Kremlin Conspiracy

by Brian Freemantle

  ‘You make it sound like a game.’

  ‘I guess that was how we considered it.’

  ‘How will you consider us?’

  He leaned across for her animal’s halter, stopping them both. ‘Not a game,’ he said. ‘I promise you not a game.’

  ‘What about playing around?’

  ‘I’ll try very hard,’ he said.

  She swallowed. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘That was honest, at least.’

  ‘That’s what I’ll try to be,’ said Pike, at that moment meaning it.

  ‘And I’ll try not to fail you,’ said Jane.

  His father chose that night to make the official anouncement and there was champagne and toasts and the ritual of congratulations. Quite late in the evening his mother obediently drew Jane aside so Pike was expecting the summons when it came from his father. The older man was alone in the study, back to the fire.

  ‘Would have welcomed some warning about this,’ he said. ‘Welcomed it quite a lot.’

  ‘It was a sudden decision,’ said Pike. How sudden he was only just beginning to realize.

  ‘How long have you known her?’

  ‘We met at the last IMF meeting here,’ said Pike. ‘It developed when I got to Europe.’

  ‘Nice girl,’ said his father. ‘Your mother and I like her.’

  ‘I’m glad.’

  ‘Let’s hope it works out better than last time.’

  ‘It will,’ said Pike. He decided against telling his father of the conversation with Ambersom.

  ‘Fixed a date yet?’

  ‘Not yet.’

  ‘Good,’ said the IMF Director. ‘I want the other thing sorted out first. There’s been a full disclosure to the President obviously. Jordan doesn’t want a weak stand on this: he wants the Russians confronted, even to the point of default if necessary.’

  ‘Actual default?’ demanded Pike.

  ‘I think he’s prepared to go right down to the wire.’

  ‘That could be a dangerous game.’

  ‘The stakes are high enough.’

  ‘It might take time,’ said Pike, remembering his conversation with Jane that afternoon.

  ‘Whatever it takes it takes,’ said his father vehemently. ‘I ended up ahead but I’ve got to stay that way.’

  The ease with which his father could switch from public to personal considerations was dazzling, thought Pike. Realizing that his father’s attention was focused upon him, Pike said, ‘You’ll want me involved?’

  The question seemed to surprise the man. ‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Who else?’

  This was going beyond any role he’d performed until now, Pike realized: way beyond. ‘It should be somebody else,’ he said. ‘An established official: diplomatic even.’

  ‘The approach isn’t as high as that,’ disclosed his father. ‘We’ve gone through the Soviet embassy and asked for unofficial talks.’

  ‘But you’ve just said the President is involved.’

  ‘Of course he’s involved. But not publicly.’

  ‘Any indication that the Soviets will respond?’

  ‘Not yet,’ said his father.

  ‘Absolutely unofficial?’ repeated Pike.

  ‘Absolutely,’ confirmed his father.

  So that if they went wrong, there would be no public problems, either for Jordan or his father, Pike recognized. Would his father sacrifice him, if the necessity arose? Unquestionably, he decided. ‘I understand,’ he said.

  ‘You do understand, don’t you?’ pressed his father.

  ‘Completely,’ said Pike. He was sure Jane would understand too, if the need to explain arose.

  Chapter 31

  Pike missed the turning and got lost, finally stopping for directions and having to retrace his route for almost ten miles. It made him late arriving at the sanatorium. As he walked across the gravelled forecourt he saw Janet looking at him from a ground-floor room. He waved and she half-waved back. She came forward to greet him as he entered the building.

  ‘Hi,’ he said.

  ‘Hello.’

  He leaned forward, kissing her lightly on the cheek. She stood stiffly, as if she were surprised by the gesture. He looked around, seeking somewhere to sit, aware that people were looking at them.

  ‘It’s communal,’ she said unnecessarily. ‘Let’s not stay.’

  ‘Where then?’

  ‘We can walk in the grounds.’

  Outside he waited for her to lead. She set off to the left, away from the road. He hesitated, unsure, and then took her arm. She looked down at his touch and smiled.

