Run for Home (15 page)

They hustled him into a car parked nearby and drove away as flashing lights turned a corner and filled the street with carnival colours. Sirens suggested police cars were converging on the area from several directions.

‘We had to get you away from there,’ the other man said in heavily accented English. ‘Sitting in a police cell for 48 hours while they sort out what has happened is no fun.’

Harry was sitting in the back of the car with the other man. Kuznetsov was driving.

‘How are you feeling?’ Kuznetsov called over his shoulder.

Harry grunted and just shook his head.

‘Were you hit?’ the other man asked.

‘No,’ he admitted.

‘Shocked and dazed, probably. And a little battered and bruised, perhaps?’ the other man said with a chuckle.

All of that, Harry thought miserably. He was still struggling to deal with Lenka’s death and with what had happened to Mason.

Kuznetsov asked Harry if he had a car, and where it was. Then he drove him to where it was parked. On the way, he stopped to let the other man out.

‘Before I disappear,’ the man said, gripping Harry by the
arm hard, ‘I want to tell you something very important. Mason will not trouble anyone again, obviously, but he has set something in motion that you must stop.

‘His men, the two killers you know, are on their way to England. Their task is to abduct your daughter again. Mason is dead but they will not learn that for some time. They will carry on with their mission. You must stop them.

‘Believe me, please, when I say that I wish none of this had happened. It is not my doing. But in a sense, I am responsible. I accept that.’

With that, he slid out of the door that Kuznetsov was holding open for him and faded into the night shadows.

Kuznetsov got back behind the wheel and they completed the journey to where Harry had parked his car.

‘Who was he, Yuri?’

By then, he had recovered his senses.

Kuznetsov smiled. ‘You don’t need to know that, Harry.’

‘Was it who I think it was?’

‘What he said was true. You need to move fast, Harry. I hope you can manage it.’

‘It was Kurst, wasn’t it?’

‘Perhaps.’

Kuznetsov sighed and added, ‘He was not behind what Mason did. He wanted Mason in his pocket, it is true, because of his potential value in future. But not at any price.

‘Once Mason had departed from his senses, and started taking desperate measures, he became a liability and was no longer of any value whatsoever. From then on, it became a matter of damage limitation.’

‘But more damage still happened,’ Harry pointed out bitterly.

Kuznetsov shrugged. ‘It is true. I cannot deny it. But what he said to you is also true. You must hurry home, Harry. Here,’ he added. ‘This may help.’

He handed over a mobile phone. Harry looked at it.

‘I took it from Mason,’ Kuznetsov said. ‘There may be information on it that you can use.’

Harry nodded his thanks.

‘What are you doing here, Yuri? This isn’t your fight.’

Kuznetsov smiled. ‘Maybe I will see you in London, Harry,’ he said mysteriously.

‘Working for Kurst?’

‘Who knows?’

Kuznetsov held out his hand. Harry took it. Belatedly, he thought of a question he still hadn’t asked.

‘How did you and Kurst happen to be there, on the spot?’ he asked. ‘How did you know what was going to happen this evening?’

Kuznetsov chuckled. ‘You expect me to tell you all my trade secrets, Harry?’

Harry shook his head. ‘I would have shot him again myself if you hadn’t turned up.’

‘Maybe; maybe not. We wanted to make sure. Believe me Harry, it was for the best.’

Perhaps it was, Harry thought, as he watched Kuznetsov drive away. He wasn’t really certain he could have found it in him to shoot a badly injured man.

‘Mayhew? Mason’s dead.’

There was a brief pause.

‘Can you tell me more?’

‘It’s a long story. I was with a couple of people when he tried a drive-by shooting. He got two hits but missed me.
Then his vehicle crashed, and. … Well, you can guess the rest.’

‘I really will need detail, you know.’

‘I’ll let you have it, but not now. I have to go. I’ve learned his two hitmen are after my daughter again. I must get to her before they do.’

Mayhew was quiet for a heartbeat. Then he said, ‘Anything I can do?’

‘Not for me directly. But you may need to smooth over some serious wrinkles. One of the people with me was a Czech intelligence officer, a friend, who has been helping me. She was killed. The man with her was her brother from Brno. He was also hit. I don’t know if he survived.’

‘I see.’

Harry took a deep breath and added, ‘Sadly, and unknown to me, the woman was in a relationship with Mason, who she knew as “Stefan”. It must sound complicated, but that’s how it was. I’ll tell you more another time.’

‘Thank you. Get back to me when you can.’

Thank God for cold efficiency, Harry thought with relief after he had switched off. Mayhew was just what he needed right now. No questions that would have the effect of holding him up.

