“Kal, I'm winding up for a big publicity splurge for the launch of our third generation limb and we're always on the lookout for fresh ideas. I could do with a mind like yours on the team. What do you say? You can name your terms.”
Perfect, she thought. Part of her wondered if Scott were engineering the same opportunity to get closer to her. To scratch further at her weaknesses. She waited a few minutes while Rani and Boris got into the car, and then shook her head. “I'm sorry, I’ve never worked on a commercial project.”
“Nonsense, you've an eye for the unusual and that's a rarity. You don't know your own value.”
“Well… I suppose I could give it a try.”
“Consider yourself hired.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Why had her mother loved David Khan? It was a question she’d asked herself many times and it was undeniable Alesha had loved him - with an intensity that would make most women feel faint. Kal had seen it in the way they locked eyes, in the way they moved around each other as if there were a magnetic attraction between them. Maybe you could never control who you fell in love with. Maybe it was a connection that couldn’t be denied. Alesha hadn’t found anyone to replace him, despite her periods of loneliness, and Kal understood he’d been the love of a lifetime. One lifetime, one love. For better or worse.
Kal leant against the cushions and sipped her tea. With the lights of the lounge turned off, she watched the street below. That was the problem with DNA wasn’t it? Like father like daughter - a chain of inheritance that couldn’t be broken, because when she’d profiled her father, it hadn’t felt uncomfortable, not like with their other targets. It had been like a hand sliding inside a glove. A perfect fit. A fit that was nothing to do with his coaching and brainwashing, no, it was something much deeper – and that’s when she knew that inside, she carried part of her father.
Certainly she was Alesha’s daughter and she was David Khan’s daughter too, in ways she never dared to admit.
Chapter Twenty-five
“We've got twenty minutes to be in and out,” Kal said, “so if we don't re-appear by then, you'll have to improvise.”
“You two better bloody well watch each other’s backs. This is fucking dangerous.”
“If we don’t take chances we’ll get nowhere.”
Earlier, Kal gagged trying to eat breakfast. No point in talking about the dread of her mother’s time running out. This was the last piece of the puzzle. Then she’d be on her own. Kal knew Marty was struggling - with her own ethics, with hating not taking part. Kal slammed the door. She and LeeMing walked to the end of the road.
“Breaking and entering in broad daylight doesn't seem such a brilliant idea to me,” LeeMing said.
“Technically it won't be 'breaking and entering' because the security guard on the top floor will leave two doors open for her coffee-break exit to the garden. Plus, Marty supplied me with a neat device that’ll interfere with the security cameras. The wireless network’ll be overwhelmed, at least for a while.”
“How will we know if it’s working?”
“We won’t,” she said. “So don’t think about it. I got the info on the household from Marty’s team member, Alexie. The guard on the top floor is a smoker and Assad bans it, even in the lavish garden. Our real estate baron is a tyrant with strict rules and he's got a temper. However, come break time, the guard’ll take the risk because Assad is out of town, so at three-thirty when the others go to the kitchen, she’ll sneak into the garden for a cigarette and she'll exit the house by a door leading to the courtyard. That’ll be our way in. And this box of tricks will fuzz the security circuit while we’re at it.”
Assad owned a massive amount of real estate in Kensington. At this address, his five wives lived in a fashionable Mews property. Once a Victorian residence consisting of a main house, servants’ quarters and stables, the complex had been converted into interconnecting apartments with an interior swimming pool, sauna, fully equipped fitness studio and gym, private cinema and garage space for ten cars - the list of top-end facilities seemed endless. Assad stayed on occasion and his five wives lived here permanently.
“Today one of the wives is in New York and another is visiting family in Saudi Arabia. Of the three remaining women, two of them have a regular shopping date at Harrods, so that leaves only one wife in the house,” Kal said.
Arranged in a rectangle around a cobbled courtyard, the property had privacy and seclusion despite being right in the heart of London. Kal checked her watch.
“With one bodyguard on duty in New York and one at Harrods, that leaves only two at the house.”
“It sounds exotic but working private security is boring as hell most of the time. Believe me, those guards aren't going to be hyper-vigilant,” LeeMing said.
“Exactly. We're heading for the white door in the far left-hand corner. Let's go.”
Kal switched on the device and marched straight through the entranceway. Reaching the left-hand corner of the courtyard, she pushed the door. As she’d been informed, the guard had left it on the latch.
Inside the house, they paused. There was no sign of anyone - no creaks, no noise from a television, just warm air and a flowery fragrance and underfoot a thick, cream carpet.
To their right, a hallway ran the length of the house. It linked all the apartments and ran along the long side of the courtyard. Kal pointed down it with her open palm and then up, to indicate a staircase. One part of the complex remained out-of-bounds to everyone - Assad's private quarters - and that's where they were heading.
Dressed in black all the way to his leather gloves, LeeMing moved with the poise of a cat. Illicit entries weren’t Kal’s favourite mode of operation and she wondered just how many LeeMing had been involved in. Judging by his assessment of the surroundings and his level of ease – quite a few more than her, she’d guess.