  ‘It’s good of you to come,’ she said.

  ‘Sorry it wasn’t sooner: there’s been a lot on.’

  ‘Thought you were in Europe anyway.’

  ‘Got back some time ago.’

  ‘Here for the trial?’

  He shook his head.

  ‘Made the papers,’ she said. ‘Big disgrace.’ She paused and then said: ‘Poor daddy. Mummy too.’

  ‘How are you?’ he said.

  ‘Fine.’

  She didn’t look it. Her hair appeared freshly washed but was strained back tightly from her face, without any style. There wasn’t a tan any more and she looked gaunt and thin. She hadn’t bothered with make-up and there was no polish on her nails, which he saw were bitten. She’d never bitten her nails when they were together: she’d always been particularly careful about her hands.

  ‘What’s it like?’

  She shrugged, disinterested. ‘OK, I suppose. They try.

  ‘To do what?’

  ‘Make up their minds whether I’m an addict or not.’

  ‘Are you?’

  ‘I haven’t needed methadone.’

  She spoke like a child offering some school work for approval.

  ‘That’s good,’ he said.

  ‘They’re very big on case histories,’ she said. ‘Long sessions going back as far as the mother’s womb. I told them we used to line together when we were married. Hope you don’t mind.’

  ‘No, I don’t mind,’ said Pike. It was a hospital, he thought; doctors’ records were confidential.

  ‘I wondered if they might have contacted you: wanted to tell you earlier.’

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘No one’s contacted me.’

  ‘I’m glad,’ said Janet. ‘I didn’t want to cause any embarrassment.’

  They reached the wooded part of the grounds. There was a seat where the coppice began and he said, ‘Want to sit down?’

  She shrugged casually, then sat and stretched out her legs, gazing down at her feet. ‘Another three fucking months!’ she said with sudden vehemence.

  ‘It could have been prison.’

  ‘It feels like it is.’

  ‘What do you do?’

  ‘Sleep. And eat. And watch television. There’s group therapy, morning and afternoon and on Wednesday and Friday evenings. We all sit around and admit secrets and tell each other we don’t really need to do the things we do. Only we all know we do.’

  ‘You’re pretty high on self-pity,’ said Pike. He felt sorry for her.

  ‘Psychiatric opinion I don’t need,’ said his ex-wife. ‘I get it all the time.’

  ‘What are you going to do when you get discharged?’

  ‘Go back to the gallery: Daddy owns it, after all. I guess people will come to look at me rather than the paintings until the novelty wears off. Daddy’s already put in someone he says will be my personal assistant. What it really means is that I’ll have a minder, to make sure I don’t start making hits again.’

  ‘Why did you?’

  ‘It was fun: I enjoyed it.’

  And she would do it again, decided Pike. Did the authorities here suspect that? They were experts, so they should do. Perhaps he should mention it to her father. But he didn’t know. He could cause a hell of a lot of problems for her and everyone else, running off at the mouth on nothing more than an impression. Which he might have done already, with something else. ‘I’m get
ting married again,’ he announced.

  She turned to him with the first indication of interest since they’d met. ‘Who?’ she frowned.

  ‘An English girl. Her name’s Jane: we’ve been together since I’ve been in Europe.’

  ‘Oh,’ she said, looking away. After a gap she said, ‘When?’

  ‘There isn’t a date yet.’

  ‘Congratulations,’ said Janet. ‘That was a bit late, wasn’t it? I’m sorry.’

  ‘Thank you,’ he said.

  ‘Another open marriage, like ours was?’

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘Not this time.’

  She shivered and said, ‘I’m cold: mind if we start walking again?’

  ‘Of course not,’ he said, standing with her.

  ‘It was a pretty lousy experiment, wasn’t it?’ she said. She moved off parallel to the tree line, still going away from the house.

  ‘Lousy,’ he agreed.

  ‘Your idea or mine?’

  ‘I seem to remember it was a kind of joint decision.’

  She looked up at him quizzically and said, ‘That’s not quite the way I have it. But it doesn’t matter now.’

  ‘Does anything matter to you, Janet?’ he said, suddenly angry at the continuous apathy.

