See Charlie Run

Chapter Fourteen

Charlie Muffin recognized it was a damage assessment in every definition of the phrase. And he didn’t have a clue how to assess it. Which way — or where — to start, even. The first priority was salvage, to save what he had. And he still had — he hoped — Irena Kozlov. There was insufficient time to try to reach the woman before she caught the train to Osaka. He supposed he could wait and telephone Osaka airport: he knew the flight number and there’d be no risk paging her by her new name. She’d been frightened, Charlie remembered: unwilling at the last moment to let go. Psychologically wrong, then, to attempt any interception and half-thought out rearrangements which might panic her. Which left Hong Kong, where she expected to be met by a man named Anthony Sampson and a military aircraft. And wasn’t going to encounter either. Thank God for insurance, thought Charlie, sighing with relief as Harry Lu replied on the second ring.

‘Hoping to hear from you Charlie!’ greeted the man. His voice caught at the end and the sentence finished in a wheezing cough. ‘How’s business?’ he picked up.

‘Problems,’ admitted Charlie, at once.

‘Serious?’ asked Lu.

‘Danger to a whole contract,’ said Charlie. ‘Someone’s intercepted some samples. Damaged a whole shipment.’

‘What can I do?’ said Lu.

Praise be for true professionals, thought Charlie. He said: ‘Got a sales person coming in. Rose Adams. Expecting a buyer who won’t be able to make it.’

‘Like me to pick her up instead?’ anticipated the man.

‘And keep her from any rival buyers,’ said Charlie. ‘Japanese Airline’s flight 208.’

‘This sales person, she know the name of the buyer?’

‘Sampson,’ said Charlie. ‘Anthony Sampson.’

‘Met before?’

‘No.’

‘She likely to be disappointed?’

‘She was expecting an immediate onward transhipment,’ said Charlie. ‘Likely to be very unhappy.’

‘I understand,’ said Lu, who did. ‘Anyone else from the firm coming to sort it all out?’

‘Getting there myself as soon as possible,’ announced Charlie. He paused and said: ‘Transportation still reliable, in Hong Kong?’

‘Same service as before,’ assured the other man.

‘I remember,’ said Charlie. ‘Apologize to her for me, will you? Make it very clear that she hasn’t lost the business …’ He hesitated, then added: ‘Tell her everything here is fine.’ She’d need the assurance, confronted with the uncertainty of not being met by whom she expected.

‘Will do,’ undertook Lu.

‘There might be some other determined buyers,’ warned Charlie.

‘Business is tough all over.’

‘This is very tough,’ insisted Charlie. He said: ‘It’s good to be working with you again.’

‘Like it to happen more often,’ said Lu, making clear the expected return.

‘I’ll see it does,’ promised Charlie. Another undertaking not backed by authority, he realized. If Harry Lu stood in for him until he was able to get to Hong Kong, Charlie determined to oppose Harkness any way that was necessary to resolve the nonsense of fictitious expenses claims and get Harry Lu back on a London retainer.

Charlie was connected as quickly to General Sir Alistair Wilson in London and, assured of a secure line, did not have to go through the confusing ambiguity of Hong Kong. The Director listened without any interruption until Charlie had clearly finished and said: ‘The Americans did that!’

‘It couldn’t have been anyone else,’ said Charlie. ‘I led them out this morning, intentionally to confuse.’

‘Bastards!’ said Wilson. Continuing, his voice becoming strangely soft, the man said: ‘I don’t like losing soldiers, Charlie. Don’t like losing anyone, but soldiers least of all.’

‘I didn’t have any alternative to bringing Harry Lu in,’ said Charlie. People had been prepared to lose him enough times.

‘I accept that,’ said Wilson. ‘You be able to get there tonight?’

‘Yes,’ assured Charlie.

‘What about another squad, to Hong Kong?’

‘Let’s first make sure there’s a reason for their flying out,’ said Charlie.

‘You think you might have lost her?’

‘I don’t know enough to think anything at the moment,’ said Charlie.

‘No proof, about the plane then?’

‘There wouldn’t be, would there?’

‘Bastards,’ said Wilson again. There was a long pause and then he said: ‘Imagine being prepared to kill that many people, just to seal an escape route!’

