Assassin Flame

by Tomson Cobb

  ‘I’m sorry, Ces. I’ve got this deadline to hit and I had so many statements to pull together for the article that it completely slipped my mind. Sorry.’

  ‘Oh, you are so annoying sometimes. Why don’t you think about me for a change? I’ve got a job to do as well, you know.’

  Jago smiled as he made himself a fresh coffee. That episode led to a frosty summer night, not helped by the fact that they’d had a light argument earlier that day about another trivial subject. He wished he could go back in time to make up for the stubbornness he often used to defend his position in those disagreements with his wife. Too late now though.

  What it wasn’t too late for, however, was finding her killer. They’d had Belette but let her go. Now he had to hope they wouldn’t make the same mistake again by underestimating her. He didn’t know why but he knew she was still in London. The likelihood was, in fact, that she was not too far away from him at that moment.

  The CCTV screen showed no sign of any activity in the mews outside when he switched it on. Why he imagined she might be there, leant against a lamp post at that time of the night, was beyond reasonable comprehension. Yet he couldn’t get the image of her naked body out of his head however hard he tried. No form of displacement strategy worked. He often wondered what other psychology Freud might attempt on him if Sigmund had been able to get him onto a couch. It might have been a herculean task even for him.

  If I were in her position, what would I do next? I’ve been given a new target from the three dinner party conspirators, so where do I make the hit? How do I make the hit? Swift and efficient, or dangerously risky? I love creativity, so the latter I think. I know you’ll be there, Mr Hale, so I want to humiliate you once more as well. I also want you in bed. Do you want me also?

  Stop it Jago, he told himself. Displacement is for the birds. Which is why the first sound from the resident blackbird in the yard outside beckoned him to the kitchen window like a friend’s call, even though the pitch black darkness outside allowed no sight of his musical tenant. The further hour’s delay that precluded the arrival of dawn frustrated him as always.

  Jago opened the laptop again, for the twentieth time he guessed. The latest information from Nik stared back from the screen as it had each time he’d looked. It included the long list of words that Belette had considered on the name creation app. One name in that list was the answer to their present conundrum, he was sure of it. Like ESP, it was almost as if she had dared him to find it.

  The supine dog in her basket provided the obvious answer to his immediate needs. He knew sleep would prove elusive, nevertheless the option of rest in the bed might at least pull together the multiple conflicting thoughts that spoiled his attempt at rational evaluation. He watched her twitch in her REM state once again, still oblivious to his company, then jogged up the stairs.

  Chapter 46

  The arrival of the big American that evening switched Jago from a state of restlessness to one of nervous expectation.

  ‘You gotta hear this,’ Shapiro said as he pushed past Jago through the door to the mews. He waved his cell phone like a triumphant politician with an order paper. ‘Belette just called Herman.’

  ‘You’re sure this came from her?’ Jago said.

  Tony had flopped into a chair in the lounge and started to fiddle with his phone.

  ‘Make your own mind up. Hear this.’ He hit an icon for the speaker.

  ‘Hello. Is that Mr Herman?’

  ‘It is. Can I help you?’

  ‘I hope I can help you. My name is Barbara, I’m the business centre manager at the Dorchester Hotel. One of our guests, Mr Lopez, has asked me to call you, to tell you that he will be delayed so won’t be able to pick you up at your hotel. He asks if you will meet him half an hour later at the same venue as arranged.’

  ‘Thank you. Much appreciated.’

  ‘No problem, Mr Herman. Glad to be of service.’

  ‘That’s Belette all right,’ Jago said. ‘When was the call made?’

  ‘About ten minutes ago. My guys were monitoring Lopez’s phone. They called me in the cab on my way here.’

  ‘Is it still outside?’ Jago asked. He checked his watch as he threw on the jacket of the Givenchy suit that he wore on rare occasions.

  ‘Yeah. I told the driver to wait.’

  ‘Let’s go then. We have to get to the hotel fast. This sounds to me like she’s set him up for the hit. Have you got your piece? We might need it after all.’

