the two of them prowled the streets of a Western city together.
Sir Daniel Long was dining at 10 Downing Street with the prime minister when an urgent call came through for him. Excusing himself from the table, he took the call in a private study near the dining room.
‘This is Sir Daniel Long. What seems to be the problem?’
‘Eldridge, at the cottage, sir. Sorry about the intrusion, but Yakushev’s gone. We’ve searched, but he’s not anywhere on the grounds.’
Yakushev’s disappearance caused a whole host of problems to emerge in Long’s mind. ‘How long since he was last seen?’
‘Near as we can estimate, sometime early this afternoon,’ the man explained. ‘Staff at the cottage say he was feeling a bit tired and went upstairs for a rest. That’s the last they saw of him. We still haven’t figured out how he got off the grounds or where he’s gone to.’
‘I have an idea where he might be headed. Continue your search of the grounds and surrounding area and see what you can find. Call in whatever resources you feel necessary, but try to use some discretion.’
‘Right, sir,’ Eldridge replied.
Long broke the connection and dialed up the evening duty officer of the surveillance section. The line rang only once before it was answered. ‘Surveillance, Duty Officer Cain speaking.’
‘Cain, this is Sir Daniel Long.’
‘Yes, sir.’ Cain’s voice jumped to attention.
‘Cain, I need to speak with Neville Axton. See if you can ring him up.’
‘He’s off duty, sir, but I think I can reach him. Will you hold, sir?’
‘Yes,’ Long replied with some annoyance, ‘just get Axton on the line.’
Long waited as the phone went quiet. On the other end, Cain brought up Axton’s directory listing on the computer and dialed the pager number. Two minutes later, Axton called in and Cain patched him through. The line buzzed for a second and then became clear as the electronic scrambling devices adjusted themselves to the new connection.
‘Axton, we have a potential problem that you need to be made aware of. An aging defector, one that we’ve had under wraps for several years, is missing. I suspect he’s making his way toward London, if he’s not already there.’
‘Do you think he’s heading for the airport?’ Axton tried to be helpful, but he didn’t see what place he had in dealing with an AWOL defector.
‘No, I don’t expect that he’s trying to leave the country at all. I do think he may make some trouble with the Kang Fa investigation. I assume you read the notice I sent you regarding Roe’s background?’
‘Of course, sir.’ Axton remembered reading the sanitized report that blandly stated that Roe had once been a KGB deep-cover agent.
‘The missing man is Yakushev, the chap who mentored Alexandra Roe back in Russia. I confirmed the connection between the two of them yesterday. Yakushev was very close with Roe, so I expect that he’ll try to warn her. Meet me down at the office in half an hour and I’ll fill you in on the details. In the meantime, inform your teams to be watchful for an elderly man trying to make contact with Roe. I don’t know what he’s up to, but it could be a problem for our operation. If your people spot Yakushev, bring him in immediately. Oh, and Axton?’
‘Yes, sir?’
‘Take care with him,’ Long advised. ‘He’s very dangerous when he wants to be, but I don’t expect that to be the case here. Try to get him to come back in willingly, before he reaches Roe.’
‘I’ll see what I can do, sir.’
Long hung up the phone and made his apologies to the prime minister and the other guests. After collecting his briefcase and mackintosh, Long left number 10 and took his chauffeured car back to the office.
Damn, he thought, what does Yakushev hope to accomplish?
Yakushev had become visibly upset when he learned of Kang Fa’s involvement with Roe and Parnell. If Axton’s people were lucky, they’d find him before he reached Roe and brought the entire operation crashing down.
51
May 14
The British Airways Concorde flight from New York landed just before noon at Heathrow Airport. Phillip Moy had traveled alone on this flight, but he prayed that he would have a passenger with him when he returned. In the next seven hours, Moy would both betray his country and his life’s work in hopes of freeing his uncle.
A few hours earlier, another British Airways flight had arrived at Heathrow. This one, from Hong Kong, carried several men bearing diplomatic passports from the People’s Republic of China. All of the new arrivals passed quickly through British Customs and Immigration, bearing the credentials of trade representatives. In the midst of this group of travelers was an elderly man who appeared very frail and tired.
Moy checked into the Hilton, as directed, and began his vigil. Jackson Barnett had promised him security immediately upon his arrival in London. So far, he’d seen none. He knew that the promised security was out there, and hidden for obvious reasons, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was naked and alone.
At 3:30, Moy heard a knock at his door. He answered and found a smartly dressed Asian with a firm, muscular build.
‘It is time, Mr Moy,’ the man announced.
Understanding the summons, Moy grabbed his jacket and followed the man to the elevator. Once inside, the man pressed a button for a higher floor. They exited the car and walked down the long corridor toward a suite where two men stood guard beside the door. Moy saw Kang Fa’s security and wondered again about his own.
One of the sentries frisked Moy while the others watched. The sentry nodded that Moy was clean of weapons and listening devices, and the lead guard allowed him to enter the suite. Inside, he found three other men who looked much like the one who had come to get him. None of them spoke or even acknowledged his existence; their attentions seemed to be focused elsewhere. Another man walked out of the bedroom, and at first, Moy didn’t recognize him. As soon as he turned to face him, Moy realized that it was Kang Fa.
‘You have finally arrived. Good.’ Kang played the role of gracious host. ‘I assume that you will want to inspect the merchandise before completing our transaction?’
The merchandise Kang referred to was a human being, and Moy resisted the urge to strike the man for such a disgusting remark. How dare he refer to my uncle like a commodity to be bought and sold! Moy quietly raged.
‘Yes, I would like to see my uncle.’
Kang motioned with his hand. ‘He is in the other room. You have thirty minutes to hand over the codes.’
Moy entered the bedroom and found a frail old man sitting on the edge of the bed. The man was gaunt, tired, and aged beyond his years by hard labor. Moy studied the man closely. His head was slightly bowed and he seemed not to notice Moy’s arrival. But the man’s face drew Moy in closer. His skin was like a faded parchment, but the features were so similar to Moy’s father’s.
‘Uncle? Uncle Huian? It is your nephew, Guanhua. Can you hear me?’ Moy spoke softly in his father’s native dialect.
The old man looked up at Moy, and for the first time in many years, he tried to look outside of himself. Guanhua was a name he hadn’t heard in a lifetime, not since his nephew was a child. Before him, he saw the face of the man that his young nephew had grown to become.
‘Guanhua, is that really you?’ Moy Huian asked in a soft whisper. ‘I did not believe them when they said I was going to meet you. I thought it was just another of their tricks.’
‘It is no trick,’ Moy assured him. ‘You and I are here in London. I am taking you home with me.’
Moy’s half hour with his uncle passed quickly and both momentarily forgot about armed men in the adjacent room. At the appointed time, Kang entered the bedroom, interrupting the old man’s quiet whispers.
