Catwalk Criminal (16 page)

“We should still check the transportation angle. It's the only thing that makes any sense – a delivery that coincides with a hack. I didn't notice anything in the filing cabinets about how the clothes were shipped.” Zak sat down at the desk again, staring at the security box that had flashed up on the computer. “You're Ossa's muse. Can you think of the password he'd use?”

“Try Sunflower. It was the name of his first couture collection.”

Zak tapped the word in and pressed return. He made the sound of a game-show buzzer. “Next.”

“Shogun. It's the name of his pet cocker spaniel.”

“Seriously?”

“Trust me. I'm not kidding. He's nuts about that dog.”

He tried again and shook his head.

She racked her brain. “Belinda. It's his late mum's name. They were really close.”

The computer remained locked. “Wrong again.” Zak pushed himself back in the chair. “Think, Jessica.”

Suddenly, a timer appeared on the screen.

Ten, nine, eight…

“Whooaaa. That isn't good.”

“We must have activated an alarm by getting the passwords wrong,” she said quickly. “It could destroy everything on the computer's hard drive. Close it down.”

Zak tried, but the computer wouldn't turn off.

They watched helplessly as the numbers counted down. Five, four, three, two, one.

Nothing happened.

“Maybe it's still OK?” Zak said.

Suddenly, a massive explosion racked the warehouse, followed by another and another and another.

Zak flung open the door and they stumbled out into the dressmaking section. They watched in horror as a chain reaction of small explosions grew closer and closer, throwing out balls of fire across the warehouse. Within seconds, a wall of flames, fanned by rolls of fabric, had blocked their escape route. Heat smothered Jessica's face, making her lungs constrict and eyes sting. Why hadn't she figured out that it was dangerous to mess with the computer? LibertyCrossing had booby-trapped the warehouse to blow if someone attempted to gain unauthorized access online.

“This way.” Zak ran back towards the emergency exit door, next to the office. He rattled the handle but it remained shut.

“It's jammed on the outside,” he breathed. “But I can take out the hinges.” He fumbled with his laser pen.

“No!” She dragged him back.

“What?”

“Down there!” She pointed her torch at a small air vent next to the door. It was ill-fitting and a wire poked out. It could be the site of another hidden explosive, ready to detonate if the door opened. The only way to go was forward, into the furnace. They fell to their knees in between the sewing benches; there was more oxygen closest to the floor. Frantically, they looked about for another exit with their torches, but couldn't find one. Jessica gazed at the nearest wall.

“We'll have to blast our way out,” she said, coughing. “I've got a device on my bracelet, which should blow a big enough hole.”

“It's too risky,” Zak spluttered. “It could fan the flames even more.”

“We don't have a choice.” Crawling along the floor, Jessica could barely see through the smoke. She checked the wall and couldn't find any booby traps. Pulling a hedgehog charm from her bracelet, she stabbed the pin into the plaster. Quickly, she wriggled back to Zak. Had she done the right thing? This would be a far more powerful explosive than the ones LibertyCrossing had used to rig the building.
Those
had been directed inwards to destroy evidence inside the warehouse.

Ten, nine, eight, seven...

She counted down in her head.

BANG!

The blast hurled them both backwards. Jessica felt a rush of cold air as she staggered to her feet. Grabbing Zak's hand, she blindly lunged towards the wall. The smoke was too dense to see anything, but the hole
had
to be big enough to squeeze out. Flames crackled dangerously close as they made it to the jagged gap. Clambering through, they fell, panting, on to the cold, wet ground.

“We need to keep moving,” Zak urged. “Come on.” He pulled her up. They ducked down and ran, but a terrific explosion threw them to the ground again. The roof collapsed into the blazing warehouse, sending orange sparks flying. More explosions boomed and fire spurted through the windows, smashing the glass.

They scrambled up and sprinted, not stopping until they reached the neighbouring warehouse. Slumping down, they watched black smoke and flames billowing from the building. Neither needed to say it – if they'd been stuck inside a few seconds longer, they'd both have been killed.

“You were amazing back there,” Zak panted. “I don't think I've ever met anyone like you.” He hesitated. “There's something I need to tell you, Jessica.”

“Not now,” she said quickly. “Call it in.”