He turned the ignition key and started up, and pointed the car towards the airport on the outskirts of the city. There was nothing he could do for Lenka or her brother. His priority was clear: to get back home ASAP.

He kept all his questions and doubts at bay until he was on the plane and could think properly about them. It would have been Lisa’s phone call to Babi that had told them where she was, he decided. They must still have been monitoring
Babi’s phone.

So Lisa’s innocent call had resulted in Babi’s needless murder, and Mason knowing where Lisa was. He grimaced. A terrible price had already been paid unwittingly by a little girl anxious to speak to her grandmother. He had to hope he could stop the price rising still higher.

Two hours, he thought. That’s how long the flight to Newcastle would be. Then another hour, say, to get to The Running Man. Would it be enough?

The mobile Kuznetsov had given him told him a lot of what he needed to know. Until he examined it he was floundering in the dark, but on the flight he had plenty of time to read the texts and listen to the voicemails.

The plan was straightforward: Jackson and Murphy were to take their car to the village of Granton in Northumberland. There, they were to look for Gibson’s daughter, and take her. They were given the number of the phone she had used in calling her grandmother. The child was to be taken to somewhere called Košice – which Harry knew to be in Slovakia – where they could collect their financial package, as previously agreed.

Harry wondered if Košice had just been a transit point for Mason. Surely he would have had to move on? To somewhere in Russia, perhaps? That would have been just about the only country where Mason could have felt safe. He smiled. Mason could have led a great life there, in Siberia probably, counting his money.

A couple of things stood out. One, the instruction was to abduct, not kill, Lisa. Presumably as insurance, a bargaining counter. That was something to be grateful for, he supposed, although it was hard to see how she could have survived the
ordeal planned for her. He knew hostages had a poor life expectancy, especially when crossing international borders.

Two, it was clear that Mason and the others had planned to split up and go their own ways after this. It was tempting to wonder what Jackson and Murphy would do now if they knew Mason was dead. Abort? Take off? Disappear? That might depend on whether they would still be able to pick up their money with Mason dead. They could be stuck, out on a limb, with nothing to show for their work for him.

He wondered what they would say, and do, if he phoned them now on Mason’s phone and told them their boss was dead. Laugh in his face, probably. They would take some convincing.

Mayhew might be able to do it, of course. That was a better idea. He might even be able to offer them some sort of immunity to persuade them to abandon their mission and walk away.

That thought wasn’t especially appealing; Jackson and Murphy walk free? No retribution for murdering Babička and the men in Unit 89? No way!

On the other hand, he liked the thought of them getting close to Lisa even less. Priorities, he thought. Be practical, and realistic. These were desperate, dangerous men, and he was one man alone who was not in their class as a killer.

He considered the timetable. The latest message on Mason’s phone suggested Jackson and Murphy had set off at about ten that morning. Even if they drove non-stop, sharing the driving, he couldn’t see them getting to north Northumberland before six or seven o’clock in the morning. So there was time to set something up.

He tapped his fingers on the armrest until the man next to him looked up from his Kindle and frowned. He apologized
and got up to head for the toilet. Once inside, he took out his phone and made the call.

‘Yes, Harry?’

‘Hi. I’m flying to Newcastle. I’ve just been going through the messages on Mason’s mobile, working out their plan. I’m hoping you might be able to intercept Jackson and Murphy before they can do what they’ve been sent to do.’

‘Tell me.’

He told Mayhew what he knew, and what he guessed. He also told him what he didn’t know and couldn’t guess.

‘So you think they can’t arrive before about seven or eight in the morning?’

‘That’s my best estimate.’

‘Right. What car are they using?’

‘No idea, I’m afraid.’

‘Don’t worry. Leave it to us. We’ll check the ferries and Eurostar. I’m sure we’ll be able to stop them.’

Harry switched off as someone started hammering on the toilet door. He got up and made his exit.

‘Are you all right, sir?’ a stewardess asked.

‘Yes, thanks. And, no, I wasn’t smoking in there,’ he added with a smile.

She didn’t look amused.

So leave it to Mayhew, he thought with relief. He had plenty of resources to call on back in the UK. It was much more sensible than trying to do everything himself.

He had called Ellie earlier and asked her if she could get someone to pick him up at the airport. She was waiting for him herself when he came out of Arrivals.

He smiled. ‘You’re a sight for sore eyes!’ he said, taking
her in his arms.

She held on to him for a moment and looked up. He kissed her and then turned her towards the exit.

‘No luggage?’

He shook his head.

