Hard Cover Page 18

  I really didn’t want to tell him what I thought. Being in the same stretch of woods as Tzorekov and Gurov and the kill team in the helicopter was all a bit too close. It made me think that Sedgwick taking off in this direction had rung alarm bells somewhere, and whoever it was who was trying to stop the meeting had decided to latch onto anybody even remotely connected with the British embassy who showed a sudden interest in the area. The same would have applied to US embassy personnel.

  ‘Is there a connection?’ he said.

  ‘With what?’ I urged him to carry on walking until we reached the parking lot. The sooner we were away from here the less danger there was of being tied in with the two dead men when they were found.

  ‘With the reason that brings you here. The location for a meeting.’

  ‘What did Vale tell you?’

  ‘He didn’t. He said he wanted possible locations for a high-level meeting in the area; somewhere secret. I said there was only one place I could think of, about ten miles from here.’ He stopped again. ‘Does this involve Putin?’

  THIRTY-NINE

  Sedgwick was either smarter than he seemed or lucky. I figured on the former. If I tried lying, he’d smell a rat and refuse to cooperate.

  I decided to keep it brief. ‘There’s a man newly arrived in the area hoping to talk to a senior member of government to calm down the current situation. There are others who don’t want that meeting to take place. I’m here to make sure it goes ahead. That’s it in a nutshell.’

  I followed his directions leading north away from the lake. After a while he said, ‘This man you mentioned; is he American?’

  ‘No. Russian.’

  ‘An outsider.’

  ‘Correct.’

  He nodded and I could see he’d already worked it out. Like I thought, smart. ‘Putin’s in a difficult position,’ he said finally, the diplomat never far under the surface. ‘He’s the most powerful and charismatic leader – and the most popular – that this country has had. He has detractors but he also commands huge respect. That very situation means he can’t, or shouldn’t, be seen to be taking advice or counselling from just anybody. And I mean, anybody. He’s Russia’s strong man, so why should he listen to outsiders? He’s powerful, yet constrained by his own success and charisma. And there are forces here who are desperate to see that the status quo doesn’t change.’

  ‘The military.’

  ‘Undoubtedly. And those in government. But there’s a strong group of business leaders – mostly those in charge of Russia’s biggest energy, financial and mineral industries – who don’t want the gravy train to stop either. A strong Putin means they can continue to expand. If Putin changes course in any way, their strength is diminished.’ He waved a hand. ‘Logically, that’s not exactly true because Putin taking a softer line on certain issues means an opportunity for expansion of international trade once sanctions are relaxed. But they don’t see it that way. They want continued growth.’

  It was pretty much what Vale had told me.

  ‘I guess there’s your answer,’ I said. ‘Who other than people connected with the state would have the means and interest in stopping this meeting taking place … and trying to find out what you were up to coming here? They must be ready to jump on anything to trash the whole idea.’

  We drove in silence for a while, then Sedgwick directed me down a forest track. ‘I’ve only been here once. It doesn’t lead to the house but to a point overlooking it. It used to be wider but they’ve allowed it to grow over to discourage casual visitors. There is a main way in which leads to the front entrance, but if they’ve got security in place we’d be walking right into them.’

  We were now hemmed in on both sides by vegetation and overhanging foliage, and I twice had to stop to drag fallen branches out of the way. Eventually we reached a point where we began to climb a steep slope between the trees, and the track petered out.

  ‘It’s on foot from here,’ said Sedgwick. ‘I hope you’re ready for a walk.’

  I looked at his footwear, which consisted of what the British would call stout shoes. But they were hardly hiking boots. ‘More ready than you are.’

  He got out and stamped his feet. ‘Don’t worry about me. My parents were hard-core Ramblers’ Association members.’ He looked at me and explained, ‘That’s hikers to you. They would go for twenty-mile walks at the drop of a hat and my father never wore boots, only shoes. Mind you, he did slip and fall off a mountain a couple of years ago, so it got him in the end. I suppose there’s a moral in there somewhere.’

