Nobody lives in them; they're used for meetings, briefings and debriefings, and as safe houses.
Clive had had a bit of a drama with Gordievsky, the Russian dissident who'd years ago defected to the West with a headful of secrets. The former KGB chief was briefing the Intelligence Service at one of the training establishments near the Solent on the south coast. Clive and two others refused to go to the presentation, on the grounds that Gordievsky was a traitor, and it didn't matter which side he came from. I happened to believe they were right, but they still got cut away. After all, it was very embarrassing for Her Majesty's government to have its people calling an inbound defector a scumbag. Two went quietly with a payoff and jobs supplied by the Good Lads' Club the City. Clive, however, refused to go. The best way, it seemed to the service, was to offer him a bigger wad than the other two. If that was refused, then he could have as much pain as money can buy.
I persuaded him into a flat in Cambridge Street, Pimlico, and listened as they offered him 200 grand to shut up and fuck off to the City. Clive picked up the money, ripped it out of its plastic bank wallets, opened the window and scattered it like confetti. As the hundreds of notes fluttered down onto the corner pub on Cambridge Street, the punters must have thought Christmas had been brought forward to June.
'You want to fuck me off?' Clive said.
'Then it's going to cost you a fucking sight more than this.'
I thought it was great and wanted to join the pub crowd fighting for fifty-pound notes. To my mind the boy had done good; nobody likes a traitor, no matter what side you think you're on. I really hoped Sarah wasn't one, because I liked her. Actually, I liked her a lot.
I asked Elizabeth, 'And you're sure that she hasn't been lifted?'
She looked at Lynn.
'Lifted?'
It was a bit like being at Wimbledon, sitting between these two. Lynn had to interrupt again because Elizabeth seemed about as switched on to real life as Mickey Mouse.
I asked, 'So what do you want me to do about it?'
Elizabeth kept it very simple.
'Find her.'
I waited for the rest of the sentence. There was nothing. It was the most succinct aim I'd ever been given.
'Do you know where she could be? I need a start point.'
She thought for a while.
'You will start in Washington. Her apartment, I think, would be best, don't you?'
Yes, I didn't disagree with that. But I had another question: 'Why don't you get the Americans to help you? They'd have the resources to track her down much faster.'
She sighed.
'As I thought I was making clear to you, this matter needs to be handled with the least possible amount of fuss, and speedily.' She looked at Lynn. He cleared his throat and turned to face me.
'We don't really want to involve any American departments yet. Not even our embassy staff are aware of the situation. As you might imagine, it's somewhat embarrassing to have one of our own IGs missing in the host country.
Especially with Netanyahu and Arafat in the U.S. for the Wye summit.' He paused.
'If you fail to find her they will have to know, and they will have to take action. This is a very grave situation, Nick. It could cause us a lot of embarrassment.'
I had been given the shortest aim ever, and now I'd also been told the clearest reason why. Lynn showed the worry on his face.
'We need to find her quickly. No one must know. I emphasize, no one.'
I hated it when these people used the word 'we.' They're in the shit, and all of a sudden it's 'we.' If the job went wrong it would have no father but me.
I calmed down.
'That's why you want a K it's a deniable op?'
He nodded.
Why me? I said, 'Isn't this a job for the security cell? They're used to investigations. This isn't my sort of work.'
'This isn't something that needs to go any farther within the service.'
There was irritation in Elizabeth's voice.
'I particularly wanted you for the job, Mr. Stone, as I understand you know Sarah better than most.'
I looked at her, still trying not to show any emotion. She'd raised a knowing eyebrow as she said it. Shit. I tried to look puzzled.
'I know her, if that's what you mean, and I've worked with her, but that's about it.'
She tilted her head slightly to one side. She knew I was lying.
'Really?
I was informed that the relationship between you was somewhat cozier.
In fact I was told that the reason for your divorce after leaving the military was due entirely to your relationship with Sarah Greenwood. Am I mistaken?'
She wasn't, and I now understood even more. They had chosen me because they thought I knew her well enough to have a chance of finding her. They were firefighting, and they were using me as Red Adair. Fuck 'em, let them sort their own shit out. I might be pissed off, but I wasn't stupid. It was excuse time.
'It's not going to work,' I said.
'The U.S. is a big place, and what am I going to do on my own? I haven't seen her for ages and we weren't that close. What can I do? What's the use of even getting on a flight?'
Lynn bent down to pick up my quick-move kit.
'You will be going on the flight. You will start an investigation to find her. If not, I'm afraid you will find yourself in jail.'
I felt like saying, 'Come off it, that's the sort of line I use myself when I'm threatening people. You can do better than that.' But I had learned the hard way to keep my mouth shut, and it was just as well I did. Lynn had my day sack on his knees now.
'Credit us with a little intelligence, Nick. Do you really think we don't know the full events of last year?'
My stomach lurched and I knew my cheeks were starting to burn. I tried to remain calm, waiting to hear what he had to say.
'Nick, your version of events leaves out a number of details, any of which will put you behind bars if we so choose. We haven't investigated the money you kept, or the unlawful killings you performed.'
That sounded rich coming from a man who had sent me out routinely to 'perform' unlawfully. But I knew that they could stitch me up if they wanted. It was par for the course; I'd even been part of the stitch-up sometimes.
I now knew how it felt.
There was an outside chance they were bluffing. I stared at him and waited to see what else he had to say. I soon wished I hadn't, because it gave Elizabeth another opening.
'Mr. Stone, let us consider your situation. What, for example, would happen to the child in your guardianship if you were imprisoned? Her life must be difficult enough as it is, I should have thought: new country, new school...'
How the fuck did they know all this? I thought I'd already been given my incentive, but obviously not. They didn't come any less subtle than this. I had to clench my fists to control myself. I felt like kicking the shit out of both of them. They knew it, and maybe that was why Godzilla was in the driver's seat. It's always unwise to fuck with a man who has a neck bigger than your own head, especially if he probably has enough weaponry in the foot well to shoot down a jumbo jet. I took a deep breath, accepted I was in the shit and let it out again.
Elizabeth carried on as Lynn opened my day sack
'Having found her, report back where she is and what she's doing. Then await further instructions.'
I turned back to Lynn. I knew she had finished and he would now give me the details I needed. I could hear the newspaper being unfolded. She was probably checking which of her horses were running tomorrow. I tried to keep my breathing under control. I felt angry and helpless, my two least favorite emotions.
