by Chris Ryan
‘What’s in the dossier?’ he asked.
‘We’ll come to that. The first thing you need to know is that Cooper considered the contents of the document important enough to fix up a meeting with an American contact of his. Bill Prosser. Ex-FBI.’
‘What for?’
‘To get a second opinion. On the value of its contents.’
‘The meeting was set for three days ago,’ Moorcroft explained. ‘Wednesday night, at the American’s private club.’
‘And?’
‘Charles never made it there.’
‘What happened?’
Tannon sipped more water. Set down the glass.‘We don’t have the full facts. You understand that we have to maintain low visibility on this one. Street isn’t one of our own any more. He’s an ex-agent, operating on his own remit.’
‘So what do you know?’
Tannon bristled at Porter’s tone. ‘A snatch team tried to abduct Charles while he was en route to the meeting with Prosser. But the plan failed.’
‘How?’
‘There was some sort of accident. Their vehicle got T-boned. Charles managed to escape on foot. Shots were fired. One civilian was killed and another hospitalised. The abductors got away too.’
Porter listened, recalling the news report he’d seen on TV back at the Qataris’ gaff in Kensington.
A violent incident in the middle of DC.
A wealthy lawyer in his forties, shot dead.
Another victim with a bullet to the leg.
Not being treated as terrorist-related.
He said, ‘Where’s Street now?’
Moorcroft shrugged. ‘That’s the problem. We don’t know. But we can be sure the snatch team is actively looking for him. Which is where you two chaps come in.’
He looked towards Tannon. Porter and Bald stared quizzically at her.
‘Charles is in trouble,’ she said. ‘We need you to get over to DC and RV with Cooper. You’ll assist him in his efforts to locate Charles before the snatch squad does. Then you need to bring him home.’
TWELVE
Porter stayed quiet for several moments while he digested the int. A hundred questions jumped out at him, all at once.
‘Who was on the snatch team?’
‘We don’t know,’ Tannon replied. ‘Not yet, at least.’
‘But you must have some idea about why they targeted Street,’ Bald said.
‘We’re not completely sure. But we have a working theory that it’s because of what Charles discovered in the dossier.’
‘Why?’ Porter asked. ‘What did he find?’
‘I’m afraid we can’t tell you any more than that,’ Tannon replied curtly. ‘That information’s on a strictly need-to-know basis. And you don’t need to know.’
‘It might help us understand who’s after your man Street. And what they’re planning to do with him.’
Tannon looked quickly at Moorcroft. He shrugged. The two of them were having some sort of private conference. Do we tell them this, or not? Then Tannon sighed and said, ‘Let’s just say that what’s included in the dossier is worse than your run-of-the-mill scandal. Far worse.’
‘How bad are we talking?’
‘If it ended up being made public, heads would roll. Lots of them.’
Porter said, ‘So Street found out about this thing, put it in his intelligence report and now some snatch unit wants him dead?’
‘Not dead,’ Tannon corrected. ‘We think whoever ordered Street to be lifted wants him alive.’
‘Why?’
‘To find out his sources.’
Tannon saw the puzzled looks on the faces of both operators and said, ‘Charles masked the identities of the sources he mentioned in the dossier. To protect them, he claimed. Cooper tried to find out more at their initial meeting, but Charles was reluctant to give them up. Extremely.’
‘Why?’
‘We think someone feared that Street was about to go public with what he’d discovered,’ Moorcroft explained. ‘Then they took action to intercept him. Find out who’d been talking to him.’
‘Either way, this dossier’s extremely hot,’ Tannon cut in. ‘The contents could be used to extort the president, blackmail him, or make all kinds of threats. It’d be more powerful than any conventional weapon.’
Bald said, ‘How do we know Street isn’t making it all up? You said he’s got previous when it comes to that shit.’
‘We considered that. But his report is detailed, and as far as we were able to, our people have fact-checked the claims contained in the document.’
‘And?’
‘Everything checks out. Times, dates. Locations. We’re confident that the contents of the dossier are authentic.’
