She stumbled into the man’s much shorter wife, much to the wife’s shock, and Victor was quick to get Francesca upright on her feet again while the man helped his wife recover.
‘I’m so sorry about that,’ Victor said to both as he stepped away from them.
He headed to the room’s exit with Francesca and into the hallway beyond. The string quartet had begun playing
Rosamunde
again. Victor had expected them to play a different piece, but perhaps
Rosamunde
was the ambassador’s favourite.
As they passed the music room a man said, ‘Is everything all right?’
He was about six feet tall, with red hair cut short enough that his scalp was visible between the strands.
‘Fine,’ Victor replied. ‘She’s just had a little too much.’
‘I have not,’ Francesca interjected, words slurring.
‘Anything I can do to help?’ the man with red hair asked.
Victor shook his head. ‘Thanks, but she’ll be okay.’
The man nodded and Victor led Francesca away, wanting to glance back over his shoulder to see if the man was watching them, but not willing to risk it because he had seen him in the music room, circling the room with his hands free and not talking to anyone.
Francesca had trouble with the stairs and Victor kept a firm hold of her to make sure they descended without a problem.
‘What’s going on?’ she said, voice barely more than a whisper.
He led her down the corridor at the bottom of the stairs to the men’s room and pushed open the door. An overweight man with a thick moustache stood at the furthest urinal. He glanced over his shoulder.
‘I’m sorry,’ Victor said. ‘She’s going to be sick. You don’t mind, do you?’
The man didn’t break stream. He cast his gaze over Francesca and responded with an approving nod. He continued to stare at her while Victor took her into one of the cubicles. He toed down the toilet seat, sat Francesca on it, and closed and locked the cubicle door behind him.
‘I—’
He put a finger against her lips and she stopped talking. He waited, hearing the overweight man zip up his flies and then leave without a visit to the sinks. Victor took his finger away.
‘Am I drunk?’ she asked.
‘In a way. But you feel okay, don’t you?’
‘I feel great.’
He fished Francesca’s phone from her purse. She watched him, but didn’t speak, her head periodically nodding forward before she set it back again. He scrolled through her sent messages. She had sent two messages to the same number. The first had been after they had passed security at 07:33 p.m. The second had been sent twelve minutes later at 07:45 p.m. Victor and Francesca had arrived at the embassy at 07:30 p.m. in sight of Hart and Coughlin. The first message had been sent at the earliest opportunity as the time it took get through the security checks couldn’t be predicted. The next had been sent at a specific time. Leeson had said there would be regular updates. So there would be another at 08:00 p.m. and another fifteen minutes later and so on. Both of the messages Francesca had sent contained just a single word, different each time. Each was followed by a message back from Hart soon afterwards:
confirm
.
The clock on the phone gave the time as 7.54 p.m.
He adjusted Francesca’s seating position and rested her head against the wall of the cubicle. She seemed happy enough like that and wasn’t likely to fall off the toilet seat.
‘I’m going to leave you here now,’ he explained, ‘but I’ll be back soon. Okay?’
‘Why?’
‘Because the less people see of you, the better.’
‘Why?’
‘Because you can barely walk. You’ve had a strong dose of Flunitrazepam and you’ve made it worse by drinking alcohol with it. You just need to stay here and wait for me.’
She frowned. ‘But the… the drug was for you, not me.’
‘Yes, but I did a magic trick. You wanted to see one, remember?’
She nodded. The frown disappeared. She looked confused. ‘Yes, but…?’
‘And it was a good trick. You didn’t see me palm the capsule instead of swallowing it and you didn’t see me empty the capsule into your drink, did you?’
‘No.’
‘So it was a good trick, wasn’t it?’
She smiled. ‘Yes.’
‘Now you can do a trick of your own and stay here for a few minutes, okay?’
‘Okay.’
The men’s room door opened and Victor put a finger to Francesca’s lips. She smiled. Two minutes later they were alone again. Victor reached up, gripped the top of the cubicle wall and pulled himself up, hooking his left leg over and then his right. It was difficult to swivel his torso around because of the vest restricting his movement, but it wasn’t enough to stop him. He dropped down on the other side.
‘Just wait there,’ he said. ‘I’ll be back soon. Don’t make a sound. Okay?’
She didn’t respond. Either she had passed out or she was obeying his request, but as long as she stayed quiet he didn’t care which it was. He exited the bathroom and headed down the hallway past the busts and paintings. In the entrance hall he joined a short queue of new arrivals handing over their coats. When he reached the front he handed over the ticket belonging to the tall man with white hair whose pocket he had picked while he was distracted by Francesca stumbling – tripping – into his wife.
