“Can I just ask you something?” she whispered. “Outside?”
“Er, sure,” he murmured.
Turning, Jean pulled two ten-pound notes from the velcro wallet. Engrossed in the business of the till, Beverley had not registered the exchange.
Outside the shop Jean assumed her friendliest expression. It was not easy. Smiling was almost painful.
“Sorry to sort of … grab you like this,” she said. “But I was wondering, do you know of any good pubs round here? I’m staying nearby …” she nodded vaguely westwards, “and I don’t know the area, so …”
He scratched his head cheerfully, further disordering the straw-coloured hair. “Well, let’s see … there’s the George,” he jerked a thumb left-handed, “but it’s a bit Ye Olde, if you know what I mean. A bit mums ’n’ dads. I usually go to the Green Man, which is a mile or so up the Downham Road.”
“That’s good, is it?”
“It’s the best round here, I’d say.”
“Right,” said Jean, meeting his anxious, self-conscious gaze with a warm smile. “That’s … Can you tell me exactly how to get there on foot? Because I’m not a hundred per cent sure that I’m going to be able to borrow my parents’ car.”
She was amazed at herself. She had thought that it would be next to impossible, this close-up deception, but it was so easy. As killing, when it had come to it, had been so easy.
“Well, you want to cross the cricket ground, and …” He looked down at his feet and took a deep breath before once again meeting her wide-eyed, enquiring gaze. “Look, I can … I can take you if you want. I was going up there myself tonight, so if you, er …” He shrugged.
She touched his forearm. “That sounds really great. What sort of time?”
“Oh, er … eightish?” He looked at her with a kind of dazed disbelief. “Say eight thirty? Here? How would that be?”
“That would be lovely!” She gave his arm a quick squeeze. “It’s a date, then. Eight thirty here.”
“Er, OK. Great. Where was it that you said you were staying?”
But she was already walking away.
O n the tarmac outside the hangar, the SAS were taking on the PO19 Tactical Firearms Unit at football, and losing. Without doubt, the players were having a considerably better time than their immediate superiors, who were sitting inside waiting for news. Phones rang at intervals, and were snatched up, but no news of any importance had come in. Helicopters and regular and Territorial Army teams were maintaining their patrol.
The area was not a densely populated one, and the locals were somewhat bemused by this activity, and by the huge resources of camouflaged manpower that had been mobilised. The county had been intensively leafleted over the course of the morning, and everyone now knew that those suspected of the murders of Ray Gunter and Elsie Hogan were an Asian man and an Englishwoman.
This time when her phone went off Liz did not dive to reach it. All morning, as the negative results came in from each sector, she had had an increasing sense of her own uselessness, and only a terrible fascination with the endgame process prevented her from slipping away and driving back to London. Leaving was what Wetherby would certainly have counselled under the circumstances; there was no advantage to the Service or to anyone else in her staying around.
But Wetherby’s advice had not been sought, and until all the intelligence had come in from Garth House, Liz was going to stay put.
At 3:30 p.m. one of the Army officers voiced the thought that no one else had dared put into words: that perhaps they were searching the wrong area. Was it possible, he ventured, that they had been sold a dummy? Led by a false process of deduction to guard the wrong institution? Could Lakenheath or Mildenhall be the real target?
The question was greeted with silence, and all present turned to Jim Dunstan, who stared expressionlessly in front of him for perhaps a full quarter of a minute. “We continue as we are,” he said eventually. “Mr. Mackay assures me that the Islamic regard for anniversaries is absolute, and we have several hours until midnight. My suspicion is that Mansoor and D’Aubigny are lying up waiting to run the cordon under cover of darkness, and darkness will be with us within the hour. We continue.”
Shortly after 4 p.m. the rain came, wavering grey sheets of it, lashing the hangar roof and dimming the outlines of the waiting Gazelle helicopters. The air smelt dangerously electric and the Army Air Corps pilots glanced anxiously at each other, mindful of their airborne colleagues.
