Ellie gently tilted Arjuna’s head back in Tenby’s car and packed his nose with tissues to staunch the flow of blood. He winced, tears streaming down the small gullies and crevices of his skin. She wiped his face and neck with more tissues.
Solomon had sent two extraction teams and Tenby. She watched the two black SUVs overtake them and enter the US Embassy first. Once they had passed through the security portals, Tenby’s driver took them into the underground car park.
Ellie helped Arjuna stand properly. He needed a doctor and painkillers. She needed her medication, too.
‘Solomon’s waiting for you in the Frontal Lobe,’ Tenby said, leading them through the bowels of the building to the surveillance room where Scott was at his computer screens, looking suspiciously like he hadn’t moved for days.
Solomon was standing over him, reviewing information on Scott’s screens. When he saw her, his face flushed an angry red. Arjuna must have seen it too, because he tightened his arm around her shoulder which was holding him up. She helped him over to the nearest chair and braced herself.
Scott grimaced when he saw Arjuna’s face. He called for a medi-kit.
‘What the fuck happened out there?’ Solomon growled. ‘Once again, you’ve left behind a trail of bodies, and then you wind up at the CID. You could have been killed.’
He paused, his arms folded across his chest. Tenby shifted uncomfortably on his feet, eyes down. The only sound was Arjuna’s heavy breathing through his blood-clotted sinuses and smashed cartilage.
‘Well?’ Solomon demanded, taking a step towards her. Tenby moved back instinctively.
‘Sorry, sir, I wasn’t sure if you’d finished,’ Ellie said, her body still trembling with rage. Tenby had placed Arjuna and her in grave risk; when she confronted him, he’d mumbled some excuse about delays at the Cricket Club and Colombo traffic. He was wise to move back. She wanted to kill him.
‘Don’t you fucking give me cheek, Harper.’
‘Honestly, sir, I don’t mean to. You’re right, I could have been killed, or worse, Arjuna could have been killed.’
‘Damn straight,’ Solomon said, looking over at Arjuna who was collapsed in his chair. ‘He would be a great loss to us.’
‘At the Cricket Club, I saw the same man who’s been following me in Colombo,’ Ellie said, her brain trying hard to shift gears, calm the adrenaline and give Solomon the briefing he wanted. The faster she could brief him, the faster she could get out of the Embassy. She knew where to go next. With that single receipt in the Canadian guide book, Ameena Fernando had helped her one last time before she died. ‘Arjuna and I called Shirani Dennis and Sathyan Navaratnam repeatedly to alert them to potential danger. Arjuna called it in to the Embassy as well. Then we proceeded to Shirani Dennis’ home first—’
‘Why her home first?’ Solomon demanded.
Ellie swallowed hard. The pain that was balled in her chest from the moment she had seen the sparkling shoes on the bathroom floor, unfurled itself and crept up her body, threatening to choke her.
Solomon nodded and then tilted his head, as if choosing his next words carefully. ‘For the rest of your life, that will feel like your fault. For now, I need to know what to say to the Sri Lankan government, and to Redmond, given you were almost killed.’
‘Tell them I was doing my job. The investigation into Ameena Fernando’s death led me to her colleague Shirani Dennis. We were devastated to find her …’ Ellie hesitated and pressed on. ‘The CID picked us up at her house and understandably thought we were responsible. They did exactly what I would have done. They interrogated us with reasonable force.’ She did not look at Arjuna as she continued. ‘We’re grateful you intervened when you did, but there’s something wrong with the HKR team’s comms, sir.’
‘Excuse me?’ Solomon said. Communications with Special Ops were critical to the safety of their people.
‘I’ve called them twice today, and twice they were either a no-show or delayed.’
‘That’s ridiculous—’
‘It’s true sir,’ Arjuna said, his voice muffled by the tissues and clotting blood.
‘We need to look into it,’ Ellie said. A breakdown in comms or command would land on the station chief’s desk.
‘I know what we need to do, thank you, Ellie,’ Solomon said curtly, turning to Scott. ‘I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation.’
‘On it,’ Scott said, swinging his chair back to one of his computers.
‘Thank you, sir,’ Ellie said. ‘I’m done here. Please tell the Sri Lankan government that I’m going home soon and I’m using my remaining time to say my goodbyes.’
Solomon exhaled loudly. ‘I’m not the enemy here, Ellie,’ he said. ‘We’ve all got a job to do and at the end of the day, it’s about protecting US interests.’
‘I know that, sir, and I’m grateful for the time you’ve given me.’
