by J J Cooper
The younger officer worked the doorhandle back and forth until the locks were released. He climbed into the carriage next to Jay and said, 'You're getting off here.'
'Why?'
'Because I said you're getting off here.'
'My ticket says I've got a fare to Strathpine and that's where I intend to go. So unless you have a legal reason for refusing my service then I suggest you piss off.'
'You can't talk to me like that. I know who you are.'
Jay lowered his voice. 'Then you also know what I'm capable of.'
The younger officer backed off the carriage and retreated to the middle of the platform. Jay knew the train wasn't going anywhere soon when he noticed the older officer talking to the train guard. Time was fast becoming a precious commodity. He noticed the handful of passengers looking at him. Seemed the ruckus was more intriguing than their magazines and Harry Potter books. Even headphones were removed to eavesdrop on the conversation. Jay made his decision.
'Everybody out of the train.' Nobody moved. Jay retrieved the pistol and held it toward the floor, so the passengers could see it but not be overly alarmed as he wasn't pointing it at anyone. It didn't work and mayhem ensued. Women screamed and half the men hit the floor. The other couple of men looked on as if weighing up whether to rush Jay. They soon hit the floor too after Jay shook his head to ward off their heroics.
'Get off the floor and get out of the train, and make sure you tell the rest of them in the other two carriages.' A pause and then a mad rush for the door, with the men the quickest to exit. So much for chivalry.
Jay waited until the carriage was clear then stepped off the train and noted the transit officers and guard glued to the platform, the officers talking on their mobile phones. Jay waved the pistol in their direction. 'Guard, I need you to check to make sure all the passengers are off the train.'
He didn't argue or hesitate. His weathered face indicated enough experience not to cause Jay any trouble.
'You two,' Jay waved the pistol toward the transit officers, 'throw your phones this way.' They hesitated and Jay waved the pistol again. The older one threw his first and then the younger one obliged. Jay kicked both phones into the gap between the platform and the train. 'Now I suggest you two go and make yourself useful and calm down the passengers.' Most of them had left the platform and were watching on from the carpark.
Behind Jay, the door of the driver's cab flew open. He spun around as the grey-haired driver stepped onto the platform. 'What's the prob...' He noticed the pistol.
'Let's not panic here,' Jay said. 'I just want you to take me a couple more stops then I'm out of your hair and on my way.'
The driver nodded. The hold-up procedures for the rail operator should be commended, Jay thought.
The guard ambled back up the platform to join them. 'Train's clear,' he said.
Jay turned his attention to the driver. 'I need you to get back in the cab and open the door that links this first carriage to your cabin.' He looked back to the guard. 'Thanks for clearing the train but we don't need you for the journey.'
'I don't mean to sound out of line, mister. But you see I'm responsible for this train so I'd like to stay on board with your permission. I'd be happy to sit where you tell me.'
Jay was starting to like this train crew. 'Fine, but no heroics.'
The three of them climbed back into the train. The driver opened the inner door to the cabin as requested. He edged the train forward and slowly built up speed toward the next stop.
The flashing lights of police vehicles darted amongst the rail corridor trees as they approached Bald Hills station. At least a dozen officers lined the platform, weapons at the ready. Obviously they wanted Jay off the train before he reached his destination. Jay grinned. How did the police expect to stop a train? It wasn't as if they could lay road spikes to blow the tyres. The train driver looked over his shoulder to Jay.
'Just ignore them, give them a wave even. Whatever you do, we're not stopping.'
The driver smiled and faced the front. He seemed unperturbed and even appeared to be enjoying the experience, waving to the police as they passed each two-man group. Jay watched the heads of the police officers and their weapons pivot in unison as the train flew by. He looked back through the carriage and noted the train guard standing at the doors also waving to the police.
They were fast approaching a bend that appeared to provide cover from view of the next station and the one just passed. 'I want you to slow to walking speed just before that bend.'
'Sure,' the driver replied.
