‘Not in the usual way. More military. For all I know he’s really the client himself but just wants to fudge things up a bit. Listen, Tommy, if you just don’t like the feel of it, I understand. But you know you’re the only guy I trust with these jobs.’
    Tommy thought for a while. I’d noticed that my mention that McNaught had had a military look had caused his frown to deepen. Again I got the feeling there was something else in the mix I didn’t know about; and again it troubled me.
    ‘I’d like to scope the place out first,’ he said eventually.
    ‘They’ve done their own survey. Watchman rounds, ways in and out, that kind of thing. I can give it to you.’
    ‘I’d still like to do my own scope.’
    ‘I guessed you would.’
    ‘And will you do the driving and lookout?’
    I thought for a moment. I hadn’t considered going along on the job and had imagined that while Tommy was slipping quietly into the foundry, I’d be doing pretty much the same with Irene, cosy at home. I nodded. ‘If you need me, then yes. No problem. You in?’
    Tommy thought it all through; then he said, very seriously, something I would have cause to recall later: ‘I trust you, Lennox. You know that, don’t you?’ The gravity with which he said it took me aback.
    ‘Sure, Tommy. I trust you too. Explicitly. That’s why you’re the only man for this job . . .’
    Again Tommy paused thoughtfully, then grinned. Whatever it was that had caused the darkness in his expression, it was gone like the shadow of a cloud passing in front of the sun. ‘That amount of money for a walk in the park? I’m in. When does it need to be done?’
    I ran through everything that McNaught had told me, including that he wanted the file for the end of the month. I suggested we do the foundry the following Friday, but Tommy said he had another job on that night.
    ‘This bugger’s less of a walk in the park,’ he said. I wondered if it had been this other job that had preoccupied him, but I knew better than to quiz Tommy on matters that weren’t my concern.
    I ran through the job and Tommy sat quietly, nodding. When I was finished he asked questions in a systematic way, taking the job apart piece by piece and stretching me to remember all the details. Tommy was smart, very smart: his