While Quinn would have preferred Claire’s birth to have been his and Orlando’s secret, Orlando had worked while she was pregnant so keeping it under wraps had been impossible.
“Yes,” he said uncomfortably.
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
Nate returned and presented Taplin with her Newcastle.
After a toast, the British spy asked, “What is it I can do for you?”
“Who said anything about you doing something for us?” Quinn said.
“Isn’t that why you wanted to meet?”
“We’re meeting because there’s something we’d like to do for you.”
She regarded him anew. “And what might that be?”
“Present MI6 with a trophy of sorts, and bragging rights for sure.”
She leaned forward and clasped her hands together against her chin. “That sounds interesting. What kind of trophy are we talking about?”
“One that will make you very happy.”
“Is it possible you can be a little more vague?”
“If you wish.”
She snickered. “What kind of trophy?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll tell you all about it. Just not yet.”
Though the smile didn’t leave her lips, it did gain a bit of frost. “I know you are aware that undertaking any operation in my city without talking to me first is not a good idea.”
“We’re talking right now.”
She lowered her hands so that they rested, still clasped, on the table. “Please don’t force me to have you held for questioning. Paperwork could get lost, and you might be our guest for weeks. I’m sure that would mess up your plans, and you know I don’t want to do that.”
“No need for the hardball. I am authorized to give you a name.”
“I doubt a name will be—”
“Hammad Kassab.”
Her expression turned serious. “That’s a very dangerous name to be waving around.”
“I’m not waving it. I’m sharing it.”
“Is there going to be an attack? Is that what you’re saying? We’ve had no word of anything eminent.”
“No attack. Not like you’re thinking, anyway.”
“Then what? Is he the trophy?”
“As I said, I was authorized to give you a name. The other details will come at the appropriate time.”
“Authorized by who?”
“That is one of the details.”
She smirked. “You know I won’t be able to sit on this.”
“You only need to do so for a little while, that’s all.”
“What’s a little while?”
“I would think no more than four days. Five, tops.”
“That’s not a little while.”
“It’s better than a week, isn’t it?”
She frowned. “Why come to me now if you can’t disclose details yet?”
“Because the prize will need to be collected, which means you’ll have a part to play.”
“Oh, so you do want something. What kind of part?”
“Details at the appropriate time. I will say that it would be beneficial to have a team at the ready.”
“Is that all? And when should I expect to hear from you?”
Quinn said, “I believe I already gave you the time frame.” He and Nate stood. “Enjoy the beer. We’ll talk soon-ish.”
“Hold on,” she said as they started to walk away. When Quinn looked back, she said just loudly enough for him and Nate to hear, “You didn’t say what kind of team.”
“If things go well, retrieval.”
“And if they don’t?”
“Then Nate and I have enjoyed working with you.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
MONITORING PROGRAMS FOUND no signs of Dehler for the rest of the day Friday, through Friday night and into Saturday morning. Airport footage, however, did catch the three watchers from California passing through immigration and customs at Heathrow.
Since the men would know Quinn and Orlando by sight, and likely Nate, too, Orlando had arranged for a trio of local freelancers to watch the watchers and, if possible, tag them so Orlando could track their whereabouts on her computer.
By noon on Saturday, Daeng, Jar, and Kiet arrived—the latter one of the people who’d helped Orlando and Quinn rescue their kids in Jakarta. Though Daeng appeared to be back to almost one hundred percent, none of the others truly believed he was. Still, it was good to see him ready to work again.
At 4:23 p.m., the computer received a potential hit. The individual singled out was an overweight middle-aged woman wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, and baggy clothes. The program calculated a sixty-two-percent match for Dehler. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but better than fifty-fifty.
“I’ll go,” Nate said.
Quinn shook his head. “She knows you.”
“She knows all of us, except maybe Kiet, and there’s a chance she saw him in Jakarta, too.”
Quinn relented. “Take Kiet and Jar with you. And dammit, don’t be seen.”
Nate grabbed comm gear for the three of them and they headed out.
Once they were gone, Daeng said, “I see you two are on better terms now.”
Quinn glanced at him, thinking Daeng was being serious, but sarcasm sat front and center on the Thai man’s face. “It’s…complicated.”
“No, it isn’t.” Daeng got up and walked into the bathroom.
Quinn could feel Orlando looking at him. “Don’t say it.”
“I don’t have to. You already know.”
He groaned to himself. Maybe he should have gone to check if the lady was Dehler.
THE WATCHERS PROCEEDED to a flat in Pimlico that Mr. Cooper had reserved. It was south of Victoria station and only a stone’s throw from the Thames.
The task ahead of them was daunting. Although the watchers were playing the odds that Quinn and Orlando were still in London, the pair had nearly a day on them and could be almost anywhere by now.
The men were not without resources, however. Only one of them had ever worked in the UK before, but all three knew people in the business who lived in or around the city. They pulled out their phones and got to work. Unfortunately, their calls were met with sorrys and haven’t-seen-thems and don’t-know-anythings. Disappointing, yes, but not unexpected.
