Tracers

by Adrian Magson

  ‘I seen her.’

  ‘What’s that, Hughie?’ Park’s voice was surprisingly gentle, as if talking to a child.

  ‘I seen her,’ Hughie repeated. ‘I seen Jo.’ He smiled, then frowned, emotions overlapping, and ripped back the Velcro strap on one of his training gloves. He picked at a stray length of cotton as if he’d already forgotten what he was saying.

  ‘Where did you see her, Hughie?’ Park prompted him. ‘Where’d you see Jo?’

  ‘Battersea,’ replied Hughie after some thought. ‘At the weekend. I remember, it was Park Road. Park Road, see?’ He smiled self-consciously, proud at making the word connection.

  ‘Battersea.’ Danny Park gave the two men a quick look. ‘That’s a long way from here, Hughie. What were you doing down in Battersea?’

  ‘Seeing my dad, wasn’t I? He lives down that way . . . back of Latchmere Road.’ He smiled vaguely at the memory and rubbed the knuckles of the gloves together. ‘I think it was her, anyway. I said hi, but she didn’t say nothing.’

  ‘What was Jo doing, Hughie?’ said Rik. ‘When you saw her?’

  The youth glanced at Park before answering. ‘Nothing. Walking. I know it was her because of her pink bag.’ He shrugged like it was no big deal. ‘Maybe she didn’t see me. She’d have spoke, otherwise, wouldn’t she?’

  Park explained, ‘She had a sports bag with bits of pink . . . what d’you call it – piping – round the edges. The lads had a good laugh when she first brought it in. One of ’em said it was a big girlie bag and she was turning into a right pussy.’ He smiled. ‘She got him in the ring after and kicked the crap out of him. Man, it was great.’

  Hughie nodded shyly in agreement, then eyed the two men carefully and waved a gloved hand towards the punchbag. ‘C’n I go now?’

  Park nodded and clapped Hughie on the shoulder. ‘Sure, off you go. Thanks, Hughie.’ He waited for the young man to move out of earshot, then said quietly, ‘Hughie had a thing for Jo. Thought she was a princess. She was always nice to him when others weren’t. If you go on what he says, you’re welcome, but don’t rely on it too much. He got knocked down by a car when he was a kid. He’s fine, mostly. But he has . . . lapses.’

  ‘He found his way to Battersea,’ Harry pointed out. ‘We’ll give it a try.’

  Park nodded. ‘Fair enough. If you find her, tell her she’s always welcome back.’ He gave a sour look at the other men in the gym, now turning back to their training. ‘Tell you the truth, she was the only thing ever brightened up this dump.’

  ‘What did she do here?’ Harry asked. ‘Apart from kicking the crap out of people?’

  Parks shrugged. ‘All sorts, really, but to a system. She boxed, lifted weights, ran . . . even wiped the floor with me when the mood took her.’

  ‘Come again?’ Rik looked cynical.

  ‘Seriously. I don’t mind admitting it. Somebody taught her how to fight. Nasty stuff, too; none of your Queensberry rules. She didn’t just know all the moves, either. She was hard with it, but deceptive. Wicked fast, too. She never said, but I reckon she’d done time in the army. She had that . . . thing about her, you know? That edge you don’t get with civvies.’ He shrugged. ‘Like I said, tough.’ He frowned for a moment and shook his head.

  ‘What?’ said Rik.

  ‘I don’t know. There was something . . . She was always so focussed. Like she was permanently in training. I couldn’t figure it out, and to be honest I didn’t like to ask. It’s not what people come here for.’ He scratched his head. ‘The last time I saw anyone that intense was in the regiment, just before something big kicked off. Then it was everyone in his own world, you know? Dealing with it.’

  Harry nodded. ‘You think the training was for real?’

  Park shrugged. ‘What do I know? But, yeah, I reckon. Like she was on standby . . . which is stupid, right? I mean, people in Civvy Street don’t live like that, do they?’

  ‘No,’ said Harry thoughtfully. ‘They don’t.’

