Well, where to now, Peel, old man? Our rogue scientist seems to have flown the coop. He's not at his digs or usual haunts, and surely that only confirms it. He's lied to you, tried to have you offed, and cheated you out of a million EUs as well. Best you find him and take care of the problem before it gets worse.
Easier said, however, than done.
It was a warm and sunny day, and Howard, in civilian clothes, strolled along the sidewalks a few blocks from MI-6's HQ, enjoying the weather and city. London was quite a cosmopolitan place. People walked past in strange outfits, speaking foreign languages, looking very much at home in the English city.
Next to him, also dressed in civvies, Julio smiled at a pair of teenage girls wearing microskirts and platform shoes with soles as thick as a Washington, D.C., phone book. The girls smiled back at Julio and gave Howard a long and appraising look. Christ, both men were old enough to be their fathers. And if they fell off those monster shoes, they'd surely break an ankle or worse. Howard raised an eyebrow at his sergeant.
"Hey, you know what they say, a thing of beauty is a joy forever."
"And jailbait is jailbait no matter where you go. Aren't you getting a son and a wife soon?"
"You need to loosen up, John. Looking isn't the same as doing."
"You've been a bachelor for a long time, Julio. You sure you are going to be able to make the transition?"
"To be absolutely honest, I don't know. I think so. I'm gonna give it my best shot. But you know as well as I do that no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy."
"You looking at marriage like a war, Sergeant?"
"Not exactly a war, but certainly unfamiliar territory. I mean, I love Jo, I want to wake up next to her every morning, and she's gonna be the mother of my child, but I'm not some eighteen-year-old recruit fresh off the farm and never been to town."
"That's for sure." He let that sit for a while, then said, "So what do you think about this business?"
He shrugged. "This Goswell guy being part of the old boy network and above reproach and all that doesn't sound all that different from home. Maybe he doesn't have anything to do with anything. But every rich and famous businessman or politician I ever heard of who got a bright light shined into his closet showed some skeletons hanging in the back. And it seems real odd to me that our ice man Ruzhyo is hooked up with this major who works for Mr. High and Mighty."
"That's how I see it, too."
A gorgeous, cafe-au-lait woman in a black and red silk dress strode along the sidewalk toward them. With the heels she was wearing, she was a couple of inches over six feet, easy. A model, maybe. She went past them in a subtle cloud of expensive perfume. Julio turned to watch her, and Howard glanced over his shoulder, trying to be unobtrusive about it.
"Looks good from the back," Julio said. "Wouldn't you say, Colonel?"
He'd noticed Howard's quick glance.
He smiled, caught. "I have to admit she does."
"Married as you are and all?"
Howard just grinned.
"So, what now, John?"
"We let British Intelligence gather everything they think we ought to know, and then we see what's what. Then we take care of it and go home. All these women make me miss my wife."
Fernandez laughed. "I hear that."
Chapter 36
When Toni came back from the loo into the conference room, Alex and Cooper stood at the end of the conference table, talking. They almost literally had their heads together, close enough to be breathing each other's air.
Toni felt a pang of jealousy. They looked up, saw her, but didn't move. That was good. If they had jumped apart when they saw her, that would have been something to worry about. Still, she didn't have any reason to be uneasy. She knew Alex.
"Anything new?" she asked.
"We've got the intel on Goswell and Peel," Alex said. "And some interesting developments. Colonel Howard and Sergeant Fernandez are on their way here."
Even as he said it, the two men arrived.
"Angela, if you would?"
Cooper stood as the others took their seats. She touched her flatscreen and a projection lit over the conference table.
"Lord Geoffrey Goswell's estate in Sussex," she began. "It's called The Yews. He spends most of his time there. The place sits on several hundred acres that include the main house, smaller cottages, and various out-buildings."
More images flashed into view.
"Except for staff, his lordship — he's a widower — lives there alone. He has places in London, Brighton, Manchester, a villa in the south of France, and various houses or condominiums in Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, India, and the United States. Here is a list of the companies he owns all or part of. His personal fortune is estimated at just under two billion."
"Must be hard," Fernandez allowed.
Cooper continued: "Peel, whom we've discussed at some length before, heads Goswell's personal security. He's got anywhere from half a dozen to ten men, all ex-military, all heavily armed, patrolling the estate at any given time."
"I thought guns were more or less illegal here," Howard said.
Cooper said, "For ordinary citizens, yes. No handguns, and all rifles and shotguns must be locked up except when actually in use for target shooting or hunting. No military-style assault weapons allowed in any case."
Fernandez said, "Let me guess: When you have a couple billion in the old piggy bank, the rules are different, right?"
Cooper gave him a tight smile. "Just so."
"Please continue," Alex said. "Let's keep the editorial comments down, shall we?"
"We've put a couple of teams on the roads leading to the estate, and less than an hour ago, a rental car arrived there. A check of the car agency records indicate it was rented yesterday in Southampton by Peter Bascomb-Coombs. Our operatives managed to get a blurry picture of the driver, and it appears to be the computer scientist."
That got a nice reaction.
"Major Peel, also under surveillance, is currently en route to Sussex on his way from London. It will take him another hour or so to get there."
"No sign of Ruzhyo?" Howard asked.
"No."
"Could he be at the estate?" "It is possible," Cooper allowed. "We won't have any spysats in position to footprint the area for another ninety minutes. Even so, and even if he is strolling on the grounds, we would be hard-pressed to identify him from that alone. We have, under the aegis of national security, tapped the landlines into the estate, as well as having scanners recording wireless activity."
"Must be nice to be able to get a wiretap that easy," Alex said.
"It was not exactly easy," Cooper said. "But so far, nothing of importance has been forthcoming. And essentially, that is the situation as we now know it."
"Sounds like most of the eggs are in the basket to me. We need to take a little run out there and have a chat with some folks," Fernandez said.
Cooper stared at the holoproj image, then down at the table. She looked uncomfortable, a thing that didn't bother Toni much. Cooper said, "Well, yes, that would be the logical next step."
"But…?" Howard said.
"This is a bit awkward," she said. "We can't just pop out and do that."
"Why not?" Toni asked. "We have a suspect in the computer crime that has rattled half the planet, and we know where he is. I can't believe you don't want to have a few words with him. And with the guy who he works for, too."
Toni saw Julio and John Howard nod in agreement, and Alex also looked ready to hear her answer.
Cooper said, "This is true. However, things aren't done that way here. What if you were in the States and you suddenly had to question a billionaire who was also a powerful political figure? A senator or even the President? You couldn't just knock on his door and demand to come in, could you?"