‘Tan raincoat and fur,’ he said to the attendant.
The young man who took his ticket nodded and left to seek out the garments from wherever it was they stored them. It wouldn’t be far. There would be a utility room or closet nearby. The embassy would throw enough parties to warrant the space and the stature of the guests would ensure the room’s proximity to the entrance hall. No one liked to wait. The rich and powerful wouldn’t stand for it.
He returned in less than three minutes with the white-haired man’s raincoat and his wife’s fur. Victor took them, thanked the attendant, and returned to the men’s room. It was empty. He hung the coats over the door of the cubicle, then hoisted himself over the cubicle wall. The vest slowed him down again, but not as much as the first time now he knew what to expect. Francesca still sat exactly as he had left her.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked.
Her eyes stared into his but she didn’t answer.
He said, ‘You’re allowed to speak now.’
She smiled. ‘I’m fine. I feel good. Where did you go?’
‘Francesca,’ Victor began, squatting down so he could look into her eyes because she couldn’t keep her head upright. ‘It’s nearly eight p.m. In one minute you need to send a message to Hart. An update, right?’
‘Yes.’
‘What word do you need to send to let Hart know everything is okay?’
Her eyes were glassy, the whites bloodshot. ‘It’s a secret.’
‘I know,’ Victor said. ‘It’s a code word that only you and he know, right?’
‘Yes.’
‘Can you tell me what it is, please?’
She stared at him. ‘It’s a secret.’
‘Yes, but you need to tell me so I can send it to Hart. That is what you need to do, isn’t it?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you want to do your job properly, don’t you?’
‘Yes.’
‘So what’s the code I need to send to Hart to let him know everything is okay?’
‘I’m okay.’
‘That’s good, Francesca. You need to tell me the code now. We’ve only got a few seconds left to send it otherwise you’ll be late.’
‘I don’t want to be late.’
‘I know.’
‘You’re handsome.’
‘Thank you. Can you tell me the code now, please?’
‘No.’
‘Please Francesca, you really need to tell me the code so I can send it to Hart. You want to tell me the code, don’t you?’
The clock in the corner of the phone’s screen changed to 08.00 p.m.
‘No.’ She shook her head and reached for the phone. ‘I have to send it.’
‘Tell me instead. I’ll do it for you.’
‘
No
,’ she said again and stretched her fingers towards the phone. ‘You’re not allowed to know. I have to send it.’
He let her take the phone and watched as she fumbled with it, wondering how many seconds late Hart would accept before aborting the mission. She tapped the screen with a single finger, long delays between taps.
‘Done,’ she said and grinned.
‘Press send.’
‘Oh yes.’ She did. ‘Silly me.’
Victor took the phone from her and stared at the screen. She’d sent the word
apple
. There was no way to know if this was the correct code or a random word. Maybe it was the right code but sent at the wrong time.
Five seconds passed. Then ten. Fifteen. The phone vibrated.
Confirm
.
Victor slipped Francesca’s phone into one of his pockets.
‘What are these?’
‘It’s cold outside so I fetched you a coat. Stand up so you can put it on.’
He helped her to her feet and into the fur.
‘Is it real or faux?’ she asked.
Victor unlocked and opened the cubicle door and slipped on the tan raincoat. ‘It’s whichever you’d prefer.’
‘Good.’
He raised her left wrist and unclasped her watch. She watched him but didn’t comment. He pulled back her hair and wrapped it in a bun, using the watch to keep it in place. It wouldn’t hold it for long, but he didn’t need it to. She reached up to undo the watch.
‘You’re prettier like this,’ he said.
She smiled. Her arms dropped back to her sides.
‘We need to go,’ he said.
‘Okay,’ she said.
He knew he had about nine minutes before he needed to send the next update. As long as Francesca didn’t pass out that wouldn’t be a problem. She was becoming more suggestible as time passed and the drug took hold of her consciousness. He was confident that the next time he asked her for the code she would give it to him without any delays.
She seemed to be standing on her own, but he kept hold of her hand and waist as he led her out of the men’s room and into the corridor beyond. A man was there, as though he was just passing, but Victor knew he’d been waiting. The man was about six feet tall with very short red hair.
‘Everything all right?’ the man asked for the second time, in the same tone he’d used just outside the music room.
Victor nodded at him. ‘Fine, but I need to get her home.’
The Russian stepped closer. His expression was even and his body language relaxed, but his eyes stared at Victor. ‘May I see your invitations, please?’
‘They were checked when we arrived.’
‘And I’d like to check them again,’ the man said.
