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“Luke, are you there?” Bright listened in vain for any indication that his friend was alright but could hear nothing. “Damn. Get us there quick.”
“Yes, sir,” the coastguard officer at Bright’s side said smartly. “You have the heading, Chief, full speed ahead,” she instructed the chief petty officer at the helm. “Everything alright, sir?”
Her orders, which had come from high up the chain of command, were to do whatever she was told by Special Agent Bright without question, but curiosity was a hard thing to control.
“We’ll find out when we get there,” Bright told her, concealing the worry he was feeling.
Leaving the wheelhouse, he got the men and women waiting on the deck ready. He then leant on the railing in the bow as he searched the darkness ahead for a glimpse of the boat that held Sofia Torres while his mind wandered back almost two weeks to when he had received an unexpected visit from a former friend and comrade-in-arms.
**
TEN DAYS BEFORE
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BRIGHT GOT THE SURPRISE of his life when he walked into his hotel room. Seated in the chair by the window, as casually as if he were at home, was a man he hadn’t seen in more than a decade. He had served in the British Army with Luke Caldwell for five years, and though they had been friends, they had lost contact after he left the army and joined Interpol.
“Luke! Jesus, what are you doing here?”
“Hello, Ben,” Luke said with an amused smile for the reaction he had received.
“What are you doing here?” Bright repeated his question after he had closed the door and moved further into the room. “I haven’t seen or heard from you in years. I didn’t expect to hear from you again.”
“I think you’d better order us some drinks. You’re going to need one when you hear what I have to say.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Bright said, crossing to the phone on the bedside cabinet so he could call room service. “What’ll you have?”
“Whisky, and you’d better make it a bottle.”
“Okay, we’ve got drinks, so why don’t you tell me what you’re doing in my hotel room,” Bright said once the bottle of whisky and two glasses had been delivered and the room service waiter had left.
“Is the name Jean-Paul Renault familiar to you?” Luke asked.
“Yes. He works for Philippe Noir, a big-time drug dealer in France. What’s he got to do with you being here?” Bright asked. He had an idea, since he was aware that his former friend was suspected of being a hitman for hire, though he had made sure to avoid getting involved with the investigation, but he hoped he was wrong.
“He approached me the other day with a job from Philippe Noir.”
“Given everything that’s happened here over the past month, and what you apparently now do for a living, I can probably guess what he wanted to hire you to do. Are you going to do it?”
“I’ve accepted the job, and I’ve been paid half the money for it, but if I was going to do the job, I wouldn’t be here, I’d be out planning the best way to get at the targets Noir wants me to eliminate.”
“If you’re not going to do the job, why did you accept it?” Bright asked, confused.
“A couple of reasons: you, and Sofia Torres,” Luke told him. “I still owe you.” He tapped his chest, indicating the spot where Bright had taken two bullets intended for him, bullets that would almost certainly have killed him, and had nearly killed Bright, resulting in his retirement from the army on medical grounds. “And Sofia Torres is an innocent. I’ve never been keen on killing innocents, it’s unprofessional, as are the efforts Noir and his men have made to get to her.”
“That doesn’t explain why you accepted the job. Noir’s not going to be happy when he discovers you’ve taken his money but don’t intend going through with what you’ve been paid to do. He’ll most likely send his men after you, both to get his money back and to send a message to anyone else who might think about ripping him off.”
Luke shrugged. “He can be as unhappy as he likes, and he can send as many men after me as he wants. Given how well his men have done so far, I won’t have anything to worry about. Besides, as I said, I owe you, and being hired by Noir gives me an opportunity to pay you back. I’m going to kill Sofia Torres for you, and Roland Baptiste, and Marc Delcroix.”
Bright’s confusion deepened. “You’re not making any sense. First you say you’re not going to do the job Noir’s paid you for, then you say you’re going to pay me back for saving your life by killing the people Noir wants you to kill. How does that pay me back? I’ve been trying to keep them alive so they can testify against Noir.”
“I know.” Luke refilled his glass and held the bottle out to Bright. “But if I don’t kill them, Renault will hire someone else to do the job, and it might be someone who operates in a similar fashion to the men previously sent to kill Sofia Torres. That would mean more unnecessary deaths. Of course, when I say I’m going to kill them, I mean I’m going to fake their murders. If Renault and Noir believe that all three are dead, they won’t send anyone else to kill them. And by the time they know they’re still alive, it’ll be too late.”