  TWENTY-THREE

  The Corpos Fitness Centre was a modern, brick-and-glass designer cube near Battersea Park, catering to a clientele that liked to exercise in air-conditioned style and comfort. Forget about pounding around the park in wind and rain, the glossy signs and subdued lighting implied; that was for extremists, oddballs and London Marathon wannabes. Enter instead the world of heart monitors, space-age exercise machinery, designer leisurewear and your own personal trainer right out of Sex and the City, all for a very reasonable sum payable by credit card or direct debit, no cheques accepted.

  They had located three fitness or exercise centres in the area; one was strictly men-only, the emphasis being on weight training, with no other facilities and, according to the man on reception, women were ‘discouraged’. The second was at the other end of the spectrum, with lots of glitz and a fancy cocktail bar . . . and membership limited only by the size of your bank balance.

  That left the Corpos. After Danny Park and his back-to-basics sweat and grunt gymnasium, it was light years away from what Joanne Archer would have been used to. But if what Park had said about her being a relentless trainer was true, and Hughie was correct in his claim to have seen her in Battersea with her pink gym bag, it seemed as good a place as any to continue their search.

  For Harry, it was back to basics. Finding where runners might have gone could be a laborious process. Nine times out of ten a link was there, usually connected to a place or element of the runner’s past life. With Joanne Archer, all they had to go on was a rigorously observed fitness routine. While it wasn’t much, it meant she was unlikely to break that routine unless forced by circumstances beyond her control.

  Four thirty in the afternoon was evidently a quiet period in the world of exercise, sweatbands and leotards. No doubt the rush would come when people began leaving work, intent on an evening workout to ease the kinks of sitting down all day.

  From their vantage point in a café across the road, Harry counted eight people entering the Corpos premises and five leaving, each armed with sports bags. Most were young, good-looking and self-aware in the latest multicoloured leisure clothing, and were greeted by the receptionist, a young woman with a startling orange tan and lustrous black hair.

  She, he decided, recognizing a professional gatekeeper at work, might be a problem.

  ‘Do you think that kid Hughie was daydreaming?’ Rik asked. ‘Wandering around London looking for her like a lovesick donkey.’

  ‘Maybe.’ Harry wasn’t sure. Kids like Hughie had different values, different ways of looking at things. To Hughie, someone who’d treated him with kindness was a person to remember. To notice. ‘We’ll give it a few more minutes, then you can go and kick the doors in.’

  ‘What makes you so sure this is it?’

  ‘I’m not.’ Harry nodded at one of the signs in the window, which read: ‘Extreme Fitness and Martial Arts!’ ‘It sounds serious enough and fits what we know about Archer’s lifestyle.’

  While the minutes ticked by, they used the time to go over what they knew about their quarry, to ensure they hadn’t missed something.

  ‘She’s ex-army,’ said Rik, ticking off his fingers. ‘Current occupation thought to be a PA but not confirmed. She’s young, fit and travels a lot but keeps her place in north London on as a bolt-hole. Suddenly, from an already unusual lifestyle, she drops her routine and goes AWOL. No reasons given, no explanations, she just ducks out of sight. That’s not normal.’

  ‘Neither is the fact that Silverman had her number,’ Harry added. ‘I’d give anything to know how, though. And now he’s also on the loose.’

  ‘You think he called and triggered her disappearance?’

  ‘Unless she was waiting for him to show.’ It wasn’t much of a theory but in the absence of any other it was workable until something better came along.

  Rik floated a new idea. ‘We could ask Jennings if he knows about her.’

  Harry thought about that. It wasn’t a bad idea, but he wondered if Joanne Arc
her was something else the lawyer hadn’t told them about. The man was too full of secrets, that was the problem. Harry hadn’t yet told him about the bodies at South Acres and the events of the previous evening, because he wanted to find out who Joanne Archer was first. In any case, it was likely Jennings already knew about the shootings; if he was as plugged in to the law enforcement network as he pretended, he would have picked up reports immediately.

  ‘We should call him,’ Rik insisted, ‘or go see him face to face.’

  ‘To say what?’ The idea of Rik stomping into Jennings’ office playing the heavy might be mildly entertaining, but he figured the lawyer was tougher than he looked and would be no pushover.

  ‘If we don’t, he might think we’ve got something to hide.’

  He thought it over, and decided Rik was right. He took out his mobile and dialled the number.

