linked to accounts. I didn’t realize she had stolen the files, copied them, until I ran a test on my system last Thursday.’
Thursday. The day before his mother died. The day, perhaps, she decided to run. She must have known Jargo and Dezz were after her. Or Khan was lying – a distinct possibility. ‘And she got a list of all the Deeps’ clients.’
Khan frowned. ‘Yes. She got that as well.’
‘And you warned Jargo?’
‘Naturally. He didn’t know about the client list. That was my own insurance in case things ever got ugly between him and me. But I convinced him that your mother had pieced together the list from other information Jargo knew I already had.’
The other information. Khan must have it all – the name of every Deep, every financial account they used, every detail of their operations. No wonder Jargo wanted him dead. ‘I want a copy of every file.’
‘Destroyed in the bomb blast, I’m afraid.’
‘Don’t bullshit me. You have a backup.’
‘I must decline.’
Evan stepped forward. ‘I’m not giving you an option.’ He moved the knife toward Khan’s chest.
‘It’s shaking,’ Khan said. ‘I don’t think you truly have the stomach for-’
Evan jerked forward and brought the point of his knife to Khan’s throat. Khan’s eyes widened. A globe of blood welled where blade met skin.
‘I’m my father’s son. The knife’s not shaking now, is it?’
Khan raised an eyebrow. ‘No, it’s not.’
‘I will kill you if you don’t help me. If you help me, there’s a man at the CIA who can protect you from Jargo. Help you and your son hide. Give you both a new life. Do you understand?’
Khan gave the slightest of nods. ‘Tell me who this man is at the CIA. I hardly plan to turn myself over to one of Jargo’s clients.’
‘You don’t need to worry about that. Talk straight. Tell me where Hadley is.’
Khan clenched his eyes shut. ‘Hiding. I don’t know.’
‘He’s hiding because he pitched me the Alexander Bast film project. Hadley set all this mess in motion.’
‘“How sharper than a serpent’s tooth.”’ Khan pressed his fingertips into his temples. ‘It is cruel to know a child could hate you so. Did you love your parents, Evan?’
No one had asked him this, ever, not even Detective Durless in Austin, which seemed like a thousand years ago but had been only a few days. ‘I do. No past tense about it. Very much.’
‘Do you still love them, knowing what they were?’
‘Yes. Love isn’t love unless it’s unconditional.’
‘So when you look at your father, you won’t see a killer. A cold and capable killer. You’ll just see your dad.’
Evan tightened his grip on the knife.
Khan said, ‘Ah. The poison of doubt. You don’t know what you’ll see. How you’ll feel. I was clumsy a few months ago. I recruited Hadley to work for me. To assist me. I trusted him, I thought he simply needed meaningful work to bring order to his life, and I was wrong. He was given a basic assignment and he barely escaped being caught by French intelligence. He promised me he would do better, but he decided that he wanted out.’
‘You didn’t accept his resignation.’
‘He didn’t tell me he wanted to quit. It’s not a job you leave. In learning how to do my work, he found files on the Deeps – all of them, and their children. If he went to MI5 or the CIA, he knew he would be put under protective custody and my assets would be immediately frozen. He wanted the money. So he wanted Jargo and myself exposed, but not until he could make arrangements to vanish. So he could access my accounts and rob me first.’ He sounded more tired than angry.
‘You sound as though you’ve talked with him.’
‘I have. Hadley confessed all to me before he left.’ Khan gave a thin smile. ‘I forgave him. In a way I was almost proud of him. Finally he had shown daring and intelligence. You were the only child of a Deep involved in the media. He thought he could befriend you and subtly draw you out to expose the network. Tease you with the murder of Bast. Egg you on to investigate. Make you do the dirty work without him putting his own neck in Jargo’s noose.’
He’s opening up too easily, Evan thought. Like a documentary subject who won’t shut up, because the only way to convince is with a torrent of words. Or they need to hear themselves talk, maybe to persuade themselves as much as convincing you and the audience. How far is he playing me? Evan wondered. ‘But he didn’t respond to my e-mail about the Bast package.’
‘A fool puts great events in motion and then grows frightened.’ Khan raised an eyebrow. ‘I’m talking freely now, is the knife necessary?’
‘Yes. The orphanage in Ohio. Bast was there, Jargo was there, my parents were there. Why?’
‘Bast had a charitable soul.’
‘I don’t think that was it. Those kids, at least three of them, became the Deeps. Did Bast recruit them for the CIA?’
‘I suppose he did.’
‘Why orphans?’
‘Children without families are so much more pliable,’ Khan said. ‘They’re like wet clay; you can mold them as you see fit.’
‘Why did the CIA need them instead of using regular agents?’
‘I don’t know.’ Khan almost smiled, then closed his eyes. He gave a hard sigh, as though confession had lifted a burden from his shoulders.
‘Tell me why they needed fresh starts, fresh names, years later. Did they leave the CIA?’
‘Bast died. Jargo took command of the network.’
‘Jargo killed him.’
‘Probably. I never asked.’
‘Were Jargo and my folks, and the other kids from that orphanage, were they hiding from the CIA?’
‘Before my time. I don’t know. When Jargo took over, he gave me a job. He brought me in to run logistics for him.’
‘Were you CIA?’
‘No. But I’d helped support British intelligence ops in Afghanistan, during the rebellion against the Soviets. I knew the basics. I retired. I wanted just a quiet life with my books. No more field work. Jargo gave me a job.’
‘Well, Jargo just fired you, Mr. Khan. You work for me now.’
Khan shook his head. ‘I admire your nerve, young man. I wish Hadley had become your friend. You might’ve been a good influence.’
The phone rang. Both men froze. It rang twice and then stopped.
‘No answering machine,’ Evan said.
‘My sister-in-law hated them.’
The ringing phone bothered Evan. Maybe a wrong call, maybe someone calling for the dying sister-in-law, maybe someone looking here for Khan. ‘I want my father back. You want Jargo to stop trying to kill you. Do our interests coincide or not?’
‘It would be better if we could both just vanish.’ Khan swallowed. Sweat beaded along his face and he coughed for breath.
‘Give me what I need. We can lean on the clients to break Jargo. Trace their dealings back to him. He’s finished, he can’t hurt you or Hadley.’
‘It’s too dangerous. Better to just vanish.’
‘Forget that.’
‘I can’t think with a knife at my throat. I would like a cigarette.’
Evan saw fear and resignation in the man’s face, smelled the sour tang of sweat on Khan’s skin. He’d overstepped. He eased up off Khan, dropped the knife from his throat. Khan put his fingertips up to the slight welling of blood, dabbed into the blotches. ‘Shallow wounds. Thank you. I appreciate the kindness. May I reach in