“I guess that would work,” Bright said. “I assume you have a plan for faking their murders.”
“Not yet,” Luke admitted. “I haven’t had enough time to come up with one yet, I only agreed to take the job yesterday. Whatever plan we come up with, it can’t involve any of the people currently part of the case against Noir, or part of Sofia Torres’ protection detail. I’m sure it’s not something you want to hear, but someone connected with this case has been bought. They’ve been telling Noir’s people where to find your witness and what protection she has.”
“I’ve suspected as much,” Bright said, though he wasn’t happy to have his suspicions confirmed. “The trouble is, I don’t have a clue who it is.”
“Renault told me he has a source in Interpol, but whether that’s the only source he has, I don’t know. He could have bought off someone from the local police as well, I doubt it would be hard. Since that’s the case, the only person I can trust is you. I might not have seen you for a while, but I know you won’t have been bought, so you need to find someone who hasn’t previously been involved with this case to help us. Someone with the authority to arrange anything we might need, and someone you’re sure can be trusted.”
“I’ll make a few calls,” Bright said, downing his whiskey.
**
“I WASN’T TOLD THERE would be two of you at this meeting,” Chief Superintendent Martinez said when Bright and Caldwell were shown into his study.
“That’s because Agent DiMarco was not aware that my friend would be with me,” Bright said, his Spanish heavily accented by tiredness and alcohol.
“Please, Agent Bright, your accent is butchering my language,” Martinez said with a grimace. “I speak English.”
“The accent doesn’t improve any when he speaks English,” Caldwell said in flawless Spanish. “He’s a Cockney lad.”
“You speak very good Spanish, but I do not think you are Spanish. Who are you, and what is your involvement with Special Agent Bright and this top-secret meeting?”
“My colleague is the reason for this meeting, sir,” Bright said, settling into the seat he had been gestured to. “He prefers to remain nameless at this time, but he has brought a situation to my attention, and an opportunity, one I couldn’t take to Detective Chief Inspector Meteiros.”
Martinez was silent for a moment as he studied the men before him. “You have aroused my curiosity,” he said finally. “What is this situation you cannot take to Meteiros? I assume this has something to do with the Abrantes-Noir case.”
“Yes, sir,” Bright nodded. “How much do you know about the massacre at Tomas Abrantes’ estate, and everything that’s followed?”
“I would guess that I know almost as much as you. Since the second attack on Miss Torres, I have insisted on receiving daily reports on the situation. I’d say I know everything that has happened up until four hours ago, when Meteiros delivered today’s report.”
“That will make things easier,” Bright said, relieved that he didn’t have to explain everything that had happened. “In the last couple of hours, thanks to my colleague here, I have been made aware of a very serious development.”
“What sort of development?”
“Philippe Noir’s cousin has hired a professional hitman to kill Sofia Torres and the two men your officers have in custody,” Luke said.
“How can you be sure of that?” Martinez asked.
“Because I’m the hitman he hired.”
“My associate is an undercover operative,” Bright said when Martinez looked in concern from Luke to him. “Which is why he prefers not to reveal his name at this time.”
It was a few moments before Martinez responded to that. “So, Philippe Noir’s cousin believes you are a professional hitman and are going to kill the people who can put his cousin in jail for the rest of his life,” he said finally. “That doesn’t explain the need for this meeting, or the insistence on it being kept secret.”
“Normally it would be a relatively simple task for Ben to arrange things so we can fake the deaths of Sofia Torres, Roland Baptiste, and Marc Delcroix. Unfortunately, Jean-Paul Renault, Noir’s cousin, has indicated to me that someone on the inside of this investigation has been bought off. I know he’s had dealings with someone inside Interpol, but I can’t be certain that’s the only person connected with this investigation who’s been bought off.
“Faking the deaths of three people is not something that can be done by just Ben and me, we need help. That help needs to come from someone with authority, and someone we can trust not to be in the pay of Philippe Noir.”
“And you think I’m that person.”
“Yes.”
“What is it you think I can do to help you?”