“All we bloody well need,” winced Don Whitten, forcing his hands frustratedly into his jacket pockets. “They say rain’s the policeman’s friend, but it’s our enemy now, and no mistake.”
Liz was about to answer when her phone bleeped. The text message indicated a waiting e-mail from Investigations.
Price-Lascelles still n/a in Morocco but have identified and contacted one Maureen Cahill, formerly matron at Garth Hse. MC claims D’Aubigny’s closest friend Megan Davies, expelled from GH at age 16 after various drug-related incidents. MC says she treated D’Aubigny & MD in school infirmary after psilocybin (magic mushroom) overdose. According to school records Davies family (parents John and Dawn) lived near Gedney Hill, Lincs, but house has had several changes of occupants since, and no current record of Davies family whereabouts. Do we follow up?
Liz stared at the screen for a moment, and then printed out the message. That final sentence suggested that she was clutching at straws, but in truth it was all she had to go on. If there was any chance, however slim, of saving lives by ordering an investigation into the whereabouts of the Davies family, then she had to take it. That this investigation would be manpower-intensive did not have to be spelled out. Davies was a very common name indeed.
Go for it, Liz typed out. Use everything. Find them.
She looked outside. The rain was pounding remorselessly down. Dark was falling.
A gain,” said Faraj.
“When we get to the pub I ask to leave my coat in the car. I leave the bag, too—under the coat—in case they’re running bag checks on the pub door. I persuade him to stay at the pub for as long as possible, preferably till closing time, and then take me back to the house. When it’s time to leave the pub, I set the timer to one hour, turning the red button all the way to the right. In the car I drop some coins, and squeeze round to the back seat to retrieve them. While I’m down there, I stuff the backpack under the passenger seat. When we get back to his house, I stay for ten minutes maximum, perhaps arranging to meet him tomorrow, and then I leave. I walk back around the cricket ground by the road, and knock six times on the door to this pavilion. We then have an estimated thirty-five minutes to get away.”
“Good. Remember that he must not take the car out of the garage once he has returned there. That’s why I want you to return as late as possible. If there seems to be any possibility of him or any other member of the family taking the car out again, you must prevent him. Either steal his car keys or disable the car. If you cannot do these things, then take the backpack into the house with you and hide the bomb somewhere there.”
“Got it.”
“Good. Put the backpack on.”
They had prepared this earlier, when there was still light. He had wired up the C4 device—a fairly straightforward job, necessitating a single small screwdriver and pliers—and together with its digital timer and electronic detonator this was now enclosed in an aluminium casing. At one end of the casing was the red timer-activator button, and protruding from the other a stubby inch-long aerial. If necessary, the timer could be over-ridden and the device remotely detonated by a matchbox-sized transmitter which was zipped into the inside breast pocket of Faraj’s mountain jacket. The maximum range for remote detonation was four hundred yards, however, and it went without saying that if either of them was that close when the device went off, things would have gone badly wrong.
Rolling up the casing in the muddy jeans she had taken off that morning, Jean had tucked it at the bottom of the backpack. It had bee
n decided that there was no point in trying to disguise the device. It was light, less than two pounds in weight, but the volume of explosive was too great to fit inside a camera or radio or anything else that she was likely to be carrying. Besides, there was no reason to suppose that she was going to be searched. She had stuffed a dirty T-shirt and her make-up bag on top of the jeans, and zipped up. Now she folded her waterproof jacket through the backpack’s strap, so that it hung in front of her.
He squinted at her shadowy form. “Are you ready to do this thing, Asimat?”
“I’m ready,” she said calmly.
He took her hand. “We will succeed, and we will escape. At the hour of vengeance we will be miles away.”
She smiled. An impossible calm seemed to have settled over her. “I know that,” she said.
“And I know that what you are doing is not easy. That talking to this young man will not be easy. You must be strong.”
“I am strong, Faraj.”
He nodded, holding on to her hand in the darkness. Outside, the wind scoured the pavilion and the dark, wet trees.
