‘Now, if that’s okay. I’m outside.’
Shepherd frowned. He hadn’t seen her when he’d parked the car, and he was sure he hadn’t been followed to Ealing. Charlotte Button was full of hidden talents. ‘The kettle’s on,’ he said. ‘Tea or coffee?’
‘Tea, please. Anything but Earl Grey.’
‘It’s not exactly the Ritz, and I’ve no cucumber sandwiches,’ he said.
‘Tea will be fine,’ she said, and ended the call.
Shepherd put the receiver on to the cradle. That Button hadn’t said why she wanted to see him was worrying. Something was wrong – and wrong enough for her to be knocking on his door at this time of night.
He switched on the kettle again, put a teabag into a cup and got a bottle of milk from the fridge. Before the kettle had boiled, the doorbell rang. Shepherd went through to the sitting room and asked Katra if she minded going to her room. ‘I’m sorry, it’s business,’ he said.
She hurried upstairs while Shepherd went to the front door. Button was wearing a fawn raincoat with the collar up. She nodded as she stepped across the threshold, but she didn’t say anything. Her eyes were cold and Shepherd knew now that something was very wrong.
‘Go through to the sitting room, on the right,’ said Shepherd. ‘I’ll get the tea.’
When he carried in the tray, she was sitting on the sofa where Katra had been. She’d taken off her coat and dropped it on the back of the sofa and was sitting with her legs crossed, the upper foot tapping the air. Shepherd placed a cup in front of her, then sat down in an armchair opposite.
He smiled at Button, but his face felt wooden. He had a sudden urge to cough and fought it. His mind was racing. Why was she in his house and why had she needed to see him at such short notice? If it was a work-related issue there would be no need for her to give him the silent treatment.
‘Is there something you want to tell me, Spider?’ she asked eventually. ‘Something you want to get off your chest?’
His mind raced. How much did she know? And how much could he afford to tell her?
Button continued to stare at him, allowing the seconds to tick away with no sign of discomfort other than her tapping foot. It was the same technique that Kathy Gift had used, leaving long silences in the hope that Shepherd would fill them.
Shepherd shrugged. ‘I’m not sure what you want me to say, Charlie.’
She arched an eyebrow. ‘Really?’
‘Everything’s fine. Is this about my biannual review?’
She shook her head. ‘No. Caroline seems to think you’re perfectly fit for undercover work. I’m the one who’s starting to have doubts.’
‘What’s the problem?’ he asked.
‘You are,’ she said, her voice flat and emotionless. ‘Did you think you could go to Dubai without me finding out? And then when you do come back, you rush straight round to Amar.’
‘Have you had me followed?’ said Shepherd.
Button looked at him with undisguised contempt. ‘Don’t flatter yourself,’ she said. ‘I don’t have my people followed. But when one of them starts flying around the world at short notice I think I have the right to know what the hell is going on.’
‘I was on holiday,’ said Shepherd. ‘I applied for the leave. Plus today’s the weekend. It’s Saturday.’
‘I know what day it is,’ said Button. ‘So what was Dubai about? Shopping? You didn’t come back with any duty-free bags.’
‘So you were at the airport? Spying on me?’
Button snorted softly and didn’t answer. The silence stretched into a minute. Then a second minute. This wasn’t the sort of mind game Kathy Gift had played, Shepherd realised. Button was going to wait for him to speak, no matter how long it took.
‘What do you think I was doing in Dubai?’ he asked quietly.
‘I’m not here to answer your questions,’ she said.
‘Then why are you here? To sack me?’
Button leaned back and folded her arms. ‘Do you want me to sack you? Is that it? Do you have another job lined up?’
Shepherd frowned, confused. ‘What do you mean?’ he asked.
‘Are you working for Richard Yokely? Is that why you went to Dubai?’
Shepherd’s jaw dropped. It was the last thing he’d expected to hear.
‘I know you met him in Knightsbridge last week. And you’ve met him before. I’m fairly sure he’s offered you a job.’
‘That’s not why I went to Dubai.’
‘But he does want you to work for him?’
Shepherd sighed. ‘He offered me a job while I was still working for Hargrove. I told him no.’
‘You know what he does?’ said Button.
‘He used to be CIA,’ said Shepherd. ‘Now he’s something in Homeland Security.’
‘He kills people, Spider. He’s a government-sanctioned killer. He’s worked in South America, Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq, anywhere where human rights are less accountable than they are here.’
‘I sort of realised that,’ said Shepherd.
‘Then you should sort of realise how dangerous your life could become if you get too close to him.’
‘He promised me protection, actually,’ said Shepherd. ‘The way I remember the conversation, if I got caught in a compromising position his president calls my prime minister and everything’s hunky-dory.’
‘You’d be surprised to learn how many men in British prisons claim that a smooth-talking American with tassels on his shoes told them they were committing murder in the name of national security and that at any moment a phone call from the Prime Minister’s office would secure their release and a medal to boot. Conspiracy theories abound inside. Nobody listens to them. So if he’s promised you a get-out-of-jail-free card, I can assure you it’s not worth whatever it’s printed on. So, what was the Dubai trip about?’
‘Charlie, I’ll swear on a stack of Bibles that I wasn’t going to Dubai for Yokely. He offered me a job but I turned him down.’
‘So it was a coincidence that, shortly after meeting him at the Special Forces Club, you give me some cock-and-bull story about moving house and get on a plane to the Middle East?’
‘I am moving house,’ said Shepherd, defensively.
‘You’ve been gazumped, the sale has practically fallen through,’ said Button. Shepherd opened his mouth to speak but she pointed a warning finger at him. ‘And don’t ask me how I know. It’s my job to know what my operatives are up to. Hargrove might have kept you on a long leash but SOCA is a different set-up. If you so much as fart in the bath, I know about it.’
‘I was just going to say it was a reverse gazumping. My buyer cut his offer. Anyway, it’s all been sorted now and the sale’s gone through. But I guess that’s not the point, is it?’
‘No, it’s not. The point is, how many lies are you going to tell me, Spider?’
Shepherd said nothing.
‘And I need you to explain why you jeopardised an ongoing operation.’
Shepherd opened his mouth to speak, but he could see that Button was in no mood to listen so he closed it again.
‘Did you think that SO13 wouldn’t have the Birmingham mob under surveillance? And did you seriously believe when you put the operation on hold that they wouldn’t immediately call me up to find out what the hell was going on? Ali wanted explosives, and you put him on hold.’ She folded her arms.
‘Charlie…’
‘What? Charlie what?’
‘It’s complicated,’ he said.
‘Quadratic equations are complicated. What you did isn’t complicated. I know exactly what you did because a very angry SO13 played me the recording of your chat with Ali. And my former colleagues in Five were more than happy to track your mobile to Dubai. So I know what you did and I know where you were when you did it. What I don’t know is why you’ve thrown away your career.’ She unfolded her arms and pointed a finger at him. ‘You could go to prison for what you did, Spider. You aided and abetted terrorists. What was I supposed to tell SO13?’
‘I’m sorry,’ he said.
‘Well, “I’m sorry” doesn’t cut it,’ said Button. ‘Leaving aside the stupidity and illegality of what you did, have you any idea of the position you’ve put me in? All the established law-enforcement organisations are hell-bent on proving that SOCA is unnecessary because they want to show how indispensable they are. You’ve just handed my head to them on a plate. I’ve hired a maverick who cuts deals with terrorists. Now, are you going to tell me what’s going on, or do I see about transferring you to another unit?’