  ‘It’s in a trouser holster. Lucky my suit is a little large.’

  ‘Make sure it’s on safety, then. We don’t want you to blow your balls off by accident. Chob, stay there and guard the place. I’ll be back later. Come on Tony, let’s go.’

  It was a mere ten minutes’ journey time down Park Lane to the hotel. Jago had already pushed a fifty-pound note through the driver’s screen in the cab, in exchange for a request to the driver to chance his licence with a fast ride.

  Jago led the way through the swing doors into the thick-carpeted lobby of the famous hotel, with Shapiro close behind. As he joined Jago serendipity occurred, with the appearance of Marcel Lopez from one of the elevators. He made his way past them to the door they’d just burst through, oblivious to anyone around him as he was engrossed in a conversation through the cell phone firmly attached to his ear.

  They watched as Lopez stepped into a large black Mercedes, the chauffeur holding the passenger door open as his charge continued with his conversation.

  Jago and Shapiro followed him out the door at a respectful distance. Their good fortune continued, as their cab was still where they’d left it. The experienced driver must have decided to wait as he watched their entry to the hotel, just in case an opportunity like this presented itself. He smiled broadly as his newfound benefactors jumped in once again.

  ‘Couldn’t bear to leave me then, gents?’ he asked.

  ‘How could we?’ Jago replied. ‘That Merc. It’s on its way to Boodles. Can you get us there before it, cabbie?’

  ‘Sure. I always wanted a fare like this,’ the driver’s voice announced through the speaker in the passenger compartment. ‘You a couple of private eyes? That guy up to no good then?’

  ‘No. It’s a surprise birthday party for him. He’ll get there too soon at this rate,’ Shapiro said, quick as a flash. ‘Do you know a quicker route?’

  ‘Maybe. Hang on gents.’ The driver took a hard left, nearly hitting a suit-clad cyclist on a fold-up bike who’d appeared from nowhere. ‘Sorry mate,’ the driver shouted through his window.

  He was as good as his word. They arrived in St James Street in just a few minutes. What greeted them, though, was not what they expected to see. They had to stop some way down the street, as outside the gentlemen’s club were three empty police cars, with one parked across the pavement, all four with engines running as their on-board computers couldn’t be allowed to power down if the ignition was switched off. This the result of a small glitch in the expensive software upgrade that the Met had been sold a couple of years previously, Jago had found while researching another story. At the door a uniformed officer stood guard.

  Tony and Jago stepped out of the cab to talk without the driver able to hear.

  ‘What’s happened, Jago?’

  ‘I have an idea we both know. Hey, I see someone I know over there. Stay here, Tony, while I go check what’s happened.’

  Jago had recognised an old colleague from one of the dailies who now worked for a commercial TV news station. He was already connected by a cable to a van with a satellite dish on the roof that was parked across the road. Jago pushed his way through a small group of gawpers that had already formed near the club.

  ‘Hello Barry. What are you doing here?’

  ‘Hello Jags. Long time no see. I could ask the same of you.’

  ‘I’m a member. I was about to meet someone in the club for a drink. It looks like I might have a problem getting in there now. Why are you guys here anyway?’

>   ‘We got an anonymous call to the newsroom. Woman said Lord Catesby had been murdered here. I’ve tried to talk to with the copper stood over there, but he won’t confirm or deny it.’

  ‘Christ. How did that happen? Do you know?’

  ‘The caller just said he’d been shot twice in the head by someone on the pavement as he was about to walk in the front door. He fell into the entrance then someone in there closed the door, so we can’t confirm that he’s dead yet.’

  ‘I see. I think I’d better have a drink somewhere else tonight then. I’ll leave you to it. See you again, Baz.’

  ‘Yeah. Sure, Jago.’ Both turned as another siren announced the arrival of an ambulance. Jago knew it would be a wasted journey.

  ‘We’re too late, Tony. She fooled us. Lopez wasn’t her mark this time.’

  ‘Then who was it?’ said Shapiro.

  ‘Catesby. The bitch is clever, I have to give her that. She must have known we would monitor Lopez’s phone. She made that call to him. How the hell could she know we were onto them though?’