'And I need your wallet.'
The driver turned his head and said, 'You seem reasonable enough, but I need that money to feed my kids.'
'I don't want your money.' Jay held his hand out and the driver reluctantly handed over his wallet.
As they slowed to a crawl, Jay took out the driver's licence and read aloud his home address. He replaced the licence and handed the wallet back. 'I don't make threats, just promises,' he said. 'I need you to do exactly what I say.'
'As long as it doesn't involve crashing my train.'
'It doesn't. I want you to pull up now.'
With a moan from the brakes, the train came to a stop just before the bend.
Jay continued. 'Open the doors. I'm getting out here. I want you to keep driving this train to the end of the line. No stopping and no communications. OK?'
The driver shrugged. 'No problems.'
Jay dug into his pocket and pulled out his ticket. 'Although we didn't make it to my stop, I wouldn't want to risk a fine for fare-evasion.' He handed the ticket to the driver, who took it with a grin.
The jump onto the tracks reminded him why he'd had to give up rugby as his knees buckled with the impact. The train slowly pulled away as he moved for the cover of long grass under a vehicle overpass. He looked around to get his bearings. From the direction he had travelled, dairy cattle grazed a large section of land on either side of the tracks; ahead of him toward the next station was an industrial estate.
He withdrew his phone and called the Director of NSIS. 'Change of plan,' he said.
FORTY
Jay told Pat where he could pick him up and hung up. He cursed to himself that Bill didn't have a mobile phone and left a message on his home phone. He hoped Bill wouldn't get caught up with the police cordon.
Five minutes later a government vehicle pulled off to the side of the road beside the overpass. Jay checked the area then made his way to the car. He held the pistol under his shirt. He climbed into the passenger seat and placed the pistol in his lap.
'No need for that,' Pat said.
'Let's call it my safety blanket. Why don't you start driving away from here?'
Pat put the vehicle into drive and pulled onto the road. 'You shouldn't be out in the open like this.'
'I'll take my chances. Besides, I'm with the director of Australia's top intelligence agency. What could possible go wrong?'
No answer.
Jay buckled himself in. 'I have some questions. I deserve the truth, don't you think?'
Pat shifted in his seat. 'We haven't got time for any of this just yet, Jay. This operation is bigger than the two of us.'
'Always the way with you, isn't it? Bigger picture that only you can understand. Job before individuals. It cost you your family and you stuck with it. You going to be satisfied dying proud and lonely?'
'That's uncalled for. You may not like my reasons or understand the decisions I make but they are valid. If I don't make the tough decisions, who will?'
'No regrets about losing contact with your daughter, then?'
Pat's jaw tightened and his hands gripped the steering wheel. Through gritted teeth he said, 'Everything I do is for Tanya and her future.'
'To provide a better world to live in, right?'
Pat shook his head.
'Bigger picture stuff, right?' Jay asked.
Pat looked pained and tired. 'We're talking diplomatic relations across contine
nts.' But he seemed to have lost conviction in his argument. A repetitive response he had dragged out for years.
'Because the US has used my interrogation report as some sort of diplomatic leverage. They knew Israel moved the chemical weapons because I told our government and then they told the US. No wonder our leaders are so chummy. Must have worked a treat. Or, maybe the US knew all along that Israel was getting the chemical weapons out of Iraq? Probably provided all the extra intelligence Mossad needed to get the job done. Then the Aussies pick up the only person who could verify what had happened. The general coughed up the information to me before Mossad could get to him. Not only would that be embarrassing for Israel, but also for the US. My report shows the world there never was a need to invade Iraq to find Weapons of Mass Destruction. Everybody knew they were already gone. Everybody who needed to know, that is. Isn't that how it works? Keep the truth hidden from the public for the greater good. Or some rubbish like that. No wonder conspiracy theorists are so paranoid.'
Pat didn't answer quickly enough and Jay knew he had hit the mark.