‘Maybe I didn’t think dirty enough,’ conceded Charlie, recalling the other man’s remark at the London briefing.

‘I’ll still go along with it,’ said Wilson, more to himself than to Charlie. ‘I’ll wait until that first joint meeting, and I’ll get Kozlov if it takes me a regiment to do it. Two regiments.’

‘Need I tell anyone here, about the squad?’

‘No,’ said the Director, at once. ‘There is to be a several nation exercise in Australia, so the cover story stands. Sampson wasn’t carrying anything to link him to you?’

‘No,’ said Charlie, in turn. He hoped the man hadn’t made any notes after their meeting. He thought it unlikely.

‘I’ll need Cartright now,’ said Charlie.

‘Whatever is necessary,’ agreed Wilson, at once. ‘And Charlie — really be careful, understand?’

‘I told you I always was,’ said Charlie.

‘Don’t forget how I feel about losing people, will you?’

‘No,’ promised Charlie. ‘I won’t forget.’

Cartright drove and as they left the embassy Charlie identified the waiting Nissan and said: ‘The Director called them bastards.’

‘Still difficult to believe,’ said Cartright. The Nissan started to follow and the man added: ‘They’ll know it’s the airport.’

‘I want them to,’ said Charlie. He told the other man how he wanted them stopped and Cartright said: ‘Christ, you’re going to start a war.’

‘We’ve already got one,’ said Charlie. ‘They started it.’

‘There’s nothing more I can do?’ The satisfaction, at involvement at last, was obvious in Cartright’s voice.

‘We’re not sure yet if Irena Kozlov is even in Hong Kong,’ said Charlie. ‘You got Harry Lu’s number?’

Cartright nodded and said: ‘There was an instruction not to use him, you know?’

‘It’s been changed,’ said Charlie. ‘Everything’s been changed.’

Cartright looked across the car and said: ‘It was Harkness’s order. I got another one, about you.’

‘I guessed,’ said Charlie.

‘There was nothing to report,’ assured the man.

‘Thanks for telling me,’ said Charlie.

‘I didn’t like the position it put me in.’

‘Harkness is a bloody old woman,’ said Charlie, with feeling.

They passed a road sign indicating the airport and Charlie said: ‘You’ll have to be quick.’

Cartright looked in his mirror and said: ‘They’re quite a long way back.’

‘Got the names?’

‘Levine and Elliott,’ recited Cartright.

There are security barriers and obstructions permanently in place at Haneda airport, but there were additional precautions after the earlier plane explosion, extra personnel at each checkpoint examining every car. As the search started on their vehicle, Charlie said: ‘This should hold them, which will help.’

From where they sat the two men could still see the smoke-blackened hull of the British plane. The blaze that followed the explosion had been extinguished, but the wreckage still smouldered and fire engines and rescue vehicles remained grouped around it.

‘Wilson was right,’ said Charlie, as they were waved on. ‘They are bastards, to do that.’

‘Good luck,’ said Cartright, automatically, as they parted at the airport entrance, Charlie for departures, Cartright heading for the telephone bank.

‘Yeah,’ said Charlie, sourly.

Cartright stayed by the telephone after making the call, watching the car stop and identifying the Americans as they left it. Levine and Elliott hurried in and were halfway across the concourse towards the departure gates when the security men, who also used the Nissan to isolate the two, swooped in a coordinated, encircling movement. The Japanese had their guns unslung and the demands, in English and by name, for the two men to halt were amplified through bullhorns. Levine and Elliott jerked to a stop, bewildered, and momentarily Cartright thought Levine was going to try to run. There was another amplified shout and hesitantly both men obeyed, raising their arms in surrender.

Irena Kozlov emerged hesitantly from the Arrivals section at Hong Kong, looking around her. At first she did not recognize the name Rose Adams written on the piece of card, and when she did frowned up at the Chinese holding it. She stopped completely, uncertain, then at last approached the man.

‘Anthony Sampson?’ she said, curiously.

‘Yes,’ lied Harry Lu, for expediency.

He hurried her away as quickly as possible. He thought she was alone but it was always difficult to tell, in a place as crowded as an airport.