‘I really don’t have time for this. I have to get her to bed.’
‘Of course,’ the man agreed. He stepped closer. ‘But only after I’ve checked your invitations.’
‘Fine,’ Victor said. He rooted in Francesca’s purse for the invitation and handed it to the Russian.
He examined the invitation, then said, ‘What are your names, please?’ Before Victor could answer, he added, ‘Let the lady answer.’
‘She’s drunk.’
‘I’m not drunk,’ Francesca said. ‘I’m—’
‘It’s okay,’ Victor said. ‘The security guard would just like to know our names. He wants you to tell him. Why don’t you tell him what he needs to know?’
‘I’m Francesca.’
‘Surname?’ the Russian asked.
‘Leone.’
‘And who is the gentleman you’re with?’
Say the name on the invitation, not the name you know me by
, Victor willed.
Say George Hall.
Francesca said, ‘He’s Felix.’
The Russian stared at Victor as he asked Francesca, ‘Felix what?’
‘Kooi.’
Victor didn’t blink. Neither did the Russian.
‘You need to come with me now, sir,’ the Russian said, right hand hovering near the right hip flap of his jacket. Victor recognised the way it hung slightly further from the man’s body than the left side did.
‘I had a feeling you were going to say that.’
The Russian’s expression didn’t change. He motioned for Victor to head along the corridor. Victor did.
‘Where are we going?’ Francesca said.
‘For a little walk. Don’t worry.’
‘Okay.’
He walked slowly, in no rush to get to wherever the man with red hair was taking them. He heard the man’s footsteps following a couple of metres behind. He knew the Russian would be watching him closely. He was an employee of the SVR, responsible for embassy security. He knew what he was doing.
Behind Victor, the man whispered something. His voice was too quiet for Victor to hear, but he knew he would be making a report of the incident. Whether that was just procedure or whether it meant there would be a welcoming committee waiting wherever they were heading, he didn’t know. He did know that there wasn’t time for this.
The Russian with the red hair unlocked a plain door with a key card and gestured for Victor to open it and step into the room beyond. He guided Francesca in first. The room was some kind of office. It was located on the ground floor along one of the roped-off corridors past which Victor had walked with Francesca earlier. Four unremarkable office desks were spaced throughout the room. Computer terminals, phones, in-and-out trays and other paraphernalia sat on top of each desk. Filing cabinets and shelves units lined the walls. A water cooler stood in one corner. On one wall a rota had been scrawled onto a whiteboard with dry marker pens of various colours. It looked like a place that would be busy in the daytime with phone calls and typing and discussion. Now it was empty except for Francesca, Victor and the Russian. Victor looked at each corner of the room, where the walls met the ceiling. No cameras.
Behind Victor the door clicked shut.
He stepped back and threw a backwards right elbow towards where he knew the Russian was standing, swivelling one hundred and eighty degrees with the arc of the blow to face his target and follow the elbow with a left hook.
Delivered one after the other in quick succession, the blows should have been enough to knock the Russian out, or at the very least take him to the ground, but the vest restricted and slowed Victor’s movements and his opponent was a fully trained and experienced employee of the SVR. He saw the attack coming and slipped out of range, the handgun at his belt already out of the quick-draw holster and angling up when Victor completed the turn.
Victor brought his left fist down on top of the gun’s barrel, the downward force stronger than the upward momentum of the Russian’s arm, knocking the gun to waist level, barrel pointed at the floor. He stepped inside the Russian’s reach, ripped away the thin cable that ran down the side of the Russian’s neck and connected an earpiece to a radio transmitter and throat mike, and delivered a short head-butt. It struck too high to break the man’s nose because the Russian pulled back from it, but Victor used his enemy’s resulting lack of balance to sweep his load-bearing leg from under him while grabbing hold of the gun and wrist.
The Russian hit the floor and the gun came out of his hand, but before Victor could turn it around and get his finger inside the trigger guard, the prone Russian swivelled around on his back, kicking Victor on the side of his knee, then scissoring Victor’s leg with both of his own and heaving his foot from the floor.
Victor went down, landing on his shoulder blades and rolling backwards over the head, abandoning the gun because as he came back to his feet the Russian was upon him and he needed both hands to defend himself against the assault. Victor blocked the first punch and slipped the second, responding with one of his own. The Russian stepped inside it and grabbed the arm, turning Victor and driving him into the front of a filing cabinet. He got his elbow up in time to take the collision, denting the sheet steel front.