 

Things moved fast over the next few hours. Henry Murray was picked up from Becky's house and taken into protective custody, where he received medical treatment; an arrest warrant was issued for Ossa Cosway and his London offices were raided. The agents debriefing Jessica at the American Embassy in London's Grosvenor Square popped in and out of the sparsely decorated room, as their phones vibrated frequently. The constant interruptions were a relief. Whenever Hal, the taller agent, spoke, she got a whiff of old, stale cigarettes that he'd failed to mask beneath his overpowering aftershave. Was Zak holding up any better? She hadn't seen him since they'd arrived. He was being grilled in a room further down the hall. What was he saying about tonight?

She sipped a lukewarm cup of sweet, milky coffee as Hal and Robert scuttled off again. They were desperately trying to build their case against Ossa. It didn't seem to be going well, judging from what she'd managed to glean from eavesdropping on the agents' conversations outside the door. They hadn't managed to locate Ossa yet; he wasn't at his exclusive Knightsbridge flat. The raid on his offices was proving problematic too. Something was up with the computers.

Jessica darted back to her chair as a third, louder voice rang out. It sounded like her interrogators were getting a dose of their own medicine from someone more senior. The door banged open again. She stared hard into her drink, willing them all to go away. Surely that was it? She couldn't think of anything else to say. Apart from
leave me alone and let me go home
.

“Jessica!”

She glanced up, shocked. Rising to her feet, she clutched the blanket tighter around her shoulders. “Nathan!”

This was bad, really bad. She was in for
the
tongue-lashing of her life or even worse. Had he come to arrest her for alleged involvement in Margaret's prison breakout?

Nathan crossed the room in a few paces with a determined look on his face. Holy smoke. Was he actually going to hit her? To her surprise, he enveloped her in a tight hug.

“Are you hurt?”

“I'm OK.” She stared up at his lined, worried face. “What are you doing here?”

“Rodarte called. They finally came clean and explained what's been happening today.”

Jessica gulped. “Er, they told you everything?”

Nathan's grey eyes narrowed. “You mean how you and Zak were almost killed in Ossa Cosway's booby-trapped warehouse? And how hours earlier, you both secretly confronted Margaret in prison – a profoundly reckless action that may have inadvertently resulted in her escaping? Yes, Rodarte filled me in. They had to after we traced a CCTV hack at the prison back to their London unit. Unfortunately for Rodarte, it didn't have time to fully cover its tracks before The Collective uploaded a virus, disabling all the locks.”

What a disaster. The whole mission had been doomed. The Collective had deliberately left Rodarte exposed.

“I'm sorry, Nathan. I'd never have gone to the prison if I'd known there was a chance it could lead to Margaret's escape. I wanted to prove she was linked to The Collective.”

“I don't blame
you
. I blame myself for not listening to you earlier about Margaret and I blame Rodarte for green-lighting such a foolhardy mission. Our American colleagues are still trying to figure out how The Collective used you and Zak to perform the hacks today. But what bothers me most is their total disregard for your and Zak's safety. What do you think would have happened if you'd both been trapped inside that prison with inmates on the loose?”

Jessica shook her head. She couldn't think about that now. There were more important things to worry about. “Have you found Margaret or Lee Caplin yet?”

“You're still officially suspended, remember?”

“You know I'm innocent, and whether you like it or not, I've been working the case with Zak.”

Nathan cracked the knuckles of his left hand. “I know, and that's partly my fault for not protecting you from Agent Hatfield.” He paused. “No doubt Zak will tell you later that the CIA's heading the hunt for Lee in the US and MI6 has sent agents to South America, where Margaret has extensive contacts. All our agents are secured now in case LibertyCrossing decides to finally follow through with his threat to publish everyone's names.”

Was that likely? Zak had said Rodarte didn't believe that releasing the agents' names was ever on LibertyCrossing's agenda. It was only about freeing Lee Caplin. Or perhaps it wasn't. She couldn't think straight. Her head pounded and her body was shaking with tiredness.

“You should get some rest, Jessica. I've already told Rodarte you're done here. They'll need to go through me if they want to talk to you again. I'll drop you home.”

“That would be great,” she said, rising to her feet. “And Zak?”

“He's still in debriefing. He could be a while.”

