Part 9 (1/2)

'That's beside the point,' said Spelling. 'Your actions threatened RAPTOR. It was exceptionally irresponsible of you.'

She held her temper and spoke deliberately. 'I concede that I may have been a bit rash. But I don't agree that my actions jeopardised anything.'

'I'm not going to argue with you,' Spelling shot back. 'Mr Collins and I believe you've forfeited our trust and therefore your place in RAPTOR.'

Lyne clenched his hands together and turned them out to click his knuckles. 'Look, gentlemen, we all agree this was very dumb of Isis, but in her defence I'd like to point out that she's easily one of the best investigators we have - you saw how quick she was the night before last. h.e.l.l, she really gets it. I'd hate to lose her.'

Herrick tipped her head in thanks.

'What were you hoping to find on the computer?' asked Vigo. 'You know we had all that covered. Did you imagine we had overlooked something?'

'To be honest, yes. I feel we're all missing something. I've told Nathan this, countless times.'

'I can vouch for that,' said Lyne. 'She's been a real pain in the a.s.s.'

'And you think that because you spotted the switch at Heathrow, you have some superior insight into this operation? ' said Vigo.

'Well, at least my personal inquiries achieved something on that occasion.'

'So you felt you had the right to go off piste again?' said Spelling.

'I suppose so, yes.'

'And did you see anything on the computer that interested you?' asked Vigo.

'As a matter of fact, yes, it was in sleep mode and when I touched the mouse it automatically logged on to an Islamist website. I didn't have time to read much, but it struck me as interesting that the messages were still coming through to a man they knew was dead. I wondered whether his wife had knowledge of the way the screensaver operated as a gateway. I wondered about the site I saw. The internet address showed it was based in Malaysia.'

'The screensaver - did you know about it before?'

'I made it my business to find out as much as I could about Youssef Rahe. I still feel he's important.'

'But where from?' demanded Vigo.

She returned his stare and gently shook her head. 'My sources,' she said defiantly. d.a.m.n Vigo: he'd still be selling second-hand books if it hadn't been for her. He owed his resurrection to her. She turned to Spelling, determined to get off the subject of the computer for good. 'I've done nothing wrong, and if you don't mind, I repeat that we are ignoring an essential part of this case. What happened to Youssef Rahe?'

Spelling rested his chin on his hands, then removed his gla.s.ses. 'That will be all,' he said.

Twenty minutes later the three men emerged, and Lyne came over to Herrick. 'You're off the team,' he said. 'They're sending you to Tirana. A suspect is being held there, and we think he's interesting.'

'Why me? We've got our own people at the British Emba.s.sy. Why can't they give him the once-over?'

'The resident officer is ill - cancer. His stand-in is too inexperienced and besides, he's not in on the big secret. Maybe the suspect has something to tell, and if he does, I want you to be there to hear it. There's a really good case for going. I was arguing for them to send you before you started burglarising bookstores. h.e.l.l, Isis, this is a reprieve. They want you back in a couple of weeks. Jim Collins thinks you're s.h.i.+t hot.'

'I wish you could persuade Spelling of that.'

'I think he's already there. But Christ, you're a f.u.c.king handful. You know that?'

She smiled sheepishly. 'By the way, thanks for sticking up for me in there. It's not everyone who would do that.'

'That's okay. You're flying out tomorrow morning to Zurich, then Mother Teresa airport, Tirana. Spelling says you'll have the usual diplomatic status, but they don't want you mixing too much at your own Emba.s.sy, so you're to stay at the Byron - it's Tirana's only good hotel. You'll see a lot of the guys at the US Emba.s.sy, but again, I don't have to tell you to stay off the subject of RAPTOR. Some of them may have got wind of it, because of the involvement of so many personnel, but you're Garbo - right?'

'Who am I reporting to?'

'Me - this is an officially sponsored RAPTOR tour. Just see the guy interviewed, turn in a report and bring your b.u.t.t safely back here in a couple of weeks. It's a piece of cake. You'll probably end up with a beautiful tan.' He paused and placed his hand on her shoulder. 'But you be careful. There are some bad, bad people out there.'

'Then I'm going to need a story. That requires a little preparation. I don't know if I've got enough time. '

'You got all day. But make it better than the keyboard story. That was bush-league stuff, Isis - just terrible.'

She stayed for a further two hours to read the file on the Tirana detainee and draw some money - $7,000 in hundred-dollar bills - from a character who came from the US Emba.s.sy and stressed that every last cent was to be accounted for.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

Around five-thirty in the afternoon, the public areas of the Hotel Byron in Tirana began to fill, mostly with Albanian gangsters who left their bodyguards out in the car park. They moved through the bar to a crescent-shaped area bordering the gardens, trailing an air of listless menace, and sank into the Lloyd loom chairs to drink, smoke without pause and fiddle with their cell phones. There were some foreigners too; insanely risk-averse businessmen, low-level diplomats and a few edgy American evangelists sipping soft drinks and wearing hiking gear, as if the mere fact of being in this G.o.dless, chaotic country required rugged clothing.

The tableau was not difficult to decode, and as Herrick waited on her second evening for Lance Gibbons, her contact from the local CIA station, she realised that more or less the same groups appeared and seemed to settle at regular tables. Bashkin, the driver who had attached himself to her at Mother Teresa International airport, told her the Albanian men were mostly engaged in drug trafficking, prost.i.tution rackets and smuggling people, cigarettes and fuel.

Gibbons arrived late, a large, shambling man who quickly announced that he was a veteran of the war against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, or the 'Big A' as he called it. After a couple of drinks, Isis brought up the purpose of her trip and asked when she could see the suspect.

'Look, that's going to be kinda difficult right now,' he said, toying with the scarf loosely hung round his neck. 'We have to tread carefully with the Albanians. He's their prisoner. We're just observing.'

Herrick gave him a sceptical look, pulled out her phone and dialled Nathan Lyne. 'I'm having some unexpected difficulty inspecting the goods,' she said to Lyne. 'I wonder if you could intervene with the local representative and tell him there'll be h.e.l.l to pay if he doesn't cooperate. I'll put you onto him now.'

She handed the phone to Gibbons, who listened silently then said, 'You got to understand, Nathan, that these goods are not in our possession yet. They're still being held by the customs service.'

He hung up and handed the phone back. 'You know, that was real unfriendly of you.'

'I have to see this man quickly and report back to London. That's all there is to it.'

'You and your man Lyne don't cut any ice here. Here is dif-fer-ent. Period.' He sipped his drink then lit a cheroot. 'So, Isis Herrick, tell me about RAPTOR. What the f.u.c.k is going down? We hear something big's happening. All our guys pulled in from the field. Operations suspended without warning. What's the deal?'

She shrugged. 'That name doesn't mean anything to me, but if there is something going down, as you put it, you better be sure that I see this suspect. It comes from the top.'

He laughed. 'The top of what - my organisation? No way. The British Secret Intelligence Service? Hey, that would be something, wouldn't it? I'll stand to attention and drink to Her Majesty.'

'Where's he being held?' she asked.

'That's cla.s.sified information.'

'The intelligence headquarters, the prison - where?'

He shook his head and stroked the three-day-old stubble on his chin.

'What's the problem with giving me access? If this man is talking, you must have transcripts.'

'Oh yeah, he's talking.'