Albatross (26 page)

‘And I've got to get there,' she said out loud. ‘We've both got to get out of here without being followed. I can't think of a way … I can't think of anything more for the moment. Colin?' She heard the sound of him in the outer hall. The door opened.

‘Good evening, Davina.'

She got up and saw that there were two men behind Sir James White. John Kidson, and Humphrey Grant. And Lomax in the background.

‘We were passing,' the Chief said amiably, ‘and we thought we'd drop in. I do hope it isn't inconvenient?'

‘Who the hell are you?' Harrington demanded. He had suffered a terrible fright when Walden caught up with him in the hotel lobby and took him by the arm. His smile hadn't reassured Harrington, nor had the murmured assurance that he was a friend and coming up to the suite with him. For a moment Harrington stood rooted, undecided whether to pull free and run for it, not knowing whether the man was a friend or SIS.

‘You're wearing my hat and coat,' Walden said. ‘The lift's over there.'

When they were in the suite, Harrington mastered himself enough to ask the question. ‘Who the hell are
you
?'

‘I'm a friend of Davina's,' Walden said pleasantly. ‘Take the things off and make yourself at home. Want something to drink? I could do with a vodka myself.'

After a moment Harrington said sulkily, ‘Scotch and soda.' He wandered over to the window and looked out on the splendid view of the park. ‘Well,' he said, ‘this is better than that little dump in Marylebone.'

‘Glad you like it.' Walden handed him his drink. ‘Have you had anything to eat?'

Harrington shook his head. ‘No. I could do with something. Christ, what a performance! I'm bloody shaking like a leaf –' He sat down, watching Walden go to the house phone and ask for room service.

‘Any preference?' he inquired. ‘Will you leave it to me?'

‘Steak,' Harrington muttered. ‘I haven't had a steak in years.… Do you have any cigarettes?'

Walden pointed to a big ivory box on the coffee table. ‘In there. Help yourself.' There were mentholated, filter-tipped and Balkan Sobranie, along with some Ritz book matches printed with the suite number. Harrington took out the black cigarette in its distinctive gold holder.

‘Haven't seen one of these for a long time either,' he remarked. ‘I used to smoke them. Whoever stays here does themselves bloody well. Is it you?'

‘I come here now and again,' Walden admitted. ‘Go into the bedroom, will you, when the floor waiter comes?'

Harrington grinned nastily. ‘He won't be surprised at dinner for two, eh? Sobranies are popular with the gays, aren't they? Who do you bring up here – women, or are you one of “those”?'

‘You needn't worry,' Walden said smoothly. ‘Whichever I fancy, it certainly isn't you. So into the bedroom, please.'

He didn't raise his voice but Harrington quickly did as he was told. He came out when Walden called him. A beautifully laid table had been set for them, and the smell of food turned his stomach into a knot with greed. They didn't talk; Harrington gobbled the food and gulped down the wine. He saw Walden look at his watch. Davina and Lomax should have come by now. But they had to dodge the watchers outside.… Walden didn't break the silence; he let Harrington finish the last scrap of dessert and start on the cheese. They were very late. It was dark outside. Perhaps that was what they needed. He could stay the night with Harrington if need be.…

‘You're edgy,' Peter Harrington remarked. He looked bloated and his eyes had a slight glaze over them from the amount of wine he'd drunk. There was a mean little smile on his mouth. ‘Anything gone wrong with our lovely friends? He's a right thug, isn't he? But she likes that type, I suppose.… I fancied her a bit once, but she didn't tip me a wink. Not rough and tough enough for her.' He laughed unpleasantly.

‘If you say another word like that,' Walden said quietly, ‘I'll knock your teeth in. I am not a violent man, so don't make me do it. Back into the bedroom while I get this cleared away!'

Harrington lurched as he stood up. At the bedroom door he paused. ‘Oh, pardon me,' he sneered. ‘You're boyfriend number two. How was I to know?' He shut the door.

When the table was cleared and the floor waiter had gone, Walden went to the bedroom. Harrington was stretched out on the double bed asleep. Tony Walden looked at his watch again. Eleven thirty. In God's name, where were they?

‘You know we can't hold them,' James White said. ‘We haven't a scrap of evidence!'