  He led the way up another slope, pushing through a tangle of foliage and occasionally stopping to get his bearings. Then we emerged into a small clearing overlooking a lake. Below and to our left was a vast wooden, single-storey villa with verandas, shuttered double windows and interconnecting shingle roofs. Standing in a large plot of land it had gardens and lawns stretching all the way from the trees at the back down to the water’s edge, with two jetties and a boathouse. The place was like a billionaire’s dream and totally out of place here, yet somehow oddly fitting.

  I took out my scope and scanned the building. There was no sign that it was occupied, but the shutters didn’t allow me to see inside. It looked enormous, solid and deserted. And ideal for a meeting.

  But there were obvious setbacks. In security terms the place was a nightmare. I wasn’t surprised it had been largely abandoned by the government. A halfway decent sniper would be able to sit up here and take out anyone who showed themselves. The people responsible for security would need a small army to cover all this ground and water, but even then a good operator would find a way of getting through.

  ‘Who else knows about this place?’

  ‘Surprisingly few, I think. It was built by a Swedish timber magnate in the 1920s who did a lot of business with the then Soviet Socialist Republic. They gave him permission to build it in recognition of his trade record. It’s known about locally, but it’s pretty much avoided simply because it’s there.’

  ‘It looks abandoned.’

  I handed Sedgwick the scope. He studied it carefully before saying dryly, ‘I suppose you have the rifle to go with this thing?’

  ‘I do’

  ‘It’s Russian made.’

  ‘So is the rifle.’

  ‘You took it off somebody?’

  ‘He let me have it.’

  He shrugged at the mootness of the point and stared at the house through the scope for a moment, then handed it back. ‘Take a look at the trees to the right of the house.’

  I did and eventually detected the vague shape of a vehicle among the trees.

  ‘You’re pretty good at this, Sedgwick. Is that a security detail?’

  ‘No. There’s a husband and wife team who keep the place going, plus a daughter, I believe, but that’s it. Since nobody comes here there’s no reason for security. It was used for a summit about thirty years ago and one more recently, but since then I think it’s been pretty much forgotten. Nobody wants to take on the responsibility of closing it completely; it’s one of those acceptable links with the past that the Russians like to quietly ignore but not do away with altogether.’

  I took one last look before deciding on my next move. Supposition and guesswork weren’t going to help here and I needed to take a closer look. If the house looked spick and span, then it was ten to one they were ready for an important arrival.

  Sedgwick read my mind. ‘You’re going down there.’

  ‘You stay here. I’m going to take a look around. I won’t be long.’

  I slipped away before he could argue and hit a path down through the trees.

  It took me ten minutes of hard going to reach the treeline bordering the grounds of the house. I waited to get my breath back and studied the building through the scope. Just as I’d thought from up the hill, it looked shuttered and closed, a relic consigned to history. But I could only see one side from my position.

  I worked my way round to the rear of the proper
ty where I could see the approach road. It was covered with a layer of pine needles and clumps of grass, but clearly still in occasional use, as I could see from the twin lines of tyre tracks. I could also see the vehicle that Sedgwick had pointed out. It was an elderly Lada and hardly the kind of car issued to security personnel.

  The rear entrance to the house was through a pair of double doors under a sagging portico, with a glint of glass inside which I guessed was another set of doors. Beyond that I couldn’t see a thing.

  I jogged across the tangle of grass that had once been a lawn and fetched up alongside a window. This one wasn’t covered by a shutter and I could see a large kitchen that looked like something from another age. It included a huge cooker and an open fire, with a long table down the middle and some equipment I could only guess at. It looked deserted and unused, with a film of grime over the window glass and the table misted with a layer of dust. I moved along the wall to another window, this with one shutter hanging off the wall, the hinges rusted through. It gave me a view down a long corridor running the entire length of the house to a similar window at the front. Cloth-covered shapes were dotted around, possibly shielding chairs and small tables, and a roll of paper had been laid on the floor over the carpet, which looked past its best with patches of mildew at the edges.