Their next step was to offer cash to these same contacts for the first person to deliver accurate information on Quinn’s and Orlando’s whereabouts. They then settled in to wait.
ORLANDO FOLLOWED THE potential Dehler via feeds from the city’s CCTV system, and relayed the information to Nate.
They were still half a kilometer away from the target when Orlando’s phone rang. Her screen read MARGERY.
“It’s probably for you,” she said to Quinn as she hit ACCEPT and put the call on speaker. “Hello?”
“Orlando,” Margery said. “I missed you yesterday.”
“Liar. I know you wanted Quinn alone.”
The woman sighed. “You know me too well. Too bad I couldn’t get rid of Andy, though.”
“I heard that,” Andrews piped up in the background.
“I’m not talking to you,” Margery said, her voice muffled. When she spoke again, her voice was back to its previous clarity. “As much as I’d like to talk about our mutual boyfriend, I’m calling about the email you sent.”
Margery and Andrews were on the list of friendly locals Orlando had asked to keep an ear out for anyone interested in her and Quinn’s whereabouts.
She shared a glance with Quinn.
“Did someone contact you?” Orlando asked.
“A small-time organizer name Roberts called a few minutes ago. Asked if we knew whether you two were in town or not. Said he might have a job for you.”
“Is that so?”
“The thing is, Roberts can’t afford you. He’s on the down and dirty level. He is very motivated by cash coming his way, however, which makes me think someone’s paying him to fi
nd out where you are. If you want, I can call back and try to pull out who his client is.”
“No need. We already know the client. I will want you to call him back later and snitch on us, though.”
“Setting a trap, are we?”
“Something like that. Appreciate the heads-up, Margery.”
“My pleasure. Tell our boyfriend hi for me.”
The line went dead.
Orlando glanced at Quinn. “Margery says—”
“I heard.”
NATE, JAR, AND Kiet moved through the city, until they were a block away from the potential Dehler.
Ten minutes before, the woman had entered the H&M store on Regent Street, just south of Oxford Circus station, and had yet to reappear.
Nate surveyed the area. Still no sign of her.
“I’ll go over to the Apple Store and watch from in there,” he said. It was across the street and a bit north of the clothing store. “Jar, you do the same from the gift shop directly across the street. Kiet, you get to go in and see if she’s actually there or not. If she is, take a photo of her, but only if she won’t realize it.” Even if Dehler had seen Kiet in Jakarta, which Nate doubted, it had been from a distance when his hair had been considerably shorter. Just to be safe, Nate handed him his sunglasses. “Put these on and keep them on.”
After Kiet donned them, Nate gave him the once-over. Yeah, there was no way she would recognize him now.
“Everyone ready?” Nate asked.
Nods all around.
“Comms to channel two.” Ostensibly, it was so that they’d spare Quinn and Orlando from having to listen to their chatter, but Nate’s real motivation was to keep Quinn from chiming in with suggestions at inopportune times. “Let’s do it.”
Nate found a spot near the front of the computer store, from where he could pretend to play with one of the new phones while watching the street.
“In position,” he whispered.
“Almost there,” Jar said. Ten seconds later, “In position.”
“Okay, Kiet. Go.”
Nate watched Kiet walk down the sidewalk and enter H&M.
A minute passed, and then two.
“Is she there?” Nate asked.
“Still checking,” Kiet said.
Nate tensed. Kiet should have seen her by now. Had Dehler left by a back entrance? What if she’d switched disguises?
He scanned everyone who came out of the store, trying to match any physical feature to one of Dehler’s.
“Found her,” Kiet said. “She just came out of a dressing room.”
Relieved, Nate asked, “Is she wearing something new?”
“No. Same as before.”
“Photo?”
“Working on it.”
Nate set down the phone he’d been looking at and picked up the one next to it. After a minute passed without any word, he whispered, “Kiet?”
“A moment, please.”
Dead air.
“Okay, got it,” Kiet said. “Sending to you now.”
“She still looking around?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Check out a few more things, and then get out of there.”
“Copy,” Kiet said.
Nate was already pulling out his phone when it buzzed with Kiet’s incoming text. The picture was a full-body shot, the woman looking almost into the camera lens. Nothing about her looked like Dehler, but Nate’d seen the footage of the woman dressed as a man and that hadn’t looked like Dehler, either.
He switched his comm to channel one. “Orlando?”
“Go for Orlando.”
“Kiet got a photo. Sending to you now.”
“Copy.”
Nate forwarded the picture.
“Okay, got it,” Orlando said a few moments later. “Feeding it into facial recognition now.”
Nate’s comm beeped, letting him know someone was talking on channel two. He clicked to the universal setting so he could hear both feeds.
“—or now,” Kiet was saying.
“I didn’t catch that,” Nate said. “Please repeat.”
“The woman just stepped outside,” Kiet said.
