by Tom Bradby
Julie didn’t look convinced.
‘What is it?’ Kate asked.
‘Just worried about tomorrow, that’s all.’
‘Why?’
‘We’re proceeding on the assumption that the Russians are in blissful ignorance. What happens if Viper has already alerted them to our investigation, and they’re on the lookout? The moment we meet up with Lena, they’ll know how we came by our intelligence.’
‘How could they know?’ Rav asked.
But they were all well enough aware of the answer to that. If Viper was inside the Service, rather than somewhere else in Whitehall, it was possible they knew the truth already.
Kate swirled the ice in her gin and tonic. ‘We’ll be as careful as we possibly can be. Lena’s safety is our first priority, of course. But some days we just have to roll the dice.’
‘We could wait,’ Julie said. ‘Sit back and watch.’
‘That’s not necessarily going to make any difference.’
When Rav disappeared to bed, Julie didn’t follow suit. Kate sensed she wanted to talk. ‘Are you all right?’
Julie finished her vodka and lime. ‘Not really.’
‘Anything I can do to help?’
‘It’s Jason’s birthday.’ She covered her eyes. ‘I’m so sorry. I had to tell somebody. And that somebody, inevitably, was going to be you.’
‘How old would he have been?’
‘Twenty-six. I’ve been thinking today what I’ve thought on this day every year since – if we hadn’t argued that morning, if I hadn’t shouted at him and he hadn’t skipped school …’
‘Then everything would have been different. Of course. But you were just a young girl, and you had to be a mother to your little brother. You didn’t have a choice. And I know that’s one of the reasons you can’t forgive your own mother, and I know I should stop trying to persuade you to give it a go. But every tragic accident is dogged by a haunting amalgam of what-ifs and if-onlys …’ She gazed at the dregs in her own glass, aware that her voice was becoming slightly slurred, and that she wasn’t completely sure how many times they’d re-ordered. ‘Anyway, in a hundred years, we’ll all be dead. So in the great sweep of human history, whether you live long or short doesn’t matter that much.’
Julie took a moment apparently to reflect upon this nugget of timeless wisdom. ‘I’m not sure that helps, to be honest.’
‘I have a doctor friend who told me the other day that the number of genes we have is actually statistically small. So another way of looking at it is that we get reconstituted – remade, if you like – fairly frequently anyway. Next time, perhaps he’ll live long enough to be a boring old fart. Then you’ll be sorry.’
‘Are you telling me you believe in reincarnation?’
‘In a way I am, yes. I don’t believe in God – there are too many, all with competing theories about life, the universe and everything – but I try to take some comfort in the idea that there probably is an answer we haven’t yet found. And in the meantime reincarnation makes about as much sense as anything else. Have you spoken to your dad?’
‘Yes. He wasn’t in great shape. He never is today. He thinks if their marriage hadn’t fallen apart, Jason and I wouldn’t have argued in the first place.’
‘And what about your mum?’
Julie shrugged.
‘Despite what I just said, dare I suggest, not for the first time, that this might be the moment to—’
‘I’ve tried.’ Julie snapped the cocktail stick she had been toying with. ‘She destroyed us. And she doesn’t regret it.’
Julie was close to her father, who, like Kate’s, still carried a torch for his adulterous wife and had never remarried. Julie had blocked her mother out of her life until the previous January when, partly at Kate’s encouragement, she had agreed to a meeting in a pub, providing the joiner her mother had run off with years before was not present. Her mother had appeared to be as good as her word – until the joiner had turned up for an apparently spontaneous ‘hello’ as they ordered coffee.
An incredibly acrimonious argument had followed, and Julie had walked out, vowing never to speak to her mother again. Kate thought she was unlikely to relent. But from her own experience she knew that rejecting a parent entirely in such circumstances was perhaps an act of self-harm.
When the waiter next approached, Julie shook her head at his offer of another drink, but Kate sensed she still wanted company. ‘Are there ever times,’ Julie said, ‘when what we do keeps you awake at night?’
