Deception

TWENTY-NINE

It was seven the following morning when Harry’s bedside phone rang. He rolled over and took the call, wincing at stiff muscles after the journey back from Germany. It was Ballatyne and he sounded hyped.

‘Some news,’ the MI6 man said. ‘We might have a serious lead on Deakin and his crew. Staff Sergeant Gerry McCreath just walked into a south London police station and asked for protection. He says his life is in danger.’

‘I think I know the feeling.’

‘He had a meeting with Deakin and an American in Belgium. They pitched him a deal to provide a ton of information on the latest trial versions of NATO operational networks and communications in return for cash — a lot of it. He agreed in principle, and was told to stay low and given an open-ended account at a hotel outside the city. They said they’d call him with details of the next stage and make a first payment. Can you believe it? “Agreed in principle”. These people amaze me. They think selling secrets is like signing up to a bloody mortgage.’

‘What made him run?’

‘He heard about Pike. Seems they trained together, although he hadn’t seen him for a while. McCreath had been away from his home base playing Action Man stuff with the Air Assault Brigade. He got wounded and decided he’d had enough of being chucked out of helicopters and being shot at, so he went on the run to sort himself out. He got a lead from a mate about the Protectory, and next thing he knows is, he’s been approached by Deakin and offered a way out.’

‘Deakin wouldn’t have told him about Pike, though.’

‘No. He says he heard about it from the same friend. He started to get worried that he might end up in a ditch somewhere, so he ducked out and headed back to England by train and boat.’

‘Why south London?’

‘He used to live in the Brixton area. Probably figured he could go to ground and get lost.’

It was no surprise to Harry. Most runners headed for the familiar by instinct, looking for comfort in any place where they felt safe. They usually didn’t realize that it was the worst thing they could have done until a knock sounded on the door.

‘He claims he saw a face in the crowd on the way over,’ Ballatyne continued. ‘A man named Zubac — a Bosnian. He travels with a man called Ganic. McCreath says they’re enforcers for the Protectory, ex-militia or military, he reckons, and highly nasty. Sounds as if they’re the men who killed Pike and Barrow. If they’re that close behind McCreath, they’ve only got one thing in mind. I’ve cleared your entry down at Brixton. The sooner we question him the better.’

Harry swung out of bed. ‘I’m on my way.’