Sleeper Cell

by Alan Porter

  ‘And there’d be little to gain by assassinating all the delegates. And taking out only one side would reflect badly on the other. Any action would be political suicide. But Mapleton’s the key: there’s something we’re not seeing.’

  ‘If I could change it back, I would. But if I move the talks again, the Israelis will be suspicious of the Palestinians, and the Palestinians will be suspicious of the Israelis and they’ll both be suspicious of us. We lose the best chance we’ve had in decades. And the bloody Americans’ll love the whole spectacle! This is a mess. And the worst of it is, you’re the only person who knows and you’re up to your eyes in the shit-storm that erupted over London on Wednesday.’

  ‘Which is exactly what they were banking on, Prime Minister. But they’ve lost that advantage now. In fact, as you imply yourself, this might even give us a massive advantage.’

  ‘Meaning?’ Richard turned to face Lawrence.

  ‘Let’s assume they’re planning something at Mapleton. We don’t know what, and right now it doesn’t matter. You moved the talks, but so far they haven’t released Ruth. Which means they may still need leverage for something. We find Ruth, they’ve lost it. Even now, they’ve lost the element of surprise.’

  ‘You think you can find her?’

  ‘In twenty-four hours? It’ll be tough. But finding her is going to be a lot easier than trying to penetrate these people through what else we know of them. This is the first concrete lead we’ve got, and we really can use it.’

  ‘What do you need me to do?’

  ‘If Mapleton’s under threat, the only weak point is from the air. Discretely get fighter jets on stand-by. A visible military presence on the ground wouldn’t hurt either. Make it look like a routine back-up. Apart from that, do nothing that will arouse suspicion. Carry on as usual. Stick to your plans and leave us to worry about security. Don’t do anything that will signal to them that we’re closing in.’

  Richard shook his head. ‘I just don’t know who the hell I can trust any more. Byers virtually handed her to them. He’d been with us for two years!’

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘Maybe I was blind. Now all I can think is: is there anyone else? We’ve never seen anything this sophisticated on home soil before. Did they have inside help?’

  ‘We don’t know yet. This is a very complex investigation.’

  ‘Complex? Not to me. It’s really very simple. I want Ruth back. But tell me, DCI Lawrence: who can I trust? Who can you trust now?’

  ‘You can trust me, Sir. And I’ve got someone on my side. Someone I should have trusted long ago.’

  35

  Leila arrived back at Broadwater Farm a little after one thirty. Bones’s acolyte put her through the same rigorous and unnecessary security checks as the previous day and she was taken up to yet another flat in the Northolt block where Phillip was once again in front of his computer.

  He nodded at Leila’s hello but did not turn round. She leaned in the doorway and watched him for a couple of minutes.

  ‘You got into the CIA computer, right?’ she said.

  ‘Not very far.’

  ‘Far enough. Can you get into Homeland Security?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘No? Is that more difficult?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘No what? Phillip, could you be a bit more specific?’

  ‘I haven’t decrypted Black Eagle yet. I don’t have time to get into Homeland Security.’

  ‘I think that’s where you’re going to find Black Eagle.’

  He stopped typing.

  ‘We found a passport,’ Leila went on. ‘It belonged to someone we believe was working for them.’

  ‘Show me,’ he said.

  ‘I don’t have it, but I do have the number.’ She reached for a sheet of paper beside the keyboard.

  ‘Tell me,’ Phillip said. ‘Don’t write it down.’

  ‘It’s 311532421. We know the name, date of birth, all the personal stuff, and I’ve seen stamps for Washington, Tel Aviv, a few others. What I need is anything else you can link to it or her. Hotels, secure-entry buildings, car hire, foreign exchanges, gun shops, pharmacies, anything which might have used the passport number for ID. Maybe we can get some idea what she was doing.’

  ‘Why aren’t your people doing it?’

  ‘They probably are, but as Bones said, they ask permission. I don’t have time to play by the rules.’

  ‘I’ll look into it.’

  ‘Come on,’ Bones said quietly. He’d walked up behind her so quietly she hadn’t even known he was there until he spoke. ‘Let him do his thing,’ he said.

