“None that we can see, but we did link four other Iraqi nationals to Tungsten. They also bailed out Monday. Via JFK. Probably the ringleaders Taylor talked about. So it doesn’t look like they’re just changing shifts. More like they’re folding their tents altogether.”
“Does Tanya know?”
“I just called her cell. No answer. I’ll try her landline in a minute.”
“Any other agencies involved?”
“No. Not a one. Wasn’t on anyone’s radar.”
“But we didn’t start sniffing till yesterday. So why cut and run on Monday?”
“My guess is they weren’t running. They were leaving because they were ready. Which means we’re looking at a whole new scenario.”
I checked the street. No one was in earshot.
“The organ thing,” I said. “Maybe it’s not just a gold mine.”
“No,” Lavine said. “More like a direct pipeline into five major cities. It gave these guys access to people. Locations. Technology. Expertise. And who knows what else.”
“I’ve seen this before. A team moving in on the back of something else. Time to worry is when the key players pull out.”
“Right. Means whatever they’re planning, it’s about to happen.”
“They just leave the bare bones behind. Expendable nobodies. Drones, to press the button.”
“It’s a standard terrorist MO. They keep the key assets safe. Ready to go again, somewhere else.”
“But if they pulled out on Monday, we’re almost out of time. They won’t wait much longer. Too much risk. Another day, maybe. Two, max.”
“That’s cutting it fine. We don’t even know what their target is.”
“Taylor might. I’ll talk to him again. If he knows, he’ll tell me.”
“He won’t. He’s in the wind. His lawyer got him out. Took two minutes, after the job you did on him.”
“What job? I didn’t touch him.”
“That’s not what he says. But it’s beside the point. He’s gone.”
“Did he get his possessions back?”
“I think so. Why?”
“If he’s got his phone, I could call him. Set something up.”
“I already tried. He didn’t answer.”
“He might do, if he sees my number. Or Mansell’s. I hung on to the SIM after we dumped his calls.”
“Maybe. But listen. Could you hold off on that, at least till tomorrow? When we couldn’t reach Taylor, I spoke to Varley. He’s trying to bring the schedule forward on the raids. It could spook them, if Taylor thinks you’re still one step behind.”
“OK. If we move fast on the raids. Because this is going to be huge.”
“We don’t know that. There’s no need to scaremonger.”
“We do know. Think about it. How much does a black-market kidney cost? Including the surgery?”
“I don’t know. One hundred fifty thousand dollars, maybe? Why?”
“Taylor said they were doing one procedure a day. They have five clinics. That’s $250 million a year, even if they stop for Christmas. You’d want a pretty big bang to turn your back on that amount of bucks.”
The two youths had moved farther down the street. They were lurking near another row of parked cars. I strolled to the end of the block to take a closer look. I saw one of them hook a piece of gum out of his mouth and stick it to the top of the aerial on an old, square Chevrolet. Then they moved on to the next car in line. It was an XKR in slate-gray metallic, gleaming as though it had just rolled out of the showroom.
The guy who’d been chewing the gum leaned on the Jaguar’s front wing with both hands, fingers spread wide like fat starfishes. He pressed down for ten seconds before straightening up and looking to see how much grease and filth had been transferred to the paint. His pal nodded and started to idly pick at the tip of the windshield wiper. Then they noticed me watching them. Instinctively I began to melt away, but I stopped. Because something struck me. I wasn’t working. I was on my own time. There was no need to be invisible, that night. It didn’t matter who saw me, or if anyone remembered my face afterward. I could stare at those guys as blatantly as I liked. I could even go over and encourage them to show a little more respect for other people’s vehicles.
The idea was growing on me. But before I could act on it my phone began to ring again. And this time, it was Tanya.
“David, I’m so sorry,” she said.
“You’re not coming,” I said.
“No.”
“Why not? What is it this time?”
“Don’t be cross, David. I’m in trouble.”
“Why? What happened?”
“Inside my apartment. Two guys grabbed me. Now they’re holding me.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No. I’m OK. So far.”
“Good. Now, where are you?”
“At the clinic.”
“They’re holding you at the clinic? On Sixty-sixth Street?”
“Yes.”
“Have they said what they want?”
“Yes. You. They want you to come here, to the clinic, on your own.”
“Me?”
“Yes. They say if you come alone, inside one hour, they’ll let me go.”
“They asked for me by name?”
“Yes. But David, don’t do it. Find Mansell. I’ll be-Ow. Someone just hit me.”
“Don’t be silly, Tanya. I’m coming to get you. Don’t worry. This will all work out fine. Now, tell me. How many people are holding you? One. Two. Three. Four.”
“Yes.”
“Which part of the building are you in? The basement. Ground floor. First floor.”
“Yes. Ow. They hit me again. They say our time’s up.”
“OK. Stay strong then, Tanya. I’m on my way. There’s nothing to worry about. And whoever these guys are, they’re going to pay.”
“One more thing. They’re going to text a photo of me to your phone. To remember me by. Because they say if you don’t make it here inside an hour, or don’t come alone, you won’t recognize what you find.”
“Tell them not to bother,” I said. “I won’t be needing it.”
THIRTY-ONE
Dead-letter boxes went out with the ark, but the navy still trains you to use them.
It’s not that unreasonable, if you think about it. Often the simplest solution is the best, and it’s unwise to always rely on technology. And whether we thought we’d ever need the skill or not, we were sent into a south London housing estate, in pairs, to practice. One person to leave a coded message, the other to retrieve it.
My role had been to retrieve. I waited until the agreed time, then approached the drop. I walked past twice, to be sure no one was watching. But when I was happy the coast was clear, I found there was no package to pick up. I was annoyed, rather than worried. I assumed the other guy had screwed up, so I pulled back to our rendezvous point to share my thoughts on his performance. I was fifty feet away when someone sprang out at me from a gap in a broken-down fence. It was a guy from the next group up on our course. He said my partner had been mugged by a bunch of local youths and dragged into a lockup garage around the next corner. There were eight of them, and they’d been laying into him with baseball bats. He was hurt pretty bad.
We moved silently forward and peeked around the end of the fence. I could see the garage. It was on its
