by Asia Mackay
She dropped her bag on the treatment table and folded her arms. ‘What do you want?’
‘I know you’re the Dragon.’
She shook her head. ‘So that’s why Dimitri is still alive? You think I’m this Dragon?’
‘Drop the act, Dasha. If I were you I would start talking. We know about Sandy.’ At the mention of Sandy’s name Dasha’s eyes closed and her jaw clenched. ‘Whoever makes a deal first is the one we go easy on. Eight is a Secret Service that doesn’t exist and we have prisons that don’t exist. Places where people will never find you. Places where you don’t get visitors.’ I took a step towards her. ‘Places where you don’t even get to say goodbye to your children before we take you away. Maybe we’ll tell them you left because you didn’t love them enough.’ I knew what I needed to say to get her to talk. I knew because it would work on me. I spoke softly. ‘Sorry, Natalya. Sorry, Viktor. Sorry, baby Irina. Mummy just doesn’t care.’
Dasha let out a stifled roar and slammed her hands down on the bed. She stared at me with such rage I tensed, ready for an attack. But she took a deep breath and started pacing around the room muttering to herself in Russian. She stopped, calmed herself and said, ‘What do you want to know?’
‘Let’s start with the Dragon.’
She grimaced. ‘I always hated that nickname. Dimitri’s friends and business associates started calling me the Dragon once they realised I was not the pretty little pushover they all thought I’d be.’
‘The Dragon had everyone in Dimitri’s business circles so scared we assumed it was some bigwig with contacts and muscle behind him. Not a bored housewife.’ The more she lost her temper the more she might let slip.
‘This bored housewife has more power than half those men.’ Dasha hissed. ‘Of course Dimitri’s business associates are scared of me. I’m friends with their wives. We lunch, we drink, we talk. I know all their secrets. Who’s trying to hide their homosexuality from their colleagues. Who’s double-crossing who on an upcoming business deal. Whose taste in young women is far too young . . . Some women just enjoy the gossip. I enjoy the leverage.’
‘But you didn’t have enough of it to convince them to murder Dimitri for you.’
‘Sadly not.’ Dasha adjusted one of her gold bracelets. ‘So I had to think of another plan.’
‘And that’s how you decided to work with Sandy.’ I had to keep her talking.
Dasha stared at me. ‘Why have you snuck in here?’ She motioned round the Zen room. ‘If Eight really knew everything we would be at your headquarters.’ Her lip curled. ‘You’re here on your own, aren’t you?’
‘My partner is outside our chief’s office with proof of Sandy’s betrayal. He just needs to hear from me as to whether to add you as an ally or an enemy. What do you see in your future, Dasha? Parties or prison?’
‘You don’t know anything.’
‘I know that you, the Dragon, are the one who created this whole mess just because you wanted your husband permanently out of the picture. Dimitri should not be a target for Eight – just like his father he wants to sell the VirtuWorld software; intel that says otherwise has been tampered with.’ I spoke with confidence, although everything was still theory.
‘Let’s not forget if you don’t help me, I can fucking destroy the nice little life you have here.’ I leaned closer to her. ‘Don’t underestimate the power of Her Majesty’s Secret Service. One whisper of the word “terrorist” from us and you won’t even be able to get your son into the local underperforming comp, let alone St Paul’s.’ She chewed her lip as she took it in. ‘And I can set a few home fires blazing with your Super Mama crew too. A few whispers about an old soliciting charge back in Mother Russia. Rumours about your husband’s business being investigated. Claims of an affair with the gardener. Or does plumber sound more unseemly? Might suddenly find yourself with no little charitable committees to sit on, no friends to have long lunches with and no black-tie events to show off at. And all this before we freeze all your assets and you’re left with not even enough money to buy food for your kids. Let alone the organic crap they’re no doubt used to.’
I saw the panic in her eyes as she digested each threat. She was going to crumble.
‘Start talking, Dasha. How did this begin? Who did you approach first?’
