The Zul Enigma

by J M Leitch

  Bob grunted. ‘And you believe Dr Roberts had no prior knowledge Dr Maiz would seek him out?’

  ‘Absolutely. Maiz felt threatened, he wanted to talk to someone, so he called Roberts, the only friend he’s got. Had he wanted to destroy your political career, he’d have headed straight for the media. And had he meant to escape for good, he’d have tried to get a helluva lot further away than that motel.’

  ‘So you’re sure he and Dr Roberts weren’t conspiring last night?’

  ‘Positive. They were in a shocking state when our guys brought them in. They stank of whisky and beer. They’d slept in their clothes. There’s no conspiracy going on. Just a knee jerk reaction, some talking and hard drinking.’

  ‘And their stories match up?’

  ‘Completely.’

  ‘And you wanna let Dr Roberts go.’

  ‘Correct. He’s no threat. He knows his friend’s sick. He wants him to get help. We’ll keep an eye on Roberts till Maiz is dealt with. But I don’t foresee any problems.’

  ‘So Dr Maiz has until midday to make up his mind.’

  ‘Correct.’

  ‘Run it by me again… why we suggested a hospital in Spain?’

  ‘It’s a diplomatic decision. We want to keep our relationship with the Secretary-General as sweet as possible. Suggesting Maiz goes to Madrid near his family makes us look good. And we’ve got a solid network there so it won’t cost us.’

  ‘We endorse this suggestion sir,’ Anita added. ‘We have to tread carefully around Mr Howard right now. With the increased likelihood of the Russian situation worsening, it’s a shrewd move to keep the UN onside and we also don’t want to provoke any more public accusations of unilateralism that might damage our popularity before the election.’

  ‘Any other reasons?’ Bob asked Barbara.

  ‘In the unlikely event we are wrong about Maiz having an accomplice or being a pawn in someone else’s hoax, it gets him well away from Washington.’

  ‘Assuming Dr Maiz agrees, how’re we gonna handle it?’

  ‘We’ll assess him and refer him to Hospital Psiquiátrico. We’ll transport him accompanied by one of our doctors to handle the admission procedures. He’ll stick around to make sure Maiz is receiving the appropriate treatment and evaluate his response.’

  ‘He won’t be able to check himself out?’

  ‘Not without our prior knowledge and agreement, no.’

  ‘Nor his family?’

  ‘No sir.’

  ‘That’s the beauty of your recommendation Barbara,’ Anita commented in her quiet, even voice, doodling a daisy on her notepad. ‘Dr Maiz is clearly unwell and hospital is the best place for him until he recovers. But, should later evidence surface indicating we’ve made any wrong assumptions, it will also keep him safely under our control.’

  Barbara bowed her head towards Anita, acknowledging the compliment. The dig, she knew from experience, was best ignored.

  ‘So how long before we can get him outta here?’ Bob asked.

  ‘A couple of days at most.’

  ‘And he’ll go direct to Madrid?’

  ‘Sure. His office can ship anything he needs.’

  ‘And if he doesn’t wanna cooperate, then the process’ll be that much quicker.’

  ‘Exactly. National Security will arrest him.’

  ‘And access pending his removal?’

  ‘I don’t think he’ll want to see anyone.’

  ‘Not Dr Roberts?’

  ‘They fell out, but I don’t have a problem with it if that’s what Maiz wants. Then there’s Greg Howard. You should call him personally to let him know Maiz’s decision.’

  Bob sat upright and smiled. ‘Okay, Barbara. Looks like you’ve covered all the bases. Tell Dr Roberts he’s free to go.’

  ***

  Carlos, back at the safe house once more, was sitting in the dining room with Drew. Neither of them knew it but they’d been interrogated in separate rooms right there in the basement. They’d been forced to repeat their stories over and over until, eventually satisfied, their interrogators had put more duck tape over their eyes and one by one dragged them through the back garden where two cars were waiting at the rear gate. They’d then been driven round the streets only to be brought back to the house half an hour later. Carlos was surprised at the relief he felt being back in familiar surroundings, even though it was the place that served as his prison.

