Sleeper Cell

by Alan Porter

  ‘From Iran?’

  ‘From Russia. She has a doctorate in biochemistry and epidemiology from Tehran University, and she furthered her speciality at Biopreparat in Kazakhstan.’

  ‘Bioweapons.’

  ‘Exactly. From there she joined the Russian military station at Omutninsk, then in 1998 the US Defence Threat Reduction Agency. She’s the world authority on weaponised hemorrhagic fevers and she’s got a contact book that would be the envy of any world leader on earth.’

  ‘Are you thinking she was in Jerusalem to sell bioweapons technology to the Israelis?’

  ‘Probably not. That kind of weapon has no place in close-quarter conflicts. SIS think it more likely she was in Israel flexing her muscles. If she made just enough noise in just the right places, Iranian intelligence would know she was operational again: they’d pay attention. That would wake up the Russians. Obviously the CIA had to take her down.’

  ‘But Morgan saw her as a lever to get the PLO to the negotiating table.’

  ‘Not just the PLO. The Israelis weren’t that thrilled that she was still alive either. The fact that she’d decided to advertise her services in Jerusalem was acutely embarrassing.’

  ‘That still doesn’t quite answer why she’s so important to Black Eagle. There’s no evidence they did anything about her death, so why go so far to release her now they know she’s alive?’

  ‘Obviously they couldn’t risk her going on trial, especially not somewhere as sensitive as Ramallah,’ Stevens said.

  ‘This is still overkill. They could have just had her assassinated. Properly this time.’

  ‘As I said, she’s got quite a contacts book. Since the end of the Cold War there’s always been a threat of a truly global black-ops organisation appearing. With Golzar in the picture, that could be what we’re facing.’

  ‘So they’re not afraid she’ll bring governments down: they want her to bring them together.’

  ‘It’s a very real possibility.’

  ‘So what do you want me to do with her?’

  ‘Leila, I’m not going to lie to you,’ Lawrence said. ‘This is very high risk. These people have shown their willingness to kill anyone, anywhere, to get her. You’ll be walking right into their firing line, and until we’ve secured the hostages we’ll have no choice but to let this run. The problem is, what you know puts you at especially high risk.’

  ‘I agree. But that’s not going to change. Right now, I’m the only person with any chance of being able to stop Golzar slipping out of our grasp once and for all. If Black Eagle are going to kill me, I’d rather it be for national security than just to clean up loose ends when I’m out buying milk.’

  ‘Good. We hoped you’d see it that way. Pick her up. But until the hostages are released, we won’t be able to give you any close back-up.’

  ‘I’m to be given further instruction when I get to Holloway. You just want me to go along with it?’

  ‘Yes. All we can do it try to follow.’

  ‘There’s very little chance I’ll be allowed to keep the phone live once I’m with her.’

  ‘We know. You’re in one of Five’s cars, aren’t you?’

  ‘Yes. It’s a black 525.’

  ‘Check the drop-down panel in front of the passenger seat,’ Stevens said.

  Leila leaned across and fiddled with the catch, revealing a large opening where the standard car had its glove box.

  ‘What am I looking for?’

  ‘Micro ear-piece. It’ll be in a white plastic container if there is one.’

  ‘Yes, got it.’ She opened the box and pulled out a tiny earpiece. ‘There’s a watch too.’

  ‘That’s the transmitter. Got a serial number on it?’

  ‘No, nothing.’

  ‘We tell them not to do it, but they remove them anyway. OK. Put the earpiece in and wear the watch. We’ll see if we can get the unlock for that unit from the car registration. We’ve got people in place close enough to Holloway that we’ll be able to relay some comms to you. Good luck.’

  ‘Thank you.’ She pushed the device into her ear and slipped the watch onto her wrist. It looked ridiculous, so she stuffed it into her jeans pocket.

  ‘Make it obvious you’ve got your phone when you reach Golzar,’ Lawrence said.

  ‘I know how to do my job. I’ll keep it on as long as I can. If you can’t get anything from Five, we’re just going to have to let this play out.’

