by Ian Andrew
“How do you mean?” Kara asked, a little hesitantly.
“Well it’s obvious you must have been in the Army. Dad’s mates put us in touch with other Service people initially. Michael and I assumed that you and the lady who eventually phoned us were all in the military together at some time. I know Tien definitely was.”
“Not Army for me; Air Force. But yes I was in and the lady you spoke to still is. How do you know Tien was definitely in?”
“I Googled you after our meeting. You don’t show up much other than your website for Wright and Tran Investigations. But Tien showed up in quite a few news stories.”
Kara nodded and took a small drink of the mineral water. “Yeah, I suppose Tien and I tend to forget about that. It’s not like news used to be. One day’s paper is tomorrow’s fish and chip wrapper. Now it’s out there for ever.”
“She’s a genuine hero,” Zoe said with a tone that mixed a strange blend of awe and gratitude. “They don’t give out Military Crosses for fun. The news reports said she saved a number of fellow soldiers and was badly injured. Is that how she lost her hand?”
Kara, halfway through taking another sip of water didn’t answer immediately and Zoe misinterpreted her delay.
“Oh God! I’m sorry Kara. I didn’t mean to pry. I meant no offence, I’m- ”
“It’s okay Zoe,” Kara said with a calming motion of her hand. “No offence taken. You’re right, that was how Tien got injured. From memory I’m fairly sure the news reports were mostly spot on because it came from the official citation. She put herself in the path of bad people whilst she dragged three colleagues to safety. I think the only annoying thing was that she didn’t get the Victoria Cross. But yes, I’ll totally agree with you, my little friend is a true hero. Although she would say that Ziagul was more heroic.”
“Ziagul?” Zoe asked, cocking her head in a way that reminded Kara of a puzzled puppy.
“A little Afghani girl, no more than seven. She braved Taliban crossfire and probable retribution just to bring Tien water that day.”
Zoe said nothing straight away but Kara could see a dawning realisation in the woman’s eyes. “Like I said, I’ve had the easier ride being a dancer.”
Kara smiled in reply.
The aroma of spicy tomato and saffron signalled the approach of their food and the conversation stopped as the two women sampled the Sicilian rice balls.
Kara bided her time until Zoe was half way through the small dish, “Zoe, I don’t suppose you know where Nat came from in Russia?”
“Oh yes. Hard to forget.”
“Sorry?”
“She came from Gusev,” Zoe said with her fork poised in mid-air.
Kara was slightly taken aback at the way she had just been handed the likely confirmation that Uncle Illy was Chekov. “I’m sorry to ask, but how can you be so sure? Most people think everyone in Russia comes from Moscow.”
“Have you heard of ‘Le Corsaire’?” Zoe asked.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“It’s a ballet, but rarely performed in full. We put on the first ever production in the UK in 2013. One of the most famous versions of it is by Pyotr Gusev,” Zoe must have recognised the lack of recognition in Kara, “He was a very famous Russian dancer and choreographer. Anyway, when we were in pre-production Nat mentioned that Gusev was the name of the town she’d been born in. I hadn’t known that before. I knew she’d lived in Kaliningrad, that’s where she first went to Ballet School but I don’t think she’d ever mentioned Gusev before or I’d have remembered. We all know who Pyotr Gusev is.”
Kara realised she must have still had a slightly blank look on her face as Zoe added, “Well, no I didn’t mean that to sound so patronising. I meant we all do as dancers. I mean, you do if you’re involved in ballet.” She smiled awkwardly trying to deflect any perceived slight.
Kara laughed, “It’s okay Zoe. I must admit I’d heard of neither Pyotr nor ‘Le Corsaire’. But that’s interesting about Gusev.” She decided now was as opportune a moment as any of the lunch, “Can you tell me about Nat’s father. Uncle Illy? It would help me if I knew as much about him as you know.”
Zoe, now much more relaxed in Kara’s company, opened up without hesitation, “He and Dad go way back. They met at our recitals and became friends. He came over here years ago. Ninety-one or two I think. We started Central in ninety-four. Me and Nat, not me and Uncle Illy.” She laughed and took another forkful of the rice, dipping it into the tomato and saffron.