  Mary had produced an excellent breakfast of eggs, bacon, pancakes, maple syrup, toast and coffee.

  ‘I’m feeling better now than I did when those goons burst in earlier,’ Drew said, scraping up his last mouthful. ‘That was magic.’

  Carlos didn’t reply. He was struggling to eat anything at all. He couldn’t come to grips with how his life had spun out of control over the past few days. The contrast between how he’d felt the morning he left Vienna and now was immeasurable. Only a few days ago he’d been energised, excited and confident. Now he was listless, dull and beaten. He could scarcely muster the energy to lift his knife and fork.

  Although Drew had been trying to put a cheerful face on things over breakfast, he felt just terrible too.

  The significance of what had happened was only just beginning to sink in. He’d destroyed the only two things Carlos had left to cling to – their friendship and his memories of Elena – and he wished he could snatch back the past hours to erase what he’d done.

  Thank God he hadn’t let on he knew about the baby.

  He slid his chair back from the table. ‘Come on mate. You haven’t got much of an appetite. Let’s take this coffee into the lounge.’

  ***

  Scott Fuller, Barbara’s messenger boy, was in the sitting room when they walked in. He greeted Carlos and Drew by name, introduced himself and invited them to sit down.

  ‘Dr Roberts. Good news. You can leave whenever you want. We don’t need to inconvenience you any further. Thank you for your cooperation. We’ll provide transport back to the car you left at the motel.’

  ‘So I’m off the hook, huh?’

  ‘You could put it that way.’

  ‘What about Carlos?’

  Scott looked over at Carlos who avoided his gaze. ‘Dr Maiz has until midday to make his choice. What happens after that depends on his decision.’

  ‘Listen. I’d like to stay on here a while. Be with Carlos for a bit longer. Is that okay?’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘Can I visit again before he leaves?’

  ‘Mary will give you a number. You can call to see if it can be arranged.’

  Scott stood up. ‘Well, I need to be getting back. I’ll say goodbye for now.’ He shook hands with Drew. ‘We have your numbers Dr Roberts. We’ll let you know what’s going on.’

  Drew nodded. ‘Thanks. I’d appreciate that.’

  Scott took a step towards Carlos but he turned his face away. ‘And unless I hear from you before, Dr Maiz, I’ll come over at noon. You can tell me your decision then.’

  Carlos ignored him.

  ‘He seems like a pretty decent bloke,’ Drew said as Scott shut the door behind himself.

  Carlos spoke for the first time since the interrogation. ‘I don’t believe I’m hearing this.’

  ‘What?’ Drew looked at him.

  ‘They’re keeping me under house arrest.’ He screwed two fingers against his temple. ‘They’ve told me I’m crazy. They lost me my job. And what words come out of your mouth? “He seems like a pretty decent bloke”.’

  Drew dropped his head. ‘You’re right. It was an arse of a thing to say.’

  ‘You know what? I don’t want you hanging around. The sight of you makes me sick.’ Carlos jumped up, knocking over the table. His cup bounced across the floor, splashing a trail of coffee over the carpet.

  ‘I thought you’d like some company. Someone to talk to.’

  ‘Why would I want your company?’ Carlos spat. ‘What do you think I want to talk to you about? Hey? How you screwed my wife? Get out, you hear? J
ust get out of here.’

  ‘Carlos, listen, I…’ Drew leaped forward trying to put his hand on Carlos’s arm to stop him from walking out but Carlos shoved it away. ‘For Christ’s sake, LEAVE ME ALONE,’ he yelled and barged past Drew slamming the door in his face.

  ***

  ‘Sorry I didn’t call earlier but I’ve had a cunt of a time.’

  The day after they’d bumped into each other outside the restaurant Joseph had got a clean SIM card to Drew, so they could talk about Carlos knowing the Americans weren’t listening in. They remained cautious, though, and never mentioned specifics.

  ‘Did he turn up okay?’ Joseph asked.

