‘What do you have in mind?’
She outlines her plan and I weigh up all the pros and cons of what could happen.
‘You said there’s a mole in Archive,’ I say. ‘Turning yourself in will put you in danger.’
‘That’s what I’m hoping,’ Neva says. ‘Then, your mole will reveal him- or herself. I can’t think of a better way to draw them out.’
‘I can’t let you do that,’ I say.
‘Let’s ring Ray,’ she says. ‘Let’s see how he reacts to my suggestion.’
I don’t like it but I know that expression. She’s got a plan and she’s going to follow it through, even if I disagree. The only thing I can do is go along with it, but be ready to help – if she needs me. And that is always a big if…
I select Ray’s number on my mobile phone.
‘It’s me,’ I say. ‘We’re coming in.’
‘We?’ says Ray.
‘Neva wants to talk to you,’ I say.
I hand her the phone. ‘I’m looking for a job,’ Neva says. ‘Why don’t you hire me?’
Chapter Forty-Eight
Michael
The plan is simple: Neva will work for MI5 and we are the only people who’ll know at first. As a former Network assassin, she will be our kryptonite against them. But we’ll leak her connection with Archive at some point to draw out whoever the double agent is. This part of the plan Neva and I keep to ourselves.
We travel mostly by public transport to a meeting point.
‘Not even Leon knows about this place,’ Ray had said.
Ray didn’t explain why he doesn’t trust his right-hand man with this information. I’ve learned recently that Ray plays a lot of cards close to his chest – like the secret that my brother-in-law works for MI6. Did anyone else know that in Archive until then? Leon hadn’t so I’m sure that Beth didn’t know either.
‘We were probably just as safe in Kingston,’ Neva says as we come off the final train in Wimbledon. ‘I’ve paid for it for another month.’
‘Yes. I agree. But we need a place that Ray can meet up with us that doesn’t give away any bolthole we already have,’ I say.
Outside Ray meets us in a small Toyota.
‘My wife’s car,’ he says with a shrug.
We get in and he drives us to a small detached house not far from the station.
Neva looks out the back window making sure we aren’t followed.
‘I wasn’t tailed,’ Ray says. ‘Leon thinks I have a dental appointment this morning as well.’
He parks on the driveway and hands me the keys to the house.
I open the door and we go inside. It’s modestly furnished, two reception rooms, three bedrooms, one bathroom upstairs, a separate toilet downstairs. It’s an average house. I pull the luggage in from the car and deposit it in the hallway.
‘Special features you should know about,’ Ray says. ‘Panic room. In the back of the fitted wardrobe in the master bedroom.’
He tells us the key code to open the room.
‘There’s a stocked fridge with drinks and a cupboard full of tins. You could hold out in there for weeks if need be. It’s steel reinforced and has its own air filter system. The room doesn’t run on the electricity for the house but is isolated and reaches directly into the grid. Even if the whole of Wimbledon goes down, there will be power inside there.’
He takes us upstairs and shows us the room. It’s got a standard double bed inside, a small office space with a working computer and its own personal telephone line.
‘You’ll be safe here until I can make the necessary arrangements to bring you into the fold,’ Ray says to Neva. ‘But it’s all underway.’
‘What about Beth?’ I ask.
‘They haven’t been in touch yet. They are trying to make us sweat. But I’m hoping to hear soon.’
‘When they do, agree to the swap,’ Neva says. ‘I’ll be on their tail and I won’t lose Michael.’
Ray removes something from his pocket. ‘And just in case, you’ll have this with you.’
‘What is it?’ I ask.
Ray hands me a container. Inside is one single pill. ‘Swallow before the swap. It’s a tracker. The safest way of putting one on you. They’ll check your clothes, ditch your phone and anything else that’s suspicious. But this is state of the art. I’ll know where you are at all times for up to twenty-four hours. After that your body will break it down and expel it.’
