The Double Eagle (26 page)
Authors: James Twining
CENTRAAL STATION, AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
5:32
P.M.
T
he phone, moist where the molded plastic had been pressed against his skin, trilled hypnotically in Tom’s ear. On the other side of the street, a man was selling sweets, weighing them out into small paper bags for the children clamoring around his cart.
Ring-ring, ring-ring.
He shut his eyes as he waited, resting his head against the phone booth’s glass wall.
Ring-ring, ring-ring.
Unseen to him, the flow of people heading out of Centraal Station thickened briefly as a newly arrived train spewed out its passengers, than thinned out.
Ring-ring, ring-click.
Tom’s eyes snapped open. As ever, there was silence from the other end. Archie always waited for the person calling him to speak first. It was his own primitive call-screening system.
“Archie, it’s Fel—it’s Tom.”
“Tom, thank God it’s you. I’ve been trying to call since last night. Where the hell are you staying?”
Tom, sensing the panic in his voice, ignored the question.
“What’s happened?”
“He found me last night.”
“Who?”
“Cassius.”
Tom’s response was instantaneous.
“Bullshit. You don’t know that. No one’s ever seen him.” But his tone was also hopeful. He wanted Archie to be wrong. Needed him to be wrong.
“I didn’t say I saw him. But it was him all the same. He told me that we only had a day left. That if you didn’t deliver he’d find me. Then you.”
“Shit,” Tom hissed, his voice muffled by the handset. His eyes flicked absently over the woman gesticulating in the phone booth next to him, her high-pitched voice vibrating through the glass. She seemed to be upset about something.
“You still with that FBI bird?”
“Yeah.”
“What are you playing at?”
“I told you. They think I broke into Fort Knox. I’m trying to sort this mess out.”
“And took what exactly?”
“Some coins. Expensive coins.” Tom sighed heavily. “I think they’re being sold to someone in Istanbul but don’t know who to.”
“Istanbul? That’s easy.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s where Cassius is having his off-site tomorrow night. It’s what these eggs are for.”
“So he wants the coins and the eggs for the same gig,” Tom breathed.
“That’s why he’s set the deadline. I told you before, the rumor is that he had some deal go sour on him and he’s lost a lot of money. He’s scraping together what he can, even throwing in some of his own stuff and calling in a lot of old favors to make sure it goes well. If he hasn’t got enough lots he’ll have to call the whole bloody thing off. I don’t imagine that would do his credibility any good.”
“Where?”
“It’s very hush-hush. Strictly invitation only. All I know is that it’s tomorrow night in Istanbul.”
Tom closed his eyes. The woman in the adjacent booth was crying now, small tears springing from her eyes, dropping to the galvanized floor.
“So are you up for this job or not?” Archie asked, his tone more insistent now.
“I’m still thinking about it.”
“It’s not a definite no, then?” He sounded encouraged.
“It was. Now I’m not so sure.” Tom breathed in deeply and leaned back against the glass door. The woman in the adjacent cabin had left now, her place taken by a blind man who had set his white stick to one side and was feeling his way round the Braille characters set onto each of the keys.
Tom didn’t say anything for a few seconds. When he did, his voice was thoughtful, questioning, even.
“You know, when I got back to the hotel last night, after I met you, I overheard Jennifer on the phone to her boss.”
“What was she saying?”
“It was just the tail end of the conversation. But basically that he could count on her to do whatever it took to get a result. That she doesn’t care what happens to me after this.”
“You see.” Archie was triumphant. “I told you. You can’t trust these people.”
“I know, but it doesn’t make any sense.”
“It makes perfect sense because it’s who she is.”
“But I can’t just leave and do the job.”
“Why not?”
“All sorts of reasons. I’ve left my watch back at the hotel for a start.”
“It’s just a watch. I’ll buy you another one.”
“My mother left it to me.”
“Well, go back and get it then. You’ve got time.”
“What about my gear?” Tom was searching for excuses like a drowning man fighting to keep his head above the surface.
“Everything’s at the usual place. I sent it over last night.”
“How did you know I would need it?” Tom almost whispered, his mouth suddenly dry.
“Because I know you, Tom. And I know you’re one of the good guys. I knew that you wouldn’t just abandon me.”
Tom pressed the receiver against his head. What choice did he have? He could probably look after himself, but could he really just abandon Archie to Cassius’s attack dogs? And how long before they caught up with him, too?
“I’m sorry, mate,” Archie continued. “I would have liked to believe her offer was real. That you had a real shot to get out clean. But you heard what she said. We’re on our own. We always have been. We have to do what’s right for us.”
“Okay.” Tom’s voice was ice. “You win. I’ll get Cassius his egg. Then we bail.”
J. EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C
.
1:42
P.M.
B
ob Corbett leaned toward the speakerphone, his white shirt collar pulling at his smooth, tanned neck as he strained to catch Jennifer’s voice.
“Say that again.”
“I said he’s out.” Jennifer’s voice floated into the room like expensive perfume. “I told him I had to do some stuff and to amuse himself for a few hours. We’re sharing a room, so he understood.”
“Okay, Browne, thanks. We’ll see what we can come up with on that Istanbul lead at our end. Call in later tomorrow.” Corbett pressed the button on the speakerphone and the line went dead.
“Sharing a room?” John Piper snarled, his face red. “What the fuck’s she thinking. Three days ago Kirk was our number-one suspect. Now she’s sharing a room with him? What sort of a show are you running, Bob?”