Kidson was pacing up and down the office. ‘There was the spare bed,' he insisted. ‘It had been used. We know they've got him hidden away somewhere!'

‘Why don't you calm down,' Humphrey said icily. ‘Harrington wasn't there and there's no proof he ever was. Lomax said he slept in the spare bedroom. Who's to say he didn't? I think we should let them go, Chief, before we make damned fools of ourselves.'

James White gave a slight yawn, as if he were more bored than weary. ‘I agree with you,' he said. ‘We did look rather foolish, didn't we, when we searched the flat? I think you jumped to a conclusion, John. It's put me in a difficult position.'

Kidson stopped walking up and down. He swung round on James White. ‘You and Humphrey thought the same,' he insisted. ‘And you still do. What's awkward is that she's outwitted us. Put a tail on them. That'll lead us to Peter Harrington, I stake my life on it!'

‘Humphrey,' the Chief said. ‘Go down and offer to send Davina and Colin home in one of our cars. That's the least we can do. And try and make peace, there's a good chap. I'm going home to bed. John, would you be kind enough to drop me off?'

‘You know what you can do with your car?' Lomax said.

Humphrey's gaunt face didn't register anything but a chilly politeness. He said to Davina, ‘The Chief sends his apologies. It was all a very unfortunate mistake. He'll find a way to make it up to you. Do let us run you home.'

‘No, thanks,' Davina answered. ‘We'll pick up a taxi. And tell Sir James from me not to apologize. Let's go, Colin.' She pushed past Humphrey and walked out.

In the little cul-de-sac they paused, and both glanced back at the house; the lights were going out.

‘No tail so far,' Colin muttered. ‘This is our chance. We separate. You make for the Ritz. I'll join you later.' He didn't wait for her to answer. He sped down the narrow passageway and emerged briefly into the light of a street lamp in Birdcage Walk.

Davina slipped out after him and turned quickly to the left. She walked briskly for about twenty-five yards and then flattened herself against the railings of the Guards Barracks. Nobody came out of the mouth of the cul-de-sac. She didn't hurry; she made her way to the top of Birdcage Walk and headed for Victoria Station. There she joined a small queue for late taxis and picked one up in a few minutes. It was close to midnight when the night porter admitted her to the Ritz and phoned up to Suite A. A very relieved Tony Walden came down in the lift to meet her.

The watchers outside the Marylebone flat had gone. There was nothing for them to do after they went in and picked the lock of the flat. The two they were surveilling had left with three other men; the lights were out and there was nobody to see them break in. The search only took a few minutes. The van drove away and later that night the telex went out from the Soviet embassy in Kensington Palace Gardens that Harrington was not in the custody of the suspected British agents. Further instructions were requested, and the team went to their quarters in the embassy and slept for the rest of the night.

Colin Lomax didn't go to Marylebone. He doubled back through the park and slipped up the Mall towards Trafalgar Square. From there he dived down the tube. He got out at Euston and slipped into a phone booth. It had been vandalized. He had to go in to the station itself before he could find a telephone in working order. He dialled and the number rang for some time before a sleepy voice answered.

‘Fraser, it's me, Lomax. Can you give me a bed for the night? Thanks very much. I'll explain when I see you.'

He walked the short distance to Temple Road, and disappeared inside the house where his ex-colleague lived with his wife and children. He didn't give much of an explanation; he had to stay clear of home for a few days. Fraser accepted what was said, offered a glass of beer, and within twenty minutes all the lights were out and his sleepy wife couldn't be bothered to hear what had happened till the morning. Her husband ran the kind of business where people turned up in the middle of the night and the phone was never switched off.

Albatross couldn't sleep. He had pretended to be tired to avoid being asked questions. Harrington was not in Russia. He wasn't safe at all. He couldn't reach his KGB contact till the morning. Why hadn't they let him know? For years now he had sunned himself in other men's trust of him, forgetting that one day it might turn to suspicion. Why hadn't Borisov warned him that the danger hadn't been removed? Was he abandoned, then? The thought filled him with such panic that he slipped out of bed and crept away to the bathroom where he locked the door. His reflection gazed back at him, hollow-eyed, cold with cunning and fear. He wasn't going to be caught. He wasn't going to run if he could help it. If his own people were hanging back he would act to protect himself.