It’s a little reassuring that Ray has some form of spy gadget to keep an eye on where I am. Though each of us is trained as field operatives, our role in MI5 has often been research and investigation. Neva and I have the Network’s training to back us up too. Something that in my case kicks in automatically when I need it.
‘Firearms and extra rounds are in the panic room too,’ Ray confirms.
He gives me back my Glock. Then he turns to Neva. They look at each other for a while.
‘We’ve spent a lot of time investigating your work…’ he says.
‘My kills, you mean?’
‘Yes.’
She nods to show she understands.
‘I’m going out on a limb here,’ Ray says.
‘I know. Why do you trust me?’ she says.
‘I could ask you the same thing, but I know the answer: because Michael does. And, like him, I don’t blame you for what you did. You didn’t really have much choice. But you can use these skills now, for the greater good.’
‘I don’t kill to order any more,’ she says. ‘But I warn you, I will take out as many of the Network’s people as oppose me. I want to see them destroyed.’
‘I wouldn’t expect otherwise,’ Ray says. ‘Mike, you can log into our systems through this computer. I’ve given you another password with full security access. Neva, for now I’d prefer you didn’t have too much liberty with MI5’s systems. So, Michael only.’
Neva leaves us while Ray gives me my access codes and I memorise everything out of habit.
Ray goes downstairs to debrief Neva while I log into the computer and take a look at the transcript of the phone call he’d received from Beth’s abductor. This doesn’t tell me anything more than I already know. I browse his notes on the missing plane and learn of the anonymous tip. In the folder, there is also an updated note from the pathologist, Elliot Baker, on Carter’s autopsy. The swelling of the uterus and the remnants of placenta found in her womb were clear evidence of a full-term pregnancy. Coupled with the pregnancy hormone in her blood, it’s proof that Carter had given birth a short time before her death.
I find myself wondering where the child is and if it survived. But I suspect if it did survive, the Network have it.
Now up to speed, I come downstairs just in time to hear Ray’s final question to Neva. ‘What do you know about Zen Airlines flight 723?’
She tells him everything she’s shared with me, plus a little more.
‘I did some digging after Michael told me Angela Carter was found dead. It goes against everything I know about Solomon Granger. He’s not a killer. He’s a mere pawn in someone else’s game and that person works for the Network.’
‘You’ve mentioned this one to me before. Last time you said that person was playing a double game.’
Neva nods. ‘I’m told that her codename is Subra. She is Israeli by birth. May have even been Mossad to begin with, but it’s likely she was a child of one of the Kill Houses. Subra has developed some … radical … views. The Network’s conditioning “removes” personal opinion from the operatives, so I’m not sure how or why she’s absorbed what she has. But she hasn’t been acting in the sole interests of the Network for some time. There are rumours that she has connections with the Almunazama. Whatever she’s up to, Subra always has a backup plan. For this reason, I think there were more people involved in the hijack than Carter and Granger.’
‘We know that Carter was replaced and then kept imprisoned, we just aren’t sure why,’ says Ray. ‘Why have the inconvenience of keeping her aliv
e when you are going to kill her anyway?’
‘Did you see the recent addition to the autopsy report?’ I ask Ray.
‘No.’
‘Baker’s added more. Carter gave birth before they stuffed her in the trunk of that car and left her to die.’
I’m watching Neva as I reveal this.
This revelation upsets her. She frowns and runs a hand over her brow as though to smooth it out.
‘Maybe she told them she was pregnant and they thought they could use the baby,’ she says. ‘Was … Granger the father?’
I look at Ray to see if I can tell her more, and he nods.
‘Carter’s prints were all over his place. She’d definitely spent a lot of time there. So I’d guess yes,’ I say. ‘Perhaps they held it over him?’
‘I’m going to leave you to settle in,’ says Ray. ‘There are new mobiles in the panic room. Use them to contact me from now on as they are secure.’
‘What about Beth?’ I ask.
‘I’ll be in touch as soon as I hear anything. But Michael, are you sure you want to risk this?’
