Tracers

back and forth.

‘Why?’ Harry felt a surge of anger. ‘It doesn’t make sense.’

‘It does,’ Ballatyne replied, ‘if we tie it in with some other information just in. We’ve been checking Jennings’ calls over the past few weeks. He wasn’t as secure as he thought. There were more than thirty calls between him and Archer since Rafa’i’s compound was destroyed. All the calls were to or from Archer’s personal mobile, and the vast majority were made within the last three days. They must have realized the bomb had missed and Jennings was directing Archer’s movements, waiting for Rafa’i to surface.’

In other words, waiting for Harry and Rik to run him to ground.

‘So what was Dog’s function?’

‘Probably a backup, originally, in case Archer failed or needed help. Then, when it looked like she’d got out of Baghdad safely, she became a liability. Dog was there to clean up afterwards. No witnesses, no fuss. Only he got to like the killing too much. In the end, it was he who became the liability and had to go.’

Harry watched Joanne moving towards Rafa’i. As she did so, a flicker of activity dragged his attention towards Horse Guards Parade. He saw two men in military uniform striding briskly across the open square. A number of tourists were grinning and taking snaps as they passed, and even at this early hour, it seemed, there was no opportunity to be missed of getting a good photo.

‘There’s a clincher.’ Ballatyne spoke with what might have been an air of resignation, as if he’d been keeping something in reserve.

‘Christ, what?’

‘Archer had exclusive use of the Pamper code name, along with a numeric suffix. She was the only person who could have got through to Humphries using that code and got an instant response. Anyone else would have got the runaround. Nobody else but the comms staff in Baghdad knew the suffix.’

The two soldiers had been forced to stop by the wedge of tourists wanting to take their photos. Both men carried small shoulder bags, and one elderly Japanese man seemed to be asking the two men to put them aside while they took their happy snaps. But the soldiers were shaking their heads resolutely, their focus fixed on a point beyond the snappers.

‘There’s something else we’ve just discovered. When Humphries set out for that last meeting, he hit a panic button. It sent a search and rescue squad on the way to the safe house, with orders to secure the location and wait. The personnel were posted to other assignments down near Basra the following day, so their reports have been late coming in. The team leader says they arrived in the street at the safe house after the alarm was sounded, but it was deserted. They’d got held up on the way by an IED alert, so they were late. If Archer had been there, she must have decided it was too dangerous to hang around and bugged out.’

‘Couldn’t that be true?’ Even as he said, it Harry recalled Joanne’s description of the four-wheel drive entering the street and an altercation with a shopkeeper. It had been enough for her to decide to leave. He also recalled suggesting that it might have been a rescue patrol, but she’d denied it, saying they were in civilian dress. Mercs. He put it to Ballatyne. ‘Would they have been army?’

‘No. We use contractors for that kind of operation. The few military personnel still there are stretched enough as it is without being used to pick up stray specialists.’ He paused. ‘I’m sorry, Harry. I know you find this hard. But somewhere along the way, Joanne Archer was got at and turned. Whether that was before going to Iraq or after, only she can tell us. It’s a safe bet, though, that she was primed to kill Rafa’i if the bomb didn’t do it.’

‘So why kill Humphries?’

‘I think he was on to her and hit the panic button to have her taken out. He must have said something to alert her and she got rid of the only person who could stop her.’

Rik leaned in and said, ‘So why go to the safe house? Why didn’t she just go to a control post and identify herself?’

‘Possibly,’ Ballatyne answered, ‘because she knew Humphries would have left word about where he was going and who he was meeting. If she’d deviated from that and missed out the safe house altogether, it would have looked suspicious.’ He paused again. ‘There’s also the timing. We had someone check the route. She’d have had just enough time to leave the compound and intercept Humphries before making her way to the safe house. If, as she told you, she was still there when the patrol arrived, it was because she was also late getting there. Now we know why.’

Harry felt sick. She’d been lying all along: about her role in Iraq; her closeness to Humphries and Rafa’i; who had called that final briefing meeting; her feelings of betrayal and abandonment — everything. She had even sabotaged the hot box in his car as a precautionary tactic by jamming the combination mechanism with a nail file. He’d found the plastic handle lying in the boot where she’d snapped it off. He even knew when she’d done it: at the hotel in Bayswater, she had slipped out to the car, hinting at ‘girl’s stuff’. She’d been gone easily long enough to fix the lock and he hadn’t given it a thought. Idiot.

‘When was the last exchange on her mobile?’

‘Early yesterday morning. After that, the signal ceased.’

It would, thought Harry. Phones tend not to work too well when you throw them in the Thames. He wondered if the shot that had killed Joanne’s friend Cath Barbour in the Battersea flat would match the weapon she was carrying. Somehow he knew the answer to that, too. Barbour had turned up at the wrong moment and instantly became a liability. It also explained why Joanne had cleaned her gun at Rik’s place: training and habit make you clean your weapon at the earliest opportunity after a discharge.

Another piece of the puzzle dropped into place: the killing of Dog. Joanne was missing last night, her movements unaccounted for. It would be a major stretch proving it, but if they were connected, and Dog had lost the plot, Joanne wouldn’t have dared risk him getting caught and made to talk. And now, with the meeting in the park set up, his part of the job really was over. It must have been a nasty surprise for the professional killer to have realized he was surplus to requirements.

‘You trained her well,’ Harry said bitterly. ‘She’s self-sufficient and ruthless, and now she’s cleaning up behind her. The only thing I don’t understand is why she didn’t finish Rafa’i off in the park yesterday, when Dog attacked.’

‘Because you and Ferris were too close. She would have been counting on you to give her a clear pass when she’d finished the job. Who better? Dog would have been the ideal fall guy.’

Harry noticed that the two soldiers had finally pushed their way through the knot of tourists and had now split up. One was heading towards the Mall, where Rafa’i was standing, the other had veered away towards the lake.

They were now carrying their shoulder bags in their hands and their demeanour looked far too purposeful for a stroll.

The truth suddenly hit him. This is what she’d been waiting for. They were her helpers, not Dog’s!

Rik had noticed, too. ‘Contact!’ he snapped, and set off towards Rafa’i, reaching under his jacket.

‘What’s up?’ Ballatyne had heard the shout.

‘Rafa’i’s here,’ said Harry, ‘and we’ve got two bandits coming in fast.’

‘Christ,’ Ballatyne replied. ‘Where’s Archer? For Christ’s sake don’t let her anywhere near him. I’m sending a team — what’s your location?’

Harry told him and switched off the phone, cutting short the intelligence man’s orders not to do anything until his men arrived. ‘Too late,’ Harry breathed, and began to run towards Joanne. ‘Too bloody late.’

FIFTY-SIX

Rik sprinted across the grass, skidding on a damp patch. He switched his focus between Rafa’i and the soldier who was approaching his position. The soldier looked sharp and fit, and there was an extra intensity about him that clearly indicated his intentions. Rik was also aware of Joanne Archer approaching Rafa’i, although she seemed to be completely ignoring the other two men.

The soldier broke into a run, clawing into his shoulder bag and casting it to one side. His hand came out