“Right,” Morgan said. “You have a captive audience. So make it quick and cut to the chase, because my wife will have heard me open the porch door.”
“I would like you to hang on to Isabel Linley for a while longer. But you’re to make sure that she’s told exactly what’s going on and that she’s perfectly safe, and that you are holding her for her own protection. I’ll give you a note to give to her, explaining what’s going on. Oh, and make sure she has five-star comfort.”
“But we’re not holding her, Jake.”
Before Dillon could explode, Morgan added quickly, “But we do know who is and will pass on your wishes in exchange for something back from you.”
“And you have the authority to make deals like this, do you Brendon?”
“Not exactly, but I don’t see any problems as long as you keep to your end of the bargain. We’ll have to know where to contact you, of course.”
“No. I’ll contact you at Thames House.”
“You’re not even willing to trust us now? So why the hell are you here?”
Outside the wind had got up and a light drizzly rain was falling. Dillon didn’t answer immediately, instead turned the ignition key and a second later the Porsche’s three-litre engine fired up. Morgan looked uncomfortable in the gloom.
“I don’t trust you. I’m simply having to compromise. Issy’s safety is my main priority, and don’t forget, I know how you lot work when you don’t get your own way.”
“Oh, come on, Jake. You make us sound like hoodlums in cloaks. When in fact the security service is extremely accountable and one that does not go around kidnapping innocent people or killing them for that matter. Not all of us throw our toys out of the pram when we don’t get our own way.”
“Hoodlums in cloaks. Now there’s a thought.”
“Look, are we going to deal or not? We really do want to help and we’re very interested in what you might know.”
Morgan turned to gaze at Dillon.
“Okay,” he continued, “I’ll lay my cards on the table. We do have your girlfriend and she’s staying in a five-star hotel and enjoying every pampered moment of it. She may know who we are but we would, of course, vehemently deny everything, particularly when we know there are other interested parties who would very much like to get their hands on her. You understand, of course. We had to draw you out into the open and it worked, didn’t it? We hold you in high regard, Jake. But we do want what you know, and even if it galls me to say it. You have achieved in a few days what the police and MI5 have been trying to do over many months. So please, simply trust us on this one.”
Dillon switched off the engine and let the tension build up a fraction more before saying, “We’re talking, Brendon. That’s as good as it gets for now. However, I will give you everything I know, but I may need some help in return. It started five days ago when I came across a document containing a list of names and addresses, all in the south of England. There was no explanation accompanying them, I was curious so I paid one of them a visit. What I discovered was a cache of gold bullion and many wooden crates full of priceless works of art.”
“Where were they? Obviously not in the living room.” Morgan allowed himself a smile at his own weak joke.
“Obviously not. It took time, but I discovered a secret underground room that was located under the garage. There’s a strong possibility that the gold originated from the Brinks Mat robbery staged at Heathrow in 1983. As for the art and other objects, I’ve got my operations controller, Vince Sharp, looking at the FBI’s most wanted stolen works of art database. I’m sure that Tommy Trevelyan, Paul Hammer, and the late Julian Latimer are all behind it, alongside an unlikely yet charismatic, Charlie Hart.”
“That would have been the Lyme Regis incident?”
“How did you find out about that?”
“The local police force. They filed a report and it found its way back to us because someone thought it might have been a possible threat to national security. Not really sure why they thought that — might have been the AK47 they found in the woods close to the house, or possibly the amount of human blood they found spattered, pooled and smeared everywhere, both around and inside the property, that made them just a little bit suspicious. But you must have really stuck your head in the noose down there. Lucky to be alive, I’d say.”
“I admit, it was a close call, that one. And not something I’d want to repeat. But I cannot for the life of me make out what the hell it’s all about or why so many people have already died. The list has been changed many times — some entries have been crossed out completely and new ones entered. I must admit that I’m a little surprised that three of these men are involved, only because of their wealth status. As for Trevelyan, well this is obviously right up his street. There must be some very large sums of money involved to get him to make such elaborate plans for protection and to put out an open contract to have me killed.”
“Did this list come from the late Julian Latimer, the MP? We’ve been interested in him for some time.”
“Yes.” Dillon held up his hands, adding, “Don’t ask how I came by it. That’s really all I have at the moment. So what’s it all about?”
“Let me just say this: It’s much bigger than we at first thought. Latimer used highly confidential information which he discovered had enormous commercial value, contacted Trevelyan who, presumably with Hart, saw the global potential and far wider possibilities than Latimer could have ever dreamt of, and put them to a use. I have to say that we’re still trying to uncover what that is exactly. What you have discovered, which I might add, is an extremely important find. It’s the conduit and revenue generating side to their operation. You’re quite right, of course — it all started with the Brinks Mat gold bullion robbery back in 1983. That’s when Latimer discovered that he could make vast sums of money by selling confidential information to the likes of Trevelyan. The fact that he’s now dead seems to indicate that the arrangement has been cancelled by Trevelyan! The three remaining members are also the founders of a secret society calling themselves The Hell Fire Club — if you’re wondering what all of this is about?”
“The Hell Fire Club?”
“Yes. And it’s the reason why MI5 is involved. I won’t bore you with the details. But what I can tell you is that it shot to our attention when GCHQ intercepted a little chatter between Hart and someone in northern India. The words ‘Hell’, ‘Fire’ and ‘Shroud of Concealment’ were referred to on three separate occasions. Those rather clever little geeks up there run voice-recognition programmes as a matter of routine. Because of this we now know the name of the individual that Hart was talking to. This individual has links with all of the extreme radical terrorist organisations around the planet.”
“Were there other conversations between these two men?”
“You see, I’m telling you much more than you have told me because we need your particular skills.”
“I’m expendable is what you mean. And you still haven’t answered my question.”
“Yes. The calls were exclusively between Hart and I’ll simply call him ‘X’, in northern India. But some were three-way conference calls with someone else here in London who we haven’t, as yet, been able to identify. All of the conversations have so far been heavily coded. But they’ve become more than a little reckless since you’ve been snooping around. They do, however, always follow the pattern of some type of code. You know the sort of thing — specific words placed into the conversation but not so that they look out of place. Which meant that when the conversations were played back and then digitally altered the code became partially visible. But we are not able to break it completely and need to know much more about this man whom Hart contacts in London. That’s where you come in.”