The Memory Trap dda-19

by Anthony Price

  'We would not like any harm to come to him.' Zimin ducked the question smoothly. 'Our first concern, naturally, is for his safety. As I am sure yours is, Dr Audley. So you have also taken other precautions, of course — as we have?'

  God — that put him on the line! Because that meant Zimin and Chunky weren't the only KGB tourists admiring the ruins of the Villa Jovis right now: Chunky was simply Colonel Zimin's private minder, with other "tourists" down below, among the passages and stairways and in the trees. And that was the other reason why Zimin had tightened up on seeing him: he had only been an unexpected ghost for that half-second which the Colonel had needed to remember that he didn't believe in ghosts. But, after that, he had been consumed by the fear that there must be British tourists down there too, sniffing his own men suspiciously.

  There was no help for it. With the Russians as twitchy as this, the possibility of appalling accidents multiplied, involving innocent people. And, for Jack Butler's sake, he couldn't take dummy1

  that risk —

  'I am here alone, Colonel Zimin. I have help . . . further down.'

  That actually raised the Russian's eyebrows slightly. Then he snapped an order at Chunky, in fast Russian vernacular.

  Chunky vanished behind Our Lady's statue, and Audley was left with his familiar problem with modern languages, in which the difference between the written and the spoken word was always a source of humiliation.

  Or maybe it was because he couldn't believe his ears — ?

  'What was that, Colonel — ?' It was the verb which eluded him, among the rest. But, after having guessed at it, he still couldn't believe it.

  'You are either very brave, Dr Audley. Or you are very stupid.'

  Zimin considered him dispassionately for an instant. 'After what happened in Berlin.' Then he seemed to decide to give Audley the benefit of the doubt, as from one genuine soldier to one temporary one (but one from a real war before the Colonel's time nevertheless, which therefore demanded recognition).

  'Oh — yes?' In less pressing circumstances Zimin's wrong choice from those alternatives would have been as interesting as it was wounding to his already damaged self-esteem. But meanwhile the sense of that command, if he understood it correctly, had to be resolved. 'That order of yours, Colonel Zimin — to your man ... I'd be obliged if you would explain it dummy1

  to me, nevertheless.'

  'Obliged?' The word seemed to throw the Russian.

  'Yes.' Audley realized that the word wasn't to blame: Zimin was waiting now for his instruction to be carried out, and until it had been then even the celebrated Dr Audley could not hold his attention absolutely. 'Obliged, Colonel.'

  Zimin's lips tightened. 'It was not for your former colleague, Dr Audley.'

  'I know that.' The man's waiting was infectious. 'Or ... I gathered that.'

  'Then you also know that he is in great danger.'

  If the Russian had been concentrating on him fully he would be amending "brave" to "stupid" now. But he was boxed in by his own doubt, just as Audley himself was by his own stupidity. 'Indeed? But not from you?'

  Almost as though against his will, Zimin forced himself to attend to Audley. 'We do not want him dead, Dr Audley. As others do.'

  Audley held his face steady. Tell them to kill the Arab was undoubtedly what Zimin had said, although "kill" hadn't been the word he'd used: what he had just said made that certain, never mind the untidy events in Berlin.

  'And we do not want you dead, either, Dr Audley. We do not want any . . . unnecessary violence in this matter. All we want is Major Richardson.'

  So Berlin had been as much a disaster for the Russians as for dummy1

  the British, albeit a different sort of disaster: in so far as that made sense, it made much better sense. Only he mustn't let his relief show, any more than his ignorance: anger was what he must show now. 'The correct word is "kidnap", I believe, Colonel.'

  'He will not be harmed. Nor will he be held very long.'

  'But he will have been kidnapped. And my Government —'

  The scream took them by surprise equally, with its throaty mixture of mortal agony and terror: he saw Zimin's eyes widen as the sound rose from below to their left, among the trees, only to be cut off instantly, as though by a switch, leaving them staring at each other.

  Then Zimin's mouth opened in a silent swear-word, that something which should have been accomplished equally silently had been bungled so noisily.