  ‘We’ll find you. The intel you’ve supplied already has got us much closer to Black Eagle than we’ve ever been before.’

  ‘With respect, you didn’t even know they existed.’

  ‘No, but thanks to you, we do now.’

  ‘I have an idea, if I can put it to you.’

  ‘You can speak freely.’

  ‘First, get Phillip into the Mapleton LAN to try to disarm the necklaces. Trust him.’

  ‘You think he can do it without being noticed?’

  ‘I think he can do anything he sets his mind to, but we don’t have much time. As soon as Golzar is safe they’ll move, so if the bombs are not neutralised by then, they’re just going to be able to walk out of there and away.’

  ‘Then that’s the way it’s going to have to be. We’ve lost one of the delegates already. We can not afford to lose anyone else. If either Queria or David don’t make it out, it’s a guaranteed war in Israel. With ISIS all around them and Iran back in from the cold, it’s a war that would be impossible to contain.’

  ‘But we can’t afford to let Black Eagle fly either. Golzar is important – important enough to stage this whole operation just to get her out. If they go, we lose. This might be the only chance we’ll ever get to bring them down, to find out who the hell was really behind the Hyde Park bomb.’

  ‘I can’t see any way we can do both. If we stop Black Eagle, we lose the hostages; if we save the hostages, we lose Black Eagle. Phillip might come through, but it’s asking a hell of a lot of someone who doesn’t even work for us.’

  ‘Have you got anywhere with the link to this earpiece yet?’

  The background sound of the office cut out and the phone went silent. Leila looked down but the connection had not dropped. She was about to take the phone from the cradle when the line clicked.

  ‘They’re still working on it,’ Lawrence said. ‘Why?’

  ‘I think there’s a way we can save the hostages and not lose track of Black Eagle. But it would be better if you can hear what’s going on.’

  ‘Go on…’

  ‘I go with Golzar. Black Eagle are going to want at least one hostage to ensure secure passage anyway.’

  ‘Only as far as being able to get out of the country.’

  ‘I can persuade them of my value as an ongoing bargaining chip. I get on the plane with them.’

  ‘We have no idea where they’re intending to go. It’s not going to be a big commercial airport; we can’t get agents into position to protect you.’

  ‘Then we let it run, see where it leads. If you’ve got comms to me, even one-way, you’ll get a good idea of where we’re going.’

  ‘And if we can’t get a link, you’re completely exposed. No, Leila, I can’t allow a course of action that would almost certainly result in your death. Personally or professionally. We’ve got a little time to find an alternative.’

  ‘You don’t have any time and you don’t have any alternative. Without live intelligence on the ground, you’ll lose her, and you’ll be back to a botched assassination and rendition. At best the whole thing starts again.’

  ‘No. I’m not going to sanction a suicide mission.’

  ‘Then all the deaths, all the carnage of the last two days will have been for nothing.’

  ‘DS Reid,’ Lawrence said, ‘I am ordering you to stand down as soon as the hostages are released. I will expect you back here for a full debrief.’

  ‘I’ll check in when I’ve got Golzar,’ she said and hung up.

  46

  A little before twel
ve thirty Leila drove along the wall outside Holloway Jail, scanning the pavement. The streets were quiet. No one flagged her down so she turned in to the short service road that led to the prison’s main reception. The lights were on inside but there was no sign of anyone waiting for her. She pulled into a disabled parking bay just short of the barrier and killed the engine. A guard in the gatehouse looked out at her, so she pressed her CTC ID to the car window and shook her head. The guard sat down and went back to his book.

  A few people walked past along the main road in the next couple of minutes, but there was very little activity on the street.

  Only now did it occur to her that no arrangement had been made for the rendezvous. Kriel could have no idea how long it would take her to drive across the city. He’d given her no number to call when she arrived. And it didn’t seem likely that Golzar would just be allowed to walk out of the jail and wait on the side of the road.

  ‘Shit,’ she hissed. She started the car and threw it into reverse. Had this all been a ruse to get her away from Mapleton and tied up on a wild goose chase?