“What about his wife?” Kara asked.
“No, Nat’s mum died when she was three or four I think. Her Aunt Yanina, her real Aunt, looked after her.”
“Her aunt’s here too?”
“Yes, but I know she came later. I think we were in the second or third year of the school, something like that.”
“So is Yanina Illy’s sister?”
“Umm, no,” Zoe said a little awkwardly.
Kara raised an eyebrow.
“Aunt Yanina was Nat’s mum’s sister. It could get a bit confusing for everyone because Nat and I both called her aunt. When we were growing up I never thought too much about it but now we all know that Uncle Illy and Aunt Yanina are a thing. I guess they were both lonely in a new country and it was natural.”
“What’s Illy’s name?” Kara asked between mouthfuls.
“Oh, it’s really grand. We always joked that he should have been a prince with a name like Illarion Yurevich Sultanov.” She laughed again and dabbed her mouth with the heavy linen napkin.
Kara laughed too, “That’s a great name. So is he a prince or does he have to work?”
“He runs a modelling agency. The Krasota Agency.”
Kara registered the Russian word for beauty and knew that Zoe had probably given her enough to be able to find the man. She still had no idea if he was responsible for taking Chris and Brenda but if he wasn’t he was probably out there looking for them as well. If he was responsible, then Kara had to hope he hadn’t been callous enough to kill his old friends.
“Thanks for this Zoe. It’s all been really useful and it’ll certainly help Tien and me to move things forward.” As she said it she saw the sadness return to Zoe’s eyes. Kara reached over and took her hand. “It’s okay. We’ll find them.” Zoe sniffed and nodded.
The conversation lulled again as both women finished their food. Kara poured them more water and waited a moment longer. Then, as casually as she could she asked Zoe, “So did you contact Illy about your parents going missing?”
“Oh yes, he was one of the first calls Michael and I made. He tried to tell us they’d probably just gone away on holiday but when we told him about Dad’s message he was really surprised and shocked. He told us to go straight to the police.”
Kara pondered the information, “Did Illy know about your Mother’s fear of flying?”
Zoe looked a little puzzled, “How do you mean?” she asked.
“I was just wondering. You said he was shocked. I’d have thought, being such a close family friend, Illy would have known about her fear of flying?”
“No. I wouldn’t have thought so. Mum was really embarrassed about it. She’d get really upset when it was mentioned. When we were little I remember I whinged about not being able to go to Disneyworld and she started crying. It was awful. I felt terrible. So we never really talked about it. It was just there but not discussed. Even by us, so I wouldn’t have thought Uncle Illy would have known. He was certainly surprised when I told him about it.”
Kara thought, ‘I’ll bet he was.’
If Illy was responsible for taking Zoe’s parents then all that hard work to get a good cover story, even to explain away the inoperable mobiles phones by being in America, was all undone by a simple unknown fear. Still, she couldn’t help but be impressed that if he was behind the disappearance then he must have had supreme confidence he had covered his tracks to recommend Zoe go straight to the Police.
‘Cocky son-of-a-bitch,’ she thought. She k
ept her voice light, “That was good advice. Did he offer anything else?”
“He and Nat came round to see us that night. He was really upset that the Police weren’t listening to us. I thought he was going to go through the roof. I honestly thought he was going to go to the Police Station and demand to be seen.”
“He didn’t?”
“No,” Zoe drew the vowel out like it was something she would never have expected Uncle Illy to do. “I know he’s been here a long time but I think he still mistrusts authority. I think it’s a hangover from his days under communism. I don’t know what happened to him back there but I’m pretty sure it was bad. So no, he didn’t go round. But he has told me to keep him informed every day and to let him know if we need money to pay for your work.”
“Right. So he knows you’ve hired me and Tien?” Kara kept the tension she felt out of her voice and reached down to scratch an itch on her knee.