  For a moment there was no sound at all: the very lack of sound mocked them both. Then it was shattered by another scream — but a very different one: a high-pitched cry punctuated by breath, ululating unstoppably.

  That was a woman's scream! The certainty raced through Audley's brain as he thought also of Elizabeth disobeying him. But then the scream hiccoughed into hysterics; and . . .

  Elizabeth wouldn't scream — wouldn't have hysterics . . .

  and, anyway, it wouldn't be Elizabeth who disobeyed him —

  Zimin was staring at him, ready-tensed as though the sound had tightened up his spring.

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  Audley relaxed himself slowly and deliberately. Once upon a time, maybe, he might have chanced a forward's weight against a three-quarter's speed at this distance. But that time was long gone, and the Russian had far too many years'

  youthful advantage. So all he had now, to steady his fear, was the echo of the man's words — no unnecessary violence? —

  and his own wits.

  The scream ran out of breath at last, degenerating into sobs.

  But now a man was shouting, somewhere down among the ruins.

  He drew a deep breath. 'I rather think — ' Embarrassingly, he had to clear his throat ' — I rather think your men have queered both our pitches now, Colonel. . . I'm afraid.' He spread his hands as eloquently as he could, and shook his head.

  Zimin frowned, but didn't unwind.

  'Richardson won't come now.' He shook his head again. 'God only knows what he'll be thinking!' That certainly was true.

  'But he'll know he's been betrayed, anyway.' That was also true. So why not more truth? 'He's not stupid.' But now the important half-truth. 'So I'm afraid we've both lost him. And he won't be so easy to find next time — ' He could hear the sound of footsteps on the stone steps at the back ' — if we ever find him now, that is, Colonel.' He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise. But he gave the Russian his ugliest scowl, and nodded towards the railing beside which they'd met, in full view of the whole of Capri. 'And what dummy1

  rather pisses me off, Colonel Zimin, is that ... if, by any chance, he saw us exchanging pleasantries just now, before your idiots dealt with that Arab so incompetently . . . then he may very well think we're in this together. And that sort of glasnost won't be to his taste, seeing as how the Mafia and the Italian police also want to nail his hide to the nearest tree as it is.'

  Zimin shook his head suddenly. But he was no longer looking at Audley.

  Audley turned, just in time to observe Chunky straightening his ill-fitting suit-jacket.

  'Goodbye, Dr Audley.'

  The words and Zimin himself passed him together.

  'Goodbye, Colonel —'

  When they had gone he was ashamed to discover that his hands were shaking. So he grasped the railings and admired the Bay of Naples far below him. It would have been a very long drop. But the first outcrop of cliff below him would have silenced whatever sound he might have made.

  Then he started thinking about Peter Richardson again.

  Between the Russians and the Mafia, Peter had been betrayed somehow. But maybe that wasn't so very surprising.

  And it was what Peter would do next that mattered now, anyway.

  He began to think about the old days: it was in his memory of dummy1

  them that his only hope now lay.

  PART TWO

  Just like the Old Days

  1

  I am not . . .' he had carefully told Elizabeth '. . . as young as I onc
e was.' So, as they approached the centre of London, she wasn't surprised when he appeared to doze off. He had been through a lot, after all. And that made it easy, when a red light caught them in the Bayswater Road, to be out of the car before either Elizabeth or the driver knew what was happening: it was just like the old days!

  'David! What on earth are you doing?' She threw herself across the seats, her consternation emphasized by the mixture of fatigue and the unnatural light of the street lamps which dawn hadn't quite cancelled, which together gave her a three-day corpse look. 'Where are you going — ?'

  'Sir!' The driver added his pennyworth of desperation to hers, all too aware that he was trapped by the lights in the outer lane. 'We're to go directly —'

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  'It's all right.' He closed the door on them both as the lights changed, flattening himself against the side of the car to let a delivery van pass on the inside lane. 'Don't worry.'

  A muffled sound from within turned into words as she tried to open the door again, only to have it shut again on her as an early-morning taxi hooted angrily behind. But other vehicles were following the van — damn!

