Red Station

EIGHTEEN

Journalist Shaun Whelan was feeling his age, if not his weaknesses. He stepped out of the lights and echoes of Clapham South underground station, and headed towards a nearby stretch of open parkland. It was just before ten at night and a chill was in the air. But in spite of the temptation to turn for home and curl up with a glass of Chablis, he was feeling the pull of another, far stronger temptation; one which he knew would not easily fade.

A thin-faced wisp of a man with fair hair and soft skin, he had long ago become accustomed to the twin attractions in his life: the pursuit of a good story on one hand, with all the stresses, frustrations and disappointments that brought, and on the other, the desire for something he thought of as affection… even love. Which, he conceded with a nod to irony, was as stressful and disappointing as the day job… and just as frustrating on a different level.

He pushed the thought away and pulled up his collar, distancing himself from a group of youths loitering on the pavement. He was hoping the brief eye contact and the slip of paper exchanged in the pub near Westminster at lunchtime had not been an elaborately cruel tease. Some of the young set were like that, building up older men for a fall, mindless of the damage they were doing to frail egos and frailer bodies. As if it were not wounding enough to be getting on in years, having the salt of unkindness rubbed in was an injury he could do without. And after losing Jamie, his companion of the past decade, he needed all the warmth — however fleeting — he could find.

He tried to take his mind off the darkness and its potential perils by focussing on the story he was currently chasing around the cubby-holes of Whitehall. It remained tantalizingly short on detail and would probably stay that way unless he got spectacularly lucky, but what was certain was that a combined security services and Met police drugs snatch had gone disastrously wrong, leaving four dead in a hail of gunfire. Two were rumoured to be a courting couple, while a third had been a policeman from an armed response unit. The fourth was unknown, but possibly one of the drugs gang.

During his digging, Whelan had heard a name mentioned by one of his police contacts, although it was still unconfirmed. All he had been able to ascertain was that an MI5 officer named Tate had been transferred to ‘other’ operations shortly after the shooting. He felt certain it was no coincidence.

His initial research had revealed that a Harry Tate had started out in the army, transferring to the Intelligence Corps with service in Central Europe, before subsequently disappearing off the map. He knew what that signified: the man had most likely been scooped up by one of the security agencies, possibly MI5 or SIS (MI6), and his whereabouts and current role had been sanitized. The two agencies were always on the trawl for good people with useful backgrounds. Candidacy as a spy or counter-spy wasn’t always judged by possession of a good degree and being ‘spotted’ by a friendly Oxford or Cambridge don; they needed their fair share of older people with solid experience in place of a creative CV — especially with the current focus on the war against terror. And Tate sounded just the right type.

If Whelan’s sources were correct, Tate had been the man running the operation. He didn’t have all the details yet, but the story was out there, waiting. The very idea was nearly enough to make him turn and go home, where he could continue trawling through the files for more sources.

But not quite. As he crossed the pavement and on to a path stretching across the park, he saw a figure ahead of him in the gloom. The build looked familiar and he felt a knot of excitement in his chest.

Whelan hopped over a short fence and entered the shadows close to a public convenience. The air was heavy with the aroma of damp earth, rotten vegetation… and toilets. His nose twitched, the Whitehall story suddenly pushed into the background. No way was he going in there; it was a death-trap waiting to happen. Instead, he veered towards a line of trees on the far side, where the back-glow of street lights cast at least an element of warmth and normalcy.

He increased his pace, eyeing the bushes to one side. The figure he’d seen earlier had disappeared. The darkness here was virtually impenetrable, but he saw something out of the corner of his eye, a flash of movement against a lighter background. Friend or foe? Warmth or chill? His breathing increased and his blood began to race, buoyed by the thrill of the chase.

He forced himself to slow down. No sense in making himself look too desperate; a quick way of turning the boy off, if anything.

As he followed the path around the darker morass of a pond, picking up the metallic, muddy tang of standing water, he saw the figure more clearly, standing beneath a tree, backlit by distant lights. Medium height, slim, dressed in the loose clothing of the street, easy to slip out of.

Easy to slip into.

His excitement began to build, and he jammed a hand into his trouser pocket. Anxiety and anticipation were the twin fuels which kept him going at times like this, but they could easily become all-controlling. Christ, he was like a sixteen-year-old on his first time! Cool it, Whelan, or you’ll blow it. Although, come to think of it, he reflected with a dizzy chuckle, wasn’t that rather the point?

‘You made it,’ he called. His voice was shaky, breathless, and sounded inane. Like a line from an old movie. Yet what else could he say?

‘I said I would.’ It was the voice from the pub. It had been competing with the din of music and laughter, but he recalled the tight build, the young, handsome face and the strong hands.

Especially the hands.

Not the eyes, though. He felt a touch of unease. The eyes looked… different. Not like the voice and the body language. Yet there had been so much more…

Then it was too late to change his mind, even if he’d wanted to. Sorry, Jamie, he thought briefly, and stepped up close to the youth, his heart pounding. This was too good to waste. Too rare.

The youth responded, moving in close. Whelan took in the scent of aftershave, something lemony and subtle, and the heat of sweet breath on his cheek. He abandoned himself to the feeling of being cherished, of being warmed.

The feeling lasted just three seconds.

Then Whelan felt an ice-cold burning deep in his gut. His legs began to fold, their strength suddenly ebbing away. He felt his bladder loosen, humiliating and hotly wet down his legs. He struggled to hold himself upright, to lock his knees against the downward pressure, but the muscles and sinews wouldn’t obey. Nothing would.

He coughed, but couldn’t understand why.

The youth stepped back. In his hand, a flicker of steel, and on his face, total blankness.

Whelan turned his head away, his last voluntary action. In the sudden, bitter knowledge of disappointment, he was sure he saw Jamie standing off to one side, pale and translucent in the night. Waiting.

Then everything went black.