Page 69 of Licence To Howl
‘The Greek might not be the one pulling the strings,’ Devereau told her. ‘I know it looks that way and I know he very deliberately placed himself near the Reichstag. But I’m not convinced he’s the ultimate boss.’
‘Most analysts at MI5 think he’s the most likely suspect. Solentino already had everything in place and ready to go. All Avanopoulos had to do was persuade everyone left that he could fill Solentino’s shoes. If not Avanopoulos then who?’
‘Alina Bonnet.’
Greensmith jerked. ‘You have reason to believe she’s still alive?’
‘Nothing concrete. And I have nothing more than speculation as to her actual involvement in all this crap. But it’s educated speculation and I can’t shake the feeling that she’s tied up with this far more than we realise.’
She pursed her lips. ‘We did consider her. We’ve not blindly run towards Stefan Avanopoulos as terrorist boss numero uno. But almost nobody believes Alina Bonnet has the ability, the power or the damned cold-hearted viciousness to pull off such a thing. She doesn’t have any form for this type of thing and she’s likely already dead.’
Devereau shook his head. ‘She’s involved. I’m convinced of it. I don’t have any proof but there was something about her …’ He ground his teeth in frustration that he couldn’t put his feelings about Solentino’s supposed girlfriend into words. ‘She shouldn’t be underestimated.’
‘That’s as may be.’ Greensmith raised her shoulders. ‘There’s no actual evidence to prove she’s anything more than an unwilling participant, however. Or that she’s even alive. Still, I will pass along your theory, however, and I’m not saying it doesn’t have some merit. You realise that if Ms Bonnet is somehow part of it, we don’t know where she is any more than we know where Avanopoulos is. We have been looking. Hard.’
‘I suppose that’s what happens when you’re the handyman of the terrorist world. You’ve got contacts and unsavoury friends all over the place who can help you hide.’ Devereau grimaced and stood shakily up to his feet. ‘We don’t know where they are but we know where they’re going. Paris is next on the list. We need to get there now.’
‘And do what?’ Greensmith inquired. ‘Find them how?’
‘We came close this time,’ Devereau growled. ‘All we need is for the bastards to make one mistake and –’
He was interrupted by a ping from Greensmith’s pocket. She slid out her phone and glanced down at the screen, her face suddenly turning several shades paler. ‘I have to make a call,’ she muttered. ‘Don’t go anywhere.’ She turned on her heel and marched out of the door. That didn’t bode well.
Devereau massaged the back of his neck. ‘Where are we right now?’ he asked Scarlett.
‘Some kind of MI5 safe house near the centre of Berlin. I wanted a hospital but that Greensmith woman seemed to think it would be wiser to bring you somewhere anonymous to recover. Avanopoulos or Bonnet or whoever will be more than aware Vissier was picked up. They know their early plans are compromised.’ She pointed at him. ‘But it’s likely that they still don’t know you’ve been working against them all this time. She thought it was prudent to keep it that way. Just in case.’ Scarlett gave him a meaningful look. ‘We don’t know what will happen next but you’ve been a damned sight more successful in getting close to those wankers than the rest of MI5 have been.’ She tossed her head. ‘Greensmith was right about something else too. Jumping into that river was a dick move, Devereau.’
Devereau caught her gaze and held it. ‘You risked your own life by jumping in after me,’ he said quietly.
Scarlett snorted. ‘Hardly. I’m a vampire, remember? I’m pretty hardy. My kind doesn’t tend to get hypothermia.’
‘It was still dangerous.’
‘You have my ring. If you sank to the bottom of the River Spree, then I’d likely never get it back.’
‘Uh huh.’ Devereau licked his lips, enjoying himself. ‘Keep protesting, Scarlett. Keep pretending you don’t care.’
Her dark eyes flashed. ‘We’ve been through this already. I never said I didn’t care.’
Devereau smiled.
The door re-opened and Sarah Greensmith walked back in. Her expression was tight and Devereau had the sense that her attention was elsewhere. ‘I’ll make arrangements to get you to London. Both of you this time.’
He opened his mouth to argue but she was already scowling at him.
‘Don’t piss me off, Mr Webb. This isn’t up for negotiation. Not this time. Going to Paris isn’t going to help. It turns out the bad guys are far, far smarter than any of us gave them credit for.’
Both Devereau and Scarlett stilled. ‘What? What’s happened?’ he asked.
All of a sudden, Sarah Greensmith looked incredibly tired. ‘They’ve made their next move and made it very public. They’re asking for 3000 bitcoin from the British government in return for not bombing Paris. And they’re demanding 3000 bitcoin from the French for not doing the exact same thing to London.’
* * *
It was already darkwhen Scarlett, Devereau and Sarah Greensmith boarded the military plane bound for London. Greensmith took herself away to the far corner, flipped open her laptop and began muttering to herself. Scarlett and Devereau sat further away, both of them with their shoulders slumped.
‘It’s clever,’ Scarlett conceded.
Devereau grunted.