  ‘Never mind that. How come she hit Catesby? That puts our theory to bed, doesn’t it? He couldn’t have been Greenstreet,’ Shapiro said.

  ‘You’re right. We fell for it. How long have she and her employer known we were watching these three, I wonder? And where’s Lopez? His car should have been here by now.’

  ‘You’re right. Let me call my guys. That software we have on his phone has a GPS facility, so we can see where he went when he left his hotel.’ Shapiro stepped away to make his call, so Jago walked over to speak to the cab driver. He gave him a limited summary of what had happened.

  ‘Can you wait for a while? I’ll pay the wait time charge, of course.’

  ‘No problem, sir. You can use my cab all night if you want. It saves me looking for another fare. Your friend’s birthday party will have to be postponed then?’

  ‘Looks like it. The police won’t let anyone in there now. Look, I’ll be back in a minute. Here’s another twenty for your time while we decide where to go next.’

  ‘Thanks very much, sir. I’ll take it off the final bill.’

  Jago walked away from the cab to hear from Shapiro.

  ‘He met Herman somewhere in Chelsea. We have a fix on his phone as well. Looks like they knew this was about to happen tonight.’

  ‘Looks that way, I agree. Whatever their plan was we’ve been well and truly turned over, Tony. Let’s go visit a pub around the corner. We’re not about to get any new information if we just hang around here. We need a Plan B. I’ll pay for the cab.’

  Chapter 47

  ‘Could she have monitored our calls as well, Tony?’

  ‘I doubt she has the resources. More like she just put in some insurance to throw us off the real target,’ Shapiro replied.

  ‘Fuck. She was telling him to meet Lopez. We had this guy nailed down as the godfather but we’ve been taken for a ride. What a pair of idiots,’ Jago said.

  He sipped his beer. The bile was still in his throat from the realisation that he’d been far too smart for his own good. A silence descended as they both took stock of the situation. Jago’s eyes focused on the man slumped in the chair opposite.

  ‘We need to pick up Lopez and Herman,’ Jago said.

  ‘I agree. I doubt if we can pin the hit on either of them, but at least we can put some pressure on. See what their story is,’ Shapiro offered.

  ‘I’ll call Nik. He can get a team over to Herman’s place. We can listen in when they take them to an interview room.’

  It was an excited Nik that answered Jago’s call.

  ‘Jags. Have you seen the news on TV?’

  ‘Catesby, you mean? Yeah. Just seen it.’ Jago looked across at Shapiro. With the suspicions they both had of their colleagues on each side of the Atlantic, he didn’t want to offer any more than necessary to his contact at GCHQ. ‘Listen, Nik. He was due to meet Herman and Lopez for dinner but they didn’t arrive at the club. I need you to pick them up for interview.’

  ‘How the hell do you know that, Jago?’

  ‘I do the job my way, Nik. Toye tasked me to find La Polpo, so how I do it is my decision. Come on mate, we don’t have much time. We need to get them in a room fast before they get their stories aligned.’

  ‘Okay, Jago. Where are they now?’

  ‘At Herman’s place in Chelsea. You’ve got his address I presume.’

  ‘Of course. I’ll get some of our boys over there now. Call you back when we have them.’

  Shapiro looked pensive as Jago finished the call.

  ‘I can’t hang around to join the interview though. I’m not even supposed to be here with you. I reckon I should go back to DC and go see Wade myself again. I need to have a long conversation with that guy.’

  ‘Your call. Let’s have another pint before we jump in a cab.’

  Half an hour later Shapiro’s decision proved apt. Nik had called Jago to tell him that both suspects had not been found at Herman’s place. Nik agreed to meet at Jago’s house later to catch up.

  ‘I’ll call you when I get back to the States, Jago. Maybe Kruger can point us in a new direction.’

  Their good intentions weren’t achieved until another two beers were drained and Jago had dropped Shapiro off near his friend’s apartment from the cab they’d shared.