  ‘I was wondering where you’d got to.’ Jennings answered the phone with typical bluntness. ‘I take it you have something useful to report?’

  ‘Depends on your point of view,’ said Harry, and gave him a brief rundown of what he’d discovered at the farmhouse. He kept the specifics clouded, in case anyone was listening, referring to the bodies as ‘broken items’ and their method of dispatch as ‘severe structural damage’.

  ‘Where were they from?’ asked Jennings, catching on fast.

  ‘They had French papers,’ Harry replied, ‘but darker in tone.’

  Jennings made no comment, and Harry thought he heard the rasp of a pen in the background. ‘So you’ve no idea where the main delivery has gone?’

  ‘We’re working on it.’ Harry thought the lawyer sounded altogether too calm.

  There was a pause, then, ‘You have a lead?’

  The interest sounded genuine. Maybe Jennings didn’t know about Joanne Archer after all. ‘Among the papers you gave us,’ Harry explained, ‘was a reference to “J.A. London”. It wasn’t much to go on and we pretty much dismissed it. When we searched the place at South Acres, we found the same initials and a number scribbled on the wall of a bedroom. It was too significant to ignore.’

  ‘I take it you have an address for this new item?’

  Harry gave him the address of Joanne Archer’s flat in north London, and her surname. ‘It’s no longer there but we’re currently trying to find out where it might have moved to. There are also a couple of other interested parties looking for it. They could be official.’

  ‘I’m sure they are. Don’t worry about that.’ Jennings didn’t sound at all perturbed at the idea.

  ‘There’s also,’ Harry added, drawing raised eyebrows from Rik, ‘something you need to know about the main package: its source of origin is not where we were told.’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘The brief said Israel . . . and academic in nature.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘Try further east. It also arrived via Frankfurt under different papers and was picked up from Heathrow. It was obviously a prearranged collection. None of that fits the brief.’

  Jennings brushed off the revelation. ‘I think you’re mistaken.’

  ‘Oh, come on!’ Harry exploded. Jennings was treating him like an amateur. What did the man think they’d been doing all this time, for Christ’s sake – playing dominoes? ‘We talked to somebody with the same background.’ He was beyond caring about client relations now. Too much had happened. If Jennings didn’t like his tone, he could go jump. Across the table, Rik was smiling encouragingly. He decided to dispense with caution. ‘How does Iraq grab you?’

  ‘Impossible.’ Jennings’ response was automatic. ‘Your informant is mistaken.’

  ‘How the hell—?’

  ‘Mr Tate,’ Jennings cut in sharply. ‘I’d be grateful if you would inform me when you find this Archer person. As to the events of yesterday, they’re no longer part of your brief. Call me the moment you have a location.’ He rang off without saying goodbye.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  ‘Cheeky bugger,’ Harry growled, drawing a look of disapproval from an elderly lady who had just entered the café.

  Rik was grinning in wry triumph. ‘He doesn’t want to hear what we found crawling about under the stone, does he? Probably because he already knows.’

  ‘If he does, he knows more than we do.’ In spite of all the evidence of bodies and documents, they were no further forward in their knowledge of Silverman’s true background. The guards’ passports were unlisted in any of the databases Rik had accessed, and the mobile number was a pay-as-you-go disposable with no address and no previous call record. Whatever real history the two dead men had possessed was now a closed book.

  Harry got to his feet and nodded towards the building across the road. ‘Come on, Boy Wonder. You’ve got work to do.’

  By the time they pushed through the glass doors in the Corpos building, he had banished all thoughts of Jennings from his mind. The foyer was peppered with posters of muscular men and women engaging happily with complicated equipment, and the decor was a mixture of fancy Greek tiles, thick carpets and tinkling fountains, with soft mood-music issuing from speakers. A corridor ran off to the left, with an arrow pointing to a studio, sauna, fitness rooms and administration. Unlike Park’s Gym, a subtle smell of air-freshener and soap hung in the air, along with the merest hint of perfume.

  The receptionist looked up and gave them a flash of white teeth. ‘Hello, gentlemen. Welcome to Corpos.’

  Harry nudged Rik forward and veered off to study a notice board.