‘Besides,’ Moorcroft added, ‘Charles must have been on to something. Otherwise why deploy the snatch squad? It makes no sense unless his abductors had good reason to believe what’s in there is true.’
‘And we really have no idea who tried to lift Street?’
Tannon and Moorcroft both shook their heads.
‘Who else knows about this dossier?’ asked Porter.
Tannon cleared her throat. ‘Outside of this room, only a handful of people. Along with Cooper, and whoever was on the snatch squad. But that might change very soon.’
‘How so?’
‘The police took Cooper in for questioning yesterday evening. They know he was the last person to speak with Charles before he went missing. Which means they’ve already identified Charles.’
‘How’d they ID him?’
‘We think they might have seen his face on videos of the incident filmed by members of the public,’ Moorcroft explained. ‘Facial recognition. The software the American intelligence services use is highly sophisticated. They would have matched his face to their database almost immediately.’
‘So what?’ Bald cut in. ‘As long as your man Cooper keeps his story straight, he’s in the clear.’
Tannon shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She exchanged a furtive glance with Moorcroft. She said, ‘It’s a little more complicated than that.’
‘The fuck is that supposed to mean?’
‘If the police know about Street and Cooper, that will have raised a red flag over in Fort Worth. Someone’s probably pulling their files as we speak. If they haven’t done so already.’
Bald frowned deeply. ‘The NSA have a file on Street?’
‘He’s ex-MI6. The NSA have a file on everybody in foreign intelligence. Same as ourselves. It’s standard practice.’
Moorcroft said, ‘Once the NSA realises that one of our own’s been targeted on their turf, questions will be asked. They’ll wonder why an ex-colleague of ours was caught up in a shootout in the middle of DC. They might even share that information with their friends at the FBI. Ask them to look into it.’
‘Which is why it’s vital we find Charles before they do,’ Tannon added. ‘We don’t want the Americans getting their hands on a former agent and finding out about the dossier.’
A thought suddenly occurred to Porter. ‘Whoever the blokes on the snatch team are, they must be professional operators. Or they had been once.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘Two things. You said everyone on the squad escaped?’
‘As far as we know.’
‘That means whoever targeted Street must have had a solid plan in place, in case things got noisy. Otherwise they would’ve been given the silver bracelet treatment by now. The cops in DC aren’t mugs.’
‘And the second thing?’
‘Their plan almost worked.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Street’s an ex-spy. He would have taken some basic anti-surveillance measures before the meeting.’
‘Correct.’
‘That would have been enough to throw off amateurs, but it didn’t fool this lot. That means they had proper skills, love. And they’re not the kind you learn on Civvy Street.’
Moorcroft smiled wanly. �
��You see, that’s why we need guys like you at Six. Rough men who know about the dark arts. We’ve got some wonderful people entering the service these days, great analysts, but they don’t have the first clue about this stuff.’
As Moorcroft made the last remark he glanced at Tannon. There was a slight tension between the two Six officers, thought Porter. Moorcroft seemed irritated at having to defer to the younger woman.
‘I don’t get it,’ Bald said, shaking his head. ‘How did the snatch squad find out about the dossier in the first place?’
Tannon said, ‘We have to assume Charles made multiple copies that even we don’t know about. We’re in the era of draft messages saved in anonymous email folders and air-gapped computers.’
Tannon saw the confused expression on Bald’s face and said, ‘A computer that’s permanently offline. No better way to secure your data than by staying off the network completely.’
‘But if the data’s watertight, how did the snatch team get hold of it?’
‘Charles may have got careless. He made the same mistake in Moscow, after all. Plus, he’s old-school. When it comes to tech, he’s not exactly Steve Jobs. One of the copies might have fallen into the wrong hands.’
‘What about the Americans?’
‘What about them?’
‘How much do they know about what’s in the document?’
‘Only what Cooper told his ex-FBI contact,’ she said. ‘Which isn’t much, apparently. He knows Street had stumbled on something big, and of potential interest to our American friends, but that’s all.’
