Chapter Nine

WHISPERER HAD BEEN on the phone too. By the time I had finished with Ben he had organized a myriad other details – everything from an airline ticket and credit cards to the junk that would be found in Brodie Wilson’s pockets.

Foremost among the material that would turn my name into a believable legend was a four-year-old laptop with plenty of miles under the hood. It would include an email program with hundreds of old messages, both business and private, as well as documents and downloaded files about past cases.

‘You’re going to have to go through it on the plane and try and familiarize yourself with the crap, ’ said Whisperer.

‘Concentrate on the file with your family photos. You’re divorced but you’ve got either two or three kids – I can’t remember exactly what I told them. You can fudge stuff about past investigations, but of course you can’t do that with your family. I said you were devoted to them. ’

‘Any of it encrypted? ’ I asked.

‘Password-protected and some low-level code but they could bust it pretty quick. If we armour-plated it, I figure that would raise too many weird questions.

‘They’ll also be loading in iTunes and you’ll get an MP3 player. But I’m warning you – the geeks at the agency have God-awful taste in music. ’

‘Thanks – I’ll probably have to become a rap fan, ’ I replied. I heard cars crunch along the gravel driveway and I guessed it was the back-office staff heading out, their work done. ‘When will everything be ready? ’ I asked.

‘Six a. m. Your clothes, passport and laptop will be dropped at the security post, and the guard will put it in the kitchen for you. ’

We had already organized for me to use his guest bedroom, so it meant I’d get two hours’ sleep before I had to be on the move again. Thank God for adrenaline, I thought.

‘The taxi’s due just before 7 a. m., ’ he continued. ‘I’ve arranged one meeting for you before you get on the plane. The details will be with your stuff. ’

His face looked like death, and we both knew there was no way he would be awake before I left. The only thing remaining was to say goodbye.

He took all our notepads and USB drives, threw them in the fireplace and put a match to it. I’m sure it wasn’t in the manual, in the section about the proper destruction of classified material, but at least the fire gave the room a homey feel and took the chill off our feelings about what lay ahead.

‘I wish I could be there to have your back, ’ he said sincerely. ‘Especially when your back’s against the wall. But I won’t be. ’

‘Nobody will, ’ I replied.

‘You’re right about that – you’re on your own. ’

Our eyes met and I expected him to put out his hand to shake and wish me luck, but he didn’t.

‘You’re not like me; you’re not like any agent I’ve ever known, Scott. Your weight is your heart, ’ he said.

I thought about that for a moment. My weight was my heart? Nobody had ever said that before, but there seemed a truth to it.

‘You feel things maybe more than you should, ’ he said. ‘There are circumstances in which that could make things very difficult for you. ’

He turned and poked the fire. It wasn’t comfortable to hear, but he had a right to say it – he was my case officer.

‘If for some reason it all goes to hell and you’re certain they’re going to work on you, don’t wait too long – hit the eject button. ’

‘Take myself out, you mean? ’

He didn’t answer, not directly. ‘Ever get to Afghanistan? ’ he wanted to know.

‘No, I didn’t, ’ I said.

‘Lucky you. I did a few years in Kabul – twice. The Brits were there a hundred years before us, but things weren’t much different. They used to have a song they’d sing:

‘When you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains,

And the women come out to cut up what remains,

Just roll to your rifle and blow out your brains

And go to your god like a soldier. ’

He sort of shrugged, trying not to make too much of it. ‘So yeah, like the English soldiers said – “roll to your rifle”. There’s no point in suffering, Scott – no point in dragging it out. ’

I knew it then, I knew without a doubt, that he had gone down into the archives and read my file.