  ‘Yes. He wanted to talk. I took him to a motel. He’s in a bad way, mate. And then I made things even worse.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘I told him what happened with his wife.’

  ‘What? Why did you do that?’ Joseph’s voice was angry.

  ‘I didn’t mean to. I just got pissed off listening to his griping and I let something slip. He went fucking demented.’

  ‘Where is he now?’

  ‘They picked us both up in the early hours this morning. They questioned us and took us to the house where he was before. Then they let me go.’

  ‘Do you know how much longer he’ll stay there?’

  ‘Not long. They say he’s threatened their security.’

  ‘Threatened security? That’s bad. Who’s “they”?’

  ‘As we thought. The top man’s main agency.’

  ‘This just gets worse.’

  ‘Thing is he hasn’t threatened their security at all, he just got himself tied up in this mad situation and right now I don’t know how much of the madness is coming from him. They say he’s lost it and that’s why he can’t remember doing what they’re accusing him of. But he denies it – being ill and doing what they said. And I don’t know what to believe.’

  Joseph didn’t respond.

  ‘They gave him a choice. Check into a nut house or they’ll arrest him.’

  ‘Is he really that sick?’

  ‘Look mate, I told you the other day, I don’t know. But I’ve been worried since I had dinner with him last week. Most of the time he’s alright but every now and then he acts as mad as a hatter. And after what I told him last night? I’m scared that could do it – push him over the edge. So, yeah, I guess it could be serious. And it’s the only explanation for what they say he did.’

  ‘Which is?’

  ‘I can’t tell you mate. I’ve now signed two secrecy agreements, the second with the Septics this morning.’

  Joseph grunted. ‘Did he say anything else?’

  ‘Not really. Just they’d given him till midday to decide.’

  ‘He’ll go for the hospital option.’

  ‘He’d be crazy not to. Shit, I didn’t mean that the way it came out.’

  ‘Does his boss know?’

  ‘He’s the one agreed to hand the case over to the agency. Our friend’s furious about that too. He feels betrayed. By both of us.’

  ‘They won’t waste time moving him. The problem is, if he chooses the hospital we have no idea whether they’ll release him if they find nothing wrong with him. Or, if he is sick, whether they’ll let him go once he’s recovered. Their concern could be genuine but it could also be a device to keep him out of the way for as long as it suits them.’

  ‘That’s exactly what he’s scared of.’

  ‘Then there’s something else. It’s unlikely, but something we need to consider.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘They might really want him out the way.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘His own country’s provided a staging point for certain dubious flights in the past.’

  ‘Fucking hell!’ Drew knew Joseph was talking about extraordinary rendition, when suspects were kidnapped without trace and put on secret flights to black sites for interrogation where they could be held indefinitely, if not killed.

  ‘If they try that, we may never see him again.’

  ‘How come you know so much about all this shit?’

  ‘And if he chooses the other option, I’ve no idea what they’ll do. You believe he really is sick?’

  ‘I keep telling you I don’t bloody know. But he needs to get checked out.’

  ‘So what we need to do is get him to a hospital where they can’t touch him.’

  ‘You make it sound so easy.’

  Joseph cracked a rare smile that Drew heard in his voice. ‘Identifying solutions is always easy. It’s finding the most effective way to implement them, that’s the hard part.’

  ‘You reckon they’ll let him say his goodbyes at work before flying him home?’

  ‘You’re kidding. It’s too costly. Anyhow, the longer it takes to get him to his final destination, the bigger the risk of something going wrong.’

  ‘Don’t get uppity with me – I’m just thinking we’d stand a better chance there – of getting him away.’

  ‘Of course, that is true.’

  ‘And it would be a reasonable request, wouldn’t it, seeing he’s worked there for over four years and all his stuff’s there?’ Drew hesitated, ‘… and what about his boss? He’ll need to do something – fire him or make him redundant or put him on sick leave.’

  ‘I guess so. But that doesn’t mean the boss would fly there to do it.’

  ‘They are close, so why don’t I call him? See if he’s up for putting some pressure on to bring our friend there first?’

  ‘Wouldn’t hurt to try.’