  He slipped the card into the reader, entered the code and pushed open the outer door. As he walked through, the wide open inner door made his heart miss a beat. More important was the fact that there was no dog there to greet him either. He ran into the hall, calling her name as he did so.

  ‘Chob. Where are you?’

  The hall and kitchen showed no sign of the German Shepherd, nor did the rest of the ground floor rooms. As he reached the foot of the stairs the faint hint of a familiar perfume hit him like a blow to the stomach. Jago sprinted up the stairs to find the sign of a light under the door of the main bedroom. He stopped for a second. He kept no weapons in the house, nor could he think of anything close to hand that might be suitable substitute. There was no other option other than to take a chance. He pushed the door open with care from a position to the side of the door frame. The sight that greeted him was a shock.

  ‘Hello, my darling. My, you’ve taken your time. What took you so long?’

  She sat in the bed as if it was her own, her shoulders propped up by pillows, covered by a white sheet which was pulled close around her to emphasise the outline of her body, hair splayed across her bare tanned breasts, which were displayed provocatively. The end result of what appeared to be a carefully staged tableau.

  ‘Where’s my dog, Belette?’

  ‘What? No small talk? Aren’t you glad to see me, my Jago?’

  ‘What sort of twisted mind do you have, you bitch? Where is she?’

  ‘A gorgeous animal. A little wary yet loyal to you. She even tried to attack me. Don’t worry, she’s okay. She’ll be fine if you do what I tell you to. She’s locked in a van not far from here at a place that has special memories for you. Inside is a clever little device someone gave me that will release a drug in, let me see… one hour and forty minutes. Once it starts to be released, the gas will kill her. There is no antidote, so once it starts she will die a slow painful death.’

  ‘So you couldn’t stick with killing my father-in-law. Now you want to destroy the rest of my life as well. Why is that?’ Jago moved into the room with care. Their previous introduction reminded him what this woman was capable of.

  ‘Oh Jago, please. Thompson’s death was not in my plan. He just couldn’t handle the drug. Anyway, it was only business, you know that my darling. In our world we have to take risks don’t we? Like I am now, for example. As for your dog, I mean her no harm. I just need some information from you for my principal. We could have finished all that in Majorca if we hadn’t been interrupted by your friend. I saw him with you on Syvota as well. Who is he, by the way?’

  The revelation that she’d also been at the Greek resort
shouldn’t have come as a surprise to Jago. He tried not to show it.

  ‘My psychiatrist. We happened to bump into each other there.’

  ‘Very funny. Don’t worry, I haven’t reported this particular piece of information to my client. Yet.’

  ‘Why is that?’

  ‘You still don’t know me, do you Jago? I don’t do anything I’m not paid for, nor do I take orders without question, just like yourself.’

  ‘You expect me to believe that?’

  ‘You can choose not to if you want. Believe me, it’s the truth. Like you, I am a professional in my business. I don’t need to lie to you. My father taught me to keep my distance from any client. Also to have some insurance in case situations change. I have always followed his advice. That information will stay with me unless you don’t co-operate.’

  ‘Co-operation again. You have a strange way with words, Belette.’

  ‘Tell me what I need to know then, if you prefer it simpler. As good faith, I will also answer some of your own questions in return. I have to add that the exchange has to be on my terms.’ Belette squirmed under the sheet with what seemed to Jago to be excitement. He considered the situation in as rational a way as could be expected in the circumstances.

  ‘What are they?’

  ‘I will answer three of your questions first, to show good faith. I will then ask three of my own. If you do so with honesty, I will then tell you where the dog is and leave you so you can go to get her.’

  ‘That sounds too simple for you, Belette. From what I’ve learned you are a creative killer, but a killer nonetheless. From where I am, it suggests there are other conditions. What are they?’

  ‘You intrigue me, Jago. You have done so since I was sent the brief on this job. I just want to get to know you better. Test your self-imposed temperance as well. Indulge me. It won’t be too difficult for you. Just take off your clothes and stand in front of me, so I can look at you once again. Then when I tell you, come to bed. I promise I have no restraints or drugs with me this time. I just wanted to see you once more.’