‘I know. At least it’s safe. But that, of course, was before I saw the news this morning. The authorities officially blamed animal rights activists for the explosion, and Mikey called me, backing that up. I believed it. I phoned you and told you that. For a while I was quite sure I’d got it all wrong, that you and Connie had got it all wrong, that I’d let my imagination run away with me, and RECAP had nothing to do with—’
‘And the “pal in the police” you referred to, was actually your mad brother, the FBI agent, I presume,’ Jones interrupted again.
‘Yes.’
‘For God’s sake, Ed! Did you tell Mikey that Connie was still alive?’
‘No. I didn’t. I promise you I didn’t.’
‘Do you really expect me to believe that?’
‘I didn’t. I swear. I suppose I still had niggling doubts at the back of my mind. I’m not sure. But, well, if my phone is bugged...’
Ed didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to. If the FBI, or anyone else, had been monitoring Ed’s calls they would have learned from his conversation with Jones that Connie Pike was alive and well. And it wouldn’t have taken them long to get a trace — fifteen seconds, Dom had said. Neither would it have taken them long to position someone outside Dom’s apartment. Someone murderous.
‘I can’t believe Mikey would hurt Connie, though,’ Ed continued. ‘Jesus. I can’t believe Mikey would hurt anyone.’
Jones sighed. ‘I don’t suppose he did. Not personally, that is. It really does look like Connie’s conspiracy theory is right, Ed. All sorts of persons in high places could be involved. And they would have on their payroll, and in their control, the kind of people most of us don’t even want to know exist. People whose life’s work it is to perform little jobs like mowing down an innocent woman in the street.
‘If your dumb brother has passed on his suspicions about you being privy to Paul’s work, then I don’t reckon you’re much safer than Connie. I don’t like to think about what they would do and how quickly they would do it if they suspected that you had stolen Paul’s paper from Mikey. I need to see that paper, Ed. It really could be the key. I’ll get the first flight home I can. And you should come with me. I really don’t think you’re safe here anymore.’
Jones paused.
‘But I don’t suppose you’ve even got your passport with you, have you?’
‘Well, actually, yes I have. My passport. And my laptop. Like I said, I wiped the file right off my hard drive, but I’m never sure about leaving footprints. Also I destroyed my mobile before I left, so nobody could follow me that way, and I transferred all its data to my laptop first. I’ve got various other personal papers with me too. I was afraid somebody might break into my flat — search the place...’
‘But they think you’re still there.’
‘For the moment, I suppose. But, well, to tell the truth, Sandy, I already wasn’t sure that it would be safe for me to go back, not for a bit, anyway. I can’t leave Jasper for long, though, my neighbour’s wonderful, but there is a limit.’
‘You may have to, because you’re right. It won’t be long before they find out you’ve given them the slip, and goodness knows what else. You can’t go back to Princeton, Ed. You really can’t.’
Sixteen
Dom called from a pay phone at eleven p.m. precisely, just as he had promised.
‘You alone?’ he asked.
‘No,’ replied Jones. ‘I’m still with Ed. There’s a lot to tell you. I’ll be back to you and Connie in half an hour. And I’ll have Ed with me.’
‘Now just hang on, lady. For a start, we ain’t where you left us.’
‘What?’
‘No. The place was compromised, right, by the text you took earlier from that dumb-ass. I’ve moved Connie out.’
‘So tell me where you are,’ said Jones. ‘I’ll come to you.’
‘Not with Ed MacEntee, you won’t. I don’t trust him.’
Jones sighed. This was absurd. Dom didn’t trust Ed. Jones trusted that Ed was telling the truth, but no longer trusted Ed’s judgement. She certainly didn’t trust Ed’s brother, a boyhood Walter Mitty turned Fed. And she still didn’t entirely trust Dom. She really wasn’t up to these spy games.
She moved a little away from Ed to continue the call.
‘Look, something’s happened that means I need to get back to the UK,’ she told Dom. ‘And I want to take Ed and Connie with me. Nothing you can say to me will convince me that any of us will be really safe until we get out of this damned country.’
‘You’re running away, lady, ain’t you?’ said the Dominator accusatively.
‘If that’s how you want to look at it, fine.’
‘So what’s happened exactly to make it so danged important that you get outa here?’ Dom asked. ‘It’s something MacEntee has said, ain’t it? Has to be.’
Jones sighed, gave in, and treated Dom to an edited version of Ed’s story. She particularly did not tell Dom about the copy of Paul Ruders’ work which Ed had acquired and posted to England — the real reason she wanted to return home. She’d become so paranoid about being spied upon and tailed and phones being tapped and traced that she was not about to take any more risks. She would tell Connie when she next saw her.
Instead she simply told Dom that she needed to get back to her power base, to the place where she had access to and influence over people in high places because of who she was. It didn’t sound very convincing, even to Jones, and it certainly didn’t make much of an impression on the Dominator.
‘Oh yeah, getting a fast cab to Downing Street as soon as you land, are you?’ asked the big man.
Jones ignored that.
‘Look Dom, I’m not doing any good here,’ she said. ‘I can’t cope with all this. And I’m pretty damned sure I can do one hell of a lot more back home now. It’s not just my safety we’re talking about here, it’s Ed’s and Connie’s. I told you. I want to take Connie with me. As soon as it can be arranged. I want to make sure she’s safe. Can you help with that, Dom? Can you get hold of papers? You know. A passport in another name. Stuff like that?’
‘What do you take me for, lady?’
‘Connie and Marion say you can fix almost anything.’
‘Oh yeah? When you planning to leave, anyway?’
‘As soon as possible. Tomorrow, if I can.’
‘And with a new passport for Connie already freshly minted? You gotta be kidding me. Connie won’t go with you, anyway. No chance. She won’t leave the country while Marion’s in hospital on the critical list.’
Jones feared that Dom might be right. She knew she was beaten. For the moment, at any rate.
‘All right,’ she said. ‘But look, you’ve still got my bag, I hope?’
‘Yeah.’
‘I need it.’
This time Jones had her passport and credit cards with her. But her personal cell phone, which she hadn’t dared use for two days, her laptop, her house keys, and the keys to her car waiting at Heathrow Airport, were all in the hold-all.
‘Too bad. If you’re gonna quit, then why don’t you just get your ass outta here? Leave me to look after Connie.’
‘Dom, you have to trust me on this. There are things I can do in the UK. Things that might help. But I do need my bag. Look, if you don’t want me to come to you, won’t you please bring it to me?’
There was a pause.
The Dominator appeared to be convinced that he was all that was standing between Connie Pike and death, yet only hours earlier Jones had been equally convinced that Dom was the villain of the piece and had fled at speed halfway across Manhattan in order to get away from him. Now she didn’t know what to believe. Not about anything.
‘I’m sorry, I got Connie somewhere real safe, and I don’t intend to leave her whilst I run errands for you, lady. I didn’t even like leaving her to make this phone call, to tell the truth.’