‘I told Redmond I’d give you time and I keep my word with him—generally. You’ve got thirty-five hours left and then you get on that plane, or you accept that I can’t protect you. No matter how much Redmond cares about you. Do you understand?’
She nodded.
‘Clean yourselves up and then let’s run down the clock without losing anyone else, shall we? I’m going for a smoke. Yes, I know I’ve got cancer.’ Solomon didn’t wait for a response. He turned and left, the others silent until he’d cleared the door of the Frontal Lobe.
Ellie turned to Scott. ‘What have you got for me?’
‘Not what you want. The HKR team comms will take some looking into and I haven’t cracked the Tardis yet. I don’t even know where its off-site is. Could be anywhere. All I can tell you is that it’s made in China.’
‘I could have told you that. Isn’t all technology made in China?’ Arjuna said, every word making him wince.
Scott tossed the box of tissues to him. ‘No, I mean the encryption was designed in China. They have a certain laconic programming style. Their own vernacular, if you will. The Tardis was programmed to copy all data from the smartboard and whatever it was synced to. Presumably Ameena Fernando’s computer, her phone and the server of the newspaper.’
‘Could the Tardis hold that much data?’ she asked.
‘It can pull that much data. It downloads and transfers quickly and continuously, too.’
‘Meaning?’
‘Meaning that once you insert it, it senses new data being added to whatever it’s leeching off, and it will mine that too. It’s a proactive device. Once it’s programmed properly, it just executes its mission without further instruction. A bit like Arjuna here.’
‘Thank you.’ Arjuna nodded, the movement making his eyes water. The tissues were soaked red.
‘If the encryption is Chinese, are we looking at the MSS?’ Ellie asked.
‘I think so,’ Scott nodded. ‘The Ministry of State Security is very well equipped.’
‘We know that Ameena was investigating Ming-Na Wu, ostensibly a Chinese agri-business with some interesting product diversification. Could they have planted this to find out what Ameena knew about their arms deal?’
‘Yes, if they could get it in there,’ Scott said. ‘They could pay anyone to do that. A cleaner, maybe.’
Tenby cleared his throat nervously. ‘What do you know about this deal, Ellie?’ he asked. ‘Do you know who her source was?’
She was still angry at her friend, but now that Arjuna was safe and Solomon hadn’t marched her to the airport, she was calming down—a little.
‘No, no idea about the source, Tenby,’ she replied. ‘And nothing more on the deal than what was published by Ameena. I lied to Dilshan, back at the Club. All of the evidence, the hard drives, even the scraps of paper are gone.’ She didn’t tell Tenby about the last notebook. Or the receipt she had taken from Shirani’s home. She tried again not to think about the child on the bathroom floor. ‘What did you come up with on Ming-Na Wu, Scottie?’
‘Not much. China doesn’t have the same public disclosure requirements we do.’
‘Yes, because you’re so honest about everything,’ Arjuna said.
‘I can see you’re in pain, so it feels inappropriate to make fun of you, but you sound like Kermit the Frog,’ Scott said.
‘I am in pain and I’d like to share it with you.’
Scott smirked, then returned to Ellie’s question. ‘China doesn’t have an equivalent of the SEC, nor can I just make a request under the Freedom of Information Act, which they also don’t have. The company isn’t listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. I eventually identified its board of directors—which includes Kwan.’ He tapped away on his computer. ‘Its agribusiness is legitimate, by the way. It’s a key producer of farming equipment, fertilisers and pesticides. Kwan’s daughter runs its charitable foundation, which works with impoverished rural communities in China.’
‘What about its transaction history?’ Tenby asked. ‘That should give us some clues.’
‘Good question. It’s telling by its absence. I can’t find anything, no sales outside of China,’ Scott replied.
‘And inside China?’ Ellie probed, without much hope.
Scott shook his head. ‘Its main client is the PRC, but there was nothing noticeable. No transactions marked “Illegal Weapons for Export”, sorry.’ Scott closed down two windows and opened up a new site. ‘As for its lineage—MNW didn’t exist before 2003, and its holding companies still barely exist.’
‘Who’s behind the curtain?’ she asked.
‘No idea. Someone who doesn’t want to be seen,’ Scott replied.
‘Could Ameena have taken a peek and died for it?’ Tenby asked.
‘Maybe,’ Ellie said. Ameena, Shirani and Renu. The last two were on her. There was a husband and two children waiting in Canada. The pain continued to spread through her chest. ‘Scottie, keep working on the Tardis and MNW for me if you have time.’
‘Sure, there’s a civil war raging in the north but I’ll crack on with this,’ he sniped.