He kicked backwards with the edge of his heel, striking the Russian on his shin, causing him to grunt and release the hold on his arm. Victor spun around, immediately punching, then countering as his attack was dodged and the Russian responded with one of his own – an elbow that Victor caught, straightening the arm into a lock. The Russian twisted out of it and stamped on Victor’s foot, stepping away to create enough room for a knee that collided with Victor’s stomach and would have knocked the air from his lungs had the suicide vest not cushioned the blow. There was no danger of it going off prematurely. The plastic explosives could only be detonated with an electric current supplied by the mobile phone detonator.
A shuffle backwards meant the Russian’s follow-up punch fell short of its intended target, Victor’s nose, and a ducking sidestep caused the next attack to sail over his head, the Russian stretching off balance in an attempt to hit his mark. Victor darted under the outstretched arm to land an uppercut on his enemy’s ribs and another above the liver. The Russian sagged, but didn’t slow or hesitate. He slammed his elbow back and down and caught Victor on the shoulder. Then he tried another knee, but Victor wrapped an arm under the knee as it came up, grabbed his opponent’s jacket, lifted him off the floor and drove him backwards until he collided with a table, and then slammed him down onto it.
The monitor and keyboard were knocked away. The monitor housing cracked on the floor. The Russian crushed the plastic in-and-out beneath him. He grabbed the phone and slammed it into the side of Victor’s head. Victor recoiled, bringing up a forearm to knock away the phone as the Russian threw it at him to create enough time for him to roll off the table and get back to his feet.
Victor exploited the distance between them to slip off the tan raincoat. On the other side of the table, the Russian took off his dinner jacket. Both garments dropped to the floor at the same time.
The Russian made to circle around the table but Victor lifted his right leg and planted a front kick on the table, knocking it into his opponent. He couldn’t generate enough force to cause any injury, but the blow surprised the Russian and he didn’t recover fast enough to block the keyboard that Victor swept up from the tabletop and swung double-handed into his face.
The keyboard was well made, and though it cracked and warped on impact, its structure held and most of the force was transferred to the Russian. He staggered backwards. Victor dropped the keyboard, charged, dipped low and wrapped his left arm around the Russian’s waist as he used his right behind the knee to lift the leg. His forward momentum tipped the Russian off balance and he hit the floor hard, the back of his head thumping against the thin carpet.
Victor went down with him, but on top. Dazed but still fighting back, the Russian didn’t have the strength to stop Victor turning him over and snaking his arm underneath his jaw. the Russian’s throat in the pit of Victor’s elbow. He squeezed with his arm as he pushed the knuckle of his right thumb into the side of the man’s neck at a downward forty-five degree angle, his left hand closed over the right to increase the pressure. Russian went slack in less than three seconds.
Another thirty seconds would ensure the Russian never recovered but Victor didn’t want to kill him. He was no longer a threat, and if Victor wasn’t out of the embassy by the time the man woke up then he was never going to get away.
He found the gun on the floor near the office door and scooped it up. It was a Russian-made Yarygin MP-443 pistol. He checked the load: seventeen 9 mm rounds in the magazine. He tucked it into the front of his waistband. He didn’t plan to use it, but it was of infinitely more use in his possession than left on the floor.
Francesca still stood in the same spot as he had left her. She watched him, but her eyes were focused on the middle distance. He retrieved the raincoat and put it back on. He took Francesca’s hand. Her palm was cool and clammy.
‘It’s time to go.’
‘Okay.’
A sound outside the door gave Victor a second’s warning and he snapped up the Yarygin so that when the door opened the two SVR security guys walked straight into the line of fire. They were dressed in tuxedos like the unconscious man with red hair. Victor recognised one from the music room, but not the second. He must have been patrolling elsewhere.
‘Hands above your shoulders.’ They did as instructed. ‘You on the left, kick the door closed behind you. Don’t turn around.’ He complied. ‘Now, with your left hand and using just your thumb and forefinger, take the gun from your colleague’s belt holster and drop it at your feet.’ He struggled to remove the pistol from the holster, but managed it after a few seconds. It thunked on the carpet. ‘Get your hand back in the air and kick the gun my way.’ It skidded across the floor and stopped half a metre from Victor’s toes. He stepped forward and kicked it to the other side of the room. ‘You on the right, do exactly the same as your friend.’
When the second gun had joined the first at the far end of the office, Victor approached his two captives. Stopping a metre before them, he stared hard into the eyes of the one on the right, then pistol-whipped the man on the left on the jaw while he was focused on what Victor might do to his colleague, and backhanded the gun into the temple of man to his right before he could react to the surprise attack.
They both dropped, unconscious.
He tore away their radios and crushed them beneath his heel, one after the other. Then he grabbed Francesca’s hand and led her out of the door.