'I don't think your assumption is entirely correct. Besides, that's a political game I don't get involved in,' Pat said.
'Like using me as a pawn in your game of espionage chess, then?'
'That's not true. I've never used you. It wasn't supposed to work out like this. It could have been resolved years ago had the Prime Minister told me of the interrogation and your report.'
'What's so important about it now?'
Pat seemed to consider his response. 'Your dad came to me after he was approached by Bowen. I tried to bring Bowen on board but he was too close to Catherine Primrose and he already had someone on the inside at NSIS.'
'Who?'
'Deputy Director Keith Harper.'
With those three words, Jay's world turned again. He felt dizzy.
Pat continued. 'I knew after your dad disappeared that he'd come across something big when he questioned Lazarau. I brought Sarah on board to question Lazarau and to determine who he was working for. He gave Sarah your name and I knew then and there that the person Lazarau was working for was responsible for your dad's disappearance. I spoke to the Prime Minister and he told me about the interrogation. At the same time, Keith volunteered to take over the handling of the Lazarau investigation. I found it a strange coincidence but allowed it to pan out. I knew Keith would make a move for Lazarau and I had him moved before he got that chance.'
'Wait... you had Lazarau moved?'
'Yes. He's at a safe house.'
Jay couldn't believe what he was hearing. 'Still alive?'
'He's still alive. Once I explained what had been arranged for him, he detailed the entire operation. I set up a couple of reports and personally handled the investigation into his apparent death. I then fed it back to Keith.'
'This is all wrong.'
Pat continued. 'Keith was a smart man. He figured out who Lazarau was working for months ago by the type of documents that were being pinched. He knew it was all about the build-up to the war in Iraq. He brought Bowen on board not long after. Bowen made the Primrose connection and I suppose you know what happened there.'
'It's making more sense. But why did Bowen contact Dad?'
'Around the time you were in Iraq, we – as in the Agency – intercepted a signal from a foreign embassy that mentioned your name. It was a signal to an Israeli field operative here in Australia.'
'What . . . with my name? Who the hell is this person?'
'We didn't know at the time, and in fact it was so low a priority when the report came in that I wasn't informed about it, but Keith was. You can imagine how busy we were during that time and it just got filed and forgotten.'
'Filed but not forgotten by Keith.'
'Correct. I suppose when Lazarau turned up, Keith made the connection and probably figured that Lazarau was working for the Israeli field operative.'
'Primrose.'
'Only if you mean the female Primrose.'
Holy shit, Jay thought. The Star of David tattoo. 'Catherine?'
'Yes. I didn't find the signal until just before I spoke to you and Sarah at the hotel. I pieced it together with the information Lazarau gave my interrogators at the safe house. I couldn't tell you or Sarah about it for obvious reasons.'
'You wanted to confront Keith first.'
'For all I knew, Keith could have simply been setting a trap to capture Catherine. That would have been a hell of a career boost.'
'How do you know Catherine is the operative and not Warren Primrose?'
'It's a typical modus operandi for Mossad. They use females to get close to those with access.'
'The honey trap. But she was with Primrose before the war in Iraq.'
'Yes. I assume she was recruited because of her access to her father. Another assumption would be that, with her access to Primrose, she could be used more efficiently for military documents and to keep an eye on you.'
'Wait, so she was recruited in Australia?'
'As far as we can tell.'
Yeah right, Jay thought. Surely NSIS would have followed up on such information. 'Where's Dad?'
'We're working on it. I have my people tracking the call records on both Keith's and Bowen's phones. It won't be long before we track him down.'
Jay nodded. 'Let's hope so. What about Cliffe and Taylor?'
'Picked up this morning in Perth. I have teams working on them now.'
'The assassins?'
'There were none. I wanted to give you and Sarah an option to run. I needed to know if you would both be up to getting that document back. The assassins' ploy was something to have you both on edge and keep your guard up. Fortunately, you both did exactly that when Sarah killed Keith.'