“It’s time,” he said.
D enzil Parrish had no desire to conform to the unhygienic science student stereotype, and had prepared himself carefully. After a half-hour session in which he had exhaustively bathed, shampooed and shaved himself, he had dressed from head to foot in clean clothing. Encounters like today’s were once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, and he was determined not to squander this one. The woman had appeared as if from outer space—cool, chic and confident. He didn’t know her name, he didn’t know where she was staying … He knew nothing about her.
Was she attractive? Yes, there was a self-possession about her which was definitely attractive. She had one of those faces that you couldn’t immediately summon up. Wide-set eyes and cheekbones, and an oblique-set mouth. A strange sense of urgency about her, as if her thoughts were elsewhere.
“You look very smart, all of a sudden,” said his stepfather, carrying an early-evening beer from the kitchen into the sitting room. For security reasons Colin Delves changed into and out of his RAF uniform at Marwell, and now he was wearing jeans, loafers and the tan leather jacket he habitually wore to drive to and from the base. Despite his casual clothes, however, a palpable air of tension surrounded him.
“And you look a bit knackered,” said Denzil. “Are the Yanks pushing you too hard?”
“It’s been a long day,” said Delves, settling into an armchair opposite the television. “There’s been another big security alert. This time they think terrorists might have targeted the base because of the Fighter Wing’s involvement in Afghanistan. So Clyde Greeley and I decided all off-base personnel should clear off home, me included, and let the security people lock the place down.”
“Is that for my ears only?” asked Denzil.
His stepfather shrugged. “Hard to keep it completely quiet, given that they’ve erected roadblocks around the base and moved three battalions of troops into the area.”
“So what’ll happen to them? The terrorists, I mean.”
“Well, they won’t get anywhere near the base, put it like that. What are you up to this p.m.?”
“Pub,” said Denzil, lowering himself on to the chintz-covered sofa. “Green Man.”
“Right. Shut those curtains, would you?”
The curtains, a worn yellow damask, hung in front of the tall front windows. Standing there, Denzil looked out for a moment at the dark expanse of the cricket field, the distant form of the pavilion against the trees, and the scattered, rain-blurred lights of the houses beyond. It was a good house, he thought, but it just happened to find itself in the middle of the deadest, most desolate patch of countryside in Britain. The security people were parked out there somewhere, he guessed, keeping a weather eye on the place.
Colin Delves’ parents came into the room, and looked about them with the bright, enquiring air of people requiring substantial alcoholic drinks. Buoyed with the secret knowledge of the evening ahead of him, Denzil took their orders himself, and in sympathy with his stepfather’s exhausted state, made a point of pouring them at least quintuple measures.
“Lord!” said Charlotte Delves a minute later, touching her pearls in surprise. “There’s enough gin in here to tranquillise a horse.”
“Enjoy,” said Denzil. “Chill out.”
“Aren’t you going to have one?” Royston Delves, who had made his money in commodities, was a pinker, fleshier version of his RAF officer son.
“I’m driving,” said Denzil piously.
“Yes, straight to the pub,” said Colin.
They were still laughing when Denzil’s mother came in with Jessica. The baby had been bathed, fed her bottle, and dressed in a clean white babygro. Now, sleepy-eyed and talcum-scented, she was ready to be shown off before being tucked up for the night.
It was the moment Denzil had been waiting for. Amidst the cooing and clucking, he slipped away. The woman was waiting outside the shop, as she had said she would be. Denzil didn’t see her at first, but then she stepped quickly towards the Honda and climbed in.
“Sorry,” he said, as she buckled herself in. “It’s a bit of a tip. Try and pretend it’s a Porsche.”
“I’m not sure I like Porsches very much,” she said. “A bit flash, don’t you think?”
He turned to look at her. She was dressed as she had been earlier, and was carrying a dark green waterproof jacket. “Well, I’m glad you see it that way,” he grinned. “Have you had an OK day?”