They ran lightly to the end of the corridor, then up the stairs. Assad's quarters occupied the top floor of the far spar, over the garage. At the entrance to the spar, the security door opened silently. The other side, they passed the guard's empty chair, the one who smoked.
Ahead of them, like in a hotel, the corridor held four identical doors, two on either side. Kal tried the first one. Locked. Just as she turned to try its opposite number, LeeMing’s hand came down on her shoulder. Hard. Kal’s pulse spiked and she froze. The handle of the far door was turning. Both of them pressed against the wall. She dropped low. LeeMing kept high. No time to run, nowhere to hide, as the door swung open. LeeMing's hand flew from her shoulder and she imagined him behind her, ready to spring forward, only he didn't move, in fact, neither of them did.
Out came a woman - Arabic, probably fifties, with her feet in thick, woolly socks, the woman trod each step slowly and carefully. The smart thing to do would be to knock her out before she screamed and brought the whole household running. That’s what protocol would mandate. Act now. But neither of them did.
Presumably one of Assad’s wives, the woman was dressed in jogging pants and a pink sweatshirt and matching scarf. She was a bit overweight. She was so intent on coming out quietly, she didn't glance up and, fumbling in her pocket, she took out a key and placed it in the lock. Then she looked up, clamped her hand over her mouth and the key fell to the floor.
Kal had two thoughts. A random one first, about how odd it was she’d presumed Assad's wives would be models in their twenties. And second, and more compelling, how strange she and LeeMing had a common instinct to hold back.
Kal’s attention was grabbed by the expression on the woman's face. The woman’s initial astonishment was replaced by an expression first of guilt and then of fear. Odd that fear should come second. It told her the woman felt caught in the act and they were not the main threat. Like the woman had been sneaking around Assad’s quarters and she was more frightened she’d been discovered than she was of them.
That would explain why the woman came out of the room so cautiously, slightly crouched, holding he
r breath. Probably the woman knew the guard's habits as well as they did.
The woman started shaking and Kal held her finger to her lips. “Sssshhh. We're not here to hurt you.”
The Arabic woman clutched at her scarf. “My husband hire you? To check on us?” Her words came out with a strong accent.
“No, we’re not working for Assad.”
The woman assessed Kal, and then LeeMing, and Kal wondered how many times Assad hired spies to watch the activities of his wives. Perhaps she and LeeMing didn’t fit the usual mould because what came next was a pause that Kal found impossible to interpret. Even if she accepted Assad hadn’t sent them, the woman would surely see them as a threat? Surely they represented danger? The pause stretched way beyond what felt right and Kal listened to the voice in her head – when all other possibilities have been eliminated, that which remains, however implausible, is the truth. She decided to wait - let the woman make the next move.
“Then what you want?” asked the woman.
Stranger and stranger. What could they possibly want except to steal? Kal chose her words with care. “We're here for… information.”
“Information? Help?”
The meaning was far from clear. To be on the safe side, Kal nodded.
The woman hesitated pointed at the far door on the other side of the corridor. Like all the others, it was painted an ivory colour. To emphasise her meaning, the woman jabbed her finger twice towards it. The woman had a large chest and Kal watched it heaving up and down double time, indicating the woman was putting herself in danger by being here. Unlikely she was trying to trap them. No, Kal didn’t think this was a ruse.
Then the woman did something even more inexplicable. She grasped her hands together in front of her chest in a prayer position, and raised her eyes to the skies in an imploring and unmistakable ‘please.’
Kal risked a quick glance at LeeMing, who shot back a perplexed look.
“Don't take your eyes off her,” Kal hissed at LeeMing and then stepped past the woman to reach the far door. The woman was soft and doughy and smelled of floral soap.
Kal took one long, slow breath. Then she pressed her ear against the wood, listening intently. Now the woman shook her head vigorously and mimed turning a key in the lock, meaning perhaps 'the door is locked.'
Kal tried it. It was.
“What's in there?” Kal whispered. The woman's eyes got bigger and rounder.
“Tell me what’s in there. You want me to help you, don’t you? I can see it in your face. That’s what you hoped for. What were you doing up here?”
The woman mimed again turning a key in a lock.
“You were looking for the key to this door? Why, what’s in there?”
Kal dived for the small key that the woman had dropped and tried it in the lock. It didn’t fit.
The woman said nothing more, which suggested either she didn’t speak much English, or she didn’t want to, and she stepped with surprising agility to the door they’d seen her creeping out of, opened it and flicked the light switch. Kal was behind her in an instant. It was Assad's office. She scanned quickly - main desk, two computer screens, filing cabinets, an opulent bookcase, two leather armchairs, a lot of large, framed photographs of Assad with various dignitaries, including one of him with the Foreign Secretary.
“You were looking for the key in here, weren’t you? Except you didn’t find it. LeeMing, keep a look out.” Kal pointed to the woman. “You and me will search again.”
Kal didn't expect the woman to comply, but the woman did. Together they pulled out desk drawers, ferreted in the filing cabinets and under sheaves of papers stacked on the desk, searched under the carpet and amongst the books on the shelves. Nothing. Kal scanned the papers as she searched, finding nothing of note. She noticed the woman was shaking so hard, her whole body trembled.