‘I don't think you should stay here alone,' Tony Walden said. ‘He's a nasty piece of work.'

‘What's he been saying?' Davina asked him.

Walden shrugged. ‘Nothing specific, but he was drunk when he went to bed and I think he might be difficult if he knew you were alone here.'

She shook her head. ‘I know him, don't worry. He's got a filthy tongue, but that's as far as it goes. He won't try anything.' She spoke her thoughts aloud. ‘I've got to get information out of him!'

‘What information?' Walden asked her.

She was haggard with exhaustion. She looked up at him. He'd saved the situation for them that night. Without him, James White would have scooped them up, and her last hope of finding Albatross would have gone. Damn Colin for his stupid jealousy. He'd have to give Tony Walden credit for his coolness and initiative, however much he resented him.…

‘I can't tell you,' she said. ‘I'm sorry, Tony, don't for God's sake think I wouldn't like to, but it's better not. Not yet, anyway. You've been such a help – I can't thank you enough –'

‘I was there at the right moment in the right place,' he said. ‘That's luck, my darling, nothing to do with me.'

She couldn't let the word go unchallenged. Lomax's accusation lingered. ‘Don't call me darling,' she said.

‘All right, if you don't like it. I don't say it to everyone.'

‘I know,' she answered. ‘That's why I don't want you saying it to me. I've told you, I'm committed already.'

He took a Balkan Sobranie out of the box and offered it to her. ‘Try one of these. They're strong but not harsh.'

She lit it and after a moment said, ‘I like it. I don't think I've ever tried one before –'

‘Your friend Harrington was very scornful about them,' Walden said. ‘He said gays smoked these.'

‘Typical bitchery,' she said wearily. ‘He used to smoke them himself. Take no notice.'

‘I didn't. You're not committed to Lomax for life, you know.'

‘I didn't say I was,' she countered. ‘You're the one who's married, Tony.'

He smiled. ‘Would that stop you – if there was no major?'

‘Yes, I think it would. Look, it's two thirty. I've got to get some sleep. I'm going to go hell for leather at Harrington tomorrow. We just don't have much time left. I wonder where Colin went?' She answered her own question. ‘I expect he's gone to ground somewhere for the night. He'll contact me in the morning.' She yawned and stood up. ‘Tony, good night. I'm going to curl up on the sofa here; let him have the bed tonight. And thank you. Thank you for everything.'

He didn't come near her; she was glad because she knew she would have let him hold her. ‘I'll call tomorrow,' he said. ‘I've arranged with the manager. You're to have anything you want. Good night.'

She kicked off her shoes and settled into the big sofa. She had drifted into sleep within a few minutes. She dreamed fitfully and anxiously of being caught in twisting passageways without an exit, of driving a car and finding there were no brakes, and of seeing herself naked in Walden's arms.

She woke soon after 6 a.m. Harrington was still asleep in his clothes when she opened the bedroom door. ‘Wake up!' she said loudly. ‘Breakfast is ready, and we've got a lot of work to do.'

He sat up, rubbing his eyes, muttered, ‘Christ … what's the time?' and focused on her. He remembered where he was, he remembered going into the room and stretching out on the bed and nothing until then. ‘You don't have to stand there like a bloody wardress,' he said. ‘I'm going to have a bath first. Where's the boyfriend?'

‘Colin will be round soon,' Davina answered. He had not yet telephoned but it was early.

Harrington grinned. There was a rim of dried spittle round his mouth. ‘I didn't mean him. I meant your rich Jewish friend. See you in a minute, Davy.'

She heard him laughing before he turned on the bath taps and the water blotted out the sound.

‘Darling,' Charlie said, ‘I meant to tell you – Mummy phoned and asked if we'd like to go down to Marchwood for the weekend. I thought it would be nice to get away.' She didn't mention the evening before. She'd been asleep when he came in. He looked very tired that morning.

Charlie was glad she had accepted the invitation to go down to Marchwood with the baby. She felt that a change would relieve the tension and give John a chance to relax. He seemed miles away as they sat over breakfast; she had to repeat the remark about the weekend and he said guiltily, ‘Sorry, sweetheart, I wasn't thinking. Yes, why don't we go? I'd like to get out of London. I love Marchwood too. And you.' He pulled her close to him and kissed her. God, did he love her. He had so much to fight for now.