“A quiet day. How about you? I’m Lucy, by the way.”
“I’m Denzil. So what do you do, Lucy?”
“Very boring, I’m afraid. I work for a company which produces economic reports.”
“Wow, that … that really does sound quite boring!”
“I have dreams,” she said.
“What dreams?”
“I’d like to travel. Asia, the Far East … Hot places.”
“There’s a tandoori place in Downham Market. That can get quite hot.”
She smiled at the windscreen. “Well, perhaps that’s as far as I’ll get this Christmas. How about you?”
“I’m studying geology at Newcastle.”
“Interesting?”
“I wouldn’t go that far. But it can take you to some interesting places. There’s a Greenland trip next year.”
“Cool.”
“Yeah—icy, even. But I’m a cold places person, if you know what I mean. Like you’re obviously a hot places person.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Well, perhaps we could meet in the middle. In some temperate zone. Like the pub.”
Denzil pulled in to a car park.
“This is it. The Green Man. L’Homme Vert. El hombre …”
“It looks nice,” she murmured. “Do you mind if I leave my jacket and bag in the boot?”
Y es, Minister,” said the Deputy Chief Constable. “I believe absolutely that they will go tonight, whatever it costs them. We now think it’s not just a question of jihad, but of familial honour. In this context, neither is negotiable … No. Thank you, Minister. Goodbye.”
He replaced the receiver. “Home Office,” he explained for the benefit of the dozen or so individuals watching and listening. “And those two jokers damn well better bomb something tonight, or …”
A dozen or so pairs of eyes stared at him. The SAS captain sniggered. The moment was saved by the ringing of Mackay’s landline. The MI6 man snatched up the receiver. “Hello? Vince? Where are you, mate? Right. And you’ve got … Brilliant! Good man. Hang on, I’ll …”
He covered the receiver and beckoned to Liz. “Price-Lascelles. That headmaster from Wales. Our bloke’s found him. Bad line.”
Liz’s eyes widened. “OK. Don’t transfer it.”
She walked over to his desk. The headmaster’s voice was very faint, and sounded as if it had been strained through several thicknesses of blanket. “… do you do. I understand you … speak to me.”
“I need to know about one of your ex-pupils. Jean D’Aubigny … Yes, Jean D’Aubigny!”
“… remember her very well. What can I … ?”
“Did she have any particular friends? People she might have stayed with in the holidays? People she might have stayed in touch with?”
“Have lunch with?”
“WHO WERE JEAN D’AUBIGNY’S BEST FRIENDS?”
“… difficult young woman, who didn’t make friends easily. Her closest, as I recall, was a rather troubled … named Megan Davies. Her people … up in Lincoln, I think. Her father was in the forces. RAF.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“… what they told me. Nice couple. John and Dawn, I think their … pillar to post … Megan very wild in consequence. In the end it turned out that we … permit pupils to bring drugs on to the premises.”
“Did Jean D’Aubigny go and stay with the Davies family?”
“… to my knowledge. She may have done so after Megan left Garth House.”
“Where did the Davies family go after Gedney Hill?”
“Sorry, can’t help you there. They … at the time of Megan’s departure.”
“Do you know where Megan went on to? Which school? Mr. Price-Lascelles? Hello?” But the line was dead. Everyone in the room was staring at her. Mackay and Dunstan wore particularly indulgent smiles.
Was she way off beam here? Was this complete whimsy?
Replacing the receiver, meeting none of the eyes which followed her, Liz returned to her desk. Pulling down the contacts file on her laptop, she rang the Ministry of Defence. Identifying herself to the duty officer, she had herself put through to Files.
“I’m actually just shutting up shop,” a pleasant-voiced young man told her. “It’ll have to be quick.”
“It’ll take as long as it takes,” said Liz levelly. “This is a matter of national security, so if you don’t wish to find yourself outside a job centre this time next week, I suggest that you remain exactly where you are until we are finished, is that clear?”
At Risk Page 30
