‘How about with mine?’
It felt like the stakes had suddenly been raised dramatically.
It was clear to me that, whatever the Maryland Medical Examiner might say, Tony believed that the death of Jason Connor and the investigation into the agency leak were connected. And I didn’t like coincidences either.
‘Why didn’t you tell me all this in London?’ I asked.
Tony looked uncomfortable. ‘I don’t know. Maybe I was afraid you wouldn’t come.’
He clearly didn’t know me very well.
‘OK,’ I said, clapping my hands together. ‘In the light of all that, we need to beef up our security. First, you shouldn’t be here now, it is a risk we ought not be taking.’
‘I told no one I was coming here, not even Harriet.’
‘No matter,’ I said. ‘You are Deputy Director of an agency that employs over two thousand people. Your offices are up the road from here. Even on a Saturday, one of those employees might have seen you arrive as they walked their dog. Then they might mention it to a colleague, just in passing, and so on. You never know who is watching or listening.’
Tony nodded.
‘Also,’ I said, ‘it was a mistake to give your name when you made the hotel reservation. The front desk staff told me it was made by a Mr Andretti.’
‘I had to use a credit card to confirm.’
‘Your private card?’
‘The agency’s.’
‘Who has access to the statements?’
‘I have to sign them off for the finance team.’
‘Won’t someone question a charge for a hotel so close to the offices?’
‘I’ll say we were entertaining a guest,’ Tony said.
‘And the next question would be who and why. What are you going to do? Lie? Lies get you into trouble if only because someone in the finance team will think you’re having an affair — getting a little bit more than only a ham sandwich during your lunch break. I will pay for the hotel with my own credit card. You can reimburse me at a later stage.’
Tony nodded. ‘I’ll give you my cell number.’ He reached for the notepad and pen next to the hotel phone.
‘No,’ I said. ‘Not secure enough. I will buy two pay-as-you-go phones. One will be delivered by courier to your office marked for your attention only. We will only use those to talk to each other. You must not use that phone for any other reason.’
Tony looked rather sceptical that such a thing was needed.
‘Tony,’ I said firmly, ‘this is important. We must take no unnecessary risks. Get the personnel files and have them delivered to me here, preferably by tomorrow. Pay cash for the delivery and arrange it yourself well away from Arlington. And don’t use the agency address on the paperwork.’
‘OK,’ he said. ‘I’ll get on it.’
‘Now, who do I report to and what have they been told?’
‘Norman Gibson is expecting you on Monday morning. He’s been told you are from England and are part of the international observer scheme.’
‘Does he know I work for the British Horseracing Authority?’
‘All he’s been told is that you are from England and you are to be shown the workings of our horseracing section.’
‘I think that I’ll say I am from the BHA. It’s too dangerous otherwise. Am I supposed to be sponsored by the British Government?’
‘Yes,’ Tony said, ‘through the Embassy. That’s how exchanges have been organised in the past.’
‘Let’s hope your mole doesn’t have a friend who works at the British Embassy.’
‘Do you think he will check?’
‘I would if I were him,’ I said. ‘I’d be hugely suspicious of anyone turning up unexpectedly. I expect him to verify my story down to the very last detail. That’s why it is essential he can find me at the BHA.’
I was reminded of the advice I’d been given in the army by an MI6 operative — a spook. ‘Lie only when it is absolutely necessary,’ he had said. ‘Make your cover story as true as it can be. Otherwise it will be the little things that catch you out while you are concentrating only on the big ones.’
‘I’ll get on to Paul Maldini in London to warn him,’ I said.
‘What about the Embassy?’
‘If Norman Gibson has already been told that it has been arranged through the Embassy then we’ll have to take the chance. Changing things now will draw more attention.’
‘Norman may not have told anyone else,’ Tony said.
‘No matter. Leave it.’
I did not want anyone else knowing the truth.
My life might depend upon it.
4
On Sunday morning I walked down the street to the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, a vast shopping mall over four floors with everything from major international department stores to a shop dedicated only to the finer art of men’s shaving.
I was searching for a mobile-phone store. There were two and, in one of them, I found what I was looking for.
‘This one won’t go on the Internet.’ The young sales assistant was doing his best to direct me towards one of his more expensive models.
‘I know,’ I replied patiently. ‘It’s for my mother and she doesn’t really understand technology.’ In fact, my mother had died when mobile phones were still the size of a brick, but the young man wasn’t to know that. ‘This is the model I have been recommended by her care home. I’ll take two of them.’
‘Two?’ He shook his head. ‘I don’t know if we have two. No one ever wants phones like this any more.’
He went off into the back still shaking his head but triumphantly returned holding two boxes from which he blew off the dust.
‘You’re lucky,’ he said. ‘These are the last ones. The company is discontinuing this item when they’ve all gone.’
‘It will still work though, won’t it?’ I asked with mild concern.
‘Sure,’ he said. ‘It’ll work fine for calls and texts, but it is not 4G. It’s not even 3G and doesn’t have Bluetooth, GPS or even a camera. Are you sure you still want it? The iPhone 6 does far more. That’s like a full-blown computer in your pocket and very good value. We have it on special offer.’
His enthusiasm was almost infectious.
‘These are just perfect,’ I said, touching the two boxes in front of me on the counter. Perfect, I thought, if you wanted phones that weren’t ‘smart’. Smartphones might be great for accessing the Internet and for using the thousands of apps available for download, but they could also be tracked and hacked.
‘Right,’ said the young man, slightly deflated. ‘Do you want them on a contract?’
‘No. Pay-as-you-go.’
‘It is cheaper on a contract,’ he said, ‘in the long run.’
‘But I’m not sure my mother has a long run,’ I said, smiling at him. ‘Pay-as-you-go will be fine.’
‘For both?’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘For both. My mother has a habit of mislaying things so I’m buying her two.’
He clearly thought I was mad but he inserted SIM cards into the phones before topping them up with a hundred dollars each of credit. More than enough, I thought, for calls and texts between Tony and myself over the next few weeks.
I paid for it all with cash and gave a made-up name and address to the young man for the guarantee — just to be on the safe side.
Next I went into a computer store and bought a desktop colour printer, spare ink cartridges, a USB connecting lead and some paper.
Finally, I went to the FedEx Office Print-and-Ship store on Crystal Drive, conveniently open on a Sunday, and arranged for one of the phones to be delivered early the following morning to Tony Andretti at FACSA.
‘Any message?’ asked the young woman behind the counter.