“Where did you get the key for this office, did you take it from Assad?”
The woman didn't answer.
“What's in the other room?”
The woman didn't answer.
“Do you know Assad’s computer password?”
Silence.
“I can only help you if you give me information. What is it you’re frightened of? What were you doing up here?”
The woman shook her head.
They did a thorough job. Maybe Assad didn't keep the key in the office. Though if the wife were willing to risk herself by coming up here to search alone, then it suggested she believed he did, and Kal assessed this wife to know everything about how the household and her husband functioned.
Too soon, LeeMing peered around the door frame. “We're out of time.”
Damn.
“We've got to get out of here,” hissed LeeMing.
Kal tucked her hair behind her ear and pressed once more against the far door. She couldn’t hear a thing but she imagined another person, crouched just like her with an ear pressed against the other side. Kal’s blood started pounding in her temples.
“Is there anyone there?” Whatever made her say that she didn’t know.
Assad’s wife looked like she might have a heart attack. Her breathing was rapid and a bit wheezy. Kal grabbed the woman by the shoulders and gave her a light shake.
“I can help you. Tell me what's in there!”
The woman shook her head, her eyes wide with terror. From her behaviour, Kal knew the woman had gone way over her threshold of risk already.
In the distance, a door slammed. The woman flapped her arms in alarm, shooing them away, pushing Kal towards the exit. Once through the double doors, Kal and LeeMing sprinted back the way they came, leaving Assad’s wife behind them.
Chapter Twenty-six
Violent, abrupt, Kal awoke. Part of her trapped in the nightmare. Her legs tangled in the sheet. Sweat and panic mixed together. She groped for the bedside switch. Strands of hair plastered to her forehead and Kal hugged her knees tight to her chest.
The nightmare haunted her since childhood - her father aiming his gun and a perfect, round hole appearing in the brow of his victim. Only this time, the victim was her mother.
***
Kal waited, hunched at the top of the ramp, her back against the dragon doors. She spotted Marty jogging along the pavement.
“What the hell’s happened?”
“Marty, Iisten, I’ve changed my mind.”
“Changed your mind about what?”
“About what we’re doing - wait, hear me out – Derick, the undertone at the Gala and whatever the fuck’s going on at Assad’s house – it’s getting too dark. Better if you stayed out of it and I’m not saying it as a knee-jerk reaction, I’ve given it a lot of thought.”
“We’ve already agreed to carry on and you know me - I don’t go back on my word.”
“Don’t you get what I’m saying? It’s dangerous. Mum was on to something. She’d never let it go, not if children were at risk. She’d push it right to the limit. Except, we’ve got a choice here, we don’t have to go further.”
“Yeah, only you’re not talking about ‘us’, are you? You’re talking about me.”
“So? And what’s wrong with that?”
“My god, you are dense sometimes, Kal. You think I’d back out? Like I told you, I can look after myself, and there’s not a chance in hell I’d leave you on your own. That girl in the photograph - her eyes - don’t you think I know terror when I see it? I lived it, remember? No. I’m in this all the way.”
Kal dug her knuckles into the wall behind her so the brick work scraped away her skin.
“You always worry about other people, Kal, and you don’t need to. I’m going into this with my eyes open.”
Kal looked up at the night sky, where the constellation of Orion showed between two buildings. What could she say that would make Marty change her mind? She took a slow, deep breath, and then another.
“There’s one other thing you need to know.”
By her side, sitting up close, Marty went still. “You never want
ed to tell me everything about him, did you?”
Kal had to force the words out. “You were right. My father wasn’t what he seemed. There was a dark edge in him. Sinister. He tried to shield it from me, though, it’s ironic isn’t it, with all the expertise I gained from him, in the end, he couldn’t hide it. I can’t tell you more because I don’t know anything more - I was too much of a coward to ask him and now I’ll never have answers.”
“Shit.”
“I know what I went through was a kind of brainwashing and I can’t go back. He made me who I am and, more than that, I’ve got part of him inside here.” She tapped her own chest. “And if he was ev- “
“Stop.” Marty’s whisper was fierce and she put her arm around Kal’s shoulders and pulled her closer. “I don’t want to hear it or any more shit about evil.”
Kal could hear Marty’s heart beating fast.
“Without your skills we’d have zero chance of finding Alesha. We’re staying on track, Kal, and the important question right now is, do you think there’s a connection between Khan and Alesha’s disappearance?”
Kal’s blood ran ice cold. “That’s what I’m dreading finding out.”
***
Kal pretended to start back to 701, saying she needed the walk to clear her head, and she watched until Marty disappeared from view. After, Kal doubled back. She pushed open the dragon doors.
After completing the entire Form once, she began again and it wasn't until the third round that the turmoil settled. Sweat coursed down her back as she spun from block to strike to turn, crouching, sweeping, keeping low to the ground.
At the end, Kal remained in the final position. A point of stillness. Energy coursed through her system washing away the debris of conflicting emotions. She'd been trailing behind too long. Been out smarted and toyed with. Enough chasing shadows and going about things the right way, she’d have to do better than that.
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