Sumners knew exactly what Stratton was suggesting.‘Spell the name,’ he said as he grabbed a pen.
‘L-A-W-T-O-N.’
‘Okay,’ Sumners said. Stratton put the phone back in his pocket.
He looked at Aggy in the car reading the file. He didn’t suspect her of being involved. If Lawton was his man he didn’t need her to gain information about the dets. He knew more about them than she did. And she wouldn’t have told Stratton what she had if she was aware Lawton was the mole. But she was guilty by association. It would mean the end of her career. In the intelligence world no one took chances they didn’t have to. When the question came up about Aggy, as it most definitely would, she would be discharged from the intelligence world, because nothing would be gained from not doing so, but there was a million to one chance something could be lost if she remained. It would follow that she would be kicked out of the army. The blemish would follow her through her life. Even those associated with her, boyfriends, lovers and whatever else, would be highlighted. If Stratton told Sumners now, he would order her pulled from the op, and from the detachment too. But she would not know why, not until it was all over, and perhaps not even then.
He climbed back into the car feeling anxious. He wanted this op to get going, assault the boat, find Hank, the bio - and then get on with Lawton. He would protect Aggy as best he could but it would be difficult, perhaps impossible. He looked at her innocently concentrating on the file, unaware her life was in such turmoil, and he was filled with an urge to look after her.
Aggy looked up from the file, something troubling her. ‘Is Bill Lawton on this op?’
Stratton wondered where that question came from. ‘Why do you ask?’
‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I shouldn’t have. Forget I said anything.’
‘Why? Tell me.’
‘I was out of order. I should know better than to ask questions like that.’
‘Tell me.’
‘I saw something I shouldn’t have and you know the rules about that.’
He took her arm strongly. ‘I want to know why you asked that question,’ he said.
She wondered if this was a more intense kind of jealousy, and then saw something far darker in his eyes. She showed him the file, a photograph of Hank and his wife, filling the page.
Stratton glanced at it.
‘If I wasn’t supposed to see her meet him at King’s Cross I did, that’s all.’
Stratton couldn’t quite believe, or assimilate quickly enough, what he had heard. ‘Are you certain?’
‘Pretty much. King’s Cross, platform 9 to King’s Lynn, where you told me to go. I saw Lawton meet her.’
‘You saw Bill Lawton meet that woman in King’s Cross?’
‘I’m pretty certain.’
‘How certain?’
‘It’s what I do for a living. Watch people. They virtually walked right past me.’
‘Was he on the train with her?’
‘No. She was standing outside the platform waiting. He came from across the street. They met. She handed him a hatbox, or what looked like one—’
‘When?’ he interrupted brusquely.
‘Just before I caught the train here.’ She checked her watch. ‘Two and a half hours ago.’
Stratton took a moment to think the possibilities through, trying to pull together all the information.
‘How sure are you it was them? I know the business Aggy, I know it isn’t always easy to match a photograph to a real person?’
‘So do I,’ she said, not offended by his cross-examination. ‘Bill, obviously, I know. The first profile I had of her was almost the same as this photo. She has the same hair. Same eyes. She’s pretty, and she had the same expression, a little sad maybe, as if she was listening to the answer to a sad question. You know what I mean? I wouldn’t stake my life on it, but I’d call out a team.’
Stratton had a lot of confidence in Aggy. She might not be the best driver in the unit but she was good on the ground, good at surveillance. The other operatives made fun of her in camp but they believed her on the ground. They would all admit to that.
He started the car and accelerated hard to take the corner sharply and speed up the street. Aggy grabbed the door handle and dash, surprised by his sudden activity.
‘Did he see you?’
‘No.’
‘You sure?’
‘What is this all about?’ she asked.
‘Did he see you?’ Stratton shouted.
‘No!’ she shouted back.
Stratton pushed a button on his radio. ‘Zero Alpha?’ he called out as he took the next corner sharply, sliding the back end a little.
‘Send,’ came the reply.
‘I’m heading for London. I’ll explain later.’
‘Em, roger that,’ said Singen.
Stratton disconnected and turned on to a main road. ‘Check and see if there’s a blue light inside the glove compartment.’
Aggy was experienced enough to switch into high gear even though she had no idea why. The glove compartment was empty.
‘Try the back, behind the seats.’ Aggy stretched over the seat as Stratton went through a red light. When she came back she was holding a blue police light with a long lead from it. She plugged it into the lighter and it started to spin and flash. She opened her window and placed it on the roof, where the base magnets held it firm.
‘You know where Lawton lives?’
‘Yes,’ she said. Her eyes flashed between him and the road ahead, hoping he’d tell her what this was about.
Stratton weighed all he had so far: Aggy, Lawton, the growing implications. He was going to need her help with whatever was coming up. She wasn’t a spy for RIRA. She was on his side.Time could be short, and perhaps there were other things she knew about Lawton that would be meaningless to her unless she knew the whole story. She’d learn about Lawton soon enough anyway. She needed to know. ‘I believe Lawton’s a spy for RIRA,’ he said. ‘A mole.’
They hit a major roundabout, ignored several more red lights, caused a bus and a car to emergency stop, and belted off down a road signposted to London. Aggy hardly noticed the near misses, dumbstruck by what she had just heard.
Stratton took out his mobile phone, hit a button, and waited for the call to be picked up.
‘Sumners? Anything on Lawton yet?
‘I’ve put it into the system but it’s not the hottest priority right now.’
‘You might be wrong. Two and a half hours ago he met Chief Munro’s wife at King’s Cross station outside platform 9, where a train from King’s Lynn had just arrived, and she handed him a parcel.’
There was a moment’s silence before Sumners answered. ‘Holy mother of God.’
‘I’m heading into London. Be there in two hours plus. I’m gonna need a team on standby.’
‘I’ll get on it right away.’
Stratton was just about to hang up when he heard Sumners call his name. ‘Stratton? Wait! How did you come by this?’ he asked.
‘Luck. One of the det operatives on the way to Lynn for the op happened to see Lawton and recognised Mrs Munro from the ops file.’
‘We needed some luck; hope this is it.’
Stratton pocketed the phone and dropped a gear to overtake two cars on a sweeping bend. As he passed them he knocked back up into fifth and gained speed along the straight. It might take Sumners a while to figure out that Stratton had asked about Lawton being on a flight to Paris before he told him he was seen at King’s Cross. It was probably going to be impossible to protect Aggy but he would continue to explore the options for as long as he could. Of course, it didn’t mean Lawton had the bio but the implications were huge and irresponsible to ignore.
