King paused, deep in thought. ‘Can you trust the witnesses?’
‘They have no idea how serious this is. They’re not involved in any way. They responded when we put the feelers out that we were looking for information.’
‘I just don’t understand why the kidnappers would be following the same path.’
‘To get to a higher altitude, maybe. That would fuck with anyone trying to make a rescue attempt.’
‘Which would explain the porter being behind it.’
‘Yeah, it would … except Oscar Perry was leading the three of them.’
King paused. ‘Against their will?’
‘He didn’t seem to be. The backpackers only gave the group a passing glance, but they remembered them because one of the porter’s eyes was swollen completely shut. They said it looked like he had a golf ball under his eyelid. He was bringing up the rear. Raya was in the middle.’
‘Did she seem hurt?’
‘Not that they can remember. They were fixated on the porter’s eye, mostly.’
‘Could be an act.’
‘Maybe.’
‘No way to know for sure until we catch them.’
‘That’s the main thing. We know where they are, so you have a target to aim at. They just passed Namche Bazaar, so they’re making good time, but it’s not great.’
‘That puts them on the main trail toward Everest and Gokyo Ri, doesn’t it? No wonder they’ve been spotted. There’d be a hundred times the amount of hikers on the trail than below Namche.’
‘Yes, which is why you need to leave first thing tomorrow morning and cover as much ground as humanly possible.’
King remembered the map of the region he’d scoured. ‘Most hikers fly into Lukla Airport, right? The one right near Namche Bazaar.’
‘Yes.’
‘So we’re in Phaplu. There’s an airport here. Just arrange a flight for us so we don’t have to spend unnecessary time on the lesser-known trails.’
She sighed. ‘We can’t do that, because there’s a catch.’
‘And that is?’
‘With the help of a translator, we got in contact with the owners of the teahouse Raya was snatched from. They found something on the trail just outside that doesn’t belong to them.’
‘What?’
‘A briefcase.’
‘Locked?’
‘Yes.’
‘Whose?’
‘Probably Parker’s. Ask him.’
‘Surely he’d remember if he left a briefcase there.’
‘Not if it’s his, and he thinks they took it, and he hasn’t told us it’s missing.’
‘Oh.’
‘He might not be the man you think he is, King.’
‘I trust him.’
‘Why?’
‘We’ve spoken.’
‘Surely not enough to get a read on the situation.’
‘It’s just a hunch. And my hunches are usually right.’
‘Maybe not this time. Ask him about it.’
‘And then?’
‘Then you and Slater get a good night’s sleep and put your head down and trek all the way to Kharikhola tomorrow. You’ll stay at the same teahouse Raya was snatched from, and see if anything new has turned up, and get the briefcase open.’
‘Where did you say they found it?’
‘On the trail.’
‘Discarded? If Perry took it, he probably got it open and then closed it again.’
‘No way to know for sure unless you’re there in person.’
‘Right. Kharikhola — how far is that?’
‘About eighteen miles.’
‘We can do that.’
‘It’s steep terrain. And you’ll need to move fast to cover that much ground before dark. Most seasoned trekkers do it over two full days.’
‘We can manage.’
‘I hope so.’
‘Is that doubt I hear?’
‘This is a different ball game, Jason.’
‘This is why we train the way we do,’ he said. ‘We’ll make it.’
‘Stay in touch. I’ll let you know if I hear anything else. And find out about that briefcase.’
‘On it.’
He hung up, and stepped back into the room.
Parker looked up.
Slater looked up.
King said, ‘Aidan, we need to talk.’
25
Slater watched silently, assessing King’s demeanour.
Immediately he knew King was pissed.
Slater sat back, judging whether to interfere or not. He could adopt the role of the bad guy when needed, but King seemed to be handling that all on his own.
Slater said, ‘Do you need me here?’
King met his gaze with an icy look. ‘Yes. Seems our friend here hasn’t been fully honest.’
Slater raised an eyebrow. ‘Again?’
Parker didn’t say a word, but his hands started to tremble.
King pulled the chair out, sat down hard, placed both calloused hands flat on the surface of the table and waited for Parker to speak first.
Finally, Parker said, ‘Come on, guys. What is it this time?’
‘Is there something you’re not telling us?’
‘No. I’ve—’
‘Something that might make you suspect Oscar Perry over the porter?’
‘No.’
‘You sure about that?’
‘What are you getting at?’
‘Are you missing a briefcase?’
A pause, and then, ‘No.’
But the pause said it all.
King said, ‘Don’t make me hit you.’
‘Okay, fuck. Yes. Yes, I’m missing a briefcase.’
Slater mumbled, ‘He’s not taking this seriously.’
‘I know that,’ King said. ‘I’m trying to figure out why.’
‘Look,’ Parker said, and leant forward and put his elbows on the table and rubbed his forehead. This time, he wasn’t faking the discomfort. This time, he was feeling every ounce of it, and they could both tell. ‘There’s certain things I’m hesitant to tell you both. Just the nature of my job. Please don’t hold it against me. I’m wired this way. I’ve spent my whole career being secretive and to open up to you both in the most stressful—’
He stopped mid-sentence, and scrunched up his face, clearly irritated.
King and Slater waited and watched.
Parker said, ‘Fuck’s sake. Okay, yes, the briefcase is gone. It had my work laptop in it. But that doesn’t automatically mean it’s Perry. I left it beside my bed. The porter could have assumed it was valuable and taken it.’
‘Why didn’t you tell anyone it was gone?’
‘Because…’
They didn’t say a word.
Parker scrunched up his face again. ‘Shit.’
He seemed genuinely horrified that the truth had come out.
‘Because I’m a moron,’ he said. ‘That night … I was transferring sensitive information out of a cloud we use with military-grade encryption. We do that nowadays so stealing the actual hardware itself doesn’t mean anything. They might be able to get into the laptop, but to get into our servers is a different matter entirely.’
Slater held up a hand, cutting him off. ‘If you’re about to tell us that