  'David!' She had the window down. But there was a gap coming up —

  'It's all right.' He judged the approaching gap carefully. It would never do to push his luck again so soon after Capri. Tell Sir Jack that I won't be long — don't worry, my dear.'

  Just like the old days! And no shortness of breath — only relief at being able to stretch his legs again. (Don't run!

  Never run, unless you have to!)

  Just like the old days, of course: not many pedestrians around, as yet; but the good morning smell of London —

  London with its streets not yet fully charged with carbon monoxide: he could breathe it in gratefully, with his country-boy's memory of it going all the way back to exciting recollections of even older days — even to childhood forays, from steam-trains into Waterloo and on to Hamley's and a museum before lunch.

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  But now he was safe enough, anyway — safer after that last turning, after having re-crossed the road, and done all the necessary things which would have been no damn good at all in less advantageous circumstances: poor Miss Loftus and her driver had been not so much out-smarted as out-ranked, and Jack wasn't the man to penalize them for that, anyway.

  So he didn't have to worry about them . . . only about his own chickens properly coming home to roost.

  Now he actually knew where he was, too: he'd jinked to reach Cato Street, which he'd imprinted in his memory long ago because of its famous conspirators ... so a quick right down and across the Edgware Road, and then left into Kendal Street . . . and then he'd be close to Matthew — ?

  Always supposing Matthew was at home today — and this early? And one difference between the old days and these days was that he wasn't absolutely sure which day of the week it was, after so many alarms and excursions, from one continent across another, and back: did Matthew still keep an eye on his bank mid-week (give or take a day), now that his sons and grandsons and nephews ran it?

  He pressed the Fattorini button: now he was going to find out.

  'Hullo there! Who is that?'

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  Audley turned his back on Hyde Park. 'It's David Audley. Can I come up please?' He felt himself relax. 'Please?'

  ' David — ?' From having been slightly foreign, and more than slightly outraged at so early an intrusion, the voice welcomed him immediately, and the door clicked. 'David!'

  'David!' As always (or, since he had never called on her at dawn, as he had always imagined her, anyway), Marie-Louise had stepped out of one of her French magazines. 'You have come for breakfast — at last!'

  'Lady Fattorini — Marie-Louise!' For the first time since Washington, Audley felt safe. 'Whatever's on the menu, you look good enough to eat.' Safe, but smelly, he thought belatedly as she advanced to embrace him. 'But don't hug me, darling: I'm jet-lagged and unfit for civilized company.'

  'Mmm . . .' The years had augmented Marie-Louise not too much, just comfortably '. . . mmm ... I agree! But Matthew is just coming out of the bathroom, I think —'

  'Matthew has come out of his bath — prematurely.' The chairman of Armstrong Fattorini Brothers materialized behind his wife, clad in thick grey-black hair and a towel. 'So you can have my bath, like in the old days. Or you can run another . . . because you're not going to get my breakfast.'

  'Hullo, Matt.' He extricatd himself unwillingly from Marie-Louise: more even than the sight of her, her smell was of safety from an outside world which promised nothing but dummy1

  danger now. 'I don't want your bath — or your damn breakfast. I just want to make a couple of phone-calls, that's all.'

  'Oh yes?' Sir Matthew Fattorini lifted up one fold of his towel to rub his hairy chest. 'You're in trouble, then?'

  'In trouble?' It was no good lying to Matthew. 'Of course I'm in trouble.' Then something more than old aquaintance spiked him. 'Why should I be in trouble —more than usually?'

  Matt considered him briefly. 'Get the man his breakfast, dear.' The look focused on Marie-Louise. 'Put the door on the chain, and don't answer any more callers.' The look came back to Audley. 'And lock up your jewellery and silver.' The re-directed look concentrated. 'Or ... on second thoughts, my dear . . . phone up Sands, and tell him to bring the car round to the back. Then lock up the silver — bien entendu?'