“You can arrange things. You have the authority to make whatever arrangements are needed to help us make this subterfuge work. We don’t yet have a plan, but we will need everyone, especially Philippe Noir, to believe that all three targets are dead, and that means keeping them somewhere out of the way once their deaths have been faked. It also means running this operation without the help of anyone who has currently been involved with either the investigation or the protection of Sofia Torres. Will you help us, sir?” Bright asked.
Martinez thought about what was being asked of him for a few moments before nodding. “Do I really have a choice? The murders that have taken place here are headline news around the world and are making us look incompetent. The situation would be bad enough if a Spanish criminal was responsible for it. It is unacceptable that a French national believes he can act in such a way within our borders.”
**
SIX DAYS PREVIOUSLY
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“THANK YOU FOR SEEING me again at such a late hour, sir,” Bright said as he was shown into Chief Superintendent Martinez’s study.
“Given the situation, I could hardly ignore your request for another meeting,” Martinez said. “I gather you have made some progress with your plans.”
Bright nodded. “Yes, sir, we have the beginnings of a plan. There are arrangements that need to be made, but I think it’s a good plan, despite its risks.”
“Tell me about it.”
“My colleague, whom Philippe Noir believes is going to deal with his problems, will infiltrate the station where Roland Baptiste is being kept using a false Interpol ID and administer a drug that will make it seem as though Baptiste has died. Once the drug takes effect Baptiste will be out of it for approximately twelve hours, during which time he will be declared dead. The doctor at the station will have to be in on the operation to be sure he doesn’t reveal that Baptiste is alive.
“We’ll need a safe place for both prisoners and Sofia Torres to be kept once their murders have been faked, somewhere that can provide the medical treatment Marc Delcroix is currently receiving. He mostly just needs monitoring, but he could take a turn for the worse, so we have to be prepared for that. Have you been able to come up with somewhere yet, sir?”
“Yes. The headquarters of the Third General Subinspectorate of the army is not far from here, I believe it fulfils all your requirements. It’s close enough to be reached in just a couple of hours by car, has medical facilities for the injured prisoner, and is secure enough to ensure that not only will the prisoners be unable to escape but Noir won’t be able to get at them should he discover they are still alive. I think your prisoners and Miss Torres will be as safe there as they will be anywhere. In fact, having thought of using the base, I can’t help wondering if it’s necessary to fake their murders. All three of them could simply be transferred to the base for their protection, they would be safe there.”
“They would only be safe from Noir’s regular thugs. There are professional hitmen out there who could get to them even on an army base. It wouldn’t be easy, but they could manage it, and Noir has the money to hire all of them if he needs or wants to, and I’m sure he’s determined enough to stay out of prison to do that if it becomes necessary. At this point, I’m not sure there’s anything he won’t do to keep himself out of prison. That aside, there is an additional reason for going ahead with the plan to fake their deaths,” Bright said. “The evidence against Noir is weak, especially if his men can’t be convinced to testify against him, and they have proven unwilling to be convinced so far. Everything we have at the moment is either circumstantial or weak enough that Noir’s lawyer can easily argue against it. Faking the deaths of Sofia and the other two provides an opportunity to get a solid conviction against Noir.”
“How?”
“When everyone believes Sofia Torres and the other two are dead, his lawyer will get the extradition request dismissed. Once he’s out, Noir will almost certainly want to meet my colleague, in his guise as a hired hitman.”
“Why would he want to do that?”
“Either to offer him more work in the future; trying to get Sofia Torres has cost him a lot of men, or, more likely, to kill him so he can avoid paying the rest of the money his cousin agreed to. Whatever the reason, my colleague will be able to use the meeting to get Noir on tape admitting to the hiring of a hitman, and possibly ordering the other attempts on Sofia Torres’ life, and that will be enough to put Noir behind bars for the rest of his life.”
“You’re right,” Martinez said after thinking his way through what Bright had said. “Your plan will give us the best opportunity to secure a conviction against Noir. I just hope nothing goes wrong. There’s a lot of interest in this matter at the highest levels of the government, and a failure to secure a conviction after everything that’s happened could see all of us out of a job.”
It didn’t surprise Bright to hear that. Things had gone badly enough with the Abrantes-Noir case to date. If they weren’t able to secure a conviction soon, he was sure the Spanish people would want an inquiry into the situation, and the government would give them one, and would find people to hold responsible.