  I moved to the next window in line. This looked like a library or study, with empty bookcases lining the walls and a few shrouded shapes pushed together in the middle.

  I gave it two more windows on the other side of the house before deciding that if this was the place for a meeting, the housekeepers hadn’t got the memo.

  I hiked back up the hill and found Sedgwick where I’d left him. We walked back to the car and I drove down the track to the road. He didn’t say much when I described what I’d seen, and I guessed being alone for a while had given time him to think things over. The reality of what had happened earlier was beginning to hit home. Delayed action shock; I’d seen it before.

  ‘You realize you won’t be going back on that plane, right?’

  He nodded. His face looked grey but he was holding it together. ‘I know. What will I do? I mean, if the people behind those two men are connected to the government, this isn’t going to stop here, is it? I’m sure to be called in. And when they find them both—’

  ‘Don’t think like that.’ Called in meant being summoned to explain himself. I figured it must be pretty high on the list of things to avoid for diplomats, and felt genuinely sorry for him. He’d found himself involved in something that was none of his making and for which he hadn’t been trained. Diplomats weren’t supposed to get themselves in running fights or activities that might get them kicked out of the host country – or imprisoned – but there was no way round this one for Sedgwick. His job here was probably over.

  ‘But what should I do?’

  ‘Get out,’ I advised him. ‘Pack your bags and get on the first flight home. Your job here is shot and if the people who sent those two bozos after you decide to, they’ll take it out on you if only to divert attention from themselves.’ It was brutal but I had to get him to see the reality of the situation. Suddenly his world had been tipped upside down and he was going to have to make some serious adjustments.

  ‘But I don’t know anything else. I’m a commercial attaché – it’s what I do. And what about Elena? I can’t leave her behind.’

  ‘Your girlfriend?’

  ‘Yes.’ He told me in brief terms about his divorce, how he’d met this girl at an embassy party, a model, and they’d had a couple of dates and it was now something else. It sounded ordinary and uncomplicated, and yet so predictable, especially in this part of the world. I probably looked a bit cynical about the attraction between them, because he got defensive and angry.

  ‘I know what you’re thinking,’ he said sourly. ‘Elena’s part of a honeytrap and one day I’ll wake up and she’ll be gone along with whatever information she thinks she can get out of me. Either that or she’s just looking for a free ride to the west. Well, you’re not the first to think it or even say it, but it’s not like that.’ He flushed deep red. ‘I know I’m probably being a fool, but what the hell kind of information could she get from me, anyway? I talk business and trade and boring figures that mean nothing; I spend my life in meetings and awful parties where everybody pretends to like you – even your own colleagues. If she is looking to get to the west on my back … well, good luck to her.’

  ‘Don’t knock yourself out,’ I told him. ‘I hope she’s genuine for your sake. And maybe she is. For now, though, you need to think about getting out.’

  ‘I know. But how do I get home? We’re miles from anywhere.’

  ‘There will be other planes.’

  ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘Because there aren’t many cars here for the number of people around. They had to get here somehow, and flying is the easiest way. You can hitch a ride.’

  He stared at me. ‘Christ, how do you do it?’

  ‘Do what?’

  ‘Notice stuff. Details like the number of cars and people, the layout of the terrain. I could see you doing it earlier; you evaluate everything and know exactly what to do next. And dealing with those two men – you didn’t hesitate. You saw what was about to happen and stopped it.’

  ‘It’s my job. It’s not a conscious thing – it’s what I do. You’d be the same if you did this work.’ I didn’t mention the down side of the job; how if you didn’t develop the skills of having 360-degree vision and a retentive memory you didn’t stay in it for long.

  ‘But it’s a skill. It’s incredible. Don’t you ever feel … I don’t know – afraid?’

  ‘Sure. Lots of times.’

  ‘And that doesn’t overwhelm you?’

  ‘I don’t let it. If I did I’d have to find another line of employment.’

  The truth was, that thought probably scared me more than anything. The idea of a future with no challenge and no aim, of having to join in with others in a job I’d hate; that wasn’t me. Not that I was about to admit that to Sedgwick, who was already feeling lost. Hopefully he’d get over it.