  Leila gave him twenty pounds to get them something to eat then took a shower in the flat’s tiny bathroom. When she came out Bones was sitting at the kitchen table with two huge pizzas in front of him. She should have known he wouldn’t leave Phillip alone with her: to get anything this fast he must have phoned out for it. He took a second slice and wandered off in the direction of the bedroom where Phillip was working.

  Five minutes later he called Leila in.

  ‘He says there’s nothing,’ Bones said. Philip had already gone back to the files he had downloaded from the Black Eagle server.

  ‘What’s the problem?’ she said. ‘We know from the passport when she entered and left each location. There must be some trace that spins off from that.’

  ‘There’s nothing,’ Phillip said. ‘Not just a dead end, but nothing at all.’

  ‘How is that possible? Aren’t we all tracked all the time?’

  ‘Are you sure the passport number was right?’

  ‘Yes. I can remember a nine digit number.’

  ‘Then it’s all been erased. I can’t even give you a name. I’ve looked at Homeland Security, US Immigration and two servers in the UK. No records. Do you want me to try… where’s Tel Aviv?’

  ‘No. No point. How hard would it be to erase every trace of someone like that?’

  ‘If you know where all the records were, it’s easy.’

  ‘Easy for you?’

  ‘I didn’t erase them.’

  ‘No, I know. But it could have been done by a hacker.’

  ‘Yes, if they knew where to look.’

  ‘So we’re nowhere. Not much point reporting that back.’

  ‘They already know.’

  ‘Know what?’

  ‘That the records had been erased, if that’s what they were looking for. Wherever I looked, CTC had already been there.’

  ‘They can’t have been. We’re liaising with the US Embassy, and they were supposed to be looking into it. Our people wouldn’t have had access.’

  ‘Someone’s been there.’

  ‘You’re sure? Someone from within CTC?’

  ‘Yes. I had to go through the logs on the Home Office server to find an alias to use and I saw the CTC identifier. I back-tracked and found the same one on all the other server logs.’

  ‘Did you get a name?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Do you know if this person did anything?’

  ‘No. I can’t tell what’s happened to a file that isn’t there.’

  ‘Strange. It’s probably not important.’

  ‘I’m running background searches for any secondary data. There might be something. It’s going to take a while.’

  ‘Don’t bother. It’ll have been erased. As soon as the Embassy knew we were onto them, they’d have gone through everything to make sure. Thank you, Phillip.’

  ‘Did that help?’

  ‘It did. I think. We suspected that this woman had help from the inside in Washington – the fact that she had a US passport indicated as much. Now we know she did and we know whatever she was doing was not legit. Whoever her US handlers are, they needed her to disappear completely from their end. They assumed we wouldn’t find this second passport, or at least, not so quickly. As soon as she was killed, they erased her US identity, leaving only what fragments we had of her time in England. And she was careful with that
. She was the key. Without her, nothing makes any sense: it’s all just bits of a puzzle that don’t fit together.’

  Bones appeared in the doorway.

  ‘You know someone called Lawrence?’ he said to Leila.

  ‘He’s my boss. Why?’

  ‘Greg Stiles called. Lawrence is looking for you. Or more accurate, he’s looking for him.’ He nodded to Phillip.

  ‘Nothing new there. Did he say what he wants?’

  ‘Your phone’s dead, and he’s got a problem. Thinks maybe Phillip can help. Your call.’

  ‘Lawrence is above board, and I think I know what his problem is.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Ruth Morgan. He’s finally figured out that something’s wrong. My guess is he wants the kind of corner-cutting help only Phillip can manage. Phillip?’

  ‘He’ll trace the call. Your people are already doing things you don’t know about.’

  ‘Will he?’ Bones said.

  ‘Honestly? I don’t know, but I do know he needs Phillip’s cooperation, so I think he’ll play it straight. We’ll use one of your phones to make the call. As soon as we’re done get one of your guys to take it out of the building, but leave it live. Even if they do run a trace, the closest anyone could get is Broadwater, and they know that much already. Phillip, this could be the key. Something’s going on out there, and right now, you and DCI Lawrence are the only people I can trust with this.’

