‘We didn’t know who you were in New York,’ King said. ‘Now we do. And he has his doubts.’
‘Just Slater?’ Violetta said. ‘Or are you speaking for yourself, too?’
King half-smiled. ‘You’re a mind reader.’
‘So you’re not happy with this?’
‘The way I see it — based on the information you’ve given us — we’re being sent up a few mountains on a wild goose chase to look for a missing girl. Which is terrible, of course, but I’m not sure we’re the right candidates for that. I think our skills are more selective. There’s more relevant parties you could send to handle this that aren’t … us.’
Slater threw his hands in the air and said, ‘There we go. That’s what I was trying to say.’
Violetta said, ‘So you both feel this way?’
King said, ‘I think Slater put it a little more bluntly. But, yes.’
‘You had these same concerns last time. And what ended up happening there? You prevented the collapse of the entire country.’
‘That’s not what we’re dealing with here.’
‘No,’ Violetta said. ‘You’re right. It’s not exactly the same situation. But Aidan Parker has been critical to our operations for the majority of his career, and we owe the man a great debt for what he’s achieved in the service of his country. I could rattle off his track record to you, but it’d take hours. He’s been working diligently behind the scenes for a decade to streamline black operations and make sure our operatives are as safe in the field as they can possibly be. He’s a genius in that regard. A tactical magician. Which is beside the point, because right now there’s a fourteen-year-old girl in the hands of someone who probably knows they have an enormous amount of leverage.’
‘You don’t know that.’
‘We have every reason to believe Oscar Perry is responsible for this.’
‘The bodyguard?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘Who else would it be?’ Violetta sighed. ‘It’s either him or the porter, and the porter’s a thirty-eight-year-old illiterate Nepali man who’s been working diligently with the trekking company to keep himself above the poverty line for the better part of three years. He has no knowledge of the clients besides first names — we confirmed this with the trekking company — and has had no behavioural issues for the entire time he’s been in employment. By all accounts he’s a quiet man with a physically brutal job. So do you think it’s him, or do you think it’s the man who knows full well what sort of bargaining power he can get with Raya Parker?’
‘I don’t know,’ King said. ‘And neither do you.’
‘Are you getting all conspiratorial on me?’
‘I don’t like anything that seems too obvious.’
She said, ‘Does it really matter? Either way, the kid’s going through hell. I don’t want to have to rattle off kidnap statistics to you, but I will if that’s what it takes for you to take this seriously.’
‘Humour me,’ he said. ‘I’ve got nowhere else to be.’
‘Most of the time that there’s a protection detail involved in a kidnap case, things get violent. That’s been proven time and time again.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Probably because of the added stressors,’ she said. ‘When it’s a routine run-of-the-mill kidnapping, it’s a lot easier to keep things under control. When it starts concerning police or private bodyguards, everything quickly goes south. It breaks the norm. It makes everything violent right off the bat, because usually force needs to be applied to break through the protection detail in the first place.’
‘But if it’s the private bodyguard himself doing the kidnapping?’
‘That’s incredibly rare.’
‘So it’s uncharted territory.’
‘More or less.’
‘I assume you’ll be hitting us with the important details later tonight.’
‘Yes. We’re still compiling all the intel we have available. You’ll be staying at the Dhanyawad Boutique Hotel in Kathmandu tonight, and then setting off in the morning to Phaplu.’
‘That’s where Parker is?’
‘Yes. He’s laying low with the guide from the trekking company. He’s taking all the proper precautions, because his security detail is now non-existent.’
‘If it’s the porter,’ King said, ‘then should we trust the guide?’
‘It’s not the porter.’
‘Glad to hear you’re so confident.’
Violetta scowled. ‘We’ll speak later. I’m not giving you details just yet.’
‘So we rendezvous with Parker tomorrow?’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I’m trying to arrange a flight from Kathmandu to Phaplu. You’ll meet him at one of the teahouses and do your best to reassure him before you set off.’
‘That’s not going to happen.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘We’ll talk to him,’ King said. ‘But we won’t be nice.’
Slater looked across and nodded.
Violetta said, ‘May I ask why?’
‘Because we’re walking bullshit detectors,’ King said. ‘And I don’t trust anyone involved in this.’
9
The SUV banked hard to the right and shot down a narrow dead-end alley choked with dust and rubble. It swerved around a beggar, avoided a collision with a departing rickshaw, and then coasted through a pair of half-open steel gates manned by a uniformed guard.
Necessary precautions for anything that constituted a luxury hotel in Kathmandu.
Slater didn’t need luxury. He took one look at the three-storey building forming a U around the pleasant courtyard in the centre and shrugged. Acceptable. It’d do. He wasn’t fussy.
His mind was elsewhere.
Staff in smart buttoned-up white shirts opened the car doors for them and collected their bags. They hurried around with the same urgency as the hustlers at the airport, but they were far less intrusive about it. It was included in the service. Slater slipped out of the vehicle, stretched his limbs, and glanced at King.
Who was staring down at his phone.
The screen read: Violetta LaFleur.
‘You going to take that?’ he said. ‘Seems like she wants to talk again.’
King slipped it into his pocket. ‘Not now.’
‘Everything okay between you two?’
‘Yeah,’ King said. ‘Just a weird dynamic. You know…’
Slater shrugged. ‘I’ve never been in that sort of situation.’
‘Ruby was…’
‘Was,’ Slater said. ‘She’s not around anymore. In case you didn’t notice.’
King stared. ‘I noticed.’
He left it there, and Slater was grateful.