‘And no car.’ She stared at him and added, ‘Trouble?’

‘I’m afraid so.’

On the way, he tried to summarize everything that had been happening, and where things stood now. It was a lot for her to take in, he knew, even in condensed form, but he had to do it. At least she didn’t throw up her hands and scream at him to get out of the car.

‘Poor Lisa,’ she said when he broke off. ‘And poor you!’ He thought she was done, but then she added, ‘I thought it must be something like that.’

‘You did?’ He was surprised.

‘Spies, and things.’

‘Mostly things,’ he said quietly. ‘We haven’t been doing much spying for a long time, and I’m out of it now anyway.’

‘You sure?’

He nodded. ‘Certain.’

His phone rang when they were about halfway back to the village. He pulled it out and glanced at it. Mayhew.

‘Yes?’

‘I’m sorry to tell you this, Harry, but we were too late. We just missed them.’

His heart seemed to miss a beat.

‘Where?’ he asked, wondering if they were on a ferry. ‘Calais?’

‘Dover, as well. They’re moving fast. They’re in the
country, and presumably heading your way.’

He grimaced.

Mayhew continued, ‘They are travelling in a black Jaguar – or they were. Helped themselves to embassy property once again.’

‘They need to change the locks in that place.’

‘Don’t they just? We’ll do what we can, of course, and no doubt catch up with them eventually, but I wanted you to be on guard.’

‘Thanks.’

He switched off and thought furiously. Either they were ahead of schedule or they had started off earlier than he had believed.

He glanced at his watch. Midnight plus ten now. Five or six hours before they arrived? Something like that. He needed to move Lisa out of harm’s way.

‘It’s not over, after all, is it?’ Ellie said quietly.

‘I’m afraid not.’

‘What needs doing?’

‘There are two men coming for Lisa. We need to move her away from the hotel to somewhere safe.’

‘Because the hotel was where she made the phone call from?’

‘That’s right.’

‘What else needs doing?’

‘Let’s just concentrate on that for the moment. We need to move her, in case we can’t stop them coming.’

‘Who is
we
?’

‘That was a very senior officer in MI6 that just called me. He will be doing what he can to have these men intercepted long before they can reach Northumberland.’

Ellie digested that for a moment. He was amazed she was
so calm. This was an extraordinary intrusion into her life. She was doing very well.

‘Any ideas about where we might take her?’ he asked gently. ‘I know it’s difficult at a moment’s notice, especially at this time of night, but it’s got to be done. If necessary, I’ll take her camping.’

‘No need for that.’ Ellie pondered a moment and then said, ‘I’ll take her to my mother’s. She lives just outside the village.’

That sounded good to him.

‘What will you do?’ she asked.

‘Belt and braces!’ he said cheerfully. ‘I’m going to position myself strategically, in case MI6 can’t do the job.’

Back at The Running Man, he lifted Lisa from her bed and silently swept her away to the car, Ellie following with an extra quilt to wrap her in. The little girl didn’t wake up. He was glad of that. More explanation, especially to Lisa, would have been beyond him just then.

The journey was one of only a few minutes. Surprisingly, a light was still shining in the cottage of Ellie’s mother.

‘Oh, she doesn’t sleep much these days,’ Ellie said. ‘She’ll love having a visitor, as well. Give me a minute with her, and then bring Lisa in.’

It worked. A few minutes and they were out of there, and back in the car. One problem dealt with, Harry thought with relief.

‘Can I borrow the car?’ he asked.

‘Wouldn’t the Land Rover be better? It’s just round the back of the hotel.’

‘Perhaps it would. Thanks.’

He hesitated then. There was something else he needed,
but he doubted very much if Ellie could help with that. Still, he had to ask.

‘The Running Man is an old hunting lodge, isn’t it?’

‘It was once,’ she said, glancing at him.

‘I don’t suppose there might be any … weapons laid around anywhere, would there?’

‘Firearms, you mean?’

‘Well. …’

‘There’s a shotgun you can have, and a box of cartridges. My father’s,’ she added before he asked.

‘Oh?’

‘Everyone in the country used to have a shotgun,’ she said. ‘It didn’t used to be like it is now.’

Less dangerous, probably, he thought. They wouldn’t ever have had people like Jackson and Murphy arriving on their doorstep.

Back at the hotel, he took delivery of the shotgun and the keys to the Land Rover.

‘Take care,’ Ellie said, sounding, and looking, troubled.

‘I will.’

‘Can I ask where you’re headed?’

He hesitated. But she deserved an answer.

‘To where the road from the A1 climbs that first hill. If they get that far, I’ll catch them there.’