  ‘OK,’ Phillip said, still with his back to her.

  Bones handed her the phone and she dialled Lawrence’s personal cell.

  36

  ‘What convinced you?’ Leila said.

  ‘The PM himself,’ Lawrence replied. ‘Admitted everything, including that the talks have been moved as a result of the kidnappers’ demands.’

  ‘Does he have any idea why?’

  ‘None whatever. But he’s convinced they’ve made a serious miscalculation. Mapleton’s perimeter is ringed by a SHIELD doppler fence and they’re running Goshawk security within the building. There’s no way in, and everyone working the site has been vetted by all the participating governments.’

  ‘There’s something you’re missing.’ She glanced at Phillip. He had opened another sub-screen and was typing rapidly. The phone was on speaker right next to the keyboard, but so far Phillip had ignored it.

  ‘Air strike is the only weakness,’ Lawrence said. ‘The PM has authorised two Typhoons on standby throughout the talks.’

  ‘OK, let’s find Ruth then we can concentrate on what’s really going on. Who else is working on this?’

  ‘No one,’ Lawrence said.

  ‘You’ve got no one looking for the PM’s daughter? Really?’

  ‘Morgan insisted, and I’m inclined to agree, at least for now. These people have been one step ahead of us right from the start. They know what we’re going to do even before we do. Like killing Jaafar right under our noses; like following you yesterday – how did they even know where you live?’

  ‘So you agree that there may be a leak within CTC?’

  ‘There’s a leak somewhere. Until we know what it is, I can’t risk bringing anyone else in. Even Commander Thorne has no idea about this. So that’s where Phillip comes in. I’ve collated all the data from the time of the bomb – CCTV, phone mast records, ANPR, anything I could get hold of. I can give Phillip access to all the files. He’ll have researchers’ privileges, which will get the two of you a long way towards seeing if there’s anything we’ve missed.’

  ‘Apart from the fact that you’ve missed everything,’ Leila said, ‘researcher status isn’t good enough. Give Phillip full access.’

  ‘Can’t be done. And before you even think of hacking past what I have given you, I’ve alerted the Hendon Data Centre that he’ll be there. If he strays one inch off the path, and he’ll be booted out. What he’s got is going to have to be enough.’

  ‘I’ll need to run traces on any calls that look interesting,’ Phillip said very quietly.

  ‘That’s fine,’ Lawrence said. ‘Just do it your way, not through the police computer. When this thing’s over, there’s going to be inquiries for years. I don’t want anything illegal tracing back to me or my department.’

  ‘Fine,’ Leila said. ‘Send over the access protocols to this phone.’

  There was a pause of a couple of seconds and the text alert beeped. Leila switched to text and showed Phillip the screen. He barely glanced at it before he was opening up a socket in the Police National Computer. Seconds later he had traces running on phone numbers and two screens of CCTV footage rolling.

  ‘He’s on it,’ Leila said. She left the room and returned to the kitchen.

  ‘Michael,’ she said, ‘I need to know that however this pans out, Phillip’s going to be looked after. He’s got no family, he’s not exactly worldly-wise and what we’ve got him doing could get him tried or extradited.’

  ‘I’ll make sure he’s properly rewarded.’

  ‘That’s not what I mean. He needs immunity, maybe even witness protection. Promise me that or I’ll pull him out right now.’

  ‘Phillip will be protected. Hell, if he’s as good as you think he is, he’ll probably even be offered a job.’

  ‘Thank you.’ She sat down at the table and took a deep breath. ‘Right, what’s he’s on now is going to get us somewhere, but we still need to know who we’re dealing with. Have you got anything on the attribution?’

  ‘Not much. You were right about the video. It led, eventually, to an American student in Chicago.’

  ‘Lebanese?’

  ‘Yes. He’s not even a Muslim. He’s been arrested, but it’s not going anywhere. And Harakat al Sahm was a smokescreen. You might have been right about Black Eagle, but we’re still no closer to knowing whether that’s a codename for the operation or an established group.’

  ‘Ask the Pentagon.’

  ‘I’ll suggest it!’