“Oh yes. He was really impressed that I had found you through Dad’s old mates. Like I said, he asked for me to keep him up to date with what you’re finding out so he can help if he can,” Zoe said.
‘Tic.’
Eugene’s voice sounded in Kara’s ear. He was sitting at a table on the far apex of the curved gallery with clear lines of sight of the whole restaurant floor. Tien and Kara had thought it a reasonable precaution just in case the man in Zoe’s graduation photo had indeed been Chekov. Once again Kara thanked her reliance on good practice and excess caution, regardless of situation. “Kara, I’m on it.”
He didn’t need to say anymore. She saw him lifting a mobile phone to his ear and knew he would make sure that Dan moved to immediately secure Tien. She also knew that Tien would start revisiting their last few days to see if they’d been compromised at any turn. For now, all Kara could do was turn her thoughts back to Zoe and improvise as best she could. She had to assume the worst case. If Chekov was involved in the abduction then she needed to stop him getting any more information about what she and her team were up to. Even if he wasn’t involved she didn’t fancy a Russian gangster having an inside track on her activities. She reached for a drink of water and used the time to invent a reason for Zoe to keep her mouth firmly shut and away from Illy’s ear.
“That’s marvellous Zoe. I’m really pleased you have someone there for you. The thing is though, I have a favour to ask and it might seem a bit strange but I hope you’ll bear with me.”
Zoe’s brow had creased and she was concentrating fully on Kara’s face. “Yes?” she asked with a seriousness to her voice.
“The thing is, I haven’t been completely truthful when I said we had no news this morning. We actually think we might have a slight lead,” Kara said and watched Zoe’s expression change to one of hope. Kara once more made a calming motion with her hand. “It’s not much and I can’t tell you if it will even come to anything but, Tien thinks she’s discovered some monitoring equipment in your parent’s house.”
Zoe now looked simply confused, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what that means.”
“We found what seems to be a microphone and listening devices.”
Zoe’s eyes widened, “You mean like a bug?”
Kara spoke softly, “Yes. But we don’t know what it’s there for. We can’t take it to the Police without knowing where it transmits to or why. They’ll just tell us to go away like they did to you. I think this all might be to do with what your dad did back in the Navy all those years ago. I take it you didn’t know what he did?”
“Well not at the time. I was only ten when he left. But since then, obviously, we know he was a photographer.”
“Yes, but do you know what else he did?”
“Well,” Zoe hesitated and looked down to the table.
“It’s okay Zoe, I know what he did. I just need to know how much you and Michael know.”
“Well I suppose it’ll be okay to tell you given you were in the Army.” Kara almost corrected her again but didn’t. She let Zoe continue, “We know he eventually worked for Navy Intelligence,” Zoe said it very softly and quickly followed it with, “But we were never allowed to speak about it. Dad and his old mates would come round but it was never discussed openly. Certainly not the details of what he did. We knew he worked as a teacher in the Intelligence School, but that was it.”
“Good,” said Kara. “That’s good that you knew what he did. Yes, he was in Intelligence and we just don’t know for certain if this is related. We could start looking at everyone who knows about this to see if they are being monitored too, but that will take a lot of time. I don’t think we should waste resources on it when we can be cleverer and that needs your help.” She paused and leant forward a little. Zoe reciprocated her movement and the women’s heads almost met in the middle of the table space.
“We don’t have the technical ability to check your house and your phone, or Michael’s phone,” Kara lied. Had there really been bugs Tien would have negated the threat with minimal effort. Kara paused again for what she hoped would be effect, “This is the favour, Zoe. I need you to not tell anyone about what we’re doing. Nothing at all. As far as anyone else is concerned we’ve got no further news. None. So you can’t even tell Illy or Yanina or Nat about what we’ve discussed here. That way they’ll be kept safe and in the clear. If they ask, or if you need to keep Illy up to date, just tell them we met and I’ve got no further news. It’s really vital that whoever is listening in gets nothing from you. Do you understand?” Kara sat back a little and said a silent, quick prayer that the rubbish she had said had been delivered in a credible enough way to scare the sense out of Zoe.
