“I want to hear everything now, mate. From the beginning.”
Locke told the story yet another time, sparing none of the details and focusing especially on the information passed on by Felderberg and the Dwarf. Burgess interrupted occasionally with questions, and it was a half hour before Chris had brought him up to the moment the cab had dropped him around the corner from the girl’s house in Falmouth.
“Who was she?” Locke wondered as Burgess finally signaled for the waiter to come over and take their order.
“Nobody. Just someone … the Committee set in place to back up Burgess’s cover, the fake Burgess, that is.”
“Why not just use him as the contact?”
“Too direct.” Burgess ran a hand through his thinning silver hair. There were bags under his eyes. “They didn’t want you able to contact the imposter at every whim because that would have meant more questions, and sooner or later doubts might have sprouted in your mind.”
“They protected me for as long as it suited their needs.”
“But something made them change their minds rather abruptly, as your hand there indicates. Something unexpected, I would guess.”
“Dogan,” Locke surmised. “He pulled me right out from under them, in effect replacing Burgess as my guide. They hadn’t figured on his presence, or of anyone helping me or believing me for that matter.”
Burgess nodded somberly. “That explains it.”
“Explains what?”
“Word has been put out — very subtly, you understand — that Grendel is an outcast and not to be trusted. His credibility is gone. His own people have disowned him. In our line of work, it’s called a quarantine order, restricted status in this case.”
“There’s got to be somebody he can go to.”
“There weren’t many people to begin with. Dogan’s assignments were strictly deep-cover field operations through something called Division Six….”
“He told me.”
“Well, officially, Division Six doesn’t exist and neither does Grendel. If he walked into the CIA tomorrow, no one besides the director would know who he was.”
The waiter arrived again and Burgess ordered for both of them, Chris just nodding his acceptance.
“I, on the other hand,” Burgess went on after the waiter departed, “have the backing and support of an entire government at my disposal.”
“It isn’t enough.”
“To bring down one criminal organization? Think again.”
“The Committee is no ordinary organization. They’ve remained undetected for this long by eliminating anyone who had the potential to do damage.”
Burgess smiled confidently. “They never dealt with the power of MI-6 before, mate. I could have a squadron of Special Air Service commandoes standing by with one phone call.”
“And send them where? To do what? The enemy’s invisible, a ghost, remember? You can’t destroy what you can’t see.”
“That Chinese giant who ruined your fingers was visible enough and so are the rest. The Committee’s just people, and people can be killed. If all else fails, that’s what necessity will dictate.”
“You’ll have to find them first.”
Burgess nodded. “You’ve given us plenty of places to start looking: Felderberg was right about Austria; it sounds like their base of operations all right. We’ll just have to narrow things down a bit. The clues will be there. They’re probably in your words and I haven’t caught them yet.” He leaned over closer to Locke. “I’m going to put in a call to London now. An hour from now this hotel will be swarming with my people. We’ll begin our assault from here.”
Burgess started to stand up. Locke grasped him on the forearm.
“What about my son?”
Burgess shrugged. “That’s a tough one, mate. He’s the only leverage they’ve got over you, which should keep him alive.”
“Leverage to insure what?” Locke demanded. “That I don’t talk, right? Well, I’ve done that. I’ve told you all I know, which means the leverage doesn’t mean shit anymore. It’s superfluous and so is the life of my son!”
The MI-6 man sat back in his chair. “Calm down. They can’t know we’ve made contact.”
“Unless they were watching the house, waiting for me just as you were. They killed the girl, Colin. They knew that’s where I was headed and they killed her. Maybe as a warning, I don’t know.”
“You’re giving them an awful lot of credit.”
“Brian said they were everywhere. I think I’m beginning to understand him. They’ve penetrated important levels of governments everywhere and that’s just the beginning. Nothing is beyond their capabilities.”
Burgess stood up quickly this time, looking shaken. “I’m going to make that phone call now, and I’m going to pray you’re wrong. But even if you’re right, I know the right people to marshal a force against them. We’ll beat them, mate, you’ll see.”
The MI-6 man moved from the table, then out of the restaurant into the lobby. His two men held their positions on either side of the door. Locke gulped his water, reached over and drained Burgess’s as well. His mind was racing. The Committee could not be destroyed through normal measures but it was vulnerable. Otherwise, the dark man and Shang would not have appeared in his hotel room. The Committee was effective only when its control was total. That, though, was no longer the case. Locke had slipped from their grasp and Dogan had entered the scene, and they certainly seemed scared of Dogan. They could be beaten, especially if Burgess reached the right people in British intelligence. His phone call would not take long. He would be returning shortly and—
Locke glanced up toward the restaurant entrance. The two guards were gone from their posts. He felt the rise of anxiety in his stomach and fought to steady himself. Perhaps they had followed Burgess into the lobby. Their job was to protect him, not Locke. That must be it.
Chris waited. He’d give it another few minutes and then check the lobby himself.
The waiter brought their salads, set Locke’s down in front of him and Burgess’s before an empty chair. Chris turned a fork through the lettuce. Still no Burgess. He strained his eyes, trying to see further into the lobby, feeling the grip of panic seize him tighter.
Locke lowered his head and massaged his eyelids, trying to keep calm. He opened his eyes again and looked at the restaurant entrance.
A girl was approaching. He recognized her. Blond hair, dressed in jeans. It was Nikki!
“Hey, fancy meeting you here!” she said when she reached his table.
“Look, I—”
“Keep quiet,” she said in a suddenly serious tone. Her face had taken on a new expression, which made her look totally different. Older somehow.
“Who are—”
“I said keep quiet. Just listen. Your friend and his men are finished. They got them. But we can still get out if we move fast. Through the kitchen. Don’t move until I tell you to.”
“Tell me who you are.”
“Your fairy godmother. I’ve saved your life twice already, three times now. You really should be more careful.”
Locke felt confusion sweep over him. “But I thought it was the Committee that kept me alive.”
“It was.”
“Then you’re—”
“That’s right.”
“Why?”
“Long story I can’t even start now. Things are changing, crumbling. It may be too late already to set them right again. We’ve got to act fast. You’ve already helped us unknowingly. Now you’re going to have to with full awareness.”
“What makes you think I will?”
“Because we’re not your true enemies, not all of us anyway. There’s lots going on here you don’t understand. You will in time, but for now you’ll have to trust me.”