Contracts

by Matt Rogers

  Parker finally said, ‘What are you talking about?’

  King said, ‘You’re overacting.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘What do you think I mean?’

  He shrugged and held both hands out, apparently flabbergasted. ‘I don’t know—’

  Slater leant forward and said, ‘He means you’re trying to sell it too hard. He means that you’d better start explaining exactly what you’re doing, and why, or it’s going to look very suspicious very quickly. So do you have a reason why you’re pretending to be sadder than you are?’

  ‘What makes you assume that—?’

  King said, ‘Because I’ve seen it before. And I know. You might be distraught but you’re overdoing it. It had better be because we’re here and you feel the need to perform. There’d better not be anything more sinister behind it.’

  Parker didn’t immediately respond. He sat there, rubbing his hands together. There were still tears in his eyes, but he wasn’t burying his head in his hands anymore.

  The knot in King’s stomach untwisted. He’d instantly assumed the worst, but these were trying times. There were any number of reasons for Parker to sell an image that wasn’t accurate. Sure, one of them could be covering up the fact that he was involved, but it was seeming less and less likely as time went on.

  He hadn’t run out of the room.

  He just sat there, looking awkward.

  Slater said, ‘Speak.’

  Parker said, ‘I’m confused, okay? I’ve spent years operating in the same world as you both. Maybe not on the frontline, but it still requires a serious grip on your emotions. You need to be calm, level-headed, even in the face of the worst case scenario. But I didn’t know if the pair of you would understand. I thought you might show up here and see me calm and quiet and rational and suspect that I had something to do with it. So I panicked, and figured I’d break down in tears a few times to sell the truth. I didn’t realise you’d figure me out. I swear that’s all there is to it.’

  Slater stared.

  King stared.

  Parker stared back.

  No longer awkward.

  No longer a blubbering wreck.

  King said, ‘I believe you.’

  ‘I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t,’ Parker said.

  Slater said, ‘I do, too. You pass the test.’

  Despite himself, Parker showed relief.

  Slater turned to King and said, ‘Any updates I missed?’

  ‘One.’

  ‘Important?’

  ‘Very.’

  Slater raised his eyebrows. ‘How important?’

  King pointed at Parker. ‘He’s planning a presidential campaign.’

  Slater furrowed a brow. ‘But no one knows who he is.’

  ‘He has connections in high places. And if I had to guess, I’d say it’s a long process. Maybe five years, even.’

  ‘I’m right here, guys,’ Parker said.

  ‘We know,’ Slater said.

  Parker said, ‘Yes, it’s a long process. And I already told your friend here that no-one knows about it besides you two and a handful of people I trust with my life.’

  ‘Was Oscar Perry in that handful?’ Slater said.

  ‘No.’

  ‘You sure?’

  ‘You think I’d cover that up?’

  ‘I think you might. If it makes you look like an idiot.’

  ‘You think I’d rather let my daughter die than look like an idiot?’

  Slater shrugged. ‘Nothing would surprise me anymore.’

  ‘I’m not the monster you think I am.’

  ‘We don’t think you’re a monster,’ King said, almost rolling his eyes. ‘We’re just taking precautions. Instantly clearing people of suspicion has got us in plenty of trouble in the past.’

  Parker looked first at King, then at Slater. ‘You know … I’ve heard about you two.’

  ‘Let me guess,’ Slater said. ‘You coordinated some of our past operations behind the scenes?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What does that look like, if you don’t mind me asking?’

  Parker stared at him. ‘You know I can’t tell you that.’

  ‘Be a good sport.’

  ‘I’m always a good sport. Unless it involves NDAs handed down to me from the highest levels. Then I keep my mouth shut.’

  ‘You really can’t tell us a thing?’

  ‘It’s best that way. Separates the bureaucracy from the active operators. But I’m sure you’ve heard that speech before.’

  King and Slater both nodded.

  The trio sat there, more comfortable in the silence. They’d broken the ice. They seemed to understand each other a little better.

  King was satisfied.

  He didn’t know about Slater.

  Parker said, ‘So — what exactly is the plan?’

  ‘We’re waiting on intel,’ King said. ‘When it comes, we’ll—’

  The satellite phone barked in his pocket.

  Slater said, ‘And there it is.’

  24

  King stepped outside and shut the door behind him and put the phone to his ear and said, ‘Yes?’

  Violetta said, ‘We’ve got something.’

  ‘Enough to let us get started?’

  ‘More than that. We spoke directly to a couple of Swiss backpackers who saw all three of them on the trail to Gokyo Ri.’

  King paused, deep in thought. ‘Can you trust the witnesses?’

  ‘They have no idea how serious this is. They’re not involved in any way. They responded when we put the feelers out that we were looking for information.’

  ‘I just don’t understand why the kidnappers would be following the same path.’

  ‘To get to a higher altitude, maybe. That would fuck with anyone trying to make a rescue attempt.’

  ‘Which would explain the porter being behind it.’

  ‘Yeah, it would … except Oscar Perry was leading the three of them.’

  King paused. ‘Against their will?’

