Page 66 of End Game
‘Dump your taxi before he sees you and keep an eye out for who he might be meeting. It’s vital we find out who he gives the shoebox to. Take as many photographs as possible, in case we lose them.’
Jackie stopped the taxi, paid the fare and leapt out. She took a seat on a nearby park bench and pretended to read her magazine, while keeping her phone ready so she could take photographs of whoever Petrov might be meeting.
•••
Petrov slowed down, took out his phone and touched a button on his speed dial. He had not only spotted Meredith’s man, as well as the track-suited officer who’d chased after him in the Olympic Stadium, but he couldn’t miss the woman who’d just jumped out of a taxi in the middle of the road, then sat on the nearest park bench and pretended to be reading a magazine. Did they take him for a fool? They must be here to intercept the handover, or at least find out who he was handing the box to. If they succeeded, Sun Anqi’s identity would be discovered, along with any plans she had for the closing ceremony.
‘I’ve been blown,’ said Petrov when Sun Anqi came on the line. ‘I was followed by a couple of men and now there’s a woman in the park keeping a close eye on me.’
‘I told you not to underestimate Warwick,’ said Sun Anqi, making no attempt to hide her contempt. ‘Description?’
‘Female. Fortyish. Five foot four to five, blonde hair, slim build. She’s carrying a white handbag and is sitting on a bench by the road pretending to read a magazine.’
‘Change of plan,’ said Sun Anqi, as she turned back and joined a bus queue. ‘Call Miles Faulkner and tell him I still need the package, but don’t warn him you’ve been spotted.’
‘But—’ began Petrov.
‘No buts,’ said Sun Anqi. ‘If anyone else is going to be caught, let it be the Englishman, because I can’t afford to show up on their radar.’ She rang off.
•••
Jackie watched Petrov as he ended one call and began another, while still holding firmly onto the shoebox. She was still expecting him to meet up with someone, when the exchange would surely take place.
Jackie looked the other way as he continued walking towards her and saw a small woman, possibly Asian, who was on the phone while joining the end of a bus queue. The woman’s conversation ended only moments before Petrov came off the phone. Coincidence?
What wasn’t a coincidence was that when the bus pulled up, the woman didn’t get on, leaving her standing all alone. Jackie took a photo of her just in case.
•••
Petrov was back on the phone. Sun Anqi thought about not answering it, but couldn’t take the risk.
‘She spotted you,’ said Petrov, almost triumphantly. ‘She even took your photograph.’
Sun Anqi turned away as a Rolls-Royce entered the park.
•••
Jackie ignored the woman in the bus queue, who had turned her back on her. She concentrated instead on the Rolls-Royce, but when it passed her, she couldn’t see who was seated in the back, as the windows were heavily tinted. However, the number plate MF1 told her all she needed to know.
She was not surprised when the car slowed down and Petrov passed the box through an open window to the car’s occupant, hardly breaking his stride.
Jackie was immediately on the phone to William to let him know what she’d just witnessed. ‘Do I grab a taxi and follow him?’
‘No,’ said William, ‘stay put until they are both out of sight. But tell me what you can about the woman.’
‘She was standing alone in a bus queue and was on her phone at the same time as Petrov. But when the bus arrived, she didn’t get on it. I took a photo just in case.’
‘Description?’
‘Barely five foot, Asian would be my guess, mid-thirties.’
‘It’s a long shot,’ said William, ‘but go back to Scotland Yard and see if you can find anything in records that matches up with her photograph. Let me know immediately if you find something.’
•••
Sun Anqi got on the next bus, not part of the original plan. She sat upstairs as it drove past the park and looked down at the woman. She was no longer reading her magazine, but had her eyes fixed on Petrov, who was now leaving the park, without the shoebox.
Sun Anqi got off at the next stop and waited.