‘I thought we weren’t engaging in the war in the north. We’re sitting this one out, aren’t we?’
‘We are,’ Tenby replied. ‘But we still like to keep an eye on things. Our drones fly a grid over the South Asian quadrant, right down to the third parallel north in the Indian Ocean. We’re always watching the Thoroughfare. With China rising, it’s more important now than it ever was.’
‘And the north? Are you watching that too?’ Ellie asked.
‘Yes,’ Scott replied. ‘Although it’s the east we’re more interested in.’
‘Show me.’
Scott zoomed in on the north-eastern quarter of the island. ‘Troops moving this way—those purple patches are a convoy of refugees.’
‘How many?’
‘Easily three-hundred thousand,’ Scott replied. ‘Moving slowly that way, towards the coast. Red Cross ships stationed here, here and here.’ He pointed to spots in the Indian Ocean. ‘They’re waiting.’
‘Can you identify the weaponry?’ Ellie asked.
‘I can. But I need Solomon’s approval to play with the satellites. I’m not allowed to just harness the Frontal Lobe’s toys at will. What are you looking for—any weapons in particular? Chinese ones perhaps?’ he asked.
Ellie shrugged.
‘It’s not illegal to sell weapons to another sovereign nation. American arms companies do it all the time,’ Tenby said. She saw a flicker of something in his face but couldn’t be sure what it was. Once an agent, always an agent. Even one who’d left the Agency for Embassy life remembered his passionate defence of American foreign policy.
‘Immoral, perhaps, but not illegal,’ she said.
‘It’s not immoral to help a country defend itself,’ Tenby replied.
‘That’s the grey area, isn’t it?’ Ellie replied. ‘The Sri Lankans might buy legal weapons, but we’re powerless to stop them from using those weapons illegally on their own unarmed people. The Tamil people are still citizens and, in most cases, civilians, of Sri Lanka.’
‘I don’t know what you expect me to say, Ellie. I’m a diplomat trying to influence tyrants. I’m not the buyer here.’ Tenby pulled at his collar to scratch his neck.
‘True, we’re sellers in this scenario. And we are bound by international law not to sell weapons that have an indiscriminate effect—such as cluster munitions. What if we know what our weapons are being used for and we sell them anyway?’
‘We’re not here to debate the morality of the arms trade,’ Tenby argued. ‘It exists whether we like it or not, and we have to participate in it as buyers, sellers and regulators. The security of the United States depends on our ability to engage in that market in an informed and empowered manner.’
‘“An informed and empowered manner”? Jesus, Tenby, who taught you to say that—Bell Pottinger? You should go to confession and atone for that bullshit immediately.’
‘Ellie, I’m trying to help the US and you, but you make it really fucking hard. Has anyone ever told you you’re a sanctimonious hypocrite?’ Tenby replied.
‘I have heard that before, yes. You know that UN Weapons Inspectors will eventually get hold of this information.’
‘And you know, Ellie, that UN Weapons Inspectors only ask questions if they are pushed by a foreign government to do so,’ he snapped. ‘They don’t initiate inspections out of concern for public safety and human rights.’
‘And cinnamon isn’t as valuable as oil, I get it. I’ve got work to do and Arjuna needs to clean up.’
‘I’m fine.’ Arjuna replaced the bloodied tissue in his nose with a fresh one. ‘Nothing a double shot of morphine won’t fix. Scottie, my car is back at Shirani Dennis’ house. There’s a camera in the glove box, with photos of a Person of Interest. The one who’s been stalking Ellie. He’s got all the makings of a hired gun and maybe even a suspect in Ameena Fernando’s shooting.’
‘I’ll send a team,’ Scott said. ‘Let’s see if the car or camera is still there.’
‘One more thing,’ Ellie said.
‘Just one?’ Scott retorted.
‘Okay—a few things, please Scottie. Let me know if you work out what weapons the Army is using,’ Ellie asked. ‘The more detail the better. And the Tardis—I presume it pulled the newspaper’s entire server as well as her personal docs. Let’s see if you can do better than the Chinese security service.’
‘I’ll do my best,’ Scott replied. He flicked between the screens in front of him faster than her eyes could track.
Tenby stayed her departure with one hand. ‘I don’t know what this has to do with Ameena Fernando’s death, Ellie. You’re going far beyond your mandate now. You’ve upset the Sri Lankan Under Secretary and irritated the Chinese cultural attaché—’
‘That’s your concern about my conduct? I’ve upset a despot and irritated a diplomat?’
‘He has a point, Ellie. You’ve alienated high-ranking officials of two countries, one whose soil we’re standing on, the other who’s a key threat to our security,’ Arjuna said.