Porter noticed Moorcroft staring at him.
‘You don’t think the Americans are behind the snatch attempt, do you?’
‘It’s not their MO. When the Yanks grab someone, they send in about a thousand FBI blokes in riot gear, armed to the teeth and trying to act rock-hard. Lifting a target off the street with a few guys isn’t their style.’
‘Then we can assume it’s an outside operation.’
‘That’s my guess.’
‘And if they haven’t been caught, they’re probably still looking for Street,’ said Tannon. ‘It’s critical you get Charles out of there. Before they get to him. Or the Americans.’
‘What’s in it for you lot?’ Bald interjected. ‘Street’s not one of your own, not any more. Do you give a toss what happens to him?’
‘There’s a certain political interest in what Charles has uncovered in the dossier. But there’s more to it than that.’
‘Like what?’
‘Street is a talented former spy, armed with potentially compromising information on a key ally. We’d rather not have to go through the indignity of the media revealing that one of own has spent his retirement digging up dirt on our friends. The consequences could be damaging for all of us. Especially Downing Street.’
Bald puffed out his cheeks. ‘Finding your man isn’t going to be easy. Last time I checked, America was a fucking big country. He could be anywhere by now. Christ, he could be across the border in Mexico for all we know.’
‘We have reason to believe otherwise.’
‘How’s that?’
‘Charles is a lifelong spy. He helped recruit and train up dozens of agents and surveillance teams, and he handled his assets on a daily basis. He knows the standard operating procedures better than his own mother.’
Moorcroft said, ‘As you both know, SOP in this situation for any field asset is to go off the grid. We believe Charles will have gone somewhere secure, where no one is likely to look for him. Somewhere that won’t involve leaving a paper or electronic trail.’
‘He could still be anywhere,’ Porter said.
‘You’ll be working with Cooper,’ Tannon replied. ‘He has a couple of ideas about where Charles might be hiding.’
‘Are we sure he’d know where to look?’
‘They’re old friends. They go back a long way. If anyone knows where to find Charles, it’ll be him.’
Moorcroft said, ‘This is what’ll happen. You’ll fly to DC and meet with Cooper. Then you’ll search together for Street. Once you’ve located him, you’ll ferry him out of the country.’
‘Do we really need Cooper to tag along?’ Bald asked. ‘Our jobs would be easier if he just told us where to look.’
‘Won’t work. Charles is a naturally paranoid sort. If you two show up unannounced, it’ll likely panic him. Cooper is the only one Charles trusts at the moment. Hence he needs to accompany you.’
Tannon seemed to be watching Bald and Porter carefully. ‘You’ll have to keep a low profile, of course. Make sure no one is watching you.’
‘Don’t worry about us, lass. Me and Porter are sharper than a pair of Savile Row suits. No one’ll tail us.’
Porter said, ‘When do we leave?’
‘Tomorrow morning,’ Moorcroft replied. ‘We’ve booked you on the first flight out of Heathrow to Dulles International. Your ESTAs have already been authorised, so you’re cleared for travel.’
‘We’ll need a cover story.’
‘You’re a couple of old army friends in town to check out the local tourist sites. We’ve drawn up an itinerary to match. You’re booked in for five nights at a mid-range hotel, along with tickets for a guided tour of the Capitol and two passes for the International Spy Museum.’
Porter stared at the two MI6 officers. ‘Is that Six’s idea of a sense of humour?’
‘It’ll add to your cover. No one would suspect an MI6 asset of visiting a spy museum.’
Bald and Porter glanced at each other. Shrugged. Bald said, ‘What about weapons?’
‘You shouldn’t need any, gents. Not for a straightforward exfiltration job.’
‘Yeah, well, forgive me for being cynical, but nothing’s ever straightforward when it comes to you lot.’
Tannon crossed her legs and said, ‘If you need guns, you’ll have to forage locally. We can’t give you any official assistance while you’re over there. For obvious reasons.’