Nate looked out the window, but a bus was passing by so he couldn’t see H&M. Once the vehicle passed, he picked out the woman walking north down the other side of the street.
“Jar, Kiet, follow.”
“Copy,” Kiet said.
“Copy,” Jar said.
The woman didn’t look to be in any particular hurry as she strolled down the road, glancing in the shops she was passing. A few moments later, her gaze swung across to Nate’s side of the street and locked on the Apple Store.
“Nothing here for you,” Nate muttered.
Silently, he urged her to keep walking down the road, but of course she wasn’t getting the message. When a clear spot in traffic appeared, she took advantage of it.
“Nate, she is headed your way,” Jar said.
“Yeah, I see that.”
It would be impossible now for him to leave the building without the woman noticing. He would have to remain in the store. Which presented its own problem. Of all the retail outlets he could have been inside, the Apple Store was the least friendly to someone needing to hide. Its open concept and low tables meant shoppers could see from one end to the other. The only way to get out of sight would be to kneel behind one of the tables, but that would draw a whole different kind of attention.
With little choice, he moved to the rear of the store and feigned interest in the computer accessories by the time the potential Dehler entered.
“What do you want us to do?” Kiet asked.
“Stay outside,” Nate replied. “But I do need one of you to get close enough so you can tell me where she goes in here.”
“I can see her,” Jar said. “She is looking at the phones.”
Good.” That meant she was still at the front.
“Are you looking for anything in particular?”
It took a second for Nate to realize the question had come from a store clerk standing to his left.
“Just checking out the cases,” Nate said, picking one up.
“Which iPhone do you have?”
Jar’s voice cut in. “She is moving toward the middle of the store. Same side as you.”
“Really, I’m just browsing,” Nate told the clerk.
“No problem. If you have any question, look for me or anyone else in a blue shirt.”
“Thanks.”
As soon as the guy walked off, Nate said, “Orlando? What’s the word?”
“Still processing.”
“Can you kick it into hyperdrive?”
“Sorry, my flux capacitor is out of plutonium.”
“A flux capacitor deals with time, not speed.”
“Time and speed are the same thing.”
Nate rolled his eyes. “I’m in a bit of a pinch here. How much longer?”
“What kind of pinch?” Quinn’s voice, not Orlando’s.
Great. “Nothing too serious.”
“Did she see you?”
“No.”
“Is she going to see you?”
“Trying to avoid that.”
“Dammit, Nate. What the…”
“Nate, she is coming toward you,” Jar said, her voice drowning out Quinn’s. “You need to move now.”
Keeping his back to where he guessed the woman was, he strolled toward the accessories on the other wall.
“She is following you,” Jar said.
“Following following? Or just heading the same way?”
“I cannot tell.”
“What does that mean?” Quinn asked. “Who’s following who?”
Since Jar and Kiet were both using channel two, Quinn and Orlando couldn’t hear them.
Nate ignored the question and turned toward the front of the store. “She still there?”
“No, she is looking at something on the wall,” Jar said.
Nate knew he should probably keep walking ri
ght out of the store, but the opportunity was there for him to get a quick look at the woman while her focus was elsewhere. He veered into what he hoped was the woman’s blind spot and glanced back.
“It’s not her,” he said.
“Are you sure?” Orlando said.
“Positive.”
“How do you know?” Quinn asked.
“Her shoes. They’re platforms.”
Orlando said, “None of the footage has a good angle on her feet. But from what I can see of her shoes, they don’t look like platforms.”
“They are. At least an inch and a half.”
The shoes were designed to obscure the fact the user was shorter than she looked, but his trained eye could tell. And while Dehler might’ve been able to change her looks, and even what gender she appeared to be, she could not make herself appear as short as this woman was.
A few minutes later, the facial analysis confirmed his assessment.
BY MONDAY AFTERNOON, four more potential Dehlers had been eliminated. No one wanted to say it, but Quinn knew they were all thinking the same thing he was. The trail had run cold again.
While they were waiting for a new lead to turn up, Orlando persuaded Quinn to join her in the bedroom, to “rest your eyes.” They’d been operating on very little sleep, and had already been awake for over twelve hours.
“She’ll show up,” Orlando said when they were alone.
“I know. But when?” he asked. The three days they’d been in London seemed longer than the month they’d spent in San Francisco waiting for Dehler to resurface.
“It’ll happen when it happens.”
“You’ve been hanging around Daeng too much.”
She lay down on the bed. “Come here.”
Though he knew a little rest was a good idea, he realized now he was too antsy to join her. “I’m going to go see if Jar’s found anything.”
“When she finds something, she’ll let us know.” She patted the bed. “Come here.”
He hesitated for a moment longer before giving in and stretching out beside her.
“See, isn’t that better?”
“I need to do something.”
“Like what?”
“I…um…can check the…uh….”
“Yeah. Exactly what I thought. Relax. You barely slept last night.”
“I’m fine.”
The Aggrieved Page 21