She took a deep breath, flicked her hair back and looked at me levelly.
‘The men you call the Nyan have been circling Rok-Tech for years. Desperate to buy into it and get it under state control. The more they can offer The President, the more power they will get in the running of the country. I contacted them after I knew none of Dimitri’s associates had the balls to kill him. I made them a deal – if they made sure Dimitri was eliminated I would help them take control of Rok-Tech. Sergei is easily manipulated. Especially when you know the things about him that I know.’
I wasn’t surprised. I was sure Dasha had files on everyone. Information was power – that’s what we kept repeating to ourselves in our battle to try to limit the damage VirtuWorld could do. It was clearly a mantra Dasha fully embraced.
‘How did Sandy fit in?’
‘The Nyan knew Sandy from a previous mission. They brokered the deal and we worked on everything together. Falsifying intel. Covering our tracks. Framing you. It was going to solve all my problems.’ Her head dropped and she pulled the dressing gown tighter around herself.
‘And what are your problems, Dasha? Why did you do this?’
‘My children.’ She brought her hands to chest. ‘My beautiful children.’ Her voice broke and she paused to compose herself. ‘Dimitri wanted to move us back to Moscow. He’d make an enemy of The President and all his supporters by selling the VirtuWorld technology to countries Russia consider enemies. Do you have any idea how much danger we would be in?’ She bit her lip. ‘Did you know Dimitri has been receiving anonymous letters for months, saying how they can’t wait to welcome him back to the motherland and asking which child he wants to die first? It was a choice between him and our children and of course I chose them. If he dies then my children are safe. I am safe. We can live in London in peace. Enjoying his money without him. No one could’ve ever linked me to his death. I could be the grieving widow with no cloud hovering over my family. And I would never need worry about The President and his henchmen as I would’ve helped them gain control of Rok-Tech.’
‘You didn’t have to try to get him killed, Dasha. You could’ve handled it differently.’
‘You tell me how.’ She raised her voice and then adjusted it back to a strong whisper, remembering the bodyguards outside. ‘Last year, as soon as Dimitri’s father began talking about retiring and the potential of VirtuWorld, Dimitri started building a house in Moscow and told me we would be moving back there. I begged him for a divorce. He refused, said he would sue for sole custody, cut me off without a penny. He said if I tried to leave him he’d take his children from me and I’d never see them again. You don’t think he could do that with his billions and his private jet and his team of people who do whatever he says?’ The anger in her voice was at odds with the calming twangs of undistinguishable chords playing over the speaker system. ‘Why wouldn’t I want him dead? I owe him no loyalty. He didn’t think of me or my feelings when he had my cousin killed. And now he’s trying to take my children away too.’
‘So you started working with The President. You went against everything you believed in to help empower that man further.’
‘All I believe in now is my children. I pledge my allegiance to them. When I was younger I could afford to have morals, I could afford to have beliefs. Now I don’t care about anything except keeping them safe.’ She put her hands to her head.
I understood Dasha now. All this time she had put on a front of being in control, exuding ice-cold calm from a perfect exterior. But inside she was screaming. Rage at Dimitri. Rage at her situation. Marrying him was meant to be a clever move. A safe move. His money was meant to guarantee she had everything she wanted. A good li
fe. An easy life. But then she was faced with moving back to Russia and Dimitri making an enemy of The President and his associates. It would be a lifetime of being constantly afraid for her children. Dasha had felt forced into action.
She looked up at me.
‘After all this, after everything I’ve done, I’m back where I started. Stuck with a husband who doesn’t seem to care his children could get dismembered the minute we set foot in that godforsaken place. And now I have you British on my back, too.’
‘Help us and then we’ll help you. We want Sandy. Set up a meet with him tonight and tomorrow you can come into Eight and go on record with our chief.’ I handed her the folder I had been carrying. ‘Evidence of Dimitri’s various extra-marital affairs. This combined with copies of the death threats you mentioned will help. If you work with us, giving us everything you have on Sandy, we can get you a hotshot lawyer, a sympathetic judge and you should get your divorce and your children.’