Porter nodded without replying. He and Bald had been playing the game long enough to know the rules. They’d be operating as deniable assets. Meaning if the op went sideways, HMG would deny any knowledge of Bald or Porter and their activities. Six would cut them off ruthlessly.
Hopefully this op will be simple. No complications. No weaponry.
I could do without the bloody stress.
‘We’ll need money,’ Porter said. ‘In case we run into trouble.’
‘Already taken care of,’ Moorcroft replied, checking his watch. ‘You’ll be given some walking-around money. Kliner also deposited a substantial bonus in each of your current accounts, approximately one hour ago.’
‘How much?’
‘Twelve thousand pounds each. That should be enough to deal with any unforeseen problems.’
Bald grinned broadly. ‘I reckon so.’
‘That’s not a carte blanche for you to go wild,’ Moorcroft cautioned. ‘Don’t spend a penny more than necessary. If you start raiding the mini-bar, that comes out of your own pocket. Understood?’
‘Aye,’ Bald replied sullenly.
Porter said, ‘What happens after we get Street? We might not be able to stick him on a plane. Not if the NSA figure out what he was up to.’
‘We’ve got a team over at GCHQ monitoring communications across the pond. If anything comes up about Street, we’ll let you know.’
Tannon sat upright, pressed her hands together and looked at Porter and Bald in turn. ‘Any other questions?’
‘We haven’t discussed pay,’ Bald said.
Tannon smiled faintly. ‘You already got paid. You’re both on a retainer, with Kliner, remember?’
‘That’s just for having us on standby, lass. Not for going on an op. We’re putting our balls on the line here. We should be getting a bonus. Danger money, like.’
‘If you’re hoping for big bucks, I’m afraid you’re out of luck. Times are hard at the moment. Whitehall is having to fight for scraps with every other departme
nt.’
‘Bollocks. You lot are at the front of the fucking queue when it comes to Downing Street handouts. Always bloody have been. So don’t give us the sob story about how your chief is having to root for pennies down the back of the sofa.’
Tannon’s smile disappeared. She folded her hands across her lap and sighed.
‘Look, all we can promise is that you’ll be allowed to keep the leftovers from your expenses funds. That’s the best we can do. Anything more than that, it’s out of our hands.’
Porter mulled over it for a few beats. Looked at Bald. Nodded. Turned back to Tannon. Nodded again. ‘Works for me.’
‘Good.’
Moorcroft tipped his head at Porter. ‘You’ll stay at the serviced apartment this evening. I’ll swing by later this afternoon and hand over your itineraries.’
Tannon stood up, announcing the end of the briefing. ‘Now, unless there’s anything else?’
Bald made no move to get up. He fixed his gaze at Tannon and said, ‘There’s one other thing.’
Tannon looked at him funny. ‘I’m listening.’
‘After this op’s finished, I’m done.’
‘Done?’
‘Yeah. Me and Six. It’s over. I want out.’
Tannon stared at him. ‘You’re not serious.’
‘I am, lass. Deadly.’
‘You really don’t get to decide that. Even if you did, I have no authority in this matter.’
‘Then speak to someone who does.’
‘It’s not that easy, I’m afraid.’
Bald spread his hands. ‘I’m not in the Regiment any more. Haven’t been for a long fucking while now. And whatever leverage you’ve got over me, I’ve paid you back and then some.’
Tannon pressed her lips shut and exchanged a quick glance with Moorcroft. For the first time since they’d stepped into the hotel suite, she looked momentarily flustered.
‘I’ve paid my way,’ Bald continued. ‘I did right by Vauxhall. Now you need to do the same for me.’
‘Aren’t you a patriot?’
‘Me?’ Bald laughed. ‘Yeah, I am. But only in John Bald Land. I couldn’t give a shit about your country.’
Tannon stared at him uncertainly, as if deciding whether or not Bald was joking. Then she saw the determined look on his face and nodded. ‘Very well. Bring Street back safe and sound, and we’ll talk about terminating your arrangement with us.’