Hot Blood (51 page)

She looked at him, surprised. ‘Thank you for what?’ she asked.

‘For everything,’ he said. He had a sudden urge to hug her, but instead he smiled and left the house. He walked over to the Major’s black Range Rover – Armstrong was standing by the front passenger door, finishing a cigarette. He flicked away the butt and climbed into the front. The rear door opened and Shepherd got into the back next to O’Brien and Shortt.

The Major twisted around in the driving seat. ‘Everything okay?’ he asked.

‘Fine,’ said Shepherd. ‘Anyone else going?’

‘John Muller’s over with some of his people.’ He grinned. ‘I gather Carol Bosch has come too.’

O’Brien nudged Shepherd in the ribs.

‘A fair few lads from the Regiment have promised to be there, so we should have a good turnout,’ said the Major. He put the car in gear and pulled away from the kerb.

‘Yokely’s not going, then?’ said O’Brien.

‘He’s not big on funerals,’ said the Major.

‘Neither am I,’ said Shepherd.

It was a fifteen-minute drive to St Martin’s, the grey stone church where the SAS honoured its dead. As Shepherd climbed out of the Range Rover he saw a woman in a long black coat standing at the gate to the churchyard. It was Charlotte Button.

‘She’s not after giving you another bollocking, I hope,’ muttered the Major.

‘She’s dressed for a funeral,’ said Shepherd.

‘Yeah, well, I hope it’s not yours,’ said the Major.

Shepherd walked over to her. ‘I didn’t expect to see you here,’ he said.

‘He was a friend of yours so I thought I’d pay my respects,’ she said. She was holding a small black leather Prada bag.

‘Thank you,’ said Shepherd.

‘And I needed a chat,’ she said. ‘Did you hear the news?’

‘Razor phoned me. What’s the story?’

‘It’s a bloody mess. The local cops went in without talking to the Anti-Terrorist Branch. They’d received a tip-off from a well-meaning mullah in one of the local mosques. He’d overheard Asim and Salman talking about anthrax. They went in with armed support and someone grabbed a gun. Details are still a bit sketchy as to who fired first but three of the Asians died and another’s only just hanging on.’

‘What about the informant?’

‘You were right. It was Ali. He’s the one in intensive care. The brothers died, and so did Asim. Fazal was in the bathroom when the cops went in and threw himself into the bath. He’s okay and singing like the proverbial canary. But it looks as if they were enthusiastic amateurs rather than an al-Qaeda cell.’

‘And no anthrax?’

Button shook her head. ‘But there were downloads from the Internet about chemical and biological warfare and homemade explosives.’

‘Any schoolkid has access to that sort of information, these days,’ said Shepherd.

‘It shows intent,’ said Button.

‘They were shot because they had guns, and they had guns because we sold them guns.’

‘Well, like I said, it’s a bloody mess.’

‘Any of that mess heading our way?’ asked Shepherd.

‘It’ll stop at my desk, whatever happens,’ said Button. ‘I don’t think there’s anything we have to worry about, though. It was an SO13 operation, through and through.’ She sighed. ‘Anyway, I’ve got some good news for you.’

‘That’ll make a nice change,’ said Shepherd. She flashed him an icy look, and he grinned. ‘Sorry.’

She wagged a gloved finger at him. ‘I’ve a good mind to cancel your promotion, except that it’s out of my hands.’

‘Promotion?’

‘Detective sergeant, as of today. Nothing to do with me. Sam Hargrove put it through before he left. You were due, I gather. Congratulations.’

‘Thanks,’ said Shepherd.

‘Yeah, well, like I said, it’s nothing do with what’s happened over the past week. If you ever lie to me again, Spider, we’re through. You, more than anyone, know how important it is that we trust each other.’

‘It won’t happen again,’ said Shepherd.

‘It had better not,’ she said. She straightened her shoulders. ‘Right. I suppose I’d better go and say hello to the galloping Major. I just hope he doesn’t give me one of his famous bone-crushing handshakes. You men do like to prove yourselves, don’t you?’

‘It’s the hormones,’ said Shepherd.

Button smiled. ‘Isn’t it just,’ she said, and went to the black Range Rover, her high heels clicking on the pavement.

At about the same time as Shepherd and his colleagues were standing in the pews in St Martin’s Church in Hereford, a Gulfstream jet with an American registration was landing at a military airfield in the north of Ukraine, some eight miles from the nearest population centre.

It was a cold day and flecks of snow were falling when the door opened. A single Russian Jeep, with two soldiers wrapped up in thick green overcoats, was waiting to meet it.

Only two people got off the plane. One was an Arab, blindfolded, shackled and wearing an orange jumpsuit. He moved unsteadily, as if he’d been drugged or badly beaten. His right arm was in a sling. The other man was wearing a brown leather bomber jacket and brown loafers with tassels.