‘Sorry, Arjuna. Scottie’s right, you do sound like Kermit.’
‘Kermit is a superstar,’ Arjuna replied.
Sharkey had loved Kermit. He used to do a note-perfect rendition of ‘Rainbow Connection’.
‘Ellie, we want a seat at this table.’ Tenby shook his head. ‘You’ve been arrested once and it wasn’t pretty. We’ve only got so many Get Out of Jail Free cards, and I’m not sure Solomon will play another on you. Don’t fuck everything up because you still feel guilty about the little brother.’
She thought about Gajan. Like him, Renu would be a child forever. Ellie would have to live another day.
‘That’s not what this is about, Tenby. Not anymore, anyway.’
•
Ellie signed three sets of papers for the new car, took the keys and went outside, walking across the compound to the Embassy’s open car park. She’d been given a small sedan with local plates. The early morning sun filtered through the reinforced steel gate. She realised she hadn’t slept or eaten. She looked at her watch. 0600 hours. She had twenty-nine hours left before what little diplomatic protection she had in Sri Lanka ended. Arjuna joined her at the car.
‘You ready?’ she asked him.
His face was swollen, with bruises spreading across the bridge of his nose, but the bleeding had stopped. ‘What are we waiting for?’ he asked.
‘A smoke break.’
‘You don’t smoke.’
The back door to the building opened and Scott stepped out. He walked casually over to them, his eyes avoiding the cameras all over the compound.
‘You’re still here,’ he said, flipping open a pack of cigarettes and offered it to both of them. Arjuna declined but Ellie reached for one. She used the lighter Scott held out, shielding the flame with her hands.
‘I’d like you to check one more mobile phone for me, please,’ she whispered. ‘Calls made, between him and Ameena, over the six months leading up to her death.’
‘Whose phone?’
She drew the smoke into her mouth and then breathed it out. She repeated the act, creating a screen of smoke around her lips. She dropped her voice again and said the name.
He lit a cigarette for himself. ‘Solomon won’t like it.’
‘He doesn’t need to know.’ She had a hunch. Was it a hunch? More of a growing fear. ‘Cross-reference it, please.’
‘“Please”?’ Scott raised his eyebrows. ‘Okay, sure. Just so you know, Solomon’s running down the clock.’
‘Then what? He washes his hands of me?’
‘Don’t be so dramatic. Then he has a team prepped to exfiltrate you, with or without your consent. It’s for your own protection.’
‘He’s done a stellar job of that so far.’
‘You’re still alive, aren’t you?’ Scott threw the cigarette stub on the ground.
‘He could exfil me right now—lock the Embassy gate, take my passport and put me on a plane back home.’
‘He could, but Tenby pleaded your case.’ He exhaled. ‘It’s a beautiful country, Ellie.’ Scott said. ‘So much potential and goodness. Light within the darkness. Light despite it. I’ve been here a long time. There’s a reason you’re drawn back, and it’s not just the men.’
Ellie smiled sadly. Maybe it was the dead women. ‘Did you get everything I asked for?’
He nodded. ‘The gear’s all in the boot. I put in a few extras, just in case. Meds too—for Arjuna and your anxiety and hemostatic gauze for gunshot wounds.’
‘Thank you, Scottie. I never …’ She stopped and tried to frame her words properly, more words that were four years overdue. ‘Before. You found us in time. You saved us.’ She floundered. ‘I never thanked you for what you did for me; for us.’
‘You didn’t have to. It’s my job, Ellie. I wish I’d got there earlier.’
She did too.
She turned to Arjuna as Scott left them to walk back towards the Embassy’s back door. ‘Do you think you can drive?’ The bruising across his face was becoming visible under his dark skin.
‘Are you serious?’
‘Yes. I need to get somewhere without being followed. I don’t know who’s outside waiting for us.’
‘Let me tell you who’s there—a white van, the CID and that motorcycle we can’t shake.’ Arjuna peered into the car’s side mirror. ‘God, Ellie. Look at my face. My Miss Universe days are well and truly over.’
‘I know and I’m sorry. You had such a bright future in that competition.’ She pulled out the receipt from her pocket and straightened it, but kept it covered from the CCTV positioned strategically in the Embassy car park. ‘We need to go here … and I need you to come with me.’
‘I suppose a hit of morphine is out of the question.’ He took a bottle of tablets from Scott’s medi-kit and put it in his pocket. ‘How did you know it would be there?’ he murmured. ‘In the Lonely Planet?’
‘I think I’m getting to know Ameena a little. I’ll explain on the way.’