No phone, no weapon. Alex had never felt so naked. She crept through the bushes a few feet, careful not to snap any twigs. Her hair and clothes were quickly soaked from the rain, sticking to her skin. She peered through the foliage. Beyond the gate was a large, sprawling house. It looked like some kind of hunting lodge, expensive, secluded. The gardens were overgrown, as though the place were used only occasionally.
Callaghan’s men were dragging Zoe out of the GMC and towards the house. Callaghan led the way. He opened the door, and the men hauled Zoe inside, kicking and screaming. Then the door closed.
Alex’s heart was thudding hard and fast. She checked her watch. It was 11.09 a.m. She tried to figure out where they were.
Alex crept through the open gate and moved quickly across the overgrown garden, moving carefully through the trees and shrubs to avoid being seen from the house’s many leaded windows.
She crept right up to the house. Her heart was in her throat. She listened. There was nothing.
And then there was the click of a pistol hammer being cocked, and the hard metal of it to the back of her head.
‘Careless,’ said a man’s voice she’d never heard before. ‘You were following them. But I was following you.’
She risked a glance behind her. The man with the gun was slightly built, expensively dressed with a long black raincoat over his suit. His hair was gingery red. There was a twinkle of humour in his eyes. Rain pounded off the canopy of his umbrella.
‘You’re Slater,’ she said.
‘And you must be Agent Fiorante. I’ve heard all about you.’
The realisation was dizzying.
He twitched the gun barrel. ‘Move. Keep your hands raised. Lower them and you’re dead.’
Alex walked. He prodded her inside the house. It was sombre inside. Dark wood panelling glistened dully in the darkness. A stone fireplace was filled with old ashes and blackened logs. The heads of animal trophies stared down from the walls, eyes glazed, spiky antlers and curled horns casting weird shadows. She shivered, dripping water across the flagstones.
Footsteps echoed up the hallway and a door crashed open. Callaghan strode in. His face was twisted in fury. Three more men filled the doorway behind him, pistols drawn.
‘Surprise visitor,’ Slater said.
Callaghan stared at her. ‘That was smart of you, Fiorante. But there’s a fine line between smart and dumb, and you just crossed it.’ He motioned to the other men. ‘Frisk her.’
They searched her roughly, but carefully. ‘She’s clean.’
Alex brushed wet hair from her face and glared defiantly at Callaghan. ‘What have you done with Zoe?’
Callaghan smiled. ‘You want to go meet her? Be my guest.’
Alex was dragged down a twisty, shady corridor by the agents as Callaghan and Slater led the way. There was a heavy iron-studded door in an alcove at the bottom of the passage, down some steps. Callaghan took a long iron key out of his pocket and unlocked it. He jerked the door open and the agents shoved Alex inside. She tumbled down a flight of stone steps and landed hard on a concrete cellar floor. She tasted blood on her lips as she staggered to her feet.
Slater casually descended the steps towards her, that twinkle in his eye. He stopped halfway down and leaned on the iron stair rail. ‘What a shame,’ he said, eyeing her up and down. ‘She’s so nice.’
Alex heard sobbing behind her. She turned. Zoe was slumped against the wall in the shadows. Her face was wet with tears and there was a cut over her eye. Alex went over to her and held her. ‘You bastards,’ she hissed at them.
Callaghan walked down the steps and stood next to Slater. ‘I guess this is where we part ways, ladies.’ He reached into his coat and drew out a Glock 9mm. He pointed it at Zoe, then swivelled it to aim at Alex. Alex refused to flinch. No way would she show him fear.
Zoe whimpered, clutching her hand.
‘Fuck you,’ Alex said.
‘I really like this woman,’ Slater said. ‘She’s feisty. Shame I can’t get to know her better.’
‘She’s a pest. And pests get eradicated.’ Callaghan squinted down the sights, getting ready to fire.
‘Wait,’ Slater said.
Callaghan lowered the gun impatiently. ‘What?’
‘Don’t shoot them.’
‘What?’
‘Don’t shoot them. I have a better idea.’ Slater grinned. ‘How often do you come out here?’
‘Not as often as I’d like,’ Callaghan said. ‘You know how it is.’
‘Say, once every four, five months?’
‘In a quiet year.’
‘This a quiet year?’
‘This is a crazy year.’
‘Well, how about we just shut these two up down here and come back in six months or so to see how they’re getting on?’
Callaghan made a face. ‘There’s going to be a hell of a stink down here.’
Slater shook his head. ‘I never told you about my dog, did I? I had this retriever, when I was a kid. It was OK for a while, but then I got tired of the damn thing, so I shut it up in a basement to see what would happen. Took a pretty long time to die, actually. But I can tell you that the stink dies off after a while, once the rats have eaten most of the meat away. Maggots take their share, then the body fluids all dry up. You’re left with kind of a dried-out husk.’
‘You’re a sick bastard,’ Alex said.
‘I like it,’ Callaghan said. ‘What do you think, ladies? Give you some time to get to know one another better. You might even try digging your way out. Only the foundations go down awfully deep and we’re built on solid bedrock here.’
‘It’ll give you something to do while you’re dying,’ Slater said with a grin. He checked his watch. ‘We’d better move. The senator’s plane is waiting for me.’
Alex scowled at him. ‘Senator?’
Slater’s grin widened. ‘Who did you think was bankrolling this thing, the Salvation Army?’
Alex blinked in disbelief. ‘A US senator is behind this?’
‘Oh, it’s not like he even knows about it,’ Slater said. ‘Bud Richmond’s just a rich boy evangelist jackass who barely knows what day of the week it is. I sign the cheques, not him. He might be the one being set up to lead the faithful, but this is my operation.’
‘What the fuck are you people doing?’ Alex yelled up at them.
Slater shrugged. ‘I hate the idea of a beautiful woman like you dying in ignorance. We’re just about to open the curtain on the biggest show on earth, though unfortunately you won’t be around to witness it. We aim big, and we’re starting big. Something that’ll make the Corfu bombing look like a firecracker.’
Then he told her what it was, clearly enjoying the look on her face as she listened in horror.
‘You’re mad,’ she breathed. ‘You’re completely insane.’
‘Just moving things along, Agent Fiorante,’ Callaghan said. ‘Don’t think of it as our agenda. This is God’s plan. If it leads to war, then that’s the way God wants it to be.’
‘Though personally, you can keep the God bit,’ Slater added. ‘Callaghan is the religious nut here.’
The CIA agent threw him a hard look.
‘You can’t get away with it,’ Alex protested. ‘They’re expecting Zoe to turn up in England. When she doesn’t, alarm bells will be ringing.’
Callaghan smiled and shook his head. ‘Wrong again. They’re not expecting her any more.’
‘They made me call my parents from the car,’ Zoe sniffed. ‘Made me tell them I’d met someone and wouldn’t be back for a while.’
‘And they’re pretty used to that, aren’t they?’ Callaghan added.
‘Then Murdoch will notice I’m missing,’ Alex said. ‘Either way, this will come back on you.’
