Back in the foyer Melanie caught her attention.
‘Ms Oswald,’ she began, showing an earnest look, ‘I’ve just had Mr Brice on the phone. I’m afraid he’s been unavoidably detained and won’t be back today. He apologizes profusely for the inconvenience.’
Rebecca looked disappointed. ‘That’s a shame.’
‘Mr Brice wonders if you’ll be able to reschedule for later in the week.’
‘I’m flying back to New York tomorrow so that won’t be possible.’ She paused for a second, pretending to think. ‘But when I’m here next month I’ll make sure to book another appointment.’
Melanie nodded. ‘Okay, I’ll let Mr Brice know.’
‘Good-bye.’
‘Good-bye, Ms Oswald.’
Rebecca noticed her expression change as Melanie slipped out of receptionist mode and into her real self. ‘And maybe when you’re here next I can show you around the city. There are some fantastic sights to see.’
Rebecca nodded, slowly, uncomfortably. ‘I can imagine.’
She headed to the rendezvous point, a bar/cafe alongside the plaza outside Seif’s building. There were maybe a dozen tables outside and probably a dozen more between the plate-glass windows that served as the shop front. All the tables seemed to be occupied, men in suits, women in suits, the odd casually dressed person looking severely out of place and feeling it.
She’d tried to spot him as she approached, and even standing right outside didn’t help. He’d specifically said he would be on a table out front. For a long horrible moment she thought they’d got to him, and she looked around frantically, sure she would be next. But instead she saw him nursing an espresso with a copy of some London newspaper open next to his cup. He hadn’t seen her; his focus was purely on the newspaper, and she was glad he hadn’t seen her panicking. She didn’t call or gesture to get his attention, but stood observing him for a moment, enjoying the rare feeling of watching him in secret.
He turned over a page, took a sip of his coffee. She was surprised to find he looked so normal sitting alone with his newspaper, no different from the city workers surrounding him. In the sunlight he was even handsome.
Rebecca reminded herself he was quite literally the exact opposite of normal and made her way between the tightly packed tables and people. She sat down across from him. A steaming espresso was waiting for her.
‘Why were you watching me like that?’ he asked without looking up.
‘Oh, uh, sorry. I didn’t mean to. It’s just I didn’t see you straight away.’
‘If you had I’d need to consider changing my profession.’
She wasn’t sure if it was a joke or if he were serious. He tilted his head up to look at her. His expression showed nothing. It never did. He was as close to inanimate as she imagined a person could be.
‘Seif takes his computer out to lunch with him,’ she said.
‘Then he’ll take it everywhere.’
Rebecca said, ‘I think you can rule out the office as a strike point.’
‘Elaborate.’
‘There are a lot of employees and one of his bodyguards stands outside his office door, and he’s not going to let you past in a hurry. I’m sure you could force your way, but if anyone else enters the corridor, which is highly likely, they’re going to see the two-hundred-plus pounds of meathead lying slumped on the floor.’
‘I wouldn’t do it that way, but my way wouldn’t be easy. The same bodyguard won’t be posted there all day. The tedium would make him lose focus. They’ll rotate, probably once every couple of hours. If they’re smart, these times will seemingly be irregular and changed on a daily basis. There’s no way of anticipating a changeover. How did Seif’s bodyguards behave inside the office?’
‘Alert, watchful, even with a hot receptionist to stare at.’
He nodded. ‘They evidently paid attention during their protection class about the danger of complacency in familiar environments. If they didn’t let their guard down in the office they won’t anywhere.’
‘Then they’re good.’
He shrugged. ‘They’re good and bad. Big and scary is great for pushing through crowds but makes them bulky and slow, but while they look like dumb apes they’re armed and very observant. Seif didn’t hire them just for show.’
‘You saw that they were carrying?
He nodded, showing no surprise, no alarm, nothing.
‘Handguns?’ she asked.
‘Yes,’ he answered. ‘What were they wearing under their raincoats?’
‘Suits.’ She smiled. ‘You looking for fashion tips?’
‘What kind of fit?’
‘You are looking for fashion tips.’
‘Loose, tight, what?’
‘Tight enough to need repairing if they bend over too fast.’
He nodded.
‘Is that good?’ Rebecca asked.
‘It might help.’
‘Listen, I really think this is a bad idea. If it was just Seif it would be different, but these two guys change everything. They’re like hawks, big mean hawks with guns. You won’t get near him without them making you.’
‘If Seif is a target of the clean-up, I’ll have to take any opportunity that comes my way. Seif owns a London apartment as well as the mansion in Surrey, right?’
‘Right. We’re going to have to split up,’ she said. ‘I’ll reconnoitre his apartment, you his house. If he turns up at the apartment, I can call you. Either way, you can avoid the bodyguards. Stealth it.’
‘And how are your breaking and entering skills?’
She sighed. ‘Okay, good point. But what are we going to do now? We didn’t anticipate he would have two armed guards.’
She took a sip of her espresso. It wasn’t a match for Melanie’s.
The man she knew only as Tesseract said, ‘When you’ve finished that, I want you to wait a little while and get yourself a large cappuccino or something that you can drink slowly while you keep watch. Let me know the second you see him leave. If he does, phone his office and ask to speak to him. They should tell you if he’s coming back or not. If he’s not, try and follow him, but better you lose him than one of his bodyguards sees you.’
‘Okay, but where are you going?’
‘I’m going to get a gun.’
‘You have access to one in London?’
He looked at her. ‘Is that a question?’
‘I knew where you lived, nothing more,’ she said. ‘If that’s what you mean.’
‘It is.’
‘Whether anyone else does is another matter.’
‘Seif’s bodyguards are armed, so it’s a chance I’ll have to take.’
‘It’s still two against one.’
His expression didn’t change. ‘Poor odds for them.’
‘What exactly are you planning?’
‘We don’t know whether he’s going to be at the house or apartment later, and, like you said, his office is out. That leaves one option.’
‘Which is?’
‘I’ll have to get to him somewhere between all three.’
CHAPTER 54
Central Intelligence Agency, Virginia, USA
Tuesday
08:17 EST
Procter walked at a pace slightly faster than normal, which for a guy of his size and age wasn’t an easy feat. He was late for the morning briefing and getting his fat ass into one of the skinny agency chairs three minutes late instead of four was his priority. He entered the elevator and rode it up to the top floor. He nodded and grumbled greetings to colleagues as he strode down the corridors. When he pushed open the heavy soundproof door to the briefing room, three sets of eyes looked his way.
‘Sorry I’m late. Patricia’s been up half the night with her head hanging over the toilet and looking like an extra from a zombie movie. I got stuck with the school run.’
Chambers smiled and gave him a look that said no problem. For once she was looking a little rough around the edges. Ferguson and Sykes were sitting together on the opposite side of the conference table and looking like they were their own private boys’ club. Procter pulled out a chair between the two camps.