40

“What the hell is going on?” Shute Barrington paced the corridor, talking to himself. The Eagle was circling, but at that moment, it was about as useful as a piece of space junk. It was telling him nothing.

Three minutes ago, the thermal cameras had picked up one adult running into the Nest from the rear. Barrington had been using the robot to watch the front entrance, where Andrew had been standing with a woman. He’d only just caught the running figure. And he’d been too late to glimpse the face. Wickett? It was possible.

But where were the police? And who was this woman? Barrington had seen her before—at the top of the driveway, when Will had arrived in the car. He had a decent face shot. But he didn’t recognize her.

Barrington ran up to his room. He dialed the number for Karl Lorenz and got through to an assistant, who explained that the officer was unavailable. “Get him to call me! Shute Barrington! Now!”

Barrington downloaded the shot of the woman onto the laptop and he connected to the STASIS network. The photo databases should be accessible, so long as he had the right password—which he did. Barrington submitted the picture.

Thirty seconds later, he got a result.

Elke Hahn

Age: 47

Nationality: Swiss

History: Trained by the Swiss secret service. Resigned in 1982. Became a mercenary. Charged in 1988 with the murder of two smugglers involved in transporting arms across the Alps. Acquitted. Suspected of involvement in a European people-smuggling racket in the late 1990s, and the related killings of three policemen in Berlin in January 2000. No recorded activity since February 2002. Retired?

A retired mercenary! What was Andrew doing with a woman like that? Barrington thought. Was she threatening him? It hadn’t looked like it. Was she helping him? It was possible.

But where were Will and Gaia?

Where was Webb?

What was Lorenz doing?

What was going on?

Barrington sent the Eagle back to the parking lot. It was empty now, apart from two people crouching in the trees. Just as this thought crossed his mind, they started to move.

Barrington auto-adjusted the focus of the low-light camera. He saw zips. Outdoor trousers. Andrew. And Elke Hahn. They were heading for that rear entrance. Elke was carrying two guns. One looked like a shotgun—but not one that Barrington had ever seen before. The other seemed to be a pistol.

Barrington tried Will’s number again.

Voice mail.

He punched in Andrew’s number and ran a hand through his hair.

The phone was ringing.

And ringing . . .

At last, Barrington heard: “Hi, this is Andrew. I’m busy right now. Leave a message and I will get back to you.”

“Busy!” Barrington exclaimed. “Something of an understatement, I suspect.”