  ‘Not really,’ she said. ‘Why did you come to see me?’

  ‘I should have thought that was obvious.’

  ‘Nothing was ever obvious with you, Tom!’

  ‘I heard what happened and that you were here. So I decided to come and visit.’ And because I felt some guilt, he thought.

  ‘Not many have. Just my parents, really.’

  ‘Then I’m glad I did.’ They reached the boundary fence and he said, ‘Shouldn’t we be heading back?’

  She sniggered. ‘Don’t worry: I’m not going to make a break.’

  ‘Have you wanted to?’

  ‘Everyday.’

  ‘Admitted it in your therapy sessions?’

  ‘You’ve got to be joking!’

  ‘I don’t think any of this is very amusing.’

  ‘Wow!’ she said. ‘Spoken just like a proper, pompous banker. Don’t worry, darling. I’ll think of it, every day. But I won’t do it.’

  They started moving back towards the house. ‘What about when you get out?’ he said. There was a desperation about her that frightened him.

  ‘What about it?’

  ‘You’re going to start scoring again, aren’t you? No matter what sort of watch your father tries to impose, you’re going to try.’ Pike was sure he was right: and if he were, then he should try to do something about it. Challenge her at least.

  ‘I didn’t think I was your worry any longer.’

  ‘Don’t be stupid, Janet!’

  ‘Welcome to the club,’ she said. ‘That’s what I’m told by the doctors and by the psychiatrists and by my mother and by my father – don’t be stupid, Janet.’

  ‘Well!’ he demanded.

  ‘Well what?’

  ‘Haven’t there been enough mistakes? Shouldn’t they stop?’

  She stood directly in front of him, forcing him to halt. ‘There was only one mistake, my darling; one that really mattered. The mistake I made trying to get you to love me.’

  Pike stared down at her, not knowing what to say.

  ‘There’s a cliché they keep using during the therapy sessions,’ continued the woman. ‘They keep warning against the danger of history repeating itself.’

  ‘Nervous?’ demanded Malik.

  ‘Yes,’ admitted Lydia. ‘It’s very close now.’

  The Soviet Finance Minister picked up the message that had come from the Washington embassy and which they had debated before the Politburo sub-committee an hour earlier. ‘I wish you didn’t have to go alone.’

  ‘That’s the way it was always intended to be.’

  ‘I still wish it were different.’

  She didn’t, Lydia realized. She’d spent months in the city and felt constrained by Moscow: constrained, too, by the relationship with Malik. It was going to be good to get away again. ‘I’ll suggest Switzerland,’ she said. ‘It’s got the proper sort of neutrality.’

  ‘Neutrality is for wars,’ said Malik. ‘They don’t know they’re engaged in one yet.’

  The Moscow agreement to a meeting coincided with Czechoslovakia’s request to reschedule $60,000,000 of interest and $1,000,000,000 of capital debt to a six- instead of a three-year period.

  Chapter 32

  The Russian suggestion of Zurich as the meeting place meant Pike was able to break his journey in London. They shopped for a ring the day after he arrived and Jane chose an antique, diamonds clustered around a single emerald. They drove to Cambridge in the evening, for a celebration arranged by Ann. Harry proposed a self-conscious toast and arrangements were made for the whole family to travel to Washington for the wedding. They left early the following morning to make Pike’s connection to Switzerland.

  ‘I’m so happy,’ said Jane. As always when they drove, her hand was.on his thigh.

  ‘So am I.’

  ‘How long do you expect to be in Switzerland?’

  Pike shrugged. ‘As long as it takes; I’m leaving the schedule loose.’

  ‘There was a meeting of the unit at the Bank last week, after we heard from the Fund that the Russians had agreed,’ said Jane. ‘You’ve got a hell of a lot of responsibility, haven’t you?’

  The same attitude as everyone else, he thought. ‘I suppose so,’ he said.

  ‘Worried about it?’