  'Yes, dear.' Marie-Louise had been a child in Normandy long ago, when Audley's tank had passed five miles from her family home. So, while she didn't believe all her husband was telling her, she believed some of it. 'Matthew is enjoying his fish day, because it is Friday, David. But would you prefer bacon-and-eggs, not kippers — ?'

  'Give him the bacon.' Matthew dismissed her sharply, waiting until she'd gone before continuing. '"Jet-lag", you said — ?'

  Audley had been thinking hard through Matthew's warning dummy1

  signals, of which there were altogether too many to take lightly. 'I've been in America, Matt. So what's the matter?'

  Matthew Fattorini's expression hardened. 'You just dropped in for breakfast — after all these years — ?' Matthew frowned at his own questions. 'Well ... I suppose, if I must give you the benefit of the doubt —though God only knows why . . .' He shook his head. 'But. . . there's this major terrorist alert out, David. Isn't that up your street — the safety of the realm?'

  'Uh-huh?' The non-committal grunt came naturally now.

  'Didn't you see the soldiers at the airport? If you're jet-lagged

  — ' Matthew looked at him suspiciously. 'One of our fellows coming back from Brussels said they had tanks at Heathrow.'

  'I came in through RAF Brize Norton.' He bought time with a lie. 'It's probably just an exercise, Matt.'

  Matthew nodded. 'Yes — that is the official explanation: a

  "Scheduled Unspecific Routine Exercise". " SURE" for short.

  The newspapers are full of it.'

  'So it's just an exercise then.' But the suspicion was still there, that he could see. 'So what's new?'

  'What's new?' Incredulity displaced suspicion. 'Doesn't the Russian bit of it count as new? What that idiot on TV

  described as "double-SURE" last night — anti-terrorist cooperation being just another bit of Glasnost?' Matthew shook his head. 'The word in the City yesterday was that they'd started cracking down on all their ports and airfields hours before anything happened in the West. Not "co-dummy1

  operation" — more like cause-and-effect . . . But you don't know anything about this? You're just in one of your own fifty-seven varieties of trouble?'

  'I don't.' Being able to answer the first question quickly and fairly honestly gave Audley five seconds' rest on what had suddenly become a slippery rock-face before he tackled the second. 'As regards my present predicament, Matt ... I wasn't looking for information, just for a nice safe telephone, that's all.'

  'Of course, my dear fellow!' Matthew hitched up his towel with one hand and
pointed with the other. 'In my study there. No scrambler, of course. But I think it's safe enough . . . And then breakfast?' He produced his merchant banker's smile. 'And my driver will then take you wherever you want to go after that — within reason. Go on, then.'

  'Thanks, Matt.' Neither that interest nor those suspicions were surprising: Matt knew too much about the old days, via the adventures of his brother Fred as well as because of friendship and certain mutual favours traded in those days.

  And he was himself an unashamed operator in a business where the smallest piece of reliable inside information could always be made to pay handsomely somehow. What was surprising was that neither Jack nor Paul had mentioned the Russian dimension of the supposed emergency.

  He picked up the receiver and pressed the buttons. (Maybe Paul hadn't known. But Jack surely would have done —

  wouldn't he?)

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  He heard the ringing note —

  (Captain Cuccaro would have now. And so had Zimin!) Cover story first, just in case, though.

  'Hullo?' Faith answered properly for once, neither giving her name nor her number. 'Who is that?'

  'It's me, love.' Also he simply wanted to hear her voice.

  'David! Are you in trouble?'

  'What?' Everyone seemed to know too-bloody-much: he hadn't even had time to lie — and as far as she knew he was still safe in Washington. 'What do you mean — am I in trouble?' All the half-truths he'd marshalled turned their backs on him mutinously, looking for escape. But he grabbed the slowest of them. 'I was just phoning to say I'm back.'

  'Yes. I know you're back. And now you're going to tell me that you won't be coming home just yet.'

  'What? How do you know?'

  'I've just put the phone down on Jack Butler. He told me to tell you — to tell you if you phoned me — to come in at once.'

  The rest of the half-truths were running for cover now, having thrown away their shields and spears. 'Oh?'