Two hours later, at ten o’clock, everything was ready.
Reyland, with all his notes memorized, turned from the window at his agents and analysts. He smiled at the buzz in the air, smiled at his security men standing at the back of the room with their blunt, hard faces.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men, he thought.
There was a blown-up map of the city of London on the whiteboard behind him, and in front of him on the conference table was a 3-D cardboard mock-up of two buildings, one marked EMBASSY and one marked WORK SITE.
Reyland took out a pair of reading glasses and a laser pointer as he cleared his throat.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this,” he said, waving the laser pointer across the shorter side of the box marked EMBASSY, “is Upper Belgrave Street.
“This,” he said, pointing the laser between the boxes to its shorter side, “is Wilton.
“Our setup is at this work site here across Wilton, which we will infiltrate from Wilton Mews here to the north. Our agent in the embassy will open a window here on the Wilton side of the embassy in the back. Once the exchange from the window to across the street to the work site is complete, we will exit here down the work site scaffolding on Upper Belgrave into a waiting vehicle here. Once in the car, we will go in a protective convoy back here in the route that you’ve all been given. So far so good?”
He looked at the faces. Everyone was nodding.
“Any questions?”
“What about the foreign service security at all the embassies on Upper Belgrave? What if we’re spotted?” asked an agent.
“You don’t have to worry about that. We will be jamming all communications,” Reyland said.
“In addition, all pertinent staff at surrounding allied embassies have been briefed. The whole area will be on stand-down,” Wrenhall added.
“What if there is resistance from the Chilean embassy security or another intel force? Do we have permission to engage?” said another ops agent.
“The sensitivity of this operation could not be greater,” Reyland said. “With that said, the acquisition and protection of this asset supersedes everything, and I mean everything.”
“Engage anything that jeopardizes the mission?” said the security man.
“Yes, treat Upper Belgrave as a battlefield. Engage and remove all threats,” Reyland said.
“Robert, if I could?” Brooke Wrenhall said, standing from the table.
“By all means,” Reyland said.
“As you all know, this operation is in no way, shape or form authorized by any local police, so use the highest levels of stealth and aversion at all times,” Wrenhall said.
“But remember,” she said. “There aren’t any words to explain exactly how important this mission is. I’ve been working in intelligence circles for almost forty years, and what we are seeking to recover is the most important piece of actionable intel I’ve ever come across.
“This mission is tide turning, ladies and gentlemen. History making. Or breaking. We all know our jobs. Let’s do them.”