She opened the folder.
‘Thank you. All I want is to protect my children. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.’ She tilted her head. ‘You British are better than I thought you’d be. You were convincing. I don’t know how they even found a baby who actually looks like you.’
‘I can’t promise it won’t get very public and very ugly. But you might be looking for some new friends anyway.’
She started leafing through the photos.
‘That fucking two-faced bitch Claudia!’ She flicked through some more. ‘And that whore Cynthia!’ She was flushed with rage. ‘At least I can take them down with me,’ she spat. ‘See what their husbands think of this.’ She shoved the whole folder into her handbag. I had a feeling she was going to enjoy destroying them.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Five for five. All confirm Dimitri is a staunch capitalist wanting to cash in on VirtuWorld so he can expand Rok-Tech globally. Check email for statements and video interviews. Flying back now.
When I got back to the flat I re-read the text Jake had sent while I was at the spa. We were getting there. I realised now why Sandy had been so clever in the way he had set up the whole mission. I had been solo on nearly everything. He had played upon my new-mother insecurities and implied it was all part of testing I was still up to the job. I was the only one who had had face-to-face contact with all the major players. I had been Dasha’s handler. I was the one who met with the Nyan on the boat. Eight would have eventually realised killing Dimitri had killed all our chances of getting our hands on VirtuWorld’s software and that we were responsible for one major fuckup. And all the evidence would point to me being the mastermind behind it.
But I’d ruined things for him by not making the hit. When I didn’t push the button Sandy must have known I was acting on my own doubts and that I was now a threat.
At least things were looking more hopeful now. With Dasha on side and the statements Jake had procured at least I now had something to bring to Anne. Although it would not be enough. Sandy could come back with his dozens of intelligence reports that Nicola had no doubt been busy doctoring to say exactly what they wanted to say. If I tried going to them now, with just Dasha, an unreliable witness at best, it wouldn’t be enough. They still had the upper hand.
I needed to do more.
I rang a few old contacts until I got the address I wanted.
*
The man walked up his front door steps and paused as he reached inside his coat for his keys.
‘Hello, Duggers.’
He froze for a split second, I heard the jangle of the keys as they fell back into his pocket. He turned around.
‘Lex. Heard you were in a bit of trouble.’
‘I need your help. For old times’ sake.’
‘I shouldn’t be talking to you.’ He looked sideways up and down the street.
I spoke softly. It was unnervingly quiet in this empty Pimlico mews. I was taking a big risk but I needed his help.
‘I’m being set up. You need to know that Sandy is a Snake. He’s working with Nicola, our unit’s tech support, and the Nyan – who are all close allies of The President. The target should not be a target. Dimitri wants to sell the VirtuWorld software.’ I spoke fast; I didn’t know how much time he would give me.
‘Sandy dirty?’ Even in his loud whisper his surprise was evident. He frowned. ‘His life is the Service. You have any proof?’
‘Yes. But I need more. Make a list of any of your sources who said Dimitri was an ambitious capitalist and not some President-obsessed patriot. Send it to Eight’s section chief.’
‘I guess I can do that.’ He paused. ‘We had trouble determining from our sources exactly what Dimitri planned to do when he took over Rok-Tech – he kept his cards very close to his chest, as you can imagine. Some definitely said he was eyeing up global expansion but Sandy steamrolled in saying his assets were in the inner circle and they said he was all for The President and protecting the motherland.’ He shrugged. ‘We didn’t have any reason to doubt him.’
‘That’s how he’s been able to pull this off. Everyone trusts him.’
‘What are you going to do?’ Duggers walked down the steps to the pavement so we were facing each other.
‘Try to take down Sandy, of course. I can’t go back to Eight until I have enough proof or Sandy’s head on a platter.’
He shook his head. ‘That won’t end well for you, Lex.’