  ‘He didn’t seem to be. The backpackers only gave the group a passing glance, but they remembered them because one of the porter’s eyes was swollen completely shut. They said it looked like he had a golf ball under his eyelid. He was bringing up the rear. Raya was in the middle.’

  ‘Did she seem hurt?’

  ‘Not that they can remember. They were fixated on the porter’s eye, mostly.’

  ‘Could be an act.’

  ‘Maybe.’

  ‘No way to know for sure until we catch them.’

  ‘That’s the main thing. We know where they are, so you have a target to aim at. They just passed Namche Bazaar, so they’re making good time, but it’s not great.’

  ‘That puts them on the main trail toward Everest and Gokyo Ri, doesn’t it? No wonder they’ve been spotted. There’d be a hundred times the amount of hikers on the trail than below Namche.’

  ‘Yes, which is why you need to leave first thing tomorrow morning and cover as much ground as humanly possible.’

  King remembered the map of the region he’d scoured. ‘Most hikers fly into Lukla Airport, right? The one right near Namche Bazaar.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘So we’re in Phaplu. There’s an airport here. Just arrange a flight for us so we don’t have to spend unnecessary time on the lesser-known trails.’

  She sighed. ‘We can’t do that, because there’s a catch.’

  ‘And that is?’

  ‘With the help of a translator, we got in contact with the owners of the teahouse Raya was snatched from. They found something on the trail just outside that doesn’t belong to them.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘A briefcase.’

  ‘Locked?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Whose?’

  ‘Probably Parker’s. Ask him.’

  ‘Surely he’d remember if he left a briefcase there.’

  ‘Not if it’s his, and he thinks they took it, and
he hasn’t told us it’s missing.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘He might not be the man you think he is, King.’

  ‘I trust him.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘We’ve spoken.’

  ‘Surely not enough to get a read on the situation.’

  ‘It’s just a hunch. And my hunches are usually right.’

  ‘Maybe not this time. Ask him about it.’

  ‘And then?’

  ‘Then you and Slater get a good night’s sleep and put your head down and trek all the way to Kharikhola tomorrow. You’ll stay at the same teahouse Raya was snatched from, and see if anything new has turned up, and get the briefcase open.’

  ‘Where did you say they found it?’

  ‘On the trail.’

  ‘Discarded? If Perry took it, he probably got it open and then closed it again.’

  ‘No way to know for sure unless you’re there in person.’

  ‘Right. Kharikhola — how far is that?’

  ‘About eighteen miles.’

  ‘We can do that.’

  ‘It’s steep terrain. And you’ll need to move fast to cover that much ground before dark. Most seasoned trekkers do it over two full days.’

  ‘We can manage.’

  ‘I hope so.’

  ‘Is that doubt I hear?’

  ‘This is a different ball game, Jason.’

  ‘This is why we train the way we do,’ he said. ‘We’ll make it.’

  ‘Stay in touch. I’ll let you know if I hear anything else. And find out about that briefcase.’

  ‘On it.’

  He hung up, and stepped back into the room.

  Parker looked up.

  Slater looked up.

  King said, ‘Aidan, we need to talk.’

  25

  Slater watched silently, assessing King’s demeanour.

  Immediately he knew King was pissed.

  Slater sat back, judging whether to interfere or not. He could adopt the role of the bad guy when needed, but King seemed to be handling that all on his own.

  Slater said, ‘Do you need me here?’

  King met his gaze with an icy look. ‘Yes. Seems our friend here hasn’t been fully honest.’

  Slater raised an eyebrow. ‘Again?’

  Parker didn’t say a word, but his hands started to tremble.

  King pulled the chair out, sat down hard, placed both calloused hands flat on the surface of the table and waited for Parker to speak first.

  Finally, Parker said, ‘Come on, guys. What is it this time?’

  ‘Is there something you’re not telling us?’

  ‘No. I’ve—’

  ‘Something that might make you suspect Oscar Perry over the porter?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘You sure about that?’

  ‘What are you getting at?’

  ‘Are you missing a briefcase?’

  A pause, and then, ‘No.’

  But the pause said it all.

  King said, ‘Don’t make me hit you.’

  ‘Okay, fuck. Yes. Yes, I’m missing a briefcase.’

  Slater mumbled, ‘He’s not taking this seriously.’

  ‘I know that,’ King said. ‘I’m trying to figure out why.’

  ‘Look,’ Parker said, and leant forward and put his elbows on the table and rubbed his forehead. This time, he wasn’t faking the discomfort. This time, he was feeling every ounce of it, and they could both tell. ‘There’s certain things I’m hesitant to tell you both. Just the nature of my job. Please don’t hold it against me. I’m wired this way. I’ve spent my whole career being secretive and to open up to you both in the most stressful—’

  He stopped mid-sentence, and scrunched up his face, clearly irritated.

  King and Slater waited and watched.

  Parker said, ‘Fuck’s sake. Okay, yes, the briefcase is gone. It had my work laptop in it. But that doesn’t automatically mean it’s Perry. I left it beside my bed. The porter could have assumed it was valuable and taken it.’

  ‘Why didn’t you tell anyone it was gone?’

  ‘Because…’

  They didn’t say a word.