  She turned right onto the main road to retrace her route along the long blank wall of the prison. Technically this was a one-way street, and not the way she was going. She jinked across the pavement outside a used car garage and rejoined the road in the right direction. She drove the full length of the block then came to a stop in the bus lane.

  What now? Wait? Go back to Mapleton?

  Suddenly the rear door of the car opened and the car sank a little as someone got in behind her.

  ‘Don’t turn around,’ a voice said. A man, mid-Atlantic accent. Probably fake: an American disguising his place of origin.

  ‘Where is she?’ Leila said.

  ‘Close.’

  ‘So what the hell’s this? Checking I came alone?’

  ‘We know you came alone. We’ve been watching you since you left Mapleton. You think you chose this car at random?’ He shifted slightly in the seat. ‘Pass me your gun.’

  ‘My…’

  ‘Pass me your gun. I know you still have it. You’ll get it back when this is all over. By then you’ll realise shooting me is not an option, but right now I could do without you being distracted by planning something stupid.’

  Leila reached into her shoulder holster and passed the Glock back to her passenger.

  ‘And the phone.’

  Reluctantly she handed Bones’s mobile over and heard it being dismantled.

  ‘Where’s Golzar?’ she said.

  ‘Drive.’

  ‘Not until you tell me where we’re going.’

  ‘Drive. You’ll know where we’re going when you need to know.’

  Leila pulled out into the road heading back towards London.

  ‘Who are you?’ Leila said.

  ‘I’m Raha Golzar’s legal representative. Donald Aquila, if you want to call me something. Turn right here.’

  Lawrence didn’t speak in her earpiece. He might be listening, or he might not have managed to trace the transmitter’s frequency. For now she would have to assume she was on her own.

  She drove north east. For ten minutes Aquila was silent.

  ‘Where are we going?’ Leila said. They were within a couple of miles of Phillip’s location in Broadwater Farm and for a moment she thought she was going to have to drive right to him.

  ‘Have you somewhere you’d rather be?’ Aquila said.

  ‘No. I just want to know this isn’t a waste of my time.’

  ‘Keep going and you’ll find out. Or you can get out here if you prefer.’

  ‘You know I can’t do that.’

  They drove on north for another fifteen minutes in silence. She felt Aquila move in his seat behind her then he spoke very close to her ear.

  ‘Pull into the car park on the left here,’ he said.

  Leila drove into a near-deserted car park with a McDonalds isolated like an island in the middle. A few cars were parked around the edges, outside dark and shuttered superstores.

  ‘Stop beside the Lexus over there, driver’s door to driver’s door.’

  Leila reversed in beside a black GS. Aquila pressed the key remote and the indicators flashed.

  ‘Now get in, nice and easy.’

  She opened her own door and quickly moved across into the driver’s seat of the Lexus, dragging her small bag behind her as Aquila rounded the back of the car. It sat low on its skinny tires and the seat had been set back for a much bigger driver. Beneath the smell of pine air freshener was a faint scent of medicinal alcohol and basic soap. It was there and then it was gone. Aquila slipped into the seat behind her.

  ‘Where is she?’ Liela said.

  ‘I told you, she’s close. Now get moving. Back to the main road then north again.’

  She started the car and reversed out. The fuel gauge showed little under a hundred miles remaining. They wouldn’t be going far. Time was running out. Three miles north of here was a small airport mainly used for freight and pleasure flights, but capable of handling a private jet. It would take them no more than ten minutes to reach it. That had to be their destination. If Phillip didn’t come through with the disarm codes by the time they arrived there was nothing she could do to stop Golzar leaving.

  ‘Since you’ve got both the guns,’ she said, slowing the car slightly, ‘I think you can tell me one thing before you kill me.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘Who the hell was Ghada Abulafia, your bomber? Wherever I’ve looked, she doesn’t add up. I can’t get the final picture, and I need it.’

  Aquila looked at her in the car’s central mirror. ‘You really don’t know? They never told you?’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Abulafia was one of yours, SIS.’

  ‘Bullshit.’

