She wasn’t sure if it was a joke or if he were serious. He tilted his head up to look at her. His expression showed nothing. It never did. He was as close to inanimate as she imagined a person could be.
‘Seif takes his computer out to lunch with him,’ she said.
‘Then he’ll take it everywhere.’
Rebecca said, ‘I think you can rule out the office as a strike point.’
‘Elaborate.’
‘There are a lot of employees and one of his bodyguards stands outside his office door, and he’s not going to let you past in a hurry. I’m sure you could force your way, but if anyone else enters the corridor, which is highly likely, they’re going to see the two-hundred-plus pounds of meathead lying slumped on the floor.’
‘I wouldn’t do it that way, but my way wouldn’t be easy. The same bodyguard won’t be posted there all day. The tedium would make him lose focus. They’ll rotate, probably once every couple of hours. If they’re smart, these times will seemingly be irregular and changed on a daily basis. There’s no way of anticipating a changeover. How did Seif’s bodyguards behave inside the office?’
‘Alert, watchful, even with a hot receptionist to stare at.’
He nodded. ‘They evidently paid attention during their protection class about the danger of complacency in familiar environments. If they didn’t let their guard down in the office they won’t anywhere.’
‘Then they’re good.’
He shrugged. ‘They’re good and bad. Big and scary is great for pushing through crowds but makes them bulky and slow, but while they look like dumb apes they’re armed and very observant. Seif didn’t hire them just for show.’
‘You saw that they were carrying?
He nodded, showing no surprise, no alarm, nothing.
‘Handguns?’ she asked.
‘Yes,’ he answered. ‘What were they wearing under their raincoats?’
‘Suits.’ She smiled. ‘You looking for fashion tips?’
‘What kind of fit?’
‘You are looking for fashion tips.’
‘Loose, tight, what?’
‘Tight enough to need repairing if they bend over too fast.’
He nodded.
‘Is that good?’ Rebecca asked.
‘It might help.’
‘Listen, I really think this is a bad idea. If it was just Seif it would be different, but these two guys change everything. They’re like hawks, big mean hawks with guns. You won’t get near him without them making you.’
‘If Seif is a target of the clean-up, I’ll have to take any opportunity that comes my way. Seif owns a London apartment as well as the mansion in Surrey, right?’
‘Right. We’re going to have to split up,’ she said. ‘I’ll reconnoitre his apartment, you his house. If he turns up at the apartment, I can call you. Either way, you can avoid the bodyguards. Stealth it.’
‘And how are your breaking and entering skills?’
She sighed. ‘Okay, good point. But what are we going to do now? We didn’t anticipate he would have two armed guards.’
She took a sip of her espresso. It wasn’t a match for Melanie’s.
The man she knew only as Tesseract said, ‘When you’ve finished that, I want you to wait a little while and get yourself a large cappuccino or something that you can drink slowly while you keep watch. Let me know the second you see him leave. If he does, phone his office and ask to speak to him. They should tell you if he’s coming back or not. If he’s not, try and follow him, but better you lose him than one of his bodyguards sees you.’
‘Okay, but where are you going?’
‘I’m going to get a gun.’
‘You have access to one in London?’
He looked at her. ‘Is that a question?’
‘I knew where you lived, nothing more,’ she said. ‘If that’s what you mean.’
‘It is.’
‘Whether anyone else does is another matter.’
‘Seif’s bodyguards are armed, so it’s a chance I’ll have to take.’
‘It’s still two against one.’
His expression didn’t change. ‘Poor odds for them.’
‘What exactly are you planning?’
‘We don’t know whether he’s going to be at the house or apartment later, and, like you said, his office is out. That leaves one option.’
‘Which is?’
‘I’ll have to get to him somewhere between all three.’
CHAPTER 54
Central Intelligence Agency, Virginia, USA
Tuesday
08:17 EST
Procter walked at a pace slightly faster than normal, which for a guy of his size and age wasn’t an easy feat. He was late for the morning briefing and getting his fat ass into one of the skinny agency chairs three minutes late instead of four was his priority. He entered the elevator and rode it up to the top floor. He nodded and grumbled greetings to colleagues as he strode down the corridors. When he pushed open the heavy soundproof door to the briefing room, three sets of eyes looked his way.
‘Sorry I’m late. Patricia’s been up half the night with her head hanging over the toilet and looking like an extra from a zombie movie. I got stuck with the school run.’
Chambers smiled and gave him a look that said no problem. For once she was looking a little rough around the edges. Ferguson and Sykes were sitting together on the opposite side of the conference table and looking like they were their own private boys’ club. Procter pulled out a chair between the two camps.
There was some perfunctory small talk before Alvarez began his report.
‘Last night, Paris time, agents from the French police’s counterterrorism unit attempted and failed to apprehend a male suspect who they believe murdered Andris Ozols and seven other foreigners a week ago. During the attempt a shootout ensued that claimed the lives of several police officers and left others in the hospital.’
‘How sure are we that this suspect is Ozols’s killer?’ Chambers asked.
‘The French certainly think so. As I understand it, an agent with the DGSE at Charles de Gaulle on other business identified the individual as he left passport control. He was put under immediate surveillance until he left the airport when he entered a taxi, after which he was followed around the city by a police helicopter. I doubt they knew for certain when he was first spotted at De Gaulle, but they wouldn’t have tried to take him down if they weren’t sure. And the fact that he shot his way out of a RAID assault definitely fits our guy’s MO. I think there can be little doubt.’
Procter asked, ‘What was he doing back in Paris?’
‘That’s yet to be established,’ Alvarez replied. ‘But he was observed entering an apartment occupied by a woman. That’s where the RAID team attempted to take both persons into custody. It’s unclear at the moment exactly how they managed to escape.’
‘I don’t suppose that makes much difference,’ Ferguson muttered.
‘At the moment those details aren’t the most important point,’ Chambers said. ‘What I want to know is, who’s the woman?’
‘The French claim she’s an unidentified Parisian and not much else,’ Alvarez answered. ‘But they know a lot more than they’re telling us. They’re aware we weren’t exactly forthcoming about Ozols, so until we enter a little