‘Beth would do it for me,’ I say.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Beth
There is no natural light coming into the room, and yet there are blinds on the left-hand side. Now Beth opens them and finds that there is not a window behind. It’s a wall – white, stark painted brick. The blinds are there to give an illusion of there being a window.
This is no ordinary hospital. Or this is some strange psychological game that the doctors play on the patients.
She prowls around the room after that. Not sure what to do with herself. There isn’t even a television to stave off the boredom.
Beth doesn’t have a watch, but time passes. Maybe an hour or so, since the nurse released her from her bonds. Then she hears someone unlocking the door.
A tall woman, wearing a catering uniform, comes into the room. She is pushing a trolley that resembles an airline food cart. She takes a tray off and puts it down on Beth’s bed.
Beth is hungry, but suspicious that the food is drugged. With the door open, outside her room she hears the normal sounds she’d expect to hear in a hospital. The occasional clang of a chair being moved. The chatter of nurses talking at a station nearby that she can’t see. Beth gets off the bed and starts to walk towards the open door.
‘You can’t go out there,’ the woman says. Beth stops and looks at her. ‘I left you a menu for this evening’s meal. Just tick what you would like. On the tray is a tuna sandwich and some lemon drizzle cake. You want tea, coffee or water?’
‘Water will be fine,’ Beth says. ‘Is there a common room I can go in?’
The woman looks at her. ‘You’re new here. You’re not going to give me trouble, are you?’
‘Of course not,’ Beth says.
‘Good. Eat up. It’ll keep you strong and line your stomach for the evening meds. Okay?’
‘You’re very kind,’ Beth says, doing her best to appear passive. ‘Did they tell you anything about me? How I got here?’
‘I don’t have access to that, dear. I’m just a dinner lady. But don’t worry. It’s not that bad in here. They’ll fix you up and you’ll be home before you know it.’
The woman places a bottle of water down on her tray.
‘Wait,’ says Beth. ‘Do I seem crazy to you?’
‘No one is crazy, honey. Sometimes we just get sick for a while. Just do what they tell you and you’ll be out of here in no time.’
The dinner lady goes and once again the door is locked. Beth feels that being locked up like this is enough to turn anyone insane.
She looks at the sandwich. Picks it up and sniffs it. She feels lethargic, as though the original drug is still in her. She tastes the sandwich. She waits to see if there is any impact on her, and when she feels fine, she eats a bit more. Then she checks the bottled water. It’s sealed, but is this just to lull her into a false sense of security? Beth isn’t sure. She opens and sniffs the water, doesn’t notice anything wrong, and so she sips at it.
Beth explores her options. If she was in an espionage drama, then this place would have been made to look like a real hospital, but she would know deep down that it wasn’t. If it is a real hospital, then her captors have dropped her here for some other nefarious reason. And those captors may or may not have some connection with Callum.
The only thing she can do is bide her time and see how it pans out.
She walks around the room to get her energy levels back up again. Then, bored, she sits back on the bed. What the hell is anyone supposed to do with themselves in a place like this?
It feels like an age before the door is opened again and by then she is starting to get fed up.
‘Hello, Mrs Cane,’ says a man in a white coat, who she assumes is some kind of doctor. Or is pretending to be one. Only time will tell. ‘I’m Doctor Fink. And I’ve come to have a chat with you.’
The nurse she saw earlier comes back in carrying a chair, which he places down by the bed. He’s still wearing a surgical mask, unlike the doctor.
‘Please relax,’ says Fink. ‘I just want to talk through with you what you were doing prior to your little … incident.’
‘I went out to dinner, with a … friend. I got home, went to bed, then woke because I heard something. I thought someone had broken into my house. I went to investigate and then, someone attacked me from behind. They chloroformed me. The next thing I know I’m in here. Which is where, incidentally?’ Beth asks.
‘You’re in Hammersmith and Fulham Mental Health Unit,’ Fink says. ‘But I don’t want you to worry about this. At the moment, all that counts is that you fully recover. You see, the police were called to your house. You were fighting with some invisible assailant. After that, a doctor was called in and you were medicated and brought here for assessment,’ Fink explains.