Zoe nodded, “Yes, certainly. I totally understand.”
“Great, that’s fantastic. I’ve reached out to some friends who might be able to do a bug-sweep and if they do then we’ll be able to check your place and maybe even your Uncle Illy’s and Nat’s. I’m guessing Nat isn’t still at home? ”
“Oh gosh no. She’s married and lives out in Loughton.”
Kara shook her head, “Loughton?”
“It’s up near Epping Forest.”
“And Illy?”
“Somewhere on the other side of the forest from Nat. He moved a couple of years ago and I haven’t actually been to the new house yet. Gosh! That’s shameful,” she said, shaking her head slowly, “We all used to be in and out of each other’s houses all the time. I suppose life just gets in the way?”
Kara nodded her agreement.
“Mum and Dad have been there. Apparently it’s beautiful. Uncle Illy certainly has come a long way from a little terrace in Highbury.”
Kara nodded her agreement again but for different reasons than Zoe thought.
“I can text him and get the address if you need it?” Zoe said reaching for her bag.
“No, that’s fine,” Kara said as casually as she could but her stomach had lurched at the prospect of Zoe tipping Illy that someone wanted to know where he lived. “If I need it I can get it later. I’ll let you know, but for now the less details being passed on phones or in conversations the better.”
Zoe looked as if she had realised the laxness of her offer, “Oh, of course. How silly of me. Someone might be listening and then they would know too.”
“Yes, that’s it exactly,” Kara said and wondered why civilians believed it was so easy to bug phones and listen in. ‘Hooray for Hollywood,’ she thought.
It was a shame Zoe didn’t know the address, but Kara couldn’t risk Illy being tipped off. She was going to have to hope Tien could dig out an address later. But she needed to know one piece of information Tien wouldn’t likely be able to turn up.
“You said Sultanov. I remember meeting a Russian man once by that name. He bred the most beautiful pedigree dogs. Is that Illy?”
“No. Aunt Yanina doesn’t like dogs so they’ve never even had one let alone bred them.”
“Ah well, I just wondered. Sometimes the world is so small.” Satisfied, Kara switched tack, “Will Michael be at home tonight?”
“Yes, but I have a performance so I probably won’t see him until late.”
“Okay, so if you’re on the phone to him, no news. Then take him outside the house to tell him what we know. Tell him to be careful on the phone and in the house with what he says. Okay?”
“Yes, absolutely,” Zoe paused and her eyes became teary, “Do you think Mum and Dad are still safe?”
“I have to believe that they’re still safe Zoe. We will find them. I can promise you that. We will find them.”
The graceful ballerina had started to weep, very softly and very discreetly. Kara caught the eye of a waiter to bring the bill and by the time she had settled their account Zoe had regained her composure. The women stood and Kara offered to accompany Zoe across to Markova House. As they left the restaurant Kara passed Eugene and received the subtlest of nods.
As the women waited to cross the narrow Kensington Gore, made more constricted by a huge tourist coach disgorging its camera wielding horde, Kara felt that she should say something to try and lighten Zoe’s mood with a good memory.
“It must have been great that your dad used to come to your recitals?”
Zoe gave a small, limp smile, “Yes, he never missed. Such a sweetie really. And always gave Mum a full report.”
Kara half turned, “A report?”
“Yes, Mum hardly ever got to come in person. I think that’s why Illy and Dad became such good friends.”
Kara guided Zoe around the last of the tourists and saw Eugene waiting at the end of the street. He reached up and dusted his left shoulder. All clear. She responded with a similar gesture telling him he could safely leave her from here on.
“Why was that?” Kara asked.
“Oh you know, most of the people there were mums and they were the only two men who turned up regularly.”
“Right. I just assumed that your mum would have gone too. Did she not like ballet?”
“No, nothing like that but Dad was self-employed in the camera shop and could take the time off.”
“Of course. I see. I’m really ashamed to say I had assumed your mum hadn’t worked.”