  ‘Tell me, did you get anything from the passport? I mean the US one, the Mussan clone.’

  ‘Five are working with Special Liaison over at the US Embassy. They’ve not reported anything yet.’

  ‘No one at CTC’s looked into it?’

  ‘No. Someone seems to have pissed the Americans off and they’re not being very forthcoming with access right now. If Five get anything, they’ll tell us. Why?’

  ‘No reason. Just wanted to know if any of our people were working on the identity.’

  ‘They are, but you made sure it was all-but impossible to do it through official US channels. What are you going to do now?’

  ‘I’ve got a few ideas.’

  ‘Care to share them?’

  ‘No, not really. Unless you can get me inside Mapleton.’

  ‘Absolutely not. Commander Thorne would have to sign off on it before we even went to Five or the PM, and I can’t see that happening, can you? Why do you need to be there?’

  ‘All this effort just to get the talks moved to a place that no one can get into. Does that make any sense to you?’

  ‘They miscalculated. They assumed a country residence couldn’t be properly defended in the time we had to do it. Fortunately, Mapleton was always on the cards, so everything was in place. I agree that they were planning something else, but I can’t see how they can execute it, especially if we can get Ruth out of the picture.’

  ‘We will. The opening dinner’s at seven tonight, right?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Then that’s when we’ll see it. They’ll strike at the first opportunity.’

  ‘But the PM agrees that this can’t be an internal assassination.’

  ‘No. This isn’t about assassination. I don’t think it’s even about the peace talks, not directly. Black Eagle wanted to make sure all the players were together in a place of their choosing, but that’s not their end game.’

  ‘What is then?’

  ‘I don’t know. That’s why I need to be there.’

  ‘Sorry, it’s not going to happen. Work the kidnapp
ing angle with Phillip. It’s the best I can do.’

  ‘The best you can do is give me a job that’s illegal, assisting someone who doesn’t even work for CTC? Thanks a lot, Michael.’

  ‘I’ll call you if anything comes up.’

  He hung up.

  She sat staring out of the window at Phillip’s former home across the sun-baked open area between the buildings.

  She had the beginnings of a plan, but there was one thing she needed to check out first. Lawrence too was convinced CTC was leaking information, and to have any chance of putting her plan into action, she needed to plug that leak once and for all.

  She took one of the two remaining slices of cold pizza from the box and took a bite out of the congealed cheese. Bones walked into the kitchen just as she was beginning to wonder why she’d bothered.

  ‘Would you be open to a little under cover work yourself?’ she said.

  ‘What you got in mind?’

  ‘I need someone taken out of the picture. Someone from CTC.’

  ‘Shit, you’re calling in a hit on one of your own?’ He sat down across the table from her.

  ‘I don’t want him dead,’ she said. ‘The inquiry that’ll come once all this is over will take care of his long-term future. I just need him off the grid for tonight. There are things I need to do and I think he’s watching me.’

  From the back pocket of his jeans Bones produced a small tin and a Zippo lighter. In the tin were half a dozen pre-rolled joints, one of which he now lit and regarded Leila through the smoke.

  ‘Who is he?’ he said.

  ‘Mark Ross. He’s CTC’s principal data analyst, does digital forensics, that kind of thing. Like Phillip, only legal.’

  ‘And not as good.’

  ‘And nowhere near as good.’

  ‘What’s he done?’

  ‘I think he’s the CTC leak. Black Eagle have known every move I’ve made, and he’s the reason.’

  ‘If you’re asking me to take out a cop, you’re going to have to do better than that.’

  ‘He’s not police. He’s a civilian IT expert, the main link between Cyber Crime and CTC, and the only person capable of doing the sort of covert snooping Phillip’s doing now. Phillip said someone else from CTC has been snooping around looking for our bomb suspect’s background. My boss knows nothing about it, says the Americans are blocking our attempts to get at their data. Which means Ross is running his own parallel investigation, feeding intel back to Black Eagle. I think he also tried to frame me by leaking forensic photographs to the media. With him in the picture, the further we advance this thing, the more danger we’re all in. That’s why I need him out of the way tonight.’