The Game

FORTY-THREE

They went through what they knew, searching for anything they might have missed. Around Victor, the village was dark and quiet. Aside from Muir’s voice and his own, he heard only the wind.

Muir said, ‘I’ll have the farmhouse checked out, see if it’s been passed to any notable hands in the last few years. But I think we’re going to find it’s been leased for the occasion, probably paid in untraceable cash by an intermediary to a guy whose only crime will be not declaring that income.’

‘While you’re at it, check for couples matching Leeson and Francesca with hotels, guesthouses, et cetera. The village doesn’t have any as far as I can tell, but there must be others nearby. Of course, there’s no reason why they couldn’t be staying in Rome or somewhere even further away.’

‘Leeson would want to stay close to his team though, surely.’

‘Yes,’ Victor agreed. ‘But there’s also no reason why he needs to. Unless he wanted to keep an eye on us at all times. Which he doesn’t, otherwise he would be sleeping there too. It’s a hideout for the team, nothing more.’

‘What about the barn? There must be a reason why you’re not allowed inside it, unlike the rest of them.’

‘Jaeger was in the barn when I arrived and Leeson had Dietrich put the limousine inside it last night, but I think that’s the only time Dietrich goes inside. Coughlin hasn’t been inside to my knowledge.’

‘So what is Jaeger doing in there?’

‘I could take a guess, but that’s not how I like to do things. When I know more, I’ll pass it on.’

‘Can you get in there?’

‘Not easily. But if the opportunity is there, I’m taking it.’

‘Leave it for now. Maybe when you’ve been there longer Leeson will trust you enough to let you inside too. Better that than breaking in and leaving evidence behind. You’ll be top of the list of suspects by default.’

‘I’m not in the habit of leaving evidence behind.’

‘Even so, I’m asking you not to.’

‘Noted.’

‘But you’re going to do it anyway, aren’t you?’

‘Yes. You want to know what Leeson is planning, and now I’m here, I need to know. Because he wants Kooi for a specific reason, for a specific skill Kooi has or a specific role he can fulfil. I need to know what that is before Leeson gives me my orders. Finding out what’s in the barn might help me get the answer we’re both after.’

‘It might also get you killed.’

‘So might crossing the road.’

‘Just promise me you’ll be careful, okay?’

Victor didn’t.

Muir said, ‘How are we doing for time?’

‘I can give you another few minutes. Then I’ll have to get back to the farmhouse. If someone knows I’m gone I can justify my absence as a middle-of-the-night run because I couldn’t sleep, but the longer I’m out the harder sell that will be.’

‘Okay. Let’s go back to what happened in Rome. So, we don’t know what he’s done, but Leeson has angered a Georgian mob enough for them to send a six-man crew over to Italy to kill him. This mob is based in Odessa and some of its members are former Russian intelligence. And you killed the whole hit team?’

‘Leeson got one.’

‘No possible way one of the corpses could be alive in a hospital bed?’

‘I didn’t shoot to wound.’

‘I’ll liaise with the Italians and get hold of the crime scene intel. With a bit of luck Leeson’s prints will be recoverable from his tumbler or knife and fork.’

‘There’s a shotgun he used. A good set of prints should be recoverable.’

‘Great.’

‘You understand I couldn’t leave his gun behind?’

‘Hey, I know. That would have been perfect, but we know that one reason Kooi was hired is because he — you — are calm and careful. Leaving his sidearm behind is something only an absolute amateur would have done. Even if Leeson himself didn’t consider it, one of your teammates could have done. Your cover is precarious enough as it is without doing anything to make it more so.’

He was glad she could see the same angles he could, and what she didn’t understand about the business she learned fast. He wouldn’t have taken the job had he not felt she could.

She said, ‘But even if we can get a set of Leeson’s prints, it only helps us if he’s on someone’s files. Which seems unlikely considering how careful he is the rest of the time.’

‘Perhaps he’s so careful because he’s on someone’s file.’

‘We’ve got a good relationship with Italian intelligence. Once the lab geeks have finished with the crime scene I’m sure I’ll get the results quickly. But it’s going to take them a while to sift through all the evidence with a crime this spectacular.’

‘Spectacular?’

‘Complex, then.’

‘How soon can you get here?’ Victor asked.

‘This time tomorrow.’

‘Then you need to call your Rome station and get someone to the parking garage.’

‘Why? The Italians aren’t going to let us near it just yet.’

‘Then he’s going to have to be creative because he needs to go to the third floor. There’s a beige Alfa Romeo in the northeast corner.’ He gave Muir the licence number. ‘He needs to jimmy the door and hot wire it, so he has to be good at field craft. Then he needs to drive it away and take it somewhere quiet. Are you making a note of this?’

‘Yes, yes. What is going on here? What’s special about this car?’

‘There’s one of the six Georgians in the trunk.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘He’s young and only the team’s driver, but he’s been travelling and lodging with the others so I figured he might know something about Leeson, or he’ll be able to point to someone who does. But I didn’t have time to interrogate him myself, so I did the next best thing.’

‘What? Wait. You told me all six were dead.’

‘No I didn’t. You asked if I was responsible for all the deaths and I said Leeson killed one of the Georgians.’

‘Oh man, so you’re telling me you knocked out one of these mobsters and hid him in the trunk of a car smack bang in the middle of a major crime scene?’

‘I didn’t knock him out. I tied him up and gagged him. I told him I’d let him out again in twelve hours.’

‘He won’t still be there,’ Muir said, the volume of her voice a good six decibels louder than it had been previously. ‘One of the cops at the scene will have heard him by now.’

‘You don’t know how well I secured him,’ Victor said back. ‘He couldn’t have made much of a noise and I muffled his ears so he wouldn’t know what was happening around him. Besides, I told him if I heard him so much as clear his throat I’d kill him like I did his five friends, only I would take my time. He believed me.’

‘I’m sure he did. What about the garage’s CCTV?’

‘The system was basic. Cameras covered the ramps and ticket machines but there were a number of blind spots.’

‘And what if the car’s owner has driven it away?’

‘The Alfa Romeo is part of a crime scene, as you said. Rome PD will maintain the integrity of the scene for at least twelve hours before letting cars leave. That gives you six hours to make sure your guy is first on scene when they do. And I’m sure the owner of the vehicle could be persuaded to let you borrow it for an hour if an incentive is offered. But it’s up to you how you sort it out.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?’

‘Because I’m telling you now,’ Victor said. ‘Time’s up. I need to get back.’