  ‘Many of our field operatives are recruited from the ranks of secret intelligence organisations: CIA, SIS, Polish AW, SASS in South Africa, Mossad… you get the idea?’

  ‘I don’t believe it. If SIS knew who she was, why didn’t they tell us?’

  ‘And admit they’d been infiltrated? If Abulafia was one of us, who else might come under suspicion?’

  ‘That’s why we could find no trace of her. She had a US passport from you, and at least one more from British Intelligence.’

  ‘Ghada was a chameleon. Jewish, Palestinian, British… she could slip between warring factions invisibly, arousing no suspicion at all. Except that in the end, she did. What set her apart was that we never really turned her. She was a spy, so to speak. We’d been watching her closely for months, and this operation was the perfect opportunity to flush out her real allegiances. She was involved at the top level in planning the bombing, though not what came after it. She knew that with a timer-operated device, any of our people would be well away from the building in the final few seconds, so she would be free to go back to it. And she did: she tried to stop it. As you saw, she failed. The bomb was detonated manually from the roof of the building opposite.’

  ‘You sacrificed one agent to free another…’

  ‘No. And if you let your speed drop any further, I’ll put a bullet in the back of your head.’

  Leila glanced in the mirror; Aquila checked his watch. She raised the speed to thirty.

  ‘We disposed of a rogue agent to get another out of what could have become a very public spectacle,’ he said. ‘If Golzar had gone on trial in the Palestinian Territories, barely a government in the western world would have escaped unscathed.’

  ‘And Harakat al Sahm? Was that just a flag of convenience? A fiction to keep us busy?’

  ‘Of course. You wanted Islamist terrorists, so we gave you Islamist terrorists. There’s no ‘cell’ in any sense that you would understand. Our sleepers are everywhere: in governments, the military, secret service… Take a left here and stop outside the last hangar.’

  She turned onto the deserted road that ran along the perimeter of the small commercial airport as she had expected. She came to a stop outside an open
hangar. Inside was a Gulfstream G150, the baby of the range. With a seating capacity of eight, it would be a squeeze to get the remaining Black Eagle agents in alongside Golzar and her lawyer. But with a range of three thousand nautical miles, Golzar’s new home could be in Moscow or Tel Aviv, or Washington with a following wind.

  She killed the engine.

  There was still no word from Lawrence.

  47

  While Leila was driving along the airport road twenty miles to the north, Michael Lawrence sat at his desk in Scotland Yard with the computer open in front of him. He watched the unfolding events at Mapleton on a series of feeds being relayed to CTC. Outside his office, Commander Thorne was overseeing the live operation. Maximised on Lawrence’s screen was the feed from Kriel’s iPad on the desk in the conference room.

  The iPad camera swung round the room. All the delegates wore their det-cord necklaces. The image steadied on the man at the head of the table whose foot rested on the trigger. He stooped, picked it up and held it with his thumb over the switch.

  ‘We’re coming out,’ Kriel said. ‘If anyone shoots, if anyone moves within fifty feet of us, the bombs will be triggered.’ The camera went dark and the feed switched to a head-cam view from an MI5 officer outside the room.

  Lawrence turned the mute off on his phone line to Phillip, ten miles away in the Waterboys’ safe house in Broadwater.

  ‘Phillip? Have you found the code?’

  ‘A couple more minutes.’

  ‘They’re leaving. Right now.’

  No response.

  ‘Phillip, if they get on that helicopter, we’ll lose them.’

  ‘Then let me work.’

  Ten minutes earlier a military helicopter had landed on the front lawn of Mapleton House. It was not the expected SAS squadron, who were still twenty minutes out. It was an ex-Army Lynx and no one in CTC or the security forces knew anything about it until it had appeared on radar fifteen minutes earlier. The pilot had not responded to calls and had maintained a flight-path low over towns and main roads. Air Traffic Control had had no choice but to let it come in. And as long as the delegates were necklaced with bombs, there would be nothing anyone could do to stop it leaving either. If Phillip came through too late with the disarm, if the helicopter was already back out over a populated area, they would be powerless to bring it down.