  ‘I could even hint if we get him as far as his office, it’ll give us a chance to get him away and safe.’

  ‘This is sounding better and better. Anything else?’

  ‘Yeah. One more thing. We need names.’

  ‘Names?’

  ‘Code names. I want to be Secret Squirrel…’

  ***

  ‘Hello?’ Greg said. ‘I had a message to call?’

  ‘Ah! Yes. I’m sorry to trouble you… but I need to speak to you urgently.’

  ‘My secretary said you’re an old friend of one of my people and that you were with him today, is that right?’

  ‘That’s right. But before we go on, is this a secure line?’

  ‘As secure as anything around here. But we still need to be careful. So don’t mention specifics. Now I assume you’re the same gentleman who recently signed an agreement with us about some messages?’

  ‘Yes sir.’

  ‘So what news do you have?’

  ‘I don’t know if you know this but our friend’s been a…,’ Drew hesitated, putting extra emphasis on his next word, ‘special… guest of the Yanks in DC.’

  ‘I knew he was there but I didn’t know they’d extended him special privileges. So how did you get to see him?’

  ‘He got away yesterday afternoon and contacted me. We spent some hours together.’

  ‘I’ve heard nothing about any of this.’

  ‘He’s in bad shape.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Mentally. And I made things worse. I blurted out a personal secret and to be blunt, it completely ruined our friendship and pushed him down to rock bottom. The main man’s gorillas picked us up in the early hours this morning and interrogated us. They let me go but they’re still holding our friend. They say he’s gone mad – that he made up you know who and the messages. They gave him an ultimatum. If he doesn’t agree to commit himself by midday today they’re going to arrest him.’

  ‘Oh my!’

  ‘I don’t know whether they’re being honest about taking him to a hospital in his home city. And even if they do, I’m worried they may have influence over the doctors there. Who knows how long they’ll keep him?’

  ‘These are grave allegations.’

  ‘Yes sir, but I believe they are warranted.’

  ‘So why are you talking to me?’

  ‘He said you were close. But right now he thinks you’ve sold him
down the river.’

  ‘I had no choice. I was, as the saying goes, between a rock and a hard place.’

  ‘But perhaps you can do something for him now?’

  ‘I’ll do anything in my power.’

  ‘If I may ask, sir, what are your intentions?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Are you going to sack him? Put him on sick leave? What?’

  ‘I don’t know. The “main man”, as you call him, hasn’t spoken to me yet, so as far as I’m concerned at this point in time our friend is still a valued employee.’

  ‘I’m sure they’ll want to move him back to where he comes from direct. But for his sake, don’t you think he should be allowed to pack up his office first?’

  ‘That would seem the right thing to do.’

  ‘Not just the right thing sir, but the most advantageous. For him.’

  Greg cleared his throat. ‘For his mental state?’

  ‘Mental… physical… Can you persuade them to take him there first?’

  ‘I have to be there myself on Monday. I can say I want to meet him early next week to discuss what I should do about him. Do you know when they intend moving him?’

  ‘No. But you can bet it’ll be sooner than later.’

  ‘You have my word I’ll do everything I can to make sure this business is concluded fairly. But you must understand, I can’t be directly involved in any activities that may jeopardise my relationship with the main man nor my position.’

  ‘I understand. I just hope you can persuade them. Now he no longer trusts me, he needs to know there’s someone still fighting in his corner.’

  ‘You have my word I’ll do what I can.’

  ‘You must. At the moment he thinks everyone’s deserted him.’

  ***

  ‘Greg? This is Bob. How was Colombia?’

  ‘Exactly as you’d expect. It’s a disaster of the greatest magnitude.’

  ‘I can imagine.’

  ‘I assume you’re calling about Carlos Maiz.’

  ‘Correct. Without beating about the bush, my NI people ran a full investigation and the findings are as we anticipated. Dr Maiz is mentally unstable. He acted on his own, spoofed the e-mails and sent them to himself. There’s no evidence to back up his story about the hologram. It’s clear he’s made the whole damn thing up.’