‘I’d like to say it gets better over the years, but I can’t. What’s getting to you?’
‘Lena, mostly. That any mistake we make is likely to be fatal for her. And what we learnt in Istanbul. I feel its weight more than perhaps I should.’
‘Well, you’re not alone. We’re right at the cutting edge. But isn’t that why we got into the business in the first place?’
‘I suppose so.’ She smiled ruefully. ‘Sometimes, when I have to cancel yet another date, I wonder.’
‘You have time on your side, not to mention brains and beauty. It’s a rather fabulous combination.’
Julie conjured up another smile, but this one was tinged with sadness. ‘I love working for you. I don’t know that I’d want to stay if you moved on.’
‘Why not?’
‘Ian gives me the creeps, and some of the other senior men aren’t much better. And … well, you know how it is. I can manage the pressures and the anxieties that fuck me up in the middle of the night because I believe in you. And I trust you. So there we have it.’
Kate took her hand. ‘There are plenty of people like us. And though I won’t say that Ian or even Sir Alan exudes much warmth, you’d be surprised at what they’re capable of when the chips are down. We’re all on the same team, whatever might obscure that in the day-to-day.’
Not long after, Kate said goodnight and went to her room. She lay down, hoping that the combination of too much gin and the slowly rotating ceiling fan might help her drift off. Instead, they made her feel dizzy. She grabbed a bottle of mineral water and sat by the sliding glass door that led out to the pool, looking up at the sky.
There was something different about Julie, these days. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it. A softness, an uncertainty, a vulnerability? Hints of all those things, though none quite fitted. Maybe the vodka had encouraged her to display the cracks in the emotional armour she’d worn since her brother’s death. Kate couldn’t make up her mind if that was a good thing. Or perhaps she still couldn’t confront the possibility that the qualities of an attractive human being were likely to prove fatal to a spy.
She tried to think through tomorrow’s operation, but her mind was dragged back to Stuart and the iPad.
She began to wonder if she had imagined knocking it off the counter. When you lack sleep, your brain can do that to you. She circled the issue for a while, without achieving clarity and building a mountain of self-doubt. Why was she suddenly suspicious of Stuart? She hadn’t doubted him before – not in all the years they’d been together. In fact she’d probably given him more substantial grounds for suspicion than he had ever provided for her. If the wish really was father to the deed, she was on the thinnest of ice – because she had wanted to sleep with Sergei in that dacha.
Sergei Malinsky.
‘I believe his name is Sergei Malinsky,’ C had whispered in her ear. ‘But you won’t need me to tell you that.’
Ever since Sir Alan had come to her office, she’d been thinking about how to handle his laser-like insight into her source. He must have gone through every one of her positive vetting files and worked through every individual she had ever listed, cross-referencing, then eliminating each until he had found Sergei. It was tempting to bury her head in the sand and hope it went away, but that was not realistic. And Sir Alan had every right to question the motives of her original source. Given what was at stake, she probably needed to rekindle her connection with Sergei.
The first step, at lea
st, would be easy. This year’s soirée was in less than a week’s time, and the unanswered invitation from the US ambassador was in her bag. What followed would be increasingly fraught with risk – and not just that of being caught in the vortex of East–West power politics.
Kate closed the glass door and crawled back into bed. She concentrated on slowing her breathing. She needed sleep.
14
It came eventually but, as ever now, not enough. She got up at dawn and strode along the rugged coastline until she reached the succession of beaches that stretched away to the south. She commandeered a sun-lounger and stared out to sea for a while, then walked back to the hotel for breakfast – fruit, Greek yoghurt and honey. She was installed in Danny’s room with a cup of coffee before eight.
One of the cameras the surveillance team had installed was focused on the yacht, the others on the street by the quay, which was still empty, save for a scattering of early-morning shoppers. Kate sat and watched nothing much happening. It was going to be a long day.
‘You know what?’ she said, to no one in particular. ‘I think I need to take a look around.’
