‘Tell me what?’ asked India, her voice rising, ‘For Christ’s sake Brandon what the fuck is going on?’
Brandon grabbed her arm.
‘Okay,’ he said, ‘I admit I haven’t levelled with you India, but it was for your own safety I promise.’
‘Well it hasn’t fucking worked has it?’ she shouted, ‘I’ve never been in so much danger. Just tell me what’s happening.’
‘I will, I promise, but not now, there’s no time. We have to get out of here before the police arrive.’
India crossed her arms in a gesture of defiance.
‘Not until you tell me who you are?’ she said.
‘India!’ he shouted, ‘Come on we have to go.’
She stared at him without moving. Brandon stared back at her, each as stubborn as each other.
‘SAS!’ said Agnes suddenly, breaking the deadlock, His name is Brandon and he is a serving SAS intelligence officer. There, it’s out. Now, both of you get out of here before it’s too late.’
‘Happy now?’ he asked
‘Not really,’ answered India, ‘I still want to know what this is all about.’
‘And you will.’
‘No more secrets.’
‘None, I will tell you everything I know.’
‘When?’
‘On the plane.’
‘What plane, where are we going?’
‘Samothrace,’ he said before adding ‘Wherever that is.’
‘Samothrace, but how? You haven’t had time to get any tickets.
‘Leave that to Agnes, now, let’s get out of here, please!’
India looked between both Brandon and Agnes and took a step forward towards Brandon. Before he could react she slapped him across the face.
‘You lie to me one more time Brandon Walker, or whatever your name is and I will walk away from this and make a beeline for the Sunday tabloids, I swear.’
‘No more lies,’ he confirmed, rubbing his cheek. ‘I will tell you everything on the plane.’
‘Okay then,’ she said eventually, ‘What are we waiting for?’
Agnes threw Brandon the keys to the land rover and watched them race across the drive to the garage.
‘Can you stop in an overnight Tesco’s on the way?’ asked India as soon as they were in the car.
‘Tesco’s?’ he asked as he gunned the engine, ‘Why?’
‘I left my suitcase in that house,’ she said, ‘If you think I am going all the way to the Med in the clothes I am standing in you’ve got another thing coming.’
‘Oh right,’ he said,’ I’m sure we can pick up a little something on the way.’
‘Don’t get cocky Brandon,’ she said, ‘This is just for starters. When we get to the Med I expect a whole new wardrobe’
‘Lucky I’ve got a company credit card then,’ he mumbled.
‘Credit card?’ she answered, ‘By the time I am finished, you will need a whole fucking pack of them. Now let’s get out of here.’
A few hours later India finished sorting out her make up in front of the toilet mirror and pulled the tag off the new blouse she had just donned in the cubicle. She placed her old clothes in the new travel case alongside the other new purchases before returning to the waiting area of the Airport. Brandon was waiting for her clutching a fan of tickets.
‘We’re in luck,’ he said, ‘There’s a British Airways flight in a couple of hours. Agnes booked us a couple of seats to Rome and a connecting flight to Athens in the morning. From there, we’re on our own.’
‘She’s very good,’ admitted India.
‘The best,’ said Brandon.
‘I still don’t understand why you want to go to Samothrace,’ said India, ‘Most of the information is available online. What do you expect to gain by travelling all the way out there?’
He reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a wallet.
‘This belonged to the guy back at the house,’ he said and pulled out the contents.
‘You make a habit of robbing the dead don’t you?’ she stated.
He didn’t answer but continued to empty the wallet.
‘Couple of hundred quid in sterling,’ he said, ‘Couple of credit cards and this,’ he handed over a pink plastic card, ‘A European driving license issued in Greece.’
‘Peter Venezelos,’ she read, ‘Doesn’t mean anything though, Greece is a big country.
‘Well, it’s all we’ve got,’ he said, ‘Investigations will carry on here but in the meantime we will go out to this Samothrace place and ask some questions about this guy. Perhaps the local police can shed some light on him.’
‘There’s something else,’ said India, ‘When you went looking for Agnes I went over to look at the body.’
‘Why?’
‘Call it morbid curiosity,’ she said, ‘After all, It’s not often someone tries to murder me. Anyway, I noticed he was wearing a ring.’
‘Phillip of Macedonia again?’
‘No, this was quite different, the genuine article. Made in Greece about a thousand or so years ago.’
‘What was on it?’
‘See for yourself,’ she said and placed the gold ring on the table.
‘Now who’s stealing from the dead?’
‘I’ve got a good teacher,’ she answered.
Brandon examined the golden ring. It was obviously very old and the engraving very faint.
‘A chariot?’ he suggested, ‘Being driven by an angel.’
‘Almost right,’ answered India, ‘It is indeed a chariot but the person driving it is not an angel, she is known as Nike.’
‘Like the trainers?’
‘Ha ha,’ she said sarcastically, ‘Nike was an ancient Greek Goddess that personified victory.’
‘I’ve never heard of her.’
‘You see her quite often I would have thought.’
‘Where?’
‘Ever watched the Olympics?’
‘Yes.’
‘She is on the reverse of every gold medal since the 1920’s.’
‘Can’t say I’ve ever studied one up close.’
‘What about the world cup then?’
‘What about it.?’
‘The Jules Rimmet trophy is based on a representation of Nike.’
His brow raised slightly in acknowledgement.
‘Anyway,’ she continued, ‘The most famous image is a marble statue which was found in the 1860’s and now resides in the Louvre museum in Paris. The head is missing but the statue is breathtaking nonetheless.’
‘Why is she relevant to us?’ he asked.
‘Where do you think the statue was found?’ she asked and waited as realisation dawned on his face.
‘Don’t tell me he,’ said, ‘Samothrace!’
She nodded silently to confirm his assumption.
‘So Mr whatever your name is,’ she said, ‘We’ve got a couple of hours to kill. Why don’t we go through to the lounge, get a nice cup of coffee and you can tell me everything about this mess.’
Fifteen minutes later they both sat in a quiet corner of the flight lounge each nursing a hot coffee.
‘First of all,’ he said, ‘My name is indeed Brandon and Agnes is my mother. I am a serving officer in the intelligence arm of the Special Air Service but would appreciate it if you kept that fact kept to yourself.’
‘I understand,’ she said.
‘Right, all this started when the first girl was found in Victoria station. At first it was a simple murder case and was being investigated by the police. We weren’t involved at that stage and ordinarily wouldn’t have been called on. However all that changed when the second girl was kidnapped from outside the hotel.’
‘Why?’
‘Because the girl is the niece of the Prime Minister!’
‘What?’ she gasped in astonishment, ‘How can that be? Where was her security, Where were you lot?’
‘We don’t protect extended family members unless there is a specific threat,’ he said, ‘It seems that the family had come to London on a shopping trip and that little girl, Camille, wandered off in Oxford street. That’s when she was snatched.’
‘But nothing’s been on the TV, surely it would have been all over the news?’
‘Like I said, news blackout.’
‘But why, has there been a ransom demand?’
‘No, and there won’t be one. Take a look at these two pictures.’
She examined the two passport size photographs he placed on the table.