‘Wow! That was almost word for word what your nurse here said earlier. What doctor? Can I talk to him?’ Beth says.
‘Unfortunately, he was a police duty doctor. So no,’ says Fink.
‘I want to call someone, is that possible?’ Beth asks.
‘In a few days you’ll be allowed,’ says Fink. ‘It’s our policy to give you time to recover your equilibrium first.’
‘I’m not hysterical, or a danger to anyone,’ Beth says in her best rational voice. ‘You’ve taken the signature of my soon-to-be-ex-husband, who is no longer my next of kin. I’d like you to call my boss, Ray Martin.’
She gives the doctor the number and he writes it down on his notepad.
‘I will of course follow this up,’ Fink says frowning. ‘You do seem … rational.’
‘Please. Just call Ray. He’ll sort all of this out. I shouldn’t be here,’ Beth says.
‘Of course, everyone thinks that when they first arrive,’ says Fink.
Hours pass after Fink leaves and Beth is left to stew in the room. She knows the time by the arrival of the dinner lady, bringing her supper.
Then the nurse, Joe, returns, this time bringing medication.
‘I don’t need that,’ Beth tells him.
‘Everyone on this ward gets sleeping pills,’ Joe says. ‘Believe me, at three in the morning you’ll be begging for some. And the days go quicker if you get some sleep.’
‘What happens if I refuse?’ Beth says.
Joe shrugs. ‘Nothing, as long as you don’t go off the rails. If you do, then we’d have to sedate you. I will have to tell the doctor you wouldn’t take it though.’
‘Why are you wearing a mask?’ Beth asks again.
‘I have a sore throat. I don’t want to give it to patients,’ Joe says.
His comment is plausible, though she can’t help wondering if Joe just doesn’t want to be identified when this is all over. And now I’m sounding like a crazy paranoid person, she thinks. Being in a nuthouse will do that to you.
‘Did Doctor Fink call my boss?’
‘He’s very busy, Mrs Cane, but he’ll get
round to it after he’s finished dealing with other patients. You sure you don’t want the sleeping pills?’
Beth thinks for a minute. ‘Okay. It’s boring as hell in here.’
Joe laughs. ‘Well, you are certainly not being difficult, Mrs Cane. I’m sure you’ll be out of here soon.’
He gives her the pills and a small paper cup with water in. He watches as she swallows them. Unlike in films she’s seen, he trusts her and doesn’t check her mouth to see if they remain there. Joe wheels the medicine trolley out of the room and Beth sits back down on the bed.
She can’t think of what else to do. If she’s in a genuine facility, they’ll see she isn’t insane and let her go, and if she isn’t, then … it’s best to let her captors think she believes them. But, whatever happens, when the time comes, Beth will be ready to make her escape.
She goes to the bathroom, drops the pills she palmed into the toilet and flushes. Then she goes back to the bedroom, gets into the bed and turns over, feigning sleep.
Chapter Fifty
Ben
Ben Cusick knocks on the door of his superior’s office. He shouldn’t even be in London, but there’s no way he’s going to disappear without an explanation to Erik Steward.
He’s invited in and sits by Steward’s desk, waiting while his boss finishes signing a report.
‘I received a rather strange note from Ray Martin at MI5 telling me you wouldn’t be back at work for the foreseeable future and now you’re here,’ says Steward. ‘Mind telling me what’s going on?’
‘I’m supposed to be at RAF Digby right now. My family is being relocated. Protection programme.’
Steward narrows his eyes as he frowns. It’s an unattractive, somewhat predatory expression that Ben has always found hard to read.
‘You took a risk coming here,’ Steward says. ‘Is this linked to the Network?’
‘They might come after Mia. They already tried to get to Michael. This is not information I’d care to just “phone in”,’ Ben says. ‘But take this now as my reluctant resignation.’
Kill or Die Page 25