'That's bloody unlikely.' Samantha swore in disgust. 'I don't know who she is.'
'You don't know what her name is in this chat room,' Kate stated quietly. 'But you know who she is. Give her a way to let you know who she is.'
Samantha's fingers flew across the keyboard. She typed a general message — If you want to talk to me, tell me your brother's name.
* * *
Ajza stared at the entry by CardinalSin. As soon as she'd seen the name in the chat room, she'd known her contact would experience problems getting to her. She hadn't expected that.
The invitation quickly scrolled up. A dozen chat-room users quickly submitted names, either their own or whatever came to mind. One even offered to allow CardinalSin to name him or her whatever he or she wished.
Indecision twisted Ajza's stomach for a moment. She made herself breathe.
She typed in Ilyas and waited.
* * *
'I have her,' Samantha told Kate.
'I see her,' Kate said. 'We're starting the trace at this end, but I don't expect she'll be on long enough for us to secure it.'
Samantha silently agreed. She typed rapidly trying to entice the young woman into meeting with her.
* * *
Ajza refused the request for a meeting. She glanced at the time. Trevor would be working his magic by now. If everything went right, he'd know where the contact was coming from. However, he'd told her she could only spend minutes in the chat room before they were exposed. She was nearing that limit.
I thought maybe you'd be interested to know how your brother died.
Stunned, Ajza watched as the statement scrolled up toward the top of the chat box. Other users chimed in and started asking questions, wondering if their dialogue was some kind of role play and whether they could get in on it.
Ajza's prepaid cell phone vibrated. She knew it was Trevor because he was the only one she'd given the number to after she'd bought the phone in Leicester. However, given everything the mysterious people tracking her seemed to know, it was possible she wouldn't know the person on the other end of the call.
She scooped it up and answered it.
'Get out of there,' Trevor said.
'What if they know how Ilyas died?' She knew Trevor was tracking the chat-room conversation.
'It could be a trick. They know you, Ajza. They know which buttons to push.'
Ajza didn't say anything.
'You're exposed.' Trevor strained to keep his voice calm. 'I can't keep you safe if you don't follow my advice.'
Was it about safety anymore? Ajza thought of the gaping hole Ilyas's death had left in her family. It was a wound that wouldn't heal. Could she pass up this opportunity? Even if it was bait in a trap?
'Ajza,' Trevor pleaded.
She ignored him and typed rapidly. Where do you want to meet?
'You've got to get out of there,' Trevor said. 'For all you know, they could be right outside the door.'
Paranoid, Ajza glanced at the door. At that moment it opened and two young men wearing T-shirts entered. She watched them.
'Ajza.'
'Have you tracked the connection at the other end?' she asked.
'I've tracked it back to the United States.'
That surprised Ajza. She hadn't expected the trail to go there.
'They've also got a big-time nasty computer system,' Trevor said. 'It's negating nearly everything I can throw at it, and I'm throwing the lot. I've tangled with very few sites as intricate as this.'
'Government or corporate?' Ajza asked.
'I honestly couldn't say, love. But these bloody well sure aren't people you just muck about with for no reason.'
'I've got a reason.'
'Ajza,' Trevor said. 'I don't want to lose you, too.'
'You won't.' Ajza's eyes tracked the conversations, looking for further dialogue from CardinalSin.
A moment later CardinalSin wrote, Why don't you pick the place?
Ajza thought quickly, then typed, Jubilee Gardens. Near the memorial.
* * *
I'll be there.
How will I know you?
I'll know you. We'll talk about your brother.
His name was posted in this chat room.
* * *
There was a brief pause. I'll mention the name of the man you spied on in Istanbul.
Shocked, Ajza realized that whoever she was talking to knew far more than she'd ever expected.
'Does that mean anything to you?' Trevor asked.
'Yes.'
'Then get out of there. This could all still be a bloody trick.'
Ajza didn't think so. If these people knew as much as they evidently did, they could have come for her in a straightforward manner. So why had they come at her this way? It was irritating, and it made her curious.
When can I meet you? Ajza typed. If they were located in the United States, she expected travel arrangement would have to be made.
Say, two hours?
Surprised, Ajza stared at the entry.
'The connection tracks back to the U.S.,' Trevor said, 'but they've got someone located here in London. This is getting dicey, love. Doesn't leave us much time to prep.'
'We couldn't prep enough for these people,' Ajza said. She typed, I'll see you there. Then she logged off the site.
'Get up and get moving,' Trevor said. 'The longer you hang about there, the more dangerous it's going to get.'
Ajza knew that. She grabbed her coffee and scone and left the building.
24
Samantha slid into her car, keyed on the ignition and lowered the windows a bit to let the hot air out. Then she turned the air conditioner on fall. In her mirrors, she watched the two security men get into two different black sedans. A moment later the first one pulled into traffic and she followed it. The second sedan trailed her.
She punched numbers into her phone. Kate answered on the first ring.
'Well?' Samantha asked.
'She's exactly what we thought she'd be,' Kate replied. 'I'm leery of the public meeting place.'
'If she hadn't spotted the men we had on her, I might have been able to approach her more easily.'
'That's off the table.' Kate sighed. 'We'll just have to play this out as it is.'
'At some point,' Samantha pointed out, 'we'll have to trust her.'
'I know. I'd just like a little longer to get there.'
'We could delay this. I don't know if that's the wisest course. The problem in Chechnya is either high priority or it's not. Your call.'
'Given everything I've learned about Taburova and Mustafa's sudden interest in brokering weapons —
