Spooks.
It made sense, if you took into account what was on the hard drive.
Fuck them. He was not afraid of spooks. He jumped for the fence.
?Put them on speaker,? said Janina Mentz, and Quinn pressed the button.
?? he was just lucky, Control, that?s all.?
?You?re on speaker, Willem.?
?Oh.?
?I want to know what happened,? said Janina Mentz.
?He got away, ma?am, but??
?I know he got away. How did it happen??
?We had everything under control, ma?am,? said the voice in awe. ?We waited until he sat down in the departure lounge. We identified ourselves and asked the target to accompany us. Control said we must keep it low-profile. He?s only a motorbike mechanic; he sat there with the bag on his lap like a farm boy, he looked so shy and lonely. He said he didn?'t want any trouble. It was obvious he was scared. It?s my fault, ma?am. I wanted to take the bag and he got hold of my firearm??
?He got hold of it??
?Yes, ma?am. He grabbed it. I? um ? his actions were ? I didn?'t expect it.?
?And then??
?Then he took the bag, with Alfred?s firearm in it, and ran away.?
Silence.
?So now he has two firearms??
?I don'?t think he knows what to do with them, ma?am. He called my pistol a revolver.?
?Well,
Willem did not respond.
Quinn sighed despondently and said in a quiet aside to Mentz: ?I thought they could handle it.?
?Ma?am, he just got lucky. Judging by his reaction, we?ll get him easily,? said Willem over the ether.
She did not answer.
?He even said ?please.? ?
?Please??
?Yes, ma?am. And we know he?s not on a plane.?
Mentz pondered the information. The room was very quiet.
?Ma?am?? said the voice on the radio.
?Yes.?
?What do we do now??
6.
There comes a time to show anger, controlled but with purpose, rejection not of your people but of their actions.
Mentz turned off the speakerphone angrily and walked over to her computer. ?We were in control of this thing. We knew where she was, where he was, where he was going, how he was going to get there. Absolute control.?
Her voice carried across the room, the anger barely submerged. Everyone was looking at her, but no one made eye contact.
?So why did we lose control? Lack of information. Lack of intelligence. Lack of judgment. Here and at the airport. Now we are at a disadvantage. We have no idea where he is. At least we know where he is going and we know the quickest way to get there. But that is not enough. I want to know who Thobela Mpayipheli is and I want to know now. I want to know why Monica Kleintjes went to him. And I want to know where he is. I want to know where the hard drive is. Everything. And I don'?t care what you must do to get that information.?
She looked for eyes, but they were looking at the floor.
And those two clowns, Quinn.?
?Yes, ma?am??
?Let them write a report. And when that?s done ??
?Yes, ma?am??
?Let them go. They don'?t belong on this team.?
She walked out of the room, wishing there was a door to slam, down the passage, into her office? there was a door to slam? and dropped into her black leather chair.
Let the fools sweat.
