‘And what happened?’
‘Like I said before . . ’ she took a deep breath and began the story again. ‘I let him go just so far . . . so he would be over-confident. Then I kicked him hard in the crotch. When he doubled over on the floor, I pulled the gun away from him and shot him’
‘And then . . .’
‘I heard shouts and running. The others were coming to see what had happened. I aimed the gun at the door. As soon as it opened, I pulled the trigger’
‘And how many men were there?’
‘Two. I shot them both.’
‘What about the leader?’ the interrogator asked. ‘The one who escaped. Can you describe him?’
‘Bald. Dark eyes. He shouted,’ Elektra sobbed. ‘He shouted all the time . .
Touched, Bond froze the screen and lightly ran his fingers over Elektra’s still face, attempting to will the tears away. Such a beautiful girl ... it was a horrible . . .
Then a thought occurred to Bond. He flipped back to the Polaroid with the ransom figure. $5,000,000.
He reached into his pocket and removed his wallet. He took out the statement that the cigar girl had given to him in Bilbao. In all of the confusion after the explosion, Bond had completely forgotten about it. There it was, that strange number - $3,030,003.03. Something bristled at the back of his neck.
Bond tapped some keys, and the words EXCHANGE RATE - POUNDS TO DOLLARS appeared on the screen. He entered ‘3,030.003.03 POUNDS STERLING’ and hit RETURN.
The result was ‘5,000,000 US DOLLARS'. He stared at it a moment, contemplating what this might mean. He typed some more, and an MI6 screen appeared that read - ‘ELEKTRA KING. FILE 7634733’. He pressed RETURN and the monitor filled with the words ‘ACCESS DENIED'.
Bond frowned. He repeated the entire action and got the same result.
He sat back in the chair, perplexed. He fingered the Statement in his hands and came to the only conclusion that was possible.
Bond paced the floor outside the Briefing Room, debating with hiimself if he should do what he felt he must. She must know the complete story. Would she agree to share it with him?
Throwing caution to the wind, he rushed past Moneypenny without saying a word, opened the door and found M huddled with Tanner, Robinson and two other government officials.
She looked up. ‘Yes, Double-0 Seven?’
‘Tell me more about the kidnapping of Elektra King,’ he said.
M straightened, trying not to appear defensive. ‘I wasn’t aware you had an assignment on this case
‘I brought the money in that killed King.’
‘Don’t make this personal.’
‘I’m not. Are you?’ He paused a moment, then added, ‘You’re the only one who could seal her file. MI5 is handling the case? I think not.’
She hesitated a moment, then turned to Tanner and the others. ‘Would you excuse us?’
After they had left, she stared Bond down. ‘I will not tolerate insubordination, Double-0 Seven’
He shrugged, acknowledging that he had stepped over the line. He took a softer line, asking, ‘What happened?’
M looked away, obviously troubled. Then, she came out with it. ‘When Elektra King was kidnapped, her father tried to deal with it on his own. With no success’
Bond waited.
‘So he came to me,’ she said. ‘As you are aware, we do not negotiate with terrorists. And against every instinct in my heart - every emotion I have as a mother - I told him not to pay the ransom. I thought we had time on our side’
‘You used the girl as bait’
‘Yes’
‘You thought you could smoke out the kidnappers’
‘Once we learned who was behind it, yes’
Bond let the penny drop, and then said, ‘The amount of money in King’s case was the same as the ransom demand for his daughter.’ He handed her the statement and watched as she studied it. ‘It was a set up. Giving the money back. The sniper in Spain made sure I got out of that office alive because he wanted MI6 to deliver a bomb to King. It’s a message to MI6, M. Your terrorist is back’
She looked up at him, concern deep in her eyes. ‘Then we know who killed Double-0 Twelve . . . and Robert King.’
It was nearly midnight by the time they had re-assembled in the Briefing Room. Tanner and Robinson had rushed to put together the necessary audio/visual aids so that M could shift directions on the case.
The wall screen filled with the face of a slight, thin and wiry man. He was bald and had dark, cold eyes.
‘Victor Zokas,’ M said, ‘aka . . ’
‘Renard the Fox,’ Bond said. ‘The anarchist.’
Tanner picked up the briefing. ‘He was operating in Moscow in 1996, Pyongyang, North Korea before that, and he’s been spotted in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq, Iran, Beirut and Cambodia.’
‘All the romantic vacation spots,’ Bond noted.
‘His only goal is chaos,’ the Chief of Staff continued. ‘Works as a freelancer. Has ties with the Russian Mafia.’ ‘He was the mastermind behind Elektra King’s kidnapping. After Sir Robert came to me,' M said, ‘I sent Double-0 Nine to kill Renard. Before he completed the mission, Elektra had escaped. A week later, our man caught up with the target in Syria. Put a bullet in his head.’ She paused for effect. ‘Apparently. the bullet is still there’
‘How did he survive?’ Bond asked.
Tanner punched a button on the control panel and a huge, transparent, holographic 3-D image of Renard’s skull appeared, floating in the centre of the room.
‘We thought he was dead,’ Tanner said. ‘We had closed the file on Renard and had mistakenly ignored two reports claiming that he had been seen in Afghanistan and Azerbaijan. Just an hour ago we received confirmation from our station in Turkey that Renard is indeed alive’
M nodded to Doctor Molly Warmflash who was standing nearby. She stepped out of the shadows to explain. ‘The Syrian doctor who saved Renard couldn’t get the bullet out, so Renard killed him’
Doctor Warmflash took over the controls and rotated the hologram. The bullet could be seen in the X-ray, just inside the right temple.
‘We got hold of the doctor’s X-rays of Renard’s skull. The bullet is moving through the medulla oblongata, killing off his senses. Touch, smell — I would imagine that he feels no pain. I would bet that many of his facial muscles are paralysed with Bell’s Palsy. But he can also probably push himself harder, longer than any normal man. The bullet will eventually kill him - but he’ll get stronger every day, until the moment he dies.’
M took over. ‘Robert is dead. MI6 is humiliated. Surely he has his revenge.’
‘Not quite,’ Bond said. ‘Renard had three enemies in that kidnapping. Sir Robert King, MI6 . . . and the one he hasn’t touched. Elektra. ’
M flinched at Bond’s frightening, but obviously correct, assumption. There’s another aspect to all this that I’m just beginning to realise,’ she said.
‘What is that?’
‘As heir to her father’s vast global oil empire - Elektra King is arguably the most powerful woman in the world.’
M let the enormity of that remark sink in as Miss Moneypenny handed her a file. M glanced at it, and then at Bond.
‘I see the good doctor lias cleared you,’ she said. ‘Notes you have “exceptional stamina”.’
Moneypenny threw a look to Doctor Warmflash’s skirt and saw that her slip was showing, slightly askew.
‘I’m sure she was moved by his dedication,’ Moneypenny said, brightly. To the job at hand.’
Doctor Warmflash picked up Moneypenny’s gaze and quickly adjusted her skirt. Bond noted this and looked away.
Thank you, Miss Moncypenny, doctor,’ M said.
After the two ladies left the room, Bond asked, ‘Where is Double-0 Nine? I’d like a word with him’
‘He’s in the Far East, on assignment. I assure you that anything he could tell you is in Renard’s file. If only his aim had been a little better’