Braun laughed. “I think not, Kairouz. But I’ll forgive that outburst. I’m sure you’ll be more respectful since I’m entertaining Cassie. Remember the videos?”
“Liar! She’s at school,” Alex said as the “call waiting” tone buzzed.
“Do take that, Kairouz. No doubt it’s the Farnsworth bitch. You have ten seconds to deal with her before I disconnect and Cassie disappears. Ready? Go.”
“Look, Braun—”
“Nine seconds, Kairouz. Tick. Tick. Tick.”
Alex switched calls.
“Mr. Kairouz! Thank God!” Gillian Farnsworth said. “That brute Farley has somehow taken Cassie fr—”
“I know. I’ll call back,” Alex blurted, reconnecting with Braun.
“What do you want?” he asked, shaken.
“Much better,” Braun said. “Speak to no one. Take the tube to Sudsbury and Smythe on Lombard Street. Do you know the firm?”
“I know of it.”
“Ask for Mr. Carrington-Smythe, the managing director. You’re expected. He’ll give you a case with cash and bearer bonds. Take receipt quickly and leave. Is that clear?”
“Yes.”
“Take a cab to Heathrow, the Global Air Charter counter. There’s a jet waiting to take you and Cassie to Beirut, your old home. Board and wait.”
Alex’s hopes rose. To be dashed.
“Cassie, of course, will never arrive,” Braun said.
“But, what—”
“Shut up and listen!” Braun said. “When the police arrive, confess you and Dugan conspired to blow up China Star and Asian Trader to manipulate freight rates, but that when Dugan was arrested in Panama, you panicked and fled. When Sutton discovered your plan to leave him as scapegoat, you killed him and torched the office to cover the murder. You arranged for Farley and me, mere cogs in your evil plan, to collect Cassie as you couldn’t trust the upright Mrs. Farnsworth. You will speculate we saw police and, fearing arrest, disappeared with her.”
“And if I refuse?” Alex asked.
“Surely you can guess, Kairouz. We’ve reviewed the video often enough.”
A strangled sob told Braun he’d won.
“One more thing, Kairouz,” Braun said. “While in custody, kill yourself.”
Alex gasped.
“Oh, don’t carry on,” Braun said. “It’s a trade, Kairouz. Your pathetic life in exchange for sparing Cassie.”
“You think I trust you?”
“I appeal not to your trust, you fool, but your logic. If Cassie reappears unharmed, it supports what I want believed: that we panicked, dumped the girl, and escaped. They won’t waste resources on minor players after they’ve captured you, the ringleader. But if she disappears or is found dead, she becomes a sympathetic victim and the authorities will keep looking. And if you confess and die, I can release her without fear you’ll recant. It’s in my interests to do so.”
“But how am I supposed to… to…”
“Inmates manage to kill themselves daily, Kairouz. I have every confidence in you. But don’t think a halfhearted effort will satisfy me. I need commitment, old boy. Clear?”
“Yes,” Alex said, barely audible.
“Excellent. On with it then. And remember, contact no one. In fact, remove your phone battery. I’ll know if you don’t and might allow Farley a go at darling Cassie.”
Braun hung up and smiled. “That went well.”
“How are you bugging his phone from here?” Farley asked.
“I’m not, obviously,” Braun said with forced patience. “But he’s too frightened to do anything but follow orders.”
“You think he’ll off himself?”
“Of course,” Braun said. “But just as importantly, he’ll implicate Dugan now. He’ll unconsciously compare his own noble sacrifice against a prison term for Dugan. Dugan’s fate will seem acceptable.” Braun smiled. “Kairouz’s suicide will make his confession irrevocable and dovetail nicely with the evidence found in Sutton’s desk.”
Farley frowned. “So we let the girl go?”
Braun laughed. “Of course not, you idiot. You think I care if some bumbling oafs are looking for me? By the time they suspect anything we’ll be long gone.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Bloody hell,” Anna said into the phone. “What about the protective detail?”
“On his tail,” Lou said, “but quite a ways behind.”
She sighed. “All right. Air support?”
“A chopper’s en route. Control has Cassie eastbound on Lambeth Bridge, near you. Vehicle unknown.”
“I need transport,” Anna said.
“It looks like the chase car will be coming right by you,” Lou said. “Can you be at the corner of Lambeth Road and Pratt Walk in ten minutes?”
“Affirmative.”
“All right,” Lou said. “I’ll have the chase car call when they near the intersection and start another car en route from HQ as a backup in case the chase moves abruptly in another direction. Harry, Dugan, Reyes, and I are leaving from Askew Road. I’ll call Ward, but we’ve no time to collect him. We’ll get her back, Anna.”
We better, Anna thought, hanging up and pushing through the crowd to Mrs. Coutts at the mob’s edge checking off arriving employees to start a list of missing colleagues. Anna looked around.
“Mr. Kairouz?”
Mrs. Coutts pointed to Alex some distance away, his back turned as he pocketed his phone. He turned as she approached, his face red.
“So much for your bloody promises.”
“Alex?… But how—”
“From Mrs. Farnsworth, who is apparently more competent than the whole of Her Majesty’s bloody Security Service. Where the hell was the protection?”
“We’ve a strong signal,” Anna said, “and I’m going after her. But you shouldn’t be alone now. Wait here while I get Mrs. Coutts.”
Anna hurried away. When she returned with Mrs. Coutts, Alex was gone.
Alex skirted arriving firefighters to walk north along the river, crossing Westminster Bridge to the tube station. He’d been wrong to entrust Cassie’s safety to others. Braun was too smart. He had no choice now but to play Braun’s game.
Even now, pursuit endangered Cassie, but he knew he couldn’t stop it. Braun was the real target now, whatever Anna said, for only he held the key to the attacks. And if Braun did escape, it would mean he’d found and disabled the implant and knew he was compromised. In that scenario, Alex was Cassie’s last chance. Braun the desperate fugitive would kill her and flee. Unless Alex provided an option. Unless his confession and suicide made the news in time for Braun to hear. Braun couldn’t even be charged with kidnapping if acting on Alex’s orders. Assuming he left Cassie unharmed.
Alex embraced that fragile hope and marched toward a date with death.
“Any luck?” Lou asked over his shoulder as Dugan dialed again, unaware Alex was entering the tube station only yards away.
“Another ‘unavailable’ message,” Dugan said from the backseat next to Reyes, glaring out at traffic. Assuming Lambeth Bridge would choke first, Lou had diverted to Westminster Bridge, along with most of the rest of London it seemed.
“Try the Farnsworth woman,” Harry suggested.
Dugan nodded and dialed. She answered at once.
“Mr. Dugan,” she said, “thank God you’re here. Farley has kidnapped Cassie. I called Mr. Kairouz straightaway, but he hung up and hasn’t rung back. When I call, I get a bloody recording. The headmistress called the police, but Ms. Walsh’s ‘protection’ is nowhere to be seen. What should I do?”
She was coming unwound. Dugan tried to calm her.