Fortress

85

They had regrouped at Woolf’s hangar. The numbers on the team had swollen significantly. Fifteen more staff were seated at laptops and a big screen had been erected, showing detailed images of the garage. Finally Woolf was getting the support he had been arguing for. But Mandler was in there as well, arguing with him about the merits of alerting the Americans to the connection with the Virgin Islands company and Zuabi.

Woolf was emphatic. ‘How can you trust them after what happened with Carter? Stutz’s influence stretches right up the food chain in Washington. We know he’s a regular contractor for all their security agencies.’

Mandler was sticking to his guns. ‘But you still don’t have a direct, verifiable link between Stutz and Zuabi, and it’s not MI5’s job to make it.’

‘I’d say Jefferson was a pretty firm connection.’

‘Whatever you think, it’s off our remit. I don’t need to remind you that our focus is domestic. As it is, I’ve got Vauxhall Cross jumping up and down about what our man was doing in Texas. Plus the pressure’s off us here. We’ve found the bomb factory. The three Rafiq saw in the people-carrier, they’re likely to be the three who blew themselves up.’

‘But we still don’t know who they were, and the fourth man, the one in the inspection pit, we don’t know who he is either — or why he was there. It appeared that he was being held against his will. What’s that all about?’

Tom couldn’t resist pitching in: ‘Don’t forget that Vestey and Nurul’s mother both mentioned a girlfriend. It was the only thing that Vestey gave us before he topped himself — that she was the one who’d brought him.’

His phone buzzed; it was Phoebe in PA mode. ‘Mr Rolt would like to see you.’

‘When?’

‘ASAP. He has some kind of live-link presentation for you. The tech guys are rigging it in his office right now.’

‘Okay, I’ll be there, but answer me this: has he any awareness of Vestey’s absence?’

‘No, I don’t believe so. So you can come along in an hour?’

‘That’s a no?’

‘Absolutely. See you then. Bye.’ And she was gone.