'It was you she had called?'
'Yes. I told her my suspicions about Keith and Bowen. There was no point going after the document once Keith and Bowen were dead. I told Sarah about Catherine so both of you could get the hell out of there. There's an operation under way now to pick up Catherine Primrose. What happened to her husband?'
Jay told Pat about the shooting.
Pat shook his head. 'Very fortunate you saw him when you did.'
'Mmm.' Jay couldn't shake the thought of how Primrose knew where he and Sarah were staying.
'What did you mean when you mentioned a tape?' Pat asked.
Jay snapped out of his thoughts. 'What?. . . Yeah right, the tape. I kept the recording of my interrogation of the Iraqi.' As soon as he said it, a feeling of unease descended upon him.
'Why hadn't you told anyone about it?'
I told Sarah, Jay thought. And . . . shit . . . Catherine too. 'Insurance, I suppose,' he said.
'I can tell you now, if Mossad were to know that a recording exists they would do just about anything to get it back.'
Jay's mind raced. Catherine, who worked for Mossad, now knew about the recording.
'Don't you think it's time to hand over the recording to NSIS to keep it at arm's length from Mossad?' Pat asked.
Jay felt uneasy in the pit of his stomach. Or was it paranoia? 'What makes you think you could look after it better than I can? I've done all right so far.'
'But nobody knew you had it before. Mossad aren't stupid. They will work it out soon enough and won't stop or let anyone stand in their way until they get that recording. We have systems in place to keep these things under tighter lock and key.'
Lock and key, lock and key, Jay thought. The phrase triggered an adrenalin rush. He recalled a lecture regarding protective security and the defence-in-depth principle. Barbed-wire fences, security guards, access control systems, locks and alarms. That was it. Alarms like his father's alarm. His father's alarm had a code – a code only Jay and his father knew. Yet the pin for the credit card that Pat had given Jay matched his father's alarm code. Pat knew his father's pin number for his alarm. When he last spoke to his father, Ed had told Jay to follow the Director. Sarah had told Pat where they were staying. Primrose came looking fo
r Jay. Pat must have sent him. Shit, shit, shit. Jay was now sitting next to the man who'd kidnapped his father.
'What's on your mind, Jay?'
He had to stay calm – to find his father. 'Pardon? Oh sorry, guess I'm just tired. You're right, I don't want the recording. Best we get it now. It's in a safe deposit box at a bank in the city.'
Pat slowed down and turned the car around. He appeared to be in more of a hurry now. Keen to get the recording, no doubt.
Jay used the limited time to gain clues about his father's whereabouts. 'Where do you think Keith would have kept Dad?'
'That's a question I've been constantly asking myself. When you spoke to your dad on the phone, did you hear anything in the background?'
A probing question, Jay thought. The fact was that he had heard something, a faint noise in the background. It hadn't lasted long. Two identical sounds in rapid succession. A noise he had heard before, but where? It was recent and he asked himself how he had reacted to it. He played it back in his mind, reversing his steps in a logical timeline. When he instinctively ducked a little, he knew what it was. The sound was associated with that movement. The noise was that of an owl. His father had been at the caravan park. The call was made after Jay had been there with Sarah and he had remembered the owl. His father was probably still at the caravan park, hopefully.
'Jay!'
He kept himself restrained. 'Yeah ... I was in a daydream. What was the question?'
'Did you hear anything in the background when you spoke to your dad?'
'No. nothing at all.' He willed himself to remain calm. To focus on saving his father and overcoming the urge to vent his anger on a man he and his father had trusted, a man he had called Uncle since he was young. He couldn't jeopardise his father's safety by doing something stupid. They were twenty minutes away from the bank where he would hand over the recording of the Iraqi interrogation. There was no way of knowing what would happen to him or his father once he'd handed the disc to Pat. Although he could assume that it wouldn't benefit either of them.
He had twenty minutes to come up with a plan to save his father and avoid relinquishing the recording.