‘Well?’ Javed said. ‘What did he say?’
‘He said you’re crap at field craft,’ Holm said. ‘You might as well have hung a sign round your neck.’
Javed shook his head, annoyed. ‘I meant about Taher.’
‘I know.’ Holm patted Javed on the back. ‘Go home and pack some fresh clothes. And think hot. We’re going to Tunisia.’
Silva sat at an outside table on one of the terraces. A stone-columned balustrade ran in an ellipse above an oval pond. White flowers and green lily pads and giant orange fish lurking in the depths. There was tea in a silver pot and bone china cups and saucers. A selection of biscuits on a plate.
She’d jumped up when Weiss had dropped the bombshell about a new mission to kill Karen Hope, but his footsteps were already echoing down the corridor. A door closed and a car crunched away down the gravel driveway. Fairchild told her not to be too hasty. There were things, he said, that she needed to know. Weiss worked for a small department within MI5 known as the Special Accounts Unit. Ostensibly the department dealt with allocating funds to freelance operatives and non-governmental groups, but in reality its purpose was to carry out highly secretive missions that needed to be deniable. Even within the security services, few people knew of the true nature of the SAU.
Now Fairchild sat across the table from her. He reached for the teapot and poured the tea.
‘Despite being called the Special Accounts Unit,’ he said, ‘there is absolutely no accountability. Simeon Weiss can do almost anything he likes and get away with it.’ Fairchild slid a cup and saucer across the table to Silva. ‘You might be wondering how I got involved with Simeon. I’d like to tell you it was altruism, a sense I should do something for my country, but I’m ashamed to say it’s more related to certain indiscretions from my past. These days some may call them crimes and who am I – a white, privileged, male – to disagree?’
‘What on earth are you talking about?’
‘Mr Weiss has a file on me. A few sheets, no more, but enough information to have my wife packing a suitcase and hiring a lawyer. Enough to have the police knocking at my front door. Enough, in short, to ruin me.’
‘He blackmailed you?’
‘Yes. This was years back now, but I’m merely using it as an illustration of the way the man thinks, the way all of his ilk think. They use people, Rebecca. In a way, Weiss is just like Hope. He’ll do anything to get what he wants.’
‘Are you saying he’ll give me up if I don’t go along with this?’ Silva shook her head. ‘But he said himself that was too risky.’
‘What is risky is trying to second-guess him. He’ll do whatever he thinks needs to be done.’
‘For the country?’
Fairchild laughed. ‘For Simeon Weiss.’
‘Who else knows about this?’
‘The operation to kill Karen Hope?’ Fairchild turned his head and gazed out across the manicured lawns towards the gatehouse. ‘You heard what Simeon said. I’ve no idea if that’s the truth or not.’
‘Somebody in the government?’
‘I doubt it. Most politicians understand very little of what really goes on. Their outlook is too short-term: a parliament, a second term in office. The future of this country depends on events that take decades to seed and grow fruit. There are people who are working on scenarios involving who the next president but one might be. Friendships are being cultivated in Chinese universities right now that will serve this country well into the second half of the century. Strategy is being worked out for when India becomes a global superpower, for when the US and Europe have sunk so low they are third-rate backwaters.’
‘This all sounds like some sort of bad conspiracy theory.’
‘Possibly, but truth is stranger than fiction. Could you have predicted the fall of the Berlin Wall or the global financial crash or the Arab Spring? In any case it doesn’t really matter. Weiss is setting the agenda and you’ll do what he says or suffer the consequences.’
‘Did he put you up to this just now or are you part of the whole thing?’
‘He told me to try and persuade you. He mentioned a break-in at your father’s house. There were gunshots and someone was hurt, possibly killed. He felt it might be time for the police to investigate.’
‘How—’
‘I’ve no idea.’ Fairchild held his hands up. ‘But Weiss deploys resources as and when needed. He probably had your father’s place wired from the get-go.’
‘This is crazy. Why me?’
‘You remain the best person for the job. I can’t imagine getting close to Hope is going to be any easier now she’s been alerted to the fact she’s a target, so a long-range shot will still be the method of choice. Simeon has assets aplenty he could deploy but I assume he feels you are a safe bet because you’re personally involved. That gives you the motivation to carry out the job and zero reason to betray him. Especially after it’s all over.’
Silva looked across the lawns. Near a boundary hedge a man with a German Shepherd walked his rounds. At the gatehouse another of Fairchild’s staff stood on guard. What were her options? Get out of here and hide away somewhere? Hope would know about the death of Greg Mavers by now and Silva would be on her radar. She’d be even keener to track her down and shut her up. There was Haddad to consider too. Then there was the implicit threat from Weiss: help us or your father suffers. No, running wasn’t the right move.
‘It looks like I don’t have much of a choice,’ Silva said. ‘Do I?’
‘No.’ Fairchild nodded and then handed Silva the plate of biscuits. ‘Not really.’
Later they were in Fairchild’s operations room. Screens and terminals. News reports from CNN, Al Jazeera and the BBC. A huge map of the world dominated one wall; when Silva looked closer she could
