Strangled Silence (18 page)

Tmeeting place was different, but they were
there on the same business.
,
and
-
were in a fourstar
hotel suite, sitting in armchairs around a low
table with their laptops on their knees. On the table
was a tray of tea and coffee and a large plate of
sandwiches cut into neat quarters and served with
garnish.

The room itself was neat, clean and impersonal.
There were tasteful prints on the off-white walls
and an abundance of creatively framed mirrors.
Each of the three people had conducted their own
checks for surveillance. It was not a good idea to
trust anybody in this business.

'So, still no sign of Shang,'
was saying.
He was in a Royal air force uniform today, despite
the fact that he had never served in the air force.
'This is getting to be a real problem.'

'He'll be found,'
-
sniped
back in his bass voice. 'The man's arrogant and he's an
attention-seeker. He'll make a mistake somewhere.'

The other two did not look satisfied.

'He'll be found,' he said again, with certainty.

'Do we still go ahead with Operation
Renewed Faith?'
asked, looking at each of
his colleagues in turn.

'Yes,'
replied.

'Yes,'
-
agreed, his heavylidded
eyes opening a little wider. 'It's too important
to put on hold just because of an upstart surgeon.
He doesn't know enough to compromise the
operation, and we can discredit him if he tries to
talk afterwards. The package has been shipped?'

'It's on its way,'
told them. 'Due in eight
days. It's aboard a Dutch-registered freighter with
no ties to Britain. There are two minders, but no
one in the crew knows what they're carrying.'