different seemed to be hovering in the air. ‘Why do I get the feeling that the fault for what happened is being shifted my way?’
‘There were failings, you can’t deny that.’ There was a hint of steely reproof in Paulton’s voice.
‘Damn right there were. Like the last-minute reduction in team numbers. Economics, I was told. What kind of economics?’ Harry continued, before the other could interrupt, ‘We were in the middle of an operation!’
‘You could have vetoed it.’ Paulton tapped the folder, his cheeks flushing. ‘If you felt there were insufficient resources at your disposal, you could have said… should have said. It’s every officer’s right… every officer’s judgement.’
‘And let those drugs out on the streets? We’d have been crucified and you know it.’ Harry felt himself beginning to boil over. He breathed deeply. Losing it here and now wouldn’t do any good. But after the meaningless debriefing with the three Stooges earlier, he could sense the drawbridges going up all around him. He wondered if this was how establishment stitch-ups began.
‘It was still your call.’ The dig came from the man in the corner; pointed, cold, unfriendly. Silent until now, he had clearly decided to wade in on Paulton’s side.
‘Really?’ Harry turned, the heat rushing to his face. ‘And who the hell are you? When did you last go out on an op?’ He glared at the man, saw only empty, hooded eyes staring back from a well-fed face. ‘When did you last lie in shit and sewage for hours at a time, waiting to face men armed with automatic weapons — men who don’t give a flying fuck about law and order because of what they’re bringing in? You think they give a pig’s tit about “stop, police” or us waving our ID? They don’t.’
‘The planning-’ Paulton tried to interject, but Harry was on a roll, sensing his future going up in a fireball.
‘The planning was done by the book, with all the assessment boxes ticked, just the way the suits like it. But guess what — someone was too concerned with budgets, targets and key performance indicators!’
‘Tate-’ The unnamed man lifted a pudgy hand, his eyes as cold as granite.
‘It’s Mister Tate to you,’ Harry growled. ‘Those two civilians died because they were allowed to penetrate a compromised security cordon and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. As for not ‘managing’ the dead officer, that’s bullshit. He ran across the firing line. He was brave, certainly, but stupid; he should have done as he was told and kept his bloody head down.’ He could have added that in running out from cover, Parrish had probably exacerbated the situation and drawn fire on to the couple while using their arrival as a distraction. But he didn’t say it; the man was dead. ‘Ask Maloney — he’ll tell you.’
‘Maloney has made his report. He has been taken off operational duties pending an enquiry.’ Paulton fixed him with a glare. ‘As of now, you are not to have any contact with him. Understood?’
‘Why? That’s ridiculous. He’s my number two-’
‘Was your number two. As of this minute, we’re offering you a new posting. Overseas. It’s a career position, with additional benefits at an enhanced grade.’ He gave a thin smile. ‘Should help your pension entitlements, I’d have thought.’
‘Jesus, the pension!’ Harry wanted to spit, he was so mad. ‘For how long? Doing what?’
Paulton shrugged. ‘For as long as necessary. Until things calm down, at least. You’ll be briefed on arrival by your head of station. I recommend you take the post.’ He studied his fingernails. ‘Right now, I don’t see any alternatives.’
They were protecting themselves, Harry knew. They wanted him out of the way while all the official wailing and gnashing of teeth went on and they could build a credible explanation. But what were his options? Stay and face a public enquiry, the token guilt figure? Resign and be hounded by the press? Or take their dubious offer and work his way back?
‘How long do I have to think about it?’
‘You don’t. You leave today.’
Against all his instincts, Harry took the offer.
After leaving Paulton’s office, Harry went home to pack a single bag and make a few phone calls. To friends to say he would be away for a while; to Jean, a slim red-head in her forties who referred to herself with dry wit as the OD — Occasional Date.
Instead of Jean, he got Felicity, her Sloaney business partner in a west end flower business.
‘Off again? She’ll be sorry she missed you.’
‘Really?’ Harry wasn’t so sure. Jean knew what he did but had never asked questions. Until now, he’d taken it for a judicious lack of interest.
‘Obtuse man.’ Felicity’s voice was friendly, gently reproachful. ‘Don’t you know you’re the only person who makes her smile? Come back soon.’
He put down the phone amid conflicting emotions; resumed packing to get his mind in gear. The department would deal with the letting of his flat while he was gone, so he boxed up his personal things and left them in the middle of the floor for removal and storage.
A short taxi drive took him west to RAF Northolt, where he was shunted aboard a military plane and handed a flask of coffee, a bottle of chilled water and a tuna sandwich. He took his seat and found he had two escorts sitting nearby. Military policemen by the look of them, hard and capable. They ignored him completely. He knew that if he tried to get off, they’d have him face down on the cabin floor before he reached the door.
He ignored them in return. Drank his coffee, ate half his sandwich, saved the rest for later. Not that he liked tuna especially. But better than nothing. He fell asleep thinking of Jean.
They prodded him awake at Frankfurt. Gummy-eyed, he stared through the window. The plane had stopped behind a military hangar, shrouded in shadow, distant arc lights casting an eerie glow. He was urged down the steps and into a plain, white van reeking of oil and stale sweat. Three minutes later he was in the civilian terminal, where he was told where to collect his tickets for his onward flight. He signed a docket at the desk and turned to see if his escorts were coming, too.
They had disappeared.
FOUR
‘ In hindsight, Tate should have had more back-up and support.’ Paulton tossed his listeners an early mea culpa to be going on with. It was chicken bones at best, probably pointless, but might keep them at bay for a while and sit well on the record should a board of enquiry be convened.
‘Is that all you can say? After all that work and preparation?’ Gareth Nolan, Deputy Commissioner for Operations in the Metropolitan Police, scowled across the table. He was clearly intent on levelling blame towards MI5 for the failures. ‘You’re defending the man?’
They were in an anonymous, polished room in the bowels of a building off Horse Guards Avenue. The flak from the failed operation was beginning to settle around everyone’s ears as the story gradually became public knowledge, and this was not the only meeting Paulton had been called to.
‘It’s not a matter of defence,’ he said curtly. ‘It’s the facts I’m interested in.’
The senior policeman shrugged it off. ‘It was a bloody cock-up, right from the start! It cost one of my men his life, and two innocent civilians. Your man — Tate, is it? — should be charged with incompetence at the very least! What is he — a trainee, fresh out of university?’
‘He is a former army officer,’ Paulton said calmly, a defensive stance for the record rather than loyalty to his man. ‘He served with distinction in Kosovo and Iraq, among others, but he isn’t Superman. Circumstances went against him… against the team. It happens.’ He smiled coldly, adding, ‘Besides, if I understand the facts, it was your officer who put himself at risk; your team who got stuck driving their van into a mud-wallow. Don’t you teach them ground-reading skills anymore?’
‘Gentlemen.’ The voice of the third person in the room cut off Nolan’s intended retort, leaving him fuming impotently. ‘Let’s press on, shall we?’ Marcella Rudmann, chair of a Joint Intelligence Subcommittee overseeing security operations, flipped open a folder in front of her. ‘This business is appalling by anybody’s standards. Which is why this meeting involves just the three of us… so far.’
The subtle warning did not go unnoticed by the two men. They were in session with one of the most powerful