“It’s called a cover, John,” Corbett hissed. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking, either, but there was no way he was going to let Piper score points from it. “I thought you used to be in the field? You don’t always get to choose where you stay and who you stay with.”
He swiveled round in his chair and turned to face the other people seated opposite him. The early afternoon sun slanted through the metal slats of the blind, projecting black stripes across the far wall and the round table’s polished wooden surface.
“So. What do you think?”
FBI Director Green was the first to speak, his gray suit creasing round his shoulders.
“It seems to me like Kirk is really trying to help. The link to Amsterdam and now this Istanbul thing. It’s good work. Maybe we should offer him his old job back!” The other men around the table laughed. Everyone except for John Piper.
“Oh, yeah!” he said sarcastically. “He’s fucking great. Ever since Kirk’s been on the scene we’ve lost an eight-million-dollar coin, wound up with a stiff in London, and narrowly avoided a major diplomatic incident with the French. Let’s get real here. The guy’s outta control.”
Corbett drummed his fingers on the desk.
“Well, it was your idea to cut him a deal,” he reminded Piper in a low voice. Piper’s eyes blazed but Green cut in before he could speak.
“Calm down, John. Listen, no one knows what really happened in London yet, nor whose fault it was. As for the French, they always turn everything into a diplomatic incident. Makes them feel more important. I still say Kirk has surprised us all. His are not the actions of a guilty man.”
The noise of Corbett’s nails hitting the glossy wood grew louder.
“How do we even know what’s really going on?” Piper insisted. “I told you Browne was not up to this case. I know this guy, nothing’s ever what it seems with him. Now he’s got her believing he’s got nothing to do with all this. And let’s not forget he can still finger the president. We need him under lock and key
now
.”
Corbett halted his desktop tattoo.
“For once, John and I agree on something,” he said. “Kirk is a criminal. He can’t be trusted. He had the means and the motive to pull the Fort Knox job. If he’s helping Browne now, it’s because he wants something. When he gets the chance he’ll make his move. Then he’ll probably leak the Operation Centaur story just for the hell of it.”
Piper nodded at him. Corbett raised his eyebrows at this unexpected show of solidarity.
“You may well be right,” said Director Green slowly. “But given where we are, what other options have we got? Are you saying we should just pull her out? I still think that we have more chance of locating the coins and who took them with Kirk’s help than without it.”
“I’m not disagreeing with that.” Corbett nodded. “And I still think Browne will come through for us. She can’t afford to fail and she knows it. All I’m saying is that Kirk needs watching.”
“Ah want to cover all the bases here.”
Treasury Secretary Young leaned into the table and spoke for the first time since they had sat down, his bald head shining like a mirror, stubby fingers gripping a thick Montblanc ink pen.
“Let’s see what else they dig up together. You never know, they might get lucky. If Kirk becomes a problem then we remove him from the equation. Simple. Frankly, when this is over, Ah don’t care what happens to him. From what you’ve told us, John, he’s a dangerous man with a lot of dangerous secrets. If he’s behind the Fort Knox breakin, then let’s nail him for that. If not, then Ah’m sure you can find something else to pin on him. Centaur’s far less likely to leak out if he’s inside anyway.”
Corbett nodded.
“Meantime, we need to make sure that Browne has backup. John, can you arrange for one of our consulate guys to get over to their hotel and keep tabs on them both? And, Bob.” Young locked eyes with Corbett. “Ah want you to get a bag packed and a team ready. If your girl needs help, Ah want you on the next plane out there. We don’t leave our people swinging in the wind. Never have. Never will.”
SEVEN BRIDGES HOTEL, AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
9:33
P.M.
I
t was dark before Jennifer heard footsteps outside the room, followed by a knock at the door. Tom had been out well over three hours. She’d taken the time to relax, have a bath, shave her legs and under her arms, pluck her eyebrows and moisturize herself from top to toe until her skin radiated pH neutral hydration.
“Come in,” she called out.
“How did you get on?” Tom asked as he stepped into the room.
“Fine, thanks. What about you?”
“Oh, I just had a walk around.” Tom poured himself a glass of iced water from the jug on top of the dresser. “It’s hot out there.”
“Tell me about it. Haven’t they heard of A/C in Europe?”
“Oh, they’ve heard of it. Just don’t believe in it.”
“Any news?”
“I called a friend of mine to see whether he knew anything about this Istanbul link.”
“And?”
Tom disappeared into the bathroom and his muffled voice echoed out into the room.
“He said he didn’t know.”
He reemerged, fastening his watch onto his wrist and made for the door.
“You going somewhere?” Jennifer’s voice registered surprise. “You just got back.”
“Yeah. It’s just this thing I’ve got to do.”
“What?” She took a step toward him, put a questioning hand on his arm.
“I won’t be long.” He moved to leave but Jennifer sprang to the door, pressing herself against it.
“You’re not leaving without me. Not with everything that’s going on. Not unless you tell me what the hell you’re up to.”
“This is personal. This has got nothing to do with you or the coin.”
“I don’t care. You’re not going.”
“I’ll be back in a few hours. And I am going.” This time Tom returned her gaze without looking away.
Reluctantly, she stepped away from the door. What else could she do, tie him to a chair?
“Just remember,” she said as he reached for the door handle, “you and me, we’ve got a deal. You screw up, we both go down.”
He gave her a quick smile.
“Don’t worry. The deal means as much to me as it does to you.”