  ‘Hello . . . Mandy.’ Rik gave her his best boyish grin and eyed the name badge on her chest. She followed his eyes and almost blushed. ‘I wonder if you can help?’ His tone made it perfectly clear that she could, and even if she couldn’t, it would be fun finding out.

  Harry wasn’t sure what Rik’s precise game plan was, nor did he need to hear the lurid details. Just as long as they got the information they needed: confirmation that Joanne Archer was a member and, if possible, her current address.

  Mandy seemed to lose some of her anticipation as Rik spoke, her face taking on a look of concern. Moments later, she was clicking away down the corridor on high heels, her bottom twitching fetchingly under her white coat. They watched her go, heads tilted in admiration. If she’d had eyelashes painted on her rear, Harry decided, they’d both have been winked to death.

  He had already checked for security cameras and found none. The moment Mandy was out of sight, he signalled for Rik to slip behind the desk to check the monitor. From a brief glance, it appeared to be a standard client registration screen with spaces for the insertion of personal details.

  ‘You didn’t promise her anything, did you?’ he said, as Rik typed Archer’s name into the query screen. The machine clicked and built into a frenzied hum. He hoped it was a fast program.

  ‘Why? You jealous?’ Rik flashed him a smug look.

  ‘Not really.’ Harry moved to give himself a view of both the main entrance and the corridor. ‘Just that Mandy looks the sort to expect seconds.’

  ‘I asked for the name and address of the company’s lawyers,’ Rik explained, tapping his fingers impatiently. ‘Said I’d slipped and fallen in the shower a couple of days ago, and needed details of her people so my people can contact their people.’ He smiled proudly at his inventiveness. ‘Places like this are terrified of lawsuits.’

  ‘But you’re not a member.’

  ‘They won’t know that,’ Rik pointed out, ‘until they check. And she didn’t ask. I’m hoping we don’t have to hang around long enough for it to get that far.’

  They had discussed tactics earlier. They needed to gain access to the club’s customer records, and Rik had volunteered to handle this without disclosing the specifics. He’d made whatever he’d got in mind sound fiendishly cunning, but to Harry, this solution was like Indiana Jones flashing a silk handkerchief instead of his trademark bullwhip.

  ‘That’s it?’ he muttered, unimpressed. ‘You slipped in the shower? I thought you’d come up with
something . . . I don’t know . . .’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Bold. Dazzling, even.’

  The computer fan stopped. In its place they heard a familiar clicking of heels along the tiled corridor. Mandy was on her way back. But they could also hear the low murmur of a male voice and the sound of heavier footsteps. She was bringing reinforcements.

  Rik was staring at the screen as if willing it to do something. Harry figured they had thirty seconds at most, probably less. He started forward, ready to intercept the receptionist and whoever she was bringing with her. If they got no luck here, they’d have to think of something else.

  He glanced towards Rik just as the screen flickered and revealed a new template.

  ‘Got it. Go!’ Rik hissed, signalling for Harry to lead the way and hitting the back button to return it to its original place. They made it to the street just as Mandy turned the corner.

  ‘Archer’s got a place near here,’ Rik told him. ‘She’s obviously keeping up her fitness routine.’

  Harry nodded. Old habits died hard. ‘You’ve got all that from one quick look?’ He was impressed.

  ‘Look at screens all day and it gets to be second nature.’

  Back at the car they consulted an A–Z. The address was a short distance away, off Battersea Park Road.

  Hughie had been right after all.

  The address was a small flat above a letting agency, on a busy parade of shops. Access was by a flight of open metal stairs from a service yard at the rear.

  They couldn’t tell if anyone was in, and the approach up the stairs was too open to risk going near. If Archer’s involvement with Silverman was anything less than innocent, two men showing up on her doorstep might be enough to set her running again. And next time they might not find her so easily.

  Rik found a parking space a hundred yards away from the flat, giving them a clear view of the stairway. Harry left him on watch and walked a slow circuit of the block, picking up a feel for the area and the flow of people. The pavements were reasonably busy, but with only one way in, they stood a good chance of spotting Archer entering or leaving. If they missed her, with daylight dropping fast, any lights going on inside would make their task easier.