Julie agreed to come with her on the recce – there was no sign of Rav yet – and they retraced the route they’d driven the previous day, back down the hill to the harbour. Gavrio was a world away from the teeming labyrinthine alleys of Istanbul, so they began at the part closest to the sea, settling at a table outside an ice-cream shop at the far end of the quay.
A host of small boats busied themselves in the lee of Igor’s super-yacht, which looked as if it had been teleported from another galaxy. Kate scanned their immediate surroundings, then went to the back of the building and checked out the toilets.
Julie glanced up when she emerged into the sunlight.
Kate gestured at the ice-cream shop. ‘It’s certainly far enough from the yacht and there’s a good view of the approaches. But let’s go for a wander.’
Kate led the way towards the far end of the harbour wall, to a street of cafés and bars with seating areas that offered glimpses of the boats without being in clear view of the people aboard them. They doubled back behind the main street, where shops selling food, clothes and beach kit were interspersed with the odd travel agent and car-hire firm. The cobbled alleys were still largely deserted.
Kate was sweating by the time she got back to Danny’s room at the hotel. ‘Where’s Rav?’
Danny didn’t move from his screens. ‘Haven’t seen him.’
‘Go and wake him, would you?’ she said to Julie. She poured herself another coffee. Her third.
Julie reappeared without Rav and raised both palms, but they were diverted by Danny: ‘We’re in business.’
They joined him in time to see Mikhail usher Lena, his wife and son onto the motor-launch. The door squeaked open again and Kate shot it a sideways glance.
‘Sorry,’ Rav said sheepishly. ‘Needed to clear my head.’
They watched Mikhail’s group clamber onto the quay and lost sight of them periodically as they drifted from shop to shop, then picked them up again as they settled in a café at the far end of the strip.
‘How do you want to play this?’ Julie asked.
‘Let’s sit tight.’
The family ordered coffee, pastries and ice-creams with apparent relish, but Lena only picked at hers. They didn’t need Danny’s close-up to see that she was very, very nervous.
Kate felt her phone throb in her pocket. Meg Simpson from Health is standing. Complicates it a bit for us.
Another message followed a few moments later: We’ll have to have a run-off with MPs now, before going to party members. Should still win through, but it’ll be close. First debate on Sky News tomorrow night. Heavy preps tonight. When u home?
‘On the move,’ Rav said.
Kate shoved the phone back into her pocket as Mikhail threw a wad of euros onto the table and put his arm around Katya’s shoulders. They leant into each other affectionately as they sauntered away.
‘You sure you’re right about his orientation?’ Rav asked.
‘Totally.’
‘You think they have an … arrangement?’ Julie asked.
‘He wouldn’t be the first gay man in history to be living a lie.’
The group appeared to be in no hurry to get back into the launch. Mikhail and Katya boarded first, then Lena handed down their son, but stayed where she was. The three waved to her as they pulled away.
‘Let’s take the car,’ Kate said. To Danny, she added, ‘Tell Ralph I want a clean sweep of the town.’ She unfolded her sunglasses, slipped in her earpiece, taped the microphone to her neck, draped a scarf over her head against the sun and hooked a shopping basket over her shoulder.
They drove down the hill and swung the car around just in front of the ice-cream shop. Kate waited, listening to the sound of static in her ear.
The seconds crawled by. She watched a child with her parents throwing a tantrum over ice-cream.
And then the relief of hearing the stentorian Scottish brogue of Ralph, the head of their surveillance team on Andros: ‘All clear.’
Kate climbed out of the car and strolled along the sea front. She began to fill her bag from the mouth-watering display at a grocery stall by an intersection on the way to the quay, from which she could see in four directions without appearing to be paying undue attention to anything other than the largest tomatoes she’d ever set eyes on.
She spotted Lena emerging from the pharmacy sixty metres away. She paid the stall’s proprietor and strolled in her direction, slowing momentarily as their paths crossed. ‘The ice-cream parlour,’ she murmured. ‘Paradeisos. Just back from the quay.’ She went into the pharmacy, bought a packet of Nurofen and glanced across the harbour. There was no sign of anyone on the deck of the Empress. Mikhail and Katya must have gone below.
