‘What happened in 1953?’ Eddie asked.
The mention of a coup and the date had already given Nina the answer. Ancient history was her passion, but she was still well versed in the more modern variety. ‘Iran,’ she said. ‘MI6 and the CIA overthrew the democratically elected government of Iran to reinstall the Shah as ruler. All because the Iranians wanted to take back control of their own oilfields from British and American companies. And the Shah was a repressive dictator, so there was eventually a revolution against him — which brought the Ayatollah to power.’
‘Oh, no blowback there, then!’ said Eddie sarcastically.
‘It was somewhat more complicated than that — the Shah has been grossly maligned by the liberal media — but still, in hindsight, not one of SIS’s greatest successes,’ said Brice. ‘But it did teach us to be much more circumspect in our regime change operations.’
‘Hence your faked resignation,’ Nina noted.
‘Quite. Which is why I want the recording where I admit to that. That means the laptop, of course, but I still want all your other storage devices as well. Before you have a chance to reach somewhere with internet access and start disseminating copies across the globe.’
‘We’ve got the laptop here,’ Eddie told him, still seething.
‘Good. Then hand it over to Hapen.’
He reluctantly held it up — but before he could turn it over to the mercenary, Nina stayed him. ‘This laptop,’ she said, directing her words as much at the blond man as the phone, ‘it’s really valuable, yes? As in, anyone who had it could potentially blackmail MI6 and the British government for millions of dollars to get it back?’
‘That would have very unfortunate consequences for your little girl,’ Brice replied coldly.
‘I’m not talking about us. I’m speaking — purely hypothetically, of course,’ she added, her eyes fixed meaningfully upon the mercenary’s, ‘about somebody else. If they had the laptop, they could demand as much money as they wanted for it, couldn’t they?’
Hapen had clearly understood her inference, his gaze locking greedily on to the damaged machine. Eddie also realised what she meant. ‘Yeah, they could,’ he added. ‘Be worth a fortune! Probably a lot more than you’re paying to have it collected, right?’
The spy’s response was impatient — but couldn’t hide a hint of concern. ‘I know what you’re trying to do, and it won’t work. Let me talk to Hapen.’
‘Why?’ asked Nina. ‘Either you trust him, so you don’t need to talk to him, or you don’t… in which case, there’s nothing to stop him from doing whatever he wants with the laptop. Can you trust him to hand it over without asking for a million dollars first?’
There was a lengthy silence — then to their surprise, a laugh came from the other end of the line. ‘Congratulations, Dr Wilde. You found the weak point in my plan. I knew from the start that relying on a mercenary was risky, of course, but unfortunately I didn’t have anyone more loyal available in such a short timeframe.’
‘Out of the country already, are you?’ asked Eddie.
‘A long way out, thankfully. I’ll be back in England in a few hours. But,’ he went on, ‘you’ll be here with me soon enough. With the laptop, and anything else that might store the recording.’
‘Oh, we will, will we?’
‘I’m certain of it. Remember, I have watchers keeping an eye on your daughter. They’ll take her if I give the word.’
‘They wouldn’t hurt a little girl,’ Eddie snapped.
‘They would hurt whoever they’re told to hurt. Which includes Macy’s grandparents as well. Now, here’s the new plan. I’m going to tell Hapen to catalogue all your friends’ electronics. You will bring everything, including the laptop, to me at Heathrow airport on the earliest possible flight. If I’m satisfied that the recording hasn’t been copied or disseminated, Macy will be safe. Otherwise, well…’
‘We get the picture,’ said Nina.
‘Good. Now put Hapen back on.’
Eddie returned the phone to the mercenary. A brief discussion, then Hapen gestured towards the minibuses. They went to them. ‘Turn out your packs. He wants to make a list of all the electronics,’ Nina told the group disconsolately. ‘Brice wants everything that might store the recording.’
‘Wait, he wants all our backups too?’ Rivero asked. ‘But — that’s everything we shot! If he takes those, we’ll have nothing!’
‘Steven and the others will have died for nothing,’ Lydia added angrily.
‘He’s got people watching our daughter,’ said the redhead. ‘If we don’t turn everything over, he said he’ll kill her.’
‘Then we have to give him what he wants,’ Fortune said. Rivero’s reluctance was plain, but he started to unpack his bag. The others followed suit.
Hapen recited his findings to Brice over the phone before searching everyone at gunpoint. Finally, he was satisfied. ‘Quite the collection,’ said Brice after the satphone had been returned to Eddie. ‘You can leave the video camera, but I want its memory card, and all the others. Even though it’s broken, the laptop is the top priority, of course.’ The mercenary had, at his employer’s directing, tried to boot up the machine, but it had remained dead.
‘Of course,’ the Yorkshireman echoed sarcastically. ‘So now what? You want us to stuff all this lot in a bag and meet you at Heathrow?’
‘Succinctly put, yes. Don’t dawdle, though. By my estimation, you should be able to get from where you are to London in forty-one hours. I’ll be generous and give you forty-five. Third World airports don’t always function smoothly.’
‘Gee, thanks,’ said Nina.
‘The clock starts now, so don’t waste any time. By the way, just so it’s clear: I’ve arranged for GCHQ to monitor the phones and internet of anyone you might think to contact. If you try to warn Macy’s grandparents, or your friends at the United Nations, or anybody else in a position to interfere, bad things will happen. The same applies should there be so much as a whisper of online chatter about SIS’s activities in the Congo.’
‘Tchah! And I had an epic Twitter rant lined up,’ Eddie replied.
‘I’m so glad I’ll be spared it. Now, you have forty-four hours and fifty-nine minutes to reach Heathrow, so get moving.’ The line went silent.
Eddie lowered the phone. ‘He just gave us a deadline to get to London with this lot,’ he told the others, indicating their electronics. ‘A tight one, so we need to get started.’ He crouched to pick up the laptop.
‘Ah-ah,’ said Hapen. Everyone froze as he raised his rifle. ‘It is worth a lot of money, yes? Then I will take your suggestion — and take it. Give it to me.’
Eddie sighed. ‘All right, all right. Here.’
He stood — and tossed the computer at him.
Hapen, surprised, fumbled to catch it with his free hand. Before he could recover, Eddie punched him hard in the face. The mercenary stumbled backwards against the bus — where a second punch from Fortune dropped him to the ground, out cold.
‘Thanks,’ said Eddie.
‘No problem, my friend,’ Fortune replied, giving the unconscious man a disdainful look. ‘No man with a haircut so bad should be allowed to walk the streets.’
Nina retrieved the laptop. ‘Okay, so now what?’
Eddie glanced at the boat before regarding the bullet-damaged machine again. ‘We do what Brice said.’
‘You’re going to cave in?’ said Lydia.
Rivero was equally unhappy. ‘We won’t just be giving up everything we filmed, man. This guy won’t let you walk away once you hand it over.’