‘I know that. That’s why I wanted you to know the truth. If Jake and I don’t survive this, I need to know someone will try to make sure Sandy can’t get away with what he’s done. Just do what you can.’ I made to leave.
‘Lex?’ He reached a hand out to my arm. ‘Do you regret joining?’
I thought back on my life as a Rat. I had never felt more alive. I had seen how the world worked. My life had purpose. I had that glint in my eye I had been searching for. And if I hadn’t been a Rat I might never have had Gigi. I might never have had that near-death experience I needed to realise how, no matter what I thought I wanted, deep down a baby was important to me. It had given me everything I wanted and if it was going to take it all away I couldn’t complain.
‘No. Not for a minute.’
‘I . . . How . . . ?’ He was struggling to get the words out.
‘How do I do it?’
‘Yes. How?’
‘Just how you do what you do. It’s a job. I’m good at it.’
‘But I, well, I never would have guessed. Never would have thought you could.’
‘That’s what makes me so good at it. And the Committee knew. That’s what the testing is for. They saw I could. And they were right.’
His front door opened.
‘Darling, what are you doing out . . . Oh hi.’ We both looked up at the blonde woman staring at us. ‘Lex?’
‘Yes?’ I struggled to place her. Another university face. ‘Annabel?’
We had moved in different circles. I would see her in our college bar, wrapped in a pashmina sipping on a G and T with other nice-looking girls with receding chins. I was sure more than once I had seen her, out of the corner of my eye, shaking her head at me as I would swig from a bottle of beer while loudly playing pool with the boys, pausing only to whoop when a favourite song came on. I had always thought she never quite fitted in with the plastic cups and sticky floors of an undergraduate bar. She was much more in her element now. On the polished stone steps of a nice house in Pimlico. Christ, she was even wearing an apron.
‘Lovely to see you. I had no idea you two were married.’
‘Hello, sweetheart. We just bumped into each other here on the street, isn’t that funny?’
‘How nice. It’s been a long time, Lex. How are you?’ She barely waited a beat before she asked, ‘Married? Children?’
Even at university she struck me as one of those girls to whom those two things were the only real measure of success. I remembered thinking it strange that someone so bright was only there to find a bright male to mate with. She looked
between me and Duggers, obviously uncomfortable her husband had been talking unaccompanied with someone she had never really liked.
‘Yes, both. I have a baby daughter.’
Annabel didn’t respond. Perhaps she’d hoped that having seen me last winning at being the fun student, she would be winning at being a better grown-up.
‘Really? I had no idea.’ Duggers shook his head and closed his eyes. He knew it was touch and go whether or not I’d live out the week.
Annabel clearly mistook this reaction as an indication he still held a torch for me. Her face darkened. ‘Darling, come in now, please. Dinner is getting cold and the children want to say goodnight.’
‘Right. Goodbye, Lex, nice to see you. Good luck with everything.’ He walked up the steps to his wife who had already gone inside. ‘And I’ll pass on that message to our mutual friend.’
‘Thank you.’
I stood in the street as their front door closed behind them. The lights from inside the house glowing, I could picture the scene inside, good smells wafting out of the kitchen. Kids tucked up in bed waiting for a story from Daddy. A fire burning in the living room and the table set for two. Legoland didn’t seem such a bad place to work now. I was the one out in the cold, my family sent away, and about to fight to the death.
My phone beeped. A text from Dasha.
You must go to the Opera tonight at Syon House. I’m meant to be meeting Sandy there at 10 p.m. at the door but may not make it. She will be so surprised to see you.
I checked my watch. Nearly three hours to go. We had Dasha. And now we had Duggers. With him backing up the statements Jake had got from Moscow we had enough of a paper trail to show that the intel Sandy had been presenting as solid was not. But I knew it still wasn’t enough. Whatever Jake and I were doing now to clear our names, Sandy and Nicola would be working hard to further condemn them. And they had the full resources of Eight behind them. It wasn’t going to be over until we brought Sandy in or took him out. Everything rested on tonight.