  Parker scrunched up his face again. ‘Shit.’

  He seemed genuinely horrified that the truth had come out.

  ‘Because I’m a moron,’ he said. ‘That night … I was transferring sensitive information out of a cloud we use with military-grade encryption. We do that nowadays so stealing the actual hardware itself doesn’t mean anything. They might be able to get into the laptop, but to get into our servers is a different matter entirely.’

  Slater held up a hand, cutting him off. ‘If you’re about to tell us that you pulled sensitive information out of the cloud, didn’t put it back in, went to sleep, woke up and found the briefcase missing, I’m going to reach across this table and slap you in the fucking face.’

  Parker didn’t say a word.

  King said, ‘That puts more suspicion on you, buddy. Whether you want it to or not.’

  Parker said, ‘Hence why I didn’t say anything.’

  Slater said, ‘So you didn’t say anything about your little presidential campaign, and then you didn’t say anything about your briefcase, and now you’re expecting us to believe this is one crazy coincidence that you couldn’t possibly have anything to do with?’

  Parker didn’t blink. He leant forward, eyes fixed on Slater, and hissed, ‘Why the fuck would I kidnap my own daughter?’

  Slater didn’t say anything.

  Good point, he thought.

  King said, ‘What was the information?’

  Parker didn’t respond.

  King said, ‘Aidan.’

  The man looked up.

  ‘What was the information?’

  ‘The locations of a dozen of our temporary HQs back on U.S. soil.’

  ‘Whose HQs?’

  ‘Black ops. Anything the government can’t officially disclose. The workforce that operates behind the scenes has secret locations they set up in, but it’s on a cycle. We all pack up and move shop every few months. I was arranging a future move, but I started nodding off in bed and I closed the laptop and packed it away and figured I’d wake up early and finish it in the morning.’

  ‘That’s idiotic for someone at your level.’

  ‘I know. Another reason I didn’t say anything. I’m terrified it will ruin any credibility I’d built up with the connections I’ve made. It’ll ruin everything I’ve been planning for years. I want to do great things for our country, but I can’t if this fucking laptop gets compromised. I made one mistake, and…’

  He trailed off.

  King thought about it.

  Weighed it up.

  And, strangely, believed him again.

  ‘What are you thinking?’ Parker said.

  ‘I think you made a couple of moronic decisions in a row and then the worst-case scenarios for each of them wound up happening. You kicked your protection detail out to spend more time with your daughter, and then you made a lapse in judgment with information you’d been handling with confidence for decades. So, no, I don’t think you’re malicious — I just think you’re an idiot.’

  Parker shrugged. ‘That’s fair enough.’

  No-one said anything.

  Parker said, ‘Where was the briefcase found?’

  ‘Discarded on the trail right outside the teahouse.’

  The man breathed an audible sigh of relief. ‘If they couldn’t get into it, maybe they threw it aside…’

  ‘Did Perry know the code?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘So if he’s behind it, we’ll get there tomorrow night and the briefcase will be empty.’

  ‘The porter could have got it out of him.’

  ‘How big was the porter?’

  ‘Tiny. Barely over five feet.’

  ‘How big is Perry?’

  ‘Big.’

  ‘Think about that, Aidan.’

  Parker looked at them like they wer
e stupid. ‘You ever seen someone held at gunpoint?’

  ‘Too many times to count.’

  ‘Then you think about that. I stand by my opinion that it’s not Oscar Perry. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s the porter, either. There could have been a—’

  ‘It’s one of them,’ King said. ‘That’s for sure.’

  ‘And what makes you so certain?’ Parker said.

  ‘Because they were spotted on the trail earlier today with your daughter.’

  Slater said, ‘What?’

  Parker said, ‘What?’

  King said, ‘Perry was leading the pack. Raya was in the middle, unhurt. And the porter was bringing up the rear with the mother-of-all black eyes. The witnesses said it looked like a golf ball under his eyelid.’

  Parker went quiet, and Slater said, ‘Shit.’

  King stood up. ‘Aidan, I think you need to reconsider your stance that it’s not Oscar Perry. Might make it easier when the truth comes out.’

  He left the room to coordinate the rest of the details with Violetta in privacy.

  26

  Slater didn’t feel the urge to sit around shooting the shit with Aidan Parker — partly because he had little in common with the budding politician, but mostly because until the case was closed they weren’t ruling out anyone, and it wasn’t wise to befriend potential suspects.

  So he went to his assigned room, trudging through the creaking upper level of the teahouse, and shut the door behind him. King had the room next door, so for now he was by himself. He breathed in the quiet and savoured it. He still liked being alone. He didn’t think that sensation would ever leave. He shed a couple of outer layers and spread out on the bed, then went through the same routine physical check-up he’d conducted on himself after every fight he’d ever been in. He was sore as hell, and anyone unaccustomed to the gruelling nature of physical combat would probably assume they’d broken a dozen different bones in the aftermath of a fistfight. His joints ached from the max-effort rattle of punches and elbows ricocheting off bone. He closed his eyes and visualised a soothing river flowing downstream, working its way from his head to his toes, dissipating the traumatised muscle tissue and rattled joints.