  Instead I said, ‘Don’t underestimate yourself, Robert. You came out here knowing there had to be more to this. I mean, who wants a meeting in the middle of the woods in Russia to ask questions about a house on a lake? It was hardly a real estate deal. And Vale; you know what he does, right?’

  ‘I suppose so. I was pretending I didn’t.’ He looked glum, the reality he’d denied finally sinking in. ‘He’s with Six, isn’t he?’

  I didn’t answer. ‘You knew there were risks taking on a job for him, yet you still came.’

  He tried to smile. ‘Maybe I have a secret taste for danger – is that what you’re saying?’

  ‘No. I think you weighed up the pros and cons and decided to do it anyway because it was expected of you. That takes courage.’

  ‘Let’s hope the ambassador and the foreign office see it that way.’

  As we pulled back into the parking lot at the lake I could see two more planes out on the water. Everybody was going about their business and the scene looked calm and unhurried. It wasn’t the kind of atmosphere where two dead bodies had been found, but I didn’t think it would last for long.

  ‘Tell one of the pilots you got stranded by your wife and need a ride back. With luck he’ll understand and give you a guy’s discount.’

  ‘I will, thanks. What about Elena? Should I call her?’

  ‘And tell her what? Leave it until you get back. If she looks genuinely happy to see you and not even slightly puzzled, then forget about it and take her with you.’

  ‘But what if I’m wrong and she did talk to somebody?’

  ‘Then that somebody is probably the bad guy, not her. Did you tell her where you were going?’

  ‘No. At least, not in so many words. As I was leaving I made some crack about buying her a present of carved wood, but I don’t think that would have done it.’

  ‘It w
as enough. It told her you weren’t going into the city. And that isn’t city wear.’ I pointed at the puffer coat he was still carrying. ‘That left the woods. If anybody was monitoring your movements, it would have been enough to ring some bells. A call to Elena would have confirmed it.’

  ‘God, that’s awful. I’ve been stupid.’

  ‘Don’t sweat it. If they were watching you, the moment you headed for the airfield they’d have figured something was happening anyway and followed you. You have to allow for random – it happens.’

  I left him with that thought and drove away. The first thing I did on the road was get onto Vale at Langley and tell him he had to stage a rescue mission for two via the embassy in Moscow. Hell, Sedgwick had been helping MI6 in the first place; the least he could do was stand up for the guy when he needed a favour in return.

  FORTY

  ‘So what was so darned urgent that it couldn’t be dealt with in a phone call?’ CIA Assistant Director Jason Sewell was feeling testy. He’d been dragged out of his office at short notice on orders from the White House, to attend a meeting in the CIA building with two visitors, and to bring CSO Brian Callahan with him. He sat down and waved at Callahan to take a seat across the table. They were in a meeting room for twenty, but there were just four people present.

  Angela Thornbury took a seat and gestured at the man who had come in with her. ‘I’m sure you know Alastair Davies, Deputy Secretary at the Department of State? He’s here with me at the request of the Secretary.’

  Sewell and Callahan gave the obligatory nods of recognition to the newcomer. Davies was tall and thin, with a shock of dark hair and an enviable tan, and wore his suit as if born to it. He smiled fleetingly, then looked around the room as if seeking the recording equipment he probably thought might be embedded in the walls and giving a lingering look of suspicion at the communications console in the centre of the table.

  Sewell let him look. He’d never find it. He’d met Davies on a couple of occasions, the moments so fleeting he couldn’t quite recall where or when and barely long enough to remember his face much less get to know anything about him. He’d pegged him immediately as a professional public servant and therefore to be treated with caution. Quite why he was here now was a puzzle, but he suspected it might have something to do with the mauling Brian Callahan had given Thornbury during her last visit. Maybe she felt the need for a big hitter like Davies to protect her, and this was going to be some sort of payback for Callahan to endure. He couldn’t off-hand think of any other reason for the Clandestine Service Officer to have been included.