Tresillian was dismissive. ‘More from Julian later. As I said, it’s the girl we’re interested in. She is the sole reason you’re here.’ His eyes searched mine to make sure I was getting the message.
I nodded. ‘Lilian - she doesn’t look that happy, does she?’
‘On the contrary. By all accounts this young woman is quite a feisty little piece. However, she is missing, and you will find her at all costs. UK plc does everything within its power to help its friends.’ He paused. ‘Do you understand?’
‘Of course. You want leverage to score some big Brownie points off the Dadski.’
He didn’t answer or smile. Nick Stone was too far down the food chain to make funnies. He reminded me of some really good officers I’d come across in the army. They weren’t your best mates, but you knew where you stood with them, and exactly what was required. If you didn’t fuck them over, they might not fuck you over. But it still all depended on what side of the bed they got out of that morning.
‘Exactly, Mr Stone. We’re not a fucking charity, are we?’ He turned his head. ‘Isn’t that right?’
‘Exactly, Mr Tresillian.’ Julian’s teeth gleamed in the subdued lighting. ‘We have a job to do.’
He turned back to me. ‘I cannot impress on you enough, Mr Stone, that this matter is of national and international importance. It is critical that this young woman be found and delivered to us. When you find her, a contact and safe-house will be available until arrangements are made to bring her back to the UK. She will never leave your sight, and only when she is physically under the contact’s control will the task be complete.
‘If you find her and she’s dead, I still want the body. However, you will not kill her to make your job easier. Nothing and no one must be allowed to stop you achieving your aim. Nothing. No one. Is that understood?’
I nodded. Hector Tarasov must be one powerful player. Tresillian even wanted bragging rights delivering the body.
He nodded back. ‘That’s very good. One last thing. This situation is very fucking delicate. Only the three of us in this room and eventually the contact will ever know that it’s happened.’
I nodded again.
‘Good. Has Julian completed your financial requests?’
‘We haven’t discussed that yet, but finance—’
‘Good.’ He slammed the palms of his hands on the table as he stood up. ‘Very good.’
Julian and I pushed our chairs back and stood up. Tresillian advanced on me with the relentlessness of a large armoured vehicle. ‘Julian will brief you now. The next time we meet will be to congratulate you on a job fucking well done.’
As he gripped my hand I smelt tobacco. A splash of Old Spice and an anchor tattoo on his forearm and he could have been a ringer for my granddad.
He went out, leaving his folder on the table.
7
We sat back down. The gentle hum of the air-conditioning replaced Tresillian’s growl.
I pointed at the now vacant chair below the screen. ‘He seems a lad. I bet he’s changed more than just the carpet.’
Julian carried on extracting sheets of paper from his folder and lining them up on the table. All I got from him was a wry smile.
‘She attends Moldova State University in Chisinau, the capital. Do you know Moldova?’
Not much. Particularly with a splitting headache. I’d never operated there. ‘Only bits and pieces. It’s best known for arms smuggling and people trafficking. What about the police - is anybody liaising? Is there someone in the British embassy I can rely on?’
‘Out of the question, on both fronts. The local police are either useless or corrupt. If it turns out she’s been kidnapped they might even be part of the problem.’
‘When did she go missing?’
‘Ten days ago.’
‘Who’s been looking for her?’
‘Only the father. He’s frantic, according to our sources. He’s hoping he either gets a ransom demand or she’ll be back in touch. Kids that age drop off the radar all the time without thinking of the implications.’
I pointed up at the screen and the green-glossed T55, its barrel facing forward, ready to attack. ‘He’s an “industrialist”, right? The tank outside the factory provides a bit of a clue. Any known enemies in the arms world?’
‘None. He manufactures for the Federation so he’s one of the bad guys but, as I understand it, he’s our friend and we want to keep it that way.’
I focused on the picture of the girl. ‘She speak English?’
‘Probably of the cable-TV variety, same as any other kid anywhere.’
‘And you have nothing at all from the networking sites?’
‘She closed her Facebook page two weeks ago. She’s not on any other site.’
‘You’ve checked flight manifests out of Moldova?’
Julian nodded. ‘And visa applications that come into the Hungarian embassy in Chisinau - they deal with all applications for Schengen countries.’
‘Tell me about the name.’
‘Edinet was her mother’s maiden name. She died when Lilian was little. It helps her keep a low profile. We don’t think anyone at the university knows who she is - it reduces the kidnap risk.’
‘Can you give me addresses?’
‘We don’t have her latest details. Like a lot of students, she’s floated from flat-share to flat-share. The last sighting was at the university a couple of weeks ago.’
‘What about Tarasov himself?’
‘He can’t go to the police, of course, because they’re too corrupt. Alert the Mafia and all of a sudden he’s facing a massive ransom demand if they find her. He’s bound to be looking. But stay away from Tarasov, Nick. He’s strictly off limits - Tresillian wasn’t joking.’
Fair one. ‘What’s she studying?’
‘Sociology.’
‘Does she have any medical conditions?’ If she needed insulin injections or whatever, I had to know. And if she’d been kidnapped, she might be dead already.
Julian shrugged.
Something else really puzzled me. ‘Why is this an MI5 job and not the Firm’s?’
‘With Tresillian at the helm of both, the demarcation lines are blurring.’
I swallowed another couple of Smarties as he glanced back down at Lilian’s picture.
‘As Tresillian said, nothing must stop you finding her. Of course we’re going to deny anything to do with the operation, but you will have secure comms with me at all times. I’ll help you as far as I can, but we cannot be seen poking around in-country. It wouldn’t help our relationship with Lilian’s father, and certainly not with the powers that be.’ He gathered up the paperwork. ‘Why don’t we get some coffee while I give you the lowdown?’
I followed him to the door. Bright light flooded into the room.
I couldn’t help smiling to myself. I was back at work. One last kick at life.
And I now had a really good reason to phone Anna.
PART THREE