She followed Nathan out, steadying herself against the door frame. The agents had vanished and the men standing guard on the front door didn't attempt to stop them as they walked out. Every part of her body ached and a vein in her right temple throbbed as she walked slowly down the street. Despite feeling rotten, she had to know where she stood.

“Are you going to lift my suspension? You know I'm not working with The Collective. I was almost killed exposing their operation tonight.”

Nathan took a sharp intake of breath but didn't ease up his pace. “It's not as simple as that, unfortunately.” He guided her towards a black Mercedes, parked illegally on double yellow lines. “Sam's proved that your dad's home computer was hacked with a virus, which also attacked your school's IT system. It had similar coding to the virus that launched the assault on MI6 via your phone, which was also hacked.”

“Which proves my innocence,” she said, climbing into the passenger seat. “I had nothing to do with the hack on MI6, so what's the problem?”

“There's still the whole accessing Sargasso files business to deal with. That isn't going away. Your prison visit hasn't helped matters either – you arrive and suddenly Margaret escapes. Agent Hatfield has her claws into you, but even worse than that, she's coming after Westwood. She thinks the whole division needs to be closed down. She's using you as a scapegoat for a much bigger agenda.”

Jessica gaped at him as he started up the engine. “What?”

“She doesn't believe that teenagers should be trusted with state secrets. She's finding evidence to fit her theory that Westwood agents aren't up to the job; that the division isn't needed and shouldn't even exist.”

“Does she have the power to close us down?” The words caught in her throat.

“She's whispering in the ears of some very important people in government, people who have the power to pull the plug on our funding. If that money goes, so does Westwood. Mrs T has privately confirmed that MI6 can't afford to siphon off resources from other departments to keep us going.”

“We have to stop that from happening. Surely tonight has helped to prove that Westwood is needed? That I'm up to the job? I discovered Ossa Cosway's link to The Collective, something that MI6 hadn't established yet.”

Nathan tapped his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently. “Rodarte's already taken the credit for that. Zak said he suspected a link between Ossa Cosway's clothes and The Collective and saved your life in the warehouse.”

“No way!” She stared at him, aghast. Zak was seriously unbelievable. One minute he was telling her how amazing she was and the next, he was stitching her up in spectacular fashion. Hadn't Margaret warned her that Rodarte always swooped in at the last moment to claim the glory? She hated to think Margaret had been right. Quickly, she reeled off what had
really
happened.

“I did wonder about Zak's version of events…” Nathan's voice trailed off. “He's obviously trying to impress his bosses after the disaster at Margaret's prison. It worked. He's flavour of the month.”

Not with her. She'd kill him when she saw him next. “
We
need to start impressing people big time. We can't let Rodarte take the credit for everything.
We
need to find Ossa Cosway, Margaret Becker and Lee Caplin.”

She had to prove to Agent Hatfield – and everyone else, for that matter – that she was up to the job. If she secured a big success, it'd help Mrs T persuade the men in suits that MI6 needed their division.

“It's going to be tricky,” Nathan said. “You know that, don't you? Agent Hatfield's mind's already made up. Plus, we're already hitting a brick wall where Ossa's concerned. We've got Sam trawling through his HQ, but it doesn't look good. A virus has been downloaded, corrupting every single computer and iPad in the building. It's destroyed anything potentially incriminating. It could be a long, drawn-out process, piecing together Ossa's involvement in this unless he confesses to everything when he's finally arrested. We don't have any hard proof of his involvement in any of this, just a lot of circumstantial evidence.”

“When has it ever been easy? You have to take me back, Nathan. I can help, truly I can, particularly when it comes to Ossa. I know him better than anyone at Westwood or Rodarte. I'm supposed to have a fitting tomorrow ahead of London Fashion Week. I can keep my ear to the ground and find out whether his employees have heard from him or know anything. They're more likely to talk to me. They've seen me around a lot over the last few months.”

He hesitated. “I'm guessing the catwalk show will go ahead even without Ossa. We can't close down Ossa Cosway Ltd even after what happened tonight; it's far bigger than one man. It's become a billion-dollar worldwide industry, with what appears to be quite a complicated financial structure. It's going to take us some time to get to the bottom of what's been happening there.”