  He looked fleetingly across the car at her. ‘A little,’ he said, because it was the proper attitude to show. After all the last-minute planning and preparation conferences in Washington there had been the personal meeting with his father and a lecture about responsibility. He’d detected the older man’s belated uncertainty, too: Pike knew England and Germany had openly objected to his being the delegate, when they were informed. ‘Burnham opposed me, you know,’ he said.

  ‘The Bank opposed you,’ qualified Jane. ‘And they had an argument: Lydia Kirov has a government position. I know it’s supposed to be unofficial but in Washington we didn’t anticipate it would be someone of her ranking.’

  ‘So you think it should have been an executive director, like everyone else?’

  ‘I don’t,’ she said. ‘But I can see other people’s point of view. I’m so very proud of you: I’d have loved to have told Harry and Ann what you’re doing!’

  At their last meeting his father had said he could choose what he wanted, wherever he wanted it, providing he succeeded. But Pike didn’t see his as a negotiating role. He was a conduit, relaying information back to the necessary officials. So any action would be theirs, not his. But if people wanted to invest him in their minds with more authority and importance than he had, that was all right with him.

  ‘Paul met her during a rescheduling meeting months ago,’ said Jane. ‘Said she’s very pretty but she doesn’t say a lot. That was before her promotion, of course.’

  ‘The Fund had a file on her in their intelligence unit,’ said Pike. ‘Seems quite a career woman.’

  She moved her hand warningly on to his arm. ‘Be careful, won’t you darling.’

  ‘Of course I will,’ said Pike.

  They got to London by lunchtime and she fixed sandwiches, which was all either of them wanted.

  ‘We should be able to make plans after Switzerland, shouldn’t we?’ she said. ‘About the wedding, I mean.’

  ‘I’d hope so,’ said Pike. ‘I won’t really know that until after the meetings.’

  She looked around the flat and said, ‘I suppose if you stay in Europe we’ll live in Paris?’

  ‘Would you mind that?’

  ‘I’d love it,’ she said. ‘Shall I put this place on the market?’

  ‘Why not wait until after Switzerland?’ suggested Pike.

  It was an uneventful flight and Pike arrived in Zurich early in the evening. The hotel had been the Russian choice as well a
nd Pike decided it was a good one. The Baur au Lac bordered the lake and his suite had a view of the snow-tipped mountains beyond.

  Pike studied his briefing papers until quite late into the night, eating in his room so there would be no interruption. He was showered and ready when the call came: her suite, he realized, was on the same floor as his.

  A pursuer of women, there was always a thought of conquest in every encounter, irrespective of either how casual or formal a meeting was. Attuned as he was, he sometimes recognized in his opponent a matching sensuality, dispensing the need for the ritual formalities of courtship or seduction. The recognition came immediately Lydia Kirov opened the door to his knock—for her as well as for himself, he imagined, because she faltered slightly in the doorway.

  ‘I’m Tom Pike,’ he said.

  ‘Come in.’

  The meetings of the review unit had settled into a routine, with scheduled gatherings on Thursdays, and so Jane was surprised to get the summons from Burnham. He was standing with his back to her, gazing out over the City when she entered and he remained standing when he turned into the room.

  ‘The Court suspected a leak of our position in Washington,’ he said. ‘The governor asked me to make an enquiry.’

  ‘I remember,’ frowned Jane. ‘I thought that was all over.’

  ‘I left this meeting until last.’

  ‘I see,’ said Jane.

  ‘Everyone else has managed to give a very satisfactory account.’

  ‘Except me?’

  ‘Where had you been that night?’

  ‘I told you: out with a friend.’

  ‘I’ve got to know who.’

  Jane knew she was flushed. ‘Tom Pike,’ she said.

  ‘You stupid little fool!’

  ‘He didn’t steal anything,’ she said defensively.

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ he said.

  ‘He didn’t steal the proposals,’ she insisted.

  ‘I’ll have to make a report,’ said Burnham. ‘There’ll probably be an appearance before the Court.’

  ‘That won’t be necessary.’ Jane decided it was anger bringing the tears to her eyes, making her vision blur.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I’m resigning from the Bank.’

  ‘Do you realize what you’ve done? What you’ve thrown away!’