Lena was seated inside the entrance of Paradeisos, tucking into a bowlful of something smothered with cherry sauce. Kate ordered a frappuccino and sat at the neighbouring table. She sipped her coffee while Lena looked steadily out at the sea. When she had finished, she went to the toilet. About thirty seconds later, Lena tapped on the door. Kate eased her in and turned the lock.
‘There’s nothing much,’ Lena said. ‘They’re really nice people. They never talk about Russia or politics or his work, only about Alexei and holidays and food and where they will go skiing this winter and they also ask a lot about me and my family and—’
‘Take a breath,’ Kate said. ‘It’s all right. We have time.’
‘Two minutes, you said before. Never more than two minutes.’
‘Do you know where they’re going next?’
‘No.’
‘Do you know where Igor’s gone?’
‘Moscow, they said.’
‘How long for?’
‘They didn’t say.’
‘Where does Mikhail go when he receives a call about work?’
‘I don’t know …’ She thought about it. ‘I guess in that boardroom place. Yes, he goes there sometimes.’
Kate took another tiny microphone from her pocket. ‘What you did last time was brilliant. But these bugs are quite fragile, and can be easily disturbed.’
Lena stared at the device.
‘Just do exactly what you did last time. Before Igor gets back.’ She slipped it into Lena’s pocket.
Lena stayed where she was, her back against the door, barring Kate’s exit. ‘I still get scared sometimes. So scared I can’t breathe.’
Kate reached for her hand. ‘You’re doing really, really well. The most difficult bit is over. Once Mikhail leaves the yacht, we’ll take you out. But for now, I just want you to keep an eye on him and Katya …’ Kate tried to release her, but Lena clung to her.
‘You should go now, Lena.’
‘Have I truly done well?’
‘Better than you can possibly imagine.’
‘I am frightened.’ She gripped Kate’s hand more tightly. Her gaze was imploring.
&nb
sp; ‘You’re a star. We won’t ever forget what you’ve done for us.’
‘Is Maja safe?’
‘Yes. We have her under surveillance. We can’t intervene until we lift you out. In case Igor’s people are watching.’
‘Something good can come of this, can’t it?’
‘It can, Lena. It really can.’ Kate gently prised her hand free and kissed the girl’s forehead. ‘Go now. Be safe.’
By the time she had retrieved her groceries and emerged onto the quay, Lena was already stepping into the launch. She watched the water churn beneath the outboard as it powered back to the Empress.
Kate walked up the hill to join the others. ‘Anything?’
‘Not a ripple,’ Danny said. ‘Ralph and the guys are still out there.’
‘So the town is definitely clean?’
Danny shrugged. ‘As far as we can tell.’
Kate sat on the sofa in Danny’s room and exhaled slowly.
‘Did she have anything?’ Rav asked.
‘Only that Mikhail and Katya have been very nice to her. I’ve given her the new mic.’
Danny stayed where he was while they went for lunch on the terrace. Kate called Stuart several times, but he didn’t pick up. He messaged at teatime: Sorry frantic day will call later. Hope all going well. Everything under control here. Xxx
In the early evening, Kate left the room to try Stuart again, but the line went to voicemail. Julie grabbed her before she could press redial. ‘She’s on the launch.’
‘Shit.’ Kate hurriedly followed her.
Back in Danny’s room, they all took their usual positions. Lena stood alone in the bow of the launch as it closed on the quay. Once alongside, she stepped off and ducked under the awning of the nearest café.
Kate took a series of slow breaths. This didn’t feel right.
‘Where is she going?’
The other three were watching her closely now, waiting for a decision. If Kate put Ralph and the surveillance team on her tail and the Russians were watching, it risked exposing her.
And yet …
It had been clean all day. Why would they be testing her now?
‘Any sign of her?’ Kate asked. You could feel the tension crackling in the room now. They could all see the screens. Lena had disappeared.